Happy holidays folks! Wishing everyone the best, most enjoyable season possible!
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Rising from his torpid slumber like a revenant beast after the harshest of winters, the GM shakes a bed of rotten leaves, twigs and blood-stained snow from his tangled hair... and, blinking in the stark daylight, looks for prey...
Hope you folks had a great holiday... let's stalk the streets of Castorhage once more!!!!
The Queen's Own!
I'm traveling in New England right now, and my posting is going to be spotty through New Year's Day.
Of course, there's a Nor'Easter winter storm coming through this afternoon, and we may get stuck at the hotel for a while... which might make it more likely to post. We'll see...
I hope nobody minds a shameless plug because...
I'm running a recruitment for a special playthrough of Rise of the Runelords! If you're thinking about picking up another game (or just curious about what makes it special) check it out.
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Happy New Year folks!!! May 2017 bring you good times... and, here on the boards and your IRL games, great adventures.
Just when I think I'm back to daily posting, life gets weird. It might be Friday before I have a chance to get back into the Gameplay thread.
Zed: Please bot me as necessary.
Happy New Year everyone.
Sorry for my iffy posting, holidays were mostly preparing to get my father moved from Louisiana to Texas, then 3 days in an RV moving him.
Monday Night : No sleep due to Anxiety over moving him.
Tuesday : Pick up RV, Drive 11 hours from TX to LA
Tuesday Night : Sleep 6 hours
Wednesday : Pack up everything he owns into RV, Take him to visit brothers one last time, go by VA to get prescriptions (2.5 hours), eat Po-boys for lunch. 6PM Take off in RV.
Thursday : Arrive at Assisted Living Facility at 6AM. Get 1 hour nap, get up, start unloading RV. 9AM Get father into new facility. 11AM leave facility to take RV back to rental facility. Clean RV. 2PM Get home with lunch (first food since 4AM). 4PM Collapse.
So been a bit busy. Will get posts up later today.
Okay... Let's see how long I can return to daily posting before something else happens...
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Hey, everyone: Forgive me if it looks like I'm trying to control your characters... I see Vera as the kind of person who thinks that she's always the smartest person in the room, and in a fight would just kind of shout orders and expect to be obeyed.
Feel free to have your character ignore her suggestions... it might annoy Vera, but it sure won't annoy me!
Hey, everyone: Forgive me if it looks like I'm trying to control your characters... I see Vera as the kind of person who thinks that she's always the smartest person in the room, and in a fight would just kind of shout orders and expect to be obeyed.
Feel free to have your character ignore her suggestions... it might annoy Vera, but it sure won't annoy me!
So in other words, carry on as before? :) I think Amelia's been ignoring Vera in combat since they met. :)
I hate to be a downer but my wife's grandfather just died and, as a result, my posting will be spotty at best for the next few days. Please bot me as necessary. If it becomes necessary to toss the liquid ice the attacks is ranged touch at +9, for 1d6+5 cold damage.
Sorry to hear that--safe travels.
Yes, what Gar said... really sorry to hear that, hope things return to an even keel as soon as they can... look after your family and we'll see you when we see you.
Condolences. :(
Thoughts to you and your family.
Sorry to hear that! Best wishes to you and your family in this difficult time.
So, over the course of the weekend, I started to watch Tom Hardy in Taboo - the BBC has, I think, just broadcast its third of eight episodes so it's got a while yet to run but I was struck by how close its early 1800's view of London was to what I envisage Castorhage to be like... the Thames running through the centre of the city - half life-blood to the mercantile city and half sewer, the huge contrast between the poverty stricken and the wealth of the East India Company... and there is a horrifically repugnant prince regent. Add to that a backstory that has a little bit of the Occult to it and I think you could certainly do worse than watch an episode or two to get inspiration as to the streets that your poor characters are walking...
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Okay, as we are still weaving that tangled web, I thought it would be sensible just to set out the various lines of investigation that might be available to you folks...
Crime Scenes / Location of Interest
- Crime Scene at Old Bill’s
- Crime Scene at the Violet Lady’s
- The Cart at Grindlylow’s Grinders
- 34, Portmuth Building - Muncy's Flat of Twenty Year's past
William Hughe / Old Bill
- Old Bill’s customers
- The key from Old Bill’s Cart
- The ancient advertisement for Madam Larua, Teller of Fortunes
Other
- Crown Justice Braken
As per the last GM post, it's getting late in the day so your opportunity to pursue any further leads today are probably limited... Vera has suggested following up on the 'Braken' entry in the Archives' register - any other proposals?
Sorry, infected wisdom tooth, having surgery Tuesday to remove all 3. So kind of wonky at the moment.
Sorry, infected wisdom tooth, having surgery Tuesday to remove all 3. So kind of wonky at the moment.
Ouch!!! Hoping surgery goes well...
...and, in the meantime, it seems that you folks are interested in chasing up the 'Braken' connection? As Vera surmised, that's a job for tomorrow really... if you are carrying on following leads tonight then the scene of the Muncy Murder-Suicide or Madame Larua are the kind of places where it is possible to go and take a look under the cover of night. Vera suggested one of those or you could just go and rest before tomorrow...
Although the shop of a fortune teller sounds super fun, I'd say the most compelling lead right now is the murder scene, so if we're going to explore further this evening, that's my vote.
I agree with Gar. If we are investigating under the shadow of darkness, the scene of the murder sounds like a good start.
Don't think Eli can 'slip in' with the door nailed shut. We'll have to find another way in.
Hi all, in a conference all day and may not be able to post until tomorrow. Please bot me if needed.
Wow... I totally missed that the door was nailed shut. Sorry. Can I make an educated guess what the DC would be to climb up to the appropriate window?
I could be reading it wrong too, went back and looked at the post, and it could be read either way. I just don't see how it would have stayed sealed for 20 years with just a rope across it. Some one would have broken in and squatted there. So I took the 'nailed in' as meaning the door was nailed shut and the rope strung on the nails.
...just for clarification, the rope is nailed across the door symbolically sealing it as closed. It is not actually nailed (or otherwise sealed) shut.
Ah, sorry then Eli. Still, probably safer to let Lilly scout first. Make sure it's clear.
Since Amelia and Lilly have share senses, can Amelia use Lilly's sight to move as long as she is in Lilly's field of vision? With penalties obviously...
Yeah, I don't see why not...
Combat Over - waiting on you folks deciding what to so re: investigation of the flat.
I just want to let you know that I'm going on vacation to San Diego for a few days starting tomorrow. My posting will likely be rather erratic until Tuesday. Zed: Please bot me as necessary.
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Mama Frill is adorable.
I'm back from vacation, but swamped at work, and I have an engagement tonight. I hope to resume posting tomorrow.
@GM - Voidglass's official write up is as follows :
The creatures (and perhaps other strange beings with similar psychic capabilities) can funnel violent bursts of psychic energy through these weapons on a hit (see page 62). In the hands of any creature, a voidglass piercing or slashing weapon deals 1 additional damage on a hit—bludgeoning weapons gain no benefit.
The creatures in question have a psychic attack that does non-lethal damage and auto adds to successful hits.
Could Amelia channel her Telekinetic Strike via the voidglass when she hits as well?
One of the most often-overlooked combat rules is that even in a normal round, until you've taken a normal turn, you're flat-footed. This is true whether or not there is a "surprise" round. Unless you benefit from uncanny dodge.
At the start of a battle, before you have had a chance to act (specifically, before your first regular turn in the initiative order), you are flat-footed. You can’t use your Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) while flat-footed. Barbarians and rogues of high enough level have the uncanny dodge extraordinary ability, which means that they cannot be caught flat-footed. Characters with uncanny dodge retain their Dexterity bonus to their AC and can make attacks of opportunity before they have acted in the first round of combat. A flat-footed character can’t make attacks of opportunity, unless he has the Combat Reflexes feat.
Yes, I didn't overlook that. But it would seem to me the first round of combat was when they came into the cleering and we ran, not after 15 minutes of being chased and us deciding to stop running and fight. Otherwise we get into rediculous situations where two armies line up at dawn, and then one side charges and the other side goes 'Duh, I'll stand here with my stick up my butt' instead of raising their shields to the arrow fire.
Combat should officially start as soon as two forces encounter each other, not as soon as one side actually commits to an attack or defense. We encountered each other 15 minutes ago, we just spent the first 30 or 40 rounds of combat doing withdraw actions...
Otherwise we get into rediculous situations . . . we just spent the first 30 or 40 rounds of combat doing withdraw actions...
I don't know, that sounds pretty ridiculous to me.
Waiting to trigger initiative until one side "commits to an attack or defense" is exactly what ought to trigger combat and, therefore, initiative. If we did nothing but flee, combat did not "begin" until we turned to fight, which is when the GM (properly) triggered initiative. I see no problem here.
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The rules aren't always 100% logical, but they're the rules. I think it's largely to represent the slight edge that whichever side dictates the terms of engagement receives (which is true to real life- there's a benefit to making the first move).
In this case, it's really our own fault- none of us made a definitive combat action so they get the advantage. We could have posted 'I stand and shoot' or 'I ready an action to attack when they get close enough' or 'we run until we find a natural choke point and then form up behind Gar' or any of a ton more things that would have constituted us being ready but we didn't.
Amelia did say we need to find a defensible position and turn and fight. Oh well, whatever...
As someone who GMs PbPs also, I struggle with those kinds of posts... saying something and doing something aren't the same. Truthfully, I probably wait too long for someone to post an action a lot of the time but there's like a danger of posting as if someone had acted (and got themself in trouble) when all the did was say 'we should _______'. Probably if any of us had posted something like "Elliomander follows Amelia to her defensible position then turns and readies a shot" we would have had the advantage (although, then I would have been forcing you into an action you never said you took).
I believe PbP really need to be player-driven as much as possible and that requires that we actually declare actions (which I'm not sure any of us really did in this case). I appreciate that sometimes we need time to discuss (and I still wish someone had answered Elliomander and handed him a bow- I probably could have taken out at least 2-3 dogs by single moving and shooting every round until they got to us) but we went all weekend without anyone taking an actual action so getting set upon is what we get.
As another person who GMs PbP games, I'll have to agree with Eliomander's assessment of the metagame situation: The players didn't clearly state a reaction to the GM's prompting, so the GM has given the bad guys an advantage. I'm cool with it.
Amelia doesn't have a bow.
Also, I GM five or six PBP's on average, for several years now. Generally, I only force 'first round of combat' when it makes sense. If there's maneuvering pre-combat, and everyone is aware, then I treat the maneuvering as the first round or two of combat, meaning nobody is considered flat footed, and quite often the first action of combat is not a standard but a full action (as the standard was taken when people maneuvered).
Basically, if both sides are aware, and both sides are 'getting into position' for combat, then that getting into position is the first few rounds of combat. Otherwise you force people to 'ready an action' all the time, and that gets stupid eventually as everyone readies an action that doesn't happen because everyone readied and nobody acted. :)
Let's just say that we were running, they were closing, we were running, they were closing, we were runni... YIKES! THEY'RE HERE!
Let's just say that we were running, they were closing, we were running, they were closing, we were runni... YIKES! THEY'RE HERE!
Exactly this, you folks were fleeing into the forest and the hounds, at the point you started to run, were about half a mile away... there is no way that, at the point, I would play it that you folks were in initiative - you were running and looking for somewhere to defend (or to escape). Also, the moment you went back into the forest you would lose sight of the hounds... once more, I'd say you're not in a combat situation yet.
Initiative started when they broke through the trees in your current position... there was no opportunity to manoeuvre prior to the first round of combat proper. Elliomander reacted first (there is no surprise round) and fired on the hounds - against their Flat-Footed AC... next up are the hounds and, apart from Elliomander, everyone else is still flat-footed...
Apologies if none of that makes sense to any of you but that is the GM ruling on the situation as it evolved!!!!
Also, no worries about the sudden stop in posts after Elliomander's question about a bow... I certainly didn't move the situation this direction based on the absence of a decision - ultimately you folks have gone from the hunter to the quarry... and that situation would probably have played out regardless!!!
@GM - Kind of lost on what we are doing or why at this point. Muncy's obviously dead, nothing we try to do seems to be allowed by the AP (Can't find our way out, auto lost with no roll, can't find a defensive position, no information or hints or anything).
It kind of feels like the AP writers assumed some knowledge on the players part that we don't have? Or that we skipped a vital important step somehow and don't have the information we need? Not sure if I'm the only one that feels that way or not, but I have no flipping clue what to do at this point other than get eaten by a grue.
I have no knowledge of the module, but this scene reminds me of the opening scene of Strange Aeons, which is meant to create a feeling of suspense and doom.
Gar has kind of got it - this is, as far as I can tell, a bit of a taster of Between which is a big thing in the overall Blight story... it's telling a story in a series of events but player agency is a little low!!! It's probably the only point in this game where I need you folks to just hop on the railroad and go with it... 'course, if I had the setting book I could probably fill in a load more gaps for you...