Well that stunk..
Just round 1 of 6. Keep swinging.
AK: I'm personally enjoying the character development during the Trials. No problem here.
N'bellocq: At least you still have 5 more shots to take?
And at least you didn't roll a 19 to hit and then a 1 on damage so you failed to get through the hardness. Better to roll poorly on both at once and get them out of the way, right?
I wonder if any of the other teams are having any dissension in the ranks during their downtime like we are.... :)
I wonder if any of the other teams are having any dissension in the ranks during their downtime like we are.... :)
The cards tell me...
And we all know that the cards never lie! :P
Well that stunk..
Qhude feels your pain....
Ansha: I know you had the pressure of a single roll...and performed spectacularly :-)
Win or lose now, at least I upped the ante on that third shot
You've done enough damage for a solid hit- roll to confirm.
You've done enough damage for a solid hit- roll to confirm.
Are we still criting objects? I don't mind if we are.
Yup- a critical hit is essentially representing a bullseye shot (for triple points).
(And this particular Trial is modelled off the archery contest in AP35 (Kingmaker, War of the River Kings) including the critical hits on objects representing a bullseye).
Thats not to say i'll be allowing critical hits to work against objects generally; but it IS an elegant method for a bullseye shot.
Hard trial for N'bellocq. The other archers don't have to wait until level 3 to get their main stat towards archery, although his rolls have been so low when hes missed i'm not sure it would have made a difference.
Hard trial for N'bellocq. The other archers don't have to wait until level 3 to get their main stat towards archery, although his rolls have been so low when hes missed i'm not sure it would have made a difference.
just consider us late bloomers.
Yeah, and having two crits slip away. That was the difference between also ran and bottom of the heap.
One advantage we've got for this trial is that three of our spellcasters are still full up on juice. Only Pickle has cast any expendable spells today, so we're in good shape.
Qhude will be champing at the bit to get into some rough n tumble, but I think the best thing to do at least to start will be to pause a few moments and see what the rest do.
After all, the key to any grand melee is to let the others expend themselves against one another before sweeping in at the end to knock off the weakened ones ;)
Yeah, that was one thing I was thinking of too, Qhude. The Avistani elf wizard is down a Sleep and possibly a Charm Person spell. One of the halflings is down an Expeditious Retreat too.
Might be interesting to go through the trials and try to figure out what race/class makeup we have among our opponents...But I'm too lazy to do that!
A mild curse upon Ansha for invoking my OCD list making tendencies.
Human with longbow - Combat
Colonial human early thirties with a cutlass – Endurance
Female corsair – Joust
Dancer with bladed scarf - Performance
Lean man dual wielded axes – Brawn
Halfling sling staff - Marksmanship
Elven wizard – Combat (has cast color spray)
Archer – Combat
Moustache Taldan (chain shirt – good with a sword) – Joust / Athleticism
Elf in studded leather? (cast sleep) – Athleticism
Human strongman – Brawn
Half-Elf bow - Marksmanship
Two x skirmish bow / simple weapons - Combat
Young agile tribal warrior – Joust
Drummer – Performance
Raging Mwangi (rage spent) - Brawn
Chelaxian human Ranger (favored enemy human) with nets / crossbow and battleaxe - Combat
Half-orc in leather with bolas – Endurance (killed by Gaav)
Burly human – Joust
Guisarme (collusion with Avistani) – Athleticism
Bow and poisoned scimitar – Athleticism
Half-Orc big and muscled - Brawn
Brawny half-elf – Endurance (killed by Gaav)
Human – Joust
Half-Orc with a sword – Performance
Orc berserk (raged out) – Brawn
Half-Orc crossbow - Marksmanship
This is all from a single read through, so could be entirely false...
Hey, awesome! I got someone else to do all the work for me. :D
Hey, awesome! I got someone else to do all the work for me. :D
Just make sure to mark off a use of Beguiling Touch ;)
Was quite cool reading back over the Trial of Athleticism in particular. I found that pretty engaging as a narrative.
Theres some crossover in your people Qhude but you pretty much have them. There were six in each team so the mercenaries and bounty hunters are down to 5.
Obviously you can't discount the fact that Profession (Sailing) will be very useful in the Trial- this should really be the Swashbuckler/Pirates best Trial.
May not have an update ready for a day or two as i'm pretty swamped here at the moment, continue to RP among yourselves if you wish.
I figured there would be some contestant crossover, but happy that I got pretty close.
Just double checked, and yep - we'll be making the sailing checks untrained... should make it fun :)
I'm not particularily satisfied with the naval rules i've so far found, so you will be subject to some homebrewed ones.
My vote is as soon as we hear the horn is hard to port and rrrrrrramming speed!
We manage to knock off the mercs early or weaken them enough that they don't finish first, then we win.... course if the Avistani make a bee-line at us then things could get interesting...
I don't think the mercs have any sleep immunes after the half-elf was killed off, so we get most bang for Ansha's sleep that way too.
Sigh - since IC Qhude is a bit leery of ranged combat I think I get to play 'human pin cushion' and try and draw their fire.
And I would just like to say that I appreciate how Ansha is roleplaying average Wis and super-high Int, which is a tough combo. It reminds me of how Sherlock Holmes seemed to be really intuitive, but once he explained his reasoning, it was all just logical deductions from the evidence. (My favorite was the dog that didn't bark in the night.)
Sigh just realized my only attack spell in unusable in this trial. Jakob can barely stand to take part he is not going to use 'cause fear' on people with nowhere to run but the bottom of the sea.
Sigh I am not cutting much of a figure in these trials.
Au contraire - DM AK can confirm, but I don't think someone you cast Cause Fear on would necessarily jump overboard. They are more likely to find a corner to cower in, go total defense, etc.
Also - you can do things like use Intimidate to inflict the shaken condition, defend our flag against interlopers, etc.
Not to mention use of Bless and Cure spells.
You'll do fine - Qhude is the one you should worry about. A will save of -2 means that I'll crumple like a baby at the first sleep / color spray ;)
I believe that the British have an appropriate term of phrase that accurately reflects how we must all be feeling at this most interesting addition of news. It can be spake thusly "Oh dear... one supposes this puts us in a spot of bother..."
DM AK, everyone, I'm sorry but I'm going to have to bow out from the game. I simply am finding myself consistently short on time and unavailable to meet my posting commitments. Qhude - knock 'em dead for me. :) For everyone else, I wish you all the best of luck and I hope this resignation does not tarnish your thoughts of me. It has been an utmost pleasure.
Olondir - sad to see you go but understand if time is escaping you.
And I thought I might finally get a game where I keep my band of originals :).
Best of luck Olondir, sorry to see you go.
Everyone else- i'm inclined to stick with the six of you instead of re-recruiting a seventh. Any thoughts?
I'd agree to stay with six - we still have a nicely rounded party.
Take care Olondir. :-)
I do not mind either way DM AK. If, however, you do decide to get someone to replace Picklebeard, I do believe you had picked out three (DM Barcas, DM Aron and Wander Weir) as possible replacements back in the recruitment thread.
Jakob - how can Kieran save the Mercenaries?
I'm just a bit confused as to what course of action you were recommending as the IC post didn't elaborate.
I believe he means the Bounty Hunters whose ship has been destroyed.
I believe he means the Bounty Hunters whose ship has been destroyed.
Yeah I thought that might be it as well reading back over things - but one supposes the query still stands, as methinks that option may even prove the harder.
Will miss you Picklebeard, definitely an interesting character.
If you do go for a replacement, and he is still interested, DM Barcas is one of the best player/dm's on the boards, imho. I can't recommended him high enough as I play in two of his games and play with him in a third.
I think six is plenty, but if you want another, I'll speak up for Wander Weir. I'm in two games with him, and you've waitlisted him for two of your games now. :)
@Qhude. Teach me to post from my phone. Yes I meant the hunters. And we could save any survivors from drowning by sailing over to pick them up. There are likely to be in armor and unable to make the long swim to shore.
@Picklebeard. NOOOOOOOOO! Apart fromm the RP loss you are half our arcane muscle. I was looking forward to the witch/wizard, elf/dwarf rivalry as we grew in power. You will be missed. Greatly missed.
Re replacement. I have no strong opinion. Seven is a large number of players but pbp can deal with large parties.
Didn't realize I started a popularity contest. :-)
I am fine with the party as it is. Wouldn't say we've bonded yet, but comfortable enough with each other to argue our opinions faithfully.
Haven't had the pleasure yet of gaming with Wander Weir, but your recommendation does carry some weight with me, so hopefully someday that will be rectified.
Didn't realize I started a popularity contest. :-)
DM Aron is AK's friend in real life, as I recall, and the DM's vote trumps both of ours. ;)
Personally, though, I'd as soon go forward with six, unless AK thinks we're really going to need the help.
Now we have to keep an eye on Picklebeard; AK has been known to kill off left-behind PCs messily. (Although he may have some mercy if he hopes Olondir may rejoin us at a later date.)
We'll stick with six, it was my initial preference anyway.
As for killing Picklebeard... he has an easy way out that doesn't involve character death so i'll take that if it presents itself.
Good! I don't really want to see him die--too interesting of a PC for that! :)
You may need that replacement yet AK. :7)
Jakob does seem quite determined to throw a wrench or two in things. ;P
Oh, and AK, I'm assuming that Picklebeard is being DMPCed by you til we get to a point where we can have him fade into the background? I think we probably need his help yet while we're trying to get this rickety little trawler back to shore.
Jakob does seem quite determined to throw a wrench or two in things. ;P
He has his own standards. Frankly this may be the wrong game for him, and maybe for me. Not withdrawing just thinking.
Regardless of the IC opinion of Qhude, I'm having a real OOC struggle with what Jakob the character is actually trying to do...
It may be an issue with how I'm reading it, but I have absolutely no idea of what you are trying to achieve.
It would be a shame to lose you too Jakob- I don't think that just because hes had some disagreements with the others means you have to leave the game; see how you feel once the Trials play out fully?
Just like to say I'm gonna miss Picklebeard too....and hope Jakob keeps going to keep your little group going...from the land of lurkers
PoorWanderingOne, I don't think anyone has any problem with you personally so if you feel the character really isn't going to work you can always bow Jakob out and come up with a new character, should be able to tie you in very quickly.
That said, I like Jakob... And the conflict his idealogies bring to the group is interesting for me.
I'll second DM AK - conflict can be very good within a party as it is a source of personal character growth for all characters.
However one thing to remember is that most of the group only signed on to actually win the trial. So anything that is challenging that is going to be met with alot of opposition.
Most of our characters are pretty morally grey in our own ways as well - so we aren't averse to letting the other teams fend for themselves. Few of us have any reason to trust anyone outside ourselves.
So the concept of sailing into certain doom to save someone who two hours ago was happy to try and kill N'Bellocq or poison Kieran is pretty alien to our thinking.
Thirded. I rather like it when there is a bit of conflict IC. As I said before, these are people from all walks of life -not to mention, unlike the real world, some are not even human- who just days ago came together, a set of Trials being the only thing that currently binds them. Sure, there are the various pairs, although even those are not exactly necessarily BFFs, but the group itself is a very new entity.
Also, on a related note, I just noticed that only Picklebeard, Jakob and Kieran are actually Good, the others being various shades of Neutral. As far as Kieran is concerned, although Good (though, going by his background, he probably used to be Neutral, only recently turning Good, if talking alignments), he sees the other teams as people who have participated in the Trials knowing the risks; in some cases, members of those teams were even part of those risks. So, in his mind, they are 'fair game', so to speak. They are not innocent bystanders or defenseless commoners and, in the case of the bounty hunters, were actually enemies in a very real sense. For him, his companions, no matter how short his acquaintance with them is, are a priority.
Just reading the IC post, I was coming over here to comment on how wonderful I thought the interaction was going....and I find this..I guess like minds and all that..
I was just looking up how we have a strong contingent of neutral characters. With Pickbeard taking a back seat that leaves Kieran concerned enough not want to see Jacob hurt himself, and only Jacob himself, concerned with the safety of the other teams.
N'bellocq does not wish them ill, BUT they have tried to kill him. And they can swim...maybe, but still not his concern as the threat is still out there. Soon the catapult will come for them, and no other boat will go out of its way for them.
I think we are a mostly jaded, bitter, or spoiled group of Characters (no offense, I include N'bellocq in that ;-]) that may need a moral compass so I hope you stick it out. I just don't think this is the moment. The boats are bowshots between each other, that is a long, slow swim. Two boats down, three to go...we don't have time other than to try to get closer to shore before we start swimming too. Like the others, we will likely have shattered fishing boat to hang on to to help us.
Regardless of the IC opinion of Qhude, I'm having a real OOC struggle with what Jakob the character is actually trying to do...It may be an issue with how I'm reading it, but I have absolutely no idea of what you are trying to achieve.
First off thanks for the responses, it helped a great deal to see that you consider me a member of the group. I will be sticking with Jakob. He is annoying, and only marginally effective but I kind of like him. There is a bit of Neil from the Young Ones in there.
That said and to answer Qhude's question I am trying to be epic. I am trying to do the imposable. Specifically I am trying to play the second game that our hosts set up.
My reasoning: The government has competent, skilled people. They have hundreds of them. Many are higher level than we are so it is not a lack of skill or ability that is driving this whole 'trials' farce. So what are they really looking for? Are they looking for folks who can do a specific job by following clear guidelines? No, they have the army for that. So they are not looking for ability and they are not looking for folks who follow orders. Two choices remain. They are looking for patsies or they are looking for folks who can think on the fly and change the conditions they are put under.
Finding patsies is easy, they have an army. So they must be looking for creative solutions. That is what I have been trying to promote.
We are set artificially at odds with other teams. Traditional solution, compete. Transformative solution, cooperate.
A disparate group of teams is attacked by an outside force. Traditional solution, flee to save ourselves or profit by the force removing the competition first. Epic solution, bind the disparate teams together and overcome the outside force.
A known enemy is wounded/killed by a third party. Traditional solution, flee while the third party is distracted. Epic solution, rescue the enemy, change their attitude to you and join forces against the attacker.
Following this path may not have led to 'winning' the trials but it would have had the powers offer us the real job behind the trials. The one the army/nobles/secret police cannot do by being competent and following orders.
That at least is what I was trying to accomplish. It may be crazy but it was what I was trying to do. I hope that helped.