DM Carbide's Giantslayer

Game Master John Woodford

I meant for us to be at the door nearest the tower, to keep from being seen (hopefully). I've moved us on the map.

OK. It'll take me a little bit to start the melee--will likely get to it tomorrow or Saturday sometime.

I'll be slow to post this weekend--I'll be at an SF con, and among other things will be running a face-to-face game for the first time in over ten years. Wish me luck.

Starfinder?

No, Pathfinder. It went well, but I'm definitely rusty.

BTW, have we lost Kira and Jarrek?

I think Jarrek is just busy at work.

In other news, I'm having spotty internet thanks to Win10 updates.

Sorry, guys, I've been slammed at work. If it's alright I'd like to jump back in.

Sure, no problem.

I think I just messed up the map.

I should not be allowed to touch technology.

If you're still at the map, you can undo any changes you made.

I was able to restore it.

Hey everyone, sorry for my silence. I'm stealing a minute at work to let you know that my home internet is completely borked. Please bot Svarog until I can get it working again.

Cheers, and Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in the US!

No problem, Svarog (I think that's also happening to Kira). Appreciate the holiday wishes; we had my mom and a couple of friends over, and no one left hungry.

Thanks for fixing the map, DM. I couldn't figure out how to undo my mistake.

Also, I'm being sent to Uganda for 3 weeks, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to post.

Safe travels!

I will also be doing a bit of traveling this weekend, and will be unable to post until Sunday.

I'm back! Sorry for the long silence, all!

I will be traveling on Monday, though, and unable to post.

I just rolled two 20s in a row in another game! Quick, attack while the dicebot is feeling generous! XD

My posting is likely to be sporadic at best until after Christmas; lots of baking and house stuff to do before then. I wish all of you joy in whatever holidays you celebrate, and I look forward to continuing to game with you all in the new year.

One game-related note: in case it's not obvious from the name of this part of the AP, the rest of it is continuous, with no chances to rest. You'll be leveling up at least once, though, and spellcasters will have time to fill their new slots. If there are any purchases you would have liked to have made, let me know and we can make them retroactive. (There's also better gear out there in the loot.)

Happy holidays to all of you from here as well!

Obviously, I had more time today than anticipated. Something I realized I hadn't mentioned--if you look through the cart with all the loot from the three houses, it contains three doses of armor ointment, a bundle of 20 tindertwigs, a masterwork flail, two orc double axes, a half-dozen broken falchions, three suits of leather armor, a heavy wooden shield, two climbers' kits, two grappling hooks, and 100' of hemp rope.

Haftor, are you back with us?

Svarog will use the armor ointment. I suggest anyone else with armor use a dose as well (maybe Jarrek and Haftor?).

Everything else useful (tindertwigs, rope, grappling hooks, maybe the kits), I suggest we split, and leave the rest for when we return (hopefully) triumphant.

Sure, Jarrek can use an armor ointment too. He's not going to be great at Stealth, regardless, with his low Dex and no ranks.

Thanks for your patience; I wanted to give both Haftor and Kira plenty of time to come back, but I need to keep this going. I hope they're OK.

Thanks, Jarrek! Ready to kick some whole-orc butt!

I've been getting ready for a con this weekend, and haven't had much time to post. Will try to get something up before Monday, but that means figuring out just how long the orcs on the roof will wait before they attack.

Sorry for the long absence. I have been bouncing back and forth to Uganda over the last few months, and really haven't been able to settle down and post. I brought my personal computer with me on this trip (back in Uganda for the third time) so I should be able to get back into it.

Glad you're OK!

Here and at the ready! Just awaiting declaration of the proper timing of events before posting again. And by posting again, I mean... *pew pew*

This roof’s going to get messy. Looks like a good Kira-leads-off-with-a-bomb situation, but then what? Or Tri has a scroll of Vanish and Jarrek can cast it as well, so we could get two people onto the roof unseen to make a rush at the drummer.

Tri also has a scroll and Jarrek a potion of Enlarge Person if anyone wants to go Hulk Smash!

Also see there are two Thunderstones in the party if we’re looking to counter the effects of the drummer…

Thoughts?

Kira doesn't have a lot of bombs left, but she gets her INT bonus to damage with other splash weapons as well (like the alchemists' fire she's currently holding). So with point-blank shot that's 1d6+5 to the main target and 6 points of splash damage, plus 1d6 to the main target on the next round.

Haftor should probably stay just back from the front line so he can heal anyone up front that falls (potion or finish off the wand). He has his (loaded) heavy crossbow.

Between Jarrek and Svarog, Svarog has more HP so I think he'd be better with the Enlarge Person potion. Jarrek will drink his Protection from Evil potion once they get near the roof, for the AC boost.

Jarrek will use Inspire Courage and if we can spot and charge the drummer in the first round I think J and S should swarm him and try to take him down. The orcs will be easier to fight once the drummer's not buffing them.

I'll be out of town most of the weekend.

Updated the loot list.

Looking through it, I see 3 unclaimed CLW potions. Have we used those?

Also, Svarog could probably use the Barkskin scroll we have, maybe cast it before we leave the gates since it's 10 min/lvl.

I don't remember where we found them, so I'm not sure if we've used those potions... but Svarog wouldn't say no to the Barkskin once we're headed out, after the bar.

O_O; Svarog should have taken that barkskin now. Ouch!

I'm packing up to move on the 6th, and I probably won't have a lot of time to post. Please bot Svarog if necessary.

I'll try to get a post up tomorrow anyway, but if I don't, Svarog will target whoever is left with his bow.

I have a question for the party. It's hard for me to tell how this is playing out on your side of the screen; I can see how this long series of relatively minor fights could work well in a F2F game, but with the much longer timescale of PbP it may be getting grindy. There are a few more small encounters before you get to the main event set piece fight that ends the Inner Quarter segment of the battle. How is the pace working for everyone, and would you prefer to gloss over the small encounters?

ETA: this isn't a complaint about how the game is going; I'm still enjoying running, but as I said it's hard to tell how you're doing.

Personally, I'd prefer to skip a bunch more encounters with 3-6 regular orcs and get on with the catapult or giant. Or if there's some other miniboss like the drummer, skip to them. Multiple small encounters definitely ratchet up the tension but really slows down the PbP pace.

First, my weekend is going to be a crush, so likely nothing solid until Sun/Mon.

Second, the only real issue I have with the pacing is my failing memory. Inventory and clue management becomes increasingly more challenging in PbP, especially over a string of tactical events. I absolutely appreciate the concept of this arc, but some subtle editing could go a long way I believe.

That being said, I'm always fine with majority rule either way and am thankful be our GM thinks enough to ask!

Any other comments?

I agree with Jarrek. I'd like to skip the minor encounters and get to the big ones.

Greetings from Fort Leavenworth! (No, I'm not in federal prison.) Given my crazy schedule lately, the pace is actually working fine with me, because I'm less likely to miss key encounters.

That being said, I'm fine with skipping the more repetitive stuff, as long as DM C is OK with botting me on occasion during more consequential encounters. I still have a few weeks before things settle down. I'm here for one more week, then at Fort Leonard Wood for a week.

Level up, yay! Unfortunately this is the level where Jarrek locks into the falchion with weapon focus. Boo. Bye-bye, MW greataxe. :(

If there's any chance an orc running around with a nice greataxe might get switched to a falchion, that would be great, DM. Pretty please?

Speaking of items, the possibly useful loot garnered from the elided fights is as follows:

2 CLW potions
2 vials acid
caltrops
scabbard of honing
2 alchemist's fire
thunderstone
mw studded leather
mw warhammer
shield cloak
mw breastplate
mw falchion
1 CMW potion

Sorry all, work and other obligations are crushing me this week. I'll try to get a post out soon, but if I'm holding you up feel free to bot Svarog.