DMDM's Wrath of the Righteous (Inactive)

Game Master Douglas Muir 406

1) This might come to GMing and playing style, but the group is quite split at the time, so there is little opportunities for Kyami to check the course of action with her companions.

Kyami can't, but you can. Think of this as table talk.

2) There is only 1 exit, thus there is little reason to think waiting will improve our situation, they will just not disappear magically.

"The safe house consists of a single large room underground with a smaller room adjacent; it has a concealed entrance and a concealed exit." Possibly the language was confusing -- an entrance is also an exit -- but anyway, there are two ways in (or out).

8) I did not chose to be alone there having to take all the decisions, this whole situation came alone without intervention or decision of my character. I would have done differently by sure.

This is the starting point of the adventure, yes? Everybody has to start somewhere. In your case, you're starting next to a door. Possibly not what you would have chosen, but OTOH you're in a better situation than the PCs of Red Team.

As to the rest, that's between you players. Carry on.

Final point: if you make it clear that you want to take a particular action, it will happen. I'll never tell you that you shouldn't or can't do something. This is not "don't do that", but rather "are you sure you want to do that?" If you say yes, boom -- it's done.

@Kyami:

1) The group is split, and Kyami is quite alone. No one in the room seems to be freeing themselves and we have no way of communicating with them. Is Kyami going to disobey a direct order from Nurrah?

Nurrah: ... If there's anything there, report back. Don't get in any trouble."

2) There are other exits, and I assume that we know the layout of our own safe house - or at least the squad leaders (Nurrah and Kir) do.

@ DMDM do our characters know if there are other exits?

Bolded below.

The room is 40' x 20' with a rather low ceiling. Laurine, Anycek and Haruka are within 25' of you; occasionally the blond man wanders that close.

You don't see their equipment (it's tossed in a corner at the far end of the room).

There's a wooden table in here, and a couple of long benches. You don't see any other exits (actually there are a couple, but you can't see them just now).

3) We might be discovered, yes, but you have good stealth for now as stated by the DM, and they don't seem to be moving. If they do, then we can react. Information is key.

4) I think any one of them could cause us some serious problems.

5) We are outclassed, from what I can gather. There will be no 'after the combat', I think.

6) If one of the captives suddenly doubles in size without casting, I think the Bads will notice and want to look about.

I agree that PbP can be slow, but we seem to be moving at a good pace.

If you choose to go ahead with the Enlarge Person, I understand, but I believe it will not go well for us.

That's why I have sent Don to talk with you :)

It's your time to choose your way of action I guess. Discussing whether if we can or cannot manage the encounter is a futile debate, we will not know until it is finished.

Don is now up and explaining what is going on. If you want, just wait. That will hold Kyami actions and what you wanted will happen. But it is now on your side, Kyami already made her choice, help her friends trying to free them even if that means placing herself at risk.

Good tension here.

The following two paragraphs are not a rant, just an exposition of my expectations given previous RL and PbP games. I respect other options and will go with this kind of discussion (just be aware I like to discuss a lot :D).

As for playing style, I am used isolated players have to take their decisions alone, and situational knowledge is assumed to be discussed in-character. Only mechanical discussion can be provided to isolated characters.

In my opinion, this is usually the most fair, as in addition to realistic, otherwise leading people tend to manage other player characters telling them what to do and censuring their actions and decisions, limiting creativity to solve problems and reducing the fun due to lack of exposition to certain situations.

That said, I am used to party planning an encounter before coming to it. That would probably have happened before going down the stairs and knowing exactly what is going on.

Then, it would seem, if we plan to do something, now is the time to get it done. Given the above points, it seems that busting down the door and catching them off-guard while occupied with the others.

I agree with the DM, every adventure and adventurer must start somewhere.

In the start Takka and I are topside and playing with the situation as given. It's just us two, and we are not in communication or knowledge about any of the going-ons.

Do I wish we could have discussed who was going in or not, going in (stealth vs force vs all together) or at least made a plan that after X rounds/minutes Takka and I come in to help.

SCG is not happy waiting topside and will likely along with Takka decide to go in at some point. (or even say that was the plan at least).
I am thinking we will be coming down, in short order.

DM: Please keep Takka and I in mind as rounds pass, as it makes sense that we would go in after the group if they didn't return within the appointed time frame. My thinking is no more than 10 rounds....

I absolutely agree that the game must start at some start point, and I like how the DM is handling it, so we start at the given point and make choices from that point.

Edit, I was ninja'd by Takka, damn my slowness! So it looks like we are going in!

There are times when I will force isolated players to take their actions alone. But the default is to allow table talk -- and in some cases (like now) to positively encourage it.

Lots of post ninja's going on!!!! in the game thread!

I agree with the DM, every adventure and adventurer must start somewhere.

I just want to make clear I actually like the situation and I know it would have not happened if driven by player actions.

Perhaps I made it in a wrong way. What I actually wanted to communicate is same as the GM has the power to place us into a situation, each player has the power to select his character actions and place the party in an altered one.

Thus, I was feeling unfair the critic towards my decision to move on.

It won't usually be a problem, but if you see you've been ninja'd a fast edit is always good.

Can we hear the yell from where we are down the hall?

There's another pause. Then, with a horrible slick sound, the tongue withdraws. There's a surprisingly tiny wound in Sergeant Kir's forehead; as you watch, a trickle of blood comes out of his nose and one ear. He seems to be still alive, though unconscious.

As we are allowed to discuss.

I strongly advise to act, and now better than soon, unless we want a bunch of mindless party :)

Can we hear the yell from where we are down the hall?

Reasonable question. I'd say "hear a yell" is DC 0, +6 for distance +2 for a half-closed door. So, a DC 8 Perception check.

Hence why I acted. If Takka can hear the cry, he'll be charging in to the rescue... or disaster, one of the two. In his mind, someone's in trouble and in pain, and he won't be tolerating any of that nonsense on his watch.

...not the wisest plan, but... uhm... at least his heart's in the right place?

I think we are going with the famous plan from ghostbusters, "1, 2, 3, get her!"

I think we are going with the famous plan from ghostbusters, "1, 2, 3, get her!"

Hey, that plan worked famously well! ...I think! I haven't seen that movie in a long time...

Strategically, reporting the situation with that message scroll would certainly seem to be in order. ;)

Tactically, if Red Team went down fast, Blue Team is going to have problems. Our combined strength might be sufficient, but how to free Red Team without getting noticed?

Simple!

Charge in on the back of a giant saber-toothed toad and start chucking spears at folks! While they're distracted with that, sneak past and cut everyone free, then all of us run like hell!

...that's how stealth works, right?

Osei is topside, too, with Blue Team. I was left out of the initial description (as I hadn't actually joined yet) but I'm here!

Constantine wrote:

I agree with the DM, every adventure and adventurer must start somewhere.

I just want to make clear I actually like the situation and I know it would have not happened if driven by player actions.

Perhaps I made it in a wrong way. What I actually wanted to communicate is same as the GM has the power to place us into a situation, each player has the power to select his character actions and place the party in an altered one.

Thus, I was feeling unfair the critic towards my decision to move on.

I apologize if you think I was attacking your right to make a choice - that was not my intent. I was merely giving my opinion on the situation, which happened to contrast with yours.

I, too, think every player has the right to direct their actions, but we are a party.

how obvious is using judgement anyway, the description of the abilty doens't say anything about it?

do I need to have my Fokus to use Magic Fang (granted by touched by divinity)?

how obvious is using judgement anyway, the description of the abilty doens't say anything about it?

It is a swift action and it's not obvious. You can yell or gesture if you like -- many do -- but you can also just close your eyes and concentrate for a moment.

do I need to have my Fokus to use Magic Fang (granted by touched by divinity)?

It's an SLA, not a spell -- so no you don't.

Takka's gonna be in so much trouble...

Before we all finalize our actions, I would like to go on record to remind everyone of this post from the recruitment thread. Particularly point #4 (bolded):

Notes on my campaign style. If you want to see how this plays out, feel free to look up one of my Way of the Wicked campaign threads.

-- I like NPCs. Be prepared to interact with NPCs.

-- I like flavor text. (I also like burying hints and clues in flavor text.)

-- I don't like murderhobos. At its core D&D/PF is a combat game; killing monsters and taking their stuff is a central part of the experience. But hair-trigger tempers and immediate resort to violence will not serve you well. (Doubly so if you're supposed to be playing the good guys.)

-- I consider the concept of "level appropriate encounters" to be, as the man said, more what you'd call guidelines. Sometimes you have to run. Knowing when to run is a survival skill.

-- As a DM, I will not screw you over. But neither will I rescue you from bad decisions. And sometimes, crits happen. Don't get too attached.

Doug M.

The party is already split. If we run, we are not necessarily consigning the other team to death - a split adventure is certainly a bit different method to start a campaign, but has a lot of promise.

Using the sending scroll to call for reinforcements while we trail the Bads and our captured comrades is an option.

Takka's gonna be in so many pieces...

Fixed. =P

Pffft, yeah, either from the demon and dwarves, or disobeying his superior officer, he's gonna get a lashing from someone.

Pffft, yeah, either from the demon and dwarves, or disobeying his superior officer, he's gonna get a lashing from someone.

Darned old squad leader showing up just in time to try and detract our well laid plans!

Takka of the Toad wrote:

Pffft, yeah, either from the demon and dwarves, or disobeying his superior officer, he's gonna get a lashing from someone.

Darned old squad leader showing up just in time to try and detract our well laid plans!

I can't stop laughing at the idea that right in the middle of a pitched encounter, Nurrah just marches in like an angry mom, grabs SCG and Takka's ears, and drags them out telling them what bad knights they are. And nobody dares to moves afterwards because they're so scared of the mom rage. (It's like Barbarian Rage, except everyone near you automatically rolls a Will save, fails it and is constantly shaken.)

Bedtime in Beirut. Go ahead and roll initiatives. You can state actions, including conditional actions. I'll start resolving in the morning.

Status at the beginning of the round: Takka, Sir Constantine and Kyami are standing at the bottom of the stairs by the partially opened door; the rest of Blue Team is upstairs. Red Team, you're stuck to the wall as per.

Consider discussing and coordinating your actions with each other instead of just randomly attacking and/or throwing spells.

I prefer you roll Kyami's initiative with that of foes. That way if you win you can go ahead with them. It is in Kyami status bar next to Senses

Kyami will follow her stated actions trying to help the others escape unless she is stopped or told not to do so.

Can we have a map so we can have a strategical view of the scene deployment?

I would also appreciate if you can add some tag before or after NPC senteces, it is getting a bit confusing and hard to read because it is not obvious who is saying what at every moment.

Huh. Is anyone else having trouble keeping track of who's saying what?

-- I'd be interested to hear what you all think of the dialogue so far. Is it working for you, or is it "TLDR, can we just skip to rolling combat dice"?

Also, if I wake up tomorrow morning and find that some kindly person has set up an initiative tracker (or at least collected everyone's init)? I will be a happy DM.

Oh, well, I also have a backup character ready if the worst happens. Clerics of Erastil are used to thinking about what to do if the worst happens. It helps us change things to prevent it before it happens...

Balek is stuck to the wall and can't cast spells (we're grappled by the web, and all my spells have at least somatic components), so all I can really do on round 1 is try to break free. I suppose I could use one of my domain powers on myself or the people adjacent to me... touch to cure nonlethal damage and a couple of conditions (fatigued/shaken/sickened.)

I suppose I could yell at "the robed guy" (the intimidated man on the floor) to rise up and help kill the demons, but perhaps we would need to prove something first. Maybe someone else could try to inspire or motivate him?

Erastil may not be as hipped as Saranrae on redemption, but the way I see it he's very practical and willing to accept anyone who wants to stop being evil, feed the kids, fix the tools, and fight the monsters, no matter what they used to be. Erastil isn't much for mucking around acting as if the world will be something other than it is and waiting for obvious evil minions to change their minds -- but he will try, once. After that... if they don't want to change, then they can serve as a Horrible Example in volume 2,432 of Village Winter Bedtime Stories, Moral/Didactic Version.

Only Robed Guy looks like he might want to turn on the others.

No problem keeping track of stuff, nor any hurry to get to combat. I love the well-done description, the suggestive hints, and the baddiness of bad guys. (Please tell me the dwarf is twirling his mustaches! Unless, of course, he voluntarily had himself depilated to be more like his locust-demon master...)

I usually do taglines when NPC's are talking.

Because you can't tell if you are the you they are talking to or not, I usually put who it's directed at above the sentence.

For example:

@Balacertar
"I feel you pain man a little ADD goes a long way."

@DMDM
"Figure out what you think is best."

Or combine both

@everyone
Blue leader: "All wings check in."

Edit! on a side note I use us and them initiative, b/c posting in initiative order is hard!

I'm enjoying the dialogue - it reads like snippets (TPK-clue-snippets) of a novel.

Though I understand how it could be confusing if no individual identifiers are used for each character -- especially if multiple NPCs (e.g., Lewis, Dwarf) communicate using the same font and emphasis.

Here you have:
[ooc][[/ooc]spoiler=Initiative]
[ooc][[/ooc]dice=Kyami]1d20+3[/dice]
[ooc][[/ooc]dice=Haruka]1d20+1[/dice]
[ooc][[/ooc]dice=Constantine]1d20+2[/dice]
[ooc][[/ooc]dice=Takka]1d20+2[/dice]
[ooc][[/ooc]dice=Osei]1d20+1[/dice]
[ooc][[/ooc]/spoiler]

Constintine@
Yeah, something like that works!

I love well woven NPC dialogues and have no real pressure to go on combat. I appreciate both strategy and socializing/RP, which is mainly why I play this game :)

One thing doesn't take the other.

I usually take some literature techniques, like character looking at whom he is talking, or calling the name of the person towards the character is talking:
The dwarf looks at the rest of his party and says "Now, these mooks killed my minions"

"Speaking of which," interrupts Lewis, "what exactly were you planning to do with them?"

The dwarf resumes answering Lewis "Take one on Vrexel with us Lewis, and tell the rest to walk to Drezen. If they made it, the trip would toughen them up. If not, they weren't very good minions anyway."

You hear Lewis answering the dwarf "Makes sense. Okay, so what does that have to do with these mooks?"

Turning again his face towards the dwarf, Lewis says "Well, now there's a space open on Vrexel. Gets a little cozy, but he manages just fine. And if you run into real trouble, it's always good to have a minion to throw overboard."

"A little cozy, you say." Lewis strolls along the row of captives, looking thoughtful. He stops at the end, and gives Laurine a long, appraising stare. "Hello, my dear. What would you say to a romantic flight to an exotic distant -- "

"Others approach. They stand outside the southern door." The demon's buzzing voice cuts across the conversation like a knife.

Lewis spins to face the door. The dwarf jumps to his feet, glaive in hand.

I think it really improves readability and comprehension. Do not feel too pressed, everyone has his own style. I just wanted to communicate the sentences without any reference were a bit confusing to me. There is only one single important rule for a group, Communicate! (Painlord's awesome Guide rule 2.2)

I'm enjoying the dialogue and snippets. I'm sad Takka wasn't around for the pity-sex line. He'd have misunderstood it and interpreted it as envy for not be so suitable a mate to draw the eyes of an orc. They ARE a hearty and hale species, after all! XP

But seriously, keep it up, I'm enjoying the chatter. Oh, now what to do next...

I also enjoyed it so far (even if I didn't get to do much :))

Ok planing: Healing 1 HP per round and trying to break free
if free:
1)
if way to stuff is free
get my holy symbol (afterwards fighting or runing away)
if not
casting Magic fang on Melee fighter in range(if already cast, cast create water on anyone still in the goo (hopefully softening it))
return to 1)

Planning:

Osei will continue writing until either finished with the full, five-round message, or he is in immediate danger. He believes following protocol by sending the full message, in this case, is the most important action he could take.

Otherwise, Kenabres is still in the dark about the traitors and know nothing of the Safehouse being an un-Safehouse. Further, he wishes to ensure accurate information reach Command so that an appropriate response can be mobilized.

If attacked (depending on the enemy) possible actions:

Demon, Robed Man or Lewis: Move action -> stand. Standard action -> Protection from Evil on self (Arcane Bond)
Dwarf: Move action -> stand. Standard action -> Mage Armor

Any issues with this plan?

I'm guessing you'd have some advance warning if someone came up the ladder... If not, don't try to cast a spell while in melee range of them unless you're sure about the concentration check.

Question: can I touch the people next to me even if I'm stuck in the web? Or are we so far apart that I'd have to break free before being able to do that? Might be better to use domain powers on them instead of me.

The Judge points at his ghost touch boots, and then kicks Bref a second time for good measure.
Keep it up goblin, and you will end up wishing you were still a ghost.

Question: can I touch the people next to me even if I'm stuck in the web? Or are we so far apart that I'd have to break free before being able to do that? Might be better to use domain powers on them instead of me.

You can touch the people next to you. Note the rules on casting while grappling, though.

Planning:

Osei will continue writing until either finished with the full, five-round message, or he is in immediate danger. He believes following protocol by sending the full message, in this case, is the most important action he could take.

Okay. That means you'll be out of action for the next little while, though you may (should) comment and kibitz.

BTW, my life will be easier if you put the following information in your character's tagline:

Init
Perception
AC
Hp / current hp

Other information that is optional but could be useful: the character's race, class, saving throws, and any buffs or conditions that are currently active.

(Please tell me the dwarf is twirling his mustaches! Unless, of course, he voluntarily had himself depilated to be more like his locust-demon master...)

Alas, no. (Or not yet, anyway.) His transformation has only just begun -- he's still human enough to be proud of his beard.

Have Kyami spells triggered on 1st round or are they triggering now? I can guess when is she acting but wanted to note you forgot her in the initiative list.

Also, I was wondering about the map. Are we playing without a map because of playing style, lack of it for this encounter or just another reason?

I use maps only occasionally, for large complex encounters. (Part of this is my own lack of skill, absolutely.) This encounter has a lot of characters, but the board is pretty small -- it's a simple 40' x 20' room without much furniture (a table, a couple of benches) and no difficult terrain or other complications.

If there's a player who really wants to use a map for this, I have no objection to that player setting one up.

Have Kyami spells triggered on 1st round or are they triggering now? I can guess when is she acting but wanted to note you forgot her in the initiative list.

Wait, I forgot her? [checks] Blah, I'm sorry -- my bad. She's between Bale and Torg.