DM Darkblade Giantslayer Campaign (Inactive)

Game Master GM Darkblade

Hey all, I injured my shoulder at work tonight and will be on light-duty until I can be seen again on Monday. So, my posts will likely be on the shorter end in the meantime. I'll keep you posted.

Take care and get better Delia!
Work is definitely more dangerous for health than orcs! It is proven.

Sorry for the impatience--you are keeping this well organized DM. My compliments.

Songan and Delia had the healing wands isn't it?

As I am the one dealing the poorest weapon damage I have thought I might try to heal the most injured instead.

Trying to save some spells for the incoming battles.

Sorry for the delay in posting, I re-injured my neck and had to have an "adjustment" that required a little downtime. I will post the next round of actions tonight.

Sorry to hear that you hurt your neck, but also glad to hear that you're on the mend!

No worries, Darkblade. Also guys my shoulder is doing better. I believe it is just a minor sprain in the shoulder joint.

Take care! Sport injuries?

I will have no connection from yesterday to Monday. If you can GM my actions please? Basically daze and crossbow shot.

Thanks!

When I fell on the ice over the winter I discovered I have two deteriorating cervical vertebrae. A few days ago one of the kids decided to use my scarf to pretend to be Spiderman and go for a swing. My neck gave out with a grinding pop, and slipped out of alignment.

Getting old seems to be more than going from a 1 to a 2 point penalty to physical stats, and that really sucks. Especially since I'm not even "old" yet.

Map isn't working for me. It's just a blank page.

Is anyone else kinda wowed by the fact that everything that's happened in this fight so far has, technically, taken only 18 seconds?

I find it amusing that Songan and Jace both scored a critical in the same round. That's some feline solidarity right there!

-Posted with Wayfinder

You know what they say, catz rule, dogs drool.

Darkblade, is the entrance to the tower the drumbeater is located in on the ground?

Yes, and facing your group. The towers are normally locked but this one has been battered open, so no door remains standing in the frame.

Delia didn't actually see the murder of the little girl, so she's a little aloof to what happened there. I [b]really[/b wanted to respond to the post with her reaction until I realized she was unable to actually witness it. :(

If that was not the most perfectly timed critical hit I've ever seen, then I don't know what would be!

You and Dundin both!

Yup! That's been...what, four confirmed crits in three rounds? It's gonna come back to bite us later, but for right now I'm enjoying this roll we're on.

I forgot about Dundin's and Songan's crits as well! Yes, this round of combat has been very good to us, thankfully. And you're right Songan, I'm sure this will definitely come back to bite us lol.

Good catch about the ongoing damage concentration check, I discover something new every day! :D

Well, with flank buddies as you guys and lady I think Leira's mom will be ok for her to go on adventures. Situation well saved ^_^

Sorry about the delay in posting, spent the day with daughter and grand-daughter. Good day.

Sorry guys, I just now saw that my post Sunday, or rather early this morning, was eaten and you guys have been waiting on me. Weird as my posts to the other PbP went through fine, and I posted them at the same time, or at least a few minutes apart.

I will try to check my notes, hopefully I saved it and I will repost in the morning.

Apparently my post here was also eaten! The goblins are running amok!

OK, third times the charm, it seems to have stuck now. Geeshh, I guess the goblins didn't like something in my post, seemed reluctant to get it out there.

Dundin's movement speed will not allow him to enter the Tower on this round.

No AoO for Adir, sorry. The "jump" was flavor text for the 5' step down into range. The orc was waiting 10' up the stairs for someone to approach. Adir's movement ran out just shy of triggering the readied action. The size difference is the reason the orc did not receive a +1 bonus for attacking from height, the 5' movement why he could not charge for that bonus.

Also the stairs are only wide enough for single file. Large creatures take up an additional space, so I am debating whether to go with half movement for the bigger guys ala Acrobatics or a -2 Circumstance Penalty to attack rolls and AC to reflect the sidealong approach. Thoughts?

Cool, makes sense re:5'.

Songan is probably correct. Ugh, -4 is brutal.

Squeezing applied when entering the doorway to the tower, counting for double movement. No one stopped in the doorway.

I did not default to the Squeezing rules for the stairs as I do not believe they apply here. The stairs are narrow, along the outer wall 4' wide, the shaft open air from the floor to the tower roof. It seemed more likely Acrobatics would apply, to stay on the stairs without falling off.

Per the rules for Acrobatics and Stairs, you can use Acrobatics to move on narrow surfaces and uneven ground without falling. A successful check allows you to move at half speed across such surfaces—only one check is needed per round. Use the following table to determine the base DC, which is then modified by the Acrobatics skill modifiers noted below. While you are using Acrobatics in this way, you are considered flat-footed and lose your Dexterity bonus to your AC (if any). If you take damage while using Acrobatics, you must immediately make another Acrobatics check at the same DC to avoid falling or being knocked prone.

For a size Large creature, I halved the size of the steps to get a comparable DC. In this case that would be a Base DC 5, modified for a Base DC 9, moving at 1/4 base speed per movement without an Acrobatics check, 1/2 base speed per movement with an Acrobatics check of DC 14, made once per round. If moving at 1/4 speed and engaged in combat, an Acrobatics check of DC 9 would suffice to save from falling.

Steep stairs:
•Difficult Terrain: Steep stairs are difficult terrain (it costs 2 squares of movement to enter such squares).
•No Running: Characters cannot run on steep stairs.
•No charging: Characters cannot charge on steep stairs.
•Acrobatics: Steep stairs increase the DC of Acrobatics checks made on them by 4.
•Higher Ground: Characters fighting on steep stairs gain a +1 bonus on melee attacks made against opponents below them.

Spiral Staircases provide cover to defenders against attacks originating either from above or below them (but not both). They have the following additional characteristics:
•No charging: Characters cannot charge on spiral stairs.
•Right Spiral: A staircase spiralling to the right provides cover (+4 to AC, +2 Reflex) from attacks originating below.

The original AP setup allowed for Orcs 1 thru 6 to stay inside the tower, 1 thru 3 in melee on the ground/lower steps, 4 thru 6 higher up with ranged weapons. It tested as brutal considering the modifiers.

Ah! I see my mistake, then. If the stairs are open-air then yes, I think Acrobatics would apply more than the squeezing rules.

It makes a lot of sense, I like it.

Yikes! Poor Tuzak...seems like all those crits earlier have had their vengeance.

I thought the stairs were too steep for 5' steps, or did I get confused by something else?

Not that Tuzak is going to take anyone out in 1 swipe. I just want to be certain.

You are correct. Tuzak would therefor get an Attack of Opportunity to strike the orc before he gets off the arrow shot.

Folks, I will be bringing in another player when you reach the barricades for the next wave of the orcish invasion. He will be Brampton Pratt, a former applicant to the game.

He has dotted the recruitment thread and will be ready once your group has completed the tower and chased after the other orcs.

I will DMPC Groin while in the tower, then have him lead Petrus back to the aid station where he will stay to assist the others there.

Any questions or concerns with this plan?

Nope, only with how many of us make it there. ;)

dot

Hello all.

Welcome to the party, Brampton! Glad to have you aboard.

Welcome Brampton!

I think you could have been investigating that giant tribe from your background when you discovered about the attack. That might give you a nice reason to suddenly appear and join our team which has been researching the orcs.

Good luck and hope you get as much fun as we are having.

The way I am going to play it (GM willing) is that militia duty keeps me in town. I was on duty on the other side of town when the attack started and am now being sent to reinforce the gate. I will run into your party somewhere there.

Sounds like a plan to me!

Welcome, good to have some more beef.

I know this is a bit pressing, the non-stop combat flow, the seemingly endless stream of enemies, but I hope everyone is enjoying things thus far. I really wanted to play up the AP theme that you are fighting your way along the streets, house to house, just as in a real siege. It should be brutal, it should be dirty, and it should leave it's heroes with a sense of "what the..." did we just live thru?

The good news is you are over a third of the way thru the warzone, and you are leaving no orc left behind. Many townsfolk already owe you their lives, and more soon will know of your bravery and sacrifice.

I honestly don't think there's any apology necessary on your part; I admit that there has been more than one occasion when I've wanted to stop and take a breath and think, "Thank goodness, we made it..." only to have something else pop out to harry us.

I think that's a good thing. I think it's what a combat situation such as this would really feel like; rushing from one thing to the next, the entire time feeling tired and like all you want to do is call it a day, only to realize that somebody else is gonna die if you don't do pull yourself up by your bootstraps and push forward.

** spoiler omitted **

Thanks, I had forgotten that.

It really makes sense. Poor Leira, once spent her spells she has little to add to the party. Obsessed about magic devices as she is I hope she can help with that at least.

As for the pace, it's good. It certainly keeps me checking in. It seems like we'll be fairly ragged after this, though. I'm glad you let us have 3rd level.

Amen to that. Man, this would've been a really tough slog if we'd started it at level two.

Agreed! I think things are moving along just fine on my end. There's a lot going on, so sometimes it takes a little bit to sort through all the information and decide what to do next lol. Other than that, I think the pace is just fine!

Honestly, I rather like the pace we are going through this. I think if we tried to rush it, there was be some dead PCs. We have been incredibly lucky with die rolls so far... Knock on wood!

Y'know, one more thing that I think is worth adding to your comment, Darkblade, and that is directed to my comrades-in-arms as much as to you:

I've been in a number of different PbPs, the majority of which died before they even got to the end of the first campaign book, and only one of them died because the GM decided to drop it. Most of them died simply due to lack of player participation in the form of inconsistent posting.

As a group, we've gone through somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 combat rounds since the end of July, a pace which, by my reckoning, is pretty doggone stellar. It would be nothing for combat like this to get really bogged down and for it to take days to get through a single round but I think we've pretty consistently gone through a full round every day or day-and-a-half, which, by my experience, is very fast.

So...kudos to you, Darkblade, for keeping things going at a good clip, and kudos to everyone else for keeping up and consistently posting shortly after our turns come up. It makes extended combats like this so much more fun!

Agreed, Songan! I have seen extended combats kill PbP games faster than anything else. I think we have a very dedicated group here. I mean, why wouldn't we be dedicated? We've got a stellar GM and a phenomenal AP that I look forward to enjoying.

One of the best times I had with my old tabletop group from years ago, was playing Against the Giants... Good times!

Thanks guys for the appreciation. I will strive to keep you all entertained and hopefully engaged in the events to come.

I want everyone to enjoy themselves up to the very last moment, when the Storm Tyrant crushes the last of your hopes and dreams, raining fiery destruction down upon your homes as you are forced to watch, bound and helpless, kneeling over the edge of his floating cloud citadel, while his flight of red dragons scours the lands clean of your lesser races. Mwahahahaha... oh, sorry there.

For those inside the tower, you will need to continue moving along the tower wall to the black square to gain access to the roof above, where the drummer (D) is waiting. If you have not guessed it, he has cast Grease over the hatch area, making the going a bit tricky, especially if you slip and fall. There is a small chance of falling and actually slipping back down the hatch, all the way to the bottom of the stairs via the express route. I wanted to forewarn all to be prepared.