Just so you guys know, the next two days I'll be driving /riding for hours tomorrow to see my folks (Family is having hard times) then going back the next day so my posting maybe slow or even miss a day. I should have internet connection but thought I should give you a head's up.
I know how family hard times is Xanxan. I hope things get better soon.
No worries. Labor day weekend was a drought. Back to work tomorrow, back to posting for me. But I understand it'll be slow getting back into things.
I doubt it will ever occur to Tully that you might intend to kill/assassinate anyone to get them out of the way, and weaken the numbers against us. He probably wouldn't endorse that plan, either. So, if we're waiting for that kind of opportunity, just for RP sake, please try be a little circumspect about how you plan it. =)
That said, I'm still all for mutinying tonight! Since I'm all about some non-lethal, I'll be busy knocking out the Rahadoumi, and won't even notice if you viciously gut Tate in his hammock! >-)
Things are clearly percolating with you guys, I'm waiting to see what you decide to do. Feel free to post actions and rolls and such as you want. I'm waiting to react to what you guys decide, one way or another.
We will never be stronger than we are at this moment (full health, full spellcasting). But, we can certainly get weaker. A few failed CON checks and we're fatigued/exhausted. A few failed job checks and we're at the gratings losing hp, which means we're probably losing healing spells, too. A trip to the box could put one of us out of action for 24 hours or more.
Tomorrow morning, Callum will be going up the rigging, alone. Xanxan may be sent to the bilges, alone. Jirobo may be in the hold, alone. If Fishguts managed to smuggle liquor aboard, I may be in the galley, alone. We have no control over any of this. If we disobey, we get punished.
We have never actually spoken to any of the crew about mutinying (which I think was a wise decision on all of our parts). So, while they may be friends, they may not actually be willing to fight for us.
Suppose we do manage to kill one of the toadies? There's a reasonable chance we could get caught, or that Plugg and Scourge will blame us regardless. Now, we have either have to fight all of them at once to save each other, or watch an ally/allies get keelhauled. Either way, we're in a worse position than we are right now.
We have no Night Actions. So, 50% of our opportunities to influence the crew are gone. It's a skeleton crew and a maniacal taskmaster (who has already said he intends to up the discipline/punishment). If he really dumps the labors on us, we may only be able to Work Diligently (meaning no opportunity to influence the crew).
I can't see the benefit of waiting.
My two cp...
I'm not sure we actually need to do a whole lot of influencing anyway as it seems you have a bunch of people ready to help out but we do need to organize and ask people. We will get our heads handed to us if we try and do it without the backing of our friends on the crew.
We will get our heads handed to us if we try and do it without the backing of our friends on the crew.
If we're lucky, we should be heading topside to face Plugg and Scourge with most of our hp and spells. It also gives us options if there is a surprise of any kind. One of our "friends" could be a traitor (they are, after all, pirates), or another officer could have come aboard secretly (like the spellcaster, maybe?).
Also, we won't be dependent on the crew to achieve victory (though they may help).
Now to the matter at hand...
- It looks like I may have missed the part about the Wormwood's sails disappearing over the horizon. Sailing is slow (2 mph by the book) so I figured it was still close enough that they would see a signal fire or whatnot. It seems more likely not, so that argument is out.
- Scourge and Plugg just now took a bunch of folks away. Perhaps to chat, perhaps to plot, perhaps to party. We don't know, that's why it might be an idea for someone stealthy (e.g. Xanxan) to go and listen in. Knowledge is power.
- On the Wormwood, the officer's doors were locked and trapped. I think there was likely some kind of night shift / night watch. I doubt security would be anything less than that (and may be more as I expect they'll be having us under some kind of watch). One person sets off the alarm and it'll be we 6 against 11+, at least two of which are likely considered "boss" level encounters. We get caught, we're dead. We don't know what preparations they may have made or are making in this regard. Knowing is half the battle (GI Joe).
- We should not (and perhaps can not) do this alone. We have allies in most of the rest of the crew. We need to get them on our side with the idea of a mutiny so they can deal with the rabble while we take down the bosses. Without them firmly in our corner, they may join us, they may stand by the sidelines, or they may even try to stop us (with less lethal methods) out of fear of being charged with mutinty themselves by association. Why leave it to chance when we can make it the first option? That way not only to they buy in to the mutiny and the possible repercussions, they get to participate and celebrate in the victory. Could ultimately make for a more loyal crew.
- We can always work dilligently in order to get good results and thus not give them the excuse they are looking for to punish us. No rum rations also means no being caught trying to dump it. Win/win.
Anyhow, to summarize:
Short term, find out what they are talking about right now.
Slightly longer term (tonight/tomorrow), get those "Helpful" folks in the crew on our side.
Finale: Mutiny! (tomorrow/next day or night).
- We can always work dilligently in order to get good results and thus not give them the excuse they are looking for to punish us. No rum rations also means no being caught trying to dump it. Win/win.
That's my primary concern, actually.
- One failed job check and we sit and watch Scourge beat our friend unconscious... No mutiny tonight.
- We have Jirobo heal them up (assuming it isn't Jirobo that's unconscious). Now a significant portion of our healing/spellcasting is consumed... No mutiny tonight.
- A failed CON check means our druid, wizard, rogue, and bard are all fatigued (not an unlikely possibility)... No mutiny tonight.
Even if we choose to go ahead in spite of one of these scenarios, we've significantly diminished our chances of success.
- What if Plugg and Scourge's plan is to isolate us and injure/murder us (also not unlikely)?
Scourge shouts, "Xanxan! You're in the bilges today with Tate and Jape!"
What do we do at that point? Start the mutiny then and there, while all their allies are with them on deck? Let Xanxan refuse to obey orders and see if he can survive the punishment? Watch him go below decks and pray he comes back up?
I agree we should send Xanxan up with the potion of invis and Tully's message spell on him. But, I think we should be ready to act tonight, contingent on what he learns.
I just wanted to pop in to say "hello" to my old crewmates. i've missed you. And Tobias has, too. Glad to see the game is still moving!
I know it sounds crazy, but we are healed up right now, we have potions and we are rested. I cannot see the situation actually improving. If we work this well, we can eliminate them quickly.
The big guys are only bad when we can't swarm them. We get rid of the scrubs and we should be able to eliminate Plugg.
There are 9 scrubs. We're not all stealth focused. A failed stealth roll means we're dead rather than fatigued or injured. Even if we succeed on the stealth, the CDG isn't necessarily silent.
Also, don't forget Sandara is on the ship. If we have the 'helpful' crew on our side, it means we have a fully functioning cleric who's level is higher than ours (from her channelling she's 3rd or 4th lvl which also means the Lesser Restoration spell is available).
Listen, I'm all for the mutiny, I just think we need more information and have our allies with us when it happens.
Writing e-mails late at night and early in the morn... bad business, but I think I set out the points I had wanted to.
Maybe I'm being influenced by film and such where a typical mutiny is a grand battle with the crew going up against the officers rather than a few members of the crew going through and trying to silently kill off their opponents and then cry "Victory!" when done, the remaining bewildered crew looking on, wondering what the heck was happening, lol.
EDIT: Hello Calvin!
Please remember, a sailing ship can't just turn around and come right back. If the wind is foul, the Wormwood could only be a few miles away and it could take them a week to get back to us...
Also: Hey, Calvin!
Hey Calvin!
And Xanxan is off to eaves drop. Not sure what rolls were needed (it might, knock on wood, be too soon for traps to have been set up), but I made a sampling for the DM to use
Hey Calvin!
Sorry about that lackluster report on Xanxan's behalf guys. I probably should have had him sneak around a bit more, but I worried I'd slow the game down if I did
No worries. Much of the interesting stuff probably happened behind that door. The dice gods just decided that it wasn't something we were meant to know.
Just a heads up that work is going to be a bit crazy for me this week so my posting will be somewhat sporadic. I'll still be updating though, we're not pausing or anything.
Just an update. I'll be away on vacation from the 14th (Friday) to the 23rd (Sunday) of this month. I'm doubtfull I'll be near internet then, so feel free to 'bot' me during that period.
Will do, as necessary. Thanks for the heads up.
Tomorrow is my return from Australia. Back to the States! Yay for 19 hours of travel!
Game is back up, sorry for the delay folks.
Going to have to blitz on some work stuff before I fly out today, so I'll not be able to post some actions until I get back.
In the lead-up to the mutiny, if possible, Callum would try to quietly talk (e.g. during a shift/when alone, or pretending to have a small gambling match with them in the evening) with a few of the friendly crewmates (e.g. Sandara, Maheem, etc.) to get them onside for whenever it happens (the sooner the better). They can help spread the word to the other friendlies (read: those already helpful) so as to not draw undue attention (which might happen if the PCs were to go around to each and every one to get them in).
With what Kroop was saying, I figure they may be less reticent about joining a mutinty (since, really, Plugg started it first, and now there is a clear and present danger to them as well).
As before, I really don't think we (the PCs) should be doing this alone.
Good luck all! I'll catch up on the happenings when I get back.
An' hang from the yardarm them whats don't want te walk the plank!
Sorry about not posting till now. I didn't get signs of an update for some reason
Sorry about the delay in posting!
I think we need to remember that our friends are just NPC's. As much as we may like them, we're the heroes here.
Also, it looks like we are just fast-forwarding through the days and nights, now. So, we can't influence anyone else or search the ship or take any of the other day/night ship actions. I think all that's left to do is mutiny.
I don't want to be "that guy" that initiates combat while everyone else is trying to avoid it. I'm just not sure why we're trying so hard to avoid it...
So Tully seems to be the guy getting ready for action! lol. Just looking to find out what people want or expect to do. As per his post above, I want to make sure people are all on the same page with what's going on.
Well, in the interest of party harmony and hasty resolution, Xanxan has proposed the CN solution... the coin toss :)
It seems we go! lol
*Sigh* No one ever trusts the coin
;)
I sure hope Fipp has 7 or less hitpoints, or that non lethal is just gonna tick him of and blow this before it starts
Alrighty, seem to have an idea of what the plan is so I'll run with that. Assuming your surprise round action is to attemp to coup de grace some of the sailors, I will start us off with Round 1 when I update. Gonna give people the rest of the day (US EST) to post any responses, specificaly if they're going for lethal or nonlethal, what weapons or spells cast, etc. Plus this gives me time to put the map together. Pretty sure Callum is on vacation so I'll DMPC him for the time being as needed.
Also as far as coup de grace with nonlethal, I think the rules as written would say no it's not possible but I'm ok with it. Yeah assume you choke them out or hit them square on the temple, etc.
Ko'ulu utilizes the fisherman's nerve pinch.
Totally lost my head, I'm writing up the big update and I completely forgot to handle book keeping.
Everyone levels up to 3! Lose track of things with PBP.
Everyone post here when you've leveled and I'll have the update ready to go then. I know Callum is on vacation but I won't hold the game up. I'll take his lack of leveling into consideration when DMPCing him to make sure it doesn't penalize the party.
Umm wow ok. This is a big level for me. Quick question will I have gotten my level two spells before the fight started?
Rolling for hit points and taking either half +1 (not counting con bonus) or the roll which ever is higher
HP Roll:
Jirobo, is it okay if Xanxan learns Tengu? I was going to put a skill point in linguistics and it makes sense he might learn from a friend if his friend were willing.
Fine by me Xanxan. I'm putting a rank into linguistics anyway to pick up Gnome and Polygot as Jirobo has probably picked up on some of your native tongue and Ko'ulu's.
Leveled my character.
--3rd Level Storm Druid--
+5 HP
+1 Reflex save
+1 BAB
+1 Climb rank
+1 Heal rank
+1 Spellcraft rank
+1 Stealth rank
+1 Swim rank
+1 Linguistics rank(favored class bonus): (new languages: Gnome and Polygot)
+Feat: Improved Initiative
+Class ability: Stormvoice (Ex) At 3rd level, a storm druid's voice can magically carry over howling winds and peals of thunder. Whenever a Perception check is needed to hear the druid's voice, the DC is reduced by an amount equal to the druid's level.
+1 2nd level spell + 1 2nd level bonus spell.
Xanxan is now third level and ready to rock!
Rolling for hp:
+6 hp (favored class included)
+1 BAB
+1 fort save
8 skill ranks:
+1 Acrobatics, +1 Climb, +2 Knowledge (local, +1 Perform (oratory), +2 Profession (sailor) , +1 Swim
Feat: Lingering Performance
Spells: cure light wounds, lullaby
Special Abilities: inspire competence +2
Tully's leveled and ready.
+5 hp (favored class included)
+1 Fort and Reflex
7 Skill ranks
+2 linguistics (Auran, Ignan) +1 Craft (Ships, Siege Engines), +1 Knowledge (Arcana, Geography), +1 Spellcraft
Spells learned: Mirror Image, Summon Monster II
Feats: Augment Summoning
To answer Tylos's question for everyone, you will have all leveled before the fight. So whatever spells, abilities, etc would be available.
Once Ko'ulu has leveled up, I'll get the update posted and we'll get things going.
hp:6
bab+1; ref+1, will+1
sailor, swim, intimidate, climb +1
feat: Intimidating prowess
Just as a heads up, I'm heading out tomorrow morning for a wedding this weekend so my posting will be sparse to none from Friday through Sunday. Weekend is usually slow for me anyways but Friday will also be out as well. I'll post when I can but we'll start back in full on Monday.
Have a good time
Don't have TOO good a time :)