Actually I should probably be the last one to get the amulet, I am designed to avoid melee.
I think Marshall is the position that best fits my character. I can see Finwik as either the ruler, grand diplomat or spymaster. Grigor either General or warden depending on his best stats and predilection. Not sure about Kyras, he might fit many of the roles but ruler is fine. We need a lot more NPC's but I'm guessing we won't be doing any actual kingdom building right away. It will be more securing our positions and clean up for now. Maybe fort building...
Spell craft checks for:
Perhaps tomorrow...
Seems Kyras' aspirations remain unchallenged ...
Erastil is an easy god to follow, but if Finwik is more of a gold and gem seeking guy, then there should be moral conflicts to deal with. Put simply, Erastil believers are your typical farmer types; working hard out in the field will get your more points than swiping gems :(
Guess Bjelich will have to in order to get the full benefits :)
Danna, you still see your fair share of melee though; a boon to your AC is always a good choice. Perhaps the Staglord's armor? Remember, less is more for female PCs :)
I agree with Danna Finwik. The spymaster has a very important job, like the ruler, he can use his modifier to adjust different kingdom attributes which comes in really handy. Grand Diplomat is also well suited to your skill set.
The Spymaster observes the kingdom's criminal elements and underworld and spies on other kingdoms. The Spymaster always has a finger on the pulse of the kingdom's underbelly, and uses acquired information to protect the interests of the kingdom at home and elsewhere through a network of spies and informants.
Benefit: During the Edict phase, choose one kingdom attribute (Economy, Loyalty or Stability). Add your Dexterity modifier or Intelligence modifier to this attribute.
Vacancy Penalty: Economy decreases by 4. During the Upkeep phase, Unrest increases by 1.
The Grand Diplomat is in charge of the kingdom's foreign policy—how it interacts with other kingdoms and similar political organizations such as tribes of intelligent monsters. The Grand Diplomat is the head of all of the kingdom's diplomats, envoys, and ambassadors. It is the Grand Diplomat's responsibility to represent and protect the interests of the kingdom with regard to foreign powers.
Benefit: Add your Charisma modifier or Intelligence modifier to Stability.
Vacancy Penalty: Stability decreases by 2. The kingdom cannot issue Diplomatic or Exploration edicts.
Grigor, I too will side with Danna from HR and her recommendations:
The General is the highest-ranking member of the kingdom's military. If the kingdom has an army and a navy, the heads of those organizations report to the kingdom's General. The General is responsible for looking after the needs of the military and directing the kingdom's armies in times of war. Most citizens see the General as a protector and patriot.
Benefit: Add your Charisma modifier or Strength modifier to Stability.
Vacancy Penalty: Loyalty decreases by 4.
The Warden is responsible for enforcing laws in larger settlements, as well as ensuring the safety of the kingdom leaders. The Warden also works with the General to deploy forces to protect settlements and react to internal threats.
Benefit: Add your Constitution modifier or Strength modifier to Loyalty.
Vacancy Penalty: Loyalty and Stability decrease by 2.
Danna, you could consider:
The Marshal ensures that the kingdom's laws are being enforced in the remote parts of the kingdom as well as in the vicinity of the capital. The Marshal is also responsible for securing the kingdom's borders. He organizes regular patrols and works with the General to respond to threats that militias and adventurers can't deal with alone.
Benefit: Add your Dexterity modifier or Wisdom modifier to Economy.
Vacancy Penalty: Economy decreases by 4.
The Councilor acts as a liaison between the citizenry and the other kingdom leaders, parsing requests from the commonwealth and presenting the leaders' proclamations to the people in understandable ways. It is the Councilor's responsibility to make sure the Ruler is making decisions that benefit the kingdom's communities and its citizens.
Benefit: Add your Charisma modifier or Wisdom modifier to Loyalty.
Vacancy Penalty: Loyalty decreases by 2. The kingdom gains no benefits from the Holiday edict. During the Upkeep phase, Unrest increases by 1.
I don't see us needing a Royal Enforcer, however we do need to fill the main roles to avoid the penalties. Once Lord oKOyA returns from the hunt, we can take some time to learn more about what NPCs may be involved and solidify choices then.
Sorry for my delay in returning to the game... but the storm here has kept me super busy with work. I am only sleeping or working at this point. Things are supposed to calm down in the next 24 hours.
Will post asap then...
Ok, going out on a limb here, but it looks like the items listed thus far have all been identified save for the cursed longbow of alignment changing which Grigor has decided to play with ;)
Of these items, a few party members have made cautious claims...
potion clear mod x2 - Grigor x1
potion lesser restoration - Bjelich; although since he is able to cast it he probably shouldn't have it. Of course this means he will have to use up a valuable spell slot to ensure he can definitely cast it on an as needed basis... :P
+1 rapier - This manly sword seems to have made its way into Kyras' hands ;)
+1 longsword - Grigor will take on any challengers
+1 Composite longbow (+2 Str) - (UNIDENTIFIED BOLT FIRING OBJECT)
amulet of natural Armor +1 - ??? While anyone could use this, only those who suffer from armor penalties should be considered
Stag Helmet - Bjelich or Finwik
Staglord Leather - As this armor does not cover the entire body, it stands to reason Danna should take this (D&D rules: less is more) ;)
potion of feather fall - ??? This seems like a thieving item
potion of expeditious retreat - ??? This seems like a thieving item
universal solvent - ???? This seems like a thieving item
Kyras has no interest in the rapier. You do not need to memorize lesser restoration it is not immediately needed in any fight.
Helmet should go to Finwick.
I like the idea of Danna wearing the leather armor. Think of it as being more one with nature.:)
Give the amulet to Finwick as well.
Har, har. Surely it has a female function that leaves something to the imagination. Alternately, she could wear a tasteful tube top pulled over it :) I wouldn't mind the armor, depending on what it actually does... If it is just regular armor that looks like it's not there might not be worth it. Get on that identifying!
As for the helmet, maybe a Bjelich and Finwik could each try it out for a bit and see who benefits the most from it.
The leather is simply +1 it passed the ID. It just does not cover the chest. It is Danna's if she wants it.
potion clear mod x2 - Grigor x1, Kyras x1?
potion lesser restoration - Bjelich; Grigor will need someone to help him drink it the next time he gets poisoned :P
+1 rapier - This manly sword seems to have no takers. It will be put in the for sale or trade pile; perhaps Kryas can trade it in for a katana? :)
+1 longsword - Grigor seems to have fended off all challengers, the sword is his
+1 Composite longbow (+2 Str) - (UNIDENTIFIED ARROW FIRING STICK)
I think Danna or Kyras will benefit more from this. Its too big for Finwik, Grigor's main att is charging and Bjelich will need to hit the gym....
Amulet of natural Armor +1 - Finwik
Stag Helmet - Finwik; he will look cooler in it. I'm sure that Bjelich can borrow the mask from time to time.
Staglord Leather - Danna, plus the matching leather tube top ;)
potion of feather fall - Actually, Kyras has the scroll of fly. Assuming he will add the spell to his book, it makes more sense for him to have this since he is likely to be flying around more than the rest of us at this point in the AP
potion of expeditious retreat - Finwik This seems like a thieving item
universal solvent - Finwik This seems like a thieving item
Danna can't use bows so no competition here.
Thank you everyone for your patience. (Big) Update coming tomorrow.
In other news, surgery is tentatively set for Dec 18th.
Kyras, RotRL? Rolled 20 but couldn't find anything...PMed but no reply :(
Grigor has no interest in being the ruler of our new kingdom, and I have no interest in playing the ruler. :)
Looking briefly at PF kingdom rules, the good possible roles for Grigor are either General, Royal Enforcer, or Warden. Out of these, the one that makes by far the most sense is General.
Hi all. My current understanding is that, while I could definitely post something useful next, the game is in a bit of a lull and I'm not particularly slowing things up by not posting right away. I have the same understanding about all of our other projects, e.g. Roll20, with which I have done nothing. If this is not the case and someone is waiting on me for anything, please let me know.
Just FYI, in this campaign, prisoners and trials are next on Grigor's mind; he anticipates early afternoon completion in the same day, and it's probably closing on noon. I'll write up a very brief "discussion" note about trials to explain.
I would like to make a request, in the case that anyone has any free time this close to Christmas. I tried to send around a Google Doc spreadsheet to everyone with the campaign calendar. I couldn't send it to our newest player, because I don't have his email address. It's possible I didn't properly send it to anyone at all -- I don't use shared GDocs much. Could someone take a quick look to let me know that they received it, and whether there is anything immediately problematic with it? I'm a big believer in two pairs of eyes and my own fallibility. Also, could someone who knows it please send our newest companion's email address to the group? Thanks.
Grigor, I took a look at the doc but can't vouch for its accuracy. I'll just go with you on this trusting that it is up to date. I mean you've kept good records during the live sessions :) I also forwarded the message to Finwik, I'm pretty sure he got it but is probably like me - we'll trust you have it all down.
Nothing is happening on Roll20. Not sure what is going on there.
Before we break out the gavels and white wigs, lets not forget that there is still the question of the Staglord's father to deal with. Bjelich is fine with leaving the bandit's tied up while we go downstairs; I'm sure Grigor's knots will be tight enough and we can also knock them out :) We can bring Akiros down with us. I don't want to spend a lot of time messing around with trials when there is still danger in the fort, not to mention the possibility that Than and Kressle may still be alive.
Please finalize the loot distribution (now with more loot, as per my updated list in the IC post).
As for Kingdom positions... I see so far:
Ruler - Kyras
Councilor -
General - Grigor
Grand Diplomat -
High Priest - Bjelich
Magister -
Marshal - Danna
Royal Enforcer -
Spymaster - Finwick
Treasurer -
Warden -
Current cast of NPCs available to fill vacant roles: Oleg, Svetlana, Crix, Jhod, Kesten, Bokken, Mikmek, Sootscale, Akiros(?), Kressle(?), Jubilost Narthropple, +?
Happy holidays to all!
May Erastil's blessings touch each and everyone of you!
And have a Merry Christmas too!
Oh sure, let's all go down to confront the Staglord's insane dad now! Now that the cleric has pumped out a bunch of healing spells that he's not bothered to keep track of :P
It'll be a pain to backtrack and figure out what Bjelich has left over, but I'll figure it out IF everyone else is eager to jump down the rabbit hole.
You should have been tracking them all along. What if you were attacked in the night?
Danna would want to get him as soon as possible. Also remember Grigor only needs healing for the hp that dropped him below zero. All the rest is exertion. Did he take one hit for 27 damage?
Grigor and Striker were unconscious & dying. I'm not sure how many HP he was down and I need to be reminded what the exertion rules are (DM oKOyA?). I suppose I can retcon one spell to get it back. One spell and a burst were needed at the very least. Grigor needs to confirm how much damage needs to be healed though.
Striker took 9 damage that put her over the edge. That means she needs 9 healing to bring her back to full but she was at -8 so I think that even with the 6 heal points she is still unconscious? The exertion HP don't come back until you are conscious right? If that is the case please ignore her following me down into the pit.
Just a question about our current health. In the fight with the Staglord, Finwik suffered 29 strain damage (leaving him with 1hp). After the fight I recall setting his health back to 30. Was this correct or should it actually be 7 right now (1 + 6 from healing burst)?
The short answer is: any HP loss that isn't the result of a critical hit, a failed saving throw or the "final blow" (a hit that reduces you to negative HP) is "strain" and recovers with a short rest. HP lost as a result of those 3 are "injury" and need to be healed with magic, the heal skill or time (ie overnight).
So yes, you were correct in resetting your HP to 30.
Thanks for the link, it should help :) However, until we get fully accustomed to what is strain and what is lethal, could we impose upon you to indicate which is which when dmg is dealt? A simple abbreviation would suffice; (s) for Strain and (i) for injury. As players, the same will be true for dmg we deal to creatures and I suggest we use the same abbreviations in our posts. If anything, this will help me to keep these rules in mind.
Here is how I would do it in my stat line if I were you:
HP: 24(base) -12(strain) -5(injury) = 7 of 24
Ok, but I want to make sure I have the right numbers in the right spots,
A normal attack dealing strained damage. So my Player Stat Line should read
Continuing...
As this is a confirmed critical, this is injury damage. So the Player Stat Line reads
This third hit, had it been the first or second, would normally result in strained damage, however because it is hit #3, Bjelich's HP would now be reduced to -2 and the player stat line should read
or is it ??
First one.
Danna has the right of it... the order is mostly irrelevant, that is, until the last of your HP. The hit that puts you into the negatives is by definition the "final blow" and therefore injury damage.
Those 17 HP lost to the critical hit and the "final blow" must be healed. They are not recovered by rest and refit. In your example, at least 2 HP would need to be healed to make you conscious (and staggered) and 3 to get you back on your feet.
At that point you would still have 14 injury damage, so with a 5 minute rest only, you would be at . If you wished to be at full HP you would need to heal the injury damage via magic, the heal skill or overnight rest. Keep in mind that those work as normal. So they might not work to heal all 10 depending on method and factors.
Girlfriend and I still having busy days. I'm running flat out just to make it to everything and still make it back home occasionally to feed my cat. We were talking wistfully today about just skipping New Years (but agreed that of course we really wanted to go).
I think I understand the strain rules, except for some rare end-cases that are probably covered at the link. Thanks for going through the examples. However, unfortunately, I checked when I was at home earlier today, and I didn't record damage well enough during our live session. Yes, I should have known better; I'm sorry. Now it's so much later that I can't remember details of the battle at all. Maybe someone else can recall enough details to fill in some likely blanks.
All that I recorded were two minor initial hits, and then nothing between having 31HP and -1HP. Presumably I didn't take all 32 points of damage in one hit.... did I? Was there a critical in there?
The standard rule for this, as far as I'm concerned, is that if the player couldn't be bothered to keep good records about basic things then they can't complain about going forward with the worst of the possible scenarios that fits the available data. However, there is always room for DM leniency, especially for new rules. I'll make sure to record this properly in the future, and I'm fine with any ruling now. Unless someone can recall better, that leaves Grigor with 32 - 27 = 5 injury damage, out of 42 HP. Basically, other than having used his one Challenge for the day, he's almost fully fit. Of course, the character Grigor doesn't want to go into the dungeon today at all, regardless of this...
I remember a bit more about the previous fight. It was the Staglord's super-powered arrow shot that took down Grigor. It took him just down to -1HP, and was described as an arrow striking through his armor and sinking into his chest. (I demurred, and suggested that the arrow embedded itself into the armor just at the shoulder, but that the force of it threw Grigor off balance and back, and that he fell clumsily, may have hit his head, and did not get back up. Perhaps a difference of opinion about whether "final blow" damage should be described with effects relative to the amount of damage done or relative to the final negative hit point number. Even with no help of any kind, the chance that Grigor would have died from this wound was very close to zero.) No one really paid any attention to the details and the battle continued. I don't think that this one hit could have done more than 27 damage, so Grigor should be fully healed. But he's still against exploring the dungeon right away. :D
For what it's worth, hitting the dungeon now is just an Objectively Bad Idea, from both in-game and out-of-game perspectives. If we were meta-gaming, we should be working out a way that our characters could possibly decide not to do it, taking wary account of our DM's pleas that we stop doing things that kill all our characters. I'm not meta-gaming Grigor, though -- Grigor would actually think it silly. If I were meta-gaming Grigor, he would just go along with it for the sake of party unity.
I'm not following your logic. The Staglord's super arrow shot is more than capable of doing 27 damage in a single shot. (A crit would have killed you outright most likely) I seem to recall it was his super shot that put Grigor in the negatives, meaning that Grigor has 27 points of injury damage. As such, they need to be healed as they aren't recouped with rest and refit.
As for my description of the wound (and I'm not sure why I am even discussing this but) what, pray tell me, is the significant difference between what I described and what you suggest?
Oh, that all makes sense then. So the Staglord did 32 damage to Grigor in one hit, putting him to -1HP, and I had it all recorded correctly. Grigor made his subsequent fort save on the first round. As I understand it, after the battle, Bjelich healed Grigor for 27 of the injury damage, and then the strain would heal, so he is at 0 strain / 5 injury now.
The rest is just colour, not substantive. A character takes 32 damage, which is enough to kill any ordinary person outright. However, they have 31HP. One thing to do is to describe the damage as an effect that would pretty invariably be fatal, but then the character is found to miraculously survive, because they have high HP. Another thing to do is to describe the start of an effect that could be fatal, but then end the description with the character exhibiting power that partially mitigates the effect because they have lots of remaining HP, but still succumbing enough to "drop". I prefer the latter, but neither is wrong.
Some commentary on trials. I think that when I talk about trials, I'm confusing people, so I want to clarify.
It's easy for people in our society to not know just how terrifyingly recent are many things about trials that we take for granted. For example, the notion of being innocent until proven guilty was only really put into practice near the end of the eighteenth century. That's not a typo. Maybe you've all known that forever; I only learned it last year.
That being said, people have been holding trials of some sort or other for thousands of years, for longer than we have recorded history, and across essentially all societies larger than a tribe. Arguably, the reason that people have held trials is not as much because it would ensure better justice, but instead because it deflected blame from the powerful, who were interested in exacting punishment while making the fewest possible enemies.
When Grigor is putting on a trial, he's thinking a medieval trial. You should think less about modern courtroom dramas and more "I'm going to get medieval on his ass".
So what sort of a trial are you going to give them? Will it be a trial (or perhaps I should say Ordeal) by fire, water, bread or combat?
How the Medieval Justice System may have actually worked...
If you intend to conduct a trial by jury...
The Lord’s steward was in charge of the court. A jury of 12 men was chosen by the villagers. The jury had to collect evidence and decide whether the accused was guilty or not guilty and, if found guilty, what the punishment should be.
...then we will have to wait until we get back to Oleg's.
However if you intend to conduct an inquisition, then I suppose Grigor can appoint himself the inquisitorial judge and serve as investigator, accuser, prosecutor, and final judge. But you should note, a probable-cause requirement and other safeguards were put in place to protect the rights of the defendant. :))
Could always just have an informal trial with our party and whatever witnesses are available. I.e. let each bandit state his case, look at evidence on their person or at the scene, question witnesses (Akiros), then we weigh their actions and together come up with a punishment.
It's not as time consuming (or as fair) as conducting a thorough investigation and then finding a jury to hear the case but it might be realistic given the situation (if you captured prisoners and dragged them around with you every time you were attacked by bandits, you could find yourself with quite a convoy every time you go from one town to another).
Could always just apply the theory of 'road justice' (don't know if it is a real thing) - the idea that if you are attacked by bandits (or attack known bandits), you are in the right to kill them. So if you wind up incapacitating them instead (or they surrender), they are at your mercy. Disarm them, beat them, send them on their way, kill them, take them to the next settlement - almost anything works and if you don't kill them they won't be complaining about the lack of a thorough investigation, they'd just be darn happy to be alive.
We are basically mandated to deal with the bandits by eliminating them but we are giving leniency (obviously, as we didn't kill Akiros or Crix or Kressle) as we see fit. Other than the one guy we need to take to that guy at Oleg's, as far as Danna is concerned unless they have someone to speak up on their behalf who we are inclined to believe, it's th'ot cuttin' time!
Had to double check my alignment...
yep, th'ot cuttin time!
Ha ha! Okay, I'm still not communicating.... when you think medieval, you can exclude late medieval. The party has a charter, the charter has provisions, and Grigor plans to execute that charter. Grigor has seen a number of trials before, but he has never heard of a jury.
Maybe you just need to see it work out in roleplay. We say "judge, jury, and executioner" in a pejorative sense, implying that all three should be different. Grigor would agree to the extent that he would think it better, in general, if the judge were not the executioner. However, out of the PCs, he thinks only Kyras would be up to a role as bailiff, and Kyras has let him down in the past about this. He won't trust it to Akiros. So it looks like he's stuck doing it all himself. :)
The aim is that, when it's done, the one thing that it won't be called is time-consuming. It's not that I want trials to be unfair, but they shouldn't get in the way of gaming, and by chance Grigor has an interest in efficiency.
...just read Danna's post. She looks slender, but she is remarkably strong for her size... maybe Grigor has his bailiff... :)
Perhaps I'm not reading into your posts as much as I should be, but I still don't understand what it is Grigor wants to do? If not a medieval trial, then what procedures will Grigor follow? The charter provided to use does not exactly list procedures, or does it? I don't have a copy handy.
I'm with Danna on this one, all bandits have been caught collaborating with a notorious bandit leader, the Staglord. They have done their best to fight against our mission to bring the Staglord to justice and are guilty. The next step should be to proclaim their guilt, announce sentence and carry it out. This is the quickest route to take. It won't get in the way of the game progress and there is no need to call in bailiffs. Apart from a couple exceptions; Akiros and the guy wanted for a bounty who needs to be kept alive, we are just waiting for Danna's rescue mission to TPK us.
Chad and I discovered that there were some bonuses and omissions on the first couple of rounds of Kingdom Building. He has given me permison to start from scratch. Please note that I am using the rules exclusively from the Ultimate Campaign. I am currently using Herolab for the kingdom bu will also be using a spreadsheet so everyone can see kingdom status. I will be re-rolling for all but the first 2 events as the modifiers would have effected the results.
Month 1
Upkeep: Stability: Nothing as no country exists.
Consumption : Nothing as no Kingdom Exists
Fill Vacant Magic Item Slots: No Slots
Modify Unrest: Unrest is zero
Edicts: Assign Leadership: See Bjelich/Danna post
Claim and Abandon Hexes: Claim Hex g5 (cost 1bp)
Has a river, a lair, staglord fort
Build Terrain Improvements: Build Farm (cost 4 bp)
Build Quarry (cost 6 bp)
Create Settlement: Create settlement of Orlovsky (cost 2 BP)
Build Castle (1/2 of 54 BP=27 BP)
Create Army: None
Issue Edicts: Declare National Holiday Of Founding of Silvanus (1 holiday/year)
Taxation Rate: Light Taxation
Promotion: Token
Income: Withdrawal From Treasury: None
Deposit To Treasury: none
Sell Expensive Items: None
Collect Taxes: Total/3+1= 6BP
Events Phase: 25% chance- Chad rolled no event on first round
More to come...
I think it was Sylvania, like transylvania if that's what we're going with. Silvanus is ok but of course is reminiscent of the d&d druid god. Nice roll on the taxes. I like how the capital is named after you oh glorious leader...
Naming the country after a Druid god might feed Danna's ego, better correct the spelling :P
I don't mind Kyras naming the first settlement after himself, but I would change the spelling here too. The Orlovsky settlement has no ring to it. What about Fort Orlov?
Do you have a link for the spreadsheet?
Silvania it is then.
I will settle for the city of Orlov. Forts are for backwater areas.