DM Stephens Serpents Skull Campaign - Chapter 2: Racing to Ruin (Inactive)

Game Master terok

1) Barely recognizable as a ruined and overgrown fallen tower, only small areas of stone mark this ruin as anything but jungle. It is located on the east side of Tazion.
2) A single massive ruin rises from the dense brush, consisting of concentric rings of crude stone columns surrounding a yawning pit in the earth. It is located on the south side of Tazion.
3) Near the center of the ruins stand the shattered remains of three conical cylinders connected by low, thick walls of piled stone. Boab trees burst from crumbling structures, their thick roots and branches devouring large chunks of ancient stonework.
4) In the northern section of the ruins rises a mound of vegetation, barely recognizable as an overgrown ruin.

1) The inside of the fallen tower is overgrown and you can't see into the center, vines and branches have overgrown over it...you see nothing on the outskirts around the tower.

1=N
2=E
3=S
4=W
1d4 ⇒ 1

The party is on the north side of the ruins.

Previously... :)

After two days of Nim looking around the jungle from the air he finally spots a large ruin ahead and reports back to the city. You make your way to the eastern edge of the ruin...

Nim returns to the group, retakes his human form, and informs the others of what he saw.

After listening to Nim's report Balani asks, Are they far enough apart that we can pick each group off without alerting the others, or at least eliminate them before help arrives?

I don't think that DM Stephen mentioned the actual scale of the ruins or distances between the landmarks.

Perhaps a rough map? :)

Tazion Map 75ft Per Square.

You know the Charua-Ka are very noisy and scream as they go into combat...probably letting anyone know in 100-200 feet in all directions that something is going on.

Just to confirm that you will begin you camp on the eastern side of the map per my original e-mail. There is nothing to stop you from moving camp though.

We should deal with the Charua-Ka first.

There are two areas of Charua-Ka you spotted...the pit where there appears to be a small group and the larger tree area where you spotted at least a half dozen moving around...you would assume there are more since there were some ruined buildings around the base of the tree.

I thought there were three areas with Charua-Ka? The pit area in the south, the cylinder area in the centre and the mounded ruin in the north (with the 4 armed gorilla).

Only the closet ruin has no Charua-Ka spotted at it?

We could skirt the wall to the south and try to take the Charua-Ka around the pit out first. (Is that a break in the wall to the SE of the pit area?) Or we could try and explore the nearest ruin first, then move to the pit area.

I would think the central area to be where the Charua-Ka congregate the most densely.

What say the rest of you?

I can check this one out on the ground first, just to make sure there are no hidden surprises when we take on the others.

"If you do that, Belani, let me cast the same spell on you that I did on Nim. It would let us communicate with whispers over a good distance."

Message cantrip.

Balani nods in agreement at Jawn's suggestion and barring any objections slips noiselessly into the trees.

As long as we are still in jungle stealth is +23 and perception is +14 unless animals then +18 or monstrous humanoids +16.

Mihai abstains from the precision of the decision forward, instead proffering "Wherever you walk I will follow your footsteps"

Aye, give Balani a bit of time and she'll soon have a detailed map prepared for us.

Is Balani going in alone while we stay in our camp outside the wall?

Had planned on it, you guys are soooo noisy :)

Nim furrows his brow in concern. We already have a rudimentary understanding of the layout. Do you mean to look for traps?

Balani, her eyes looking longingly at the trees answers, Traps, or something not visible from the air. If you prefer to go for the monkey men I have no objections, but I would prefer to get into place before the metal man, She flashes a brief smile at Kragnir, crashes into the fray.

By all means, you can take point, and with a healthy lead on the rest of us, but we should be somewhere close by should things go awry.

So you are going to start with the pit surrounded by pillars and the small group of monkey-men?

I think so.

Balani shrugs, The monkey-men first then. She heads off in that direction, her shape barely visible to the others as she slips in and around the trees and overgrowth.

Go ahead and give me a stealth check Balani.
Also how far back will the rest of the group be? Going to set up message to keep in touch?
Going to try and find a hole in the wall on the east or south side? I can tee this up once we have this answered. Sorry for the delay, rough week only got a few short posts up, ready to roll again this week.

When Balani signals she is ready to set out after the monkey men, Jawn will cast Message on her. With a moment's thought, he'll also cast Mage Armor on himself. He'll follow at whatever distance Nim thinks is appropriate. He'll stay close, and repeat quietly to the group anything that Balani relays with the Message cantrip.

stealth: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (7) + 23 = 30

I will skirt the wall heading south while you follow keeping to the denser cover. I will let you know when I find a good way in.

Starting where they are, on the east, Balani gets as close to the wall as she can while keeping out of sight and follows it southward looking for a good place to enter.

You head southwest towards the wall with the group following about 150 feet behind you. You skirt the wall for about an hour before you find an obvious hole. You peer around and through before proceeding.

Just as you are about to go through you spot something out of sorts. You spend about 15-20 seconds looking at the wall entrance and spot the outline of a Camouflaged Barbed Net Traps. The trap appears to be a post wall creation and well maintained.

Please roll to disarm it if that is what you wish to do if you are able. The group could probably climb over the wall if you can't disarm it. Let me know how you proceed.

Balani looks the trap over and decides to try to disarm it.

disable device: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (16) + 15 = 31

Balani has no trouble disarming the trap and even manages to make it look as if it hasn't been touched. She lets the others know where to find the entrance and that she has spotted and disarmed the trap before heading cautiously through the opening.

You move through the wall opening and head north through the interior jungle. You leave a trail for Nim to follow and whisper some instructions until you get close to the hole in the ground that Nim described.

The jungle opens up close to where the Charau-Ka and the pit are.

A single massive ruin rises from the dense brush, consisting of concentric rings of crude stone columns surrounding a yawning pit in the earth. Heavily overgrown with jungle plants, weathered writing and stylized pictographs cover the columns.
A group of four Charau-ka warriors camp next to the monument, their gear resting near the edge of the pit. They appear to be looking outward towards the jungle...but don't appear to have seen you yet. You imagine that it will be hard to sneak up next to them with the noisy dwarf announcing your arrival from 150 feet away. At your current position on the south end of the pit, they are on the NE corner, you are about 80-100 feet away from them. The pit is about 30 feet across.

Is there enough cover that Balani can try to sneak around them before the others get there, if she asks them to give her a little time?

Yes, there is about 30-40 feet of brush and jungle to hide in at the closest point to them.

Balani relays the scene as best she can to Jawn and adds, Give me a minute to get around them.

stealth: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (15) + 23 = 38

Sliding through the shadows like one herself, she makes her way around the group and readies herself to fire on them the moment they seem to hear the others.

I want to get in a surprise round so I can sneak attack. Also I will sneak within 10' to get the option to restealth if that is possible. If I can't get that close I will still try to be within 30' to get pointblank. Will they really be hearing Krag 150' out? Is the jungle silent or are there a lot of general animal noises, can Nim do some loud bird calls beside him to cover the clinking and stomping :)

How is the rest of the group proceeding, charging in as soon as you get there? If so I can set up the combat.

As much subtlety as the others. Sorry i've been struggling to keep up lately. Have my negative levels worn off?

Mihai follows with caution at the rear of the trailing group, looking to Nim for guidance.

As much subtlety as the others. Sorry i've been struggling to keep up lately. Have my negative levels worn off?

Yes they have worn off.

Nim gets Jawn to message Balani the plan.

We'll sneak in as close as we can. When the Charau-Ka detect our arrival she can take them by surprise from the back while we charge in.

Tell her I am going to assume the form of a tiger when we get closer. Just so she knows not to put an arrow in me by mistake.

And I believe you are looking at things backwards regarding sniping Balani. You need to be at least 10' from them to re-stealth. Not 10' or within. The further the better as they will take penalties to their checks for every 10' away you are.

Jawn will relay the message to Balani. Once she confirms that she knows the plan, he'll nod to Nim, letting him know they are ready to act. He readies his spear and follows the others in.

Balani acknowledges the plan and waits for the 'signal'.

Is there anyway I can use my perception against theirs to see if I can detect the party first and possibly get two surprise attacks? I assume once the Charau-ka hear them I won't technically get a surprise round and would only get the sneak attack if I have a higher init. If I can attack just before they hear them AND get a higher init I could possibly get two sneak attacks, does that make sense or am I totally out to lunch?

And I believe you are looking at things backwards regarding sniping Balani. You need to be at least 10' from them to re-stealth. Not 10' or within. The further the better as they will take penalties to their checks for every 10' away you are.

Yes I read the "If you've already successfully used Stealth at least 10 feet from your target, you can make one ranged attack and then immediately use Stealth again." as needing to be within 10' on the initial stealth check but believe you are right about needing to be at least 10' away so I will be 30' away for the point blank.

Post coming tonight, sorry for the delay.

Balani moves into position at the opposite end from the group. Another Charau-ka appears out of the jungle to the east and joins his "friends" making the number 5 who appear to be camped here.
Krenn gives away your presence with his clanking just as you get to the edge of the jungle, about 80 feet from the Charau-ka.

You could have cast a couple of preparation spells if you wish before you take on this group.

They look over and spot you as you emerge from the jungle, neither side is surprised at this point.

Balani, if you wish you can take a surprise standard action at this point before anyone else acts. They are not aware of you. You will then have your first round full action since yo beat them in initiative.

Order of Combat Round 1:
Balani 26
Jawn 20
Nim 18
Kragnir 18
C-Ka 10
Mihai 10

Battle at the pit Start of Combat

Balani to act in SR then party to act except Mihai before them.

Balani, anticipating the imminent arrival of the others stealthily fires at the nearest apeman.
attack: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (3) + 12 = 151d8 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10
sneak attack damage: 1d6 ⇒ 51d6 ⇒ 3
stealth to remain hidden: 1d20 + 23 - 20 ⇒ (1) + 23 - 20 = 4

I think that hits? I should get sneak attack on my next attacks too because they are flatfooted yes?
using deadly stealth

Deadly Stealth - Once per day when you attack someone from stealth who is not aware of you when you attack you can find a weak point in their defenses, further lowering their AC by 2 (on top of any bonuses from the unaware target) and adding an additional 1d6 to your sneak attack damage.

Before they know what is happening Balani fires again, one of the Charau-ka falls lifeless with two powerful shots but the flurry of arrows gives her position away.

rapid shot attack#1: 1d20 + 12 - 2 ⇒ (20) + 12 - 2 = 301d8 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 31d6 ⇒ 1
rapid shot #2: 1d20 + 12 - 2 ⇒ (16) + 12 - 2 = 261d8 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 61d6 ⇒ 4

confirm crit rapid shot #1: 1d20 + 12 - 2 ⇒ (17) + 12 - 2 = 271d8 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

not sure about those grey squares, if they are providing cover she will take 5' to try to avoid them if possible. I think they will still hit even at -4. Could hit any of the closest three with point blank. Will take out c11 first as it is cleanest shot then whichever of the two that you think are the most visible with only 5' step.

Seeing the effects of Balani's attack more than the attack itself, Jawn launches into action himself. He launches a spell hoping to disable many of the creatures quickly.

Glitterdust, centered on the intersection of C/D 9/10. DC 17 will save or blinded.

Rushing into the grounds with a potion in hand and his hammer hefted over his shoulder, Kragnir downed it and grew to a size that matched the great ape beside him. Tossing the glass vial aside, Kragnir's suddenly free palm gripped his gigantic hammer alongside the other as he hefted his long weapon in two incredibly strong hands.

Squares taken up after moving and drinking- L13/14 and M13/14.

Round 1 Init 18

Nim, having transformed into a dire tiger before arriving on the edge of the clearing, bursts forth from the undergrowth with astonishing speed. He charges the nearest Charau-ka and pounces on it... (charge to F/G,10/11 and attack E,10)
pounce bite +charge -powerattack: 1d20 + 10 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (13) + 10 + 2 - 2 = 23
damage +powerattack: 2d8 + 7 + 4 ⇒ (4, 4) + 7 + 4 = 19
pounce claw +charge -powerattack: 1d20 + 10 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (6) + 10 + 2 - 2 = 16
damage +powerattack: 2d4 + 7 + 4 ⇒ (2, 2) + 7 + 4 = 15
pounce claw +charge -powerattack: 1d20 + 10 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (15) + 10 + 2 - 2 = 25
damage +powerattack: 2d4 + 7 + 4 ⇒ (2, 2) + 7 + 4 = 15
...ravaging it with teeth and claws before it even realized Nim was approaching with all the glittery dust confounding its vision.

Status and Effects:
AC: 13 (charging) HP: 59 of 59
wildshape into (large) Dire Tiger

Round 1 Init 18

Wic follows Nim, but lacks his masters new found speed (2xMA to I/J,11/12)

Status and Effects:
AC: 23 HP: 55 of 55

Balani springs to action as the group appears from the jungle sending three arrows into one of the Charau-Ka in quick succession. They are enough to drop one of the monkey warriors.

Jawn then sends some magical dust at the remaining 4...

Its hard to tell at this point how many are effected but they start shrieking and yelling.

Nim charges into the fray, in Tiger form, leaping onto one of the Charau-Ka, he doesn't even seem to know its coming as he is slammed to the ground and riped apart!

Wic and Kragnir move as quickly as they can towards the remaining monkey-men.

The Charau-Ka in D/10 steps over and starts shrieking even more and attacks Nim in tiger form 3 times.
club att 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 5 + 1 = 23 dam 1d4 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4 1d100 ⇒ 27 1-50 is a miss
bite att 1d20 + 0 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 0 + 1 = 16 dam 1d3 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4 1d100 ⇒ 72 1-50 is a miss
club att hasted 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 5 + 1 = 9 dam 1d4 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4 1d100 ⇒ 38 1-50 is a miss

The monkey-man bites Nim leg...not knowing that it will surely be his death.

The other two, not being right near Nim try to hear what is going on
DC 5 to determine Nim's location in combat due to snarling and screaming of their comrade. This is a move action though.

perception CK 11d20 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 = 16
perception CK 21d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15

They both wander over to Nim but can't attack this round.

Mihai is up to finish the round.

All three Charau-Ka are lined up in front of Nim except for one that spent part of the round feeling around one of the grey pillars on the map. All three appear to be blinded...or at least they were.

Positions: E/10, E/11, F/13.

Mihai follows in Kragnir's ever lengthening shadow and instills his movements with the surety and grace of his patron. A murmured "Walk strong" bids him forth... to blood and ruin.

Move up to N,13 - then Bit o' Luck on Kragnir.

Balani takes advantage of the apparent confusion of the enemy to fire off another two shots in quick succession.

attack #1 w/rapid shot: 1d20 + 11 - 2 ⇒ (11) + 11 - 2 = 201d8 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8
attack #2 w/rapid shot: 1d20 + 11 - 2 ⇒ (16) + 11 - 2 = 251d8 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5
blinded-no dex bonus sneak attack#1: 1d6 ⇒ 4
blinded-no dex bonus sneak attack#2: 1d6 ⇒ 4

Assume they are still blinded until at least Jawn's turn. Aiming at one in f13

The arrows streak towards the ape man directly in line with her, thudding into its body. Nim sees it crumple in front of him.

Order of Combat Round 2:

Balani 26 *gone
Jawn 20
Nim 18
Kragnir 18
C-Ka 10
Mihai 10

You think 21 points is enough to drop one of them!!!! You would be right...lol

The Charau-Ka drops from her arrow shots. The others continue to grope around...

Round 2 Map

With it looking like the battle is well in hand, Jawn readies his spear and advances to support the others.

Ready weapon and move to M13.

OOC discussion thread

Reporting for duty!

Thanks again for the invite Stephen. Let the great game begin! :)

Will stat up Nim later today... when you next see him he will have changed from wiry and sturdy to completely ripped... as I am going to focus on melee with Nim since we seem to be a casty bunch! :)

Lets get this show on the road. I am hoping to start the 1st chapter on Monday. That is contingent on everyone being able to complete their characters by Sunday night.
If you see a problem due to the holiday or personal reasons let me know, not a big deal, just trying to gauge everyone's availablity.

Item two, house rules. Skills will play a bigger part in my game. I haven't finished flushing out all of my rules, but just an idea of what are a few things that are different:

Crafting: Crafting times will be shortened, but the cost to craft will be at least 75% of the retail gp value of the item.

Skill focus feat: If you take skill focus you gain two additional powers from the feat:
Example: Skill focus (Acrobatics)
1) Extraordinary skill: Once per day your level of expertise in your chosen skill allows you to perform one act of "Extraordinary skill". You gain an additional +5 circumstance bonus to your roll when you choose to use your skill focus power.
2) When you use Acrobatics to tumble past opponents, you gain +2 to your armor class vs. attacks of opportunity.

Every skill focus feat will have its own power but the Extraordinary skill is the same for any skill you pick to focus on.

More to come...thanks!

Hey, reporting in! Thanks for the invite, I really look forward to seeing how this pans out. As I mentioned this will be the first PBP I've played in, so I'll need some guidance and such.

I understand that it's typical to make an 'alt' as is were for RPing purposes? If some-one could outline the typical expectations there-in, that would be awesome(or just point me to an example I can look over).

I think I have everything for Nora done, including an equipment list which I'll post as soon as I've got formatting and such figured out.

Click on the My Account in the gray bar near the top of the page. In the left hand column there's a Messageboard Aliases box. Put your character name for the Avatar Name, select an avatar image that fits your character, and hit Submit Changes. There, it's created. When you start a post you're have a Post As dropdown in the lower left corner, select the character for the game when doing so. It's also common to put your character sheet in the Aliases' profile for easy access.

Also if you click on my picture, click on alias', and then click on Malthir you will see a common character breakdown that is used on a PBP. Sections for relevant character attributes, attacks, etc. One we start pulling the characters together over the next few days I will provide some feedback on those types of things as well.

Don't mind helping out a new person so keep the questions coming!

Posting to dot. I don't see any problem getting the character ready in time. I'm mostly done as it is. Really looking forward to this. Thanks for picking me!

I believe I should have a completed character sheet in my profile now. Let me know if you have any questions about the math, or if you want me to expand on my background at all.

Posting to dot. I don't see any problem getting the character ready in time. I'm mostly done as it is. Really looking forward to this. Thanks for picking me!

I know he is not complete yet, but you look like you have over 20 ability points.

If each of you could let me know when you character is complete and I will review him.
Also let me know if you are interested in taking a skill focus and I can tell you the relevant power.

Gaming tonight so probably won't be back on until tomorrow morning.

Woohoo! I will definitely finish my character ASAP. I still have to choose a feat and a non-campaign trait, so I'm going to do a quickie analysis of our team.

Two Wis-based divine casters, Nim and Nora.

Two Int-based arcane casters, Corbrius Jank and Tragershen.

Two melee-oriented casters, Corbrius and Nim.

Two ranged-oriented Desna-worshippers, Nora and Anton Green.

Two wilderness survivalists, Nim and Anton.

Two non-humans, Tragershen and Anton.

One dedicated healer and diplomat, Nora.

One dedicated arcanist and know-it-all, Tragershen.

One dedicated sneak, observer and trap-disabler, Anton.

Trained-only skills that less than two have as class skills: one Disable Device (Anton), one Knowledge/Engineering (Tragershen), one Knowledge/Local (Tragershen), no Sleight of Hand, and one Use Magic Device (Corbrius).

Skills that effectively get +1 from Armor Expert: nine. Traits that suit Anton particularly well: Starchild (APG) and Helpful (Halflings of Golarion).

Anton's lowest skills with ranks in them: Handle Animal and Survival. The most important skills for a scout: Perception and Stealth.

Okay, so now I'm going to go do something else while that all percolates in the back of my head. I'm so excited!

Nim is pretty much done and ready for inspection...

I know he is not complete yet, but you look like you have over 20 ability points.

Yeah, big time typo on the charisma there. Corrected it now. Thanks!

Also, are you comfortable with some pre-game metagaming? Coordinating skills and spells and such between players? I just wanted to make sure it was okay before I posted anything along those lines.

Okay, so with Luck I have done this all right, I think she should be ready for inspection. A quick note that wearing the backpack she has jammed with stuff pushes her well into heavy encumbrance territory which is 'assumed' in her AC stats, her AC will be 1 higher in situations she isn't wearing said equipment, the same obviously applies for movement as well.

Otherwise I think I'm good.

DM Stephen wrote:

I know he is not complete yet, but you look like you have over 20 ability points.

Yeah, big time typo on the charisma there. Corrected it now. Thanks!

Also, are you comfortable with some pre-game metagaming? Coordinating skills and spells and such between players? I just wanted to make sure it was okay before I posted anything along those lines.

Since you guys have time together on the ship before you get to where you are going I am fine with some metagaming with spells although I am not big on coordinating skills since these would have been gained before you got together.

Going to look at the characters of the next couple of days.

Okay, so with Luck I have done this all right, I think she should be ready for inspection. A quick note that wearing the backpack she has jammed with stuff pushes her well into heavy encumbrance territory which is 'assumed' in her AC stats, her AC will be 1 higher in situations she isn't wearing said equipment, the same obviously applies for movement as well.

Otherwise I think I'm good.

My understanding is that your speed would be 30 ft. with or without the backpack.

If your character is wearing armor, use the worse figure (from armor or from load) for each category. Do not stack the penalties.

The "for each category" appears to be referring one paragraph up to "affects his maximum Dexterity bonus to AC, carries a check penalty... reduces the character's speed, and affects how fast the character can run."

Making progress myself, will have an alias soon. For my feat, I'm leaning toward Mounted Combat; but out of curiosity, what's the power for Skill Focus (Perception)?

Edit: oops, wrong book.
Edit edit: unless the Travel domain has been errata'd to work like the Barbarian's fast movement?

Mounts will not be as effective in this AP i'm afraid. Since all of the terrain will be difficult and there will be quite a few ruins a small mount could still be used but there could be some climbing and such. Just something to keep in mind.

As far as skill focus Perception, hope you like it:

Skill Focus (Perception)
Benefit: You get a +3 bonus on all checks involving the chosen skill. If you have 10 or more ranks in that skill, this bonus increases to +6.

Special: Extraordinary skill: Once per day your level of expertise in your chosen skill allows you to perform one act of "Extraordinary skill". You gain an additional +5 circumstance bonus to your roll when you choose to use your skill focus power. This is a free action.

Skill Power: Perceive the Enemy - Once per day you can take a move action to evaluate an enemies defenses by making a Perception check vs. their CMD to lower that enemies Armor Class vs. your attacks by 2 for the duration of the combat.

Ah, I see. This is going to take some thought. (Got bored halfway through the avatars, will finish it up later.)

Fredrik wrote:

Mounts will not be as effective in this AP i'm afraid. Since all of the terrain will be difficult and there will be quite a few ruins a small mount could still be used but there could be some climbing and such. Just something to keep in mind.

As far as skill focus Perception, hope you like it:

Skill Focus (Perception)
Benefit: You get a +3 bonus on all checks involving the chosen skill. If you have 10 or more ranks in that skill, this bonus increases to +6.

Special: Extraordinary skill: Once per day your level of expertise in your chosen skill allows you to perform one act of "Extraordinary skill". You gain an additional +5 circumstance bonus to your roll when you choose to use your skill focus power. This is a free action.

Skill Power: Perceive the Enemy - Once per day you can take a move action to evaluate an enemies defenses by making a Perception check vs. their CMD to lower that enemies Armor Class vs. your attacks by 2 for the duration of the combat.

Taking a total of my equipment 'weight' puts me well into the 'Heavy Load' category right. I thought for some-one with a base speed of 40ft that this would reduce me to a speed of 20?

The base speed for a human is 30', dropping to 20' with medium or heavy armor or encumbrance. You add the +10' bonus to those figures, making it 40' or 30' respectively. That's assuming the +10' bonus doesn't drop off when you are at particular encumberance levels, like the monk or barbarian class abilities specifically call out.

I think Tragershen is ready to go. A couple of his mundane items (like his hammock) are from Adventurer's Armory and the details are available on d20pfsrd.com. Let me know if you want those dropped since that book wasn't listed in your original post on the recruitment thread.

Tragershen is starting at medium encumbrance, though after he goes through five days of rations he'll move up to light.

Taking a total of my equipment 'weight' puts me well into the 'Heavy Load' category right. I thought for some-one with a base speed of 40ft that this would reduce me to a speed of 20?

Naw, check the unnumbered table "Armor and Encumbrance for Other Base Speeds" on p. 170, and compare with table 7-5 "Encumbrance Effects" on 171.

Pretty much ready to go except for gear, description and avatar image.

Edit: I did in fact go with Skill Focus (Perception). It was a tough choice, but I'm trusting everyone else to excel in their roles, and spotting things early is half of mine. However, if not for the bonus powers, I might've gone with something else like Alertness or Eagle Eyes.

Nim is pretty much done and ready for inspection...

Just reviewed Nim and have a couple of comments

1)This applies to all players, please no stats below 8, I think it is too hard to realistically play a stat below 8.

2)Can't find the trailblazer feat, what book is it from? Other than that I think he looks fine.

I believe I should have a completed character sheet in my profile now. Let me know if you have any questions about the math, or if you want me to expand on my background at all.

Corbrius looks fine, my mind is already swirling with some ideas about the "black blade"....

I must warn all of you though after starting to review everyone's character, this AP is filled with disease and poisons. Characters with low Fort saves may be in for a short life in case anyone wants to tweak their character to account for this.
Now that you have been warned, expect to make a lot of fort saves...

The base speed for a human is 30', dropping to 20' with medium or heavy armor or encumbrance. You add the +10' bonus to those figures, making it 40' or 30' respectively. That's assuming the +10' bonus doesn't drop off when you are at particular encumberance levels, like the monk or barbarian class abilities specifically call out.

I think Tragershen is ready to go. A couple of his mundane items (like his hammock) are from Adventurer's Armory and the details are available on d20pfsrd.com. Let me know if you want those dropped since that book wasn't listed in your original post on the recruitment thread.

Tragershen is starting at medium encumbrance, though after he goes through five days of rations he'll move up to light.

Tragershen looks fine...may want to review hs Fort save though as per above post... :)

Okay, so with Luck I have done this all right, I think she should be ready for inspection. A quick note that wearing the backpack she has jammed with stuff pushes her well into heavy encumbrance territory which is 'assumed' in her AC stats, her AC will be 1 higher in situations she isn't wearing said equipment, the same obviously applies for movement as well.

Otherwise I think I'm good.

Nora looks fine.

Nora Kettlesmith wrote:

Taking a total of my equipment 'weight' puts me well into the 'Heavy Load' category right. I thought for some-one with a base speed of 40ft that this would reduce me to a speed of 20?

Naw, check the unnumbered table "Armor and Encumbrance for Other Base Speeds" on p. 170, and compare with table 7-5 "Encumbrance Effects" on 171.

Pretty much ready to go except for gear, description and avatar image.

Edit: I did in fact go with Skill Focus (Perception). It was a tough choice, but I'm trusting everyone else to excel in their roles, and spotting things early is half of mine. However, if not for the bonus powers, I might've gone with something else like Alertness or Eagle Eyes.

Anton looks fine, my only comment is on his weapons:

I will give people a day to make any last minute changes to their characters, but we might start early with the rist post on Sunday if everyone is good with this?

Just reviewed Nim and have a couple of comments

1)This applies to all players, please no stats below 8, I think it is too hard to realistically play a stat below 8.

2)Can't find the trailblazer feat, what book is it from? Other than that I think he looks fine.

Adjusted Nim's Cha. The trait is from the Humans of Golarion book.

I am trusting HeroLab to be calculating the correct stats for animal companions... but then, it will let me choose tigers at first level so... ;)

EDIT: Any day is fine with me to start.

Corbrius looks fine, my mind is already swirling with some ideas about the "black blade"....

Not that she activates until 3rd level. Still, I've long thought that character backgrounds are where players should offer plot hooks to the DM instead of the other way around. That's why I left Asilande's origins and purpose deliberately uncertain. As long as you stick to the general guidelines for black blades (same alignment, typically helpful) I won't object to anything you do.

DM Stephen wrote:

Corbrius looks fine, my mind is already swirling with some ideas about the "black blade"....

Not that she activates until 3rd level. Still, I've long thought that character backgrounds are where players should offer plot hooks to the DM instead of the other way around. That's why I left Asilande's origins and purpose deliberately uncertain. As long as you stick to the general guidelines for black blades (same alignment, typically helpful) I won't object to anything you do.

The black blade is angry and must be appeased! :)

Don't worry, it should be interesting.

Anton Green wrote:

Nora Kettlesmith wrote:

Taking a total of my equipment 'weight' puts me well into the 'Heavy Load' category right. I thought for some-one with a base speed of 40ft that this would reduce me to a speed of 20?

Naw, check the unnumbered table "Armor and Encumbrance for Other Base Speeds" on p. 170, and compare with table 7-5 "Encumbrance Effects" on 171.

Pretty much ready to go except for gear, description and avatar image.

Edit: I did in fact go with Skill Focus (Perception). It was a tough choice, but I'm trusting everyone else to excel in their roles, and spotting things early is half of mine. However, if not for the bonus powers, I might've gone with something else like Alertness or Eagle Eyes.

Anton looks fine, my only comment is on his weapons:

Weapons: Blowgun, Dagger, Halberd, Halfling sling staff, Lucerne hammer, Sap, Trident
Not sure how realistic it is to be carrying all of those weapons on your tiny frame, but there is nothing in the rules saying you can't...if you can sell it in the RP, then I okay with it.

I will give people a day to make any last minute changes to their characters, but we might start early with the rist post on Sunday if everyone is good with this?

No no, you're right, I'm still tweaking his gear. What's up there now is more like a wish list. ;) If I had it all, I was picturing leaving some on my warpony or in camp or whatever, and just taking what the situation called for. And Sunday is fine.

Thanks for the warning about the fort saves. With an elf as the base, there is only so much I can do to bump his saves. But I did change both of his traits, giving a +1 to fort saves and +2 vs. poisons. I picked immunity to giant wasp poison as a boon from Calistria. I'm focusing a little less on the explorer aspect of him and more on the robbed-left-for-dead-and-seeking-power-and-wealth-to-exact-revenge aspect of his background.

And, just in case, I'll have a dwarven wizard backup... :)

Nora and her good Heal skill should go a good way to mitigating such problems. At lower levels when there's little in the way of magical remedies available, you might be surprised just how helpful the Heal skill is with poisons and diseases.

I am also planning on dropping a skill point in heal at 2nd level... should give Nim a +6.

OMG I finally have my gear done!! The only thing is that for Desna's holy text, Gods & Magic says that The Eight Scrolls fits in two scroll cases. And.. that's all. So, I took two scroll cases and eight pieces of parchment, and bumped it up to 4 gp. Sound about right?

Thanks for the warning about the fort saves. With an elf as the base, there is only so much I can do to bump his saves. But I did change both of his traits, giving a +1 to fort saves and +2 vs. poisons. I picked immunity to giant wasp poison as a boon from Calistria. I'm focusing a little less on the explorer aspect of him and more on the robbed-left-for-dead-and-seeking-power-and-wealth-to-exact-revenge aspect of his background.

And, just in case, I'll have a dwarven wizard backup... :)

BTW you don't need to buy any rations, they are supplied to you as part of the equipment you get. Just in case you want to use the money towards anything else.

Can everyone supply an e-mail address to me? I want to send you an invite to the party google site. You will then be able to upload things to the site. If you want to give me your IM as well it sometimes is helpful if you want to IM me a quick question and I am on-line quite a bit. Just spoiler it please.
*

1. Treasure keeper. This person will track and upload a list of items and treasure splits for the party.
2. Experience keeper. This person will track and upload the current XP count for each party member.

Looking forward to starting tomorrow.

I will track XP... (and treasure if no one else wants to do it).

As Stephen already has my email and IM I'll let him pass my contact info along to anyone else who wants it.

I can keep track of the treasure. My email is

Thank you. I'll drop rations and tweak his mundane gear.

My email address is

I don't really IM at all, but I have a blackberry that lets me know when I get emails on that account.

BTW you don't need to buy any rations, they are supplied to you as part of the equipment you get. Just in case you want to use the money towards anything else.

In that case.. a bedroll! Um. Apparently I missed some things, forgot others existed, couldn't picture unslinging my backpack each time I wanted to use my compass or mapmaking kit, stuff like that. There has been some tweakage. If you need it, here's the text for the miner's lantern from the Pathfinder Society Field Guide.

Also, I've decided that I boarded in Magnimar. It seems like a good destination for Anton's last delivery, fitting his interview and background.

Of course I'd be happy to track the treasure. If you saw my worksheet for Anton's gear.. let's just say that I'm obsessive enough to track it down to coppers and 1/8 lbs., and nice enough to not inflict it on you. ;) But if Corbrius would rather, that's fine too.

Thanks everyone, you are right, I was just reading the chart wrong. So we are aiming to 'start' on Monday? How does that go precisely? Also I understand there are some reasonably standard formatting conventions in these sorts of things?

If you hit the Show button under your posting window it'll explain some of the more common tags. Typical conventions are to put spoken dialog in bold and put your rolls in an ooc line. It also shows the proper format for dice rolls. As an example, with the tags showing:

Corb wipes the blood from his face and brings his blade back in line with his foe. [ b ]"I won't die that easily, you bastard."[ /b ] Drawing magical power into his weapon he lunges forward with a vicious slash.

[ ooc ]Swift action, spending an Arcane Pool to enhance my sword. Standard action, one attack of [ dice ]1d20 + 5[ /dice ] damage for [ dice ]1d6 + 4[ /dice ] damage.[ /ooc ]

Which with the spaces removed from the [ ] so that they work looks like:

Corb wipes the blood from his face and brings his blade back in line with his foe. "I won't die that easily, you bastard." Drawing magical power into his weapon he lunges forward with a vicious slash.

Swift action, spending an Arcane Pool to enhance my sword. Standard action, one attack of 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23 damage for 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6 damage.

Thanks everyone, you are right, I was just reading the chart wrong. So we are aiming to 'start' on Monday? How does that go precisely? Also I understand there are some reasonably standard formatting conventions in these sorts of things?

Sunday actually, since we've all been so prompt. Our DM Stephen will link to an in-character thread in the Play-by-Post forum. I don't know how it all works, but somehow the characters and DM and threads will all become connected. Then, you can click on a character to see his campaign, or else when looking at a campaign, view all the various threads (discussion, in-character and even recruitment).

There's one other common formatting: italics for thoughts. "Yes!" Corbrius thinks at his blade, though it doesn't respond. "You're awesome!" Critical confirmation: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23 for 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6 extra damage. Incidentally, I previewed this post so that I'd know the dice result and how to roleplay it. Corb's blade almost seems to draw him forward, lunging faster than the eye can follow... or at least faster than the villain's could. "Ha! Best that, fiend!" The enemy staggers with the telling blow. Apologies for RP'ing your char -- but I did double your damage. ;)

Yep, I kind of forget that this is still a new PBP so we need to set up some basic rules, so here goes:

1. I will roll initiative for everyone for the combat to get everything started.
2. When speaking please put it in bold text, doesn't need to be in quotations.
3. Use italics for special descriptive text or thoughts. Normal text for non-spoken actions is fine.
4. If you don't post in combat for 24 hours I will take your action for you.
5. There may be some times that I move things along like after a battle and healing where I just say that you guys heal up in order to move things along as well.
6. I may spoiler actions or questions to specific players, please don't read other players spoilers or the DM spoilers, it will just make it less fun for you and anyone else.

Will be sending out the e-mail invites to the shared site in a little while, expect the first post later today, I will link to it from here. And thanks to the group for giving Nora some pointers for me, keep the questions coming.

Actually I just shared the Serpents Skull site with everyone. Just go to it from the the link in this spoiler. You should be able to post stuff to the site, if someone could test it by adding a file and posting something in the journal.

You have made the site public (viewable by anyone) but we aren't able to make changes to the site... at least I can't anyhow. You probably need to change a setting, but I'm not sure that you want just anyone being able to make changes... perhaps you should restrict it to invited viewers only...

You have made the site public (viewable by anyone) but we aren't able to make changes to the site... at least I can't anyhow. You probably need to change a setting, but I'm not sure that you want just anyone being able to make changes... perhaps you should restrict it to invited viewers only...

K sent invites out to the group.

Here is the link to the PBP

Alright! Editing "Player 2" now, since 1 is reserved for Nim... Okay, a good start, will finish later.

I have an idea. The "Online RP" page on the Google site is superfluous... or is it? We've been together on that boat for who knows how long (I'd have to go back and look at backgrounds to see who boarded when). Jumping right into the action on Paizo is nice, but there's no reason why we can't also use the Google thread to RP earlier onboard conversations.

I have some things to do, but if there aren't any objections, then I'll go ahead and get that started later today, since I boarded at the beginning.

I have an idea. The "Online RP" page on the Google site is superfluous... or is it? We've been together on that boat for who knows how long (I'd have to go back and look at backgrounds to see who boarded when). Jumping right into the action on Paizo is nice, but there's no reason why we can't also use the Google thread to RP earlier onboard conversations.

I have some things to do, but if there aren't any objections, then I'll go ahead and get that started later today, since I boarded at the beginning.

I am fine with it, though I was thinking you would really start the RP meat and potatoes with each other now. I had thought to do some on the ship earlier, but I figured people would be more inclined to want to jump into the AP as soon as possible...