Doug M's Way of the Wicked (Inactive)

Game Master Douglas Muir 406

Hmm.

-- to be precisely parallel to Fireball, it should have a material component and require a Reflex save.
-- Fireball maxes at 10d6, and there's a reason for that.
-- "freeze metals" is unclear. Is it damaging metal objects like swords and such? That would make it a lot more powerful.
-- the biggest concern here is that, ceteris paribus, a spell that does cold damage is a tiny bit better than a spell that does fire damage, because there are more creatures immune or resistant to fire than to cold. (For instance, devils are completely immune to fire, but only have cold resistance 10, divs are immune to fire but take normal damage from cold, etc. etc.)

Thinking about it.

Essentially, it is Fireball with the Elemental Metamagic feat. If you had taken the evoker(admixture) arcane school, then you could just cast fireball and make it icy.

Usually damage reductions are given to spells that use Force, but not fire, cold, acid or lightning.

As a random aside, this question is for Doug, Judge and Bref:

What do you do when a few players start to lag behind in posting? I'm running a 13th Age game on GITP and have a couple of players that we always seem to be waiting over 24 hours on for combat rounds, drastically slowing combat to less than 1 round every 2 days. I've decided to DMPC their actions if they go over the 24 hour mark in combat and the PC's are all okay with this, however, for at least one player, it means nearly every round is controlled by the DM.

Jax - I would say it is your call. I DMPC occasionally, but the group of players I chose for my campaign are all fairly good posters, so I have not really had this problem. Personally, I would say to DMPC them as needed. If they continue to lag, send them an email to see whether they are still interested in the game and that they are holding things up for the rest of the party. The player needs to make a decision, either spend the few minutes required to post in the campaign, or call it quits. I know that DMing takes a ton of time and having players just show up every once in a while is frustrating for you and really takes away from the fun for most of the other players.

Another option is to have one of the players you trust play the non-posting player's character temporarily. At least this way, you are not perverting the players action based on what you as a DM know. Either way, eventually you will have to give an ultimatum, post or leave. I have seem more than a few players asked to leave campaigns because of slow posting rates, it is not rude, it is necessary to keep any modicum of a normal pace.

Question

At level up, can I put more than 1 skill rank to a skill as long it is not maxed? Example my UMD 1 may I add 2 for UMD 3 + CHA? Not sure why I would waste valuable skills points there, I doubt DM will let us 'borrow' that golem.

Next question, Cуровую saw a cauldron of brewing, if I take Craft (Alchemy) for say two points, giving me Alchemy 9, what exactly can I do with that when I am not an alchemist?

Also besides the obvious like Perception, what other Skills should I raise?

I have UMD very well comvered unless you just want it as another skill, I am +15.

Wizard should have the knowledge skills covered due to your high INT. I have planes covered but am weak on many others.

Jax - I would say it is your call. I DMPC occasionally, but the group of players I chose for my campaign are all fairly good posters, so I have not really had this problem. Personally, I would say to DMPC them as needed. If they continue to lag, send them an email to see whether they are still interested in the game and that they are holding things up for the rest of the party. The player needs to make a decision, either spend the few minutes required to post in the campaign, or call it quits. I know that DMing takes a ton of time and having players just show up every once in a while is frustrating for you and really takes away from the fun for most of the other players.

Another option is to have one of the players you trust play the non-posting player's character temporarily. At least this way, you are not perverting the players action based on what you as a DM know. Either way, eventually you will have to give an ultimatum, post or leave. I have seem more than a few players asked to leave campaigns because of slow posting rates, it is not rude, it is necessary to keep any modicum of a normal pace.

I sent him a PM today asking since he hasn't posted in 3 days. In that time, we've wrapped up a combat, had a conversation with an "NPC" and started a new combat.

For some of the NPC roles I've gotten people to temporarily join in since many want to try the new system but don't necessarily want to dedicate many, many months to it. I might offer to let him stay and take the other PC's place since he posts so frequently though..

Cуровую зиму wrote:

Wizard should have the knowledge skills covered due to your high INT. I have planes covered but am weak on many others.

Jax has a few ranks in Alchemy but is weak in Knowledges too. I try to boost Planes/arcane from time to time but mostly his points are dedicated to Bluff/Stealth/rogue skills since Bref is dead.

I have all the knowledge skills as class skills, but with limited skill points am mostly covering the social skills - Intimidate, Bluff, Diplomacy.

I have all the knowledge skills as class skills, but with limited skill points am mostly covering the social skills - Intimidate, Bluff, Diplomacy.

I am very strong in these areas as well except for bluff. We should probably split intimidate/diplomacy and have one of us focus on one and not the other to save skill points?

Maybe I take intimidate and you take Dip since you are more of a face man?

Goblin would call spell blue ball

It sounds like you might have a vanishing player. That happens far too often sadly. But In combat I bot often, when we are waiting on one person. Also, this sounds dickish, but if someone is holding up the game you might have to remove them. Nothing personal but you cant just not show up and expect to keep in the game.

I have one player that has to leave for chunks of time in runelords, but he is a great player and i know that and he has no issue with my botting him. But his character is not the star, he is muscle. so it works out.

I sent him a PM today asking since he hasn't posted in 3 days. In that time, we've wrapped up a combat, had a conversation with an "NPC" and started a new combat.

No posts for three days without notice? If a player did that more than occasionally, I'd consider asking him to leave.

(Occasionally is fine. Life happens.)

Seriously, I think there are enough good *and reliable* players out there that you shouldn't have to put up with this.

In the meantime, yes, DMPC him unless he and some other player agree to bot. The "DM knowledge" issue is a thing, but can usually be solved by just having him do the most obvious thing -- melee attack, most obvious spell, etc.

(The FTF equivalent is the chronic ditherer. "Andre, it's your initiative. What do you do?" "I cast Haste... no, wait a moment, maybe it's better if I summon something to flank with the rogue... no wait...")

when you kill me DM next I am going to make a gnom named Andre

Judge Tohram Quasangi wrote:

I have all the knowledge skills as class skills, but with limited skill points am mostly covering the social skills - Intimidate, Bluff, Diplomacy.

I am very strong in these areas as well except for bluff. We should probably split intimidate/diplomacy and have one of us focus on one and not the other to save skill points?

Maybe I take intimidate and you take Dip since you are more of a face man?

Actually, I have Diplomacy as DMDM's bonus skill. So I have that maxed automatically. Thus, I am only splitting between Bluff and Intimidate. If I max Bluff, by 11th level I should have +27 Bluff. So, really, putting points into both is not really much of a problem. Trying to put more points into stealth, perception and sense motive to get those up as well. I drop about 1 per level into knowledge skills so that I have some competence with these.

-- to be precisely parallel to Fireball, it should have a material component and require a Reflex save.

-- Fireball maxes at 10d6, and there's a reason for that.
-- "freeze metals" is unclear. Is it damaging metal objects like swords and such? That would make it a lot more powerful.
-- the biggest concern here is that, ceteris paribus, a spell that does cold damage is a tiny bit better than a spell that does fire damage, because there are more creatures immune or resistant to fire than to cold. (For instance, devils are completely immune to fire, but only have cold resistance 10, divs are immune to fire but take normal damage from cold, etc. etc.)

Thanks for considering.

The fortitude was actually intentional, the cold being more a fort than a reflex save.

The damage set at 10d6 cap is completely fine, that may have been a cut and paste error in my part when I was asking someone to word the spell for me and I got that part wrong.

The damaging metals text was mostly for atmosphere and you can rule as you wish.

Essentially, it is Fireball with the Elemental Metamagic feat. If you had taken the evoker(admixture) arcane school, then you could just cast fireball and make it icy.

After a few months of playing I just now realized my mistake. I thought that ability came at 8th level the same as Walls.

I can not get into the gameplay thread????

I am guessing its my phone and not the site? I'll know by the time I get home, but I am 26 posts behind!

--

I have nearly all Knowledge Skills except Engineering. I may put a point in it, we have to deal with siege weapons right?

Cуровую's Knowledge skills range from 8 to 12 right now and Int will go up as we progress so I was looking to put some skills in my weak points.

Next question, Cуровую saw a cauldron of brewing, if I take Craft (Alchemy) for say two points, giving me Alchemy 9, what exactly can I do with that when I am not an alchemist?

Anybody? What's the purpose of that skill for a non alchemist?

You. An make things like alchemist fire

It isn't worth keeping the cauldron for the +5 bonus. The stuff you can do with alchemy is pretty terrible.

Speaking of siege weapons, someone needs to sneak in the Dwarf Captain's room while I do some drinking.

Speaking of siege weapons, someone needs to sneak in the Dwarf Captain's room while I do some drinking.

Right we need to get that done. As I posted on gameplay a few days go we possibly have to remove the dwarf leadership the night of the stew as well.

what do dren or i do in the dwrf captains room?

Who knows, right now we are having fun following rather less than pleased Cpt. Mott.

(Takes a silent seat and munches popcorn as the show gets underway)

Underway?! Goblin judge you

I was thinking, we almost have free use and command of the Lord's Dalliance now.

Which means we could attack the dwarves if we really wanted to. At the very least get into their rooms.

Secondly, we have the wizard come as planned for the dinner to meet the noble woman. That's where it was planned to begin with. The other characters can pretend to be the staff.

From now on, we can POISON some of the drinks here when Xen buys some rounds and target the soldiers.

Perhaps we can get word to the bugbears not using the flare.

If we can get a few, say four of them into the town via Invisibility, and Stealth, we lead them to the secret tunnels where they wait. They can help us kill the soldiers who are sick from the stew as well as cause panic because the fort will seemed to have been breached.

Also if we get word to the bugbears, they can intercept the patrol that has been away, although that may cost us whatever items the captain has on him.

Douglas Muir 406 wrote:

Actually, you look horrible even while in disguise.

And I smell funny.

When I read DM's dead pan post I went 'ha!'

Then I got to the Judge's post and was 'HAHA!'

Maybe I just need sleep.

As a character I would stay away from the Judge right now.

As a player, ditto.

DM I asked a question about 'corn' in the gameplay thread.

Do we really want to risk reducing the doses of poison in the stew we are sending to the tower?

Also, I don't think we have any safe way to contact the bugbears unless you can use Sending.

The bigger question is how to "sneak" them in. We are attempting to open a doorway in an impregnable wall. If there was a nice path around the fort and in through the front door, I imagine the bugbears would be using it.

I thought there was a gate that had acouted

We are attempting to open that.

DM: What would the effect be of taking a dose of the Lamashtu and a dose of the Arsenic out of the st=ew, would it still be as effective against the tower?
Alchemy: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13

I thought the waters were for something else? Just the arsenic for the stew?

Upon consideration, I'm willing to allow Zimu's variant spell. Substituting cold for fire makes it somewhat better, as does eliminating the material component. OTOH, there are more creatures out there with strong Fort saves than with strong Reflex saves. So I'd say that roughly balances out.

You have about 20 doses of arsenic and six of the Waters.

make it have a material component focus of a snow globe!

Did anyone explain to the poor alchemist that Xen's definition of "rat" is anybody wearing a Talingarde military uniform?

i would have been disappointed in you had that worked DM LOL

Thanks for everyone's care of Cуровую while she was gone.

I'm just waiting for Grumblejacks power attack while Morsum grapples to ever so gently wake me up.

It could be worse, so far Dren has not been fingering his dagger eyeing my head or the Judge has not brought a goblet out to drain Cуровую's blood.

Yet.

Someone stole my goblet - where is that damn goblin?

It could be worse, so far Dren has not been fingering his dagger eyeing my head or the Judge has not brought a goblet out to drain Cуровую's blood.

Yet.

You are still "useful" to the team so there isn't going to be any head lopping from the group...unless the judge asks for it.

2 "O"s and a cleric down, not à Bad day

No doubt, one mage to go and then the sweet bliss of listening to the slaughter...muh ha ha ha!!!

We need to go ahead and get him out of the way, if he will still rise to the bait. I am guessing the tower in general will be more on alert.

Gotta love using the "law" against itself. I imagine that it may be tough to get the mage or the commander out of the tower now that the forces are slightly depleted. But, hey, it is worth a try.

another prestige class i like is the Master Spy class. What do you think of it DMDM...not super powerful and tough to get into

On the night of the duel, why don't those of us skilled with Stealth take any items of use and value from the homes of dear captains Mott (and Mrs. Mott) and Edderly.

I'm sure they would not want those things to go to waste.

No doubt, one mage to go and then the sweet bliss of listening to the slaughter...muh ha ha ha!!!

It's a good thing we already have plans in place that have taken into account for this exact eventuality, I will post regarding the magister when I get back from work.

DM, the things you spin in this game..amazing.

I know!

If he would write a book he would sell at least six!

But seriously he's good. You almost forget he wants to TPK us.

so how do we pin suspircion on the actors. Cause the dwarves will be pissed when they find they have been robbed