Dragons of the West (Inactive)

Game Master Matt, Garnished Game Designer

After seeing Jian sneak up on Thorrpe once Shadow decides to return the favor and he sneaks around Jian, following him into a his gin space where he swats him in the butt with his tail.

This is a fun game!

Tommar never a one to pass up on training will work on learning how to fight unarmed for a week.Trying to learn unarmed strike, catch off guard and throw anything

At night Tommar will read on Alchemy and the local area. He will also try and see what sort of gambling is prevalent in the area.Focus on Alchemy, Knowledge(Local), and Profession(gambler)

I'm assuming these are the skills/feat you mean to pick at 2nd level. Training gives specific bonuses as I mentioned earlier. For example I'll provide choice A, B and C after each training day.

And yes, as mentioned I am in Switzerland until the 19th and will be attending a wedding. My devices all are North American meaning we have to share a single European connector meaning my posting will be slightly limited for a little bit.

all good, spirit. i think we are just given an idea of where we are headed and what types of things we would like

When everyone is ready, we'll be skipping to the first day of training.

===

1st Day of Training - Early Spring

Time Passed Since Awakening: 1 week
You are all gathered around a large pond in the forest surrounding the monastery. A small wooden ship floats in the center. It has been a week since you've returned to life and little by little you are adapting to your environment. At the very least you are realizing that the diet of rice, millet, fish and greens are the norm. Hopefully some of you have also found the tea to your liking. Of course, there is some sake but not all that much.

In any case, the time has come for your first true training. Though each of you spends the days practicing either on your own or with some of the Sensei and other monks, this is the first collective training.

Shen Fei is the monk in charge of today's training.

"Today, you will be diving into Nosu Pond. As you can see, there is a raft floating in the center. This training will teach you that things will not always be fair. I will select five of you to defend the raft, meanwhile the rest of you will try and take the ship. You may use any tactics you feel is fine, we shall heal any wounds and prevent any deaths."

"Mhar, Albert, Thorrpe, Vem and Raitoningu will defend the ship. The training is over when all eleven boarders make it onto the ship or have failed. Again, that is the only directive. The five defenders may do whatever they want. You have no time to prepare or cast spells however. You will only have time to place yourselves."

===

The pond is only three feet deep and so counts as difficult terrain. You may choose to swim if you wish however if doing so would be easier.

Getting on the raft is a standard action that provokes an attack of opportunity. As well, whenever you perform a full round action while on the raft, everyone must make a DC 15 Acrobatics check. Failure means you stumble and fall off the raft into the nearest square of water. If two are tied, you may choose which one.

Initiatives will function differently for this training. The boarding party goes first, followed by the defenders and so on and so forth.

The training is over when at least SIX boarders make it on the ship, outnumbering the defenders or six rounds have passed.

I will check combat twice a day. If you haven't posted, I assume you are taking total defense unless you note otherwise. Any action that would become invalidated or modified I will change so as to be the most beneficial.

Any questions? Ask in Discussion inside a spoiler tag with "Raft Training" as a title.

Well then, my action will be to wait behind those of the boarding team and, while they have the raft team distracted, attempt to rock the entire raft as a full round action and force all those on it to make the Acrobatics check. If I can't do that I will try to bring down one of the casters with a trip (either thorrpe or albert).

trip: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

Rai looks at the raft with displeasure, then asks, "Sensei, if the pond is only 3' feet deep, do all of the defenders have to be on the raft to defend it?"

1d20 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9 Shadow's bite, that will miss

For the moment Shadow is with me and he has reach, so he would bite the first one approaching as his AOO

1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22 Thorrpe's Acrobatics

yeah I read it wrong and my time lapsed for the edit..will work on a clarifying post later

Jian waits until there are at least 3 people (including himself) who can melee attack Albert, since he does area damage. When this happen, he moves and attack with a single wakizashi. If possible he tries to flank him.

Single Wakizashi Attack Roll: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5, (+2 if flank) Good start, yeah...
Single Wakizashi Damage Roll (if hits): 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Mhar uses his long spear to make CMB checks at reach against the first person that comes in range before they get to the boat. CM: Trip: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (16) - 1 = 15

Also, that first week before this, he would spend a lot of time in prayer, in the garden, library (reading), the tea room, and talking with Thorrp's puppy. Other than that, sleeping, and eating, he's constantly - constantly - is seen walking up and down the steps, learning how to deal with his new condition. In many ways he becomes substantially tougher than he was before: he may be broken, but heavy weights soon seem not to slow him down more than his normal walk.

In the armory, Cookie watches Albert toss at the various targets.

Cookie, Zayne & Albert in the

Cookie will start making his way thru the pond towards the raft. As he moves, he draws a flask from his side and drinks it. He now looks all 'barky'. Kind of like a small tree wading out towards the ship.

"Vem doesn't enjoy this game, much more suited is she to take the raft than defend. Miserable monks intend to mock me."

Vem waits until someone is within 10 feet of her to act.

-Posted with Wayfinder

My weapon is reach and I have Improved Trip so there may or may not be an AoO depending on which action the GM allows me to do.

Also can we expect a map for this or will it just be based off of posts?

-Posted with Wayfinder

Jezelyn bites her lip, analyzing the situation. Only six of her teammates have to get on the boat to succeed. That means up to three could hang back around the edges of the pond. She figures that since she can do ranged damage and is probably one of the least physically capable members of her team, she should hang back.

As she looks at her five opponents to choose a target, the monk's words ring in her mind: "You may use any tactics you feel is fine, we shall heal any wounds and prevent any deaths."

She definitely hopes this is the case as she doesn't want to do any permanent damage to Mhar, Albert, Thorrpe, Raitoningu, or even Vem, creepy as she may be.

Target Choice: 1d5 ⇒ 5
lol, Vem it is.

Jezelyn, realizing their 36 seconds are ticking away, shoots a ray of frost from her fingertip towards Vem, hoping to make progress toward knocking her out, or at least to distract those on the raft.

Ray of Frost Ranged Touch Attack at Vem: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
Damage if it Hits: 1d3 ⇒ 3
Hmm, even if she's flat-footed and has a penalty for being on the wobbly raft, I doubt that hits her touch AC.

After using her standard action to fire the ray of frost from the land at the edge of the pond, Jezelyn uses her move action to take cover or partial cover behind any scrub brush, bushes, or trees that may be growing along the shore of this forrest pond.

Vem, there's a very basic map in the google doc under the campaign info tab.

1st Day of Training - The Raft

Initiative: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

Location: 21H

Ysanne has been staying up late all week and generally avoiding these lessons, ”There is nothing to gain from this victory, and being enslaved to these trials is lesson of life's unfairness.” and with that Ysanne shoots a look at the raft defenders, and begins casting a spell from as safe a location as possible (like 60' away from the raft).

Completely forgot to tell you guys, and I feel really bad for not mentioning it in retrospect but I put up a google document with a battle map and everything. If the Raft Defenders and Boarders could note their initial locations that'd be perfect. The Boarders must be outside of the water at the start. Again, super sorry for this.

Thorrpe at g9 shadow at g10

Kite begins at f3.

"Aye, this'll prove interesting I dare say."

Grins Kite as he surveys the field. After watching some of the others move, he decides to dive into the water and make a swim for the raft. It would most likely be faster than walking, at any rate, and may put him at an advantage. swim: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

He'll be staying underwater for one round, then making an attempt to get on the boat. I'll pre-roll the check, just in case. acrobatics: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10

And he fails both. Outstanding. xD

Mhar at e8

Jezelyn will start at A9 or L9, depending on which side of the raft Vem is standing on, in order to make her previous action possible.
GM, is there any cover or partial cover from brush along the pond edge?
If so, Jezelyn ducks behind it, as stated above. If not, she probably uses her move action to step into the pond to B9 or K9 so as to be able to reach more of the raft with her rays.

Vem laughs at Jezelyn,

"The songbird hunts the snake? Allow me to educate you little thing."

Sleight of Hand: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (15) + 10 = 25
Dagger from wrist sheath, auto success vs Jezelyn's perception, she is flat footed to the attack.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16
Leaping off the raft towards Jezelyn not sure where she is currently but I have the move action to spare so wherever she places herself I'll be leaving to that areas direction.
Throw Dagger: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20
Assuming Jezelyn was in range to use the ray on me I'd take a -4 at max range so 16 against her flat foot. A hit.
Damage: 1d4 + 1 + 1d6 ⇒ (2) + 1 + (5) = 8
8 damage to Jezelyn.

Fort save versus Greensting Poison songbird.

-Posted with Wayfinder

Hee hee.
Okay, so, we need a few questions answered by our GM before we know whether I drop unconscious or not.
First, did Jezelyn manage to find a tree or bush along the shore behind which to take cover with her move action? If so, the dagger might not hit.
Second, since Jezelyn's side acted first and was prepared for Vem's side to attack, I wouldn't think Jezelyn would be caught flat-footed, whether she specifically noticed Vem's hidden dagger or not. If she's not flat-footed, then her AC is higher, and even if the dagger does hit her, Vem wouldn't do the extra 1d6 (5) sneak attack damage.
Third, is Vem allowed to use the Greensting Poison that was not included in her starting equipment but was supposedly crafted by Ysanne and Vem in the library just recently in discussion?
The answers to these questions make a big difference. :)

Jezelyn will start at A9 or L9, depending on which side of the raft Vem is standing on, in order to make her previous action possible.

GM, is there any cover or partial cover from brush along the pond edge?
If so, Jezelyn ducks behind it, as stated above. If not, she probably uses her move action to step into the pond to B9 or K9 so as to be able to reach more of the raft with her rays.

There is no cover unfortunately, but if you choose you can always move away from the pond I'd imagine but preferably not off the battle map.

I did say no preparation time so no poisons, spell buffing and so on.

Last but not least, I can't see where it says that a PC is caught flat footed from a thrown weapon... unless I missed something in the rules. Since Jezelyn would go first, she'd not be flat footed I'd assume.

===

Also, tomorrow is the wedding itself so I will not be able to post. When I return I shall have the completed round 1. You are all free to keep roleplaying of course, and feel free to ask questions about Kotei you'd have asked during your first week, I'll put them all up in the google doc.

She is caught fact footed by the Sleight of hand. Anytime you do not see an attack coming you are caught flat footed. This is why rogue archers who can see through fog and shoot out from it to enemies who cannot see into the fog get sneak attacked. They never saw the attack.

The same applies here, Vem gets a Sleight of Hand as a swift action from her spring loaded wrist sheath, and throws the dagger as one action. Jezelyn never saw the dagger, she's caught flat footed.

It's not very useful after you get iterative attacks or whenever you can make full attacks from flanking. But it allows you to deal decent damage twice an encounter when you need to move.

-Posted with Wayfinder

Huh, I don't know where Albert was located. Maybe my action is negated, due to the difficult terrain. Told this, I start at A 10. I roll Initiative. If my previous action was possible, I'll take that 1.
Initiative Roll: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16

Alrighty then, sounds good Vem. No poison however. Oh and no need for a roll Jian, just let me know your possible actions.

Also Vem would have started at F8, so she ends her turn on C8.

-Posted with Wayfinder

I don't know who I have in front of me. Regardless of the target, I move 3 squares and attack with one wakizashi. If nobody is on reach, I'll jump on the raft and then I move to the nearer caster.
Acrobatics: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10 Not enough, no matter the case I'm in the pond.

As soon as someone hits the water Thorrpe acts. He waves his hands and makes an odd shrill whistle as suddenly in front of Kite a dolphin appears, as it does Shadow winks out of existence in a puff of smoke, which flows into Thorrpe. The dolphin immediately charges Kite

1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 3 + 2 = 23 for 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Thorrpe says to his allies Who would like to be enlarged!

Also Jezelyn you're not unconscious, you're staggered. You can move and talk still, but any standard action puts you unconscious.

-Posted with Wayfinder

Good throw! Thorrpe says, though he winces at the painful cut Jezalyn receives.

Braeth moves forward into the water until he is within range with his chakram before letting one loos at the Thorrpe as he tries to aid his teammates in felling at least one foe

Chakram Attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16
Chakram Damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8

He smiles a little as the chakram flies from his hand [i]Looks like the training has paid off a little already[/dice]

Thorrpe grunts in pain and drops prone as a free action

AC 16 vs ranged

Good throw! Thorrpe says, though he winces at the painful cut Jezalyn receives.

Given the nature of 0 HP staggered, it's probably lodged in a lung more than a cut.

-Posted with Wayfinder

I'd still like to see where in the rules it says I would be flat footed from the sleight of hand. I've been searching the d20pfsrd for quite a while and can't find anything on it. (It may very well be there, Vem, but I'd love either a link or an entry to search for before I take your word for it, since I really didn't think that was how that worked, and the GM hadn't heard of it either.)
Also, if Vem started at F8, then we'll say Jezelyn started at A8 to put her in range to do what she did.

now I am curious, I cannot find that either nearest i can find is catch off guard but that is only w improvised weapons and an unarmed opponent.

I'm at work currently so I can't track it down for the moment, but again I reference the storm oracle rogue which is a well known optimized archer as a proof of concept. I'll see what I can dig up tonight.

-Posted with Wayfinder

not sure what that is, but it sounds like it is a combination of oracle and rogue that makes that possible...I dunno...not sure that it is possible at level 1

lol well of course it's not possible at lvl 1 for that build thorpe they either wouldn't have the needed spell and mystery or no sneak attack dice. Anyways were not discussing the build but why it works.

I'm sorry to have brought up a rules debate so early on in our sessions :(

-Posted with Wayfinder

Cookie will start at g3. He will move 15' towards the raft (not sure what scale the map is. :)

E:11 unless Rai is on that side not to sure where he is.
Im not even going to Lie so lost in this combat
Acrobatics: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (17) + 1 = 18

Well i dont fall. Even though you have to be on top of the raft to rock it supposedly, from what i read. If Zayne does trip me, i will fall, do i fall in the water or no? If not im going to stand and Drink my Mutagen (it would have been prepared inside the monastery and doesnt need to be re-prepared each day.

Positioning clarification: Jezelyn started at A8 and moved to B8. Vem started at F8 and moved towards Jezelyn, possibly all the way to C8, (where they may or may not be mud-wrestling), pending a GM weigh-in on the massive rules debate in the discussion thread, which currently includes the new-and-improved debate on the aquatic terrain rules, now with lemon-fresh scent! :)

Week 1 new start but which direction?
Simeon spent the first week of training in some basic lessons wth the monks. He found the most peaceful thing was meditating together with them. Letting everything go wasn't easy for him though. Everytime he thought he had it another memory would take over and distract him. Sometimes frustrated he nevertheless kept trying. He was determined to have it perfect by the end of the year spent here. Watching the others training inspired him to be better, he could be a warrior as good as any of them eventually right? Then the next day he would see others using magic, he even watched them practise for a time. Alone he followed the same exercises but failed to produce anything more than a headache. It would be so much better to use magic than a sword he thought.

First ever battle!
Simeon had his quarterstaff and stood watching the chosen defenders wade out and climb on top. When the monk gave the signal chaos errupted. Simeon knew nothing of teamwork so went straight for the raft watching for the best spot to jump up.
F3 moving to F7

Since I tried to attack Albert, my current position is 12 D. It also seems that I act after Zayne.

Since I tried to attack Albert, my current position is 12 D. It also seems that I act after Zayne.

Would have 5 foot stepped away from him and anyone threatening to drink the mutagen. [E12 i think]

Keep in mind that if you're in the water you're in difficult terrain and therefore cannot charge or 5 foot step.

-Posted with Wayfinder