Eldbale's The Dragon's Demand

Game Master Brominate

Indeed. That's why I had Kane be an only child. My original intent was that his love of his work was meant to clash with his parents' wish for him to be groomed to takeover their job someday. As their only kid, he couldn't just say "Let my little brother take over the job." But without access to the family funds, he can't continue his work like he enjoys.

My plan was for him to continue getting letters from his parents saying "Enough games, come home now!" while going "Uh, kinda busy here!" He recognizes that he will eventually have to take over for his parents, but he feels inadequate about it. He's just a nerd and a bookworm studying a subject he's pretty sure nobody else understands or cares about. How is he supposed to take over as the head of a noble house? (And especially now that I've finally figured out how big a deal his title actually is!)

He knows what he is supposed to be: a lofty Taldan noble. Now he's trying to reconcile that with what he wants to be: a good leader. Hopefully spending time with the rest of the party will help him reach that answer, because right now, he's avoiding that internal clash by drowning himself in what he loves: his studies.

How is everyone doing? It’s been busy at work here the last two weeks.

I'm mostly looking forward to the forums working a bit more consistently in the near future. Beyond that life is busy, but not to an unexpected extent.

Yeah, the forums seem to be a bit... temperamental. I'm going to assume it has something to do with some behind the scenes stuff for the release of "Pathfinder 2: Find Harder"

I personally am waiting for the add-ons brought about by "Pathfinder 3: Find Another Day" before totally ditching PF1.

I hear they're getting Dwayne Johnson for this one. Totally disrespects the source material. This is "2 Dungeon 4 Dragon" all over again.

Hey guys! Been good. Sorry about the lack of posts recently. 80% of the blame I place on Paizo.com and the 20% on myself. ^_^

Me and my wife are currently involved in a play that opens next week, but there's only 3 performances so life will be normal again soon.

Which play?

Oh snap! As some who has done theater work, I know that is a time sink! Break a leg, man!

Clue: On Stage!

My wife would be particularly impressed. Enjoy the performances!

Thanks!

dang boards!

Finally up and at 'em!

Welcome back everyone! Today is the first day I've been able to get back on! So glad to be back!

Jeez finally!

Can we just say we pull the same routine, moving down the line opening jail cells as we go? Same rough marching order?

These ones are locked at least, so maybe there's something different going on. Hopefully now that the forums are back up we'll be able to make some progress!

I sure hope opening that door doesn't come down to a vote. We should know by now where Yantri stands.

No worries for this particular time. Yantri's in favor of personal freedom for the living, but she's seen plenty to convince her that there shouldn't be anyone living down here right now.

The picture on this guy's token doesn't inspire me with confidence that he'll be friendly. ;)

Actually, thanks for reminding me.

Map updated!

The tiny size was what I wasn't taking into account. For now I provoke AoO when I fire my musket if someone is threatening me and I was worried that the 5 foot step might not take me out of that range.

Waiting for Ngai right?

And do we all need Perception to hit?

Is Sheridan in front of where the fake secret door is on the map?

I'm going to bot Ngai here in a second. Because he's not invisible anymore, you do not need perception to hit. And, again, any of you can maneuver around him because he doesn't threaten adjacent spaces. But he has to enter your square to attack so you'll always get an AoO when he attacks you, should you choose to use it.

Here is a clarification on Ability Score damage, in case anyone's not familiar with it.

Diseases, poisons, spells, and other abilities can all deal damage directly to your ability scores. This damage does not actually reduce an ability, but it does apply a penalty to the skills and statistics that are based on that ability.

For every 2 points of damage you take to a single ability, apply a –1 penalty to skills and statistics listed with the relevant ability. If the amount of ability damage you have taken equals or exceeds your ability score, you immediately fall unconscious until the damage is less than your ability score.

Unless otherwise noted, damage to your ability scores is healed at the rate of 1 per day to each ability score that has been damaged. Ability damage can be healed through the use of spells, such as lesser restoration.

Dexterity: Damage to your Dexterity score causes you to take penalties on Dexterity-based skill checks, ranged attack rolls, initiative checks, and Reflex saving throws. The penalty also applies to your Armor Class, your Combat Maneuver Bonus (if you are Tiny or smaller), and to your Combat Maneuver Defense.

Harzogopas told you the secret door was locked (which it wasn't) and that the key (which doesn't exist) was among the clutter on the table.

Also, Sheridan has both of the mithral daggers right?

He handed them over to Ngai.

So...

The other table beat the haunt you all faced by giving the prisoner food (Y'know, hip hip hooray yadda yadda). When they went through the secret door and saw the Lightning elemental the consensus essentially was:

"Well...we still haven't explored the rest of the dungeon. Let's do that first."

It was rather hilarious. And now they're about to enter the "persuasion chamber." I wonder what they'll do when/if they get to the sludge pit, round the corner, and there's a giant gap.

As they say, flip all the switches in a dungeon. Surely, it does something good for the group!

Also poke all the nouns. That's how XP is born.

I've reached out to Ngai but haven't heard back yet. I unfortunately may have to consider replacing her soon. Just letting you all know.

Sheridan would be inconsolable. Ngai was the only one who's name he could remember.

We're going to consider the fate of Ngai "unknown." And as it is, you don't have the time to go check on her because of this new situation. Anyone who does go check on her sees a haunting site. You will believe her to be dead.

Sorry for the pause there on my end. RL reared up as it does from time to time. Hopefully we'll see Ngai when she manages to escape it soon as well!

Glad to have you back, Yantri! I completely understand.

And if Ngai does return, and it is my wish that she does, it will turn out that she was not dead, as everyone believed; only mostly dead.

Sorry for my sudden quiet, everyone. Work has some new hands on deck, and I'm helping train them, so my time is a bit strapped. But thanks for moving ahead with that. That was my plan, assuming I had a good sketch of it.

Yeah, the text literally says:

If anyone presents the [OMITTED] crest (either
the one found in area A8, or a sketch, rubbing, or other
representation of it) within 1 round, the construct steps
aside to allow passage into the hallway beyond. Otherwise,
it assumes a defensive posture and attacks anyone who
moves into the hallway, fighting to the death.

But since you actually voiced the idea of presenting a drawing of it, I really wanted to go with that, and changed the time restriction a bit.

(or maybe I just liked the idea of you getting through without fighting. Or maybe I'm just lazy).

I personally appreciate that! I enjoy alternative solutions to battle, and in Kane's case, it suits him to a T! Yes, that battle axe isn't for show (sorta), but if he can find a more "academic" solution, so much the better!

He handed them over to Ngai.

Because it's no one's fault, can we say Ngai handed them back to you before she fell?

Cleared the acid-eaten outfit to make room.

I sadly don't have precise shot yet (as point blank shot is the prerequisite,) so cover and in melee do both apply.

I do wonder if the monster (I'm assuming ghoul) moved before attacking Stone though. If it was right there at the front of the tunnel and didn't need to move then it doesn't help, but if it did move so it should probably have only gotten one claw attack in. If so, that one probably missed and that makes things better for him.

Really sorry for being slow, all. My mom got a message from her doctors in Philadelphia at 3:15 that they had scheduled her for an appointment.
In Philly.
10 hours away by car.
For Friday.

That's in addition to her other doctor's appointments here. So last night, we were running around like headless chickens getting her and my parents packed for travel. Hopefully won't be for long, but I meant to get to moving my piece and posting last night. I couldn't, sadly.

Since the map won't work for me at the moment, could you move me up next to Sheridan. I also plan to take the full defense action again to draw its attacks, which I incorrectly calculated as 18 (10+2+4+4 = 20, Kane... some brainiac I am, right?) I'll get something else up as soon as possible.

Just wanted to offer an explanation for my quiet. I'm still invested, I promise, it's just... please stop the world, I'd like to get off now.

It's all good. My dice won't roll above a 10 anyway.

Really sorry for being slow, all. My mom got a message from her doctors in Philadelphia at 3:15 that they had scheduled her for an appointment.

In Philly.
10 hours away by car.
For Friday.

That's in addition to her other doctor's appointments here. So last night, we were running around like headless chickens getting her and my parents packed for travel. Hopefully won't be for long, but I meant to get to moving my piece and posting last night. I couldn't, sadly.

Since the map won't work for me at the moment, could you move me up next to Sheridan. I also plan to take the full defense action again to draw its attacks, which I incorrectly calculated as 18 (10+2+4+4 = 20, Kane... some brainiac I am, right?) I'll get something else up as soon as possible.

Just wanted to offer an explanation for my quiet. I'm still invested, I promise, it's just... please stop the world, I'd like to get off now.

Absolutely! Please be safe! Hope all goes well with your Mom! Some people don't like me for it, but I'm the praying type. So I'll be praying for your family!

I appreciate that, guys.

And no worries, I appreciate that prayers. I view it all with gratitude!

tactically, shouldn't everyone who can attack this round do so? Otherwise you are giving it another round of free attacks and we are low level characters. It better get damage on it quick or this will be a TPK.

Or are you guys thinking make the rogue hard to hit and give Yantri enough time to put a couple of bullets into the ghoul?

I appreciate that, guys.

And no worries, I appreciate that prayers. I view it all with gratitude!

Good luck brother! I am dealing with aging parents myself. My mom has a degenerative brain disease. Hang in there.

For the battle, ideally I think that we can keep it moving to us so it only gets one attack per round rather than three (so one person disengages and moves more than 5 feet away, the others take shots each round.) That would need to involve ranged attacks though, and that might be beyond our strengths. Getting all the damage in at once is the next best option to hopefully bring it down quickly.

For the family situation, do what needs to be done! I know that this month I've had my mother-in-law move in to our house for health reasons (though we had a couple months to get ready,) and then my father had a stroke (his first and he's doing as well as can be expected.) Things happen as they happen. I certainly posted less for stretches than I had planned. We'll keep you in our thoughts and definitely understand that it's what should drive your schedule, not the game. Good luck!

tactically, shouldn't everyone who can attack this round do so? Otherwise you are giving it another round of free attacks and we are low level characters. It better get damage on it quick or this will be a TPK.

Or are you guys thinking make the rogue hard to hit and give Yantri enough time to put a couple of bullets into the ghoul?

I couldn't charge in the first round with the rubble in the way. I have exactly one more ranged attack. I need to get it into flanking. One good sneak attack is better than a dozen little punches which put me in danger, especially if it means I can get it shaken.

I mean, if all I do this fight is play monkey in the middle with Kane using total defense while Yantri takes pot shots, that's totally valid. The thing will only hit me on a 19 or 20, and the more I dance around, the more likely I can line up that flank.