Expedition to the Ruins of Castle Greyhawk [3.5 D&D]

Game Master Stiehle

Take your time.

Just a quick heads up that I'm here, just dealing with work, a flu bug and ear infection along other stuff that's cropped in my RL and generally draining me of my mental energy and probably my sanity as well... All three adventures I'm running has seen little action since January (but I've horribly neglected yours in particular), and for that I do apologize. Hoping to get the wind going in my sails once again in the next week or two. I'll ask for you patience once more, and thank you in advance!

I can wait, RL has been kicking me in the butt as well.

Thank you for your patience everyone! Post is up and I'm feeling revitalized about getting my pbp games going again! :)

I think I made a mistake, my "heat metal round 5 shouldn't be because this is the haste round.

Does anyone have magical means of hauling all of our loot? I have a handy haversack but that would fill up quickly with breastplate armor (about two suits).

Reonnyn sure does not. We should hide the pile of gear somewhere...the fire pit should work. I don't think anything else will steal it in the meantime.

Yep! Leave the big armor and weapons here and retrieve if we win and get out alive....

OK, now that work has slowed down considerably and I'm finding LOTS of time on my hands, I've updated everyone's character sheets with your recent purchases, as well as gold leftover from said purchases after your last split (it was 4500gp each, except for Aurora who hadn't joined up yet.)

If you'd all please look over your character sheets and make sure everything looks good. I'm usually pretty careful, but I've been known to make mistakes now and again!

I've also updated your Party Treasure list (which can also be found in the Campaign tab) below. Let me know if that's what you expected to see and whether there are any claims to be made for that Bead of Force. Neb's haversack is getting full, but it's still got some room - especially in the side pouches. Aurora and Morrow both also have magical haversacks with room as well - though obviously not enough for all those magical suits of armor and weapons you looted from the half-ogres.

Carried in Neb's Haversack (+36.5 lb. to main pouch - total weight is currently 61/80 lb.)
140 pp
1,449 gp
77sp
103cp
Ring (500gp value - ivory, set with amethyst)
Bead of Force

Carried by Reonnyn:
Ruby (8,000gp value)

Left in Room F3:
Magical Glaive +1 (x6)
Magical Breastplate +1 (x6)
Masterwork Composite Longbow (+5 STR) (x6)
96 Standard Arrows

Looks good here GM West, but the Elemental Gem Reonnyn purchased should be an Air Gem, not Water.

Oooh, I knew that! Thanks Reonnyn!

Also, carrying around heavy coin would have weighed you down. I took the liberty of converting most of your coin to a sapphire gem (which was done at a 10% cost.) Let me know if you have other ideas about that and I will refund you the cost accrued.

I'll post today, just PMd Verdan to give him a chance to post his action before I do, but I'll bot him if needed.

Here are my suggestions for the loot breakdown:

Scroll of Exp. Retreat - Reonnyn
Scroll of Delay Poison - Verdan
Scroll of Vampiric Touch - Neb
Wand of CLW - Verdan
Wand of Scorching Ray - Aurora

The rest of the mundane loot can be stashed away with the rest of the loot.

Sounds good. We are looking for an orb or some sort, correct?

Yes Neb. Find the Orb of Opposition then touch it to Bilarro’s (the false Robilar) skin.

I am sorry to say that I am going to need to step away from the table. RL has prevented me from even looking to see how the game has been going. Hopefully when things settle down again I will be able to adventure with you all again.

Take care Verdan, hope to see you back.

Concerning the coins, Aurora also has a haversack, so she can carry coins in it too

No worries Verdan, RL always takes precedent here. Hope to see you back soon!

You've got an open spot if you want to return, Verdan! Sorry to see you go my friend, but I well know how RL can make things tough to concentrate on posting. Take care!

I think I'm going to try and recruit a healer type, though I'll keep Verdan in the party for the time being. Perhaps someone won't mind posting his actions during battles? I dislike doing that myself, but will do so if need be.

Like our good GM, I too am going on vacation but a short one. I will be camping Tue-Thu and will not post until Thursday evening.

RL takes precedence.

With our Cleric take a hiatus I almost offered to take up the mantle and recruit for a wizard. I don't normally play wizards and I feel I am doing a rather poor job of it. I am going to switch up spells once we take a rest to see if I can't help in combat a bit more. Many clamor about the summoning but I'm not really a fan.

Warmage, why didn't I remember the warmage class. I could have been a breastplate wearing dwarf winging fireballs. 'Sigh'

I've heard many times that summoning is great, but I've only seen it work well in the computer games. Summoned monsters/animals usually are much weaker than the characters and are only really good for absorbing an attack or two. That said, maybe I just don't know how to do it right!?! At higher levels there are some extra-planar creatures that can be summoned that can use their own magic, buff/debuff/attack/heal/etc. They just can't use any summoning magic of their own if they would normally have it.

Buff/debuff helps when there are enough melee types to make the spell worth it. Difficult though to know what won't stack with mods that the people might already have. West does a good job listing active effects though.

I think summoners need to invest a lot of feats for Augment Summoning and the like, in order for the summoned creatures to be effective, but again it may be how you use them. Too bad 3.5 doesn't have a Summoner class...

I'm just going to start blowing stuff up. Maybe shapechange every now and then.

Neb, if you'd like to play a different character I've no problem with that!

Thank you. I’m working out the kinks. I may look at a war mage option. I want to maintain my knowledge skills but obviously i am a pitiful conjurer. Will look at my spells and maybe offer up a war mage option for your review.

Warmage not for me. maybe if I had started that way. I'm just going to adjust my spell selection.

Cool, and feel free to adjust your spellbook if you want. I've got no problem with you doing that if you're moving away from the conjurer option.

Sorry guys. Been really busy with the trip up to Boston and then change of plans so I'm back home and the wife is still up there.

Anyway, I am back home and will try to get a post up tomorrow. West, Same for the Mummies game.

Welcome back!!

If you play a wizard correctly, you have an oversized impact on the campaign but nobody realizes it. :)

@Gm West, how do you handle searching for traps? Obviously, if there is a specific thing (like a door) to check, I will call it out in a character action, but how do you want to handle things like moving down a hallway, keeping an eye out for potential trouble?

Also, a 3.5 Q that I can't remember the answer to: Are you allowed unlimited uses of cantrips (in PF1 you can cast them as many times as needed, but I can't remember if that's a thing in 3.5...)?

nope, not unlimited. Oh how it pains me.

Correct, no unlimited cantrips in 3.5, alas...

Unless you are specifically searching for traps, I consider you to be 'Taking 10' if you're moving cautiously - which is what I figure you're doing by default. If you're moving fast (fleeing or chasing) or engaged in battle however, I figure you aren't being particularly cautious - though you can specifically state you are taking a move action to look for traps and roll a Search check.

That's why I was happy to get a sword that detects magic. Only have to cast it now to study the aura to try and figure out what it is....

That's why I was happy to get a sword that detects magic. Only have to cast it now to study the aura to try and figure out what it is....

OK, you just became our go-to detect magic guy; I'm afraid you'll be doing it a lot. In particular, please check out the blue columns carved with wizard faces, if you please...

@GM West, below is the proposed revision of Fash's skills; as mentioned in my PM, I may have to spend some money differently...

Morrow, Tue wrote:

That's why I was happy to get a sword that detects magic. Only have to cast it now to study the aura to try and figure out what it is....

OK, you just became our go-to detect magic guy; I'm afraid you'll be doing it a lot. In particular, please check out the blue columns carved with wizard faces, if you please...

Not to butt in here but Reonnyn can also Detect Magic as well...he just has no ranks in either Spellcraft or Knowledge Arcana.

Cool! I forgot that Warlock could take that ability!

Thanks, Fash!

Sorry guys, I took a calculated risk on the idea that I would give up an AoO only if I got to attack back and then I planned to rage which would have left me standing to full attack back. Sadly, that is not how the cookie crumbled. Getting smacked down without being able to attack made that intro to Sobok less then stellar.

From the Gameplay thread

...
Fash, my understanding of the Hide skill is that once your opponent is aware of your presence, you cannot take a Hide action - at least not to gain a hidden attack in that same round (though Sniping would allow you to do it the other way around.) Basically, I'm ruling you can't use a single movement action to move some portion of your total movement rate, then Hide, and then finish that same movement action followed by an attack. If you wanted to move out of the room to gain full cover for this round and then use Stealth next round to sneak back and attack while its attention from your movement was distracted by others, I'd allow that. ...

Not too sure I agree with this rules interpretation, and I'd appreciate if you'd expand.

The way I understand the hide skill is you cannot hide if your opponent can see you when you try to hide (unless you have hide in plain sight). If you can break that line of sight somehow - for example, a bluff check - you can hide.

Creating a Diversion to Hide: You can use the Bluff skill to help you hide. A successful Bluff check gives you the momentary diversion you need to attempt a Hide check while people are aware of you. This usage does not provoke an attack of opportunity.

In this case, I broke LOS by slipping into the doorway to F20, where the stone blocks the giant's vision...

Please clarify what happens in the following scenario :
Fash is running away from some guards. He takes a double move, and on the second move he turns the corner into an alley, blocking their LOS. He tries to hide behind a garbage can, hoping the pursuit will pass him by...
Can he do this, or does he have to break LOS for a full round?

In your example, I've got no problem with him taking his Hide check, as the opposed roll will occur during the guards' turn. Further, if you took a single move and 'readied' an attack against one of those guards coming around the corner, I'd have no problem with that either. My reasoning is that you were in view at the start of your turn, then you got out of their line of sight using a single move and hid behind the garbage cans (or a statue, whatever is at hand), at which time you could make your Hide check and ready your standard action with the 'trigger' of attacking the first guard coming around the corner - or just remain hidden, for that matter.

What I wouldn't allow is having Fash (with a move of 30') run 20' to duck around the corner (and out of sight), THEN make a Hide check and wheel around to retrace his steps, moving 10' away from the corner (and back into sight, albeit hidden) then make an attack - all in the same round. That was the scenario I was seeing in the adventure thread.

It's the whole splitting up your single move to get full cover and then pop back out all hidden to make a surprise attack that I don't think is in keeping with the rules. Between rounds (or even between YOUR action and another's action in the same round) I can fully get behind, but not popping back and forth in a matter of a span of two or three seconds like that.

Note that a Bluff check to conceal your action to Hide after being seen is a standard action (per the Bluff skill description), so if you couldn't run around a corner, you could use Bluff to divert the attention of the guards and move 10' or so (if you had 10 Ranks in Hide) to jump behind the garbage cans - which would use up all your actions for the round and you couldn't attack until the following round.

Hope that explains my reasoning, or at least makes it a bit more clear.

I was planning on using the healing on myself. However, if I do that versus if I don't, how far can I move? Basically, can I move up to the giant so that I can attack it next round without provoking AoO's from it?

Oh!! Apologies Morrow, I thought from your post meant you were going to try and heal Sobok. You can use the sword to heal yourself, then move 25' (20' down the cliff and 5' on the ground) to get within melee range of the giant with no AoOs this round. You can post two rounds worth of actions though, so figure you're down next to the giant with no problem (I've moved you on the map) and you can go ahead and post your full round attack immediately, as I've asked for the next round's actions for everyone.

Well, that burns 2 of my 3 3rd level spell slots, but it'll be worth it if I hit. 45 damage and I get 25 temporary hit points....

Pity I couldn't get a crit on any of the rolls to balance out that 1!

Vanara are out of the Unapproachable east, they are the monkey men. I can polymorph myself or others and when doing so the spell heals the recipient as if they had slept the evening. Was considering turning Sobok into a gargoyle (flight) or a vanara (climb speed) so he would wake up and be able to get out of the pit but I think I have a better method.

It's that time of year again. Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year. I am going on holidays, starting the 17th, and expect to be back for Jan 3ed 2023. Posting may be sporadic; feel free to bot me if needed.

Hello, I will be on vacation from now through Jan 8th. I will have access to the internet, but I am not sure how much I will be able to post. Bot me as needed. Happy New Years!