I have a bunch of questions again. Should we post in order when we're in initiative, or does everyone post something and actions get resolved in order and then we call it a round? How freely can we talk during initiative? Should we state explicitly what our standard and move actions are?
I have a bunch of questions again. Should we post in order when we're in initiative, or does everyone post something and actions get resolved in order and then we call it a round? How freely can we talk during initiative? Should we state explicitly what our standard and move actions are?
Good point. I'll post a note in the IC thread, too.
If everyone before you in the initiative count has posted, you may post your actions. When it isn't your turn, but you want to post/know what you are definitely going to do, post your action behind spoilers with the header "Round X" in it, like this:
Keep conversation to believable limits, but talking is a free action. You can talk when it isn't your turn.
As for actions, post your movement coordinates, when applicable, and your actions. I'll ask if I need clarification (drawing an item, casting a spell, climbing, whatever, are all checks that I we should all know).
All right, thanks. :)
(I recalled another PBP I played where one combat encounter took two years real time once...)
I won't let that happen. I could see it with large, high-level parties with a huge encounter, though. :P I do not have the patience for that. I will gladly have a campaign that lasts years, but not a single combat.
Also, I have icons for Visssila and Queztlcoatl now.
@VessSothek: I can extrapolate from the numbers, but you do not have your CMD/CMB listed, your skills still have a bizarre format I find hard to follow, and you still have a mysterious +4 to initiative (but no Improved Initiative feat). Based on your HP formula, it will not hold up as you level up (since you only get 10 HP at 1st level). Not trying to pick on you, but I'd really like it if you could look over things soon.
@VessSothek: I can extrapolate from the numbers, but you do not have your CMD/CMB listed, your skills still have a bizarre format I find hard to follow, and you still have a mysterious +4 to initiative (but no Improved Initiative feat). Based on your HP formula, it will not hold up as you level up (since you only get 10 HP at 1st level). Not trying to pick on you, but I'd really like it if you could look over things soon.
Sorry for the unexpected void - I posted on Monday morning, but I guess there was a timeout? The post is currently not on the thread. The actions I made a few moments ago are meant to be in the current timeframe.
As for the character sheet, I believe when I swapped II for multiattack, I didn't take the +4 edit off, sorry. For HP, 1st level is not 10 + CON? If so, I think the formula holds up. I thought for skills, you wanted the math shown - as I edited the sheet to portray, but I guess I am a bit in the dark on what you want the skill section to look like then. I have appended the CMB/CMD to the mechanics section as well.
...
* := ranks = clvl
& := ranks above 0, below clvl
~ := class skill
Putting the [rank] [stat] [etc.], then listing the math is a bit confusing. I have figured out what you were doing since I originally asked, so it's not the end of the world. I just find it distracting, as I've become used to Pathfinder/3.5 stat blocks. Look at the other PCs' stat blocks for reference.
I am sorry that your post got eaten. I'm aware that happens on Paizo every so often. :P
If you know you'll be gone for longer than a day in the future, just give me a head's up. :)
As for your HP math, your eqaution is:
HP: 12 (= (1d10 + [CON])*clvl = (10 + 2)*1 = 12)
The problem is the "*clvl" bit. That equation only works @ 1st level. At 2nd level, if you take the same class, your HP (barring favored class HP bonus) is going to increase by 6 + Con modifier.
Also, have you factored in your favored class bonus to HP, or did you allocate a different favored class bonus?
I'm getting ready start DMing Group B in real life. Due to the timetable differences, I'll not have the two groups be able to overlap, but some of the Rumor Mill info will be available with local inquiries in Riftview or the appropriate locales.
Please, do not read the Rumor Mill for the other group, as it may grant meta game knowledge.
I'll be running the real-life game 2-3 Monday evenings a month, so we'll see how much quicker their pace will be.
Effectively, each game will have the PCs be central, and anything the other group does will be secondary/tertiary, and the things they uncover will be background flavor at best.
That's cool. So you're saying we might hear of their exploits in passing, if they do something really cool?
Yes, and vice versa. :)
Class Updates to come...
After consideration and conversation with friends, I've decided to nix the availability of the Paladin, and instead make a few Paladin-like feats (flavored for inquisitors, clerics, fighters, and the like).
Additionally, I'm going to add a version of the Fusilier from Super Genius' 'Grit and Gunslingers' pdf, and make a few modification to the Gunslinger. Since this does not affect the party currently, this shouldn't matter much to you all.
Finally, I'm adding some info from additional 3rd Party pdfs, such as stuff from Super Genius and Open Design, mostly in the vein of feats and class options (hexes, discoveries, etc.).
So, do you have a picture of the vesh yet? I wanna see the masked winged monkeys! :P
Just a heads-up:
I'll be out of town and unable to post Wednesday/Thursday this week, set to return Friday evening.
So, do you have a picture of the vesh yet? I wanna see the masked winged monkeys! :P
I have some sketches, but I need to finish them (and get a new cord for my scanner). Soon, I hope. Life just keeps getting in the way.
Just a heads-up:
I'll be out of town and unable to post Wednesday/Thursday this week, set to return Friday evening.
That's fine, I'll be offline for a bit, too. I should be back on late Thurs or Fri evening.
I just updated the Vesh racial stats on the Aerux site to better clarify and quantify rules regarding their masks.
I'm also trying to make it more clear that once vesh characters trust their allies, they are more lax about taking their masks off, and quantifying a demoralizing effect if they are lost/stolen/forced to be not worn/etc.
Anyway, I was able to make this post with a wifi hotspot. Post soon. :)
I am really sorry this may end up killing some of the party members. It *did* try to parlay first...
No worries, I was playing him like I thought he would act in this situation...he made a deal with the Fey and from what he can see it looks like it killed them....so he thought he would revenge their deaths... :)
Its fine if he dies...these things happen from time to time.
I know. I just really really like this group of characters. Great interactions and RPing.
After you end this encounter, however that may be, I'll give some info on the mechanics of this particular site, and see what you all think.
It's one of the few mid-CR environs this close to Riftview proper (other than picking a fight with major NPCs, anyway). And there are variables in regard to the creatures' personalities/reactions based on events.
Palag is totally stretching the game mechanics now, but I liked the idea of him using himself as a bandage. :D
I like the idea of the little guy trying his damnedest t save someone despite it being hopeless.
And, as adventurers, you're all lucky. If this were a movie, you'd all think he was dead, and either he would be and it would change the mood, or a few moments later he'd roll over and smile a blood-filled smile at the party.
We'll see.
F&F, thanks for not pulling the punches in this fight. Though I certainly don't enjoy having any characters die, I'm glad that it's possible. Many DM's play too nicely with the party, especially at low levels where death is permanent.
Yeah. That's part of the game. And definitely part of the sandbox appeal.
I feel a little bad that I've given a slight chance to the party, but not so bad when both the vesh rushed into melee. :)
I made it clear up front that death was very possible. Just gotta play by your gut, not your knowledge of module/adventure path play.
If something seems overly powerful, and the descriptive imagery matches, it probably is.
Assuming we have party deaths, does everyone still want to stick out this campaign? If you feel you need more players at any point, let me know and we'll recruit. Feel free to hire NPCs here and there, too, or buy/train animals for combat.
Hell, if my vesh dies, I'll just play something else. I'm really liking the campaign so far.
I kinda knew it was gonna be a hell of a fight with all the hints you were dropping, but once Rsss'tak charged, that meant we were fighting. Not blaming Rsss'tak, I'm sure I would've done the same thing playing a noble cavalier type.
It was definitely the in-character thing to do. Walking that meta-game line is tough, so kudos to Rsss'tak. :)
I hope this game doesn't fall apart after the new year. If it does, feel free to join my gladiatorial pbp I just started. You can find links on the profile of The Announcer and The Producer. If you all join, in addition to this game, I'll guarantee a slot on the team if it's to your liking.
Sorry I haven't been on in a while, what with holiday craziness. Just posting to let you know I'm still in.
Anyone still out there?
I haven't been as active on my pbp's as I was, but I'm still lurking. Waiting for Djat, just like you.
I know the holidays get everyone busy, and January is all bout catching up and stuff, so I'm not upset that it's going so slowly. Also, I understand that having a number of unconscious PCs can be disheartening.
So, I guess I just need some feedback. Should we all take a short break, recruit new players, end the game? Other?
I suppose we can just finish up the encounter, get back to town quickly, and recruit some more people. I want to keep going, personally, even if a whole new group has to be formed. I love the things you've done so far.
It's hard to do anything while unconscious, but I definitely want to continue. New players would probably be good, but having too many would slow down the playing even if there were more posts since there'd be more people to wait for... I suppose the best option would be to get everyone back to posting so that the situation would advance a little at least once per day.
The obvious thing is for us to finish retreating and get back to town. At that point those that can commit to posting on a regular basis should continue and those that can't should drop out so we can recruit a couple of new players.
I am willing to continue, but I must admit that the pace as slow as it has been is turning me off.
Okay, how do you all feel if I wrap up this encounter via narrative, and then hand-waive your narrow escape back to Riftview? You'll all be bloody and bedraggled, and will learn of what caused the entangle effect, and I'll share some OOC metagame knowledge about the encounter site here in the discussion forums.
Visssila stays dead, but the rest will be able to barely escape, with the intervening aid.
Then, as players, we can decide how we want to continue if things go poorly. Hire NPCs and play them if your PC is KO'd? Hire new players?
If you like the idea, I'll update the narrative tomorrow.
That's fine with me....
I'm also okay with that.
Works for me
I confess I feel that it is moving slowly, but my biggest caveat is that there was nothing to indicate this would be a TPK encounter. Suddenly the whole party was down, a mount dead, and this is just the first encounter, and something (seemigly) out of control
Games usually indicate the incoming danger in some way, so that players may prepare or (a possibility for us) ran away
Yes, I like sandbox and the possibility of encounters that the party can't defeat by force (I use that in my games), but there has to be indication of the risk so that, if the players fail, it was because they decided to go on despite the warnings.
Please, don't take this personally
I thought there was plenty of warning. The fey foreshadowed its power with the way they talked of it, and he was building up the sense of dread as it approached, yet he gave us plenty of time before the fight to escape. Also, it wasn't hostile; we were the ones who attacked it.
This being said, it was a very rough first encounter. However, I don't think he should have tipped his hand too far out for us, because it keeps the sense of excitement and discovery for the players if they don't know exactly what lies ahead. I personally saw nothing wrong with it; not saying anyone's wrong, just my opinion on the matter.
I thought there was plenty of warning. The fey foreshadowed its power with the way they talked of it, and he was building up the sense of dread as it approached, yet he gave us plenty of time before the fight to escape. Also, it wasn't hostile; we were the ones who attacked it.
^That. I tried to be glaringly obvious with the narrative, and context clues. This is a weird encounter site. I'll have to update the narrative tomorrow, as I *just* got home from work, but I can give you a few inside tidbits.
The creature (balverine/bandersnatch) was a modified Barghest. Changes to human, wolf, and barghest. They are sort of like this world's werewolves. He can't blink or teleport, but is Large sized in barghest form. AC and attacks are adjusted accordingly, but ability modifiers are not.
The fey are slightly modified grigs. The female had a few levels of witch, the male had 2 levels of rogue.
The entangle effect that chased off the "balverine" came from their grandmother. Grandmother is a dryad. Dryads are more similar to treants, but not as powerful. Maybe one day you all will encounter one. The arrows coming from the wood are from the male fey.
There's no sign of the female fey. I can't fill you in on what's happened yet, but obviously something didn't go according to his plan....
Cool stuff. I didn't even peg the thing as a balverine till my friend looked at the picture and went "Dude, that's the thing from Fable!"
Anyways, I liked the encounter. Brutal as it was to our party, it was still a fun experience.
F&F, I'd like to know if I could rework Yochtanl once we get back. I like the idea of a poisoner, but the Pathfinder system doesn't really make it plausible as a player, and I wanna change to a different type of witch. Maybe shadow patron, trickery type character, with mostly enchantments and illusions.
Yochtanl: Yeah, we can work with that. Also, I have a bunch of poison-y feats modified from other D20 games saved on file...somewhere. I'll look them up and see if they're okay to include.
I'm also fine with wrapping this up now.
I sort of noticed the warning signs but of course it was still hard to tell just how much of a threat it was. Still, it did play out pretty nicely. Our characters won't get too cocky too soon, heh.
Really the reasons I wouldn't want to play a poisoner are:
1. The prohibitive cost of poisons. It'd be cheaper in nearly every case to use a magic item with a better effect for cheaper.
2. The general lack of obtainable poisons outside of buying them. I find that, although many campaigns make use of poisonous creatures, most don't have a whole lot of them (because a lot of poisonous creatures is a hassle for the party).
If I could somehow remedy these, I'd be fine with leaving him as is.
Everyone, I am really sorry for disappearing. My MacBook's monitor decided to freak out and stay black, so I had to drive a few towns over to have it worked on. And, this week has been particularly hellish. We open tomorrow morning, and I've been pulling 18-20 hour days the last 4 days. I will post very very very soon, and then we're back on schedule.
I still have to find those feats, but I remember they were modified from Iron Heroes and Star Wars Saga Edition, as well as a few other inspirations. Some of the feats let you modify DCs, the delivery type, tacked on HP damage, prices to craft poisons, some allowed you to create X doses of poison per week for free, etc.
Those sound pretty interesting. I'll give 'er a looksy whenever you put em up.
I'll have the feats up in the next few days.
I am really sorry, everyone. I never imagined work would get in the way this much. :P
The current game day seems to be a moping day for our characters. X)
I'll have those poisoner feats up this evening.
If the party doesn't feel like they are able to continue, you're welcome to explroe a different region of the world. The Rift isn't the only thing out there. There are perilous swamps, the Thunder Plains, Sendast, etc.
Consider all of these added to the Campaign Wiki (I'll get around to adding them there, eventually).
New Rogue Talent:
Lasting Poison (Ex): A rogue with this talent can apply poison to a weapon in such a way that it is effective for two successful attacks instead of one. The poison has a reduced effect, however, and saves made against the poison receive a +2 circumstance bonus. Applying poison in this way requires a full-round action, or a standard action if the rogue has the swift poison talent (APG).
New Feats:
Poison Mastery (General)
You may craft poisons and safely use poisons without fear of poisoning yourself.
Prerequisites: Craft (poison) 2 ranks, Intelligence 11, Dexterity 11
Benefit: You gain a competence bonus equal to half your ranks in Craft (poison) to all saving throws against poisons and you may craft or purchase poisons for ¾ of their market price due to your intimate knowledge with them. All poisons you create gain +1 to their Save DC.
Special: You may take this feat multiple times, to a maximum number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier. Each time you do, you increase the Save DC against poisons you craft by +1 and gain an additional +1 on all saves against poisons.
Poison Modification (General)
You’ve learned the secrets of transmuting poisons.
Prerequisite: Craft (poison) 3 ranks, Craft (alchemy) 2 ranks, Intelligence 11, Dexterity 11, Poison Mastery
Benefit: You can modify the delivery method of a poison (contact, ingested, inhaled, injury) to another delivery method by succeeding on a Craft (alchemy) check (DC equal to the poison’s Heal DC). The poison’s capabilities and specifics are unchanged.
Undetectable Poison (General)
Poisons you craft leave nearly no trace.
Prerequisite: Craft (poison) 4 ranks, Craft (alchemy) 2 ranks, Heal 2 ranks, Intelligence 11, Dexterity 11, Poison Mastery, Poison Modification
Benefit: The Heal DC needed to cure a poison you have used against a target increases by 5.