Finder's Jungle Ruins of Madaro-Shanti

Game Master Malvoisin

Merry Christmas to all!

Friendly Ghost Man is willing to wait until January 3rd to give Finder time to return to you all.

So what's going on? :)

Wandering encounter check #1: 1d6 ⇒ 4
" " check #2: 1d6 ⇒ 5

I knew it was going to be hot and miserable, but the mithral breastplate supposedly only counts as light armor and one would hope wouldn't be that obnoxious.

You would have guessed soon enough anyway that I’m no expert on Pathfinder. Though I knew my way around 3E fairly well, I prefer the rules-lite approach of Swords & Wizardry that I originally wrote the module for. That said, perhaps I did overestimate how warm hide armor and breastplates would make people. So let’s compromise and say 15 miles per day so long as there are armored people on foot.

Is it even bothering me, since I think I'm the only one riding on a horse?

The horse can bear you faster, but it won’t be able to fight after transporting a man in armor on its back all day. In real life, knights rode a second horse to their battles so their warhorses would be fresh and rested.

I'll post more tomorrow!

Quote:

I knew it was going to be hot and miserable, but the mithral breastplate supposedly only counts as light armor and one would hope wouldn't be that obnoxious.

You would have guessed soon enough anyway that I’m no expert on Pathfinder. Though I knew my way around 3E fairly well, I prefer the rules-lite approach of Swords & Wizardry that I originally wrote the module for. That said, perhaps I did overestimate how warm hide armor and breastplates would make people. So let’s compromise and say 15 miles per day so long as there are armored people on foot.

Quote:

Is it even bothering me, since I think I'm the only one riding on a horse?

The horse can bear you faster, but it won’t be able to fight after transporting a man in armor on its back all day. In real life, knights rode a second horse to their battles so their warhorses would be fresh and rested.

I'll post more tomorrow!

15 miles a day doesn't sound too unreasonable. I'll keep the armor on unless it becomes a serious issue with our ability to travel. Historically I know that the Spanish Conquistadors who were roaming around all over the southern US, as well as Central and South America in the 1500's favored breastplate style armor, but I don't know what their average rate of travel was.

Ack! I literally just found that this is back up as I was doing my last look on Paizo before I go away camping for 5 days! :(

I still want to play but won't be able to post until I get back (really sorry). If Scott or one of you would DMPC Xôc Xôc (and Xahara if it's needed) until I return I would be eternally grateful.

Flash: I'll try to put some bon mots in Xôc Xôc's mouth, and you make sure you don't lay your sleeping bag over an anthill.

Sergent: Conquistadors wore half-plate. Does Pathfinder treat breastplates and half-plate as the same thing?

In Pathfinder half plate is normally considered to be heavy armor, and breastplate is normally considered to be medium armor. However, making armor out of mithral effectively makes it one weight category lighter (except for armor that is "light" to begin with), so a mithral breastplate counts as light armor.

At any rate, the short answer to the question is, "No, if the Conquistadors were using half plate then they were using heavier armor than what Jack and Gerald are currently wearing". I'm not that much of an expert on the Conquistadors and was going by what I remembered seeing of paintings of them way back when. I know that they operated combined arms cavalry + infantry formations and it may be that the infantry and cavalry used slightly different armor types, with the cavalry going for heavier armor.

I'd like to chime in and thank Scott for running the game. I have very little experience with PbPs, and I hope I'm not committing too many faux pas.

Are we in a published campaign world? Is there anywhere to read up on this setting? I feel a bit lost on how to ground my character, which I developed as a tribal "witch doctor" without knowing anything about the local tribes. Does this matter?

Thanks, PbemDM. I'm sure I'm going to be committing plenty of faux pas too. Though I have about 10 years of experience running messageboard-based campaigns, it was mostly AD&D experience and the Pathfinder rules flummox me on occasion. Plus, since I didn't work with any of you on character creation, this journey to the ruins is really my introduction to your characters and what they can do.

Wandering encounter checks: 2d6 ⇒ (1, 2) = 3
Result: 1d8 ⇒ 1
Which hour? 1d6 ⇒ 6
Who else is up? 1d7 ⇒ 2

I am going to assume, unless anyone is opposed to the idea, that you are resting 12 hours. You have three one-man watches, each of which is 4 hours long, giving the watcher 8 hours of sleep as well. During this time, everyone else will get 8 hours of sleep as well, with the remaining 4 spent getting up to go pee, trying to get to sleep in armor, waking up to go talk to the person on watch, sneaking in a snack, etc.

2d20 ⇒ (13, 4) = 17

Oh, as for game setting, until Finder comes back and says otherwise, I'm going to assume you're on the World of Greyhawk. The Ambicuraria Jungle, where you are, is part of the larger Amedio Jungle. Vahari Delta is part of the Azure Sea. Chologadi and Magadipan are two colony cities like Sasserine.

:( I am utterly unfamiliar with Greyhawk. Is there an online reference, similar to PathfinderWiki?

:( I am utterly unfamiliar with Greyhawk. Is there an online reference, similar to PathfinderWiki?

I did a quick Google search and this seemed to be the best of what came up on the first page:

http://www.greyhawk.net/?

Oh my gosh. There is SO much Greyhawk material on the 'Net. My advice, though, would be to start with www.canonfire.com.

Move silently: 10d20 ⇒ (17, 18, 5, 20, 6, 4, 13, 4, 7, 3) = 97

Initiative: 10d20 ⇒ (2, 20, 12, 18, 3, 18, 19, 14, 10, 17) = 133
To hit Jack: 5d20 ⇒ (18, 6, 14, 18, 17) = 73
Damage to Jack: 2d6 ⇒ (4, 4) = 8
To hit Ciaran: 3d20 ⇒ (5, 12, 1) = 18
Jack's to hit rolls: 2d20 ⇒ (20, 19) = 39
Jack's crit damage: 1d10 ⇒ 2
Jack's 2nd to hit roll: 1d20 ⇒ 17
Jack's damage roll: 1d10 ⇒ 4
To hit Gerald: 1d20 ⇒ 11

To hit Jack: 3d20 ⇒ (17, 9, 18) = 44
To hit Iiwo: 3d20 ⇒ (12, 8, 20) = 40
Crit vs. Iiwo? 1d20 ⇒ 17
Damage to Iiwo: 2d6 ⇒ (3, 4) = 7

Are you people making up this Ioun torch? If you really had a torch circling your head like an Ioun stone, wouldn't you be blind half the time and your hair on fire the other half of the time?

nope

It is a continual flame, so it creates no heat.

Are you people making up this Ioun torch? If you really had a torch circling your head like an Ioun stone, wouldn't you be blind half the time and your hair on fire the other half of the time?

Advanced Player's Guide page 306 gives all the relevant details.

You can also check out this link:

http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/advanced/magicItems/wondrousItems.html

To hit Jack: 1d20 ⇒ 8

XP award for Gerald, Jack, Rufus, Ciaran, Kiley, Iiwo: 900 xp each
XP award for Xoc Xoc (NPC'ed): 450 xp

Is Sergent Jack a typo, or is Sergent his first name?

Actually, one of the sources I looked at briefly gave that as an acceptable alternate spelling for "Sergeant". So I decided to go with it to be different. The "problem" from Jack's perspective is that he's been a Sergeant for so long that he has effectively made it his first name. Which of course makes "Jack" his last name. As to what his parents called him when he was born ... (I hadn't decided because it didn't look to be a problem but now that I'm on the spot ...) I guess we'll go with "Whiskey", there is a certain precedent :-)

I like the thought of treating Sergent/Sergeant as his first name. :)

I like the thought of treating Sergent/Sergeant as his first name. :)

One of the standard lines in boot camp for the drill instructor indoctrinating the recruits is to tell them they can call him by his first name, "sergeant". :-)

It is also not unheard of for non native English speakers to use a military rank as a name (either first or last). And if a member of one of those families later on joins one of our services things can get slightly confusing. "Has anybody seen Private Corporal?"

1d8 ⇒ 4
1d6 ⇒ 5

Jack's to hit rolls: 2d20 ⇒ (17, 14) = 31
Jack's damage rolls: 2d8 ⇒ (3, 6) = 9

Rd. 2 monkey initiatives: 3d20 ⇒ (3, 8, 8) = 19

Will post here ASAP. On vacation, but arriving home in a few hours. Am very sorry!

Sorry for my tardiness guys. :(

We stayed late at camp and then I came back to 3 long days at work before we decided to head up again for another 3 days.

Scott, thanks for playing Xôc Xôc for me while I was gone. :)

Just a note: Xôc Xôc is actually a Male, Xahara is Female. :)

I know you're not familiar with Pathfinder, so I'll just give you a few things to remember.

* Xahara will stick around as long as I want her to, but I can only call her once a day and if I dismiss her then I need to perform a ritual (that takes 1 minute) to bring her back the next day.

* If Xôc Xôc falls uncounscious or falls asleep, Xahara will stick around for 5 rounds and then return to her home plane. If he wakes up or is brought above 0hp before 5 rounds is over, she will remain as if he was never unconscious/asleep.

* Xôc Xôc can ride Xahara, so he doesn't have to walk. He has Ride and she has an Evolution that allows her to be ridden (she's corporeal and similarly proportioned to a Leopard).

:D

Thanks for the explanations, flash. It was Xoc Xoc's girly-long hair that made me think he was a she.

To hit Gerald: 6d20 ⇒ (5, 7, 7, 1, 1, 1) = 22
Iiwo's missed arrow: 1d20 ⇒ 4

Ouch! Not what I intended. You do know what the "Precise Shot" feat enables me to do though?

No, I can't keep track of all these perks Pathfinder characters get.

I had hoped to run this game longer for you, but I think there's a couple of inescapable facts here:
1. Malvoisin/Finder is not coming back, and this was just supposed to be temporary
2. I'm no good at Pathfinder

I don't want to end your campaign. Maybe someone else will come along and save it like I tried to do. I do want to run Jungle Ruins of Madaro-Shanti again someday, but will be running the Swords & Wizardry version when I do. Thank you all for sticking around and letting me take a crack at it.

~Scott C.

Scott - thanks for the effort. It was fun while it lasted. I, for one, would be happy to continue using the Swords and Wizardry rules, if you wanted to keep GMing. I'm not familiar with them, but that never stopped me before. Anyone who wanted to continue could just adjust their PCs to the appropriate S&W classes and we could pick up where we left off?

Well, where would one find the Swords and Wizardry rules online?

I didn't mean to be that much of a wet blanket, but I do put a lot of thought into how I design my characters to avoid as many potential problems as I can. Call me a min/maxer or a rules lawyer, but if there were really people living in the game world with the rules set defining their reality then they would be putting just as much effort into figuring out the best way to do things as I do. More as their very lives would depend on it, I merely reroll another character if I blow it badly. In this particular instance given that there are a lot of ranged weapon specialists in the party I would be surprised if Jack was the only character that had the precise shot feat. It's almost required if you're serious about having your character use ranged weapons.

Huh, that came out of the blue :(
I quite enjoyed the game so far, even as my character failed to defeat anyone yet :)
I don't think I know PF rules much better than you, Scott, but I quite like them so far - they definitely make more sense than 3.x. Still, if switching to a new ruleset is what it takes to get to the end of this adventure - I'm up for it, as I'm playing mainly for the story anyway :)

We'll just pause, then, while I consider the matter. Paring down the characters to just special abilities I know would make refereeing much easier for me. As for Swords & Wizardry, the free version is here - http://www.lulu.com/product/ebook/swords-wizardry-core-rules-%28pdf%29/1571 8826

~Scott C.

Well, I would very much like to keep going. I just need to find the time to convert Kiley to the new rules.
EDIT: Correction, I'll need to totally rebuild the character.

hmmm...

I'd love to keep going, but I think that trying to convert Xôc Xôc back to Swords and Wizardry Rules would require a significant amount of time and change. If we do go the Swords & Wizardry route I may have to bow out. :(

Of course, while I will be sad to leave, I understand Scott's reasons and have no problem with why he wants to convert. :)

What Dr. Iiwo would look like without power inflation:

Dr. Iiwo, alchemist
Human level 1 Fighter/level 5 Magic-User
Str 12 Int 17 Wis 12 Dex 14 Con 14 Cha 11
AC 5 HP 18
Items: Leather armor +2 (zebra), Amulet of Protection +1 (bonus to saves), Club +1 (1d6+1 dmg), silver dagger (1d4 dmg), Composite longbow +1 (1d8+1 dmg), Quiver of Holding (55 arrows, 5 silver arrows, spare composite longbow), glowing ioun stone, slung darkwood box [portable alchemist's lab containing 2 flasks of acid, 1 flask of grease, 2 flasks of solvent, 2 vials of alchemist's fire, Potion of Cure Disease, Potion of Sweet Water (neutralizes poison)], 1 stick of charcoal, 1 rod w/continual light cast on it, tinderbox
Spells: 1st level - Change Self, Cure Light Wounds, Read Languages, Shield
2nd level - Levitate, Stinking Cloud
3rd level - Fireball

hmmm...

I'd love to keep going, but I think that trying to convert Xôc Xôc back to Swords and Wizardry Rules would require a significant amount of time and change. If we do go the Swords & Wizardry route I may have to bow out. :(

Of course, while I will be sad to leave, I understand Scott's reasons and have no problem with why he wants to convert. :)

I feel the same way.

After thinking about it for a while, I will probably just go ahead and bow out. I wish those who stay the best of luck and enjoyment with the game.

I think I'm going to bow out as well. I'm planning on running the first part of Jade Regent for the group I play with on fridays and saturdays.

Thank you for taking the reigns Scott, it's been fun.

It was fun, and it's too bad. Thanks for stepping up into the breach Scott. Perhaps Rufus will find a home elsewhere.