Okay. We'll see if the Sandman and Levelle are done with their scene, and then we'll join you all up and we can continue. Fair?
Tomorrow morning I will have a getting the group back together and moving along post. I just didn't have the energy to think of one that wouldn't feel clunky and like... well, like two groups who know different things getting back together to continue on in a totally plot convenient fashion!
Here at OCP we have standards. And Terrance to enforce them. Or the ED 209.
Sandman is basically done, he is just continuing the conversation while waiting for the others to return.
Here at OCP we have standards. And Terrance to enforce them. Or the ED 209.
"Dont point it at me, point it at ED 209..."
Remember kids, alwzys trip ED 209.
Omni Consumer Products...
Okay, I will stop procrastinating and get to work on a post now.
Omni Consumer Products...
Okay, I will stop procrastinating and get to work on a post now.
But Robocop has so much potential so infrequently tapped by the gaming masses! *sigh* I love that movie. The second one has a special place in my heart as well. I choose to ignore everything else.
Wow, had to go to the Pathfinder Wiki to read about Andachi. I confused him with someone who was in the book, but... I mean, if it's that obscure, the average acolyte is not really going to know who the guy was.
What sort of check should I be making here? Diplomacy to get them to be helpful or a Knowledge of some sort to specify just what we're looking for?
Diplomacy check. I thought that I wrote that in the note I provided, but apparently I had a brain fart.
If you come up with a particularly compelling argument, I will grant you a bonus which may assist you in getting what you like. :)
Apologies for the delay all. This group and my KM group have reached a point in the story where NPC interaction/exposition furthers the plot simultaneously, and I don't like making my NPCs simply mouthpieces to deliver a line in the wall of text presented in the AP.
Reviewing and working on a post now.
Yeah, I used Sandman's argument as the basis of of your diplomacy roll, with a bonus because he included the fate of the town and an appeal to Pharasma's concerns. Had Kendra managed to get above a 10 on her roll, you guys would have been in.
Sometimes, thems the breaks. :P
I apologize if any of you feel that you're not getting much individual attention in game thus far. I know Levelle has gotten quite a bit in her relationship with Kendra, but when you guys are in groups, I like to wait until everyone has asked and said what they are going to (if at all) and base the NPC's responses upon that interaction.
My KM group runs on this model, too. I don't like progressing until I'm sure everyone has had their say.
I do check the thread several times a day, and again before I start a post to make sure I hit upon every concern I recognize.
Again, if there is an NPC you are interested in knowing better, or speaking to individually, let me know and we'll handle it on this board, under spoilers.
Hey guys, my mom is going to the hospital for emergency surgery, her appendix needs to be removed, and my brain is kinda scattered. Might get a post up tonight, but don't expect it.
Hey guys, my mom is going to the hospital for emergency surgery, her appendix needs to be removed, and my brain is kinda scattered. Might get a post up tonight, but don't expect it.
*knocks on desk* Hope everything goes well. Don't tax yourself.
Good luck. Hope everything works out ok
My mother's appendix ruptured and did some damage, but she's all fixed up. She was supposed to be released yesterday but her blood pressure was too low. Shooting for this morning, but my brother and his family (my two nephews who are 5 and 3 years old) are coming for a visit, today. It's going to be chaotic till it's not.
As someone who is, honestly, still recovered from my own appendix experience last year, you have all of my sympathies. Fortunately it sounds like your mother had it treated well before I did, which should have limited the damage. I wish you all the best.
As someone who is, honestly, still recovered from my own appendix experience last year, you have all of my sympathies. Fortunately it sounds like your mother had it treated well before I did, which should have limited the damage. I wish you all the best.
Mhhmm yes, and I can never say it enough I am damn glad you came through on the better side of that. That was some scary times.
I didn't want to say anything on here unless you mentioned it yourself.
So all that said, DM Aria I can certainly attest how hard it is to be on the sidelines of that stuff. It sounds like its wrapping up okay which is good.
Kay guys, in case the OOC edit didn't make it, you're free to simply "teleport" to Kendra's place and get your planning done. Don't forget the information you do know about the Harrowstone or can know about the harrowstone is available on the information tab, as well as the Professor's highlighted journal entries so you can reference them when making your plans.
And you can always use Kendra herself as a reference. Roll a Sense Motive or simply approach her about her concerns if you wish. She is open for conversation.
Essentially, what I need from you as players is a plan. Saying "we're going to the crypt" is not enough for me to design an encounter. I mean, I could drop you there right now in the middle of the day when there's likely to be attendants there who will wave you off, and you'll learn your lesson, but as intelligent players I assume you wouldn't do that. But I don't want to have to design entire encounters for you guys. Maybe Levelle and Sandman want to prepare different spells for maybe dungeon crawling and go the next night? I have no idea.
I recognize that this AP is rather obnoxious with it's DCs of "haha, you first level folk have a 5% chance of making this" and it is written to deliberately confound you for information and what not (because that's horror) but I can't really change those and stick to the spirit of the AP.
At this point I'm just waiting for others to chime in that we're all in the same place and at the planning stage.
Whew, long post, meant to post last night, but my mind was barly working at wisdom 7 level, let alone a wisdom 16 cleric. Needed to mull over the points and rethink like a cleric a bit.
few questions...
When Arkadi mentions being able to see in the dark, is there a check to figure out what he means or what he is? doesn't really matter that much, but Sandman always assumed he was a human, but with that statement Sandman is starting to wonder what he meant by being able to see in the dark. (I am assuming dhampir's have darkvison right?)
more importantly, when Kendra mentions the "altercation..."
Kendra purses her lips. "Perhaps the purpose of the crypt has been forgot, but I should think that any grave within the Restlands would be cared for equally. And with the altercation yesterday," she pauses and shakes her head. "Can you safely assume that there will be no church presence there?"
Did she mean what happened at the statue, or is this something else that I missed?
Altercation between the party and the armed mob at the funeral.
Kn. Local covers demi humans, I believe, besides the obvious ones like half elves and half orcs. Or, not so obvious...
Lemme look at the player's guide to confirm...
Okay Bestiary says Humanoid, so yes, Knowledge Local.
knowledge local (untrained)
I guess Sandman can keep wondering :)
Did The Sandman put everyone to sleep with his long winded speech? :)
I'm here, just...waiting for others to chime in.
That's what I was wondering. I know fighty mcpolearms is without internet, but I don't know what's going on with Silvui. :(
Dunno what is required to get this thing moving again, save dumping a bunch of NPCs on ye to get who is still here talking.
Or just teleport the group into the restlands in 24 hours. Up to you guys.
Did The Sandman put everyone to sleep with his long winded speech? :)
ZZZZZZZZ huh? Wha?
No we seem to have hit a weird lull, our brothers have been iccomunicado since our return and everyone else is quiet too...
I think we should come to a consensus about what to do and do it. Seems like Kendra and Sandman are not for the cache, Uruah and Arkadi are for the Cache, and Levelle is in between. If the Brothers don't pipe in soon, and if Sandman's statement didn't sway anyone, then we can head to the Cache first, and at least check it out.
I say we push it forward and we do what we can with the group, hand wave off the brothers as staying behind or have them botted. I can get Arkadi back on with a phone call so if the rest of us are around I say we do this.
Haven't heard from Arkadi in days, and am loath to continue with only three players that seem to be interested at this point in time.
I know Fighty McPoleArms is out there waiting to get back into games, but your rogue character seems to have disappeared.
I'll give folk till friday to post in either thread, then I'll probably open recruitment to replace them and get started.
I think that seems fair. The general idea is to try to post at least once every 24 hours or so. If they can't post in three days after you asked them to, then I'd think it is a safe assumption that they lost interest. Hopefully they pop back in before Friday.
(Nobody made mention of being absent or unable to post for a while correct?)
Just Andrezi, on account of being without internet because of a recent move. Arkadi hasn't posted in a while, and Silvui in almost 3 weeks now.
I agree we should do as we can for now. Any idea why Arkadi has gone absent? I normally post more but I've been waiting for the brothers posts.
I'm not absent. I was also waiting for the brothers. And since Arkadi was being a bit forceful in directing the action earlier, I wanted to pull back a little and give everyone else a fair turn in the spotlight. I know I have a tenancy to jump forward and I try and restrain it until I have a feel for the group.
I sent a smoke signal Arkadi's way. (I seem to have lost his phone number but his brother is one of my best friends and they are in constant contact plus I emailed him so my message should get to him one way or another in the next few hours) So we will see about that.
Edit: And Ninja'd by the man himself.
In braoder strokes this conversation does make me think that I should mention that Levelle, at this stage, is more follow and question than develop and lead. So if Arkadi or anyone else want to push things ahead she will go along (or say something if she has an issue) but is too young/naive/cautious/unknowing to act on a plan of action at this stage. Thinker, not doer. :-)
Okay, read the initial part of the encounter. So far, we got Sandman saying that if you're going to go through with it, it should be at night (as I recall) which is reasonable.
I don't know if he or Levelle want to go tonight without prep (ie, not having the time to prepare spells for skulking about in the dark), but I think we can safely assume that at least Silvui will not be joining.
I would put fighty mcpolearms with you guys, but I think you can best this if you guys work together.
After this however, I am going to address the issue of trust points. The way it works is... rather clandestine. You're robbed of a point per day if you don't actively assuage the townspeople's fears, which is hardly fair. I am contemplating doing away with the system entirely because to me it is not worth the effort. This is a PbP and it's difficult enough to maintain interest in this particular part of this chapter, what with all the sittin' around researchin' stuff and exploring your environment without punishing you guys for not being quicker about it. And though it will have a bearing on how I play the NPCs towards you guys... well... hrmm...
I will have to think more about this.
I have no problem with there being a trust mechanic, so long as we have some idea that it exists. I hadn't known about it before, but now that I do it'll play into some of my decisions. At this point I think we're still all sort of feeling out how this is going to work. A lot of games the adventurers move around a lot and don't bother putting down roots. If it's communicated clearly that "hey, you're going to be sticking around here for a good while, try and make friends and interact with the community" I don't have a problem with there being a hidden score for it.
That's why I hadn't mentioned it. Because I didn't want meta affecting player/character choices. I mean, you guys are gonna do what you're going to do, I hope.
If it became about "well, missy there's feelings are hurt and you lose a trust point and are that much closer to being kicked out the town" i would rather express that in everyone everywhere you go giving you dirty glares, horse s~@$ being flung at you, and more angry mobs showing up to forestall your plans than outright saying "Hey guys, you just lost a trust point, try to play nice."
How to put it. There's levels of meta-knowledge. The disruptive sort is when players act on information their characters can't have or deliberately manipulate the system. The helpful sort is the players knowing what sort of genre the story is and what the ground rules are.
What I was talking about was knowing "the PCs are part of the community; their actions have effects on the town and the citizen's attitude is part of the game". That means that I won't be distracting from the important parts of the game if Arkadi takes the time to talk to people and listen to their concerns. Keeping his reactions IC and not saying "oh, well I need to keep the Fear score low so he'll go make a speech in the town square" is the important distinction.
It's like, in a Dracula movie, all that matters is the half dozen or so main characters. The fearful townsfolk and dark whispers are just window dressing. Dealing with them instead of researching vampire myths in the library would be a wild goose chase. If in this case The Town is a major character in the story, I'll know to treat it as such instead of trying to focus entirely on the "fight monsters" aspect. That will certainly be a major concern for Arkadi, given his nature, but it doesn't hurt to have the meta knowledge that it isn't the entirety of the story.
Which I have been trying to convey through the NPCs rather than through "Trust Points." Currently I will say you have 20 because you lost one when you fought the citizens in the graveyard (which inspired the head priest's ranging to go deal with animosities) and because every night you're there and don't do anything to combat the hauntings, which you don't even know about at this point, you lose another point. But your GM did a boo boo and didn't tell you that you could roll an oratory or diplomacy check DC 15 to gain some trust from the villagers that were at the professor's burial with your speeches. Two of em I granted retroactively, because I would have probably given them to you.
But, yeah, I've been trying to make it known through NPCs. Like when you showed up at the memorial, there was a group of citizens there. It's a small town, when bad stuff happens, there's going to be lookie-loos, and they're gonna look at you funny, suspicious-like. Sheriff is reluctantly letting you guys investigate because he is all there is to keep this town safe, and he doesn't have the resources to police you all and do his job.
Arianne is NG. She wants to help you guys (because you ALMOST made the DC to get access to their records) had you a little more directed questions, she might have looked into the crypt for you, but I'm not using Kendra as a mouthpiece for the GM to give ya'll everything you need to beat this AP, because it should be difficult for you still.
If ya'll had gone into town, it might have been more apparent, but for now you're more goal orientated than exploration orientated, which is cool, but you're missing out on the subtler cues, and clues as well. But, such is the way of things.
Anyway, since the only suggestion thus far has been to go ahead in the evening, with only one person abstaining from this plan, come Friday morning, message from Silvui or no, I will lay out the basis of the encounter and get this thing moving again. We'll just say that the brothers decided to turn in early, or protect Miss Kendra. Unless you want to bring Kendra along, which is also an option.
We have been a little narrow focused but I think that is mostly because of the nature of the characters and our weird little play blip that I think might have caused a couple of us(or at least me) to sort of truncate my explorations and push to the next "event". As a player I fully expect Harrowstone to kick our ass and force us to run which will then legitimately push the characters into broadening their perspective a little and maybe just give us the right "vocabulary" when it come to talking to certain members of society.
In general I agree with Arkadi's assessment that it is nice as a player to know the underpinning mechanics that create flavor and relevance (much like Jade Regent has a focus on and rewards the development of inter-personal relationships) but I also don't think that the trust mechanics of this AP are required to be an overt and glaring neon sign hanging over the party.
As it has been run so far, the mechanic certainly hasn't to this point and I think that the issue can be as well expressed via narrative as it may be mechanically. Different groups need different tools. I believe if I were in the position of GMing I probably wouldn't want to be so tightly bound by the numbers either. I much prefer narrative to mechanical or numerically expressed concepts but that metadata can be useful as a player to even help calibrate a character properly. We don't really see, hear or experience their world fully and so they may know something a player doesn't conceive easily. So the "rules" can help facilitate better roleplaying via clarity, in my opinion.
Anyway, I am still stoked for the AP and I am happy that we are to make a push soon!
It's nice to know of the mechanic, but I was starting to get a idea after Kendra hit Sandman with the cluebat. It is the main reason he decided to advocate not going to the cache. He has made a contact within the church and he doesn't want her to vouch for the group and then the group breaks into the cache and hangs her out to dry...
Sandman is in good shape spell wise. He has a slot left open to prepare on the fly, so If a spell is in need, after 15 minutes he will have it prepared.
I did not know that that was possible. I thought you could only prepare spells when you must prepare them in the morning or evening, when it is dictated by your god.
Anywho, tomorrow I will start preparing the encounter for Friday, assuming you will go this same evening, again, if no one votes any different than Sandman.
It's all about not getting caught :P
I agree knowing the mechanic is nice, especially if the adventure makes it important. I'm sure there are going to be several damned if you do damned if you don't choices that won't be as dramatic if we don't know about the Trust.
I'll be heading out of town Friday for my bachelor party. Although I will have computer access (it's a LAN party), I won't necessarily be posting regularly (it's a LAN party).
Yup the ol "Don't Know What I Need" trick:
Per the SRD:
Spell Selection and Preparation
A divine spellcaster selects and prepares spells ahead of time through prayer and meditation at a particular time of day. The time required to prepare spells is the same as it is for a wizard (1 hour), as is the requirement for a relatively peaceful environment. When preparing spells for the day, a cleric can leave some of her spell slots open. Later during that day, she can repeat the preparation process as often as she likes. During these extra sessions of preparation, she can fill these unused spell slots. She cannot, however, abandon a previously prepared spell to replace it with another one or fill a slot that is empty because she has cast a spell in the meantime. Like the first session of the day, this preparation takes at least 15 minutes, and it takes longer if she prepares more than one-quarter of his spells.
Arcane spell preparation has a similar paragraph in the "Magic" chapter.
Doesn't Davor fall afoul of the last clause, though? If he's only got three spell slots at 1st level, then one spell is a third of his total. I can't think that Orisons count.
Doesn't Davor fall afoul of the last clause, though? If he's only got three spell slots at 1st level, then one spell is a third of his total. I can't think that Orisons count.
I suppose that is up to GM discretion. Orisions must be selected and prepared, whether they are counted for the purposes of determining total "spell load" is subject to some debate I am sure.
Not that I have any immediate plans to do this, I am under a similar restriction so I would appreciate a ruling as to whether Cantrips or Orisons count towards total number of spells prepared.
Doesn't Davor fall afoul of the last clause, though? If he's only got three spell slots at 1st level, then one spell is a third of his total. I can't think that Orisons count.I suppose that is up to GM discretion. Orisions must be selected and prepared, whether they are counted for the purposes of determining total "spell load" is subject to some debate I am sure.
Not that I have any immediate plans to do this, I am under a similar restriction so I would appreciate a ruling as to whether Cantrips or Orisons count towards total number of spells prepared.
Both good points. Let me know the call and I will adjust accordingly.
Whoa, i somehow must have hidden this thread from my focus... Sad to say, been a bit "Don't Show Me Crappy Games" happy these days.
It's cool if you wanted to save and prepare a slot later, Sandman. Cleric and Bard are the two classes I play most (favoring bard more), and I know how difficult it could be.
However, in this case, it's really not going to make much of a difference to you, since you don't know what to prepare for.
Uriah, have fun at your bachelor party. I went to my husbands, we got a couple of pitchers at a local pub with my best friend. :P