GM bluedove's Ravenloft Romp (Inactive)

Game Master bluedove

Thank you, Rannveig. Intentions and rooming info noted.

The ladies will both be taking private rooms, which will be next door to each other. Dimitrio is being optimistic that he may have company this evening, so he will be rooming in a private room across the hall from Esme and the remaining gentleman will pair up in two double rooms.
Luc and Artegal in one and Donovan and Nicu across the hall from them.

Basically, by the time we have moved on to the dance, I need to have your full list of gear along with where it is stored, is it in saddle bags back at the Inn, a backpack in your room or on your person currently. Sorry, but this is one place I'm going to be a stickler and it's not really about encumberance so much as it is resources. *waggles eyebrows suggestively*

Since weekends tend to be slow times for us, go ahead and expect that I will probably not update the gameplay thread much on weekends. I will get an update up tonight that will transition us through the shopping period and get us to the dance. It is there, under the cover of music that Olivia will feel concealed enough to speak about the night Gregor (their Papa) disappeared.

Also, some of this game will be played via PM and/or email. So if you'd prefer to be contacted by some other means than just PMing your character here, let me know! I hope you've enjoyed the Exposition, it is coming to an end very soon. }=D

My full equipment list, by location, is written out in my profile.

The Rich Parents trait gave me a little more cash than everyone else to start with. I have about 300 gp left, but I can't think of anything I really need to spend it on.

Would you like me to copy/paste the list into a PM for you?

Yes please, I found more than one Equipment tab on your sheet, plus if you all send it to me I can be certain you double checked it and I don't have to worry that I might error in collecting the info from your various character sheets/profiles, etc. The rule will be if I don't have it listed in your PM to me, you don't have access to it. The deadline will be midnight on the 31st since that's a full week from when I first mentioned it. Hopefully it's not too much trouble for you.

That's an excellent example of how to list it out though, very clear. =)

>.<

I have no idea how my sheet got so jacked up. Somehow my edits didn't edit. They just added a bunch of different versions of the sheet all added one after another.

At least I had an easy reference for the changes I made to make sure everything was straight.

Sheet fixed and PM sent.

I'll update Ninefinger's sheet today.

Two questions, Bluedove.

First, some slightly odd stuff I'd bet Donovan tried to get Rannveig to buy, if it was around. A silver dagger, and a couple wrist sheaths (spring loaded, if possible). Are those available?

Second - I just realized something very off about my build. I very much intend to pick up Improved/Greater Trip - but apparently, I forgot to give Rannveig the 13 Int necessary to grab Combat Expertise. Would you mind terribly if I switched her Dex to 12 to give her the three points necessary for that 13 Int? I figure we haven't done anything involving stats yet, so this isn't a big deal, but I'd understand if you wanted that to stay the way it is.

I'll allow the change. A silver dagger is no problem as there is a silversmith here, but the spring loaded wrist sheaths are viewed as tools to aid in criminal activities, especially murder and won't be sold openly.

These people are merchants and are more accustomed to being on the receiving end of such attacks, so they won't provide them for sale. Non-spring loaded wrist sheaths are fine though.

Edit: I will need finalized character sheets soon though, and don't forget to provide them for any animals that will be involved in combat as well. *cough*Ylva*cough*

I will get my alias finalized, with dog information, and have all equipment sorted (and a PM off to you) tomorrow.

Donovan's Horse, reporting in.

Luc character sheet is updated. He is low on coin now, had to get scrolls, so he will rely on Boote to help out with his room and board expenses.

Are Boote and Luc of the same faith? I didn't see Luc's listed anywhere obvious.

Under deity on the profile left side of sheet: Iomedae, Sun and War Domains

It's always where you least expect it...

XD

EDIT:
Actually, it's Boote who's deity is either eluding my eye (unless it's Lady of Mittonwir of the Golden Horn, but I googled that and found only Boote's profile again, which was amusing...) but then Terquem did say he will finalize tomorrow.

Donovan and Esme both follow Pharasma, I believe. Dimitrio honors Desna, frequently, lol! ^_~ The local Temple will be of Erastil, since I forgot to address that earlier.

I have not updated my equipment yet. I had a busy day at school. I was also interested in which characters worship which deities and which are formal members of the clergy.

Esme worships Pharasmin Penitence. Other Pharasma worshipers most likely consider them to be fundamentalists and are either embarrassed by them or worried that they might go crazy and "inquisition" everyone or something. If you think Southern Baptist or Middle Ages Rome, you'd not be too far off.

I'm confused about Boote and if his position is ceremonial as a guard or clerical as a priest. I was planning on finding out in game unless he wants it different.

I also get the impression that Ninefingers is a cleric of some form. Right now, Esme considers him a naer-do-well with Dimitrio so I also planned to find out in game what type of priest he is.

This seemed the best way to get past Esme's hating of priest with minimal fuss. Even if they are clerics/priests - once she realizes that they aren't the kind she is familiar with, she'll calm down about it.

Unfortunately Ninefingers, as priest of Iomedae, will hold a grudge against Esme, once he realizes she worships Pharasma. Lore is Pharasma knew of the impending death of Aroden, and there's a grudge for not revealing this information. Iomedae was Aroden's herald.

I believe Boote worships more of ROLE/philosphy rather than a deity

LINK

Donovan is a worshiper of Pharasma also. Not super Orthodox, like Esme, but still a follower. The Pharasman Spiral is worked into the basket guard of his rapier. It's pretty obvious what his religion is.

Ah yes, I remember now. I'm horribly forgetful, which is why I must document every bleeding thing. Finalized gear and sheets will be due Friday, so no big hurry. ^_^

Thanks to those who have finished up already!

Edit: I will need finalized character sheets soon though, and don't forget to provide them for any animals that will be involved in combat as well. *cough*Ylva*cough*

*smacks forehead* I've sat down to get Ylva's stats up like five times, and gotten distracted every time. Do you want a separate profile, or is it alright if I just put her stats in a section of Rannveig's?

Either way works, I'll be looking at my own copies of your sheets once we get into combat. One of the main reasons they need to be complete and finalized soon. *rubs hands together*

Never mind.

Under the information "Accessories" (of my Alias page) where I have listed my ridding Dog, Talus, I have included a link that will take you directly to the PRD entry for the animal (if you 'shift' click the link it will come up in a separate window)

Okay, unless I'm missing something (which I admit is possible), I believe that Ylva is ready to go and Rannveig's shopping trip is complete. If I seem to be missing something you think should be there, please let me know, but otherwise, let's rock.

Esme is updated. She purchased a healing kit, an antidote kit, a surgeon's kit and components for a couple of alchemical items - nothing big. She also left herself some spending money, which she had not really done earlier.

Like before, you can find her here.

Ok, looks like I have everyone's gear lists and everyone has finalized their characters. There will be some scenes up by Monday morning that will provoke PC actions. I'm not a GM who likes taking actions for PCs, so since there is some discrepancy on how often everyone is able to post, I'd like it if you guys would identify another player to dictate your actions if you are delayed.

Sorry my posting times have shifted. I'm awash in a sea of insomnia and my own nocturnal tendencies now that I'm on my own time for the summer. Looks like most of you are more available during the afternoon-evening time period, is that correct?

I hereby nominate Donovan/Doomed Hero to take over for me if super necessary. We actually know each other in the big bad real world, so it's easy to annoy the other person about what we need to do in game. Plus, it seems like Rannveig is sticking pretty close to Donovan anyway, so that works.

I am a medical student and study about 14 hours a day. I post at variable times depending on when I can get a break. Sometimes, usually right before tests, I may miss a day or even two when I'm too worried to leave my textbooks.

Right now I work with my PC so I can always post however, the preferred time for me to post is evening/night.

If I don't act for Dimitrio, I would rather you NPCed him or just have anyone play him. I can't nominate anyone because I don't them but I trust them all.

My schedule changes constantly, but I usually have time to post everyday at some point. If I'm traveling the posts will be shorter usually. In case of absence just DMPC Nicu, or any of the other players can complete his actions.

I own my own businesses so I have freedom to post whenever. I'm online most of the time. Posting daily is not much of an issue for me.

If for some reason I can't post Boote can do it for me.

I'll put some combat tactics and code on my character sheet for easy reference to cut and paste.

I'm pretty consistent. Fridays and saturdays I'm a less frequent poster, but I can usually still manage once a day.

I should also mention that it is really unlikely that you'll see me up and vanish from the game without notice. If that happens it's safe to say that I was abducted by aliens. If my posting frequency drops it's usually because whatever is happening is moving along without my character's involvement and I don't want to slow thing down by demanding spotlight time. I know I'll get my turn.

As for my posting times, man, my schedule is random. You'll see an awful lot of midnight to 8 AM PST activity from me, as that's when I usually have time to myself (I work nights, but it's super slow), but I also have something of a tendency to be awake when I shouldn't be, and I check in when I have free time.

Posting frequency, well...I can pretty much always post at least once a day, but more than that is sometimes tricky, if only because of the odd times I tend to check in. Usually, I'm looking at this stuff long after/before everyone else, which makes responding swiftly in back-and-forths (conversations or the like) a problem sometimes. If I happen to see things going on, I'll totally respond, but it's just hard to be around when other people are. On the other hand, with some warning, I can almost always engineer being alert when other people are, though: For instance, if you tell me that we're going to be having a conversation around 4 PM Wednesday, I'll usually be able to adjust my schedule to make that work.

I am also trying to post daily with story updates, hopefully I haven't lost anyone's interest by delaying combat this long. Baldwin is helping us with combat maps, so he's a logical choice to direct combat actions if need be. Trust me folks, I'm still learning how to negotiate decent tactics in battle. Add that to my unfamiliarity with some of these classes and... well, it's not likely to be pretty if I'm directing the PCs. That will probably work to your advantage when I'm directing the enemy, however. ^_~

I do appreciate whatever time you all can give to the game and I hope we're setting a pace that works well for everyone. As always, your input on any changes you'd like to see are most welcome.

You haven't lost my interest at all.

DM'ing is a lot of work and we appreciate you stepping up to take on the challenge.

So far, I at least am definitely happy. The pace is moving along at a good clip, but not so fast that I feel like I'm missing too many opportunities to respond.

I can post almost any day, almost any time.

I also think you're doing a splendid job so keep it up.

As for Dimitrio in a fight, he will try to catch opponents flat-footed or flank them in order to gain his sneak attack bonus. He will be mobile in the battlefield using acrobatics to go past threatened squares to try and flank if the opportunity arises.

Well, I hope not to be gone for extended periods of time. I had a stress breakdown right before we started and so was late to the campaign. Medical school is a nightmare of studying as hard as you can, freaking out when you don't do well on an exam and then trying to recover for the next one so you can pass the course.

I have to make a 70 on my final to pass Pathology and we are dismissed if we don't pass it. Expect to see me freaking out in about 4 weeks. If I pass the test I should get better after about a week. If I don't...well, expect me to keep freaking out for the foreseeable future.

PS: If someone ever asks you if you want to go to medical school, the correct answer is, "NO!"

PPS: I'd rather someone NPC Esme than everyone wait on me, if I am late. She only fights when angry and goes straight for the bad guy with her hair flying all around her.

I'm not certain if I should say something or let a misunderstanding ride. I don't always explain what I'm thinking and only write the "in-character" portion and that can get confusing. I guess the alternative is to use more OOC, and while I don't mind, I don't know what your preferences are.

Anyway, Esme is not/was not afraid. Based on what Bluedove said, Ariadne was afraid and I felt that would leach through their "empathic bond" as fear in Esme's mind. Once Esme allowed Ariadne to come to her side, she was no longer afraid and so stopped radiating that fear to Esme. By the time Esme reached Boote, everything was normal.

I probably could have written it more clearly. I've never been clear on exactly what an "empathic bond" is supposed to be, but I've always kind of assumed that they feel each other's emotions. I was therefore trying to imagine what it would be like to feel exogenous fear - would you recognize it as such or would you think it your own?

Anyway, no worries. My character in the other PBP I play not only speaks only in rhyme, but uses norse kennings as well. I've sometimes had to translate what she says in spoilers. Esme is much easier to write, and I hope, to read. If you'd like Esme to be less cryptic or for me to use more /ooc, please let me know.

I had problems getting on line today.

I'm certainly not opposed to OOC, I use it frequently myself. From my point of view, it doesn't look like much of a misunderstanding. Esme may seem anxious/fearful based on your description of her manner to an individual PC whether she is actually afraid is up to you, of course.
I promise you'll get to roll to determine if you're under any sort of fear effect, so don't worry about that. ^_~

Ylva and Ariadne are both anxious, though Ariadne is less so now (he?/she?) is beside Esme. They have sensed what I indicated Rannveig has also sensed, though they don't understand it.

Ariadne is a she.

And no, it's not much of a misunderstanding, which is why I hesitated to write about it.

My understanding is that the Paladin's Detect Evil ability is not like the spell of the same name.

As a Move Action (and it only requires a Move Action) I can "look at" anything within range and know as much about the "evil" of the thing I am looking at as if I had cast the spell and concentrated for three rounds, but I can never know more than that.

Now that I've salvaged the message, I see that it wasn't even a misunderstanding. I had posted that Esme was "nervous" and "worried" and he based his writing on that, which makes sense to me. That's why I wanted to reread what I had posted.

I'm sorry, this has all been my mistake. 8(

As to Detect Evil, I'm not sure how it works RAW but I know how it works in Ravenloft - but that's really for Bluedove to share if she wants to. Esme thinks however that priests and paladins just look at something and know if they are good or evil. She also thinks that they then frequently either misinterpret the results or lie about them.

She does absolutely believe they have the ability to do it however.

Hmm, that is not how we (my RL gaming group) have played it, but I think your understanding makes more sense. But doesn't that mean you couldn't detect evil on anything you couldn't see? I applied the "cone of effect" aspect to your attempt on the storage building. I guess I gave out too much info.

It's safer not to make any assumptions about how my Ravenloft will behave based on 3.0 or 3.5 versions of Ravenloft. I'm personalizing and customizing and pulling things out of conjecture and thin air as we go. Learning will be trial and error. <insert evil grin here>

You can manage it any way that is comfortable with you, and works in the setting, but from the PRD it reads like this

At will, a paladin can use detect evil, as the spell. A paladin can, as a move action, concentrate on a single item or individual within 60 feet and determine if it is evil, learning the strength of its aura as if having studied it for 3 rounds. While focusing on one individual or object, the paladin does not detect evil in any other object or individual within range.

So it kind of reads like a Paladin can quickly determine if some "thing" (person, object, location?) is evil, but cannot "concentrate" to try and learn about that Evil, which sort of fits into their "behavior" as people who need to know right away if something is evil or not, but are not always concerned with what that evil is.

Yeah, I probably read that three times in a row, plus the spell again, and the section on Special Abilities and back to that. Then I searched the boards, read a few threads on it. I can research myself to death on something as ambiguous as this. But what I always come back to is "is it in the spirit of the rule?" and "is it balanced?"

My GM says that those three little words "as the spell" means that the Pally is in essence, casting the very same spell and focusing it as a move action is a secondary move. So he activates the spell as a standard action, and then could focus it with a move action in the same round. But after looking at it again, that makes the Pally's ability more powerful than the spell and more available, and that just doesn't say balance to me. I guess from here on out, you'll have to indicate who/what you intend to Detect Evil on in succession. Am I right in thinking that you'll only be able to detect on one creature/object per round? So 10 people in one minute?

Am I right in thinking that you'll only be able to detect on one creature/object per round? So 10 people in one minute?

The first round, it's a Standard to activate it and a Move to focus it. After that, if he stood in one place, limiting his movement to only 5' adjustments, he could do 2 people a round. (one as a Move, one as a Standard)

So he could actually do 19 people in a minute if he doesn't have to move much.

Seems awfully difficult to me. We've always done it in a cone with the understanding that the more you were trying to take in, the less you actually got. For example:

I detect evil on that crowd = well they seem to be a mix, noone really good, but then noone really evil either.

I detect evil on the ten men in the bar as I walk in the front door = the one in the back corner is pretty evil. The ones at the next table seem henchmen as they're auras are much lower than his. (Paladins/Cleric/Inquisitors have auras equal to their level)

I detect evil on these two normal men = The one on the left is faintly evil, either he did something nasty in the past or is actively planning something soon. The other is actively radiating evil. Either he is evil all of the time, or he has an evil scheme in progress right now.

We played:
You have to physically see them to detect them - not through walls
They had to be predominantly evil and have done something evil recently
Being mean/nasty, vengeful didn't count as evil. It needed to be Evil.
You can't detect evil in the dark without ultravision.

And sometimes the paladin would get a "spidey sense" tingle on the back of the neck that something was nearby. This was done so that he wasn't walking around every round saying, "I'm still concentrating on detecting evil." Plus, spidey sense is just cool.

Play it however you want.

Ravenloft Raw: