This is the discussion thread.
Hello Everyone - and Happy New Year!
Kas reporting in for (taming the Stolen Lands) duty!
EDIT: Dotted and deleted from the Gameplay Tab there.
Greetings. Following Kas' lead I'll dot and delete as well. This should be an interesting run. I like the party mix and believe we may have a 5th joining us with some ranged attack ability. . Looking forward to playing with everyone.
Ravingdork here. I'll be playing Hama, your sorcerer.
I don't know how GM Cody normally does it, but I for one like to use this thread for out of game discussion of in-game stuff, and the Gameplay thread for in-game roleplay.
I usually format my posts as follows:
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Speaking in character will be in bold:
"You see only a small woman, do you? Thirty men once saw the same, and thought to take advantage of me. Thirty men whose corpses now rot for feasted ravens and whose arrogance now rain white from under the dark feathers of their new masters!"
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Out of game text will be written in smurf blood:
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Character actions and descriptions will be plain:
Hama discreetly casts charm person on the merchant.
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Dice rolls, big and green (as always):
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Internal character thoughts will be written in italics, and may be used to convey pertinent information to fellow players without speaking in character:
The prince is not as I remember him. Most unsettling. Think I may have to charm him to see if I can get him to be more forthcoming about why he is acting so strangely.
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Will that work for you guys? Or do you guys have a different preferred way of organizing information?
Yeah that's how I normally run it.
I sent a message to Clebsh73, the Gnome Druid, so far they are the only one I haven't heard from.
What's the campaign start date (both in and out of game)? I'll see about getting an online calendar set up for us to use.
The charter was sent out on the 24th of Calistral of 4716.
It'd probably take two weeks for you guys to arrive and meet up on the trail. so two weeks after the 24th of Calistral is essentiall February with only 28 days so.
We start on the 10th day of Pharast! Spring is coming to the Stolen Lands! Which is an Oathday(Thursday).
I'd like to start sooner rather than later, once Clebsh73 and my Wife report in, I'll get us to it!
Hi Everyone! I'll be playing Rosetta Westfall a Human Slayer ready to explore the Stolen Lands!
Think I got the calendar set up now. GM Cody, here is the link, if you want to add it to the Campaign Info page or something.
Downtime Tracking Calendar, Year 4716 AR
Let me know if I got the date numbering wrong anywhere.
We can use it to track our downtime activities and other important events throughout campaign. I recommend each player mark their notes in different colors, so that we can more easily tell them apart (thinking I'd like burgundy for Hama).
If you make a mistake and mess up the calendar formatting or positioning, don't worry, just hit Ctrl+Z to undo. To avoid causing undo problems in the first place, don't copy and paste directly into the calendar cells (doing so carries cell formatting as well as text), instead paste text into the fx field at the top of the screen.
Looks great! You put that together so quickly! I'll link it in the campaign info as well.
Clebsh73 has posted recently with other aliases rather recently, I'm not sure if I should consider their silence a rejection of my offer to join.
No response to direct inquiries?
No, I sent them a direct message earlier today, probably 5 or 6 hours ago. They've since posted on the boards a couple of times.
I can only assume that means they aren't interested.
I'm not giving up on them, I sent them another message.
Can't blame me for being persistent.
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I'm not giving up on them, I sent them another message.
Can't blame me for being persistent.
Yeah, with the weekend here and New Year's and all (plus the selection assumption not occurring until the 11th), it could be due to other circumstances. Hehe waiting is hard though!
Hi Everyone! I'll be playing Rosetta Westfall a Human Slayer ready to explore the Stolen Lands!
Well hello Sarah Olsen! Good to meet you...virtually speaking of course!
Think I got the calendar set up now...
Ya Ravingdork that looks really good there. Perhaps in black color I/we can put in some of the Golarion holidays and such for setting flavor. I'll see if I can pick a suitable color here and put in Kasimyr's birthday!
EDIT:
Greetings...
Heyas Skorn!
Ya Ravingdork that looks really good there. Perhaps in black color I/we can put in some of the Golarion holidays and such for setting flavor. I'll see if I can pick a suitable color here and put in Kasimyr's birthday!
Found another calendar online, which seems to mark the moon phases as well as holidays already.
Golarion Holidays and Moon Phases
If we start using downtime seriously, we're going to need all the room we can get on that calendar just for downtime entries. It might be better just to have a separate calendar link for other information.
Looks like the first couple of nights on our journey won't have much moonlight--the better to sneak up on some bandits. :D
I suspect the free horses we pioneers start with are not war trained. Beorn can start training then in down time. It's not good to start a fight on a mount that is not war trained.
I suspect the free horses we pioneers start with are not war trained. Beorn can start training then in down time. It's not good to start a fight on a mount that is not war trained.
Could you train my ox as well? I assumed it's trained for heavy labor already, since I bought it specifically to pull the wagon, but having it know other tricks could be quite useful.
I'm thinking the flee, sneak, stay, and watch skills might suit it best.
Sorry for the delay in posting. I hadn't checked the recruitment thread in a while, as I was focused on investigating a few other options. I'm happy to be aboard.
Feel free to look at Saniana's profile for appearance, background story, and her statistics. She's not secretive about her skills, abilities, and background.
I have not yet read the posts above as I wanted to get my "dot" in as soon as possible. I'll read them next.
My main request, made in my recruitment post would be for her free horse from the Pioneer trait be a medium sized reindeer or elk? She could ride a pony but I was considering having her animal companion be an elk so she could ride it, but that would become large size at later levels and I didn't know how it would go for a small character to get on and off a large mount. She has a badger which at present is small, like her, but at 4th level it will increase to medium size and she can start riding him. But until then, it would be cool to have a druid gnome on a reindeer or similar woodland creature.
Woo! I was just starting to have my hope fade!!
Yeah sure an Elk is fine, I'm pretty laid back about that sort of stuff.
No worries about the delay, in my excitement perhaps I was a bit too impatient.
I'm glad you are able to make it. This group I think is going to perfect.
I have been role playing all my adult life, and I'm near retirement age, so I have a lot of experience and enjoy all aspects of play. I'm GM of two PBP games now and a player in a couple others, but I should be able to keep up with daily posts.
I work four days a week and generally only about 7 hours, so I almost always have plenty of time to check threads for updates and post as needed. (It's just my wife and myself at home, with no kids or relatives visiting. We rarely take vacations except for the occasional camping weekend or weekend trip.)
My work schedule shifts every five to ten weeks. Sometimes I'm working in the morning and others in the evenings, M-Th. If working in the morning, as I am now, I sometimes post in the early AM, around 5:00 - 6:00 AM but more often in the afternoon and/or evening. When I'm working in the evening, I will do my posting in the morning or early afternoon and sometimes late at night, after 11 PM. I'll let you know as my schedule shifts.
I use bold and double quotes to indicate my character's spoken words (as shown above by Ravingdork). Thoughts may be in italics, although I don't generally post internal dialogue. If speaking a language other than common, I usually borrow something using Google translation app to create the words people hear (although they are not meant to really mean anything to people who might speak the language I used as the substitute for the fantasy language). Then I post the translation under a spoiler with the language indicated.
Example. Saninana called out into the long night, "Blwyddyn Newydd Dda i holl greaduriaid y goedwig."
Saniana has a trait that allows her to talk to burrowing creatures, which includes her badger animal companion, and she also has speak with animals. I usually don't try to provide the actual sounds she makes but describe the types of sounds, with a translation provided for anyone who might understand and also for the GM.
I generally try to convey what my character is thinking and/or feeling with descriptive indications that show rather than tell. Rather than say, "Saniana was worried about an ambush," I might write, "Saniana looked around, twitching at every snap of a twig or call of a woodland creature. She kept her hand on the hilt of her scimitar." My reason for preferring this style is that other characters don't generally know what another PC is thinking but they can all see how she is behaving. Knowing what other PCs are thinking gives us a better sense of what the PC is really thinking, but at the cost of then having to remember that the PC doesn't really know what the other PC was thinking.
I've played games where posts are made in present tense (the norm) but others where posts are made in past tense. I prefer past tense but can do present if that is what people prefer. I think past tense reads more like regular prose. Present tense makes more sense to me when people are playing around the table and speaking about what's happening then and there. Play by post is more like a written work of fiction, which are usually narrated in the past tense.
Yeah, I am very excited with this group, it seems like a good experienced group of players and online posters.
A little about my GMing style, I very much dislike being a No-Man. Laid back is my style, the story is about you guys and how the world reacts to the players decision.
I live in Washington State, so Pacific Standard Time. I work at a Harley-Davidson dealership as a marketing manager, Tuesday - Saturday. I usually have time to make quick posts during work but expect the more meaty posts to come in the mornings or evenings.
I'm off work early at 3 pm today and I'll be making the first gameplay post today to set up the story, your adventures and give you guys a chance to meet each other in character!
Woot first post!
So I put something in to start into the current scene - I had a mind to do a flashback post or something as it related to travels on the road from Restov a bit later, but still trying to figure out our PC's and first impressions.
Congrats on setting the posting tone for the rest of the game, Kas!
No pressure or anything. lol. ;D
Hah and so we embark on a journey together to tame the wild lands
-Posted with Wayfinder
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Yeah I didn't really realize the potential charisma/diplomacy we all have - that should make things interesting!
So I've read everyone's backgrounds, and I'm making the assumption that Hama is strictly a conscripted supplies driver at this point (and not a sorceress from Ustalav with an unfortunate recent past) with what the PC's know. Is that a fair statement? I don't want to screw up any initial PC fun there.
Are there any other starting character talents that the rest of the players shouldn't know quite yet? For example, Kas does not openly display his Shelynite faith at first meetings and seems like a rustic wandering performer, though after a few days on the roads his stories and morning devotions would reveal that he reveres Sheyln to a strong degree. I get the strong impression that Beorn is a "warrior" of Erastil but the depth of his holy connection is not immediately known, whereas Rosetta conveys an outdoors-ish hunter/archer quality and Saniana has a very strong druidic "vibe" from the outset.
Yeah I'm fine with you having an elk, its still a small elk though.
Normally a mount is one size category larger than the creature riding it. Gnomes and halflings (small size) typically ride ponies (medium size). The normal size of an elk is medium, which seems to be appropriate. I'll double check weights of Saniana, Dax (badger) and gear to see if the elk can carry such a load and be no more than medium encumbrance.
As for Kas' questions, Saniana is definitely an open book. She'll talk and talk about whatever free associates into her stream of consciousness and does not filter information to keep secrets.
She'll be curious to know everything about everyone else as well, but she knows enough manners to not pry when people don't seem to want to talk about themselves. I plan to do some more background information, perhaps answering the questions in the ten minute background suggestion (thanks Kas for that reference). I did not put too much detail into San's background when I first created her, not knowing if she would get to play.
So I've read everyone's backgrounds, and I'm making the assumption that Hama is strictly a conscripted supplies driver at this point (and not a sorceress from Ustalav with an unfortunate recent past) with what the PC's know. Is that a fair statement? I don't want to screw up any initial PC fun there.
Thanks for thinking to ask!
Hama is very particular about who knows of her magic, due to her tragic past. Eventually she will come to trust the party with that knowledge, and it will likely become public knowledge later in the campaign once we become public figures, but based on the way the GM introduced the game, I don't think we're nearly there yet in terms of inter-character trust.
What your characters likely ARE aware of is that Hama is a convicted bandit who escaped the noose by agreeing to help stop other bandits in the region (how much your characters believes from the original report, whch is actually falsely skewed against Hama, and how much they might trust Hama is entirely up to you). At this time Hama likely views the other party members as her handlers, or something akin to parole officers.
Ah yeah that's my bad, I more meant a small elk as in not a large elk.
More thinking the Medium Elk stats as an animal companion.
Small races don't have any problem riding large beasts I don't think. Worst case scenario, you'd need specialized tack and harness (exotic saddle) and it would be considered an inappropriate mount (-5 ride checks).
I just figure since they said they were gonna consider taking the Elk as their companion at a later level it made sense to start it off Medium.
I suspect the free horses we pioneers start with are not war trained. Beorn can start training then in down time. It's not good to start a fight on a mount that is not war trained.Could you train my ox as well? I assumed it's trained for heavy labor already, since I bought it specifically to pull the wagon, but having it know other tricks could be quite useful.
I'm thinking the flee, sneak, stay, and watch skills might suit it best.
Missed this earlier. Of course Beorn will train the ox. No problem. Training takes weeks though, as I suspect you know.
Yes, I knew that, Skorn. Thanks.
I just figure since they said they were gonna consider taking the Elk as their companion at a later level it made sense to start it off Medium.
According to Bestiary III, elk animal companions start off as Medium-size, then progress to Large.
Seems I asked about small characters and large mounts a while ago.
Yeah, conveniently, this adventure path also has stats for the Elk companion in the bestiary in the back of book 1.
The plan: I am unsure both IC and OOC what everyone's strengths are. So please add how you think you can best contribute.
If the bandits oblige us and all come inside it would be great to close the gate before then know they are in for a fight. I expect that they will be mounted and really do not want one to get away. Bjorn will want to call for their surrender before he begins to fight. Perhaps he can be somewhere near the gate in total concealment and once they come in and start making demands he can simply walk out and close the gate.
Closing the open gates behind the bandits...if they come into the courtyard...will be the trickiest part of it certainly. We definitely want a surprise round if we can pull it off! If we think trying to get one (or two) folks moving and closing the gate is too much, maybe we can ready the ox cart to roll across behind them and block it off that way.
Though Kas is playing it with concern right now in gameplay, from a player perspective I think Kas should stick close to Beorn in a fight here, as he can contribute with a reach weapon (glaive), keep Beorn healed and protected with a couple of powers...and be close enough to use a Command if necessary.
Now if we do get the drop on these mooks, I'd LOVE to try a Charm Person and see if I can peel off a bandit from the start - we just have to be clear NOT to attack or threaten that one if I can land it.
Not sure there is a great deal Hama can do to be honest. She can take inaccurate pot shots with her crossbow, or try and get her 22 HP ox in the fight somehow.
That thing would probably rip into them something fierce with its trample attack, but it's not trained for combat, so we would need to make a DC 25 Handle Animal check.
She could also use illusions to manipulate the flow of battle, but she would be loath to do so with so many people about, and with no explanation as to where the illusion came from. Even if no one saw through it, that could still prove problematic. For example, if she had a bulette suddenly appear to keep the bandits from fleeing out of the outpost, what's to keep the other party members from believing it and attacking it without metagaming, or breaking character for Hama?
EDIT: Maybe we just dig a big pit and let them walk right into it? Dig it and cover it up; Hama could discreetly use illusions to make the hiding of the pit even more convincing. We could ask Oleg and Svetlana about the bandit movements during past visits to get a better idea of how they might act/move on the morrow.
No one really wants to fight under the threat of having boiling oil poured on their heads and with no where to run. If deep enough, a big hole would also make a good holding cell in a pinch.
Another note on my posting habits:
I tend to edit my posts a lot, as new ideas tend to come to me more quickly while I write. To avoid a possible misrepresentation of information, please consider not replying directly to one of Hama's in-game posts until after the 1-hour editing time limit for it has passed.
If you feel the need to post quickly anyway, then by all means go right on ahead, just be aware that my responses sometimes change quite a bit within that 1-hour period.
I just figure since they said they were gonna consider taking the Elk as their companion at a later level it made sense to start it off Medium.
I'm not thinking of the elk as an animal companion, either now or later. Her badger will change size from small to medium when Saniana becomes 4th level, at which point she can ride her badger. But until then, a mount will make sure her slow movement will not limit how far the party can travel. Medium size elk (I'm thinking maybe more of a reindeer, for what it's worth) will do fine, as long as it can carry her, Dax, and her gear.
Edit: I've seen pictures of Laplanders riding reindeer, so they can be tamed and trained as mounts. With Saniana's ability to talk with animals and her Handle Animal skill of +6, I figure she would be able to manage. Mind you she will not be fighting from the animal, mostly because her armor check penalty and no ranks in Ride makes it so she would likely fall off at the first required ride check. But just traveling overland should not require ride checks so she will not be at a great disadvantage.
Missed this earlier. Of course Beorn will train the ox. No problem. Training takes weeks though, as I suspect you know.I suspect the free horses we pioneers start with are not war trained. Beorn can start training then in down time. It's not good to start a fight on a mount that is not war trained.Could you train my ox as well? I assumed it's trained for heavy labor already, since I bought it specifically to pull the wagon, but having it know other tricks could be quite useful.
I'm thinking the flee, sneak, stay, and watch skills might suit it best.
Saniana can aid in the effort. She can cast talk with animals and so perhaps this might speed up the process or provide a bonus. She has Handle Animal at +6.
Ahh okay I thought you were gonna take it as companion, You are right, your slower movement speed would effect exploration.
I'm fine with a reindeer, they are kind of cuddly looking with their fuzzy antlers.
The plan: I am unsure both IC and OOC what everyone's strengths are. So please add how you think you can best contribute.
If the bandits oblige us and all come inside it would be great to close the gate before then know they are in for a fight. I expect that they will be mounted and really do not want one to get away. Bjorn will want to call for their surrender before he begins to fight. Perhaps he can be somewhere near the gate in total concealment and once they come in and start making demands he can simply walk out and close the gate.
Saniana will never be a force to contend with in melee. At best she can cast shillelagh on her club and do 1d8+1 damage. She can prepare 2 1st level spells so in this case her best contribution would be her spell casting. She can prepare two spells of expeditious excavation which could dig a pit that is ten feet deep and 5x5 square. This would not make a very effective trap but it could serve as a holding pen for prisoners.
She could cast entangle which covers a 40' radius area with plants that make movement difficult or impossible. The reflex save or strength check DC to avoid or break free is 14.
She has a touch attack spell called frostbite that does 1d6 + 2 nonlethal damage and makes target fatigued.
She has a few 0th level spells that might help, including ghost sound.
She has some goodberries which she can use to stabilize anyone who goes negative, so he/she can be revived after the fight, to keep the killing to a minimum.
Well just to start with, why don't we pair up for the fight, with Beorn and Kas as a team and Hama/Saniana/Dax as a second team, and Rosetta by herself up in a nearby watchtower. As long as we're within 50' I can hit all of us with a Bless for an opener, and then I'll stick close to Beorn as he closes in, using reach glaive, Command, a 1-round Deflection Aura and selective-channeled energy to keep things going with him.
An Entangle is absolutely wicked and would probably wreck these bandits, but not sure how much you can pull that off in any section inside the trading post - how "grassy" does the ground need to be for example?
That's always a GM call.
Hama and Saniana/Dax could hide in the ox cart.
Oleg's plan would require us to remove our mounts or they'll be tipped off that a large well equipped group is in the area. But if they typically arrive on horseback, and if their first act on arriving is stabling the animals, we could ambush them once they are in the stable and lock the front gate at the same time.
The teams sound good. We could go for an attempt to intimidate or diplomacy them before resorting to force. Saniana can cast a spell to give a +2 on either intimidate or diplomacy checks for two minutes.
Frostbite is an awesome spell, Maybe cast it on Dax if you plan for him to go into combat or save it for a touch attack for yourself if you plan to fight. Hand out gooseberries in advance so they are spread out to do the most good. Entangle will be hard as its non-selective. Great spell for preventing escapes though.
Even if Santana is not great in melee she has a good AC, maybe the best in the group. and can help flank and draw attackers for a round or two.
Beorn will absolutely call for them to surrender before the fight begins. That will be his first action, maybe timed as the bless goes off. Well, thinking about it he wants to close the gate as his first action. Calling for the bandits to surrender should be a free action. :)
Entangle has long range so if Saniana has it prepared, she can hide near the gate and cast it on the area just outside the gate should anyone try to escape. She can prepare shillelegh for the melee. She'll get up early and gather a fresh set of goodberries. At 1st level, they only last one day.
Frostbite is personal, so it can't be cast on another for him to use in attacks. It is cast and then the caster makes a touch attack to deliver it. And I misread it earlier; she can only affect one target per casting. As she gains level, she'll get one attack per level.
Entangle is rather indiscriminate though, and will also keep our martials from being able to get into close combat. Just keep that in mind if we end up having to rely on it.
GM Cody, does Oleg have anything we can use? Sharp instruments, poisonous systems, a weapon/armor stash, anything like that?
stock currently consists of a suit of leather armor, a heavy wooden shield, two hand axes, five javelins, a longbow, two dozen arrows, a scythe, two spears, two vials of antitoxin, six torches, two weeks of trail rations, a number of animal furs worth a total of 120 gp.
However that is also his store of items that he has for sale, he can lend one or two out for the fight but not to keep, it is called "Oleg's Trading Post" after all.
I'm fine with that. I think at this point, it's just going to be "lock the doors and talk them into submission or fight them."
And maybe there will be a concealed pit somewhere. :P