Folks, I have FINALLY updated the crew reference. The link is in my statblock and on the campaign page. In addition to adding our new crew members, NPC and PC alike, I've added a better guideline on influencing crew, which I should have put on there about three years ago. Please let me know if you see anything amiss.
Hey y'all, I'm alive. It's been a very tiring month+, but I feel I'm starting to come out the other side of it.
I'm not caught up with the in-game posts yet - anything I should look out for in particular? I assume everyone is in great shape since Lark hasn't been leading you headfirst into peril ;)
Glad you are alive and kicking, and I hope that you stay that way. We turned in the revenge goddess's trinket (as well as the captain thief) and are now trying to get info from the secret god's followers. Oh, and we acquired a cool flag and an alchemy lab.
Good luck, thermopyle. We are doing ok. I was doing lots of cool wasp themed things when we were working for a wasp goddess. Probably not what you are looking for.
I got nothing for the Norburgers.
I've been taking us headlong into danger in your stead, never fear Mon Capitan! Alas, no one's gotten smashed, squashed, bludgeoned, stabbed, or crushed even moderately :)
You did get immolated though. ;)
I'm fire resistant, really doesn't bother me too much. Sandara, different story.
Yay! I said this privately, but I am glad you are on the mend. The party is finishing up visiting the temple of Norgorber. You can decided you have been quietly with them the whole time, or on the ship attending to generic ship's repairs/business, as they should be returning to the ship shortly. The party will need to choose whether it first goes on the quest the Temple of the Hidden Name has asked them to follow up on (which will send you westward, I believe), or follows the lead the Calistrians gave them (which will send you northeast).
Unrelated, but related to moving the plot forward: Chad, check your PMs.
Thanks, y'all.
I knew I could count on Lark's first mate to carry on in his stead. Better luck next time on actually getting us all squashed.
I'll try harder next time!
Folks, I have FINALLY updated the crew reference. The link is in my statblock and on the campaign page. In addition to adding our new crew members, NPC and PC alike, I've added a better guideline on influencing crew, which I should have put on there about three years ago. Please let me know if you see anything amiss.
Doh! I forgot to add Caulky Tarroon. Will fix when I can.
I have updated the crew list, adding Caulky and updating Belina's status to Friendly!
Still checking daily, just doesn't seem like much for Chad to do right now.
Ditto. Letting the captain and company settle this. In the meantime, Thren will play with a stray cat or something :)
Anyone have preferences for how to go after Morton?
Non violently if we can. Even if he isn't a free captain, it isn't like he stole from us or one of our contacts... he just has something we want/need. No need to not be civilized pirates, after all.
I'm a huge fan of heists. It would be fun to run a Mission Impossible or Hustle style con on Morton. Not opposed to just bashing him and taking it, but how glorious would it be if we would take it from him and replace it with a replica that he didn't realize was fake for a long while. Or get him to trade it for hoakum and be happy he did.
I probably only have the bluff skills to support those actions, and not to be the face man.
I wonder if there is some way to get him to trade it for earning the good graces of the Sorinash (the werewolf pirate lord), which of course if he tried to use would likely get him killed.
But heists are hard to set up, so I understand if that isn't the direction GMDQ wants to go, or if that doesn't interest the rest of you.
I am honestly liking all of your ideas FAR more than what the AP has scripted, which I dreaded running. I am willing to wing anything up to and including a heist. I can't promise everything will go perfectly, but I am willing to go whatever direction you like, and bear in mind that I will probably making it up as I go along so request forgiveness if something doesn't quite work as intended.
Just waiting for y'all to plan and decide what you are going to do, let me know what happens and then we'll proceed.
What's next?
While we wait for Morton to arrive Chad and Kahuranga could go shopping for sleeping potions and sedatives. They could also look for a way to make a copy of the ring on short notice.
Thren and Lark can do information gathering to look for anyone that knows anything about Morton. They could even trying doing it in disguise. Maybe we can figure out if he frequents one of the brothels. Then we could plan our attack either inside the building (heist) or outside (mugging).
Chakam - either of those missions (or something else) interest you? Once Morton arrives Chakam can tail him around in animal form.
That sounds like a good plan... I take it we are just having a plain copy of the ring's shape made so that he thinks he still has it, correct?
It works for me too. Maybe I should go with Chad or Kahuranga, as charisma isn't much my thing :)
GMDQ, thanks for giving us some rope (to hang ourselves?) on this escapade. I hope it doesn't become too much extra work for you.
Hey guys! Got a bit of a rough couple days at work. Sorry for the lack of posting - it'll normalize by Monday. @GM, please feel free to bot me until then. Thanks guys and I'll be back soon :)
Apologies for my lack of attention this previous week. Teaching has been sucking all of my energy lately. I'm teaching with half the students in the classroom and half at home, and have hours more supervision duties than usual. I'm also finishing up a "3 week" renovation that started mid July and has taken 9 weeks.
I kept trying to get it together enough to make good posts, and couldn't. I hope things will be better this week, but life is going to stay tough for a while.
I wish you the best of luck, Kahuranga. That's rough.
I too apologize for being a bit slower to post. Staffing at work has been bad; at the start of October I suspect it'll improve a bit as the relaxed attendance policy goes away. But to make things worse, we're restructuring. And our store manager just got promoted. By the end of the week the salaried managers will be reshuffled and retitled, which may or may not bring in new blood and send out the old. By the 24th of October, all the rest of us will also get shuffled and cycled; I may be back on overnights. Which would be a boon at this point, because if I am, I'm probably running the show. As compared to now, where I'm unloading trucks most days with a crew too small to be effective and/or hindered by the hiring of too many minors who lack training and focus.
On the other hand, I'm still playing the Avengers though I've got 2 bugs that prevent me from completing all the quests: Thor keeps falling inside my helicarrier, and Hulk won't get attacked by a bad guy in a sim.
So I will be posting this in all my games: I am moving from EST to PST finally (this was kinda expected but has been in limbo due to the pandemic). The movers will begin being at my house tomorrow, with final pack out day being Thursday, after which time I will begin to be on the road.
I am not making a straight shot, as it were, across the country. I will have a few rest periods to see family on the way. I expect that I will finish the cross country period mid OCT, after which time I begin the house hunting phase in earnest.
I should be able to keep posting during this time period, but some days (especially any that I am driving) are probably going to be limited in quantity (though hopefully not quality) of posts. That said, feel free to bot me in combat it necessary to keep things moving.
This is shaping up to be a tough fall all around, but maybe especially for teachers and students. Good luck to everyone!
Lathiira - it sounds like you had a good time with Avengers. From what I heard the Ms. Marvel story line was really good. I hope they patch it without breaking your save.
Kamala is an excellent protagonist and fun to play. I enjoy playing as the Widow more, she really does suit my style of hit-and-run combat with moments of pure badassery, but Ms. Marvel plays pretty well. Now if they would patch it so I can finish bringing the team back together that'd be great.
I'm tempted to check that out, if my computer will run it.
Folks -- I'm declaring a brief hiatus thru Friday. I'm swamped at work, as are Lath and Tumbler and adsapiens, and the Emerald Duke is moving. If you are moved to post I won't stop you and I'll post a move-along response to what's been posted when I can, but seems like we could all use a break, and I'd rather us formally take one than feel pressure to post when the energy is not in us.
If anyone needs a longer break, let me know.
Gotcha. Like I said, bot me as necessary during the process.
Final move out inspection is Fri, then I am on the road. Will post as possible.
I'm good to continue - no need for longer breaks here. I might have tougher days here and there, but should be able to keep the overall rhythm.
Hi team! I will be travelling for the upcoming days for work (yes, irk! In Covid times!) and should be back by Friday. I'll try to keep an eye here and update as possible, but don't let me hold the action if I slow down a little bit. Cheers!
Okay, hope you can stay safe as you can!
I will be stationary for this week, traveling again on the weekend. I will be doing things with the family (probably go to the zoo etc) but I am not having to drive multiple hours each day.
Lark, you still with us?
Next two days will be on the road again. With any luck will be less eventful than the trip to here was (oldest apparently gets motion sick... we have since acquired children's dramamine, so hopefully that negates it). Will be stable once we get there for a little bit again before the final push.
Bonine is also good, Chad. Have a nice trip!
Hey folks, I have some bad news. thermopyle/Lark has decided to pull out of the game, citing fatigue of various kinds, including game fatigue. I respect his decision and especially his willingness to let me know what was going on, though of course this is a huge disappointment for the game. He's been with this game from the start five years ago so this is hard. Only Thenody/Lathiira is left from the original party. He's our erstwhile captain and he will be much missed. At the same time I hope thermopyle gets the break and refreshment he needs.
I'd like to see us through this specific scenario you are in while botting Lark/leaving him in the background. You've still got four party members so I think we are okay for party roles and balance.
I am trying to think about how to handle things going forward. Someone else I know might be interested in playing, though is worried about the time commitment. I'm chatting with him to see what happens. I am also going to check to see if the player of Lee (our original sorcerer) might have time to jump in, since I believe some of his circumstances that pulled him out of the game may have resolved. (We can cross any bridges about party composition with regards to that when we come to them.) Otherwise I'm not psyched about the idea of recruiting again otherwise; the fact that this is a busy time of year and the crush of world events as well as general life being life I don't feel like I have the energy. If you all have thoughts let me know. I think in the meantime we can keep going.
I am sorry to see him bow out, but I can certainly understand burn out. Give him my best if you talk to him again.
Honestly - this AP is full of NPCs... Maybe we don't need a fifth member. We'd probably move faster without it, especially with the way Thren posts (she does help pulling the story ahead, and controls Sandara, right?). I'm sad to see thermopyle go, but burnout is real and I respect his need for some rest.
Between Kahuranga & pet, Thren & NPC, Chad and myself, I think we're solid. This is not the typical AP, in the sense that this one has the whole ship of NPCs "always with us". If you feel the need, I offer myself to control one of the NPCs to push the story (if we need to fill any particular role) since Chakam is more of a scout / tentacle monster that appears when needed ;)
Give him our best. I'm sorry he's burned out; it happens to us all. His year wasn't the best so taking the time to recuperate's a good idea.
Not at my best just now, I'll think of how I feel tonight after work/tomorrow.
Threnody controls Sandara because she has the Leadership feat and Sandara is Thren's cohort. But I have had other players control NPCs as needed, especially in a complex scenario or if the party takes along a particular NPC, and I am certainly happy to take you up on that when a particular situation requires it. I'll let you know when that arises and give you the NPC stats (I've got a biiiig sheet with all the crew's statblocks...).
For the record, any of you are also welcome to take the Leadership feat if you want to do so (though I understand feats are precious)--there are some minor, story-based limitations (you have to choose an existing crew member for a cohort who then gets leveled up to the appropriate level, I approve the final build; most followers will be 1st level potential crewmates/stronghold supporters). I generally reserve the right to "take control" of a cohort/familiar/ally if I am aware they would have plot-specific input that the player is unaware of, but the player always controls their ally in combat and in all other outside-combat cases. This above all APs makes total sense for the Leadership feat to exist and even work more or less as intended. ;)
If no one is chomping at the bit to recruit then I'm not going to worry about it for now. I may still check in with Lee's player and/or the other possible player just because in the long run, five player groups allows for a better cushion when someone does have to leave or take a break. But I agree I think this party is set up pretty well as is. The one thing is I think without Lark we lack some stealthy/sneaky options, although both Chakam and Chad are well kitted out for scouting, and Chakam can be sneaky in a different way via wild shape.
Feel better, Lath, wish I could come and pick you up to grab a beer but COVID limits our movements. :) Maybe we can gather outdoors somewhere sometime.
Much obliged. Just run down from work and the massive changes about to happen that are gonna make things different. I'll buy the beer if we can manage to meet up, first let's see if we have me back on overnights for good in 3 weeks.
Touch base with Lee's player or the other one. I do like the buffer of a 5th player but you do have good points. For stealth, we can manage at need: Thren's also passable at straight-up Stealth, she lacks talents like Lark could get for it but her base score was just a bit higher :)
Hey folks, sorry I've not been on. The site kept timing out for me, and I've now at work hit our monthly reporting cycle where work is going to be insane for a couple days. Will update us soon as I can, hopefully by Thursday evening.
No problem. Walked into an unexpected 2 truck night with idiocy level set for overkill. I shouldn't have to use powered lifting equipment to get a bail out of the bailer, but I did. Still heading into the restructuring, so do what you gotta.
Hey folks, checking in. I'm not going to respond to assume any fight is breaking out until I hear some other party input. Kahuranga, I would also note that only you and Thren are at the brothel, with Chakam possibly outside. Chad is waiting near the jeweler's.
And to make it clear, despite any mephit grumbling, no one is suspicious of you yet.
Chakam is outside - at least that's how I imagine. I'm not sure if he'd be able to notice what's going on inside - brothels are usually fairly closed up to avoid children and perverts peaking inside. Can I maybe hear something? Maybe a perception check?
Please always just roll something if you think you can do something. In PBP if you have to ask the GM before you roll it will take forever. And I don't always think of what rolls you should be able to make!
Anyway, a Perception check is fine. I would assume Chakam has positioned himself ideally to pay attention to what's happening.
Note that all that has happened is Morton has been greeted and he has drunk two mugs of spiced wine.