
Kahuranga |

I deduced that if I'm rolling skills the Crankipator likes to roll more like 1d0+10; for combat, it rolls 1d6. Seems we're not too far apart.
I can't complain about the random numbers. In a game that just started, I've rolled above 15 on every roll. Maybe it is just luring me into complacency.
In other news, are we thinking that we will level and I'll pick up a cohort? I'll bot some combat support from the rest of the crew? Or we will just go with the four of us?
I can work with any of those possibilities. It will just change what spells I prepare.

GMDQ |

We will probably not level. (Next level would be at the end of this chapter and the end of this chapter I'm still planning to close the campaign or at least put it on a hiatus with no known end date.)
You absolutely can have crew support. Not many are high level but they are all statted out and I can give you the stats to run them.
Some, though not all, of the next segments are more intriguey than combative, or least will have those options. I'm looking for folks paying attention to details, roleplaying, and some skill checks there.
For any combat that arises I will do my best to adjust for APL and specific party capability.

GMDQ |

FYI traveling for the next few days, for a much needed break (and birthday celebration :) ). I plan to be able to get online but I may not as often as I'd normally like. Your patience is appreciated.

GMDQ |

Sorry may be slower than expected for a bit. I'm formatting three 60+ page training manuals this week (that are in French... don't have to edit them, but it makes comprehending what section I'm in and how they relate to each other just that bit more complicated; plus while I don't have to edit them, I am just competent enough in the language to keep getting distracted by "shouldn't that word have an accent?"), plus editing a bunch of stuff, and next week we've got our monthly reports due.

GMDQ |

No worries. Work is also busy for me this week.
I'm also going on vacation starting 7/25 for two weeks. Some of that I'll be away away, but I am also planning to do some hiking in the mountains toward the latter half; Lath, I plan to be staying out your way, so let me know if you want to try to get together and what your schedule is.
I think I am going to see if we can get the ship closeish, and then have you do a leadership check vs the captain of the ship. I don't want to run a full boarding combat; trying to manage all the hordes of NPCs is just too complex. I always thought I'd come up with a better system for crew combat but just haven't. Whatever happens I want to be sure this scene is done by the time I go on vacation and we can move forward with the plot proper after. I'll try to post while I'm away but it will probably be intermittent and I won't necessarily have all my game notes with me.

Kahuranga |

I'm back in the land of the connected. No more travel this summer. Spent a lovely week in a tent near the Grand Canyon with morning hikes and afternoon staring at nothing. Feeling much refreshed. I hope your upcoming breaks are as rejuvenating.

Kahuranga |

I'm with you on avoiding sunlight for the most part. My week consisted of waking at 3 am to see storms or stars, depending on the weather. Then pre-dawn hikes to see the sunrise and be back under canvas by mid morning. I did spend one day out in the open until noon and paid for it with a burned neck.

GMDQ |

Welcome back! That sounds incredible... I have to say I'm not sure I could get up at 3 to stargaze and hike... but it sounds truly amazing.
I don't mind the blazing orb usually though the heat in this area this week has been awful. It's cooled off a little with the rain, though.
I'll catch us up this evening... crazy busy weekend for me.
Lath I'll email you about plans.

GMDQ |

Thank you! I am headed out soon. Your ship is headed toward Bag Island. You are supposed to give the Temple of the Hidden Name the "location of the Brine Banshee and the secret of its speed." You may want to think about: do you simply give them this information, or do you give them the actual wheel? Is there anything else you tell them?
I'll provide the full info once we do the scene upon my return, but presuming you tell the Temple something, there will then be two more branches -
- Do you pursue who the Calistrians told you about: Jaymiss Keft, the scrimshander in Drenchport, who is supposed to have contacts with foreign agents?
- Do you pursue the contact the Norgorberites give you, which will be a contact on the Slithering Coast, a dangerous jungle region?
You can do both (though you don't have to) but knowing what direction you take will help me prep for the next sections.
We're about midway through a long and eventful chapter, and then I will be ending the game. As mentioned prior, after several years I am getting burned out both on the adventure itself and on managing the PC cast shifting so much. I expect we've still got several weeks to months of gameplay left, however, to close this out.
Somehow I had posted in every thread of a game I am in but this one (although two of those games are run by SuperTumbler so he is aware): I will have Internet access for much of my vacation but I plan on taking a break so I don't plan to post much until my return in August. This is subject to change, especially if I get bored while I attend a virtual conference next week. ;) But please don't be surprised if it's slow for the next couple weeks. Thanks all.

Lathiira |

Currently, I somewhat favor giving the Norgorberites the info they seek. I admit, I want that wheel for my ship :-) I'm sort of inclined to go chasing the Norgorberite clue first but I want to look at the map and see what works best after we pick up our crewman from university.

Kahuranga |

I think we give the Norgorberites the information but not the wheel. We can let them inspect the wheel if they want. Then they get the secret of the brine banshee, plus they have a secret about us (we have the wheel). That should be enough to satisfy them.
Reminder for myself that all of this is us working for Tessa Fairwind, which I had lost track of.
Then I'd follow up both the Jaymiss Keft lead and whatever lead we get from the Norgorberites. Looking at a map, it looks like Drenchport and The Slithering Coast are opposite directions from each other once we are in Bag End. Maybe we can do some sort of divination to see if one lead is more time sensitive than another?
As for the vacay, take your time and don't worry about updating as far as I'm concerned.

Lathiira |

We left a new recruit at Port Peril by and by. Someone who might help us do more and better work with our siege weapons and/or building our little fortress. I'd love to use a divination but I don't think anything all that useful is available to us. It makes me want to do the Slithering Coast a bit more.
I do like the idea about giving them the secret that we have the wheel, good thinking.

GMDQ |

Morning all, thanks for your patience.
I haven't gone back to check but I believe your assessment is correct, much of your recent treasure has been in the form of Plunder. You can always translate plunder into gold (1 Plunder = 1,000 gp) if you need to go shopping, or hold onto it to buy favors.

Lathiira |

Looking back over the years, I had a thought should you ever start this up from book 1 again GMDQ. Maybe make a campaign trait that suits the background of us all being on Aurora's Kiss together?
Kissed by Fate: You were on the Aurora's Kiss when the last Chelish fleet invaded. A fine ship with a good captain, you worked well with others to maintain your vessel. If you use the aid another action with another character with this trait, you grant a +3 bonus instead of a +2 bonus to the die roll. You also get a +1 trait bonus on Profession (sailor) rolls from your time serving with Captain Golly.
Something like that :)

GMDQ |

Just a reminder folks, you haven't updated the Loot since before you attacked Vakarla. You need to run some searches through the thread. Off the top of my head you should have treasure from:
Fighting Vakarla
Looting Vakarla's base
Looting the Brine Banshee, which includes a couple different fights and exploration locations
Relieving the Absalom merchants of their excess cargo weight
You may have made some expenditures while visiting Quent, Beachcomber, and other places. I hope you have been tracking personal expenses if not the communal party funds.
I replaced "Emberar" on the party list with "Kahuranga." I did not remove Lee as there was something indicated on his equipment I didn't want to be mistaken for someone else's.

Lathiira |

When I ran through this, I found that we primarily found plunder. Lots of it. There was regular coin and such, but not much. And the way it worked out is that as players left, of course their gear left with them. So some of the odds and ends vanished. We just haven't fought anyone and gotten, say, a +1 item in a while. Instead it's spices and silks and marble and supplies and ballista bolts and so on.

GMDQ |

Correct. I'm just noting you need to update your actual sheet so you know how much money you have. A lot of this AP, once Infamy becomes a thing, gives treasure in Plunder rather than in magic items, etc., which you can then cash out to buy things. IIRC I think you should have something like 18 or 20 Plunder which is equal to 18-20,000 gp, which is more than enough for you to get a new weapon or two. (You may have more than that, I just remember the one place you got something that was worth, like, 16 plunder alone or something like that.)
And yes this can include a +2 adamantine rapier, if you're willing to spend the 11,320 gp that costs, plus your re-bonding costs.
Just remember that you can't partially cash plunder--you need to do it in whole increments. So for example since you gave away some of the gems you looted, you now no longer have that as 1 point in plunder, but 1,000 gp minus whatever that one gem was worth.

Lathiira |

Then my post from up above stands: I counted up 25 plunder total since Vakarla. That includes that fun little ship chase. I'll wait and see what Kahuranga wants before I buy it. We'll also pay the crew of course.
The bonding ritual will take 8 hours, so hopefully for one day the ship can remain out of trouble. Wait, Thren won't be running all over it, that should be easy ;)

Kahuranga |

There is nothing that I am desperate for. If you get the rapier, I could get a wand of Deep Slumber or Summon Monster 3. Since there are only the two of us, this could boost my combat effectiveness.
The other things I would want too expensive.

Lathiira |

I'd probably go with the Summon Monster wand, as deep slumber will wane in usefulness fairly quickly but summoned monsters are as versatile as we make them.
Since you're good, I'll get the new rapier and bond to it. I'll also just sell off my old one while we're at it (+1 rapier), as Sandara doesn't need it.
That's 11250 for the wand if I price it right. Rapier is 11320. Bonding ritual is 1600. So 24180 total. I sell off my rapier +1, which gives back 1160. 25 plunder is 25000. So more or less, 26160 in coin, we spend 24180, pay the crew, and we're even again and need to hunt down more ships :)

GMDQ |

I don't know if, plotwise, it will come in handy, but could be useful to help find lost crewmates/party members, depending. Or for treasure hunting. It may well be more useful sold and spent on something else but noting that while very circumstantial (because it has to be attuned to a body part) it does have its uses.

Lathiira |

It only works if you have a body part of the deceased. I'm not sure even a bunch of pirates would like it if I went around collecting parts in case they wind up shark food just so I can find their remains :) The skill bonuses are rather specific too. If they were generalized, I wouldn't argue with a flat bonus on Heal checks. Or, for that matter, if the ring worked on the living if you had part of them, like a locate creature spell. Book 1 that would've been quite helpful.

GMDQ |

I am going away tomorrow for about a week. I will likely have my laptop and Internet access where I'm going, but how much downtime I'll have is uncertain (it may be tons, it may be none). Please bear with me if I am slow.

GMDQ |

Had several full days of travel/family time followed by a loonnng day in the airport yesterday with flight delays and cancellations, and a lovely traffic jam on the way home. Need to recoup, unpack, and attend to some appointments today and will post as soon as I can. Your patience is appreciated.

GMDQ |

Just checking in to note that the Jasperleaf adventure you are going toward is the final one for this chapter. I still plan to end the campaign at this time. This said, it's a fairly detailed "dungeon" crawl so I expect there's still going to be a month or two left, maybe even more, of gameplay considering our pace.
I might revisit the campaign later but I wouldn't necessarily count on it. Alternatively, SuperTumbler (Kahuranga) mentioned--I hope he doesn't mind me saying--he was thinking about taking it on, which as I have said to him, he is welcome to do. I would then join as a player. If, SuperT, you have since decided against running, no worries.
Noting this now so if there's any closure your characters want to get on any character development, interaction, etc. with anyone aboard ship or elsewhere, you might wish to do so before you head into the apothecary shop.

Lathiira |

Only thing I can think of is to stop back at Brightglass, touch base, make sure people haven't been squashed by the mummy infestation, and then off to Port Peril. Otherwise once we've explained things in Hell Harbor, I can think of nothing else.
Kahuranga, thoughts?