Hey folks -- noticing in general the post rate is slower than it used to be. This happens sometimes in PBPs--it is not unexpected--but I am nervous about losing momentum.
I know KeefX has had some personal stuff to deal with and the start of the school year keeps a number of us busy.
However, we're just starting a brand new arc/chapter in the story and it would be said to lose momentum now after you all said you wanted to keep going and we've got a new player coming in to boot.
I also want to get the new player in as soon as reasonably possible.
I know there's some "administrative" stuff for the party to finish up -- haggling and loot distribution is seldom compelling narrative but one of those logistical things that sometimes need to be taken care of -- but just tell me what you plan to do, and where exactly you are going next so I can get you moving forward.
And moreover that we can bring Wahhe in.
We agreed at the beginning of this campaign to try to post at least once a day. I would deeply appreciate it if you can do your best to keep up with that.
As I have asked before, If you read the thread but have nothing to add, . I can't read your mind and thus do not know the difference between "not posting because you have nothing to add" and "not posting because you haven't had a chance to read the thread yet and react because you are busy/trapped under something heavy/dead." Posting a simply "here, ready to keep going" in this thread would be a massively helpful aid to me in keeping up the pacing.
If there are anticipated delays or likewise frustration with the game or loss of interest, please contact me so we can talk about it, rather than drift into silence.
This probably all sounds way more dramatic than the situation warrants, but trying to nip any game paralysis in the bud before it hits.
Noted - I will try and remember to post "checked in, no comment" updates in the discussion thread.
In the interest of getting to Wahhe, here is Lark’s to-do list:
1. Pay the crew and give a convincing speech - e.g. “this is a token payment; we need supplies and more crew; you’re all in line for fortune and glory if you stick with us.” Crew payment will take 500 GP from our very dwindling funds. I based my math for crew shares on the Shackles Code. If I did it right then for every 500 GP we share out then each regular crew gets 25 GP. The officers get 31 and 37 for junior and senior officers. It's just peanuts but it's all we can afford.
2. Give Hartha one point of plunder as down payment.
3. Collect all the treasure (e.g. art objects) that needs converting to cash. Take it all to Lilywhite and find a buyer. You gave us their values when we acquired them on Bonewrack, so once I’ve got your OK I can just add that amount to our cash reserves and delete that list of treasure.
4. Release the crew with orders to report once a day to one of THE FOUR (Quinn, Cog, Rosie, Maheem).
5. Once all that is done the PCs can head for a meeting with Mayor Taryn.
Do you want us to RP any of this? Would like a summary/description posted in the Gameplay thread?
If you can post basically what you say to the crew (including your assignment to your crew), and say that you are walking into town, I can give you some proper town description.
As far as converting art into gold or plunder, we can simply note you stop at the market and do so.
I would like to RP with Taryn of course. Yes, if you can post in the gameplay thread that would be great.
I'll try to post the "checked in, caught up, read everything, no comment" as well. I hope when I recover from the remodel I'll be back to my normal entertaining self!
Wahhe, I did say you could take a masterwork backpack (duffel bag in this case), which effectively increases your max light load to 30 lbs. Not much but it does help.
The last time I played a low Str character, I had her drop her pack (a free action) when in combat -- it put her at risk of someone taking her bag while she abandoned it, but it unrestricted her movement (which is the main issue of heavy loads)... and she was always in search of a minion to carry her stuff, which was entertaining. Eventually she got a handy haversack which resolved remaining problems. You folks (hopefully) are entering a part of the campaign where obtaining the 2,500 gp that costs won't be too hard.
You also have ant haul on your spell list, which triples your carrying capacity. You could prepare that on days you think you might need to carry a lot of stuff with you.
Once you're on our ship we've got lots of minions that are handy for carrying things ;)
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Just wanted to share a bit of glee. I started the Wolverine RPG Society at my high school. Our first meeting is today. We're starting with 5.0. Seven kids showed up and others apparently couldn't come because National Honor Society and the South Asian Association were meeting simultaneously. We broke into two groups and a math teacher will DM one group and me another. The choral director also joined and he's playing unless more come then he'll DM a 3rd group.
I'm taking the kids through Module B2 - Keep on the Borderlands by Gygax himself. Yup. Of course I have to do some adaptations.
IM SO EXCITED I HAD TO SHARE WITH PPL WHO WOULD APPRECIATE :)
That is AWESOME!!! So glad you got the school game club started.
You're running Dungeoncrawl Classics right?
Love it! Spread the fun to another generation!
Nicely done!
Keep On The Borderlands is a great start.
That's wonderful! Please accept my delayed but sincere accolades ;)
Here's my "nothing to add right now" check-in for today (Wed, Sep-21). I'm not sure if I'll have a chance to login again later tonight.
Thanks. We're still waiting to resolve round 4.
If Thren wins the race in Round 4 will there be any benefit to 'Barrel Through' Round 5? That is - would it allow Lark to finish ahead of other racers or would the 'Slow and Steady' check be enough to put him close behind Threnody?
No, not really. You actually--all three of you--have done really well, so it's not so much that I'm preventing an advantage more than your advantage is already so high that there's nowhere else to go. I think the expectation, the way it was designed, is that most people would not get through so quickly, and it would be hard to finish even in 6 rounds. Your characters' skillsets have especially good for this.
(Which is a good thing for me to bear in mind when considering non-combat challenges to present the party.)
"...non-combat challenges..."
Like, climbing a rope?
A bard and a rogue walk into a skill-based challenge...
That was bad, very very bad....
"...non-combat challenges..."Like, climbing a rope?
That I think was the most difficult challenge you all faced to date. ;)
Hey folks, Kevin (whom all of you know) has expressed interest in joining this game if you think there's room. He's interested in playing a warrior, which would shore up this party's defenses quite a bit. A party of 5 would be my max ideal size (but it is also my ideal party size) and I wouldn't invite anyone else to play if he joined.
He can probably be someone you recruit or a castaway you rescue, if he joined.
It's up to you guys. What do you think?
Sounds good to me!
Sounds good to me, too.
Me, three!
Clearly, Lilywhite was the right choice for finding more crew ;)
Yup!
I had to look this up - it's explained in the Magic section under polymorph subschool rather than under the spell or druid ability:
Y]ou gain any of the natural attacks of the base creature, including proficiency in those attacks. These attacks are based on your base attack bonus, modified by your Strength or Dexterity as appropriate, and use your Strength modifier for determining damage bonuses.
You are correct to a point: you get two slams (if making a full attack you attack twice) that deal 1d4 damage plus your Str modifier.
You use all of your own statistics, not the animal's, plus whatever bonuses you get from the spell, so the bonus to damage is based on your (modified) Strength and likewise your attack bonus is your own.
So for you, including the fact that the shapechange gives you a +2 to Str (which in your case negates your Strength penalty), you attack with a +3 bonus (BAB +3 plus Str mod 0) and you deal 1d4 damage.
GMDQ - do you want any of us to drive Xosrov and/or Yamtisy?
If you would like to, that would be great. I've got their full stats at home, but here's their main attacks:
Yamtisy: (Improved) Unarmed Strike +4 (1d3+1)
Xosrov: Club, nonlethal +4-4 (1d6+1) or unimproved unarmed strike +4 (1d3+1)
On a tactical note, since Xosrov does not have the Improved Unarmed Strike feat, he'll provoke attacks of opportunity from anyone considered armed, which includes Larry and Barry who have Improved Unarmed Strike (and who are thus considered armed). So strategy wise, he'll probably try to do a nonlethal attack with his club if he's in range of an AOO, unless someone has already triggered an AOO that round (because they are unlikely to make another AOO0. I sure as hell hope that makes sense to someone.
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I had to look this up - it's explained in the Magic section under polymorph subschool rather than under the spell or druid ability:
Y]ou gain any of the natural attacks of the base creature, including proficiency in those attacks. These attacks are based on your base attack bonus, modified by your Strength or Dexterity as appropriate, and use your Strength modifier for determining damage bonuses.You are correct to a point: you get two slams (if making a full attack you attack twice) that deal 1d4 damage plus your Str modifier.
You use all of your own statistics, not the animal's, plus whatever bonuses you get from the spell, so the bonus to damage is based on your (modified) Strength and likewise your attack bonus is your own.
So for you, including the fact that the shapechange gives you a +2 to Str (which in your case negates your Strength penalty), you attack with a +3 bonus (BAB +3 plus Str mod 0) and you deal 1d4 damage.
merci.
I'll take them both for this round since they're right there next to my initiative. Can I interest Wahhe or Lee in taking Xosrov after that?
Can we stand in the squares that are cut in half by the wall? I'm eyeing that partial square behind Larry for flanking purposes.
Wahhe - I think you may have forgotten to add the +1 from Thren's Inspire Courage. That's a +1 on attack and damage rolls. I can't tell you how many times I've lost track of modifiers in this game. I can't tell you because it would be too embarassing ;)
I'll pick up driving Xosrov on Round #2.
Also, tomorrow (Wed), I'm in the office and won't be logging on until after work. And it could be a long day.
Also also, this weekend I'll be out-of-town. My dad just moved into a new place in Richmond and his internet situation is unknown.
Have a good trip!
Just a head's up: with all this rain, my internet may be spotty the next few days.
My take on on Bull Rush (I also had to look this up since the half-orcs were statted with Improved Bull Rush):
- Bull Rush by default allows you to knock back 1 creature 5 feet in a straight line.
- The description says "You cannot bull rush a creature into a square that is occupied by a solid object or obstacle." What I take this to mean is if there is a solid obstacle directly behind the target (e.g., a wall, tree, or column), you cannot attempt a bull rush. In other words, in order to initiate a bull rush, the square directly behind the target (in a straight line from you) must be empty:
YOU | target | empty square
- HOWEVER: the rules also say that if your bull rush check succeeds by 5 or more, the target moves back an additional 5 feet per additional success by 5. I.e., if the CMD you were trying to beat was 15, and you got a 20 on your check, the target would move back 10 feet rather than 5 feet. The rules do not comment on this, but my INTERPRETATION is this: if the ADDITIONAL movement from a good roll would cause the target to slam into a solid object, then you could deal a small amount of damage to the target. (Probably 1d3 or 1d4 damage). So in a scene like this:
YOU | target | empty square | wall
And you succeed on your combat manuever check by 5 or more, the target moves 10 feet and thus slams into the wall behind him.
This is my interpretation and others may rule differently.
- The rules DO let you bull rush a target into ANOTHER creature, but you have to make a combat maneuver (CMB) check versus BOTH creatures, to push them both backward. There also, by the extension of the core mechanic of bull rush, must be an empty square directly behind the second creature. There is a -4 penalty to the check for the creature behind the first one. So for example, right now Lee is directly behind (north of) Threnody, and there is an empty square behind (north of) Lee. If Larry had wanted to Bull Rush Threnody, he would have to make a normal attempt versus her as well as an attempt versus Lee with a -4 to the roll attacking Lee.
- I'll also note that the rules do not prevent you from using bull rush on creatures where the square behind them that contains a hazard that wouldn't be considered a solid obstacle. For example, if your enemy is standing at the edge of a cliff, or in front of a pool of acid, it is totally legit to use bull rush to push them off the cliff or into the pool of acid. This is why bull rushing can be fun in ship combat, because you can push people overboard.
On another combat note:
I appreciate your offering to take on the NPCs to help me out.
However, that was always with the caveat of "playing the NPCs to reason."
You have used the NPCs in this combat to run into the line of fire for you to tangle up the foes so they can't move into you and are essentially using them as damage sponges so you are less likely to be hurt yourself.
Super clever! And dastardly piratical, I might add: well done getting into the spirit of the campaign.
I admire the tactic, but I'm not sure relative strangers to you would be running in provoking attacks of opportunity to get hurt on your behalf. Yes, they would do their best to also try to take down the brutes, but they have no reason to be so loyal to you yet. I am not going to ask you to revoke the tactics--I asked you to take them on, I need to accept the consequences of that. You can continue to play the NPCs to the end of this combat (which will likely end soon).
However, this leads me to believe I should return to controlling allied NPCs in the future, even if it creates more work for me and thus it will slow down the pace of combat. I promise of course to have the NPCs behave appropriately.
(There won't be as many combats where that will be an issue as the game progresses anyway.)
(Also for this particular fight, it was probably also a mistake to allow NPCs allies at all, given you're wiping the floor with these guys, but the original combat was designed to allow for additional allies and the enemies' stats look deceptively tougher than they really are, so that was a miscalculation entirely on my part--especially since I am making some plot adjustments (we're in the Plunder and Peril module at the moment, so I'm changing some circumstances to make things fit better into Skull and Shackles) and possibly not adjusting properly in some places for what happens how and maintaining the proper challenge level.)
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Thanks for the bullrush info. That's what I was trying to figure out; how to slam him against a wall for minor damage. So there still has to be 5' behind him. Looks like the guys don't have that space beghind them but ok cool. I'll use that hydraulic push one way.
Yeah, that's the thing about playing NPCs. NON-player characters. ;) give us an inch..... even unconsciously we'll save our hides.
XOXOXO
give us an inch..... even unconsciously we'll save our hides.
:) Yes, I want to be clear I know there was not intentionality behind the way stuff happened--and I'm not mad. Just realizing it isn't working.
Part of my concern here is one of your most important challenges here is not to win the fight, per se, but to earn the loyalty (if you want) to win potential crew mates. How you are interacting with Xosrov and Yamtisy in this scenario is something many people in the room (both their crew as well as Huldren and his henchmen) are paying attention to. If nothing else I should have held on to the NPCs so that dynamic could be played out better. Which is entirely my mistake.
GMDQ - You're right. I was definitely focusing on setting up flanking for Lark. Trying to impress potential recruits, Lark should have rushed forward instead. I was intent on getting in Lark's full attack. Good mechanically but not great role-playing.
I don't agree that it's entirely your mistake. I've played in enough games I should know better by now. Even in this campaign I've misplayed Lark by focusing too much on pragmatism in fights (e.g. vs Plugg on the beach).
If you want to run all the NPCs from now on that's fine with me. I'd also be happy to have the chance to try again and focus more on character and less on mechanics.
Thanks for your thoughts.
On the note about setting up flanking, this is a tangential comment: remember Threnody is also a melee-focused character. You and she should be your first choice for flanking buddies. You definitely aren't always going to have NPC help so this is an aspect of teamwork you need to work on.
If "Big" Kevin joins us, he'll probably also be playing a melee focused character.
Let's see what happens down the line. We are in a part of the campaign where things can go in multiple directions (especially since I'm working with Skull and Shackles as well as Plunder and Peril).
All,
I'm going to be at TridentCon is Severna Park today (and maybe tomorrow). I just checked the gameplay and it looks like we are kind of gathering to talk to Yamtisy and her group. I've already sent Lee over there and I'll respond this evening or maybe tomorrow morning, depending on the con.
-K.
Have fun at the 'Con!
Just a head's up that I'll be away for an extended weekend visiting our mutual compadre John and his lovely wife and son, so I might be spotty checking in till I get home Tuesday night.
Lathiira - have a great weekend trip. Please say 'hi' for me.
Also, kudos to GMDQ for running so many conversations and NPCs all at once!
Plans got cancelled. Due to 1) death in the family, 2) illness, 3) Injury, and 4) upcoming surgery. Not meant to head north it seems!
Yikes!
That's all bad.
Yikes yikes yikes! Can you email me some details if you feel safe to share? I'd like to send concerns/condolences if appropriate.
Yup. Expect an email in shortly.