Going to be out for a good portion of today (the wife told me to take a break from baby/wife care and I am going to see the Warcraft movie with an old friend of mine) so if I am slowing things too much GM me.
Same as well. Got VBS stuff I have to work on and a possible PFS session. Heard Warcraft wasn't very good. 16% Rotten Tomatoes. Worst than DOOM and all the Resident Evil movies.
Me too. I'm spending the afternoon on a new 3 story ropes course with friends.
Not seen it but, critics I most trust said it was surprisingly good for what it is.
I am very much enjoying the game, very glad Zael ended up staying, some great RP :) And the tech stuff would not be nearly as interesting if smash was out only option.
Can we alter the positioning a bit here, preferably to Zael next to the green and Tarkov and Krah in Zael and Tessara's places with Tess behind them due to her reach. Working off the assumption that the violet crackly thing might present a threat.
Yes, also I was considering changing to google drawings for the next map. I think it would allow you guys to place your pawns yourselves.
Slides is actually meant to be better for that you just have to set it to enable us to edit. I believe you can lock individual elements to stop people moving the larger map and blacked out bits though not sure how exactly. Slides is supposedly better since people can move stuff on their phones/tablets.
Not sure how to do that on slides without you guys logging in with gmail accounts, ill see what I can dig up though. Hmm, maybe if I make the master the map image...maybe only owner can edit master thats the only way I can think of.
I think you just set it so anyone can edit, never had to login, and most of the other games I am in use slides.
Here try this, go to slide 8 and see if you can move your guy. Then, at the top go to Slide -> Edit Master and see if you have that ability.
Regardless I should do that from now on, edit master to control fog of war. Its much cleaner!
Seem to be able to move Tark fine, but can also move the black bits at the moment - I didn't peek!
I do seem to have the ability to edit master.
Are you able to move the black bits on slide 8 without editting master?
Go ahead and change what you can on slide 8, I can see if anyone ever peeks etc by looking at revision history. Might be the best setup, I'll do all the fog on the master slide, then you guys cant accidentally click the black stuff unless you edit master, which I can see happen in history.
Moved everything I can on the test slide, cannot move black, can move Tark, Krah, and the Test Slide text.
Sweet, that should work then. I'll edit master to GM stuff and meanwhile you guys can do whatever on the normal editing layer.
Let's go ahead and use the test slide for current actions, and I'll start doing it this way from now on.
Sounds good :)
Back, the movie was pretty good (but that might have more been influenced by the fact I have played most of the games in the Warcraft line) and whomever was giving Doom better Metacritic scores needs their head examined.
Not a perfect movie, mind you... apart from music and effects I would doubt it will get even a nod a the Oscars, let alone win one... but worth the viewing IMO.
Have some remodeling work to do at my wife's shop, back in a few hours
Have fun, will give me time to get more diapers, lol.
Note to self, diplomacy with a member of a species, while wearing a member of that species skull at a hat likely harder - intimidate likely easier.
A an old system churns as energy is run into after 10,000 year slumber. A monitor pops down from the ceiling and the screen goes blue.
Need to kill an enemy? Need it supplanted from existence in a ridiculous turn of events? Does that same old min/maxed barbarian have you down? Don't you worry...NEW from First World Enterprises:
Gnome. Because, it's gonna get ridiculous!
THE TRAIN DRIVER WAS DRUNK!!! XD
Heading to bed for the night. That was a hoot!
Yep, good times. I love stuff like that...still can't believe it. I've been looking forward to that for a loooong time. XD
And sorry about lack of diplomacy Zael, you needed a 26 on the first roll back when he heard you through the skeletons and got a 19. You could have tried again in 24 hours to influence. It wasn't supposed to have any language beside kasatha so that was the consolation prize...hope it added some flavor/mystery at least.
Heh, its fine. Zael is a pragmatist, and as long as he can get to the secrets of this place and bend them toward his final goals he will be fine. Truthfully, while he doesn't enjoy killing the natives (why kill what you can perhaps turn to your side for your ends, after all) he isn't above 'removing' problem peoples from his path either.
After all, some people are bound to be washed away by the tides of change, and it is more merciful to make that passage faster than slower.
I suspect I am going against the grain here, but I was very disappointed with that. A potentially cool fight reduced to one crit that shouldn't really have done that, even via the crit table. I would pretty much always prefer a hard fought battle. I really enjoy a challenge and if we go up against some awesome and win because someone happened to roll a crit I am going to feel like our victory was pretty illegitimate. Tessara also had ar readied action with a nat 20 max damage roll attack for if the creature became hostile, so should have gone off before the creatures attack and Krah's response.
For my money the second Ghelern fight was awesome, genuine sense of danger, everyone involved, etc.
Can you explain how the crit thing is working exactly? Seems like keen scimitars or falchions just became stand out weapon choices - not that they were not already, but more so. Do enemies get to use the crit tables? I had thought it was only on natural twenties - which seemed like a good idea. Seems we could easily end up with 1 in 4 chance crits from multiple attacks ruining every "boss" battle.
Sorry to be a downer, just hoping I don't need to insert a mental asterix by this AP in my head. This has been a great PBP so far, which is sort of why I feel compelled to say something rather than just taking a deep breath and rolling with it.
Ideally I would like to see the crit table deployed only on natural 20s, and something that exempts "boss" villains from insta death.
And just to give you all a heads up, as this has been a great game, I'm going to be running a Giant Slayer recruitment starting sometime this week once I have had a chance to read over the books. Be delighted if any of you were to apply :)
Cool! I just made a Skald for that AP.
Ok, now a response to the first post.
I can understand the "being compelled" to say something.
1) I asked for a pull from the crit deck and the GM obliged me. I felt that taking 10 damage on a javelin throw warranted a response from the murder midget. When I rolled low on the crit I thought, "Well, maybe I'll be more useful if I get a little more from the crit deck..."
2) That was a random roll for a random card.
3) The Fort save didn't save it.
4) What is really annoying about being complained about: I roleplayed the attack and thought I did a good job of creating an awesome scene. I didn't say "Krah cuts its head off and stands there." My character got to be a "Big Damn Hero," and instead of any roleplaying with Krah's action, I wake up to a post that another player was compelled to write about how it sucked.
All those stars aligned and Krah got lucky and was able to do something cool. Just one fight ago Krah was about to die. I made sure to have an interaction between Tessera and Krah where he could say thank you to her for saving him.
Now, I completely understand the other side of this. It should have been an epic boss fight. If something is misapplied I think every GM and fellow player deserves to be spoken to, or about, in a private message. That way the GM can save face and make a rule correction after the fact. The player gets to keep having fun and the character gets to RP being a BAMF.
All I'm asking is for is some better consideration for what this game is, what GM Infinity is doing for all of us, and letting other people have fun and get lucky once in a while.
I do feel a bit churlish for bringing it up, and apologize if it spoiled the moment a bit for you Krah. I did ask myself if I was being hypocritical - Tarkov charged ahead and killed the Robot in the first encounter, and I thought that was awesome. But I am fairly sure I would have the same complaint had Tarkov been in Krah's place.
For the record I don't have any issue with your actions you took what was offered by the GM, I am just hoping this group will go the distance and can thus imagine this happening again and again, so would rather voice my concerns now and get them addressed. I chose to do so here in discussion rather than in a PM because I thought it was relevant to the group as a whole, given your reaction I am regretting that :( Tarkov's in game response is more reflective of the fact that he just realized he has been wearing the head of an intelligent creature, a race that were once proud warriors and have undergone some kind of tragedy like a party hat and was not meant as a slight to Krah. It just made him think of them in a wholly different way - which was I hope reflected in his staying his hand at the beginning of the fight.
And Tessara's action both scored a natural 20 and should have occurred before yours, undead are not effected by fort saves and should have been immune. Crowning moments of awesome are awesome, for me, in large part because of their rarity and legitimacy. I don't think its unreasonable to be disappointed under those circumstances, and I would be a lot more disappointed were I Tessara - though I absolutely understand that mistakes are bound to happen and this seems to be a simple oversight.
Part of the reason I brought this up rather than biting my tongue, and just being a bit frustrated was this group seems to have good enough communication that I hope we can discuss the matter. I do feel that allowing powerful crit effects on none natural 20 rolls will be a big balance issue - it instantly takes falchions from statistically better than greatsword, to vastly superior for example, especially when Keen or Improved Critical are factored in.
Imagine we walk up to the last villain and Tarkov or Krah unloads their full attacks on it using a keen falchion, lets say 4 attacks each only needing to roll a 15 or higher to crit. Thats a 3/10 chance of critting on each attack, the crit table is more likely to be in play than not.
Here is what was quoted in recruitment.
Some Rules Quirks:
Natural 20s are always success, no critical threat rolls necessary. Player does description.
Natural 1s are always fails. Player does description.
And reading back through the gameplay thread I see that weapons with higher modifiers get more rolls to choose from.
I like the fun aspect, but find the fact that it can turn long cool fights into insta death is a fun stealer for me. Of course I have not seen the crit table and it is possible this is rarer than I am taking it to be. I am also rather dreading being on the other side of it.
I kind of hope Krah has his arm crit'd off so he can get a new shiny cybernetic one!
We're still low level technically. So I don't know what is ahead.
Think I will weigh in on this one. Not because I think either of you are "right" or "wrong", just to express my opinions on the matter. This will be a bit long probably, so don't feel entirely obligated to read it. ;)
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First, the crit/fumble deck is an interesting idea and I enjoy it greatly, as long as it isn't being pulled against us. That said, it would be unfair for crits to not be used against us in the situations where the crit damage dice was low. Obviously our GM isn't going to use it to pile lethality upon heavy damage, but critical hits are supposed to be critical, no matter who scores them in my opinion. The two times we have recently used it (Krah's beheading and my crossbow shenanigans) the damage dice didn't really convey the epic nature of the damage being done. The random deck rectified that. As the fumble deck did with the foundry foreman back in town, for that matter.
That said, I am opposed to anything other than 20's or 1's being eligible for the deck's usage. My hand crossbow scores crits at 19 and 20. I would say that if I scored a 19 I get to do the x2 damage, but no crit deck. Call it a "degrees of awesomeness" scale or something. Some attacks by nature of the weapon are awesome enough to roll crit damage, but not quite at the threshold for greatness to do truly wondrous feats. It is like failing a check by 5 or more... yes that is going to set off a trap if eligible, etc... but until you get a 1 on the die, it isn't quite on the scale of epic failure warranting a fumble card.
As one final note on this, perhaps a reroll should have happened on the deck, given beheading wasn't technically possible... but given it had a head, I think that the rule against it is perfectly reasonable for hand waving away. Now if Krah had been trying to behead a creature that had seven heads in one stroke, or none, then I would say that it dying from beheading wouldn't make sense and go for the reroll. Anyway, enough on that.
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Second, I think both styles of combat have their moments. The drawn out, scrapping fights are great, but they lose their impact if we have to have them all the time. We need moments like Krah's recent decapitation to ensure that we are reminded of the fact that we are the gods among men in this world. Especially over foes that have been billeted as being tough and mean, though that should be only on occasion. I agree that Tess's crit should have probably happened first, but Krah did get hit by the creature... so it makes some sense in gameplay terms that he would "bypass" her to get his raging revenge.
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Third, and final, I will think about making a submission. I currently have a submission in another game that has had its recruitment extended, if that gets canned or I get passed over I will apply. I am trying to keep my gaming manageable, and three is about what I can handle on my plate (currently also in a Wrath of the Righteous campaign, so either of yours would be the third.) Still, honored that you would have me along.
Pretty much in total agreement with you there Zael.
I agree too. Though I'm troubled by the doubt in Krah's ability to behead a 7-headed monster.
Mostly just doubt in one strike... short of Tess and Tarkov somehow aiding in getting them lined up perfectly or some such... teamwork after all, ;)
Some notes from my perspective:
That was a CR 3 encounter, you have fought multiple other CR 3 already. You guys are barely half through the dungeon...not BBEG.
I wasn't planning on making crit/fumble deck a normal thing, but nat 20s always do something amazing and nat 1 always do something crappy. That was in the recruitment post. And yes, monsters get nat 20s, too.
Its nat 20, not nat 17 keen. Everyone has the same chance to roll a nat 20. Or nat 1. Confirms still happen for non-nat 20 crits, but I didn't put that in any post anywhere and have been playing it loosely due to pure apathy.
How we've always done it is players describe their crit/fumbles and get more creative reign then usual when it happens. The natural gets the spotlight, so to speak. Its nice to have the deck when feeling unimaginative.
For how it works, I have a pdf of the crit deck and roll a number then count up to that card. There are some additional rules in that pdf for the deck, like the higher modifier weapons getting multiple draws and how save DC are calculated.
That is certainly the most ridiculous of all the crit deck, hence my surprise. I think I have only pulled that card 2-3 times in my life. Most are like 1d6 bleed, nausea, drop weapon, minor ability damage, etc. Just some flavor.
Tessara's crit didn't happen because she readied an action whose trigger never took place. Readying only gives you a standard action OR move and she was 4 squares away. Basically it had no chance unless he charged, which he wasn't going to do. (he was drawing you in to get his full attack with 4 attacks, and probably would've dropped Krah's 13 hp next round with those +7 1d6+4).
But yeah, undead except for vampires are supposed to fight on when vorpaled. Vorpal doesn't have a fort save so the actual act of decapitating an undead is of course possible. Undead aren't supposed to get fort saves, and yes usually when the card is innapropriate I redraw. Still...Hetuath rolled a nat 1 on his opposed roll. Krah's player did a great description.
Thanks for drawing out the conversation, I understand the 'wtf' quality of it all. It was just sort of a perfect storm situation. XD
Off topic, I am stunned no one pushed a button, switched a switch, pulled a lever back there in the hallway of buttons/switches/levers. I had a nice little table and everything.
Ah, okay the reason I was puzzled is because Krah did not get a nat 20, if it is nat 20s and a rare occurrence to cause death then I am happy - I like the select your own cool thing approach especially as it allows you to have aimed to do something cinematic. Now I just need to actually get a crit :)
Heh, Zael might just try now that he isn't stunned by electricity... chalk it up to him being still loopy and following Tarkov on instinct as the CLW potion's affects wore off. Speaking of, about how long have we been down here? I know the trip back will be doable without the waterbreathing, but I am running low on tricks to aid me (one inspiration left, 1 comprehend languages and one keen senses extract, and then I am on my own for using the 24 bolts and whatnot) and Zael would definitely not want to spend the night down here.
We (and by that I mean students dorky enough to play with me) started making a big deal of nat 20/1 after watching the Dicestormers. They even bought the d20s that light up when nat 20ing... ;)
That Rise of the Runelords playthrough has become my go to for "what's dnd?".
Krah definitely will support going up to town to rest again and sell some of the loot. He'll also bug Zael relentlessly to play with the unmovable rod. Mainly jungle gym type activities.
Love RotRL has to be one of the greatest adventures, after reading most of the first book Giantslayer seems to have a similar early vibe.
Lets do side quests and stuff. Lets make this into a Bethesda game just forget wtf the story was.
Some NPC-"Hey, you gonna stop the Daedra/ Dragons?"
Player-"Holy S#$% I forgot!"
Murder Hobos. Activate!
I JUST MURDERED THAT OLD PERSON!!!