GM Ladile's TL;DR: A Pathfinder Society Campaign

Game Master Lady Ladile

@Rumble - Oof, making me read up on the Smashing an Object rules, eh? Let's see...it's a Large sized stone boulder. Stone has a Hardness value of 8 and 15 HP per inch of thickness. It wouldn't be hard at all to hit it but at your level I'm pretty sure you won't be able to shatter it in one blow before it rolls over you. Maybe if you were higher level, though!

A shame, that'd be a pretty damn cool thing to do!

@Hepsubia - Argh! You're right! I'll fix that; a bit late but better late than never I suppose!

Re: AC - Yeah, I'm actually kind of picky about preferred temperatures indoors. Ideally I like to have the thermostat set in the 70-72 range and leave it there, in both summer and winter.

Crafter's Wrath turns the hardness of, but 15 HP per inch would probably be the limiting factor. No way he could dish out enough damage to break it! His max while 2handing is like 16 or something. So those 1 inch rocks beware! XD One day though, he's gonna bust up a boulder trap with Sledge!

It's a pretty rough time in the world for a lot of reasons.

Hang in there (and seek help if needed). :)

...if I could have caught my cat stalking her own tail and being totally flummoxed by how it could be such a wily adversary just now, I'd post it for lighthearted vibes. Alas, I am slow on the draw.

Hey folks, thought I'd put out feelers here:

I am about to run the high-tier parts of the season 4 Runelord Krune saga with a group that just finished 4-08 The Cultist's Kiss with another GM. The remaining scenarios are 4-10, 4-12, 4-20 and 4-26.

There is one spot open. Would any of you be interested in taking it? The group is trending high-tier. Party composition is sniper rogue 9; 'detective' 11; sorcerer 8; witch 10; oradin 10.

I haven't set up the campaign thread yet. Looking to start 4-10 in probably a couple of weeks.

^Hmm...tempting, especially if the start won't be for another couple of weeks. On the other hand, my only two options are a Cleric 8 (caster, support & utility-focused) and a USummoner 7/Fighter 1 (focused on mounted combat) and it looks like your group could probably use more of a dedicated front-liner.

I will actually be joining a season 4 PFS "campaign" that will be playing through all of those. Thank you though, looks like a lot of fun! :)

Highest level I got in PFS is a level 7 Barbarian

I'd be very wary of bringing an out of tier frontliner - especially a barbarian, since they typically take the melee meat-shield duty. (Of course, you might have a very different barbarian, Hep. I've seen some odd ones before!)

A cleric or a summoner, even a melee summoner, would probably be better placed.

If either Hep or Lady L would like to check out the group, Discussion thread is here.

I just figured out how to group stuff and I think it has been set up on Parison's character now too. So, wherever he moves, the light moves with him.

Thank you to whoever grouped Maria's light area templates onto her character piece, you showed me that kind of thing could be done.

That was me - and thanks for doing that for Parison; I meant to and got distracted and forgot >.>

I'm off this week end, back Sunday afternoon/evening.

^Thanks for the notice!

I'm assuming this is for a fun/enjoyable reason, so have a great weekend :D

As far as moving the boulder goes, better to push it along it's original path. It's shorter. If the cut off party moves to the side tunnels, we can try to push it past the intersection.

Regarding Maria's point: can we have a description of the mechanical options for getting around the boulder, the obvious ones, at least, like swimming under it or squeezing over it?

There aren't any given which is odd since it was very specific about how far the boulder would travel (a total of 110 ft.) before stopping and the tunnel is much longer than that. So I'm happy to handwave things a bit with a Grease spell and some Str checks.

Working tonight, actual update post later.

*edit* I will drop you guys out of combat so that'll make things a little easier to wrangle as well.

Okay, Gameplay updated. Since the scenario doesn't really account for boulder-blockages I'm not going to make you guys spend too much time or mental effort in terms of getting past it - you've got bigger fish to fry ;)

I don't want to know how (yet), but does the scenario address how the Kobolds deal with the boulder? They've got to reset that sucker somehow!

Heh. You sure? They’re kobolds. They probably have backup tunnels for their backup tunnels. ;)

Engineering does exist in this world, though I know all you fancy magic types scoff at it. :P

Engineering does exist in this world, though I know all you fancy magic types scoff at it. :P

Hmm.

Work has been a little on the busy side tonight but today starts my 'get stuff done' rotation (3 off, 1 on, 3 off) so I'll either have an update for you guys when I get home in another hour or two or I'll get one later this evening after I've gotten some sleep~

Sleep!

Okay so that sleeping thing ended up basically eating all of my yesterday and last night but MAN I feel much better today!

Apologies...as written into the scenario, kobolds tend to be wily and aggravating foes.

By the way, seeking some advice from those of you that also GM PbP - how do you handle situations where Certain Things will happen on a timer without just totally telegraphing that Something Is About to Happen to your players? I dislike making it super obvious that combat or something else is about to occur but otherwise I end up with folks spending time posting actions that can't be taken into account (such as with this combat) - and I hate feeling like I've wasted some of their time.

It's easier in PF2 when I can just say anything is an Encounter and put people in initiative, but that's really the only way I can do it without people wasting posts.

Now, I try to make a point to not post too far ahead and/or to write in an aspirational tone so it makes more sense in case a GM interrupts me.

I'll echo Zithembe's second sentence. As a player, I try to keep make my intentions clear with the hope that it makes it easier for the GM to deliver the narrative as they see fit. As a GM, I do my best to fit player posts in, BUT I think that it is just one of the quirks of the PbP medium that sometimes you wrote something that didn't actually happen.

EDIT: GM, for your adjudication, Rumble has the Rock Stepper racial trait. Text produced in the spoiler below. Don't know if trash counts as rubble or broken ground, but figured it was worth the ask :) Will impact if Rumble gets AoO'd or not this round, but won't change his actions.

Gurva hasn't acted, so hopefully it doesn't have Combat Reflexes.

Ah! That's right, this is the first round. Sorry, I'm used to Rumble going at the top of the second round ;)

As cool as it would be, the trait seems pretty specifically geared towards rock and stone-related difficult terrain and while there's probably some bit of rubble down here, it's still predominantly a big ol' trashpile.

That said...you're still good ;)

Also, I'll be out and about a fair portion of today for family stuff so I may or may not get a second update later tonight.

Oh, huh, I wrote "description" instead of "discussion."

Since there's clearly confusion about the sequence of events and how it relates to the current combat, I'll try to lay it out step-by-step:

(1) The kobolds trigger the boulder trap and fall back.

(2) Near the back of the main sewer channel where you were fighting and where the boulder came from, is a grate with a knotted rope leading downward to the trash chamber below.

(3) The kobolds flee down this rope while you guys are busy dealing with the boulder.

(4) The kobolds' otyugh friend lives in the trash chamber and now knows to be expecting self-delivering food very very soon.

(5) After everyone gets around the boulder, you find the broken grate with the knotted rope leading down.

(6) It takes a full-round action to descend this rope to the trash chamber below.

(7) Zithembe descends first, with Rumble mentioning that he would follow second.

(8) Once Zithembe gets to the bottom, a behind-the-scenes timer starts on when the otyugh emerges from the trash and initiates combat - it happens exactly one round after the first person enters the trash chamber.

(9) Rumble descends the rope next. At the same time that Rumble gets to the bottom where Zithembe is, the otyugh attacks and we begin a new combat.

(10) At the time that combat is initiated *only* Zithembe and Rumble have descended the rope into the trash chamber. There was not enough time for the entire group to descend before combat begins.

(11) On this first round, Zithembe and Rumble attack the otyugh since they're already in the room with it. Effie, still one level up in the main sewer channel, peers through the hole and shoots the otyugh. Maria takes a full-round action to descend the rope.

(12) As of right now, Zithembe, Rumble, & Maria are have descended the rope and are in the same room with the otyugh. Effie, Parison, & Hepsubia are still up in the main sewer channel where the boulder trap was sprung.

(13) Though technically Maria falls after Parison and Hepsubia in the initiative order, I'd allow one or both to also take a full-round action to descend the rope on their turns.

Does this make more sense?

Maybe I didn't pay enough attention. My intention was to go down the rope first, and scout to the grates to see if I could open them. Maybe I wasn't too clear either.

Sorry if I messed up things.

Nothing that can't be fixed!

But given the misunderstanding I think I'm going to insist that the group hammer out a stated SOP that can be documented and referenced in the future by myself as well as by the rest of you. That will hopefully cut way down on the confusion over whether the group is advancing in regular marching order or scouting mode, etc. at any given time. The League group has one and it's helped (if no one else) me streamline my dungeon-crawl posts for them; I'll link it here so you guys can get an idea of what I'm talking about.

So...for Parison and Hepsubia, please feel free to adjust your Round 1 actions accordingly in light of the information above. And going forward we'll hopefully have a better system in place so that neither side is confused as to what's going on :)

Example SOP Document - something like this is what I'm thinking of. We can do as basic or as detailed ('I'll use <X> ability in <Y> circumstances while scouting') as the group prefers.

I was thinking how I might answer your easrlier question GM, and I think Standard Operating Procedure is the answer. I always try to get pbp players to agree an SOP if there's a significant 'dungeon crawl' segment in the game. Just finishing one such now :)

If you're saying we're all on the same side of the sewer channel as the broken grate after getting around the boulder, I'll change my action. I was just going with where my token was on the map before this combat started.

Effie's SOP:

Effie keeps her eyes open for trouble, but lets the more astute party members do the checks on doors, chests and the like. (Perception whenever a room search is called for, modifier +3).
Effie keeps her pistol drawn.
Effie maintains a Message spell with whomever will typically be at the front and at the rear of the party.

Yes, everyone would've had time to maneuver themselves to be on the same side of the channel as the broken grate so no additional worries there.

GM, did you make that document or did one of your players? Don't know how detailed we (as a party) want to make it, but a lot of that is basic information that'd be easy to consolidate!

^I 'made' the document but the majority of the actual SOPs within were decided upon by the group themselves. It might be more detailed than is necessary but it's helpful for me to reference as I would inevitably forget to account for something if I didn't.

That's also why I put in the extra effort to link ongoing spell effects and status conditions in my combat tracker - not just for the benefit of my players but for my own, as well. Makes it much easier for me to quickly reference said spell or condition if I need to :)

Ok! :)

As far as Rumble fitting into any SOP...

If scouting is happening, he is the rear guard. With his dex and ACP, he will foil all sneakiness! He is counting on those distance penalties ;)

Once an area is safe for entry (so perception has been rolled, we've checked for traps, etc.), he will enter the room first. For now, that means strapping his shield on and total defensing in. Soon, he will be foregoing the shield entirely.

I think that's basically all he's got at this point.

I'll do the SOP this week end, if I can.

Sorry for not being too much active, I do have difficulties to roleplay Hepsubia carefree & funny attitude these days, I'm simply not in the mood IRL. Nothing to do with the game itself, I'm just not in the right place for that actually.

No worries and no rush, Hep. Hang in there and I hope you feel better soon!

Agreed, do what you can when you can! Wishing you the best, hope it all works out.

Send you a PM Lady L.

Thank you for your words, both of you

These are strange and difficult times we are living in.

My own circumstances being what they are, I find pbp is a welcome diversion that I can still indulge in because I can do so in very small chunks of time. And that's about all I can manage hobby-wise, aside from a little video gaming.

I hope that the present problems subside sooner rather than later. I feel like we're a long way off from 'normal' right now, and in my family's case it's going to be a couple of years at least until we have the stability we crave.

But I take solace in the fun and friendships I have on this forum. Stay safe, my friends.

Strange times indeed.

I will say - and this applies to anyone - that if you ever need a break for whatever reason and want to sit out for a scenario or two, then we can do that. I'll keep your spot open in the group and we'll either run with 5 or I'll find someone to act as a Special Guest Star with the stated-up-front understanding that it'd just be for the one scenario.

And anyhoo, apologies for the gap - I'll get cracking on an update in a few minutes.

How much damage can an inspired, divinely favored dwarven headbutt do, Rumble?

Lady L: Theres only one bath product known to man: soap.

Probably a woman knows much more about these ;-)

But I get the picture. Well, not litterally.