GM Omelas's Destiny of the Sands (Inactive)

Game Master panegyric

@Rawiya: I think I lost connection last time I updated the map, as I corrected the man's and Asmani's positions a few seconds after posting yesterday night. The map should be correct now, though, your attack is still valid, dim light concealment miss chance notwithstanding. Unless someone else moves blocks your view with their move.

Thank you, that looks good.

And you're right. My roll did not include the dim light penalty.

I think Rawiya will be the only one to benefit from Bless to her attacks this round.

I'd like to see if the croc succumbs to the spell first.

If the crocodile is not subdued

Just to double check something: sleep's casting time is one round, not one standard action, meaning Waylund will only finish casting shortly before his action next turn (see for instance the difference between color spray and sleep). In Badhru's case, waiting to see whether the croc is subdued would mean forfeiting his action for this round. Is that what he intends to do?

Nice catch, thanks GM; I didn't catch the cast time on sleep. In that case, I'll move Dhru in a moment.

Ah, then Theshen will simply cast Bless if he's unsure.

no problem. I have been bitten by sleep's casting time before (in a similar situation to yours, actually), so thought it was better to check you were aware of it.

I'll give Asmani another hour and then move things forward.

If everyone hits it as hard as Shu-kri it will die before sleep goes off.

An FYI: it helps me a lot if you post your spell's (or Ex, Su, etc) DC on your post when you cast it. Or if you have it easily available on your character sheet. No biggie if you forget, but it saves me a bit of time.

An FYI: it helps me a lot if you post your spell's (or Ex, Su, etc) DC on your post when you cast it. Or if you have it easily available on your character sheet. No biggie if you forget, but it saves me a bit of time.

Roger.

Am I right that I can concentrate on the auras while casting another spell as long as that spell doesn't require concentration?

Also, I'd like to cast "Fire finger" from Fun With Prestidigitation I don't see it conflicting with Spark per se, since spark mimics a flint and steel and also has a range of 25ft.

You'd never be able to light a candle with a fire steel and Prestidigitation(fire finger) only has a range of six inches. However, they are close enough that I thought I'd ask before using it.

Am I right that I can concentrate on the auras while casting another spell as long as that spell doesn't require concentration?

As far as I understand it, any spell that requires more than one standard action requires concentration during the casting time. If I'm reading this correctly, it implies you need to concentrate on a spell whilst casting it:

When you begin a spell that takes 1 round or longer to cast, you must continue the concentration from the current round to just before your turn in the next round (at least). If you lose concentration before the casting is complete, you lose the spell.

Regarding fire finger, no problem.

Collar (Necklace?)

Yeap, missed that when I was proofreading.

I'm trying to work out our new timeline for the next day. We left Sothis at 1600 and rode for six hours which puts arrival at camp at 2200. It didn't seem like we'd had camp up very long when the encounter started so I'm guessing 2300?

Nenet's dart will wear off maybe 0200? Hopefully the funeral and interrogation will be done by then.

That means a 0300 bedtime, 1100 wake up, and spell prep done at 1200. That puts us in the 1000-1600 'hide from the sun' window doesn't it?

Does that add a half a day to our arrival in Eto?

Also, We should kill the crocodile ASAP. Or maybe let the husband sacrifice it to the gods in the name of his wife or something? Pay the ferryman with it if you will?

Yes, I'd say the trip will take around half a day longer (didn't really expect us doing a proper burial tbh – not that there's anything wrong with that).

And, yes, you do need to decide. Or I can speed up things and off the crocodile, if you prefer to move forward.

Short post tonight. I will move things forward tomorrow, but before then I need to know what you will do about the man (someone mentioned interrogation and, as Nenet said, he might have a debt with Waylund) and the crocodile (kill it, skin it, tame it?).

Also, if anyone will id and/or hold the scrolls.

Finally, if you wish to do so, this is a good moment to discuss tactics – either here or on the gameplay thread, whatever you prefer.

Can Rawiya Take 20 on Spellcraft on the scrolls now that she's got all evening to examine them?

I was planning on preparing read magic anyway which auto succeeds on determining what a scroll is. I just figured it's a low priority with a live crocodile and bandit in our midst.

Oh, I have Read Magic already prepared, but the GM asked for a Spellcraft check, which Rawiya failed miserably on both scrolls.

That's why I suggested Waylund attempt the same check.

The man pulls Rawiya aside and explains that he's actually a women, in disguise because she's secretly Aroden's sister.

And Rawiya totes believes him

"OMG! Twinsies!"

Tracker updated. Will update again when things are appraised and identified.

Cheers Shu-Kri

So who would be our best coup de grace character/weapon?

regarding taking 10/20: feel free to do so whenever the situation is favourable (meaning, you have enough time and the skill has no retry penalties). So, in the specific case of identifying magic items, you are limited to one attempt/day, so taking 20 is not possible. Likewise, you cannot really retry appraising an item, so you may take 10 but not 20.

regarding the spellcraft spoilers: I should have been clearer about them and the DC is only for identifying the items without casting read magic. If you have the cantrip amongst your spells known/prepared, you may safely read it.

So who would be our best coup de grace character/weapon?

Your spear seems pretty scary.

@Everyone: I apologize but I'm really busy with errands today. My wife and I are getting ready to go on a route 66 road trip. I WILL post but it will be later.

Waylund, no problem, thanks for letting us know.

@all, I will probably move to the next day tomorrow evening (around 18:00 CEST), so do try to ask any remaining questions to the thief before then.

If I stand next to the crocodile, I have a pretty good chance of doing damage:
Longbow (composite) (1d8+3) Cr: x3

You can also use a bow or crossbow, provided you are adjacent to the target.

You automatically hit and score a critical hit. If the defender survives the damage, he must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + damage dealt) or die. A rogue also gets her extra sneak attack damage against a helpless opponent when delivering a coup de grace.

That sounds like it would do the trick!

That bow sounds like it would do the trick!

Damn, I based my post on Rawiya's roll before you edited the post. 21 was more than enough to get it to kill it, considering its previous wounds. I'll just roll with it, if that's alright with you.

Oh, sorry! I was thinking that we needed two of us to actually kill it, and wanted to give Shu-kri a chance to one-shot it before we had to deal with end of the spell

Pretty sure only one character could coup at a time. It would wake up.

I would imagine it would be possible for two or more characters to coordinate their timing and do a coup de grace simultaneously.

As far as I understand it, the prerequisite for a coup de grace action is that the target is both helpless and not resistant to precision damage. According to the helpless RAW, a target that is bound is indeed helpless, so even after the crocodile woke up and until it managed to free itself it would be susceptible to coups de grace.

Also, I originally planned to move things directly to the next scene, but wasn't sure I wouldn't be steam rolling through any preparations you guys might want to make. Let me know if the pacing feels to slow.

The pacing is as a rule fine by me. Theshen does have his qualms about setting a man off unarmed into the desert, even if he's likely to be more dangerous than most out on that route.

would be susceptible to coups de grace.

grammar nerd swoon

Rawiya is fine with the pacing.

I'm great with the pacing. Also interested in how these various personalities coexist.

The party drama thing is cliche and boring. We have enough food, water and camels for a five day journey for seven people, not a five and a half day journey for eight people.

Camels travel about the same speed as Donkeys, which is three miles an hour. The camp is eighteen miles away from Sothis. If the terrain was flat enough or high enough you could easily still see Sothis.

The way back to Sothis is literally the only patrolled and safe section of the Journey and we are heading into the Sahara desert if the Sahara had Zombie gnolls and Sarlac Pitts.

Do a Google image search of the view of the Giza pyramids from Cario, which are 8 miles away.

The guy can't stay in Sothis due to the gang, he can't stay in the desert or realistically travel with us to Eto.

Sorry you find it boring, but there's no way my character would go along with it as he's explained in character.

The man attacked us, poisoned the woman Waylund loved and Waylund avenged his wife, dug her grave personally, gave him advice on how to pull his life back together, offered him a job and then tried to let him keep his dignity by saying it wasn't charity.

Shu-kri has an 18 intelligence and is an investigator. From my POV it's more metagamie to force her into misunderstanding the obvious, but it's your character.

She's not misunderstanding. She thinks your "offer" is unjust. He did no lasting harm, has suffered greatly already, and he isn't Waylund's to decide his fate.

And I forgot the part where he gives the guy a way to escape the gang that is trying to murder him.

Shu-kri has an 18 intelligence and is an investigator. From my POV it's more metagamie to force her into misunderstanding the obvious, but it's your character.

Uh, please don't argue with how people are playing their characters.

You do you, but to tell other people that they're playing their character wrong is really offensive.

Mind your own business and stop playing your weird ooc power games. Don't think I didn't catch what you were pulling.

Being the GM, I'm loathe to pressure anyone into any direction – this is a story we’re creating together, not the GM’s plaything – and I respect how each of you understands and plays your own character. There will be moments that interest some of us more than others, naturally, and I will try to keep it balanced.

I appreciate whenever you share your feelings on what you find interesting and what you find boring, since that helps me in keeping things fun for everyone, but try to do that in a civil and polite manner – it's far too easy to sound hostile and aggressive when the others cannot read your facial expressions, tone of voice, etc.

@Waylund: I have missed what you are describing as ooc power games. Could you be more specific so we can talk about it openly (and solve what is hopefully just a misunderstanding)?

In case it was necessary, Shu-Kri is upset, but I'm certainly not. Civility is key in a text-based discussion. EDIT: I haven't noticed any ooc power gaming either.

Hello all,

I want to clarify a few things:

* The game is not moving forward till we solve this. I deeply apologise if I have given the impression I’m going to ignore what happened. My post yesterday was mainly a way of replying to rolls and actions before they pile up and become unmanageable. I realise now that it may have been tone deaf;

* Any satisfactory solution to the conflict *needs* to start with an apology from Waylund, the sooner the better;

* No one has the right to tell anyone how to do things here. Not the GM, not the players. I hope we are all open to suggestions, but that is not what has happened in Waylund’s post;

* Whatever concerns this game is everyone's business, so even if that point had been expressed in a polite and friendly way, it wouldn't be true;

* I am open to hearing all sides of a story, but the moment you attack someone you have forfeited any benefit of doubt I might have been giving you.

There are situations where it can make sense to advise or even tell someone something about how they are playing their character. Such as where they are acting on player knowledge, or where they are disrupting the game.

But I am not impressed by the hostile tone I have seen in some of the prior posts in discussion. It reduces the enjoyment of the game for everyone involved and, as GM Omelas says, it needs to be solved.