GM Omelas's Destiny of the Sands (Inactive)

Game Master panegyric

Same

Congrats, DM!

A heads up. Between Friday 1st June and Sunday 3rd June, I won't be available at all. My availability on the Thursday and Monday is also likely to be very limited.

So realistically, I'm not likely to post much from Thursday May 31st until Tuesday June 5th.

No problem, Theshen. Thanks for letting us know – I will bot you during combat and have you silently accompany the group afterwards.

I overlooked the squares being larger. Then it will be a double move to near Asmani.

I might be wrong, but considering a speed of 20 ft and that you don't need to be on the same square as Asmani (just adjacent to it), I don't believe you will need a double move. I outlined the trajectory I believe you would take on the map, in pink.

If Theshen can make it to Asmani and use lay on hands this turn, he absolutely will. An AOO from the scorpion is the one potential wrinkle in that plan, but he is a determined sort when it comes to the injured.

Yeah, I can see him doing that, hehe.

It's your call: either withdraw (and move 40ft) to safely reach her or eat the AoO, just wanted to point it out.

I appreciate the heads up.

Theshen will eat the AOO. No one dies on his watch if he can help it!

Theshen, a bookkeeping note
Daybreak

I think this is the first time today you've used laying on hands.

@GM Omelas: I appreciate the heads up. Theshen will eat the AOO. No one dies on his watch if he can help it!

@CrystalSeas: Cheers, I forgot to update Theshen's tagline for a while there, it should be accurate now, at least until he reaches Asmani.

Fortunately Rawiya is far ahead of you in the initiative list. By the time it's your turn, there may not be any AoOs to worry about.

Round 2

@Sorkesh, is this a typo and you meant it as your round #3 action or did you miss the bit about your PC hitting the scorpion the previous round? Apologies for botting you, but I do want to stick to the GM post deadline.

In case you did meant that as a round #3 action, I believe you would have to move in order to get line-of-sight for another shot (and that would have to be a 5ft step, as you will need your move action to reload the crossbow).

Crit=24 dmg to scorpion

@Rawiya, a few questions on your post:

Let me know if I overlooked something.

Ha, probably my newbie enthusiasm overcoming my newbie arithmetic skills.

Let me recalculate.

Mark my last post down as for Round 3 as well.

Ok, first, Ranged Attack Bonus:

+2 Dex, +1 Feat (Point Blank Shot)

ConfirmCrit: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18
(Dex +2, Point Blank +1, Bless +1, Inspire +1)

Dmg: 3d8 + 6 ⇒ (5, 1, 2) + 6 = 14
3x (Bless +1; Inspire +1)= 6

So, is that right?

@Rawiya, yeap, that looks right to me. In the future it can be useful if you remember to separate the regular damage from crit damage (like, {dice=damage}1d8{/dice} and {dice=cri damaget}2d8{/dice}), but not a big deal.

Also, no worries about the "newbieness," I'm always forgetting those kinds of things. It's so easy to overlook this or that rule.

Question about Crit Damage

With this Composite Longbow, crit damage is 3x. that's just 3d8, right, not 1d8 +3d8? I'm a bit unclear about how damage for crits is rolled.

The first option (3d8) is correct, I believe.

I see the multiplier as the number of times you roll the dice. A normal hit is effectively a 1x and rolls the damage dice once; a 2x critical rolls the damage dice two times; a 3x critical rolls the damage dice three times; and so on.

Thanks

@Rawiya: no problem. A question about your next action: if i understand it correctly, you have moved out of the scorpion's threatened area without taking the withdraw action. This means you are opening yourself up to an attack of opportunity. Is that correct?

Did I learn anything from knowledge checks?

Unfortunately, no. This is probably your first time meeting one of these nasties =(

People, given that we're on a rather delicate moment (one down, two heavily wounded), I don't want to bot Sorkesh (I mean, it would be a tad anticlimactic to defeat a difficult foe through a botted PC and equally frustrating if my botting gets someone killed).

Thus, I will postpone my post to 23:00.

Good idea, boss. And how far did Rawiya move? She can do a free five foot step.

Given that I'm down to 3 hp, I'd like to avoid an AoO. I've repositioned Rawiya so that she's only taken the 5 ft step

@ GM Omelas: can we tell if the lichen down here is glowing at all?

You can see that the lichen is glowing, though the torch makes it very faint.

When Sorkesh comes around, he picks up his torch and sees if there's any way of helping Asmani recover

Theshen used lay on hands on her and restored enough HP for her to regain consciousness =)

I'm uncertain about our healing capacity.

Theshen needs to heal some Strength points.

I'm missing a lot of hit points.

Asmani needs help.

Who else needs healing and how should we do it?

Exactly how you use the potions is something the group needs to discuss, but just a couple of comments:

* Theshen has CLW on his spells known list and he is somewhat forced to heal anyone who asks. He has 3 unused spell slots. I think (it doesn't look like he update his vitals since casting bless);
* I do not believe you currently have a way of healing ability damage (i.e. Restoration), meaning Theshen will recover 1 ability point/day.

Between Friday 1st June and Sunday 3rd June, I won't be available at all. My availability on the Thursday and Monday is also likely to be very limited.

I think we need Theshen to chime in on this today or tomorrow. I'm willing to wait to see what he suggests

At least we're all mobile (if battered) after that fight.

Is Theshen down 3 or 4 STR? And would he need a bit of help getting about while so weakened?

Hello folks, I am catching up on posts. Good job against the scorpion!

Theshen is down 6 hp and 3 strength, to 11 from 14. He's not terribly encumbered so he should still be mobile.

He has the merciful curse (not that he sees it as such) but I have him go above and beyond the requirements of that. Basically, if Theshen sees someone he can heal who isn't obviously an enemy, he's inclined to help them.

So I have no issue with him expending his spell slots and/or uses of lay on hands right now, because that's what he would want to do.

Questions.

1. Who are the most currently injured PC's?

2. Did Theshen use his last two lay on hands, or did he use first aid from Heal skill?

The answers will influence who he casts cure light wounds on.

As far as my records go, current party status is:
* Asmani: 3/11
* Rawiya: 3/13
* Theshen: 5/11 (2 NLD) (3 Str damage)
* Shu-kri: 3/8
* Sorkesh: 8/11

Also, regarding ability damage: it does not actually lower your ability score (a permanent decrease would be a drain and AFAIK is reserved for higher level encounters). Instead, you get a -1 on specific tasks for every 2 points of damage. Plus becoming disabled/unconscious/etc and potentially dying in case the ability damage exceeds the ability's value.

In Theshen's case, strength, the biggest penalties are attack and damage rolls, but you can see the full list here: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/basics-ability-scores/ability-scores/#Ability_Score _Damage

@Theshen: welcome back! I have expended your two remaining lay on hands; one for Shu-kri, the other for Sorkesh. Your healing also removed all Asmani's and Sorkesh's NLD

Cheers! I'll get posting with that in mind.

One idea I've seen is a post-combat summary, listing hp lost and resources expended.

An example.

I just recalled that Theshen possesses the blessed touch trait, whicb means each of his lay on hands should have healed one more hp each. I've edited my last gameplay post to reflect his clw's.

Thanks for the post-combat summary idea, Theshen. I'll start doing it from now on.

Regarding blessed touch, it means everyone has 1HP extra, correct?

If so, the final HP tally should be:
* Asmani: 11/11
* Rawiya: 7/13
* Theshen: 5/11 (2 NLD) (3 Str damage)
* Shu-kri: 8/8 (counting +1HP from previous lay on hands)
* Sorkesh: 9/11 (counting +1HP from previous lay on hands)

@All: make sure you have updated your vitals.

Also, I'll wait a couple more hours before moving the action forward, as I'm not completely sure whether everyone agrees with Theshen's idea of further exploring the cave.

I'm happy with that post-combat summary, but would also be OK with it only being a damage report.

XP and loot being posted in the thread are not as important to me.

Also, do I still have Nenet's two potions? I don't see them in Theshen's emergency room case notes.

The main things I find useful after combat are what hp are and what resources were expended. Xp honestly isn't going to matter that much in this system until it reaches time to level up. And loot isn't as interesting as the first two categories to me.

Theshen didn't use the potions, so I didn't mention them.

If I've read everything correctly, it is currently midday. We had been traveling about 4 hours when the storm hit.

So, we aren't going to be out in the sun for a few hours, but will resting actually help us? Are we sufficiently recovered to face another foe?

If I've read everything correctly, it is currently midday. We had been traveling about 4 hours when the storm hit.

Yes, that's about right. I'd say it's been some 20-30 minutes since the storm started (including the time to catch your breath after the scorpion)

Mechanically speaking, there's no benefit to be gained from a small rest at the moment. Theshen would recover all his NLD, but he doesn't need to rest for that.

Are we sufficiently recovered to face another foe?

That's your call to make. Don't feel like you have to fully explore every place you find – I always try to reward exploration, but I can also totally see a group of weary and bruised people saying "Yeah, let's not enter the ancient cave of murder today."

Xp honestly isn't going to matter that much in this system until it reaches time to level up. And loot isn't as interesting as the first two categories to me.

We're doing milestone-based XP (more of a mix of milestone and a minimum of CR-appropriate encounters), so I won't be posting that anyhow. Regarding loot, I think it happens somewhat naturally that you start checking corpses, containers, hidden stuff after combat, so that will probably get its own post anyhow.

Just a heads up:
I had been tracking the rounds/day as usage in the combat posts.

I've now added a tracker to my vitals line BUT

It shows remaining uses for the day. I wanted it to be the same as HP tracking.

Did we all just roll 20's to hit? Dayum. Our guys are pissed.

@Rawiya: thanks for the heads up, will be useful if we need to bot Rawiya in the future.

@Asmani: my poor baby!

If we have to fight, might as well do it quickly and well! ;)

For those who are wondering, Cobhlaith is an Augustinian nun, an order that makes vows about community and communal control of all goods and property.

She is also used to a very strict schedule of communal prayer and activities every day.

She has been in a monastery since she was around 8 years old, so there's almost a decade of ingrained habit to her daily routine.

To have gone so long without saying her prayers in the company of others, to only hear her own voice reciting the psalms and the offices, to not attend mass, or not be in constant contact with those who share her priorities and her immersion in a strong system of belief, is leaving her feeling very disconnected.

Just to hear the words of Vespers, and knowing that she is reunited, even briefly, with other people who follow these same practices, is a relief for her.

I love the post, but this is the discussion page for Destiny of the Sands.

Oh, my! I was wondering where that disappeared to!

Don't think I can do anything about it now.

Flagging it for removal perhaps? But that doesn't seem to get much response. If it remains, that is hardly so bad. :)

Good idea. I flagged it as a double post.

Too many open tabs, too late at night.

Apologies for the late post. I will be travelling for two and a half weeks starting tomorrow, and of course last minute problems always ruin my planning.

Also, between now and the 27/06 it is possible my posting will be a bit irregular. I believe I will manage to keep to the 1 post/day agreement, but the posting times are likely to be all over the place.

Hope the travel includes some fun and isn't all work

Thank you for the heads up, and may your travels be pleasant.