Speaking of - what's going on in the rusty dragon? As a bit of a newbie, I must admit to feeling a bit at loose ends in moments like this - am I supposed to just keep up idle conversation, or do I need to engage someone specific, or what. If any of our more experiences players want to give a nudge in the right direction, that could be helpful.
You can certainly engage a specific character in conversation, like Zaf just did with Katarina (which I enjoyed very much!), or you could make Garrok talk to the others in general, or even just state from a 3rd person perspective that he spoke with them and shared this and that.
As a rule of thumb, I'd say do what you feel like, and as long as you're having fun, you are doing it right. ^_^
If you want to get more of an 'insider' look into things, metagaming a bit (which normally is kinda bad... But still...), then read the spoiler!
This is why a well made adventure tries so hard at the very start to tie everyone together and give characters multiple reasons to become a party, as well as occasions to talk and get to know one another a bit better.
The Adventure Paths Paizo writes are awesome at this (well... Almost all of them... I'm looking at you Second Darkness! But I digress...), with characters encouraged to take campaign traits to have a reason to be where the adventure starts and/or other reasons to stick around, and a 'first encounter' that basically forces PCs to work together no matter what.
And after that, it's common to give PCs a bit of downtime to rest, recharge and get their characters to bond (or at least share the core information in their background). ;)
Naturally, none of the above is set in stone or anything, as there are as many different types of adventures as there are GMs and people playing them! ^_^
And that's an awesome Mini, I love the colors! ;)
Ah, okay, thanks Kat... I suppose my RL aversion to "small talk" is manifesting in my character, then. =\ One of my more anti-social qualities, I admit.
And since I mentioned my "bag of Bones" - I thought I'd do a quick sort and pick out figures I might like to paint soon. This is what my coffee table looks like right now. I'm now going to staple similar figures together so they stay somewhat sorted when I throw them back in the bag!
Small, see-through bags of indeterminate content? That doesn't shout addiction to me... ;D
Sweet orc, by the way.
You're indeterminate!
:P thanks - here's what the table looked like after organization.
I don't really understand what an oracle is yet, but when I saw this guy with a big-ass weapon and casting a spell, I decided it fit... So here's my Hieronymous.
I have selected miniatures for Zaf & Kat. Might be a while, though - busy week ahead!
Nice big pile of minis there, looks like there are some really cool ones. Especially the dragons.
What katarina said about the adventure is pretty much dead on. Right now is the "getting to know you"phase of the group with a bit of Roleplaying. I'll add in some spice tomorrow to get things going again, there will be plenty of Roleplaying opportunities.
Didn't know you were a board game guy too rei. Have you played King of Tokyo? Was playing it earlier today and it was a lot of fun.
You've just set your mug back down on the table when the inn's door slams open to admit a surly looking older man. He bellows a loud command in a language none of you understand.
I don't know if this is the case, but since part of Katarina's background is that she's extremely close with Ameiko, when I chose her known languages I actually put 'Minkaian' into them, reasoning that over the years Ameiko would have taught Katarina to speak her tongue, so they could have their very own 'secret language', so to speak! xD
Nice big pile of minis there, looks like there are some really cool ones. Especially the dragons.
What katarina said about the adventure is pretty much dead on. Right now is the "getting to know you"phase of the group with a bit of Roleplaying. I'll add in some spice tomorrow to get things going again, there will be plenty of Roleplaying opportunities.
Didn't know you were a board game guy too rei. Have you played King of Tokyo? Was playing it earlier today and it was a lot of fun.
Yar! That's why I was asking you about GenCon back in email... After I quit WoW, then SWTOR didn't exactly pan out and I got bored with RIFT and TSW, I kinda gave up on video games in general and switched to tabletop (though not much in the RPG area since my friends don't play them). As my BGG collection will attest, I've gone whole hog in the last couple years. (Oh, and the miniatures are from the Bones Kickstarter from last year - got something insane like 200+ miniatures and 60+ paints.)
I actually just got King of Tokyo from my BGG Secret Santa last week! Haven't played it yet, but the next time we have friends over we'll try it (it's not so great for just 2 players, since you're just switching back-and-forth who's in Tokyo).
I have the feeling we'll have LOTS of time to roleplay our character backgrounds, and there are elements of mine may become more relevant later... Right now I feel like Garrok is very lightly stunned at the morning's events and not feeling particularly conversational. :)
He says "Where the hell is my daughter?" but its really a demand and not a question.
@Rei - Wow, you've got quite a collection of board games there, I'm starting to get into them as well, but have been very hesitant to buy a ~$40 or $50 board game that I won't like so I looked at online reviews and King of Tokyo was very highly rated. It was a lot of fun with just 2 people, but with 3 or more I can see it being a total blast.
Another game I cant recommend enough (not technically a board game though) is Cards Against Humanity. If you've got a slightly, or very (as I do) warped sense of humor this game is awesome. I have rarely laughed so hard.
Added some Notable NPC pictures to the Campaign info tab as well.
Wow, all those games Rei owns and I only recognized one (Ogre (Not counting Pathfinder, I just found out about it when we started this)), perhaps I am not as big of a nerd/geek as I thought...
I'm interested in what tone you guys are used to/interested in seeing. Even though this is a pre-printed campaign, the DM has a considerable amount of input as to the overall tone of the adventure and in the interest of all I'm curious what is preferred.
Knowing myself and how I write and think, I have heavy leanings toward dark, gritty, realistic storytelling. And while I enjoy that I know its not everyone's cup of tea. The adventure as written has some dark corners and places it explores, but its all in a typical heroic fantasy light that kind of captures 'generic D&D.' I like that style as well, its what lured me to Rise of the Runelords in the first place.
Things I'm curious about are the levels of graphic violence, cussing, and adult themes (not too dark, but things like sexism, racism, equality, moral questions of good and evil that kind of thing). If everyone wants heroic fantasy with a 'not so heavy' mood, I'm fine with that, I'm just wanting to go the direction that would be preferred and give us the most group fun while not offending anyone's sensibilities. Very interested to hear your answers.
I'd say you nailed it down pretty well! ;p
Don't worry though, Katarina is not offended... Yep, totally fine... And in a completely unrelated note, she'd like to ask for a special "aimed shots" houserule so Caine could go ahead and bite Lonjiku's crotch specifically! xD
I'm fine with profanity and violence, I used to work in a warehouse (profanity abounds), and I love a good violent film (Eg. Inglorious Basterds)
I am also more than ok with a family environment if anyone here would prefer that.
This kind of thing is always a slippery slope, where do you draw the line? Obviously, I know Riatin well enough that I can't imagine it not going along with the story, so I am sure it will be okay.
On the other hand, I don't prefer to see childish stuff, people saying obscene things just to get a rise out of people or try to sound cool. I did just complete a stint in Eve Online, nothing says inappropriate like being allied with a bunch of Goons from Something Awful dot com. It was nice to be with a group where the childish stuff wasn't tolerated, sort of an oasis from the rest of the people we would be in fleets with.
It's harsh in space.
I like dark and graphic as well... Back in WoW, we had a "family friendly" rule that I always supported enthusiastically, but that's a different environment. As long as we know this is just storytelling, I don't mind if it takes some graphic turns.
I disclaimed Garrok's dismissive use of "wench" toward Ameiko specifically because I wasn't sure about this. I'd hate for anyone to think I harbor such feelings, but I just felt like Garrok would see a little human female with a sword on her hip and be like "yeah, right" - I'd actually thought up some harsher dialogue but didn't want to take it too far. :)
So have at it... Now I apologize, but I can't contribute to gameplay tonight; we're just back from a evening of dinner and drinks with friends at one of our favorite restaurants and I'm suffering severe food-and-liquor coma. I'll come up with something on the train into work tomorrow.
Knowing myself and how I write and think, I have heavy leanings toward dark, gritty, realistic storytelling. And while I enjoy that I know its not everyone's cup of tea. The adventure as written has some dark corners and places it explores, but its all in a typical heroic fantasy light that kind of captures 'generic D&D.' I like that style as well, its what lured me to Rise of the Runelords in the first place.
Personally, I'm perfectly fine with adult themes, violence, cussing, etc... So don't worry about me, as long as it makes sense to have something like that in the adventure (like a very rude NPC spewing profanities for instance), and everyone else is fine with it, I'm ok too.
If I had to 'vote', so to speak, I suppose I'd be fine with keeping the general tone of the adventure the way it was written, and if here and there we stumble on some 'adult themes', and we are all comfortable exploring them, then sure lets go for it. :)
I agree with the group. You're doing a great job with the material, and I don't mind a little dark and gritty in my adventuring.
Soo... Shameless bump? ^_^
Soo... Shameless bump? ^_^
Yeah, been wondering what's up - everything okay, Riatin? Hope so!
He'll turn up eventually, no doubt crazy holiday stuff messing with his time.
Yeah, my apologies folks. I had something written Thursday and work concerns plus a windows update conspired to keep me from posting it. Then I've had a guest staying with me since Friday and a wedding to go to and then my regular D&D group today and it's just been a packed few days for me. Things should be calm this week and then pick up again next weekend, so if I'm absent then, don't send out the search party till Monday. :)
So, I know this is off topic, but we sort of hit on this earlier, and anti WoW posts probably don't belong on WoW forums, so I will post this here.
Is sending players back to Outland really the best they could come up with?
Color me extremely skeptical.
Ha! And here I was thinking the next xpac could actually get me back into the game - I think it looks awesome. Mostly other stuff (updated models, player strongholds), but I think the old Draenor looks cool.
G is waiting to see what Kat does, fwiw.
Yeah, I suppose I should wait and see and not be so negative. I'll probably start playing again any day now anyway, I may as well keep an open mind. The updated models do intrigue me.
I was so upset that they didn't show the new troll models at BlizzCon - obviously, I'm particularly interested to see those.
@Riatin (and others, incidentally) - I had meant to say earlier (purely as an idea/FYI/aside, and not as "zomg you have to have posts ready all the time") - what I do is compose all my posts in Evernote, which I use because I have 6 computers, 2 tablets and a phone that I use on a daily basis and it's a great tool for having content available on all of them... So if I know what I want to write in advance, I have it available wherever, whenever I'm ready to post it. It's pretty handy!
So - I don't know if anyone else is keen to streamline their play-by-post workflow the way I am, but if you are, there's an idea. :]
Interesting app Rei. Similar to Dropbox, do you use that?
I tend to formulate my responses and introduce situations more organically if I can, although sometimes it is very necessary to pre-write them.
what happened last week was that a co-worker came to chat in the middle of my page or two long response and then the forced windows update I'd been delaying all day popped up and restarted my laptop. was kind of miffed.
Haha - burn... Well, that crap happens - and I wasn't meaning to harp on it, really... It just occurred to me that maybe others would benefit from my wisdom. ;]
I do use Dropbox. My universal web homepage (just a list of links I edit by hand) lives in my Dropbox public folder, and I have a custom shortened URL I use to get at it quickly from any computer... Between Dropbox and Evernote, my digital resources are never out of reach! THIS is life in the 21st century.
To think I used to pay for web hosting just for internet access to my files....
Figured I'd just reply over here. I have a bit of info on Koya and Niska from Jade Regent so those two are no problem at all. Koya would be out with Sandru and the caravan but Niska would still be home as her age keeps her from venturing too far.
As for healing, father Zantus can take care of you as well.
Thunder - it's a tomb... Not a Y2K bunker!
Or are you planning on coming out with fewer bodies than you're going in with?
o_O
Hahaha, you made me laugh.
I just wanted to make sure I got those things before we leave town, this seemed like the best opportunity. I was worried that we'd end up chasing some Goblin lord out of town without a chance to get supplies and I'd have to borrow food or eat berries.
And everyone I ever talked to about camping said make sure you bring a shovel...
Merry Christmas! ^_^
I won't be making new posts for the day, see you tomorrow people!
Merry Christmas! ^_^
Merry Christmas to you all. May no goblins cross your paths. :)
Hoping you all have a wonderful holiday season.
Hey guys! Merry Christmas! Hope you're having a great holiday. :)
It's FREEZING in Chicago right now... Tomorrow Jen and I drive to the Cincinnati area where we'll enjoy the balmy upper thirties they're getting. That's gonna be awesome. We'll be coming back during the day on Saturday.
I should be available at regular intervals to post, so whenever you guys get around to yours is cool, and hopefully it won't be more than a few hours (or the following morning) before I check again. Looking forward to the tomb.
But first and foremost, enjoy your holiday - looking forward to spending 2014 adventuring with you fine folk.
First big family thing down, one more to go...
Merry Christmas to all of you, see you on the other side!
And everyone is stuffed with holiday delights and tucked into their beds, including myself in a few moments.
Merry Christmas all - I hope you had a fantastic day!
Well, there is many-a-way to deal with ambushes, or simply skulking around an unknown place trying not to get completely pwned (they don't call it 'dungeon crawling' for nothing! ^_^)...
BUT! After years of gaming, I've found it's often more enjoyable for new players to discover them for themselves, instead of being dryly instructed to do this and that.
Sooo, explore your options, try both obvious and crazy solutions, use mundane items in unexpected ways, make mistakes, learn new approaches, and have a ton of fun doing it! xD
(Sorry for the lame answer, and if you truly want I'll share what little I know, I promise... Nevertheless, I feel like giving out just this one piece of advice... Never split the party!!! xD).
Thanks for that, Kat... I don't mind learning from experience. :)
Thunder, encounter maps - like 1" tabletop grids - are pretty much always 1 square = 5 feet (which is why a 5-foot step is exactly 1 square). So assuming standard base movement and encumberance, you should get 6 squares of movement per round.
When I posted, I was wondering a little bit about turning a full 180 degrees, but figured since I had only moved three squares that I had enough movement left over to pull it off.
There are no facing rules in pathfinder, so you're always considered facing all directions. Combat is pretty abstract for the most part.
And yes, unless noted otherwise 1 square = 5 ft.
Ah, interesting - thanks for the tip.
Hey, not that I mind being dinged for 3 HP, but in the interest of learning the finer points: my AC is 18 (unless there's a negative modifier I'm not aware of; I am trying to keep my QuickStats current.) - so how does an attack roll of 17 hit?
Strictly out of curiosity if I'm missing something - not being uptight about it at all! :)
Nope, you're right, I was looking at Hieronymous's AC. That's what I get for doing this while distracted. My bad, making sure things are fair is why I do open rolls, so if you notice something like that feel free to mention it. I make plenty of simple mistakes, just ignore the damage.
No worries, thanks! I'll re-adjust my stats now.
I feel like I'm understanding things more so when I see something confusing I have to ask. For example:
Did Thunder's skele just have fewer HP than the one I hit, or is there something about using a bludgeoning weapon that made his target die with one blow? I didn't want to ask before because A) I don't want to violate any "secret info" for a mob that's still in play, and B) I don't want to sound like a whiner. :) As I indicated in gameplay, I feel like there's a penalty for using slashing or piercing weapons on a skele, I just don't know how they manifest.
Seriously - this is just me being curious. Still having fun, no doubt there!
Yep, a few creatures have certain resistances to damage referred to as damage reduction. Skeletons have a resistance to all damage except bludgeoning damage which bypasses their resistance.
I expected and am glad to see questions like these, it shows you're interested and paying attention. :) In certain encounters similar monsters may have different hit points, this is possible and quite common in older incarnations of the game, but pathfinder goes with average hp based on creature hit die(level).
Hmmm, I hate to pick this apart even more, but it seems like Garrok's skeleton when out of turn, that Zaf and Katarina would have gone first. Is it because they didn't enter the tomb, or is the skeleton bending reality, or did I miss something?
Think you may have misread, the initiative rolls looked like this (alphabetical order, then monsters:
Hieronymous's Initiative: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23
Garrok's Initiative: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24
Katarina's Initiative: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9
Zafzalurg's Initiative: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 2 = 17
Skeleton's Initiative: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19
While actual initiative order (under the 'Initiative Order' button) looks like this:
Garrok
Hieronymous
Skeletons
Zafzalurg
Katarina
Ah, damage resistance - that makes sense. So the 8 I rolled would be reduced to I-don't-know-what behind the DM screen. Got it.
Garrok's shopping list: Mace. :)
Since initiative was mentioned, rolling standard initiative seemed a little weird in this instance, since based on the available information, Garrok (and I had assumed Hiero) was getting the jump on the skeles. If the rolls had turned out Zaf, skeles, Hiero, etc... that would have been very counter to the way the whole situation was set up. Not sure if there's any accommodation for things like that, but wanted to make note of it.
Now, where's our gnome? I saw you log into PSN, Sweetcroft! Make with the witty repartee!
Just messing - I know people are still busy. :) Anyone got any good New Year's plans? Jennifer and I are having a six course pre fixe menu at The Boarding House, then retiring to ring in the new year in the quiet of home with the pets, as usual. Kat, you're getting there ahead of us - a little warning if 2014 holds any surprises will be welcome!
Oops, you are right Riatin, I totally misread, sometimes I can't see things that are right in front of me, must be the cursed vision.
Does this mean that we should carry several weapons, maybe one for slashing, one for crushing and one for stabbing?
We are going to buy some crab and some steak and maybe some oysters and cook it all, and then just the three of us (wife, son and I) are going to hang around the house til midnight (and I will get there last of all of us, west coast better late than never).
Happy New Years Eve all!
Initiative wise, normally you would be correct, but the skeletons are guarding the entrance waiting to attack anyone who enters and no real attempt to hide your approach was made.
Surprise is usually when one party has no knowledge or isn't expecting to encounter the other party. Your group saw the skeles and the skeles were given commands to kill anything that entered the tomb. There was also a large stone door covering the entrance (it being ajar is what caught Zantus attention) that I hand waved for time sake, it didn't take any checks to move. most of the time it just comes down to Gm disgression.
I think for New Years were ordering pizza then having a brunch with family and friends tomorrow and hopefully playing some cards against humanity!
Just wanted to add that often times if the characters encounter a new monster, they can roll the appropriate Knowledge Skill and learn some basic information about it.
This is actually one of Katarina's specialties! I would've rolled, and shared info about the skeletons with the party... But they are already (almost) dead! You are too good guys! xD
Also, Happy New Year! ^_^
Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year! ^_^
Hope everyone had a good New Year, I had a good time even if the morning after was a bit rough.
I apologize for my lack of consistent posting over the past two or three weeks, I've been on break and having the time has been a challenge from time to time. But, I hope to be back on track with the new year and the consistent work schedule. I'm looking forward to keeping this train rolling.