Hieronymous kneels and mumbles incoherently, a brief glow emanates from his body.
Hieronymous casts Bless
Then he stands up, Well met all of you, let's see if we can't turn things around elsewhere in town."
He switches to his Large Mace and Buckler and follows the half-orc.
As they walk, he remembers he has an extra sling and turns to Katarina, "I see that you are not armed, would you be able to make use of my sling?" and he offers his normal sling (Not the one he one in the Lighthouse game!) and all 20 of his bullets to her.
Staying together, you run toward the sound of the commotion. As you pass the White Deer Inn and come within view of the old North Gate you see the last seconds of a desperate battle between a sinister goblin riding a large ratlike beast and a hunting dog.
The dog is keeping the goblin at bay, snarling and showing its teeth at the small humanoid brandishing a goblin horsechopper at it. A man in the clothing of a noble hides behind a stack of firewood and yells as he sees you draw near. "Thank Desna you've arrived, save me from these monsters!"
The dog turns to check that its master is alright when the goblin takes full advantage and spears the dog through the side.
The dogs last howls fill your ears as the mounted goblin turns his mount to face you and three more of the vicious beasts emerge from behind a rain barrel.
Initiative Order: Garrokmal, Mounted Goblin, Katarina, Goblins, Hieronymous, Zaf. (in instances where initiative are equal, we'll go with whoever rolled highest first). I'm sorry the initiative dice hate you Zaf :( Garrokmal up first. The map is updated.
HP 39/39, AC 18, Init+6 Str17 Dex14 Con14 Int12 Wis11 Cha10 Bank 755gp3sp6cp, DailyRage 10/16 rds left
Counters: 5R of Enlarged, 10R of Blessed and 4R of Rage remain. Let me know if I'm off on any of those.
Garrokmal's rage is immediately awoken upon seeing the man's pet killed. He bellows as he quickens his pace to a full-on run.
"You vermin! You'll not have long to rue the day you killed a dog in my sight!"
Charging directly at the mounted Goblin, he takes a mighty swing at the rat, intending to deny the goblin his mounted perch as quickly as possible.
Nothing for it now but to give my best and hope my new friends have got my back!
Crazy math with the various bonuses/effects going on, but HeroLab is telling me my net Attack bonus before Charging is +7, so I'm using +9. Net AC = 12 when Charging.
The goblin makes a ride check to keep control of his mount in combat and then has it take a 5 foot step (5-foot step) and take its bite attack. Acting on the same initiative the mounted goblin attacks and strikes with his horsechopper. Garrok takes 4 damage from the bite and 9 damage from the goblin's attack and needs to make a Fortitude save
Init +6 | AC 12, t 12, ff 10 | 16 / 16 hp | Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +2 | Perception +3
"Oh, thank you!" Katarina smiles at Hieronymous while taking hold of the sling, "I'll try to make good use of it!"
After the fight starts.
'Blasted goblins, they wounded Garrok! The goblin riding that disgusting thing... We need to take it out, and quickly!'
Katarina moves just close enough to the riding goblin's mount for it to be in range of her abilities, then with a few obscure words and an imperious gesture she unleashes a curse upon its head.
"אַבליוויאַן נעמען איר"
Katarina moves diagonally to the square 15 ft. from Hieronymous's top right square to the right, just in range to throw a Slumber Hex (DC 15) on the goblin's mount, hoping that if it falls asleep it'll make the goblin fall prone as well.
Garrokmal
Mounted Goblin
Katarina
Goblins
Hieronymous
Zaf
Goblin dog Will Save:1d20 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
Katarina moves forward and gestures at the ratlike creature. It slumps to the ground asleep.
Reflex save or get pinned DC 10:1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7
The goblin tumbles out of the saddle as the larger beast crashes to the ground, trapping his legs. He struggles to push the weight of the dog off him.
The goblin is prone and is considered grappled by the sleeping dog.
Garrokmal
Mounted Goblin
Katarina
Goblins
Hieronymous
Zaf
The other goblins gather up their courage and rush forward to attack their new foes. Sensing a weakened foe, one of the goblins rushes forward screaming to attack Garrok, but is cut down by the Half orcs swinging sword before he can get within striking distance.
Hot on the first's heels another goblin leaps at the injured barbarian.
Goblin3's attack:1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5
The little demon swings wide, missing the large barbarian by a wide margin.
The last goblin senses the danger present in the small woman casting spells and moves to imbed his dogslicer in her neck.
Init +6 | AC 12, t 12, ff 10 | 16 / 16 hp | Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +2 | Perception +3
I'm sorry I wasn't clear. What I meant before was: Katarina moves diagonally, from her current position, to reach the square located 15 ft. from Hieronymous's top right square to the right. Basically if we label columns with letters and rows with numbers, Katarina started in A5 and ended in E8 (right now she is in E5).
Doesn't matter much, she'd still get attacked by one of the goblins (damn goblins!), but right now in E5 she wouldn't be in range to cast the Slumber Hex on the goblin's mount! ^_^
Sorry about the misunderstanding, I'll try to be more specific in the future. :(
Hieronymous sees Garrockmal reel from the damage and decides it's probably a better idea to heal him than to try and kill a goblin, I missed too many times in the last fight.
Hieronymous moves forward, touching his buckler hand to Garrockmal and mumbling incoherently. A white light moves from his chest, through his arm and into the half-orc.
Hieronymous casts Cure light wounds on Garrockmal.
HP 11/11, AC 13 Base +2 Rosew Ar +1 Buck, Init +2, Str 10, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 16, Bank 27G 8S 5C
Everyone's so... big now. Don't want to get caught under foot with those two. Best to help the spellcaster. But first, I think we could all use a little dose of courage.
As Zafzalurg moves closer to the woman, he clears his throat and begins singing a lilting song about an obscure and distant king who one moonless night confused a combat dummy for his mistress.
And so begins Zafzalurg's attempt to Inspire Courage, a standard action, once he moves to C7.
Hieronymous, suddenly feeling brave, notices that with increased size it would be so much easier to just reach out and smack a goblin and prepares to strike should the opportunity present itself.
AOO:
Attack of Opportunity if needed Heavy Mace:1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17
Damage:1d8 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6
I included +2 to attack from Bless and Inspire Courage and +1 to damage from Inspire Courage
HP 39/39, AC 18, Init+6 Str17 Dex14 Con14 Int12 Wis11 Cha10 Bank 755gp3sp6cp, DailyRage 10/16 rds left
Counters:
4R of Enlarged, 9R of Blessed and 3R of Rage remain.
Also looks like Zaf's song hit, so I'm adding +1 do my damage rolls below!
Feeling much improved after Hieronymous's spell, Garrokmal glances side to side... With a goblin threatening from his left and the struggling goblin pinned under the sleeping beast in front of him, he makes a decision. He takes a quick step to his right, getting out of the standing goblin's reach. Then he carefully and deliberately plunges the end of his longsword deep into the goblin dog's throat, putting an end to the thing before it wakes up and before its master can wriggle free!
That's a 5-foot step straight "south" to I/J, 8/9 (sorry for stepping in your path, Hiero!), then a coup de grace on the goblin dog. Automatic crit, rolling damage x2 plus an AOO for when the pinned goblin stands or the standing one moves in.
Garrokmal
Mounted Goblin
Katarina
Goblins
Hieronymous
Zaf
Garrokmal steps back and slashes open the ratlike creatures throat. Black blood spills out soaking the ground as Zaf lightens the mood with a funny song. (Its a bit surreal really)
The pinned goblin struggles under the dead weight of the dog, trying to get himself free.
Goblin Escape Artist Check DC 10:1d20 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6
The dogs blood makes the ground slick and slippery keeping the goblin from escaping.
Init +6 | AC 12, t 12, ff 10 | 16 / 16 hp | Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +2 | Perception +3
Katarina cries in pain when the goblin's blade slices her side, staggering for a moment before regaining her footing.
Pressing a hand over the wound and trying to fight rising panic, she gestures toward the pinned goblin rider and invokes eldritch forces to envelop her foe.
"אַבליוויאַן נעמען איר"
Katarina casts Slumber Hex (DC 15) on the Riding Goblin (note that it's a Supernatural Ability, and she doesn't provoke any AoOs). Then takes a 5-Foot-Step south (from E8 to E9)
Just as she is retreating, a loud growl makes her look down. Katarina's eyes go wide when she sees that Caine, enraged the goblin managed to wound his mistress, is baring his fangs and preparing to strike.
"No, Caine, don't!" She shouts, but it's too late. The tiny dinosaur is already leaping forward, jaws wide open, aiming for the goblin's legs!
Caine's Poison: Bite—injury; save Fort DC 12; frequency 1/round for 4 rounds; effect 1d2 Str; cure 1 save.
After the reckless attack, the brave little dinosaur finally heeds his mistress's call and takes a 5-Foot-Step back to reach her (ending in her square, E9).
Ah! I mainly meant it as a joke, but the little buddy actually managed to tear half a goblin's leg off! He is like a miniature prehistoric bodyguard, best pet ever! xD
Garrokmal
Mounted Goblin
Katarina
Goblins
Hieronymous
Zaf
Mounted Goblins Save:1d20 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
The goblin trapped beneath the dead dog stops trying to push the mount off himself and lolls over to one side snoring.
Caine lashes out at the goblin that attacked Katarina taking a large bite out of its leg. The goblin snarls as it comes back at the little dinosaur with his dogslicer.
The goblin's sword scrapes the ground as Caine dodges behind his mistress.
The goblin attacking Garrok looks over to see his comrade napping and looks at him surprised then growls in annoyance and kicks him in the head with a goblin boot.
Goblin1 takes a 5 foot step forward and attacks Caine, Goblin3 takes a 5 foot step and uses a standard action to wake his lazy companion. Hieronymous up
Assuming bonuses for flanking, size, hatred, song for the attack, then hatred and song for the damage. Also, so sorry it took so long. I'd like to blame the tryptophan, but I cannot.
HP 11/11, AC 13 Base +2 Rosew Ar +1 Buck, Init +2, Str 10, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 16, Bank 27G 8S 5C
As long as Zaf keeps singing (and he is) - it's a free action once it gets started. He has a limited number of rounds per day, so the sooner we dispatch the goblins, the better. :D @Riatin apologies I wasn't more specific about how long Zaf would sing, but we can assume to the end of this combat.
Zaf moves in behind the goblin attacking Hieronymous and tries to stab him in the spine, but the goblin sees the blade coming at the last second and twists out of the way.
Garrok swings his massive sword cutting down the goblin near him then buries his blade in the chest of the goblin still trying to wiggle his way out from under the goblin dog.
Katarina steps back and whips a bullet from her borrowed sling at the remaining goblin. The heavy projectile bounces from the goblins skull producing a visible knot and rattling the little whelp. Before it can recover Caine charges in for a fatal lunge to the goblin's throat.
As soon as the goblin hits the ground, Aldern Foxglove, (the noble hiding in the woodpile) rushes forward to check on his dog. Seeing that the dog is obviously dead he scoops up the fallen canine and approaches the group.
"I thank you, heroes for driving off these foul vermin. If only I had your skill, bravery, and (giving Katarina a bow) beauty. I am off to see to my noble companion, but come see me later at the Rusty Dragon, I'll be staying there for the next few days." With that he disappears down the street.
In Sandpoint the sounds of fighting have ceased and the black smoke that rose into the sky has lessened to a few individual streams. It seems the battle has ended, but with it has gone the celebratory atmosphere and the cheer the day started with. Now the townspeople gather their dead and injured and retreat to their homes.
HP 39/39, AC 18, Init+6 Str17 Dex14 Con14 Int12 Wis11 Cha10 Bank 755gp3sp6cp, DailyRage 10/16 rds left
"Again, I say well fought, my good companions!" Garrokmal says, grinning wide as he runs his bracer down the side of his sword, causing a torrent of black blood to run off its end.
He shrinks - literally and figuratively - as the rage passes and the effects of the witch's spell wear off. "I must admit, I am truly spent after all that. If we hadn't had the good fortune to come together as we did, we may each be lying dead in a separate ditch somewhere in town. If you have the energy, Hieronymous, this bite is not yet completely healed. I thank you for your help earlier, as well."
He pulls the prize token from his belt pouch and gives it a flip from his oversized thumb. "This festival has not gone as I had planned, but I may still fill my tankard after all. I plan to rest with a beer at the Rusty Dragon, listen to what stories unfold there, and wait for master Foxglove's arrival. If you would join me, I would feel better facing whatever follows with you at my side."
Init +6 | AC 12, t 12, ff 10 | 16 / 16 hp | Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +2 | Perception +3
While Aldern Foxglove offers them his thanks and her companions seems to relax and talk to each other, Katarina remains frozen in place, her eyes fixed on the dead goblins now scattered around the place.
'...Why? Why did this happen? How many died? And the wounded... It never... I couldn't... I could've been killed... That little monster a-and its blade...' - Her left hand absentmindedly reaches for her wound and presses on it - 'This doesn't make sense! W-What if... It's not...'
Katarina's hectic train of thought is suddenly interrupted when she feels a gentle poking on her leg. Alarmed by the dark emotions flowing trough their shared emphatic link, Caine looks up at her mistress, emitting brief, sharp whines.
"O-Oh? Hey, hey! It's nothing, it's nothing, I'm sorry!" Katarina whispers, kneeling down and hugging the little dinosaur to her chest, a few tears in her eyes. "It's gone now. I'm fine, I promise!" - She embraces him tightly for a few moments more, before finally releasing him and giving him a gentle pat on the head - "But thank you..." - She murmurs, then she stands up and composes herself.
When she hears Garrok talk about going to the Rusty Dragon, she suddenly brightens up, and chimes in - "Oh yes lets go! I must check and see if Ameiko is alright! And I wouldn't mind something to eat too..."
As soon as the group leaves for the Dragon, Katarina gladly follows them.
Sorry if the post was a bit long and sentimental, but it was the first time the young girl risked her life and saw people die, so it was bound to be sort of a shock! But don't worry, she's all better now and ready to go! ^_^
Also, Katarina has too much on her mind to care right now but... No one is going to loot those goblins? xD
Hieronymous looks from Garrockmal's injury to Katarina's, and says, "Sorry Milady, he is still much the worse for wear, even after my previous heal. I'm glad the goblin didn't do more than graze you! If we don't find someone else to heal you before the morning, I am confident I'll be able to help you out after a good night's sleep."
Once again he puts his hand on Garrockmal, a faint white light passes from his chest, through his arm, and into the half-orc.
Hieronymous casts Cure Light Wounds
Cure Light Wounds:1d8 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8
To everyone he says, "Wow, that was insane, I would most definitely like to drop by the Rusty Dragon, after I check on my friend Gurdan, who is staying here in Sandpoint."
"First though, I think a quick search of the Goblin bodies is on order, perhaps a clue to this insanity or something of value remains to be found."
He begins to search the goblins for anything that seems of interest.
While he is rifling through the goblin's blood smeared clothing, he says to Katarina, "Oh, and by the way Katarina, you may keep the sling, I have another."
HP 39/39, AC 18, Init+6 Str17 Dex14 Con14 Int12 Wis11 Cha10 Bank 755gp3sp6cp, DailyRage 10/16 rds left
"Thank you! That feels much better. Don't worry, pretty young thing - if anything attacks us on the way to the tavern, I'll probably be dumb enough to attack first and think later, heh."
Garrok sees the man start investigating a fallen goblin. Not a bad idea - maybe we'll get something out of this nearly deadly fracas. He checks the dead, as well.
Everything is grimy and muddy and reeks of goblin, but can be cleaned and sold if you want, packing it around might be a bit difficult however.
Each leather armor is 7 lbs, the studded is 10 lbs, and each dogslicer weights 1 lb. So probably not a problem for you guys to pack around, just bulky. All items are also small size, so using the weapons would incur a -2 penalty for any medium size characters.
"Hmmm, nothing interesting, but a few things of value. I say we take it all and sell it, maybe put the gold toward a wand to help heal us. I have a feeling we are going to be working together until we figure out why this attack took place."
Unless of course some of it is useful..." he looks at Zaf. What do you folks think?
As he searches the bodies Hieronymous drags them all over to where the goblin mount died and stacks them up.
HP 39/39, AC 18, Init+6 Str17 Dex14 Con14 Int12 Wis11 Cha10 Bank 755gp3sp6cp, DailyRage 10/16 rds left
"This is goblin trash - I doubt it would serve us at all, but Savah may put the materials to good use, if only to repair the Ogre's Balls!" He chuckles quietly to himself.
"Let's wash the blood off this stuff and see what Savah will give us for the lot. I like the idea of acquiring some magical healing, but until we can afford it, it would be best to divide our gold evenly in case we need supplies and to safeguard against loss."
Garrok starts piling up the armor and weapons to find a creek or fountain to rinse them in.
Sounds like there's ~90 lbs of gear - Garrok can carry all of that at Heavy encumbrance... So pending others' input, he gathers them all up, sluices them in nearby water and heads to Savah's. Is Savah a man or woman? Google is no help.
Savah is the female owner of Savah's Armory and the owner/operator of the Giant's Balls game you all so expertly smashed.
A quick dunk and a little rinse in the sea will get most of the more nasty bits and the smell out of the gear and they would dry on the way to the shop.
I neglected to mention before that all equipment sales values are reduced by 50% so the mwk horsechopper is valued at 310gp (if you bought it) but sells for 155gp. This is mainly for player economy and gearing reasons.
You enter Savah's Armory to see the rugged female owner talking with a few others about the day's events. You can see that they all have scrapes and one man appears to have burned his hand quite badly. Savah herself, has a nasty cut along one forearm.
She hails you as you enter, "Grand job out there lads, the towns abuzz already about how you skewered that group of howling goblins. You've done Sandpoint a great service. That one on the dog, I've heard of them before, hard goblins they are, braver than the rest. But I heard it weren't nothing for you big fella, charged right in and took his head clean off."
She sees the gear you've come to sell. "Spoils of war eh? Let's see what you have."
After looking through the items and testing a few of them for quality, she does some figuring in her head. "Not a bad haul there, I'll give you 285g for the lot, and throw in a discount on top. Anything you buy in my store, I'll give you 20% off from now on, how's that sound?"
Init +6 | AC 12, t 12, ff 10 | 16 / 16 hp | Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +2 | Perception +3
Garrokmal wrote:
"This is goblin trash - I doubt it would serve us at all, but Savah may put the materials to good use, if only to repair the Ogre's Balls!" He chuckles quietly to himself.
"Oh, but... Wait..." - The young girl tries to interject, but stops when she sees Garrok is hard at work collecting all the gear - "Uh, never mind..."
'I'm sure Ameiko would've given us a good price for those things... But perhaps Savah'll have a better use for them... Uh, maybe...'
Without another word Katarina simply follows her newfound companions to the Armory.
I should've shared this before, sorry about that: one of Katarina traits is Favored Daughter [Ameiko Kaijitsu], and every time we sell stuff to her, we can get 10% more gold. Right now it doesn't matter much, but if we were ever to find valuable "junk" we'd like to sell, that 10% could turn up to be quite a bit! ^_^
HP 39/39, AC 18, Init+6 Str17 Dex14 Con14 Int12 Wis11 Cha10 Bank 755gp3sp6cp, DailyRage 10/16 rds left
Ah! Sorry - obviously, I didn't know that before now... Let's totally take Ameiko all our stuff in the future, but this time it'll be nice for the ongoing discount (you might not plan on spending much on armor in the future, but I am! :) ). I'm not meaning to monopolize the dialogue here, but I suppose since Garrok is the one holding all the gear, I'll continue.
"Very well, things have taken a dark turn and I may have need of improved armor before long. Thank you for the discount. Take all this kit and let it never remind anyone of today's attack again!"
Garrokmal accepts the 285 gold and turns back to his companions. Better done in this shop than in the tavern..."Alright, with the 20 that our musical friend found earlier, that makes each of our share 76 gold. The one left over I think should go to Caine for his ferocity in the last fight!
I do wonder what that potion is that you found, master gnome. If anyone knows an arcanist who may be able to identify it, that would be a help. But aside from that, I'm ready for a drink and hopefully to meet Mr. Foxglove. What say you?"
Assuming everyone's cool with this, we should each add 76GP to our coffers - Katarina gets 77 (for dinosaur food). Garrok is ready to go to the Rusty Dragon, but will follow others somewhere else if you have other ideas!
HP 11/11, AC 13 Base +2 Rosew Ar +1 Buck, Init +2, Str 10, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 16, Bank 27G 8S 5C
Accepting the gold from the half-orc, Zafzalurg says,
"Ah, thank you, Master Garrok. And thank you, Lady Savah, for taking that goblin miscellany off our hands with such generous compensation. May you sell it quickly to a young lordling with an impaired sense of smell. As for bottle, I could, in fact, tell you if the contents were magic, but not the specific effect. Perhaps Foxglove could help us find us a wizard who can suss the power within..."
Forgot to add that you would find an unknown potion on the dog rider as well. So you'd have 2 altogether.You can make a Perception check to identify the potions if you wish.
Savah would have most of the common weapons and armors. She wouldn't have anything on the Exotic weapon list, but can probably order it from Magnimar and have it there in a few days. She does have a spiked chain, a dozen masterwork shuriken, and a magic repeating crossbow with the name 'Vasaya' engraved on the ivory stock.
Savah looks replies to Hieronymous' question,"I don't believe there were many, the little wretches mostly killed dogs and caused mayhem and injury starting their fires and slashing people. Father Zantus hasn't stopped running since the attack, giving people his blessings from the gods. It would have been a damn sight worse if you and your friends hadn't been here to help. The town's in your debt."
Feel free to wonder around, just let me know where you plan to go.
Init +6 | AC 12, t 12, ff 10 | 16 / 16 hp | Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +2 | Perception +3
GM Riatin wrote:
Forgot to add that you would find an unknown potion on the dog rider as well. So you'd have 2 altogether.You can make a Perception check to identify the potions if you wish.
"Hey, may I have a look at those, please?" Katarina inquires with curiosity, pointing at the two potions.
Katarina rapidly casts Detect Magic, then tries to identify the potions using her knowledge of the arcane arts.
HP 39/39, AC 18, Init+6 Str17 Dex14 Con14 Int12 Wis11 Cha10 Bank 755gp3sp6cp, DailyRage 10/16 rds left
"Ah - your powers continue to impress! I'm afraid we'll likely find those useful all too soon at this rate." He rubs his arm where the goblin dog bit him.
"What say we have a look at the town a bit on our way to the inn? I'd like to see what damage has been done, and we may yet find somebody in need of assistance."
Garrok is eager to fill his tankard, but interested to see what happened in town. If anyone else has another idea, please share - but Garrok would head west out of Savah's, south down Main street, east on Water street, through the Marketplace and then a little east to the Inn. That would let us see a fair amount of town we haven't been through yet and still get us there. I am curious what might be on River street, though. Anyone else?
@Garrok and anyone who wants to take the same path:
You wander down the same streets that you strolled down this morning, but the cheer has left the town. The town is now muted and silent. As you come upon the town hall you see the Mayor Kendra Deverin trying to console what you assume is a grieving parent.
On the other side of the street sets the town garrison that stands empty at present, all of the guards and the sheriff scattered around the town attempting to get things under control. As you pass a pair of guards escort a goblin, it looks to be the one you tied to the table, into the stone building.
The further you venture down the street, the more the impact of the raid hits as Sandpoint Savories, The Curious Goblin, and Vinder's General store are all closed. The orphans of Turandarok Academy stand at the door and wave, delighted to see the notable 'Goblin Slayers of Sandpoint.'
Likewise, the fishmarket has closed early, but the marketplace still has a few desperate hawkers attempting to make the most of their fair day.You can usually find a good deal on market days The meatmarket looks like its boarded up tight, but you can hear voices raised and other sounds of life emanating from the Rusty Dragon Inn.
Named for the large rusty dragon that doubles as a lightning rod, the place seems a center for both locals and out-of-towners. Tonight, both seem to be drowning their sorrows in pints of ale.
Anxious to see to the condition of your friend, you follow along with your new companions down Main street until they come to the Turandarok Academy. Then you branch off and enter the school that doubles as an orphanage.
Seeing himself as something of an orphan as well, Gurdan decided the rest of his life would be devoted to helping to take care of those who had lost everything to events great or small. After coming to Sandpoint he heard that the headmaster, Ilsoari Gandethus, needed assistance in seeing to the school, so a small room was prepared for him on the second floor.
That's where you find him and the headmaster reliving the glories of their youth. As you mount the stairs you hear,[b]"The people around here are scared, but you know what a real raid is. Did I ever tell you about the time I saw 10,000 orc brutes descend on Castle Firinne?"[b]
Just then you come around the corner to see your friend and the headmaster sitting in a pair of chairs, bent over a game of chess.
Gurdan welcomes you with a big, [b]"Hello! Come sit down, tell us about your run in with the goblins, Hieronymous."[b]
Riatin, no questions at the moment, but having never done PBP, I'll be feeling my way through the mechanics. Excited to get into it, though - to play the game, to experience this cool story (from the bits that I know about it) and to play with old friends. Thanks for getting this together!
And a quick edit: I just went and looked at the recruitment thread - dang, you had a lot of contenders! I had no idea it would be such a scramble for the one spot. @Katrina: GMT +1? What part of Europe, out of curiosity? My wife is going to Vienna this Saturday for a week of business and we've seen our share of the area.
For those unfamiliar with how to post in the thread, typically dialogue is set off with bold text [ b] and [ /b] and out of character comments are set off by [ ooc] and [ /ooc].
HP 11/11, AC 13 Base +2 Rosew Ar +1 Buck, Init +2, Str 10, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 16, Bank 27G 8S 5C
Good morning all!
Zafzalurg Marniklum reporting for adventure. Yes, yes, it's a mouthful. You can just call me Zaf - it rhymes with laugh and couldn't we all use a good one today. Here's one of my favorites...
There once was a goblin from Nisroch
Who liked to play
What's that? Save that one for the road? No problem
I'm ready.
(Thanks ReiToei for the invite and GM Riatin for running the show!)
Oops - I misspelled Katarina's name above... Sorry! =\
Nice start! I'll put together my first bit in a while; this dovetails nicely with Garrok's backstory so it'll probably be more narrative than future entries.
HP 39/39, AC 18, Init+6 Str17 Dex14 Con14 Int12 Wis11 Cha10 Bank 755gp3sp6cp, DailyRage 10/16 rds left
Hope you don't mind if I test adding a statblock - I saw in some other campaigns how it might be handy.
stats:
HP 14
17 GP, 3 SP, 8 CP
Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +4
--------------------
Defense
AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14 (+4 armor, +2 Dex)
Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +0
Defensive Abilities orc ferocity
--------------------
Offense
Speed 30 ft.
Melee heavy shield bash +4 (1d4+3) and
handaxe +4 (1d6+3/x3) and
longsword +4 (1d8+3/19-20)
Ranged longbow +3 (1d8/x3)
Special Attacks rage
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Statistics
Str 17, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 11, Cha 10
Base Atk +1; CMB +4; CMD 16
Feats Improved Initiative
Traits adopted, family ties, scholar of ruins
Skills Acrobatics -1, Climb +0, Heal +1, Intimidate +6, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +3 (+5 to navigate underground), Knowledge (geography) +6, Perception +4, Profession (woodcutter) +1, Survival +0 (+2 to avoid becoming lost when using this); Racial Modifiers +2 Intimidate
Languages Common, Goblin, Orc, Varisian
SQ fast movement
Combat Gear Barbarian chew;
Other Gear Hide armor, Heavy wooden shield, Arrows (20), Handaxe, Longbow, Longsword, Backpack, Bedroll, Belt pouch, Compass, Flint and steel, Grappling hook, Mug/tankard, Rope, Scroll case, Trail rations, Waterskin,
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Special Abilities
Compass +2 circumstance for Survival or Knowledge (Dungeoneering) to avoid becoming lost.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Fast Movement +10 (Ex) +10 feet to speed, unless heavily loaded.
Orc Ferocity (1/day) If brought below 0 Hp, can act as though disabled for 1 rd.
Rage (6 rounds/day) (Ex) +4 Str, +4 Con, +2 to Will saves, -2 to AC when enraged.
You're more than welcome put your stats where ever, I like to track just my HP, Current AC, and spells and abilities used inside the gameplay thread whenever they change.
As for when and what to roll like you were asking in the gameplay thread, most of the time I'll prompt for rolls, but sometimes you can feel free to roll things like diplomacy, bluff, intimidate, appraise, sense motive or things of that nature when dealing with npc's or objects.
So if you were trying to be charming when you step up to an npc you might start off with what you were saying and then give a diplomacy roll.
I messed up and posted as Thunderous in the Gameplay thread, but then I think I changed it, though it still seems to show Thunderous as one of the characters in the campaign, hopefully, I did no major damage!
I saw that you told Rei he could attack the target, does he have to roll for that, and how does one roll dice?
To roll use the dice text format (there's a button under the post window 'How to format your text' that shows all of the useful commands, I forgot to mention it)
So you put something like this [ dice=Attack#1 ] 1d20+3 [ /dice ]
and it comes out looking like this Attack#1:1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4
@Katarina - how do you activate that quick stat button? I've been digging all through the character stuff and can't figure it out. Thanks for the help, apologies for my newbishness.
Italy - great! My wife has been to Rome, Siena and Milan, but I haven't made it there yet. She says we have to go; it was one of her very favorite trips ever and she's seen a lot.
Edit: forgot to ask @Riatin: I've seen in other threads people reacting to their rolls in the post they make them, but wonder how they do that, since you can't see the result of the roll until it's posted. Do they edit after, or is there a way to see the roll first? There has to be a mechanism to prevent gaming the system, right?
Again, sorry for the barrage of questions - once I'm settled in, I'll shut up. :)
Init +6 | AC 12, t 12, ff 10 | 16 / 16 hp | Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +2 | Perception +3
When you create a profile for a character and make a post in a game or discussion thread, under your name should be displayed what you entered in the "Gender" "Race" "Class Levels" slots in the profile.
That's why under Katarina you see "Female Human (Varisian) Witch 1". The "Quick Stats" is simply something I personally like to do. You aren't forced if you don't like to! ^^
But if you do, in the "Class Levels" field, add the information you want in a 'spoiler' (you can see instructions about how to format text when you are making a post, in the "how to format your text" box, just under the space you are writing the post itself.)
You can see the results of a roll if you click 'preview' instead of 'submit post'. Or, if you prefer, you can submit, then click on 'Edit' (on the top right corner of a post, with other commands, like 'flag', 'reply' and so on), but only if less then 1h passed since you first posted it!
Hope this helps! ^_^
Oh! And you absolutely have to come and visit Italy at least once! There is so much to see and to do! :D
Thanks Katarina, I think that covered it pretty well.
Also, I wanted to let everyone know that I put up a map of Sandpoint in the Campaign Info tab. It has all of Sandpoints attractions marked and there's a key there as well. Just in case you wanted to know where you were.
Great, Thanks again, Katarina - I wouldn't have thought to put bbcode in that character profile field. I've put the most immediately useful information there and copied my full character info into his profile.
Now I'm just going to do a quick test to see how the dice work. Don't mind me...
Test attack:1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9 Test damage:1d8 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9
Interesting - seems the dice rolls are generated once for your post and previewing/deleting/editing afterwards doesn't change the results at all. That's pretty cool and good to know!
Hey! Looks like we're back in business... I guess Paizo released a free play test book today and that murdered the servers. Now, on with the perception checks: I need to know what's happening! :o
Init +6 | AC 12, t 12, ff 10 | 16 / 16 hp | Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +2 | Perception +3
Between the forums going down, and problems with my own internet, I'm just gonna grab this tiny window of time and post a quick action in the gameplay thread, so if everything goes down again at least my rolls should be there!
Init +6 | AC 12, t 12, ff 10 | 16 / 16 hp | Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +2 | Perception +3
Hey people!
In my last post in the game thread, Katarina just used one of her powers, the Slumber Hex, which has a few interesting implications I'd like to point out.
Assuming the goblin fails its save (and since the DC is 15 on a Will save, there is a pretty good chance it will *finger crossed*), it'll fall in a magical sleep for 1 round, during which it's considered helpless.
To make it short, this means it takes a –9 malus against melee and –5 against ranged on its AC, so it's VERY easy to hit.
Furthermore, you can perform a Coup de Grace on him, basically a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity, during which you automatically score a critical hit against it.
Sorry about this, I know how it may be boring and/or confusing if you are new to D&D to have people throw a bunch of rules at you, but since this is something Katarina may very well do times again in the future to help out melee characters, I wanted to give you all the relevant information now.
Hoping this helped (and not the other way around), if you have any questions at all please don't hesitate to ask!
GM Riatin wrote:
You guys are doing a great job and this has been a lot of fun so far.
My sentiment exactly! ^_^
EDIT - Aaaand, since I called it, the goblin made its save... Well, uh... It's still a nice tactic! Yep... Works most of the time!... Most being the key word... -.-'
Yeah, I let the 'only a standard action on a surprise round' slide this time around. I wanted to kind of take baby steps into the system and I feel that some rules make the waters a bit muddy when you're just learning the difference between a standard, move, swift, free, and other actions, but after a while it becomes clear enough.
I'm using this as writing practice and thoroughly enjoying it.
Katarina - haha, better luck next time. Fortunately my luck came back and I think we have one serving of goblin sauce in the square :)
But thank you for that information, yeah, it super helpful, though I feel bad about you having to spell stuff out for the newbies... That's the kind of context-sensitive information that I'd never find if i were just browsing the rule book or PRD, so I really appreciate you taking the time to explain.
@Riatin - minor bookkeeping update - when I built Garrokmal, I just used HeroLab's randomize function for his height, which is strangely limited... I just noticed in the proper rule book last night that half-orcs are "6-7 feet" tall, so I'm updating his height to 6'8". Probably won't matter much but it seems more character appropriate, so I'm changing it.
Init +6 | AC 12, t 12, ff 10 | 16 / 16 hp | Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +2 | Perception +3
reitoei wrote:
Katarina - haha, better luck next time. Fortunately my luck came back and I think we have one serving of goblin sauce in the square :)
I can almost picture it - that nasty goblin, all gleeful and smug, just rampaging around, and then suddenly a shadow looms over him, he looks up, and there stands an half-orc barbarian, three times his height, armed to the teeth and with murder in his eyes... Goblin - "Oh, dam-" dead. ;)
reitoei wrote:
But thank you for that information, yeah, it super helpful, though I feel bad about you having to spell stuff out for the newbies... That's the kind of context-sensitive information that I'd never find if i were just browsing the rule book or PRD, so I really appreciate you taking the time to explain.
I thought Garrockmal seemed a little short... but my guy is 5'4" so I shouldn't poke fun.
Got some more reading to do now that we've done a little combat, then some of this stuff will make more sense.
Katarina and Riatin, please feel free to keep explaining stuff if you have the inclination, throw the whole rulebook at us if you want. We can always choose not to read it if it's a bit much, but I find it all fascinating.
I have about an 11 hour window where I am going to or from work and no smart phone, but it seems to be working out well so far just checking before and after work. Maybe it's time I stepped into the 21st century an got a data plan...
This is more fun than I have had in a game for a while, the gameplay posts are especially fun to read.
Katarina and Riatin, please feel free to keep explaining stuff if you have the inclination, throw the whole rulebook at us if you want.
Just as an FYI what I keep doing is when someone uses something that looks like a keyword, I just search it on paizo.com/prd - that's how I knew in a Surprise round, I could move or attack, but not both. Kata keeps linking to d20pfsrd.com and I intend to try using that more - a little more whitespace helps legibility and the information looks pretty much identical.
I'm having fun, too! Beats wiping on Majordomo Executus all night. :D
Just to elaborate more on the surprise round since it's come up and cause I'm bored at work and want to spout rules and because this will no doubt be useful to Rei and Thunder in the future. Most of you are probably aware of my wordiness.
There's a specific action called a charge that you'll probably want to look at (it's sort of the barbarian/melee wheelhouse). A normal charge allows you to basically do just that, run at someone and attack them at the end of your movement, it provides a +2 to the attack, allows you to move up to double your move, and roll an attack. There is a -2 penalty to your AC though, and you must 'charge' at least 10 feet, so it's not perfect. In most normal combat this is a full round action. Charge
In the surprise round you can do a variation on the charge called a partial charge, this has the same rules and restrictions, but you can only move up to your movement distance. Many melee characters opt for this action during a surprise round as opposed to simply moving.
Hahaha - Sorry! I shouldn't have gone there (we're old friends from World of Warcraft for those that don't know, and yes, it's been a LONG time since MC) - I didn't mean to distract by mentioning it. Now that it's out there, though: I watched some BlizzCon video about the next expansion and it looks good enough that I might play. You never know. :)
But I'd still totally do this as well, because I'm having a good time and Riatin is doing a great job and I'm enjoying playing with friends new and old. I'll be trying out that Charge action on my next go - hope I don't mess it up. Thanks for the protips!
Init +6 | AC 12, t 12, ff 10 | 16 / 16 hp | Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +2 | Perception +3
GM Riatin:
This new fight with the four goblins would be perfect for casting "Enlarge Person" on someone and watch the sweet, sweet AoOs start flowing, but this opens a pretty big can of worms (Space, Reach, AoOs, etc...), and I don't know if you want to introduce those concepts in the game yet...
Sooo, I'm looking for advice! Forget about it or introduce them now? ^^
Go ahead, and I think I can explain it in subtext as things progress, shouldn't be too much of a problem as these guys catch on to things very quickly.
Gonna be at work for the next 11 or so hours, so Riatin feel free to act for me after Katarina acts. I am pretty sure the only thing I am likely to do is charge any goblin she doesn't cast a spell on. Will be fun to see what happens.
Init +6 | AC 12, t 12, ff 10 | 16 / 16 hp | Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +2 | Perception +3
GM Riatin wrote:
Go ahead, and I think I can explain it in subtext as things progress, shouldn't be too much of a problem as these guys catch on to things very quickly.
Ok, will do! But just to make your burden lighter, I'll leave a quick post here to explain a few things myself.
Here we go again guys! Since Katarina is going to use a particular spell with interesting implications, I'll elaborate a bit below.
Enlarge Person is a first level spell that many classes can cast.
At its core, it does the following:
Doubles target height and multiplies its weight by 8 (so a Medium target becomes Large)
Target gets +1 on damage rolls with melee weapons, but -1 to attack rolls with ranged weapons.
Target's weapon gets enlarged, and does more damage (for instance 1d8 becomes 2d6).
Target gets -2 penalty on AC.
Seems pretty lackluster right? Here's when this becomes interesting: when a Medium creature becomes Large, it changes its Space, Reach and Threatened Area.
If you imagine the battlefield as a chessboard, then a Medium creature occupies 1 square and with a 'normal' melee weapon (like a longsword), he can attack the bordering 8 squares.
But a Large creature (check Large(Tall) in the link above), occupies 4 squares and can attack targets adjacent (5 ft. away, the 8 squares mentioned above) or 10 ft. away.
Couple this with how Attacks of Opportunity work (mainly, you get a free attack against a creature that EXITS one of the squares you threaten), and what happens?
A medium creature (or smaller) that tries to engage a large one in melee with a non-reach weapon, will provoke an AoO (Attack of Opportunity) before getting close enough to actually strike.
Granted, without Combat Reflexes (a talent many players take for characters they know will spend a lot of time in melee), you can only do ONE AoO a turn, but still at lower levels you just doubled your number of attacks, which isn't bad at all! ;)
There are actually a few other things that get changed when Enlarge Person is used (Intimidate, Sunder, Combat Maneuvers, etc...), but if I can give my advice do NOT Look them up now, or this may get confusing fast!
If my explanation was terrible, I'll make it up to you and post an example of theoretical fight to clear things up, and of course if you have questions ask away!
Not terrible at all - I get it, and the d20pfsrd page has all the information I need. (I was hoping Hero Lab would let me just check a box for the condition, but that's not one that's covered, boo.)
I'll just be a little more descriptive about my math when I make rolls to be sure it's all correct. Seems like the three main stats you mentioned above are the only ones that will factor in at the moment.
Rei, in Hero lab, if you go into the Adjustments Tab and then add a new spell adjustment, you can select Enlarge Person and it will do all the math and such for you.
So I thought a good use of this space would be to go over a rule every other day or so, not only to kind of detail them for you but to help me review them as we go.
Today I'll pick flanking because its an important tactical ability. Flanking is when two allies take up opposing sides of an enemy, thereby making it divide its attention between its attackers. Flanking is by and large a melee only ability and provides a +2 flanking bonus to attacks for both 'flankers.' In the case of a character that can do sneak attack damage (rogue, bard, ninja), flanking also allows the most reliable method to deliver that sneak attack damage. Zaf will eventually get sneak attack as a bard ability, but its good tactical knowledge for everyone and a valuable bonus.
The diagrams on Flanking on the two PRD sites were helpful for understanding that.
Re: Garrok's shield - he has been using it; I've mentioned it a couple times. It's a Heavy Wooden Shield and I don't see anything in the item data or Hero Lab (where it has been marked as equipped all along) about an attack penalty. If it's in there, it should be accounted for - so far I've managed to reconcile all effects with the net bonus numbers shown in Hero Lab.
But you're right with my net AC this round being 14 (according to what I'm showing), so I don't think it makes a difference at the moment.
Re: Garrok's shield - he has been using it; I've mentioned it a couple times. It's a Heavy Wooden Shield and I don't see anything in the item data or Hero Lab (where it has been marked as equipped all along) about an attack penalty. If it's in there, it should be accounted for - so far I've managed to reconcile all effects with the net bonus numbers shown in Hero Lab.
That was directed at thunder, I changed the post to be more clear.
A shield provides a static +2 shield bonus but means that the arm using it can't be used for any other actions like wielding a weapon or using a two handed weapon. A buckler provides a +1 shield bonus if you are not wielding a weapon with the hand its on, however you can choose not to use it (though still attached to your arm) and wield a weapon with that hand, but you take a -1 attack penalty with any attack involving that hand. It's a bit more versatile than an actual shield, but with less protection and a slight drawback.
Yep. you were correct, not using my buckler. I figure I will switch to mace and buckler if I feel more threatened... like maybe right now having lost more than half my hit points!
Since I lost some HP, I finally got around to making that stat block.
My questions, can I switch to Mace/Buckler as a move action and then still attack next round?
Can I still use the arm that was slashed by the goblin (I assume I can, but you never know)?
Dropping a weapon is a free action. Sheathing a weapon is a move action that provokes an attack of opportunity. (Most people drop their weapons in combat)
Drawing a weapon is a move action that provokes an attack of opportunity.
Donning a shield is a move action that provokes an attack of opportunity.
So switching weapons is risky in combat, drawing a shield is also risky in combat, and doing it all will take quite a bit of time.
Dropping the spear, and using a move action to draw the shield, then another move action to draw the mace is do able in one round though.
A couple other defensive options are to fight defensively which gives you a -4 penalty to attacking, but gains you a +2 AC bonus. You can also go on total defense which gives you a +4 AC but doesn't allow you to attack.
And there are other more complicated options later, but none of those apply at the moment.
Any mechanical penalties I will try to put in blue text, like the goblin falling prone. That was more just a dramatic flare thing to make the fight more interesting. Fumbles on a 1 attack roll are fun from time to time, but I use them sparingly. (there's a fun fumbles and criticals deck we use for our table games, but that would be a lot of extra rolling for everyone and I'm trying to keep it streamlined.) Your arm is fine, just spicing it up with some flavor text.
Question about effect timing: Katarina's Slumber Hex lasts 1 round/level, so 1 round. When exactly does it wake up - is it considered awake after Kat's next initiative pass, or does it not wake up until its initiative?
I'm mostly wondering if Garrok can deliver a coup de grace on him or not.
Init +6 | AC 12, t 12, ff 10 | 16 / 16 hp | Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +2 | Perception +3
Effects that last a certain number of rounds end just before the same initiative count that they began on.
So unfortunately the goblin awakens just before Katarina acts again, and it can't be Coup de Grace-ed this time... On the bright side, even if it miraculously survives Garrokmal's next attack (provided he does attack it, and he doesn't move from his spot), as soon as the goblin tries to move, BAM! Garrokmal's gets an AoO because the little monster did just exit from a square he threatens. ^_^
That's in line with what I thought (but not what I hoped, haha) - thanks for the clarification. I saw that you can't Slumber Hex the same target twice in a single day, so I figured you'd be getting away from him, anyway.
At the top of the page, above the tabs for Campaign Info, Gameplay, etc there's a link called Current Map. I'll be changing that regularly to reflect what each battle looks like on the current round, or if you're in a city or dungeon what that map looks like. So get used to checking there. :)
