GM ShadowLord's Rise of the Runelords Campaign (Inactive)

Game Master GM ShadowLord

Kinda figured :3

Sorry about the delay... been meaning to post just have been busy. Should have a post up later today.

So have we reached a consensus? Is Delendir relenting?

Delendir is listening for the plan going forward and he will adhere to the group's alternative. As his plans were put down I was hoping someone else would take the responsibility of conducting the action of this scene.

If no actions are build up further, I will try to figure out a way to push the action forward with Delendir somehow, even if it means he has to force his own way or go on alone. I prefer to act disturbingly than to see the thread dead.

Alright, enough dallying! Let's go this show on the road folks!!!

Just to make sure I have this correct, Delendir is setting some traps and the plan is that you want to evacuate people down underneath the Glassworks. Is that correct? Can someone synopsisize what each of you are doing and what you want to do with the town and I'll get the ball rolling.

As far as Jessica goes she is organizning to get the towns children down into the tunnels with adults to take care of them and whatever supplies she can gather for them. This will include Hope and the twins. When down there she will take the 15 minutes to prepare Wall of Stone and use it to plug up the entrance to the Catacombs of Wrath to keep the children out of it and safe from whatever might be inside of them still.

Krysta is going out with Delendir to set up traps. She'll burrow underground to try and create weak places where the giants might break through in the ground to try and trip and slow them down. Afterwards she will do what she can during the fighting as an NPC under your control but would likely focus on air support or ambushes from underground. Or guard the children as needed.

Vivi spend a few moments trying to find Ameiko. After doing so (or if he runs out of time) he will head to the main defense point and either use his sling to aid in ranged defense or switch to his chained double kama if they get close enough, given that has reach.

I'll get a post up later today. It's my son's 11th birthday so might be awhile

Happy birthday to him! And happy All Hallows Eve (AKA Halloween) to everyone as well. Will be taking my 3 year old trick or treating tonight while the wife hands out candy with the baby boy.

Happy birthday to him!

Hope y’all have fun today ^w^

I have no idea why we are stuck here.

I guess I keep feel like I'm waiting for information from you guys and so I don't post anything whenever I check in. If you're waiting on me, I apologize.

I will just move us along and start the battle in the hopes that kick-starts things.

Sorry I think we were waiting on me, and with my son's birthday and an unexpected rodent problem, the weekend got away from me.

Invading capybara army?

Honestly, what are we supposed to be doing?

I'm confused. Do you mean in general? The town is under attack by giants who are outside of Sandpoint. Currently they are coming from the north where everyone was prior to this round and Delendir is remaining. They are also coming from the east at Tanner's Bridge.

But I need to bring it up again because we've been dragging something fierce lately. Does everyone still wish to continue with this game? The energy seems to be extremely low and dragging.

Well we spent a month real time arguing on how to handle a siege which none of us knew how to do, we're stab happy adventures not defenders and siege specialists, which ended up being pointless as the giants attacked the next day in-game.

Now we're up against giants using siege tactics with really no way to engage or counter them aside from Delendir.

And then the other side of town got attacked and there's no way for any of us save for maybe Vive and Krystal to get there in combat rounds.

If there's something we're missing please tell us, I haven't been posting because there's nothing to post to that Sunday can interact with.

Giants way off in the distance throw boulders.... what is Sunday supposed to do?

Alright. I struggled writing this post as I'm trying to figure out what to say. As the GM it's supposed to be my job to resolve everything, but I'm just another guy trying his best so I don't have all the answers.

I hear you are frustrated, let's work through this.

I'm not trying to sabotage this or make it difficult for you, the book describes the events as happening this quickly and this fashion. You aren't supposed to be able to easily thwart the siege before it even starts, though I suppose it's possible to be done.

Now you're in a place where the odds aren't looking so good and you may not have fantastic odds on stopping everything from happening. From my perspective, we were stuck and I was waiting for a definitive path. I don't like railroading you guys and pulling you along on decisions you haven't made yet. I hate doing that because if I guess wrong and players come back and say that shouldn't have happened, well that makes me sad.

I'm not sure if I'm failing you as a GM or the interest has just waned enough that this isn't everyones first second or third game check of the day. As I said earlier, I don't have any answers and I'm not laying blame anywhere, just talking.

It is definitely a difficult situation. Without flight, an attack in multiple directions means I either burn off my highest spell slots on teleport multiple times or at some point, we write something off. And yeah, them picking ranged combat leaves us pretty much useless until they close.

I'm actually useless until they're within 60ft, most effects/spells within 30ft. We're pretty much prepared/equipped for a ground assault, and dealing with a bombing instead.

I mean I guess we have to prepare ourselves for this being one of those "can't save everybody, scenarios and pick where to fight, where to write off.

But at this point, inaction is due to not having much that we can do.

*nods*

How many rounds would it take us to get to the other attacks?

Since the ones we're fighting now are just gonna keep throwing rocks at us and we can't do anything to them, but if it takes too long to get to the others it might not mean anything.

I guess the question is, are we even supposed to be able to stop the siege at all? Or is it a "you lose, try to survive" type of deal?

Great discussion open Sunday, thanks a lot for that.

No Shadowlord, I think you are a good GM, it is only that GMing is tough and there are chapters more conventional to run than others.

Honestly I was kindly forced to start GMing this AP for my local group a couple of years ago, and I have so far borrowed from you many great ideas and moments you made here for us. We only reached the siege of Sandpoint this summer and it was one of the most, if not the most, difficult scenarios to GM for me ever. Seriously. I was only grateful when we made it through and my mind could come back to conventional play mode.

Let me try to help here.

No, we are not supposed to safe everyone here. An army of giants is assaulting poor Sandpoint. But provided we play strategically well together, it is possible for us to partially thwart the giants goals, or if lucky, completely repel the attack.

As about railroading, I agree it is not nice when the GM forces you in a single direction. But I think it is even worse when you are given the impression that you can chose when in fact there is only an option forward. If the adventure calls for only a single way to resolve a situation, I believe it is the GM responsibility to either create new content for the players or to stop early the thought that a particular other way of action is viable (I tend to chose the later as the workload of the first does not match my current free time). In addition I have come to think also that a higher degree of railroading works better on PbP were inter-party discussion is more difficult.

But... what I have learnt only recently from another great GM in the boards whom has successfully completed a couple campaigns in PbP (GMEuan), is that when a situation seems confusing, difficult to grasp to the players, or when a couple of days pass in quietness, it is better to plainly explain out of character what are the options the adventure offers to resolve the current situation. If offered between A or B or C the group is usually able to make a quick call and move along to a more clear situation where players can recover the drive forward. It is just not all sections of the adventure are exactly well written or match properly the decision capabilities of the group.

Now, about our situation here specifically, I would recommend to share with the players the basic premises of how this whole scene works, as it does not fit well on usual expectations of explore a dungeon or investigate a mystery. Also, in the case of my local game, it helped us to setup a grid map of Sandpoint, so they could more easily grasp the situation and helped me to know what were they doing each round and how many rounds were taking them to run from one location to another.

Again, this has been one of the most difficult ever scenes for me to GM, and sorry if I put my feet where I should not.

I had intended to get a response up but ran out of time yesterday/this morning. I plan to when I can today, probably not until after work. I know this is going to be an ugly fight and them attacking from other directions is an unexpected twist. It might be wise to try and focus on pushing them back off of the bridge and destroying both bridges so we can focus on the north wall. Yes that means they are probably coming through there but better that than having them come through all three gates.

I agree. Limiting their points of entry might be the best move even if it means letting them get in through the wall.

To Sunday's question, no, you are not meant to repel the attack from occurring. So if I led you to believe that was possible and you feel like you've failed, I apologize.

You've all been with me long enough to see that while I enjoy the story and roleplaying, I'm weaker on mechanics and structure. I tend to get carried away sometimes which I can see could lead you to believe there is something where there is nothing. Please stop me and post questions or clarifications in discussion threads as needed, like your did Sunday.

Thank you for your words Delendir, I appreciate the insight. I am not one of those GM's that likes to "do it his way" only. I want to make the game fun for all, that's why we're here. IF you want changes, please reach out and talk to me either here. If you are not seeing me post then I'm probably stuck in that state where I don't know what to do or feel like I'm waiting on you, please tag me here and help push me.

But back to the situation at hand. This battle is probably going to be a b@@@@ to run because it's so much everywhere, but we'll get through it. I'm foregoing traditional init and will be doing block inits of monsters and you.

This attack is going to go off and you're trying to mitigate as much damage as you can, but damage will be done. Moving villagers underground was smart and will help reduce the number of causalities that will occur in the attack. It's going to get much worse before it gets better, so just do your best and work with what you have at your disposal.

I'll throw up a map later today after I get home to help run this better.

I had trouble making a map. This town is *huge* and we'd need like 20 maps to cover the town in a traditional 5' square. Soooooo, here's what I like to do instead.

Each square will represent 30'. I will use the map to track general battle progress with groups of enemies, but is not going to be a direct tactical map. If the enemies are in your range, you can attack. We'll run it partially by narrative and theater of the mind if you're okay with that.

Thoughts?

Sounds good so far.

Works for me. I pretty much just need to know if a target is in hex range. Line of effect doesn't matter.

not sure what to do with my round yet, and real life just threw me a curve ball. will post soonish i hope.

People, we seriously need to talk about not bringing ranged ammo to a city defense :)

Well, you could just let them all inside and melee! I assume that's the plan now? lol.

We aren't really ranged characters.

Nope. We're close range.

Delendir, being an archer, is an outlier and should not be counted.

It's interesting how much I feel that rephrased still matches: Delendir, being an outlier, is an archer and should not be counted.

If they keep throwing boulders, I fear you will have to chose between crossing the bridge into open space or wielding a low damage crossbow.

Because in this scenario time is paramount. The more time we lose, the more ugly it will get.

(My post was a joke, in case it didn’t come through that way)

Hi there! That means you all delay and we are all waiting for Shadowlord to wrap up the round, isn't it?

I believe so.

Pretty much

I actually have a question regarding that. Did anyone let Vivi know the bridge was trapped? I ask because he was out cold during most of the planning phase and I don't remember it being brought up during our 'pre-invasion' meeting in the morning.

If he doesn't know he might just charge, especially given he just took a boulder to the chest.

It is a game, we don't play it real time, there are a lot of conversations and actions that get abstracted and never done explicitly.

Thus, I believe it is your choice as a player, it is well plausible that at some point Delendir told Vivi he was working on trapping the bridges, or that he planned to do. Still, you might prefer Vivi was just out of all the planning or that he forgot, then run and "might" eat the trap.

Actually I am regretting so much I chose the trapper archetype, in exchange of all ranger spellcasting capabilities, Delendir has never been able to use its signature ability, and for once that I have the opportunity to make real use of it, it results on halting the game for more than a week, *sic*

I actually was waiting on Yavenee and Vivi still to post their actions. I would prefer you guys actually post what is you are going to do rather than leave it to me to infer or guess because more than once I've made an assumption about actions only to have the players get upset when it didn't work out for them.

I'd like to raise a topic of conversation on the raid of Sandpoint. It seems everyone is struggling with this attack, so would you prefer we condensed it down somewhat and I make a few rolls and narrate the outcome or would you rather roll through this round by round? I'm fine either way, but I'd rather skip through this if this isn't something you guys are going to find enjoyable.

I'd like to give it a few rounds myself and see how it goes then re-consider if necessary.

I mean I guess we can go through a few rounds and see what develops. You know what the party's weak and strong points are. our biggest deficit is range. If the plan is to have them carpet bomb us with boulders, I doubt the result will be fun for anyone, since we really don't have a decent response other than, rush ut to face them and get killed.

No one....other than Vivi apparently, is in a hurry to do that. If at some point their tactics progress we'll respond appropriately. You know what they're going to do and what the attack plan is so your call.

A valid point about the range Yavenee.

Yeah, this is going to hurt. Decided to play it like he didn't know the traps were there. But yeah, he needs to get to closer range if he is going to be effective... slings don't have a great range, and even when in range their damage output isn't great.

Ok I did some searching and can't find the particulars on the traps. Delendir, can you please clarify for me? I see multiple traps listed in your profile but can't figure out which you set on the bridges?

Sorry about that, the rules are in the ranger trapper archetype.

Rangers are legendary for their ability to hunt down and capture their prey. Some rangers can create elaborate traps out of scraps, vines, and perhaps a little bit of specialized magic. Characters can learn how to set these traps by taking the Learn Ranger Trap feat or by having the trapper ranger archetype.

Setting a trap is a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity. A trap fills a single 5-foot square, and cannot be placed in the same area as another ranger trap or a magical trap such as a glyph of warding. The ranger only needs simple materials to create the trap, such as a piece of cloth, a small amount of metal (such as a dagger, iron spike, or a few nails), a foot of rope or vine, and so on. The DCs for Perception checks to notice the trap, Disable Device checks to disable it, and for saving throws to avoid it are equal to 10 + 1/2 the character's level + the character's Wisdom bonus. All ranger traps are Trigger: location, and Reset: none.

Ranger traps are either extraordinary or supernatural; extraordinary traps are Type: mechanical, and supernatural traps are Type: magic. Some of the traps listed below may be set as extraordinary traps or as magical (supernatural) traps; learning such a trap lets a ranger set it either way. An extraordinary trap has a –2 penalty to its DC. An extraordinary trap lasts 1 day per ranger level or until it is triggered, whichever comes first. A magical trap lasts only 1 hour per level or until triggered, whichever comes first. A trap's DC decreases by 1 for each full day (or hour, for a magical trap) that passes after it is set. Traps marked with an asterisk (*) add to or modify the effects of another trap; a ranger can add one of these trap types to any standard ranger trap (this costs 1 additional use of the trap ability).

Delendir set a supernatural Sleet Trap (DC 15).

The detonating trap creates a 20-foot-radius burst of sleet with the effects of a sleet storm. The driving sleet lasts for 1 round, but the icy ground persists for 1 round per ranger level.

I was trying to delay any potential attacker, but given we are already waiting, it probably has no real impact.

Some time ago I set some red dots in the map and PMed the GM to let him know about those locations.

I don't know, it might actually. Since Krysta is taking out the other bridge right now it might keep them in place long enough for her to get back and drop this one out from under the giants while they are on it.

Ah, a PM. That was where I didn't look. Thank's Delendir! Looks like there is no damage and it would only move to slow Vivi down, which is good.

Not sure that Vivi can be resurrected. Granted the curse he has on his chest (side note: it granted a power I never got to show off, sad to say) is in its infant stages, but it might be enough that it would actively prevent attempts to bring his soul back to his body. Not sure how Shadow will want to play that, but it might be easier if I start working on a new character. Perhaps one with some ability to hit further than 10 feet away?

Are Vivi and Daud delaying?