Happy Thanksgiving if you're here in the US like me, and Happy Thursday if you're anywhere else in the world!
Hope you have a Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat!
Urgh.
Still not done. Not ducking it or trying to delay...just the timing with the Thanksgiving holiday is really screwing me up.
I have the crunch figured out, mostly since PF2 is new to me, but if you guys want to move along without me, I'll understand.
I have finished buying equipment. So I think everything is ready to go. Does my Oracular vision work or should I reconsider how I run into the group?
Urgh.
Still not done. Not ducking it or trying to delay...just the timing with the Thanksgiving holiday is really screwing me up.I have the crunch figured out, mostly since PF2 is new to me, but if you guys want to move along without me, I'll understand.
What help do you need, Khalth? I can probably help a lot.
I have finished buying equipment. So I think everything is ready to go. Does my Oracular vision work or should I reconsider how I run into the group?
Nope. That's fine. This is a pure dungeon delve, so story elements don't need a great deal of depth. :-)
If you're otherwise ready to go, please create your header to look like those of the current players.
Khalth, what's your status?
Khalth is out. Marcel, please proceed to the Gameplay tab.
Let's hit the gas!
Yey, timeskip!
On that note, how much resupplying DO we gotta do? If I'm remembering correctly it wasn't so much that our resources got drained as we had a string of bad luck that we couldn't recover from quickly enough.
Potions seem like a prudent plan. You have no cleric and your paladin is usually either fighting or dying with little in-combat time for healing.
You're suggesting more potions for the others as me being the tank of the group means I will usually not have opportunities to rummage in my pack for potions mid-combat? I know not drinking potions when I've had them has been a problem with me before (it's LITERALLY why I died).
Marcel has healing. Its not what I plan to do most of the time, but I am a team player. I also bought some potions.
I've also got plenty of healing (including potions).
You're suggesting more potions for the others as me being the tank of the group means I will usually not have opportunities to rummage in my pack for potions mid-combat? I know not drinking potions when I've had them has been a problem with me before (it's LITERALLY why I died).
I'm not actually suggesting anything systemic. Potions are a good back-up plan when the main healer is your tank and he's busy tanking or when you get separated from the main healer or for when the bad guys are about to swarm you and you have a second to get ready. They're a Plan B.
In that case, do we even NEED more potions? The biggest problem in that fight, as far as I could tell was just unlucky dice rolls on our part and REALLY lucky ones on the part of the baddies?
If you are not carrying any then you may want to. Otherwise I am ready to go. There are also potions that buff you. Some of those may be worth looking at if you have not.
Hey, gang. I’m sick and so is my whole family. My head is fuzzy and I’m going to be away for a few days until I can think again.
If I’m the GM of this game, I’ll be back as soon as possible. If I’m a player, please bot me until I get back.
If you are not carrying any then you may want to. Otherwise I am ready to go. There are also potions that buff you. Some of those may be worth looking at if you have not.
I got 2 Minors and 4 Lessers right now.
Hey, gang. I’m sick and so is my whole family. My head is fuzzy and I’m going to be away for a few days until I can think again.
If I’m the GM of this game, I’ll be back as soon as possible. If I’m a player, please bot me until I get back.
I know THAT feeling (had COVID last week). Get well soon!
Take care Tarondor!
Juuuuuust my luck. I couldn't afford an extra potion anyway. Only 3 GP left...
Yeah, Lilika has just enough to pick up two shields. But, she's prepped and ready to go.
Take it easy, Tarondor! No rush.
It’s been a full week, so I want to check in and report that I have pneumonia. My recovery has been decently effective, thanks to heavy doses of...whatever it is they’re giving me. But I’m still quite tired. I’ll be trying to post in some games no later than tomorrow.
Rest and recovery, GM! Rest and recovery. My brother's girlfriend has come all the way from Ireland to spend the holidays with us, and she's come down with COVID, just after our own household's recovered from it, so we can relate.
That sucks, but I am glad to hear the medicine is working. I hope you can get some rest and feel better!
Had some "fun" this week: the winter storm that's rocked the country for the past couple of days made me decide to go to work ON MY DAY OFF and spend the night. I'm lucky I work at a hotel, AND that said hotel is attached to the biggest Mall in the country. I ended up spending last night there too, but at least my holiday shopping's done, AND also I got to binge-watch Dragon Age: Absolution!
A Merry Crystalhue to all who celebrate it, and a great weekend to everyone else! This song...just gets more meaningful to me every year...
Folks, my recovery from pneumonia took longer than I thought it would. Turns out I’m still alive. I’m still fairly weak but I’m going to get to this game today. Sorry it took so long.
I am glad your feeling at least a little better. Hopefully, your recovery starts to pick up.
Hello, I will be on vacation from now through Jan 8th. I will have access to the internet, but I am not sure how much I will be able to post. Bot me as needed. Happy New Years!
May be a slight delay in posting. Stuck at the hotel because of another blizzard.
Oh, gosh, rough few weeks for everyone. Take care of yourselves.
Sorry for my delay, but I'm back and catching up now.
Okay. You have only three PCs and that's going to make the rest of this adventure very difficult. I have a few options:
1) Stop everything again and go recruiting. I don't like this option.
2) Dumb everything down by weakening challenges. I don't like this option, but can live with it short term.
3) Keep going, with one of you playing two characters (probably playing Jharun, -maybe- Frizz). In the meantime, we look for a new player.
4) Keep going, with me playing an NPC. In the meantime, we look for a new player.
Of these, 2,3 and 4 are workable short term. 3 and 4 are probably less work for the harried GM. 3 is obviously the least work for the GM.
Please comment. In the meantime, I'm going to look for a new player. A-gain.
I can handle two characters if you want. Making your life easier makes more sense.
Thank you, Malinor. Jharun's character is on the Characters tab. Please play him as needed.
Sounds good.
Alrighty! Fingers crossed.
I will be traveling from 1/26 through 1/29. I should have good access to the internet and be ble to post in the evenings. But feel free to bot as needed.
=)
Does anyone have a quick summary of where the party is and what their goal is right now? I've only played like the first two floors of the spire.
You're on Level 7, the name of which you don't yet know, though you know it's dominated by a serpent-person cult of a new demon lord called Kro'akoth. Evidently, the serpent-people of this level were warring with a different cult of serpent-people from further down in the depths who may or may not worship the god Ydersius.
You've discovered that the general perception of the Emerald Spire - that it is an Azlanti artifact - is wrong. It's something much, much older, but that's all you can say for certain at this time. You know a teensy bit of its history, though it's all jumbled together.
Once, long ago, a rebel Azlanti prince named Nhur-Athamon settled here to investigate the Emerald Spire. He built a magical castle of green glass on the surface. Most people think -that's- the Emerald Spire, but the actual spire is made of impenetrable glassy material that extends deep into the earth, widening as you go down. It is possible to travel magically between levels if you possess a Spire Token (you have two) and the correct glyph for the level you want to travel to.
Anyway, Nhur-Athamon was routed by Azlanti forces long ago.
Some time later, other interests made the Spire their home. One of these, the goblin Empire of Zog lasted just long enough to infest the upper levels. Another more recent visitor was the Numerian wizard Klarkosh, who ruled most of the upper levels as overlord until our team defeated him.
Other notable groups in the upper levels included a Thieves' Guild that worshiped Norgober and a tribe of troglodytes that worshiped a magical life-giving box (The Godbox).
At the same time, there is a lot of evidence of planar portals that bring in creatures from other realms. Some are demonic or otherwise evil (this level was invaded by demonic beings, Klarkosh's was hit by divs) while others are merely extraplanar (the still unexplored "Drowned Level" was home to portals to the Plane of Water.)
You are being permitted to explore the Emerald Spire by the strict Hellknights of Fort Inevitable, who are also taking a huge portion of your profits. You are reporting to the sage Abernard Royst, who pays for maps and stories about the Emerald Spire's many levels. You are also allied with the guild of wizards known as the Goldenfire Order in nearby chaotic Thornkeep. They're paying you to find their missing wizards. You've found one (Jharun) but the other (Tiawask) is still missing.
In addition, the Emerald Spire sits in a magical fey-haunted forest known as the the Echo Wood. Strange undead bearing the symbol of a Crowned Skull have been waylaying travelers in the forest, though as yet you haven't encountered any of those, just heard rumors.
Right now, you're invading (re-invading) the Seventh Level, prepared to give battle to a dangerous Serpent-Man wizard and its sorcerous naga ally.
Got all that? There will be a pop quiz.
I thought the name of the wizard guild was the "Goldenfire Order?"
Sure. That. :-)
Corrected above.
Hey Nycholas. Make a post in the Gameplay thread. That makes it MUCH easier to copy your token to the map. For now you're a colored square. :-)
Sorry about my delay in joining. Troubles at work. I'll get something up late tonight or early in the morning, finally have s couple days off.
Are there any spells (up to level 3) from the Arcane Spell List anyone wants Nycholas to buy for his spell book? You guys would know what's needed more than me.
I moved a skill point and a couple feats into Medicine so Nycholas can help Lilika with healing. I also purchased a wand of Longstrider lvl 2 (+10 speed/8 hrs) for Lilika since Longstrider is on the Primal spell list.
Nycholas - What class and level are you? Please conform your Class/Level header to show that first.
Correction to my last post: The persistent acid damage is only on a critical success.
Well, this is gonna suck!
Don't be too sure. Nyc just wasted the viper swarm.
Also, don't forget your hero points.
I was gonna mention Wymond's three hero points when he failed the save, but I didn't want to be presumptuous :)
Nycholas, let’s talk about bookkeeping for your +3 temporary hit points. I see you noted yourself as being at 69 hp, but that’s not precisely true. You weren’t in the stance when you were hit by the Spiritual Weapon, so you only have 66 hp. When you’re in Arcane Cascade you gain 3 temporary hp. I’ll note that as 66+3 for clarity’s sake.
I have a Temp HP section in the header (HP 69/84 Temp HP: 3/3), but if you prefer I did HP+TEMP/TOTAL (69+3/84) I can do that. That's actually how I usually do it, but since Nycholas will have 3 temp HP a lot of the time I wanted to make its own thing. It doesn't matter to me.
Nycholas, as I understand Arcane Cascade, the stance would do an additional +1 force damage only if the spell itself does not deal a damage type. Instead, the additional +1 damage is acid in this case. Also, your strike was a critical hit, so it was 60 points of damage (+2 persistent acid, which isn’t going to matter here...)
Nycholas cast Shield and entered Arcane Cascade before we opened the door. Because Shield is an abjuration spell, Arcane Cascade does Force Damage. I assumed once the alarm sounded and you asked for our actions, we had entered into Encounter mode and I could enter a Stance, so Nycholas would be able to enter a stance and also have the temp HP since he is wielding a 2-handed weapon. That may have been incorrect, and if so, Nycholas is NOT in Arcane Cascade, since it takes an action to activate and Nycholas used Two Actions to Spellstrike and One Action to Recharge Spellstrike.
Not trying to be argumentative, I'm fine with whatever. Just want to be extra clear so this doesn't happen in the future :P
First of all, I don't think you're being argumentative, except in the good way (I am a lawyer, after all). Print is always a medium without much emotional nuance, but I still didn't think you were being rude - just talking about rules like any gaming nerd!
Second, you're right. I'd forgotten that you had cast Shield and that you were already in the stance. That's fine. There's no reason that the GM's decision to move things from Exploration to Encounter mode should change that.
But Arcane Cascade will still do the damage type of the spell being used (acid splash) rather than the type listed in Arcane Cascade if the spell does damage.