GM WhtKnt's Into the Borderlands, Table 1 (Inactive)

Game Master WhtKnt

Have a great time! Enjoy!!

Regarding treasure.

I don't want to force charity or giving away our gold on anyone. I just figured that's how Neil would be.

In game, if you don't agree, feel free to speak up in character. Neil would argue and grumble about it ( possibly even try to guilt trip you).

But as a player I absolutely will not stop anyone from claiming your share. I will never have Neil take an action to force you to do anything.

If you want more gold, by all means claim it. And then let's have fun with the role-play. :)

Tiny female progeny is going through her first cold these days resulting in fussiness and sleep deprivation aplenty. Posting will be hit or miss -probably more the latter than the former- due to severe lack of energy. Please DMPC as needed for the next couple of days if I seem to be taking too long.

It has been a very busy week, much of which was spent with my parents whom I was visiting. I have a con this weekend, and I have some family business to take care of next week. I may be a few more days between posts, but don't worry. When I get everything straightened out, I'll be back on the action bandwagon. In the meantime, sit tight, or if I am in your game, please bot me as necessary.

Update: My wife's elderly aunt has been moved into a care facility. My wife and I are tasked with clearing out her room of all her belongings and finding a place to store them. We have about 10 days to do this, and we have our own affairs to worry about as well. To complicate things, she has lost several savings bonds and other important papers (like her will) in her room, so we can't just go in and bulldoze the place. We have to look for the papers as we pack. It's slow going and very tedious, so until we get the room vacated, my posting will be limited, but I will try to keep pace as much as possible.

We understand and will be here when you get back.

Go and do life stuff; it's important.

Best of luck on that search roll.

Still here. Pretty swamped between work, toddler and upcoming holidays. Should relax a bit in the coming days though.

Guys, I am really sorry, but I will have to bow out of this game. It seems 5th Edition is taking a bit longer than I expected to grow on me. Not to mention that I simply take too much time looking up rules and such to actually relax and enjoy the game.

Again, I do apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

A belated Merry Christmas to everyone! I've healed up everybody and given an extra 5 hit points that will be removed first as a one-time bonus!

Castor, good luck and you will always be welcome in my games.

I'll run him as an NPC until you guys get back to the keep and can replace him.

Yo. I'm not dead. Was taking some down time for the holiday. I'll catch up in the next 24-48

Belated Merry Christmas and Happy New year!

... Did we move this to inactive?

I still see it in my campaign tab. Maybe the ignore button accidentally got triggered?

Weird, still showing in my inactive list.
Anyway, do we need/have a map or should we just go for it?

Map is in my status bar (Borderlands 1), but just go for it and I'll try to describe in detail.

All, I am in the midst of con season and I have two cons in the span of a month, one of which I am working as staff. If I am slowing things down, please feel free to bot me. If you are in my group, please be patient and I will check in as often as time allows. Things should be back to normal after the first weekend in March.

What con are you going/working at? The only one I go to is Orycon. I used to go to many more during the D&D 3.5 years. But I have a hard time finding them here in the Vancouver WA area.

What con are you going/working at? The only one I go to is Orycon. I used to go to many more during the D&D 3.5 years. But I have a hard time finding them here in the Vancouver WA area.

Ya'Bo, you're in Vancouver?! Bro, I'm in Seattle. That's awesome.

Hi guys!! =D

Thanks for letting me play here. I've long heard stories about the Borderlands, and the Keep therein, but I've never actually got to play in it, so this is very exciting!

It seems that your party is very strong at range, but you currently lack a dedicated melee-build to stand like a bulwark and give you guys a chance to really shine. I've been developing a school of thought that a healing-melee character, such as the WarCleric, can be just as good, and in some cases better, than a standard fighter in most respects.

My research so far is proving very exciting. =)

Anyway, I've been reading the thread and whatever step you guys wanna take next is fine with me. If you wanna turn around and see if we can beat some orc butt, that's great! But if you wanna head for Cave A, that's good too. ^_^

Hey, do y'all wanna take a long rest first, before we open a fresh can of worms? You guys were in quite a fight, so you maybe want to freshen up?

And speaking of rests, do you really think that we can not take on a dozen orcs if we're prepared and rested?

Holy. S%*$. Look who it is.

Atlas! How the hell have you been?!

Bookrat! How ya been? =D

Well, ya, I took a year off to change careers. I must say, it has worked well. Things really did have to fall apart so they could be put back together better than before. =)

Originally, in November, I was just going to let everyone know that I was okay. But after my first message, I was re-hooked and I knew I was back.

Can't stay away. =)

Also!

No, srsly, how about a long rest before delving into a new cave?

I am only down one spell and still have over an hour on this mage armor so I am good to go.
How is everyone else?

I've been doing great. Got a promotion at work since the last time we talked. And the new house is coming along nicely. I'm really excited to game with you again. Our games together have always been my favorites. :)

As for long rests, I'm also ok. I'm down one spell and one use of Wrath of Storms. A short rest would easily get me back to full HP. I won't say no to one if it's needed for others, but neither do I have a direct need to go back to town for myself.

Nice! On all fronts!

Okay, what if we took a short rest, got our hitpoints back, and then went and WHOMPED all dat orc buttocks?

This time, with the two clerics standing next to each other in the front line, all we have to do is bait the orcs into attacking us in the hallway. Once they're in the bottleneck, with the wizards blasting them from range, we should be able to handle them.

How does that sound?

Sounds great, but with the orcs we just dealt with they came from 3 or 4 sides, too many tunnels to cover, so it was run away, run away...lol

We just need to play smarter not harder. Your help is most welcome Atlas.

This time, with the two clerics standing next to each other in the front line, all we have to do is bait the orcs into attacking us in the hallway. Once they're in the bottleneck, with the wizards blasting them from range, we should be able to handle them.

How does that sound?

This sounds good to me, though I would switch myself with Ore our Monk or Morgan our Palidan on the frontline. I'm more of a Final Fantasy-esque Cleric (White Mage). The armor is just cause I bruise easy. Plus, the dice have not been kind to me when I picked up actual weapons.

I'm out of actual casts, but I have two classes worth of cantrips; including two buffs and an emergency heal for dying players.

Oh. Or were you counting me among the Wizards?

It just occurred to me that you said "the two clerics", but we actually have three counting you.

He meant me, because my Wrath of Storms ability let's me deal damage to those who hit me, making me a good front line combatant.

Triple post ftw

Anybody not using the Dark Reader extension on Paizo, really needs to fix this. It's sooo sexy. Also, it's nice to play without the smell of burning retinas.

Link: https://darkreader.org/
What it looks like:https://i.imgur.com/Gn90qJL.png

(Great Jabba the Hutt now I'm dreaming about this scenario. ^_^)

Alright, let's do this. Rule the First:

IF I COME ACROSS AS ANNOYING YOU MUST TELL ME TO STOP. I'm NOT trying to say 'I R t3h Roxx0RZ and U R teh SUX'. I'm just describing the scenario the way I see it, so that ALL OF US succeed.

I've been told that I 'do' tactics well. I'm just trying to get that message across. I MAY BE WRONG AND I ACKNOWLEDGE THAT.

That done, let's talk tactics! (Pour the wine.)

1) Yes, Theo, I'm counting you as a Wizard. Or, more appropriately, as a "spellcaster that should not be in the first rank". Same thing, really. =p

2) It just seems, IMHO, that we might have the impression that the orcs are too tough at this level. I think that you guys just tried to stealth, got some bad dice, and got caught in a bad tactical position. By flipping the script, this position becomes winable.

3) The position:

X = wall
P = PC
O = Orc

XXXXXX|OO|XXX
XXXXXX|__|XXX
XXXXXX|__|XXX
OO____________
OO____________
OO____________
XXXXXX|__|XXX
XXXXXX|PP|XXX
XXXXXX|PP|XXX
XXXXXX|PP|XXX

I can't see the map right now (the whole thing is black to me, not sure what's going on there) but I imagine it's like this. Before, it seems that you guys were trying to stealth across an intersection, and then got flanked.

If we can get it to where we are in a phalanx, down one hall, and can bait the orcs to us, we have the advantage.

4) The Phalanx.

Both Clerics, me and Neil, are ideal for the front line: High armor, and class-features that assist in melee.

Theo, you must be in the second rank. You are ideal there. Your cleric spells let you heal the front line, and your wizard spells let you deal damage when no healing is needed.

The others have more freedom. Ya'bo obviously should stay away from combat and deal his ranged damage as needed.

Ore and Morgan, since the first casualty of battle is the battle plan, you guys can put out fires. XD We may be attacked on the flank, or we may need a shift-change on the front. Ore, we might needed someone to step out in front and taunt the orcs to come to us, and then run back. That probably gonna be you. ^_^

Theo says he's out of spells. That seems to be reason enough for a Long rest.

I don't know, do we have to travel a far way to long rest? Is there no safe space that we've liberated yet? We can't just walk a bit away and set up camp? Again, I just don't recall that so I may have missed something.

It just seems that if we ran into troubles in one cave, there isn't any reason that Cave A won't be just as hard, or maybe harder! After a tactical re-positioning, consolidating our power and getting fresh clips in our guns seems like a good move. =)

That all sounds good to me. The only issue I have is I hate having five minute adventuring days. It's still morning and we just got here. Killed some orcs, fled when over powered. We've barely done anything.

We can go explore another cave, and then go back. Then the next day we'll have our options of which one to pick, since we'll have two caves explored.

Or we can head back to orc cave now, before they have a full day to regroup and lay out traps. They probably won't be expecting that, and we can catch them off guard.

Or we can head back to orc cave now, before they have a full day to regroup and lay out traps. They probably won't be expecting that, and we can catch them off guard.

That makes a lot of sense.

Like, before, they were all in their big room, and they sort of had Defender's Advantage.

Now, they'll probably be riled up, and have patrols out. That actually makes it MORE likely that we can overcome them. Either we'll be able to take them out piecemeal, or we can bring them to a pitched battle in a hallway, which is what we want.

Also, yes, I too hate the idea of the 15 minute adventure day. =) Mind you, if we pick another cave, aren't the odds just as likely that it, too, will have a bunch of orcs? If we don't reduce them fully, then the next day we might just be facing two caves that are prepared for us in ways we don't expect. =p

Okay, you've convinced me. We should probably go back to the orc cave now.

Now can you convince Ya'Bo? =)

So...am I the only one who thinks this comes off a little Final Solution-y. I mean, I guess he didn't call us the "superior" races. XD

Hey, we're catching on to Neil's personality! Lol

Yeah, I built Neil to be racist against "monstrous" races. To the point where he'll distrust and want to kill them even if they extend a peace offering or a gesture of aid. Conversely, he'll believe and trust a human/elf/gnome/etc.. even if they're distrustful or an enemy. Gullible towards "proper races" and prejudiced against "monstrous races."

I liked that as a personality flaw, which he may or may not grow out of depending on how the adventure unfolds and who his companions are. First time I've tried it on a character.

I also enjoy the concept of a cleric who had his clerical powers forced upon him; as opposed to the traditional cleric who voluntarily serves his deity. This is also my first PC with that concept. So Neil hates his God and does what he can to thwart him, even as he unknowingly services his God's portfolio. Talos is a CN good of destruction, so as Neil rages against his God claiming, "I ain't doing nothing for him," he still causes destruction against orcs, goblins, etc.

The puzzle pieces all fit together. :)

Edit: I suppose I should alter the personality traits on my character sheet to reflect this. The ones I originally chose aren't showing up in Neil, and the ones I've been role-playing aren't written down. Could also chalk it up to character development! :)

I can't see the map right now (the whole thing is black to me, not sure what's going on there) but I imagine it's like this.

Just let me know your Roll20 ID again and I'll fix that for you. :)

It is the unsurprising 'Atlas2112'.

Yeah, I built Neil to be racist against "monstrous" races. To the point where he'll distrust and want to kill them even if they extend a peace offering or a gesture of aid. Conversely, he'll believe and trust a human/elf/gnome/etc.. even if they're distrustful or an enemy. Gullible towards "proper races" and prejudiced against "monstrous races."

"While the enemies of the Emperor still draw breath there can be no peace."

Yeah, I built Neil to be racist against "monstrous" races. To the point where he'll distrust and want to kill them even if they extend a peace offering or a gesture of aid. Conversely, he'll believe and trust a human/elf/gnome/etc.. even if they're distrustful or an enemy. Gullible towards "proper races" and prejudiced against "monstrous races."

I liked that as a personality flaw, which he may or may not grow out of depending on how the adventure unfolds and who his companions are. First time I've tried it on a character.

I had a hunch it might have been intentional. For a minute there I was worried you might be little Murder Hobo-y.

I think the biggest takeaway is that you snuck a would-be ethnic cleanser into the game under the banner "Chaotic Neutral".

https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/919/520/b78.gif

For a minute there I was worried you might be little Murder Hobo-y.

For Neil? That's a distinct possibility. As a player, naw - I'm not a murder-hobo player.

You can ask Brother Aterro about that. We've been in at least three games together, all of which were heavy RP. In our games together, I've played a failed academic who was more interesting in magic than most anything else and was a bit timid in battle, a thief who had an anti-authority thing (which paired very well with Atlas' PC, who was very authoritarian - we got in to a lot of in-character arguments!), and a pious paladin that was the moral ground for the group (which paired with a cleric Atlas was playing; they supported each other quite well).

If Neil ends up being a murder-hobo, it will be because the story and roleplay lead him to become one. :)

I mean, hell, he practically had the "hobo" part already!

I think the biggest takeaway is that you snuck a would-be ethnic cleanser into the game under the banner "Chaotic Neutral".

https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/919/520/b78.gif

Hahahahaha! I love it!

Also, WhtKnt, am I right in what I'm seeing on the map? It looks like as soon as the party walks in there are three tunnels?

We don't have any "foyer' room?

You're seeing it right. Three tunnels. The big room to the west is where the horde of orcs was located.

Okay, sweet.

Which direction did the other orcs come from?

Okay, guys, we can't exactly stealth this, so we're gonna have to try and make as friendly a tactical position as we can.

Since we start out in such close quarters, I'd like us to line up like this.

XX__XXXXXXXX
XX__XXXXXXXXX
____NTM____
____AYO_____
XXXX__XXXXXXXX
XXXX__XXXXXXX

From the entrance, Neil can just go to the far wall, with Attero next to him.
Theo and Ya'Bo are in the middle.
Morgan and Ore can hold the rear, WHEN we get attacked.

This way, even if orcs from the North and West, they still only have one facing to attack us from. And the East is a dedicated front of itself.

Looks good to me.

And you forgot the most important part of the plan. At all cost keep the Gnome wizard alive.

Okay. IF the orcs are just waiting for us passively, let's march forward a few steps:

_XX__XXXXXXXX
OXX__XXXXXXXXX
__NTM_______
__AYO________
OXXXX__XXXXXXXX
_XXXX__XXXXXXX

Morgan, Ore, you guys are our mobile guards. If we get rushed, we need you guys to move to that front.

> Specifically say "I can count"
> Post multiple Haikus
> One of them has 18 syllables
> Valor is 2 syllables

Feels bad man.