Gm Aest's Kingmaker: To Forge a Kingdom

Game Master Aest

Waiting on Nah for a bit, then we'll move forward.

Is it Nah's turn? I thought that after Akiros and the Stag Lord went that we were back to the top of the initiative order again.

The amount of critical threats in this combat is unreal.

You're right, of course. My bad.

No worries, I just got really confused for a second there!

The timing of my previous post, in relation to yours Aest, is just amazing ;)

That Stag Lord is no joke. I don't like the crit threat but it's appropriate for an end-game boss.

Can't wait to shoot him dead and take his bow :D

^Spoken like a true murderhobo death vagrant concerned citizen! :D

;)

He does a lot of damage, yeah. 3 crit threats, right?

So, yeah. Kazimir and Lali, then. Also, I figured out why I got confused. It's because of Kazimir's second move action.

Oh whoops, I wasn't paying attention there. Sorry :(

Buh, so sorry. Posting now!

How "bleeding and battered" is Kazimir? Is it plain to see?

If he's at 36/40 like it says, he's got a few bruises and maybe a good solid cut somewhere, but for the most part, he's fine. His armor's pretty dinged up from everything, though.

I messed up somewhere. Just went through and double-checked all my wounds and healing, and Kaz is currently at 20/40, so it's probably showing. I've adjusted my tagline accordingly.

I thought I'd hit you harder than that!

Luthor hit me with a healing hex early on; I've burned two uses of lay on hands; and the Con boost from raging gives me 6 more hp. You hit me hard, but I'm hanging on!

EDIT: It's entirely possible I've still messed up; I've spent pretty much an entire week getting ready for / stressing over the Special I'm running in about 10 hours, so if anyone wants to double-check my math, feel free, and I'll correct it!

Since this combat is probably wrapping up soon, I'd like to take this opportunity to ask a few questions of you guys.

First, I'm still having a lot of fun with this game, but the transition from Book 1 to Book 2 could make a decent stopping point. Is everyone interested in continuing?

Second, we've established Kingdom Roles a few times, but I'm terrible at writing this stuff down. Can you guys remind me again?

I personally like the characters and writing chops on display too much to want to end this, so youve got me for book 2 at least.

Cant honestly remember what Luthors was, I just remember he wasnt a perfect fit for any of them really so he just took whatever is open once the others locked into theirs.

No worries on that splash damage; since Nah missed it makes sense for the splash to catch whoever is standing below (sorry Graelem)! I also deducted 5 HP since I figured the blows occurred in the order stated (Nah, then Kaz) but let me know if it was 12 damage instead :)

As far as the game goes, I'm good to continue onward if enough people are but I'm also not opposed to stopping if there's not enough interest to carry forward. I've cut down on a lot of my games (still have plenty but it's better than the bajillion that it used to be) but I'm kinda down to the ones that are harder to pick between if I wanted to drop anything else :\

For Kingdom Roles, I think we were looking at the following:

Kaz = Ruler/Baron/President/Whatever We Want to Call It
Lali = Marshal
Luthor = Treasurer
Graelem = Grand Diplomat or High Priest?
Nah = Magister or Royal Enforcer (lawl)

If we still wanted to keep NPC-Cyanne and NPC-Daen around they were looking at Grand Diplomat and Spymaster, respectively.

Of course the group also has other friends that could fill some of the roles though I remember you also stressed that we wouldn't know what their stats were and that they might want roles that are different than what we'd expect or want them to fill.

I would really like to continue the game. I understand if people can't pull it off, but I would be really sad to see it end :(

Nah is correct, I want to be the Marshal.

Unfortunately I think I will need to bow out of this game once we wrap up Book 1. I do apologize for this, but work and other RL issues are cutting into my bandwidth and I need to pare down on my active games.

GM Aest: Thanks for giving me the opportunity to tag along and wrap up this Book. Feel free to have Graelem stick on as an NPC and maybe if things improve on my end, I can rejoin the game.

Everyone else: I know my time with you all was a brief one, but it was a blast!

Sorry to hear that, Graelem. I'll think how I want to do a recruitment, unless anyone has a good suggestion for a replacement.

Awh, that sucks.

It always weirds me out when people talk about something cutting into their bandwidth.

In regards to NPC Daen and Cyanne, I'd like to keep them in the story. I played with them for a long time, and I think their characters are pretty useful for the storyline.

Id personally love for them to remain a relevant part, even if "just" as background. If nothing else, its nice to roleplay around them.

No one immediately comes to mind to ask/recommend, but I'll look over my other games and see who I think might be interested (and a good fit for the group and pace).

I'm also fine with keeping Cyanne and Daen relevant to the story, Graelem too :)

I'll do some thinking. I've played with a lot of good people, I'll brainstorm a few nominations before we wrap up book 1.

*scootches to gameplay*

I'm not as sure how to keep Graelem relevant to the story as I am Cyanne and Daen. They'd both been interested in roles that could see them being away from the kingdom for long periods of time. If you've got ideas on how to get him in the game as an NPC, let me know.

@Graelem: I'd be interested in working out a graceful exit from the game. Feel free to PM me, and I'll share some of my plans with you so we can make it happen.

WHOOPS somehow I missed that it was my turn. Sorry :(

Next question: Do you want to run your barony with your own rolls, or have it as a background thing? The first option is a lot more work, but could be pretty fun as well, while the second is more simple, but less involved.

Hum...either one would work for me, though I'm generally in favor of whichever option is least likely to slow the game down. I know one of the big draws of Kingmaker is the kingdom stuff, so I'm happy to do that if everyone else is up for it :)

Id like to be a part of it personally, though it ultimately comes down to what works best for you. Happy GMs make for good games.

I'm trying to put together a Google Sheet that would automate a lot of the math for the rolls, so we'd just need to roll d20s for pretty much everything. It'll be a bit of work, but it should be a time-saver once it's up and running.

I'd prefer to have you guys involved in running it, personally, but if it proves to be a major time-sink, we'll have to consider converting it to background. Waiting on a few more opinions.

I'd like to be a part of it to. If you need help with the Google Sheet let me know, I'm halfway decent with making formulas.

Alright. No rush on the rules, anyways. We're a ways off of all that.

Does anyone have a suggestion for a new player? Probable time of entry would be two-ish weeks?

Okay. That'll take care of the Stag Lord.

^^' I'm not sure whether I feel bad or not.

I've sent you my suggestions for players. As for the kingdom, I'm kind of a fan of having the input, rather than running it in the background. How are you thinking of handling it thread-wise?

Thread-wise, I'm not sure. I may set up a second thread just for Kingdom Building. What do you guys think?

Most of the people I could think of to name are either pretty full on games right now or are already in Kingmaker games, sadly. If none of Kaz's suggestions pan out then I'll give my own games another look and see who I can come up with.

A second thread just for kingdom stuff might be handy, especially if there ends up being a lot to do!

Okay. That'll take care of the Stag Lord.

Huzzah!

As for kingdom posting, im personally a fan of the second thread idea, just so all that stuff doesnt mingle with gameplay.

I found this spreadsheet on the forums once it became clear I didn't understand the Kingdom Building rules well enough (or excel, for that matter) to make it myself. I'm not sure how accurate it is, but it's a lot prettier than the one I was building. Let me know what you all think.

The sum total of the loot (assuming you take 20 on Perception) in the Stag Lord's fortress is as follows:

4 Longswords
8 Axes
12 Longbows
Assorted Arrows
8 sets of leather armor in poor condition
Four silver amulets in the shape of a stag
Two dozen pewter knights and dragons, each about 4 inches high
141 GP
a polished blue crystal
a polished orange crystal
a red gem
a pewter belt buckle in the shape of two entwined succubi
a silver bracelet
a key ring

Additionally, the following items need individual appraise checks or magical identification. The stuff above can be taken care of in a big lump.

2 potions that fizz when the cork is popped
well-made leather armor
well-made longsword
well-made bow
an amulet the Stag Lord was wearing
Stag Lord's helmet

Here are some spellcraft rolls. I guess just apply them from top to bottom of the list as needed.

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (7) + 10 = 17

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 28

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 28

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14

Oh. One more thing. Congratulations on reaching Level 4. Please go ahead and level up.

That *is* a very nice spreadsheet. Nice find!

I have neither Spellcraft nor Appraise, so I might be a bit useless identifying those.

Guessing that Luthor probably IDed the two potions, the leather armor and the longsword so I'll roll for the rest for Nah to try and ID.

Spellcraft (Bow): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28
Spellcraft (Amulet): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25
Spellcraft (Helm): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11

Also cool beans on leveling up! I'm at work tonight so I'll get Nah and Boo updated sometime tomorrow :)

Ok, level up, awesome! Here goes.

Gained 7 HP (4 class + 1 con + 1 Toughness + 1 Favored Class).

Increased Intelligence to 19.

Gained +1 base Will.

Added 1 skill rank to all existing skills.

Learned Flight Hex.

Learned the Augury and Frost Fall spells.

The additional spells per day went into another Command and another Glitterdust.

Even though I am dropping out of this game, I did level Graelem up earlier so in case GM Aest wants to NPC him he is not behind the power curve. You can access his profile for the updated version.

Also since Graelem is no longer part of this group, I will abstain from claiming any shares of the treasure found.

I'm sure the players will appreciate that, Graelem, and as we discussed, I have a plan to keep him around and out of the way for a bit in case you decide you'd like to come back someday.

@Everyone: I found a new player. We're currently working out the details of what he's going to make, stuff like that. He'll probably be introduced in the coming weeks.