Hell's Rebels AP - Down with Thrune! (Inactive)

Game Master GM Red

I wouldn't worry too much about the occasional 'boring' combat, GM. Pretty much every adventure path, module, or scenario features a combat or a dungeon crawl or some other section that can only be livened up so much :)

I'm fine with returning to Dungeon Mode but we'll want to be mindful about the time on our Water Breathing when it comes to Taking 10/Taking 20 :)

Taking 10 just replaces a normal check. Taking 20 is 2mins per 5' square so that's out except vs doors.

Marty isn't worried about drowning, but he is worried about the crash coming down off his buzz. Lame.

Good thinking. Thanks. I'll have you guys take 10 as you move along. Update coming shortly...

Just reread the entry for the Cloak of Manta Ray, and it turns out a manta ray is a large-sized creature. I've increased Marty's size on the map and he also now has 10 foot reach.

Oh dang son! Not so good for hiding but /shrug.

Hrm bards underwater or alchemist underwater... which gets the shaft worse...

A bard who relies on visual components would be fine. It's only storytellers and singers who are screwed.

Ya, I guess to a degree it helps balance the not using up a hand or needing equipment. Still sucks, we could really use that inspire!

I don't think Padraig is completely useless, as long as he keeps those healing spells ready :)

My dad died today.
Please give me a day or two to get my head on straight
Thanks.

My condolences. Please take the time you need.

I'm so sorry to hear that. Please take all the time you need.

It's a little early but I finally got my work schedule for the month and wanted to note the following now:

I'll be out of town at a convention April 13th & 14th. Given the nature of conventions I likely won't be checking in or posting at all except for maybe quick notes in Discussion if necessary.

I'll also be out of town April 22nd - April 24th. For this I will have my chromebook and should be able to check in and make some posts in the evenings before bed.

That is all :)

I'm back. Thanks for your patience and understanding.

No problem at all, Larry. Post whenever you feel ready.

Sorry folks, I messed up the HP counter. Geoffrey did not get hit last round, so he doesn't currently need healing. Does Pádraig want to instead ready that wand charge?

Sure, PH will ready to heal anyone within reach who gets injured.

I wanted to share some more really cool artwork depicting this fight.

And some thoughts. I'm sure the underwater aspect has really made this dungeon a bit of a drag, but rest assured, we are nearly through most combat here and actually nearly through Book 2. There is one objective left in the book following this dungeon. I think we'll probably be on to Book 3 by next month. A level up is also coming very soon!

IMO, there hasn't been enough thought or service to your character's backgrounds, but that's also something that will continue to develop over the adventure. We did see it with Morvena and the skulking imp bound to the Sarinis way back at the Coffeehouse basement. Pádraig worships Milani, and received a bouquet of roses from The Rose of Kintargo back in Book 1, the name of the local cult of Milani. Victor has history with a named NPC, which is something that may arise later on. Issil is a Tanessen, another noble house, and Geoffrey was closely tied to the Sarinis. There's a whole noble quarter in Kintargo. All that to say, there's more to come that will provide additional hooks into your PC's history.

I'd like to continue to present the story in a way that is meaningful to your PCs, as well as keeping in mind happenings from earlier books. APs have been the most challenging thing I've attempted in play-by-post format so far. I can see why so many go unfinished, but I've got such a great, invested group of players here that I can't see myself stopping short. Besides, how will I know how many alter-egos Victor will end up with by Book 6 otherwise? :P

A lot more if I can think of them! I really have been kinda ignoring his backstory a bit. Once/If things come up I'll have to come up with something a bit more.

PS: All I can see if the treasure chest behind it! :)

Something that I've learned in the 5 years I've been PbPing on the forums is that a long-haul game like an AP requires a lot of patience on everyone's part. It can take anywhere from maybe a few months to a year just to finish one Book and yet the actual in-game time elapsed may be as short as just a few days. That's something you have to keep in mind when playing your character; a hypothetical example might be that even though my highly suspicious and nervous halfling has been playing with the same characters 'real time' for months, in-game maybe they've only known these other PCs for a day or two and still don't quite trust them enough to bare their soul yet.

Another thing, as GM Red already mentioned, is that there are sometimes small details or plot threads that might pop up early on but don't see resolution until much later in the campaign. That's why I've seen it recommended (and would recommend) that anyone looking to GM an AP read the entire thing first, just so they can take notes on any plot threads or NPCs that might appear early but become relevant again at a later point.

For this game specifically it kinda makes sense to me that we've not had a lot of time to really delve into the past of the characters or even get to know each other in a manner that doesn't revolve around the Silver Ravens. We basically got thrown into leading an underground rebellion right off the bat and have been struggling to keep it afloat and make ends meet and just survive ever since. Not a lot of free time for other things :)

If you want free time to smoke the hookah you gotta make time! Party on Wayne.

Going along with Morvena's idea's here it is also a good idea to take copious notes of what we have learned about locations, NPCs, monsters, etc. which is why we have the spreadsheet he he. Also a good idea to review/update it every once in a blue moon as well.

As for Geoffrey BG, it is closely tied up with Morvena's family and that was by design. While he is (secretly) in love with her he has not really had a chance to explore these feelings...yet. The social class differences, plus the existence of Pavanna, do...complicate things just a tad, so no telling if anything will come of it for now. Like Morv says, survival is the name of the game...sorry Wayne :P

All of that to say, I'm having fun and I think you're doing a great job GM. You've also got a lot more patience than I do because I've already decided that when and if I try running an AP I'm going for one that either doesn't have a bunch of fiddly subsystem stuff to keep track of or one where the subsystem stuff can be altered/excised without it impacting the story!

Thanks for the feedback, guys. Definitely can see how the finicky/tedious subsystems could turn people away. There's plenty of APs without 'em though!

I don't mind the subsystems floating around. Focusing so much on one city gave me time to flesh out Issil's character in a way PFS can't.

I'm enjoying the telling of the story, though PH has not been a major contributor in combat encounters, under water or anywhere else. A bard's life!

PH plans to take the Leadership feat at Level 7; others might as well. That should add another layer of complexity to things.

Healing and inspiring are awesome in these encounters. Not to mention the countersong vs the wraith things was great. I've never seen that actually used. Missing out on the inspire underwater stinks.

Its a good thing they put this dagger in there to help with this fight.

PH will be putting ranks in Perform (dance) next level. That would have worked, so long as the team could see him.

PH has been actually casting the spell (with the +5 CL bonus to the d8), rather than using the wand.

We can become a dancing duo!
(Plus it always helps to line up your next Versatile Performance boost, right?)

Exactly.

I have a scroll of Lesser Restoration and Geoff has a potion. We'll need to drag Marty somewhere dry to administer both.

I say we retreat to the open air room we found the lawful-bane dagger in.

At least the buoyancy of water is helpful right? :)

We might be good here:

Round 3 - Aiding:
Morv - 0
Geoff - +2
Padraig - 0
Issil - Hasn't rolled yet (Using guidance?)
Marty - +2

Marty rolled a 14 base and has an 18 with those 2 aids. An additional +2 will give him what he needs for that save, and he rolled a 21 on the subsequent one, which would mean he's cured.

I'm using guidance, so I can't roll. Assume I give a +1 bonus.

Drug addiction looks like it's a disease, so I can roll for a scroll of remove disease as well, if that's what you were thinking, Issil?

I'm home from Save vs. Hunger but my brain is a bit fried from con drag so I'll catch up tomorrow!

Drug addiction looks like it's a disease, so I can roll for a scroll of remove disease as well, if that's what you were thinking, Issil?

Let's look for scrolls of Remove Disease.

I have seen what alcohol can do to someone so I completely buy into his words.

Same. Thankfully it's not a 'trigger' or anything like that, but I do admit that it's a subject that's a little harder to joke about with the exception of occasional black/gallows-style humor - of which I'm a fan.

Some of my friends and family were hit hard with substance abuse issues. Issil has survived as a street rat for some time, so she's aware of how it works and how to stay away from it. If only the real world had priests who could abolish drug addiction with a wave of their hands.

btw, I really enjoy this team. It's given me a lot of time and opportunity to write about Issil's backstory while feeling like I have a backstory bigger than "I hit things with a stick."

Sounds like we want to advance to tomorrow. Or did you guys want me to advance to next week, which means the usual upkeep, activity and event rolls? Rest for tonight and head back to the Bones tomorrow, or do activities and advance to next week?

I would like to wrap up the Bones portion of the adventure tomorrow so advancing until tomorrow works for me :) It sounds like we just need to do some mop up there anyway.

We need to find more water breathing abilities. More potions, or another wand will do. Once we can secure that, let's finish the flooded basement.

More water breathing? That wand is toast already? You only need to use one charge at a time and divide up the duration between everyone but Victor.

It had 8 charges to begin with. 1 charge is 2 hours, divided by 4 people would be 30 minutes each. I'd say you were down there ~2 hours so it still has 4 charges.

I thought it was one per person. In that case let's dive tomorrow.

The spell is 2hrs/lvl. A 3rd level spell, makes it caster 5th so 10hrs per charge. 2.5hrs per person per charge if just on the 4 of you. Should still have 7 charges.

Diving tomorrow sounds good to me!

Take the plunge tomorrow.