Isle of Dread (Inactive)

Game Master Wilmannator

Was drinking some cask strength 136 proof stuff that I can't remember the name of. American for sure. Name eludes me. I love all varieties of whisky if the bottle I'm drinking is good enough. Enjoy your Gentleman Jack and may you find the testicular fortitude to drink something with a bit more of a kick to it next time. My stand-by is Booker Noe's.

My stand-by is Booker Noe's.

That's a bourbon, you black hearted milk sopper. At 125ish proof, I'm sure it would be good for cleaning engine parts and degrousing large land mammals. I'll see if I can pick up a bottle.

Oh, forgot to mention, there's still a partway finished bottle of Gentleman Jack in my liquor cabinet that I'm quite enjoying. I also have to admit that I have little idea about the distinction between "American whisky" and "Bourbon", I always thought those two things were one and the same.

That said, I do enjoy whiskies of all countries. I am most partial to Scottish whiskies from Islay, but I'll do a bourbon before I do a highland malt.

Okay... that in mind, a whisky that i'm really enjoying right now is Cotton Hollow Kentucky straight bourbon (the 8 y/o is great and the 4 y/o is amazing when one considers how young it is). http://www.cottonhollowwhiskey.com/our-whiskeys.html

Oh, and Bookers is suitable for use as paint thinner. I think literally. ;-)

If we're getting into the subject, I am partial to Makers Mark (that's what my Maple Bacon Bourbon was made from), including Makers 46. Thinking about it, a glass might be nice right now!

The distinction is not as much as you'd think about bourbon. Basically, it is corn whiskey, usually with Rye added, aged in oak (Makers is an exception in that it has no rye in it). Also, at least originally, it had to be made in Bourbon County Kentucky. That's why Jack Daniels (et al) is not bourbon, but rather Tennessee Whiskey. Anything made like bourbon outside of Kentucky (used to be) just American Corn Whiskey of some type or another. As I understand it, that may have changed.

Oh, look at that, post about bourbon and Aeslin shows up to post. Imagine that. You still have Java One in a few weeks, right? Let me know what day/night(s) you'll have free, yeah?

I'm trying to find a secondary weekend whiskey to complement Gentleman Jack.

My standard bourbons are the aforementioned Maker's Mark or Four Roses or Knob Creek. My favorite fancy bourbon is Blanton's, horseheads down.

And yes, there is a difference between rye & whiskey & bourbon & scotch & all sorts of other weird things that I don't yet know (sour mash? what the piddlespot is a sour mash?) yet.

I've just started working on bourbons and whiskeys and since I don't drink all that much (GenCon excluded), it's been a learning process. However, much like Gado and minutiae, I don't mind doing the work.

Beer is my preference, but I can enjoy a nice whiskey every once in a while.

My current bottles:
Woodford Reserve
Glenmorangie Nectar D'Or (my favorite)

I'm also a fan of Balvenie Doublewood. The barrel-aging really helps to add depth of flavor to the scotch that I find enjoyable.

I also can't stand Islay scotches. Peat is just not an enjoyable flavor for me.

Sour mash is my favorite part of bourbon - for flavor and also the "cool" factor: every bottle you drink has a (f*cking very) small part of the first ever batch in it! That's just amazing. Enjoy the journey. It's like NBC says: The more you know... [the more you drink]

Elon, great taste in the milder whisky there. Nectar D'or is brilliant. The Balbenie double wood was the first single malt bottle I ever bought and has a special place in my heart. Try Arberlour A'Bunadh. The price tag will make your eyes water, but I guarantee you won't be able to keep from buying it after the first. It's high proof (around 120 if memory serves) and it can stand a bit of water to be added... but this whisky singlehandedly restored my faith in speyside. It is rapidly becoming (over the last 4-5 years) my favorite department liquor store whisky - even to the point where it is now even in my mind with my beloved Lagavulin 16 y/o.

I'm also a fan of Balvenie Doublewood. The barrel-aging really helps to add depth of flavor to the scotch that I find enjoyable.

I also can't stand Islay scotches. Peat is just not an enjoyable flavor for me.

Oddly, I have decided that I don't like the Doublewood myself. I used to really enjoy the Balvenie Portwood, but it is a little too spendy for me.

I gotta agree on the peaty scotches. Why would a sane man want to drink kerosene? Gimme a good Macallan, any day!

AS for the Arberlour A'Bunadh, Damien, I believe I have tried it, and if I did, it was fabulous... I agree with you there!

Still, my current preference is for working through some American whiskeys, mostly since they tend to be a little more pocket-friendly, and because there is a lot going on there!

And I agree with Bazsil/Rand -- worth the time experimenting and learning!

While all this movie theme stuff is going on, all I can think about is "if you build it, they will come". Thanks for joining the game, all! Loving your work.

Before I forget... I will be in Minneapolis this weekend with Jack for his table 150. I'll try to post in the games I'm playing in, but won't be doing GM posts over that time. Enjoy the break and feel free to post without me. ;-)

Bazsil sips his kavu, reflecting on the fight. His mind replays each action in the fight in detail.

To note, Bazsil has a reach weapon and his attacks come under the ranged combat rules with regard to cover while Ciaran is wielding a 2 handed sword.

Gracious though that is, you can't take an AoO when I have (or had) cover against you. It's why I'm up here.

While Ciarán may have been trailing on the fight at that point... he's smashing Bazsil on rules and GM rulings! Quite true regarding cover, and the weapons not requiring the non-lethal penalty (they've been wrapped and made to deal non-lethal damage in a GM fiat) here.

Hmm...not sure the first part of this is true. The wrapped weapons might be, because of fiat.

On the first part, we must assume that Ciaran is only 5' up compared to Bazsil. Thus, he can have a +1 to his melee attack rolls. However, if Bazsil is at the base of the higher ground, Bazsil has cover from Ciaran. If we think Ciaran is higher up, then Ciaran won't be able to reach Bazsil with his blade at all.

Please see the cover example, here. Note the Ogre/rogue connection (or lack thereof). Just because our fight is 3D, it does not change the cover rules. With an attacker standing on a 5'x5'x5' block and an opponent right next to the block, they each have cover from each other. No, it doesn't make 'logical' sense...and GM Fiat can easily overrule, of course.

If Ciaran was claiming cover, then he should have taken a -4 to his previous attack roll. Bazsil's reach weapon does not have a cover penalty in the reverse as reach weapons use the ranged combat rules for determining cover.

On the second part, I missed reading that. And that is my bad. Had Baz seen that note, he would refused the wrapping (and I would have added it to his montage). Bazsil wants practice with his weapon, not a embarassingly padded weapon. Bah!

I love inventive uses of things like you just did with the grappling hook. If it was against one of my minions, I'd be all for ruling favorably on a ranged disarm attempt. However, in the interest of fairness, if Bazsil agrees I think the tug of war is the way to go!

[dice=Disarm, higher ground, range]1d20+7+1-2

I totally agree. However, just want to clarify three things:

1. It's hard to imagine that Ciaran has his rope/hook positioned like a weapon for him to draw in combat let alone with one hand. I'm all for cinematic, but it's 'reaching' (get it! REACHING?!! HAHAHA!) for him to move, put away his greatsword, unlumber his hook and rope from his shoulder? belt? and toss at Bazsil.

2. There is no higher ground combat bonus for ranged weapons.

3. Not sure how Ciaran got +7 for his attack roll. Ranged attacks require dexterity, rather than strength.

By my math Ciaran misses Bazsil's CMD by 3. <insert joke about Ciaran coming up short in comparison to Baz here>

Bazsil set down his pen and flicks his oiled curls.

Swamped today... I'll get a post up as soon as I can, worst case by this evening.

Love the training scenes with audio enhancement...

Re: cover... I specifically called out the chest in the middle to provide cover (not the platform)

The chest in the middle is large enough to provide partial cover

Partial cover should have been applied to Ciarán's attack as you would have had melee cover from him.

1. Yeah, it's tricky thinking of how this would work. Since this is a friendly fight, Bazsil can talk to Ciarán about the 'fairness' of hooking a grappling hook attached to his belt to use during a friendly bout afterwards.

2. Correct.

3. I think he was figuring it as a combat maneuver, which at range... urgh.

Can't you boys just play nicely together? ;-)

EDIT: Almost forgot to add, Ciarán owes Bazsil 'one' for allowing the grappling disarm despite the above.

Re: cover... I specifically called out the chest in the middle to provide cover (not the platform)

Me wrote:

The chest in the middle is large enough to provide partial cover

I think this conflates two different issues and it really isn't important because we've moved on, but I like discussing such things.

The issue is that if Ciaran is claiming high ground (and in absense of a GM Fiat) for combat bonus, then there needs to be cover penalties applied.

In addition, if he's accepting partial cover for the chest (and high ground bonus as well), then there is probably a penalty for ranged attacks. We'd need to figure out how high Ciaran is from Baz.

Can't you boys just play nicely together? ;-)

Yeah, I think we *are* playing nicely. Totally, this is all in good fun (I hope).

I will preface this by saying that I don't actually care. It's just a game and we're all friends here, so the last thing I want to do is devolve into rulebooks at 10 paces.

However, I have been scrupulous in applying cover based on our relative positioning according to the tactical map (although I did assume that the chest provided partial cover, and the platform didn't, as Damien has now confirmed).

We started on opposite sides of the platform, 15' apart. Standard action Intimidate, I accidentally make a reference I don't understand, move action onto platform so the chest is between us (diagonally). We're now 10' apart. You trip me, I get up from behind cover.

I get up (move), 5' step so the chest is no longer between us (free), and attack (standard). I no longer have cover. You step back so I can no longer reach you from the central platform, attack and miss.

I step back too, so I'm out of your range (15'). I draw the grappling hook (which already has rope tied to it) from my handy haversack (move) and throw it (disarm). Even though the chest is sort-of between us now, we're both using ranged attacks, so neither of us have cover.

I will admit that I just used my CMB for that, when I probably should have traded my Dex and Str bonuses. And you're right, higher ground doesn't apply to ranged attacks. Those were my mistakes, and I apologise. Because of those factors, my disarm would miss, so if you want a free round, by all means go for it.

But (and I'm perfectly willing to be further corrected here), I think everything I did to that point was correct.

EDIT: And yes, I'm still all in good fun.

Could you help me: does having higher ground automatically grant cover? I've looked through the Combat chapter, and I can't really find anything about it.

Could you help me: does having higher ground automatically grant cover? I've looked through the Combat chapter, and I can't really find anything about it.

I would look here (link). In the diagram, there is an ogre and rogue who demonstrate cover. Because it is high ground or fighting around a corner, I don't see a difference as they relate to cover.

Well played, sir. We who are about to die salute you.

In my mind, you had a Kaiser Soze like reaction as you put the pieces together of how those attacks were possible.

I appreciate you playing that out with me, Ciaran. It wasn't what I was expecting.

My post at 5:27pm (#837) highlights one of my favorite posts in years of PbP. It highlights so much of what I love about PbP: story and action, RP and random movie quote, and a sneaky reveal. No one else liked it, but it's a keeper for me.

I loved that post also, just didn't click + for some reason. I do like this kind of thing (nonlethal PvP) in moderation. Good fun. The dice gods favored Bazsil for sure.

I'm not sure if my last post was coherent enough... please do ask if you want more explanation.

I'm looking for something like...

---

"If Mtumbwi tells me what I'm looking for, I can keep an eye out for any stress fractures in the hull and notify you ASAP when they occur... and grasp of modern physics to figure out the best way to temporarily seal them back together..." (suggesting to use perception to spot, knowledge (engineering) to macgyver it. )

---

Obviously I'd like something more reasoned and considered, but I hope you get the idea.

That is one of the downfalls of using Wayfinder (no longer available on Google Play...) is that I can't favorite a post from the app. So I make a mental note to 'favorite' a post when I get to a computer. Then I lose all my mental notes.

I loved that whole sequence. Perfect illustration of why PbP can be so much fun. And Damo isn't kidding about non-lethal PvP fun... That original scene with Lort and the Drongos was legendary, and also the catalyst for Cyrus and Ibid's epic backstory. And it was legendary for more reasons than Cyrus and Ibid... some of the creative uses of objects to mimic spells and abilities... Had me rolling.

Anywho... Leaving work early today. I'll get a post up tonight, I've got a good idea (I think) just don't have time to post it properly.

Ciaran wrote:

Well played, sir. We who are about to die salute you.

In my mind, you had a Kaiser Soze like reaction as you put the pieces together of how those attacks were possible.

I appreciate you playing that out with me, Ciaran. It wasn't what I was expecting.

If I were a half-orc, I would have had you... :)

I didn't go for the full Kaiser Soze, but I did raise an eyebrow (and sink the stomach).

It was fun.

What were you expecting?

My post at 5:27pm (#837) highlights one of my favorite posts in years of PbP. It highlights so much of what I love about PbP: story and action, RP and random movie quote, and a sneaky reveal. No one else liked it, but it's a keeper for me.

Mine is the montages.

I should have realised: I was destined to lose from that moment. After all, the Karate Kid is about an obnoxious brat who wins his bout, whereas Rocky is about a decent person who loses his... :)

Uhh, the Karate Kid is about THE Karate Kid. Johnny Lawrence from the Cobra Kai dojo. A seasoned karate fighter with a bit of hubris who is shown up in the tournament by a young upstart who feels every need to get aggressive with Johnny after he falls in love with Johnny's ex-girlfriend. (e.g. spraying Johnny with water at the Halloween party for no reason; trying to attack Johnny on the beach when Johnny had only taken a radio (that wasn't Daniel's) from said girl; brokering peace with Johnny and his friends only to taunt them at school for no reason.) This isn't to say that Johnny is blameless, but he learned a good deal about overcoming an abusive father figure and humility when he congratulated Daniel on his win, whereas Daniel goes on to think that violence is the only way to solve any problem in life. :D

Dude. Awesome take on the movie... and you must have watched it way too many times.

It's a popular theory that I like that has floated around on the internet for a while, plus Johnny Lawrence is more awesome than Daniel-san.

Bonus awesome music video featuring a ton of Karate Kid actors.

And yes, I believe that most people would say that I've watched Karate Kid "way too many times".

That's it from me, boys (and girl... if you ever return to the fold). Have fun amongst yourselves, and I'll see you on Monday!

Oh, and John... so awesome to have you on board (get it?). Mtumbwi has me cracking up. Love the visuals.

Bazsil is also going to slow play it. Not just because GM Blammo is gone, but also I feel that Baz has been hogging a bit much and want to give the other yahoos a chance to lead for a bit.

C'mon, Aeslin, Gratum, get some RP on.

Yer still a bulb!

It's a popular theory that I like that has floated around on the internet for a while, plus Johnny Lawrence is more awesome than Daniel-san.

Bonus awesome music video featuring a ton of Karate Kid actors.

And yes, I believe that most people would say that I've watched Karate Kid "way too many times".

Your opinion on the reboot with Jackie Chan and Will Smith's kid? I am easy to entertain, but I loved it. The general theme of overcoming adversity is one of my favorites...

I had to go out and get proper pissed for this part of the RP.

2 Franziskaner imperial pints
1 Kilkenny yard (80 oz.)
4 Leffe Blonde pints

:D

---

Actually, I've never seen it. I stick to the originals, despite my love of Jackie Chan.

Also, I've never seen the remake of Footloose because the original is all I need.

It's all turned into one of the surreal scenes from American Horror Story.

Thanks for your patience and continued posting, guys! I'm pretty slow to catch up today and there's a fair bit of house work to do. There is a plan for "what next" but I haven't finished it yet and need some time.

Sorry.

I will be breaking my regular rule and posting tomorrow night. So, at the very latest, that is when I will move things along properly.

It's lucky we're not worried about being infiltrated by Norgorber cultists with all of these people being pulled on board.

It wasn't until this morning that I realized Gratum will be the guy in the song "Yellow Submarine"

In the town where I was born
lived a man who sailed the sea
and he told us of his life
in the land of submarines.

Yep that's him.

Cultists? You guys totally smashed those guys. They definitely won't be making a return appearance. Why are you worried about such things? Oh, look, a duck!

Everyone welcome the new recruits! Yaaaaaay!

Thank you for recruiting them! Lovely descriptions, Elon... exactly what I was looking for. See, Ciarán? Those three couldn't possibly be cultists of Norgorber - they would have chosen way better than that to infiltrate the crew!

Hmmmmmmmm

Oh, look, a duck!

Don't think I don't know what you just did.

That was pretty awesome... Nice job elon. Ilk get a proper post up tonight

-Posted with Wayfinder

Oh, look, a duck!

A duck? Where? I love ducks. They way that they take to the skies like they belong there, they way the float on the water, skimming like a fine crafted boat. But none can match the majesty of a mother duck and her ducklings cruising around the land. Should we all be that lucky to posess half their grace and majesty.

Wrong thread, love.

Okay, so I've codified the next encounter. It's going to be something similar to Fires of Karamoss (for those who played it) where there are multiple thing™s to do, and you are attempting to get a number of successes against each thing™.

My plan is to keep it obscured from you, but tell you when each thing™ has been 'defeated'. I will try to keep it well described and obvious how well you are doing against each thing™ (and may even let you know how many successes you have), but I won't let you know the DC or how many successes you need (it will vary by thing™).

To beat each thing™, there will be:

• A location that you need to get yourself to.
  
• A set of skills and associated DCs (or armor class, or CMD) you need to defeat.
  
• A number of successes you need.
  
• Potentially also a number of sub-tasks (that I'll call out explicitly).
  
• A number of ways to provide aid / circumstance bonuses for those directly attempting skill checks.

However, you can also use common sense and your own inventiveness to try other ways to defeat each thing™.

Overall, the thing™s you defeat will determine the condition of the crew and The Audacious at the other side of the Eye of Abendego. If you really, really chump it - perhaps it'll be death for you all.

So... anyway, it'll hopefully all make sense when it happens. If it turns out you need more info, I will do my best to provide.

"...And that's how we died without ever even seeing the Isle of Dread."

"...And that's how we died without ever even seeing the Isle of Dread."

No, no, no...I think what GM Aisle of Bread is saying is that the Aisle was really within us all along. And for to get there, all we need to do is look within.

It's so obvious.

You've really taken the Karate Kid to heart, haven't you?

I'm just trying not to turn this into Never Ending Story! First "BAM" coming up later this morning.

Okay, finally got it in there. Sorry for the delay. I've been trying hard to make sure it's understandable and balanced... and that everyone has something to do. If you believe you're useless, think again! There are more ways to attempt stuff than I've noted. If you're really still stumped after thinking again, let me know and I'll help you out.

Also... if you've got no idea what the hell is going on, please let me know! It's a new-ish kind of thing that I'm trying here, so I don't want you to get too confused.

Make sure you get to the right spot on the tactical to deal with this hazard. We're in "regular" rounds (so move action, standard action, etc).

Keep in mind that other things may happen also, and things can happen simultaneously. I've updated the tactical with a fun image to help give you a visual.

Don't worry guys! I also updated the tactical with a fun image to help give you a visual.

Stupid Paizo website... Managed to get a post up for my confirmation game, but it flaked out when I was at the hotel, so I lost the post I had for this game. I will get it tonight when I get back.

-Posted with Wayfinder

By the way, guys, Mtumbwi is laid out with injuries and surgeries. I'm giving him some latitude here and allowing him to post two rounds of actions in his next post.

Also... I take it no-one's too confused about what's going on. The posts have been great and mostly right on the money. Get onto round 1, because round 3 has some more fun in store for The Audacious!

Know(Eng.) +9 +2 (Wrigley's Song): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (14) + 11 = 25
"Elon you genius! Shouts Gratum moving to grab the line tied to the other dwarf. ”You’re a fourth sail! We just gotta get you in alignment! Common Barley, bring him in a little!"

Reflex+6: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25