Being Play by post, there will undoubtedly be plenty of quirks and oddities that we will have to work through, and that’s fine. I’ll just lay out some of the information I know will come up here, so that hopefully we can cut down on delays and keep the game rolling.
First, please, please tell me exactly what your character does. It takes days to have a quick dialogue between player and GM, so I’m just going to take what you say and interpret it for time’s sake. For example, if you say, “I go in the door.” I’m going to assume you mean that you grab the handle, turn it, and push the door open. If there’s a trap in the handle, that sucks for you. If you actually wanted to stand to the side, turn the handle gingerly, while wearing gauntlets, you have to say so. We don’t have time to go back and redo stuff like that all the time. Don’t get the idea that I’m some sadistic killer, though, either. I want us all to have fun, I’m just trying to be efficient here.
Also in the spirit of speeding things along, you can contact me on G+ (Jacob DeCourcey) for quick questions and such. I’m generally available M-F, 9-4 EST plus other times as internet access permits. Hit me up if you want to quickly discuss something without the hassle of a conversation over the forums.
As for exploration, each hex is 6 miles across opposite sides. Movement rates are either 2 or 3 miles per hour (20’ or 30’ round movement, respectively). Therefore, either 3 or 4 hexes can be crossed in a day. However, more challenging terrain may decrease the rates unless there is a road or path to follow. It takes 1 whole day to thoroughly search a hex, guaranteeing that you find any non-hidden point of interest. Wandering monster checks will be rolled at a 1 in 8 chance every 4+-2 hours based on location and level of noise and caution. These rates include a reasonable level of care to ensure proper navigation. However, when exploring uncharted territory without a map, a guide, or at least a reasonable idea of where you are trying to go, chances to get lost will begin to arise.
I’ll post the map as you go, just for ease of use. Your starting location is the town of Swiftwater in the top left corner of the map, hex number 01.01. Here's the initial copy of the map.
Please ask lots of questions, either here or on G+. I really do want this to be a good game that we all enjoy.
Glad to join. So first question:
Is the river flowing Northwest or Southeast?
Southeast.
With a little asking around, anyone can find out that the river is a primary passage from the northern kingdoms to the Southern ports. The ports are still a long ways down the river, but a lot of timber goes south to support the shipbuilding.
So.... how are we going to handle combat? Old school descriptive combat?
Pretty close to it. All the regular rules apply, except I'm going to try to avoid grids unless absolutely necessary. Just say what you are trying to do. Like I said with the waitress thing, you have a lot of latitude with the game world. If, based on my description, you are reasonably sure that you are close enough to attack, go for it. Sometimes, you might be wrong. That's ok. In real life, I have to assume that, fairly often, an archer would fire a shot and have it fall short because he misjudged the distance. That's normal.
Ok, going to use this space to sort out some logistics. Here's what I need:
- Marching order for party
- Watch order for party
- How many days worth of food and drink you each have (you may retroactively buy food and supplies in town just this once)
- Any special considerations about your character that I should know about for overland travel
This would be a good time to mention that the cleric spells "create water" and "purify food or drink" and any equivalents will function as level 1 spells. No infinite sustenance for adventurers!
Marching order: Gulver will travel at the head of the party with Annie: next to her when the path allows, behind her in single file wilderness settings, in front of her in single file city or cave settings.
Watch order: Gulver will take one of three watches, either with a caster or alone to allow the caster to rest. He will take the middle watch.
Provisions: 1 iron ration saved for emergencies, 3 loaves of fresh baked bread, supplemented as luck allows (theft, berries found along the way, etc.). 1 water skin refilled as the trail allows.
Zander will travel toward the center or center/rear of the party during wilderness travel, allowing him to utilize his longspear past other party members.
Zander will also take 1st watch, as he will need rest and time in the morning to prepare spells.
Zander is currently carrying 5 days of trail rations, although is hoping that the party will forage/hunt for enough to avoid having to eat them. He also has a full waterskin.
He has Create Water and Purify Food/Drink memorized. When you say they function as 1st level spells, I assume you meant that they vanish from memory once cast, but still use a level 0 slot?
Spells for today:
0th - Purify Food/Drink
0th - Create Water
0th - Mending
0th - Stabalize
1st - Summon Monster I
1st - Summon Monster I
1st Domain - Longstrider
Annie will stay near the front of the group, but not the absolute front.
If it's all right, I'll take 10 on survival to look for tracks (total 16).
She'll be on 3rd watch.
She has 5 trail rations.
It will be difficult for Annie to track properly unless she takes the lead. She'll be tracking fresh gnome footprints if Gulver takes the lead.
Sven will walk with the magicians in overland travel, and lead the group in corridors and the like. Last watch is fine enough for him.
Lucky is happy with first watch.
He will lead the party in the wilderness (+8 perception/+10 survival/0 stealth) or in dungeons, but is probably more effective acting from the middle of the group.
He has 10 trail rations and is not above foraging for food on the road.
This is what I will be using for logistics unless I hear otherwise:
Wilderness marching order:
Annie
Gulver
Sven
Zander
Lucky (I put you here because you and Annie can switch if necessary. Either way, one of you will want to be in front and back, since you have the best wilderness skills)
Dungeon marching order:
Sven
Annie
Gulver
Zander
Lucky
Watch order:
1st: Lucky, Zander
2nd: Gulver
3rd: Sven, Annie
And yes, Zander, they take up 0-level slots but are used up after one use. Resource scarcity is part of the tension of a good wilderness crawl, after all.
One last thing, I know it can be tricky to decide, but it would help to move more quickly if you established a spokesperson who would decide what direction you go at each juncture.
So, was there a gnome sorcerer at some point? Or...am i tripping?
Yeah, he posted in the gameplay thread just a little bit ago. I'll put him in the middle of the order and 2nd watch.
So don't bother rolling for initiative? Might Gulver get a surprise round action since he had a high perception result and was near the front of the party with Annie?
Since you decided to fire instead of trying to sneak closer, I'll rule that you got your shot off before the goblins were alerted so you do indeed receive the surprise attack, which will kill either one. However, in the future, the order in which people post is the order their actions occur.
I must have hit the random number generator at just the right time!
I'm confused. How did you attack twice when the GM said there wasn't a surprise round? Also, I believe sneak attack has a maximum range of 30' normally.
The DM allowed a surprise round action to Gulver just this once as we ease into his house rules.
And now that you mention it, you are probably correct about the 30' limit to sneak attack. The DM may rule that one goblin still lives. We shall see what he says. Or Gulver could have moved 20' forward. DM's call...
Yeah, I'm not worried about it this time. I allowed the surprise round because he said he shot before you moved out, but in the future we're going in order of post. I always forget the sneak attack range limit, but it isn't worth gong back and changing things this time. We'll remember for next time.
Thank you, benevolent DM. May the archers in the party attempt to recover arrows? If so, what are the rules for this?
50/50 chance. If you forget to roll, they're gone.
Marching order for party: Tondbert will go in fornt of Zander for both overland and within dungeons (As long as that isn't a problem).
Watch order for party: Go secnd with gulver that way he has a caster and someone to cover the watch with him.
How many days worth of food and drink you each have (you may retroactively buy food and supplies in town just this once) I'll grab 2 days worth of rations then just in case, he has a water skin already in his back pack.
This is awesome!
So...has this game died?
I hope not.