Kingmaker: A Brave New World

Game Master GunMetalDrac

Wham bam thank you ma'am!

Nobody survives both. Every bandit and horse is now unconscious!

Man I love Color Spray. XD

What was I saying :)

I presently have no rope, so I'm just pointing my dagger at the prone bandit whom I've previously disarmed. Even should he wake up he'd pose no threat, I reckon

Alayi, Castor, and Korinne have rope, and Oleg probably has some as well, which we probably requisitioned before our assault.

Regardless, we have time to drag all of the bandits away and then tie them up. Just don't let Arawn do any of the tying. A DC9 Escape Artist check is not what we need right now...

It'd still be 19... But just to be on the safe side we'd want a check they couldn't beat even should they opt to take 20 when we're no longer around. I'm afraid Rufus is the only one who can provide that, though my 22 would perhaps suffice against the weaker bandits...

Regardless, we have time to drag all of the bandits away and then tie them up.

In fact, that's only true if none of the horses actually fell on one. If any of the bandits have a leg pinned, good luck getting him off the horse before the effect wears off. The good news in that instance is that they are unlikely to be much of a threat...

Not even close on the duration. It's measured in rounds not minutes. Best case scenario, it will take us one round to pull a man from under a horse, one round to drag him away from the horse, one round per weapon to disarm him & three rounds to bind him; that's a minimum of six rounds, per bandit. Sure, those who dropped to your spell should remain out that long, barely, but the leader made his save against your spell so he will wake up in four rounds,

You should reread the spell description, mate. Those who failed against Korinne's spell are Stunned, and thus Helpless, for six rounds. Also not sure where you are getting three rounds to tie a man up. It can be done in combat in a single round if you have them pinned. And we don't need to go through the process of grappling and pinning. They're out of commission.

entirely aside from the fact that none of us have any way of knowing IC how long the spell will last.

Except, y'know, Arawn and Korinne. Who have some experience with their own spells and would know how long the effects will last. Arawn even mentioned it IC before. Even assuming the average, he can estimate (and Korinne would, as well) that the group has enough time to finish the job with some room to spare.

I play Rufus as someone who has actual battlefield combat experience, with the mild case of PTSD that would come with it. He does not suffer fools in combat gladly.

If you want to play Arawn as an over-confident aristo, that's fine; just realize that Rufus is going to continue to treat him like an over-confident aristo, I.E.: a fool, as long as he continues to act like one.
edit: Castor can attest that this is how I play Rufus with other PC's the first time we get into a combat together. Just ask him, he'll tell you.

And here's where we are going to disagree. You and your character both have been overly antagonistic to everyone since the very beginning. Nearly every OOC post since Page 2 has had at least some air of attack or argumentativeness to it. I know you've said you've got some family issues you're working through, and apologized for bringing them to the table, but time and again they reappear.

She cast it far enough ahead of him not to be a threat and she is currently wearing full studded leather armor, complete with steel shield and longsword thank you very much. She was more making the point that you have no idea what she is capable of and yet you are writing her off as an entertainer when she isn't only one.

Turning her head over her shoulder as she pauses, Alayi replies, "No, I enjoy watching those who dishonor my fighting style without even having bothered to see it first walk away with a few reminders of why challenging an Ifrit to a duel might not be a wise decision. I have yet to kill anyone in a duel. One of the benefits of heating my weapons is that I can minimize my opponent's bloodloss, and thus improve their chance of actually learning from their mistakes. I would not kill you, even in a duel."

She begins walking toward the gate again, making one last comment before turning her head.

"Your life wouldn't be worth the lifetime of regret I would have from taking it."

I wasn't talking about the using the SLA. I was talking about, and I quote, 'I do like watching my foes BURN while I dance around their husks.' You can't turn someone into a husk without killing them, most readily by burning them alive. Is she really that unaware of her words?

.

Rufus, meanwhile, has been sitting sullenly and lashing out with the occasional rude or patronizing comment now and then.

Arawn, meanwhile, has acted like an over-confident aristo this whole time; assuming success will simply fall into his lap without even considering that it might require more than simple 'point & zap'. If he was Destined Bloodline, it might make sense that this overconfidence was from something other than having spent his entire life as a noble's son, but insted Arawn is Maestro.

I was going to leave it at pointing those out, although to be honest I'm still wondering where those extra points on your Diplomacy modfier came from (the trait only gives you a plus one bonus on top of making Diplomacy a class skill), but you keep going on & on about your system mastery & now you want to complain about my OOC posts as well. Fine, you say I'm condescending, patronizing & rude; I say you are cheating because you want the King role & you don't care what you have to do to get it.

Alayi wasn't thinking per se about the implications of the words... she was lashing out in anger over being dismissed in such a fashion by someone she saw as not having done anything other than know a name of the leader, which could have been obtained withing a few minutes once they were conscious again anyway (from her point of view anyway). While she was walking away she had a moment more to think, based in part from Rufus' reaction, and decides to clarify that she does not mean to kill him, or anyone that she can avoid doing so (outside the bounds of law that is). So... I stand by my statement from her initial reaction: she is a good person, but is a hot head about a few topics (like many people are) and when she has her buttons pushed she sometimes speaks from the passions not the mind. (Especially when the buttons are pushed for no reason from her standpoint: remember, she hadn't even been given a chance to say anything to you or anyone yet, and had actually done her part of the initial plan perfectly... and as I said she is wearing armor, so even though you might see bits of the dancer's outfit under it, you would have to be blind not to see the armor on her... she is not wearing fantasy-style studded leather for women, but functional-style studded leather.)

Yo guys, calm down a bit.

We're here to have some fun, role play a bit and get the chance to play with people we would never get to play with due to distance. I don't really want to have people sniping at each other both in the discussion and in the game. I understand that everyone has an idealized vision of a character in their head but sometimes that can come a little at odds with the actually game play. I would prefer we don't have in character stuff rubbing people the wrong way and having it come out in discussions.

If everyone is ok with talking through this, I will say that I will take a closer look at everyone's character sheets. I did a cursory glance when i first accepted but I'll do a full review over the coming days. That should help with one of your complaints Rufus. Going back though, try to remember that if a character can't get along in the group, maybe the character shouldn't be in the group. There is potential that PM set up some mild party conflicts when he chose the groups but I can't really just throw people out of the game and I don't want to. I think all of us can work through this small problem together.

I do think calling each person out on their character's looks and personality was a bit much, Rufus . I think you can try to tone it down a bit. I know everyone can have some problems, either in real life or with just the people they are playing with, but I think we can work through that, together. If you do not, I don't really want to say this, but you can always just politely bow out of the game.

Lastly, I am not a HARD AND FAST RULES guy. I do not follow every single piece of information down to make sure EVERYTHING is kosher. If I am in the wrong, I will certainly admit it but I don't think TTRPGs are something that have no wiggle room.

Basically, everyone relax a bit, and let's play :D

You are absolutely correct, GMGM. I shall refrain from any further OOC confrontation.

Thank you GM. I am not above a little in game conflict, but it was really beginning to feel to me like it was going beyond that. I apologize to you, the rest of the party, and you Rufus, for my part in pseudo-egging it on. I won't presume to think that you are bringing out of game issues to the table, as I am not you (and for that matter cannot see you) but I will echo the sympathies of our table mates that you even have out of table issues on your plate to begin with. If you want to PM me about them to vent (a la "yelling your issues at an inanimate object") and you think it will help feel free to do so. And "in character", Alayi will calm down about it shortly without you having to do anything. She is somewhat used to people looking down on her aspirations, and in some ways it will only serve to act as a motivator to prove that she isn't just a graceful dancer or talented swordsmith to Rufus the next time combat might ensue.

I missed all the brouhaha since I was at work, but I don't really have anything substantial to add to what's already been said. For the record though, I've not been particularly bothered by anyone OOC. Korinne is still trying to decide what she thinks of everyone :)

As to our current situation, I wasn't sure if we'd agreed on playing "good cop, bad cop" or not and neither was Korinne so that's why she said something there.

We never really discussed WHAT we were going to do with them, aside from interrogate them...

My apology for my absence today. Saturday is my tabletop game day. I've got to finish something up tonight, then I'll catch up with what happened today. Worst case, I'll do so tomorrow.

Re: What transpired IC and OOC:

I have no issue with what happened IC. Characters with strong personalities clash. I think it's a good source of roleplay.

The problem is when this spills into OOC, and I feel it has.

(I'd started writing issues I had with things stated above, but then I realized that I'd probably just be throwing oil in the fire.)

Rufus, if you just take a look at how the PFSRD Wiki presents traits, I think you'll find that Arawn's trait picks are a lot less questionable when you see what information isn't presented there.

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/traits/social-traits/princess-female
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/traits/religion-traits/secret-knowledge

I'd like to encourage everyone here to give everyone else a chance before assuming the worst. Please, let's keep the bickering in character, where it's actually enjoyable.

Hey guys, just as a reminder, weekends are usually not my best times to post, so I will try to have something up this evening if possible. It may not be until Monday that i can make a post.

It has been pointed out to me that I may have confused some people with certain of my post formatting choices. In the interests of clarity, I am making this post so that what I post has a better chance of being interpreted as I intended.

Here goes:

If it is a Gameplay post, but not something Rufus is doing, saying, or thinking, it will generally be Like this.
In essence, any time I use the OOC formatting, I'm breaking the 'fourth wall'.
If it is a Gameplay post, then bold between "" means something that Rufus is saying.
If it is a Gameplay post, then italics indicates something he is thinking, although I don't believe I have made a post of that nature in this game. However, I have often been known to do so, so it is likely in the future.
That said, sometimes his words are italicized or enlarged in a 'speech bubble'. This means that the words in question are being emphasized or his volume is raised, respectively.
Rufus uses pauses for emphasis, I also have been known to do it to break up my text so that it isn't quite as much of a 'wall of text'. When I do this, it will look something like this.

"The sentence will begin, the pause will arrive...
and then the sentence continues, ending as it will."
Yes, I freely acknowledge the purple in my prose.

I tend not to quote the Gameplay posts Rufus is replying to, mainly because that's how my head works, but also because sometimes people get confused in conversations where a lot is going on at once & that is part of the experience for me.
Rufus is multilingual. He will frequently switch from Taldane (Common), to whatever seems to be the native language of who he is talking to, if he knows it. When that happens, I use Google Translate for the other language & then put the Taldane in a Spoiler marked with the Language he is using, so if you also happen to speak that language, or have some means of understanding other languages, feel free to open the spoiler box.
Right now the Languages he knows/I use are;
Hallit/I use Maori because the first game where I had a character who actually spoke Hallit, the player of the other Hallit speaker thought Maori would be cool.
Taal (or Halfling)/I use Dutch, which is why I call it Taal, because Dutch is another language like English in that it largely derives from both the Germanic languages & the Romance languages commingled, and Halfling is described as being a kind of patois of associated languages.
Varisian/I use Romanian because Varisians as an ethnicity are essentially derived from Hollywood's portrayal of Eastern Europeans/the Romany peoples.
Those are the Languages that Rufus knows now. He is likely to pick up more as time goes by. If it happens that he picks up a language your character already speaks, feel free to tell me what you would prefer I use.

Pretty sure that is it for the Gameplay formatting. As to the Discussion formatting...

I rarely use the OOC formatting in the Discussion thread. When I do, it is generally for purposes of levity, I.E.: still breaking the 'fourth wall'.
I use italics for emphasis, particularly if I wind up with a sentence with the same two words in a row, I will almost always wind up italicizing the one which is intended to receive the emphasis.
I also use bold face for emphasis, but usually that is only if a particular sentence has two different reasons for emphasis. Yes, I'm a grammar geek. One of Play-by-Post's attractions for me is that I can craft exactly what I want to say/do/describe, unlike Tabletop or Live Action, in which you are acting in the moment & the moment is transitory. Of course, one of the downsides of this is that, yes, I do wind up drafting and editing and re-editing my posts before I finally hit 'submit'; which leads to situations where I've taken an hour or more to post something that effectively only takes a few seconds...
No, I have no family history of OCD, not at all! Whatever leads you to even consider such a question?!
If I have a question or comment upon something that is happening in Gameplay, but I don't have Rufus doing, saying, or thinking anything; I will make the post in Discussion so that I'm not cluttering up the Gameplay thread with non-Gameplay posts. Now, if I am only making a roll, but not otherwise 'acting', I will still make the post in Gameplay, because the roll is either a Saving Throw or a skill check or something similar and I don't want our GM to have to switch between threads to figure out what I rolled.

I believe that covers the majority of my formatting quirks. This information is either helpful or not. If not, thank you for taking the time to read to this point anyway.

I've already noticed Rufus idiosyncratic speech patterns and I indeed enjoyed how they naturally forced my mind voice to follow their particular cadence. I considered adopting a similar style, but I had to abandon the notion as I've never managed to master English's peculiar system of melodic accents (my own mother language instead being highly tonic - i.e. words are always stressed on the same syllable regardless of their position within the sentence).

Recreating our own world's linguistic families within Golarion has sometimes been an intellectual amusement of mine, too. Though I figure my perception of them is skewed by the fact I instinctively associate Common with my own native language - Italian.

That way, Azlanti becomes Latin, Taldan becomes 17th century "spanishized" Italian, Chelaxian is Dante's Italian, Varisian (originating from Thassilonian Azlanti) would fit perfectly as Romanian and so on.

Using Maori in place of Hallit is a brilliant pick. Sometimes I've had Halflings speak Esperanto (or Flemish, which is actually Dutch with French influences). Skald - Swedish (or better yet, Icelandic), Kelish - Pharsi (or Arab, though I personally prefer Pharsi) and Osiriani - Ancient Egyptian are clearly obvious matches.

Also, I'd like to renew my plea to have someone roll an aid another Diplomacy check. I'm 2 points away from making them all friendly - which, considering they were starting from hostile, I'd consider as a personal triumph granted by the Random Number Generator Gods themselves.

Xelani: You can only shift a target's attitude by two steps with a single Diplomacy check, usually.

Right. I was hoping that defeating them before they even knew what hit them & showing mercy immediately afterwards would count as "particular circumstances", allowing a natural 20 to get them to friendly ;)

Let's see what the GM says - it looks like one of them (likely the one with an abysmal CHA modifier, judging from his description) is already a bit less apathetic than the others.

Firstly, I'm not going to tell you what their exact attitude is ;) I also don't see diplomacy as a skill that automatically wins any situation of talking. Basically, you actually have to conduct diplomacy by being willing to appeal to what they want. Rolling high doesn't mean squat if you aren't really in a position to help/sway anything.

Of course, you guys are in such a position :) Offering them an option not to meet the hangman, which is what would happen in normal circumstances, is enough to get them fairly friendly with you. Of course, as can be noticed, it doesn't necessarily mean they are being earnest. Diplomacy doesn't change their basic character, just how they act around you.

Of course - that's why Xelani advocated submitting them first and talking to them later when we were discussing how to best deal with them. I was more or less trying to set up a carrot / stick scenario - though she'd surely like to be able to set them on a long-term reform path.

The way she sees it, sending them back to Restov would just mean the gallows for them, as any pseudo-medieval judicial system would hardly contemplate long term imprisonment for those not of noble birth.

P.S.: unimaginatively enough, the code for writing smaller text is just (smaller)this(/smaller) ;) There's a handy cheat sheet at the bottom of the very field which is used to write a post, hidden by a spoiler (the "Show" button following the "How to format your text" string)

Doh, missed that part of the cheat sheet. Thanks!

On the subject of languages, I've used the following analogues:

Elven = French; After all, it's even fantastic to curse with.
Sylvan = Gaelic
I actually have used Dwarven = Gaelic, as well, though never in the same game. Should probably figure out something for that...
Draconic, I feel, should be something a bit harsher sounding. German springs to mind, but doesn't seem right. Of course, since this is done by text, a language that uses syllabry or logographic text would also fit quite well.
I chose Hebrew for Arawn's spells simply because of my choir experience. Several songs in Hebrew, makes it difficult, if not impossible, for me to divorce Hebrew from music in my mind.

@Rufus: You should be able to nest multiple spoilers within each other, just like quotes, no? Lemme see...

Edit: NOPE! Odd. May not be possible, then?

Yeah, I've seen a few forums that have issues with spoilers within spoilers. Probably has to do with the HTML coding for Forums.

Nope, I've also tried this but I discovered [bigger]similar tags[/bigger] don't nest.

Sylvan = Gaelic is also a match I usually go for. As for Hebrew, I usually associate it to Celestial, due to the Kabbalah. Also, making Elvish sound like French begs for having German acting as the understudy for Dwarven (pointless trivia of the day: Tolkien actually modeled Khuzdul after Hebrew).

Draconic is usually some sort of Old English to me.

@Rufus: yeah, I just supposed they had to be somewhat related because of their history. As for Chelaxian, Taldan and Galt, I figured they're all basically Common though still probably differing in regional inflections and mannerisms - which made me associate them to different forms of Italian. Galt bordering Kyonin would have made them pick up some sort of French Elvish accent, perhaps ;)

For future record, I prefer to roll the more "inactive" skills myself behind screen doors. This includes Sense Motive and some perception rolls. If you want to specifically look at something that would require a perception roll, that's fine but simply looking around or trying to notice something I will roll privately and let you know in game what you see. I will include anything special in the description of an area if you see anything of note. I didn't mention it before so it's fine so far.

With that being said, Arawn, that is what the OOC after him spilling the beans was about. As far as anyone in the room could tell, he's telling the truth. Same goes to the OOC for Xelani and Rufus outside. That was their sense motives telling them that.

Oh, I know that! But Arawn doesn't. He's double checking with the other person in the room just to make sure.

Oh one thing, since we're now getting to loot. I figured this went without saying but just to be clear:

I have zero tolerance for people pocketing gold/items without the groups consent. So if Alayini(choosing you only because you're the closest thing this group has to a rogue ;), finds 50gp, it's shared with the group automatically. If there is an item that you personally should get, I will explicitly say it. As a group, you can figure out how to divide the gear and I won't say anything about that. Just, what is found is pooled with the group regardless of who finds it.

Granted, I don't really think there is anyone in this group(in or out of character) that would do that, I just wanted to be clear going forward.

I strongly approve of this policy. I can't conceive of a better way to build player animosity than actively screwing one another of loot, so I agree with this.

ça va sans dire

Sounds good to me!

-Posted with Wayfinder

Nope. I'm gonna steal every little bit of shine I can and hoard it to myself without the party knowing about it. :P Kidding, obviously.

I'm putting this here because I am going to refrain from IC posting until some of the other PC's have a chance to make posts.

EDIT: I only now see Rufus's post. I'll tell you plain and simple: I'm not interested in that level of micromanaging. I just assumed we were no longer within earshot as I was tired about the spoiler thing. I could have specified it, but I didn't, mostly because that would have taken a long time for everyone (including our GM playing Oleg) to read my post, agree to move away etc. Also, since we were discussing everything in Elven, we were effectively cutting you out of the conversation - something I consider a far worse roleplaying sin than "not being able to put up an effective interrogation" (an art I couldn't care less about, by the way). About the bandits, we can just leave them bound for a couple of days, with Oleg and Svetlana providing them with food from time to time. No, I'm not interested in knowing how they'll be able to perform their physiological functions. Also, I'm playing a LG Paladin: if I have to lose a tactical advantage to make good on a promise, I'll do it (of course, I'll try to find a way to do both should the opportunity present itself). You'll call it being Lawful Stupid, i call it being a heroic character in a heroic campaign. But I see how our play styles might just be irreconcilably different.

.

Thanks for posting that Rufus. I was going to put in the Gameplay section a bit of stuff about the conversation but I thought posting in discussion is better.

I agree with Xelani that that level of micromanagement is not needed. I can understand Rufus wanting to take extra precautions, so I see his point. Players assuming things can get them into a lot of trouble :D

Really it was my mistake. In my minds eye, I was seeing this conversation far from the bandits but didn't make that clear. I should have said that Oleg beckons you over to him rather than him approaching you. My mistake. I'll try to be better at that in the future.

Also in the future, I'd prefer to keep big OOC stuff in the discussion. Asking me for rules clarification is ok in gameplay but explaining your character's actions, while understandable in gameplay, can clutter up the post. So if you feel the need to explain further, post in discussion. I definitely read both at least ;)

Actually, I do think that sharing a physical table with you would be quite a memorably enjoyable experience; and re-reading my post as you quoted it makes me realize I was quite a bit ruder than I thought in expressing my point - I apologize.

Indeed, I think that the vivid description of the finer nuances of even the littlest of actions can sometimes provide a degree of immersion which is one of the finest things about role-playing - unluckily, I've come to discover it isn't one of those PBPs strong suits, if only because of the coordination between players it requires.

To provide an example: when Xelani was pointing a dagger to one of the bandits' throat earlier, I was having her do that simply because I had no rope and there were no plans about what to do after defeating them; so instead of just stalling the game while waiting for a consensus to emerge in the discussion thread I just took the only action I could to drive the game forward; since there were 6 of us against 5 unconscious bandits, I realized things would have turned out in our favor anyway. Same goes with the interrogations. If we were at a physical table, making the sorts of arrangements Rufus advocates would have been easy, trivial even. In PBPs, every character is comparatively blind to the intentions of the group at large, provided those intentions even exist in the first place. Sometimes, to maintain momentum, a character has to take an action, so that the others characters could react, and so on. Trying to stick to a particular plan without it having been properly understood and agreed upon by everyone, even if it is actually a very sensible one, often results in PCs behaving as a bunch of dudes acting as the absolute protagonists of their own personal absurdist play. Or worse, weaving some sort of Penelope's web, each one trying to undo what another has just accomplished. A lot of PBPs die that way IMHO, just because some groups never have the chance to bond, which makes everyone lose interest quickly.

As for making promises: indeed, she is very idealistic, but she's going to try to stick to these promises the best she can. In her mind, the bandits can be left at Oleg's for a couple of days (bound and -potentially- gagged) by asking him a favor, and then, once the detachment from Restov arrives, they might gain their freedom by the sweat of their brows. It's the heroic rather than sensible thing to do - no doubt about that. But to put it into perspective: she just succeeded at a DC 33 Diplomacy check (Arawn also having performed similarly just a couple of feet away). Which I know doesn't mean a thing in and of itself, but should that have been an Acrobatics check, she would have just obliterated the long jump world record. To make a(n admittedly stretched-out) comparison: think of the most stunning display of Charisma a man has ever made in history. She just outperformed that, at 1st level. Because basically, Golarion is an epic fantasy setting, and such things are supposed to happen.

Hope that didn't sound like a lecture on PBPs, if it did, I apologize once more, and all the more so as you're obviously the more experienced player between the two of us. In reality, I was just trying to provide a rationale for Xelani's (and, by extension, mine) actions. That said, let's go on with the AP and have fun ;)

Stuck phone posting at work so I'll probably comment again later tonight when I've got more time to think about what I want to say. I don't think it would hurt to try and hash out a happy medium on how much micromanaging/managing we want to do without it totally breaking character for PCs like Rufus (apt to be cautious) and others who are more apt to be impulsive.

-Posted with Wayfinder

Stuck phone posting at work so I'll probably comment again later tonight when I've got more time to think about what I want to say. I don't think it would hurt to try and hash out a happy medium on how much micromanaging/managing we want to do without it totally breaking character for PCs like Rufus (apt to be cautious) and others who are more apt to be impulsive.

The really sad part is, once he knows the rest of you well, Rufus is likely to be the most impulsive of us all. It's just that right now, he doesn't know any of you from Aroden...

Because I can't really post this in game, Alayi would be willing to stay behind and keep guard. Yes it would set you short by one on your assault team, but it might make Oleg feel better about having the prisoners there. It also would allow her to begin working on parts to repair the catapults. She doesn't have eng, so someone else who does will need to help her with plans for them, but she should be able to use her crafting to fabricate the parts needed to bring them back online. Just throwing it out there as a possibility in the meta game.

I'd thought about having someone stay back, but while it makes sense in character, I am very much not a fan of splitting the party out of character, especially this early in the game. I can't imagine it being very fun for you to be out of the equation for a while, and I'd rather not have GM stuck handling two different areas at once.

Eh, I would find ways to keep myself amused in game, and if the GM is willing I could carry on interactions with Oleg and Svetlana... the prisoners... even possibly the Restov guards, if they ever show up.

Which is another thing... we are all assuming that the guards are coming. They haven't yet (and they were supposed to have arrived prior to us to begin with) and we don't have any guarantee that they will in any semblance of a timely fashion. Alayi in character (and I as her player) both think that there is a probability that they won't show up at all. And why would they? Restov has its own problems politically with the current rulers of Brevoy. Heck, them sending out the parties to colonize and conquer the Stolen Lands is precisely because of the fact they do not have a lot of resources, men, or allies. They are trying to aquire them while at the same time creating buffer states to secure their southern borders if the northern one suddenly becomes a combat zone. It makes no sense for them to send a detatchment of troops to Oleg under that circumstances, as it would be one less squad they could send north. Just food for thought, haven't played this before so for all I know they are right around the corner, late for the action as always.

Phone posting from work, so I have to make this quick.

Arawn's proposal of leaving Rufus behind was solely based on their altercation a couple of (in game) minutes prior. As a player, I fear and despise splitting the party. It never ends well...

Though it works fairly well in PbP, it's still a gut reaction against it...

@Xelani: I made that post in a rush, based only on my memory of Arawn's talking to Happs. Didn't even cross my mind that Xelnlani had proposed it first. My apologies.

-Posted with Wayfinder

At Xelani: no worries, great minds think alike... perhaps upon discussion both will stay or some other combination of folks.

At Arawn and Castor: I fully understand your reluctance, but one person staying in this instance might not be a bad idea... two might be pushing it but it also might be doable without the away party wiping.

At Rufus: Curious on your thoughts to having a guard party behind helping Oleg and company... assuming of course that Xel actually convinces them to convert their home to a penitentiary temporarily.

@ Alayini: That is actually the only way I see it really being feasible, truly. It would likely need at least two of us however, because I don't see the bandits not trying something...

As to two characters staying threatening party effectiveness... We still would have four in the 'away team', which is the standard assumption for an AP. Considering that two of them would be mages with access to color spray, I honestly don't see the rest of you lot being in that great a danger. Just don't do anything stupid. I would rather be in that group, but as much of that is because I wasn't in the last game that Castor & I played in as any other reason. If Xelani manages to talk Oleg & Svetlana into letting them stay, Rufus will stay as well.

edit: As to loot, unless somebody else wants them, Rufus would take the Composite Longbow, a reasonable portion of the arrows & the alchemist's fire.

Assuming that we split, Castor will be going to the bandit camp. I believe he's the best suited to helping the party find its way there, and that it's more likely that that's where healing will be required.

If that's the way the party is thinking, it may actually be appropriate to have one of the mages stay behind, in case they try to rush the guards. Arawn would be loathe to stay with Rufus, but it could be a good way for them to come to grips with each other; stop the bickering. Just an idea.

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I'll wait for a bit. Seems the general consensus is that you guys will attempt to convince Oleg and failing that, leaving people behind.

For my 2 cents, I don't have a problem with leaving some people behind though it could be more dangerous. I will say that I will lower the difficult back to the normal 4 person AP difficulty if you guys do decide to leave people behind. Doesn't mean it will be any more difficult.

What happens to those left behind will depend on who gets left behind.

Well that is funny... we went from most people worrying, at least out of character, about leaving people behind to just about everyone volunteering for the "staying behind" party (except Castor, and he is right that healing will be more likely to be needed in the away team... and Kori, but she hasn't been able to post yet).

@Rufus, I don't see anyone else attempting to grab it... the +2 would be partially wasted on Alayi, who's STR bonus is just +1... a regular long bow is enough for me, just glad to be able to trade back up myself. She should have enough arrows, though if there are leftovers she will take a few... can never have enough ammunition after all.

Still sticking by my character wanting to stay. She is serious about both protecting Oleg and Svetlana from our merry band of captives (if they get free) and the captives from premature execution (whether by these mythical soldiers from Restov that may or may not arrive or from the hands of a vengeful Oleg... the man strikes Alayi and me as the type that might not be above killing them while we are gone and then later claiming they attempted to escape or something). While she could see Xel (knowing her) doing an adequate job of protecting both sides from each other and from outside influence, she would have a harder time trusting any of the others (including Arawn, whom she only knows a little) from being willing to do the same. No offense meant by that, it is more the lack of knowledge about the other's motivations and wills. (Example: She would think (whether rightly or not) that Rufus would protect the two sets from each other just fine... but the second lawmen from Brevoy arrived that he would hand them all over without a second thought, it being both the technically legal and tactically efficient choice.)

Normally I'm on the "never split up never never ever" side of things, but I do agree that it's looking like it may be the best option in order to try and keep all of our hastily-made promises and to keep everyone mostly happy :)

As far as who should go and who should stay, I'm in agreement that Castor should go with the away team as well as one person who can take a hit or two in melee combat, which seems to be Xelani or Rufus. As far as Korinne herself, she'll stay or go as needed though she'd likely prefer to go with the away team. Technically she can do a little healing as well though she's not shared that she's capable of doing so yet.

Can't leave both Rufus and Alayi. That's all of our melee. I still think Arawn or Kori should stay, just because they have the AoE to handle a bumrush. Arawn won't want to stay, but will if asked to (albeit sullenly).

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