As a heads up for those who I haven't already told:
I've been having some issues with my medication lately, which has made it difficult for me to post regularly, especially as a DM, considering the effort it takes. I apologize for the lack of notice, but I'll be seeing my doctor on Wednesday and should hopefully be back to 100% in no time.
For now, though, I've been feeling a bit better and I'll hopefully be able to post tomorrow. My pace might be a little slow for a bit, but I'll get us moving.
Feels like it might be worth a roll call of who's playing, as I'm kind of losing track. The current "intro" question is kind of waiting on posts and the danger is it just sits there, deadlocked.
Active:
- Prophet
- Creon
- Annika
- Gallidren
Active in early November:
- Holgar
- Theodore
I just want to check if either of those latter two players are no longer in, so I'm not waiting on reaction posts.
Both of them are... technically still playing? Theo has had some trouble with work schedules, and has every intention of continuing, but Holgar doesn't have much of an excuse. I live with the guy, I'll go tell him to get his ass in gear if he wants to keep playing.
I apologize for my lack of posting like jon said no excuse just kinda got away from me. gimme a bit to catch myself up ill post once thats done.
Hey Jon I'm having trouble getting to roll20, have you already set it up or am I missing something?
If you're referring to the newest map, I haven't set it up yet. The internet in this cabin isn't great, so I haven't gotten it uploaded yet. It will be up tonight though, hopefully.
Sorry about the delay, folks. I really, really dislike the wi-fi here. But oh well. The map is up!
For Creon and Gallidren:
Here is the link to the game on Roll20
Until the two of you join, I can't give you control of your tokens. If you post and don't have it, just show me/tell me where you want to move and I'll do it and give you control ASAP.
Joined!
Merry Christmas, all!!!
Joined, and thanks Jon. Merry Xmas to everyone, also.
Merry Christmas, guys! I assigned you guys to your tokens, so you can move them. You guys aren't actually... on the map yet, but you're up in that direction. Holgar and Creon can continue to fire on the men in the watch towers, but Theo, Annika, Prophet, and Gallidren are just one square off the map.
And Gallidren, you're up. Whenever you're ready, just get us started.
Jon - to be clear - are the towers on the map just the two inner ones? I count two towers.
Also if we are up in that direction, how far are we from the tower we're firing at?
(and thanks!)
No, there are three posts outside the camp in addition to the two within it. The tower you fired at this last turn with Holgar will begin to catch fire once your turn comes around--which you would know--so the other bandit there is incapacitated for the time being. There are two more watch towers outside the perimeter, which you're around 30 feet from. In total, that puts you about sixty feet from the edge of the camp.
Also, keep in mind I house-rule that all ranged weapons automatically add your Dexterity to damage, in addition to any and all light or finesse weapons.
Lastly, I forgot to mention that the trees grant concealment from anyone more than 10 feet from you, but count as difficult terrain.
Got it. Hadn't realised the Dex bonus applied to ranged, thought it was just melee. Thanks.
Hey Jon. You remember that Improved Off-Hand Tactics feat you asked about (oh, it's fine by the way)? Would you be cool with Annika taking that? It seems fitting for a Swordlord.
Yes, I'm fine with you taking that feat. You can waive the Improved Unarmed Strike requirement as well.
On that note, if any of you want to use something 3rd party, let me know and I'll take a look at it.
Just as a note, Theo has informed me that he won't be able to post for a while, so I'll be taking over for him for the time being. He will, or at least plans to, be coming back later on. However, right now he's moving and he lost his phone, in addition to the madness of the holidays, so he gave me permission to take over for him in the time being.
And, now having posted three times in a row, I have a little holiday gift for all of you. You all get ONE free re-roll of any d20, to be cashed in whenever you wish. No need to ask me; get a bad attack roll? Re-roll it! Critical failure on a save? Re-roll it! You always take the better of the two rolls, so if you end up with a 1, you're not going to critical fail.
Happy holidays, everyone!
You know, I have a question since this has been happening consistently to me recently. What exactly is the logic behind a GM using enemies that can put a martial character unconscious in one hit at 1st level? Seriously, why is it necessary?
To be fair, if you were at full HP it wouldn't have quite dropped you, although 11 damage is certainly nothing to sneeze at. But keeping in mind that at 1st level most martials are still fairly squishy by damage standards. Especially a boss type should be decently built, and if I were making a melee type, I'd give them decent Strength, say 16, and a two-handed weapon, say a greatsword. That right there is 2d6+4 damage, which averages to 11. Any well-built PC is doing loads more than that, even.
Need we remember orcs, the CR 1/3 monster with 2d4+4 damage, an 18-20/x2 crit range, and effectively almost 20 hit points. It can be tough to build something you can actually call a warrior that isn't capable of one-shotting a 1st-level PC on occasion. It's mostly the reason I like to start games at a slightly higher level, even just 2 or 3, and usually with max HP for those first couple.
If I hadn't had every pure martial I'd built recently fall to the exact same thing, I'd probably be less annoyed, but it happens every single time and I'm starting to get sick of it. Never mind that my primary defense ability (Parry and Riposte) requires me to roll a 17 on a computerized random number generator to be of any use against that last attack.
I'm basically out of this fight entirely after a single hit now because we don't have a healer at all. Theo gets lay on hands next level, we lost our inquisitor, Prophet can't heal (I don't know everything the hierophant spirit gives, but he has not logical reason to use it so it's a moot point), Gallidren is a wizard not a cleric, and no one else can cast.
Orcs are also horribly improperly rated. They're labelled as CR 1/3, but their closer to CR 1 or 2 each and rarely come in anything less than raiding parties of several. The CR system is less than accurate on a good day and you know it.
Well, she can only do that because she was flanking. The bandits have Precise Strike, so when they manage to flank you they can deal more damage. Normally she's hitting for less than that. Also she's a not a "random enemy", she's like a mini-boss. None of bandits deal very much damage unless they're lucky, and for the most part you guys have cleaned house on them. That said, I understand your frustration. Level 1 is kind of s~**ty, but unfortunately it's where the AP starts.
That said, since this fight is just about over, I will let you all know that after this fight you'll all be level 2. You can go ahead and level up whenever you're ready, just let me know so I can check your sheet. If everyone can be done with that by... Saturday or Sunday, that'd be great. If not, just let me know.
Orcs are also horribly improperly rated. They're labelled as CR 1/3, but their closer to CR 1 or 2 each and rarely come in anything less than raiding parties of several. The CR system is less than accurate on a good day and you know it.
Oh, I know that. Just pointint out that even threats often thought of as relatively trivial can definitely put the hurt on you. Teamwork feats also add to the craze, though. Makes sense for a group of bandits to have them if they can, though.
Stats
+1 BAB
+1 CMB and CMD
+1 Reflex
+8 HP (d10 HD + 1 Con + 1 Favored Class)
Class Features
+Charmed Life (3/day)
That's all I've got.
EDIT: Yeah, I'm taking the 8
Oh, remember you can choose to roll your HP. You can roll, and if it's below half+1 you take that. That's my bad, forgot to mention that.
Anyone who thinks of orcs as trivial has never actually played Pathfinder. And you forget, orcs, at least in universe, are incredibly dangerous, savage barbarians that virtually everyone hates and fears for their strength and brutality. No one legitimately considers them 'trivial' except apparently the developers that didn't playtest them enough to give them an appropriate CR.
That being said, I'd also disagree with you that bandits should have teamwork feats. They're a loose rabble of cutthroats held together by their fear of the Stag Lord and the fact that they can't really function as bandits alone. Teamwork feats represent extensive training is special tactics to fight as a unit. Most trained armies in Golarion don't have teamwork feats, much less low level bandits.
Normally, I'd agree with you on the bandit thing. There is a specific reason these bandits have a teamwork feat, which you'll find out later on. I made a few very specific changes to the AP, one of which accounts for why they possess such an ability to fight as a unit. Also, I will point out that this isn't Golarion, but if it was I would give their armies teamwork feats. At least basic ones.
EDIT: Guys, this is definitely Golarion. My point still stands, though.
And I'll be interested to see what this reason is.
Golarion armies don't have them because most of the time a soldier is a level 1 fighter who has specific training for his role. Remember, the average soldier in Golarion is sh*tty. For example, the First Guard of Absalom, who are in-universe considered one of the most elite military units in existence, are level 4 fighters. Most soldiers aren't even player classes. They're human warriors with two feats, usually Weapon Focus and Skill Focus. For example, a guard has Weapon Focus, Skill Focus (Perception), and Combat Reflexes. If they need them, commanders often are either cavaliers or have an archetype that grants them the tactician ability.
Jon - I'll PM the stat block.
HP roll (Slayer 2):
... so I'll take that (will put the various mods in the stat block)
hey Jon question for you, do consider a killing blow to include simply bring an enemy to 0 or negative hit points? i ask because the wording for regaining grit is a bit vague.
also figured I'd roll for hit points here.
So I'll be taking the half plus one which will be 6.
Killing blow refers to dropping an enemy, not actually dealing enough damage that their negative HP equals their Constitution. Any time an enemy is dropped in combat I treat that as a kill for grit.
I'll post my level up stuff here, I guess.
At second level Prophet gets shared seance, which will let him share his seance boon with folks pretty much all the time. Effectively this is going to give the party +2 to weapon damage most days.
He also gets taboo, which will give me a limited resource for using spirit surge more often without taking serious penalties from influence. I'll be adding the taboos into his profile.
Another spell known at 0-level, so I'll add that, and my skills all go up obviously. Also just realized I haven't redone my Background Skills, I'll take care of that.
Cool, slightly less squishy.
Level up:
; Gallidren will opt for the half +1 (+4 HP)
Skills: +2r in diplomacy, sense motive and perception; +1r in Knowledge (nature)
Added Spells: Gravity Bow, Mount
His complete level 2 stat block is in his profile.
Stat block updated.
One other item on the gameplay thread: I don't believe they were using regular arrows but they were using crossbows and Holgar should be able to replenish his bolt supply (?).
I typically don't keep much track of mundane ammunition, since in most cases it's easy to find replacements. That said, yes, there are bolts on the crossbowmen as well as arrows among the more typical, mundane gear the bandits owned.
And with the map found, I've updated the map on the Campaign Info page! You can all take a look there to see the locations Kressle had marked on her map, and I've also revealed the areas you've traveled so far. You'll notice they have little gold letters in the corners; anything of note in those areas will be described just under the link to the map on the Campaign Info page. For the moment it's a small list, but it will grow as you explore.
Just so you all know, I'm having some trouble with my account again, so if my posting rate goes down at all it's likely because I'm trying to deal with that. I don't expect it to cause much of a problem, but if I disappear for a bit that's likely what's happened.
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Hey - I discussed these "recollection" posts with Jon, hope they aren't annoying (if so, please say).
Not annoying at all. I do journal entries for a couple of my characters in other games to reflect on the game and give snarky commentary after the fact. They're entertaining.
I'm in PST time zone this week (my "normal" time is GMT); still available to post but it feels like we are waiting on posts from the group's "faces".
Sorry for the delay, guys. School has been killer and this keeps being the thing that gets pushed back a day. I should have some more free time coming up here this week and we'll get moving a little quicker.
On buying goods, there are some things I probably should have bought earlier on - is there a restriction on what Oleg is likely to stock?
No, not particularly. I'll let you know if anything you're looking for specifically might not be there, but he will have any mundane equipment in stock except for anything really bizarre, like Eastern weapons and stuff like that. Magical or alchemical items are harder to find, but if they're not too expensive he'll likely have them.
Just waiting on you guys to wrap up with your respective conversations, and then I can move us along to the next day. Theo should (hopefully) be rejoining us shortly, but his contract just expired so he may be gone a little longer while he looks for work.
Hey guys, two things. First, are you all still here? I haven't seen a lot from most of you recently, so if any of you aren't following the campaign or something similar please let me know. Just post in and let me know if you're still here.
Second, I didn't originally allow it (because this game started before Unchained was really something I had read in-depth), but I am now allowing everyone to use the Stamina rules. You do not need to take the feat, you all gain Combat Stamina as a feat for free. If you aren't familiar with the rules, you can find them here.
On goods, I'll send a list tomorrow (keep meaning to get around to it, but I don't think it's in the critical path). On the game more generally, am waiting for other actions to move things forward, I think.
The two of us that have posted most recently have been in the two parallel locations, which probably hasn't helped. If nothing else it would help to speak on behalf of Theo, just to give me something to react to.
Still here, just been busy and haven't been sure of how to respond.
I've been trying to avoid talking for Theo, since I don't want to have him herd you towards any particular path or anything. That said, I can start having him respond to people if it will make it easier for you all to post.
yeah sorry still, just had a full plate recently.
Jon - sent you a shopping list of items a few days ago. May have fallen off your to do list but let me know if it works.
Huh, I know I sent you a reply. It probably got eaten by the server outages we've been having. Your list is fine, and you can sell back the old bow at full price; within the story I don't care if you trade it to him or have Oleg modify your original bow to have a stronger draw weight, either is fine. That'd net you 5 tanglefoot arrows with nothing left over, other than the gold you just received from him.