Kingmaker Campaign for Group A (Inactive)

Game Master moafnsteel

okay thanks Derakor! If everybody is okay with it, I will start to roll INIT for everybody (monsters and PCs).

As for the skill checks that get lost on the wayside... Ideally you respond to each skill check, that's the best scenario. However, sometimes there's really nothing the check reveals, like a fisherman casting his line without the possibility of a bite. Personally I'm fine with getting no response if there's nothing to 'see', if there's no pertinent result. It's those times the player is really hoping to get some context, or get a result from their check, that a non-response can be a problem. In my experience, if the player felt the check was important to them, then the player will follow up with the GM, like 'Hey, did my perception check of the room reveal anything?' or what have you.

I absolutely agree with Derakor about the GM rolling for the party, it just speeds things along quite a bit. There's as many ways to handle initiative as you can think of. I've had GMs take the average of the monsters init vs the party average init roll, and then let each group go in its entirety. I've had GM's have everyone post their actions for the round in spoilers, and then after everyone's posted, he'll do like a grand re-posting/resolution of everyone's actions in the round. Or you can just have people post when it's their turn, but that is the slowest method I've seen on pbp.

I've thought of a thing or two, but really they're just things that I do, and that doesn't mean they're the best things to do by any stretch. I think we'll learn together what works and what doesn't. One thing that's seems pretty standard, for consistency in posting and cause I must be anal; is the use of text formatting.

"Bolded text generally means words your character is saying out loud."

"Smaller bolded text generally means whispering or speaking quietly."

"Bigger bolded text often means yelling, or just a loud voice, like an Ogre or dragon or something."

Italicized text usually stands for specific thoughts your character is having. Like, I wonder what Kalima wore to bed last night Myrdul thought to himself. ... or something more appropriate.

Of course this is considered OOC communication.

Just a couple things I like doing in my games, you can decide if we want to adopt these or not in your game. :)

NINJA'd by 29 seconds! :)

I thought about rolling one INIT for the party and one for the monsters and then going by DEX mod to see who goes first. What do you all think?

What do you mean by DEX mod exactly? And do you mean; the good guys all go, then the monsters all go (or visa versa) type scenario?

I would roll one roll for the good guys and one roll for the bad guys. Whoever gets the highest roll out of the two groups goes first. Then out of each group I would rank the DEX mod as the order of turn. For instance if the PCs roll was 15 and the monsters roll a 10 then the PCs would go first. Then the order that the PCs would go in would be based on the DEX modifier (and if they have improved initiative) such as if your dex is 18 you havea +4 so you would go ahead of a PC with a DEX of 10. Does that make sense? I had a GM do it that way once and I can see the pros and cons in it. Its really up to the group, I can do it the way I suggested or I just roll individually for everybody.

Personally I really like the method.

Never fume it that way but we can give ita whirl!

That could work. I'm happy to use whatever method works for the GM.

are we into normal initiative yet? is the surprise round over?

Okay, how do we want to split any gold/gear we acquire? I myself am okay with dividing it up equally between the characters, but I'm also okay with making group-based decisions on a per item basis. I don't care that much about acquiring ever leeter gear for my character, I rather have a party that works and in which every character can contribute.

As for the gold we might've made from this encounter, I'd recommend investing in some heavy armor for Derakor. Ha, and I don't care about gear, right? Seriously though: chain mail, breast plate, banded mail, field-plate or fullplate are all improvements. I figure I might as well be the one with a high AC since I can bump it up even higher with a judgement. With levels I'll also get Shield of Faith and other defensive options and it's handy to at least have one attack-soaker in the group. Masterwork weaponry is also a good investment since any to hit bonus is a big boost. Masterwork backpacks will increase the carrying capacity by 1STR and simple light horses can help us carry camping gear, foodstuffs and acquired loot from one place to the other.

And last, as for other options and possibilities, feel free to share them. Investing a part of all major incomes into expendable items for healing and utility is something I'm a big fan of. Scrolls, potions and wands will see us through a heavy encounter or a chain of encounters and or possibly make a tough encounter considerably easier. A simple Bless spell each encounter will do a lot of good with the amount of attacks our party packs :) I'll shut up now!

Masterwork chain shirts for our Shonden and Joanna would be a nice improvement. Perhaps for Myrdul as well? Masterwork bucklers are also nice for ranged characters, since you can get a +1 shield bonus when needed. Might be a bit of a pricey investment though, but it's an option nonetheless.

I would like the mwk chain shirt when it becomes available, but I'm in no hurry. Or rather, Myrdul is in no hurry.

I'm definitely in favor of benefiting the group rather than an equal share for Myrdul, and it helps he's not concerned with material possessions. Expendable items for healing seems fairly important to get sooner rather than later, giving our skill-sets. Lastly I agree that getting someone, probably you Derakor, some good gear to soak damage is a high priority.

I'd prefer to go for a 2-handed weapon, but with the lack of AC and burst healing that probably ain't a wise choice haha.

The other side of the coin is finding out what's available out here in the sticks. With no major city in the area, we're kind of at the mercy of our surroundings. With that in mind, I see the group-think idea is a great one. Work with what we have within the confines of a planned structure.

Maybe set up the following (not sure on order of importance)...

• the Tank(s) (Armor/Shields
  
• the 'Healing Kit' (Potions/Scrolls/Meds)
  
• the Melee Offense (Mk Weapons)
  
• the Ranged Offense (Mk Bows/Arrows/Magic Buffing)

I like that Shonden, the order of the first two is the only thing I'm uncertain about. What's the bigger priority? Healing for after the fights, or to better our chances of surviving the fights? :)

I would like to get some rope from Oleg, if he has it.

I imagine the group will want/need rations, but we could probably forage.

I'd rate MW bows over MW melee weapons, because with the wilds and other partymembers you'll be facing a lot of soft/medium/hard cover. Also, Joanna and Derakor got two Cure Light Wounds a day right now.

The skill heal also has 'treat deadly wounds'. It is a DC20 check that requires 2 charges from a healing kit. You get a -2 for each lacking charge. It heals for 1hp/character level and if you make a DC25, you can add your wisdom mod. Sadly, I don't think we have anyone in the party that can make that check with ease?

I think you're right about the skill check Derakor, no one can hit that very easily. Melee or range makes no big difference to me, but range first does make sense given our open terrain setting.

They could be facing heavy attack penalties such as cover, dim light and undergrowth so yeah :p a simple MW weapon and a bless spell will be a big boost.

I'm all for using our resources as benefits the group.

Fantastic :) and I hope the coming days will treat you better.

I won't go into heaps of detail, but my boyfriend and I have had a few rough spats, and I've changed meds again. The first few days of waiting for them to kick in is rough. So I've just been in a real downer mindset. I almost cancelled my meatspace game, but you know... the DM can't exactly call it off with fifteen minutes to dice-rolling time. :P

At any rate, I'm feeling much better now, just needed a while to get my head on straight.

Ugh, I hear you. And if all else fails, put on some music and crank up the volume :D

I've been listening to Ne Obliviscaris a lot lately - really proggy, technical metal from Sydney, Australia. I photographed one of their gigs about a month ago and fell in love with the music. It's great for just laying back and listening. And it's a nice break from Slayer, which I've been blasting since Hanneman's death.

okay just to give you guys a quick background on gear out in the sticks, Oleg has basic weapons and armor totaling 500gp a week (which will increase) and he can special order any item and it takes 1 week to get there.

On another note about traveling you do not have to take a horse or ride a horse, but I am going to post the travel speeds and how long it takes to fully explore a hex grid.

The first number is just travel time and the second is to fully explore a hex grid

Travel Speed Plains All Other terrain
15ft 11hours / 3 days 16hrs / 5 days
20ft 8 hrs / 2 days 12hrs / 4 days
30ft 5 hrs / 1 day 8hrs / 3days
40ft 4hrs / 1 day 6hrs / 2days
50ft 3hrs / 1 day 5hrs / 1 day

Hey just out of curiosity, what loop did we throw you for? Just moving things too quickly? Or... what did you mean by throwing you for a loop?

Myrdul doesn't want two bows, I put two aside cause I figured someone would want the composite. If no one does then Myrdul will use it and sell the regular longbow.

So if someone else wants the composite, then Myrdul will take the regular longbow. I also don't want the alchemists fire, but I thought the group should have one. If no one else wants it, then sell it. And don't forget to sell the horses! :)

Keep the alchemist fire. You never know when you need to start a fire :) great utility item. I'm simply selling whatever we don't need so we only have 'gold' on the common loot list :D

Gotcha, anyone want to claim the composite bow? The +2 Str rating is pretty nice... Don't get me wrong, I want it, but Myrdul is unused to the bow, goes against his tactics, but he does want to learn. I'll keep the alchemists fire.

Derakor, are you keeping a loot list, I can put in a Google spreadsheet if you'd like, or you can. Whatever works.

Oh sorry, I haven't made one yet. If you want, that's fine. I assume you'll make it a public one so that I (or others) can alter it as well?

My desktop PC kind of gave up on me a couple of days ago, and I'm still trying to find my way around this laptop. Stupid GPU started acting up and the fan has a RPM of 3700 from the moment I turn the computer on -_- it makes more noise than a vacuumcleaner.

As for the bow, Derakor prefers his javelins. He could use it though, but I'd prefer not to =p

Alright, I'll hold onto the bow until someone says otherwise.

And yes, it'll be a public spreadsheet so we can all see it and alter it.

We're keeping the rations, right? Just in case the game in the south is elusive?

Plus, what about the horses? May be good for a pack animal or two, or even scouting. Though I may be the only one in the group considering mounted combat...

Yup, we're keeping one horse by our last tally, no one else wanting to ride just yet. That may change in the future, at least for Myrdul, but he's still getting used to the beasts. Myrdul packed the rations as well.

Reposting for redundancy

KINGMAKER GROUP A - EQUIPMENT SPREADSHEET

I've included a tab for each of us on the spreadsheet, as well as a communal "packhorse" tab for combined loot, shared resources etc... Basically stuff we're putting on the packhorse. I haven't filled out the equipment for y'all on your individual tabs, mostly because I wasn't sure if you'd use it or not. If you are going to use it, I can fill out the info for your character (or you can). If it's not something you think you'll use, then leave it blank. :) Cool? Cool.

The loop for me was that I did not expect you guys to capture any of the bandits lol. I had to figure out where to place the bandits forward post and will be creating an encounter. I am excited to do that its just I was not expecting that lol. I didn't want to give away the man bosses location yet.

Aha! I understand. Glad you're willing to roll with our unexpected punches. :)

That's something you'll learn very quickly about players - they'll always find a way to throw a spanner in your carefully-planned works!

Question for the GM:
With regards to Detect Evil, am I able to use it to locate evil in an area? Our just detect evil in individual object and/or person?

You can do both as a paladin. You can opt to either use it as (swift?) action on a person or use it as the spell :)

Cool, thanks. Guess I'll be using it in the approach to the camp to try and ferret out the lookout.

Good thinking

Shonden I need to read the rule book tomorrow, as I am sick and do not have the rule book with me. I will post hopefully in the morning as I will be gone most of the day visiting family and stuff since its father's day.

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/paladin

At will, a paladin can use detect evil, as the spell. A paladin can, as a move action, concentrate on a single item or individual within 60 feet and determine if it is evil, learning the strength of its aura as if having studied it for 3 rounds. While focusing on one individual or object, the paladin does not detect evil in any other object or individual within range.

Typical Paizo style of writing, but it means you can either use the spell as a standard action as usual or use it as a move action to focus on 1 item or person within 60f and get info as if studied it for 3 rounds. It's a pretty good ability :)

Just a little bumpity bump. :)

DM Cuc did we scare you away?

Please say no...this group is shaping up nicely. :)

Agreed! Look how nicely shaped we are! :D

He mentioned he was sick over the weekend, so I suppose it's a combination of that and a heavy work week :)

.. if not, well, we'll find out soon enough haha.

I'm am keeping zhe faith! :)