Status: NONE Male Human Mythic (Trickster) Kineticist 6; hp 54/54 +6 temp hp; AC 17, T 12, FF 15 ; Init +1; F+9, R +7, W +4; Perc +10
Resources:
Burn 0/6; Buffer 1/1; Surge 5/5; Hero Point: 3
Drancis sees the fungal creature climb out of range and immediately starts calling upon his aetheric powers, concentrating the mass into a force strong enough to knock it from its perch...
Will save DC 14:1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16 If this is a psionic effect Drancis gets a +2 for his Resilient Peculiarity trait.
Move: Gather Power (1 Burn)
Attack: Use Pushing Infusion against the Aardregghr, using a Surge here. Bull Rush, Surge:1d20 + 7 + 1d6 ⇒ (4) + 7 + (4) = 15. Target is Knocked back 5'.
Female chlorvian NG Oracle of Wood 5 | hp 38/38 | AC 19 (t 12, ff 18) | CMD 17 | F +4, R +3, W +5 | Init +5 | Perc +0, low-light | spells: 1st-7/7, 2nd-2/5 | Current Effects: -2 Str dam | Hero: 1
Mayenyi quickly sheathes her shortspear and her shield and bends down to lay a hand on the ground. It's only there an instant before she stands back up again, keeping her palm flat as she goes, until she is standing upright and her flattened palm is entirely over her head. Filling in the space between the ground and the oracle's hand is what looks like a slim, straight-trunked sapling - but when her hand is right around 7 feet in the air, Mayenyi suddenly stops raising it and instead just grasps the sapling around the trunk. Several narrow branches, bits of wood, and strips of bark fall away and evaporate into nothingness, and what remains is a shining, well-polished longspear, which she takes into both hands and points up toward the thing near the ceiling.
Swift action to stow the quickdraw shield, move action to stow the shortspear, then standard to use wooden weapon.
Male Ratfolk Mythic (Trickster 1) Preservationist 5 | AC (22)18/15/15 | HP 47/47 | F+7,R+8,W+3 | (+2 on saves vs. poison) | Init. +3 | Perc. + 11 | 20' Movement | Darkvision | 5/5 Hero points | 10 bombs a day | 5 Mythic power uses per day
Rikkan delays to see if the others can finish the enemy before he had to throw another bomb.
Female chlorvian NG Oracle of Wood 5 | hp 38/38 | AC 19 (t 12, ff 18) | CMD 17 | F +4, R +3, W +5 | Init +5 | Perc +0, low-light | spells: 1st-7/7, 2nd-2/5 | Current Effects: -2 Str dam | Hero: 1
Unless it's provoking an AoO, I don't have an action to make an attack with - I had to use my standard just to make the longspear in the first place.
Of course, if it is provoking, then sure! longspear attack:1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9, damage:1d8 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8
Ack, sorry, the forums stopped alerting me to new posts.
Seeing the creature on the ceiling reaching tendrils down, Kasia raises one of her lower legs pointing in its direction. She mutters briefly as the leg pulls web from her spinner, before hurling a fist-sized web at the creature, hoping to at least stop it from attacking the others.
Use Web. Web lasts for 40 minutes. DC 15 Reflex save to negate effects. If the creature fails, it's treated as Grappled.
Male Ratfolk Mythic (Trickster 1) Preservationist 5 | AC (22)18/15/15 | HP 47/47 | F+7,R+8,W+3 | (+2 on saves vs. poison) | Init. +3 | Perc. + 11 | 20' Movement | Darkvision | 5/5 Hero points | 10 bombs a day | 5 Mythic power uses per day
Rikkan moves forward and uses a bomb, throwing it up toward the creature.
I thought maybe you had something in your action economy that would let 'use' be 'attack'... not draw / wield...
Kasia's orb of gossamer arcs up towards the ceiling, sticking steadfastly against the stone there... yet not quite holding the strange creature firm...
Aardregghr, Reflex Save vs Web: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20, saved
...all is not in vain though, Rikkan's bomb igniting the highly flammable silks - and providing a peculiar upside-down pyre for the creature above them.
GM Only:
Aardregghr = 37 - 2d4 ⇒ 37 - (3, 1) = 33/85
The feeling of unbearable heat, of being burnt alive... starts to build in the minds of each of the group - and a strange, unintelligible voice screams out in fury at the edge of their consciousness. Clearly now, in a fight to the death, the fungus swipes down again with its tendrils...
Status: NONE Male Human Mythic (Trickster) Kineticist 6; hp 54/54 +6 temp hp; AC 17, T 12, FF 15 ; Init +1; F+9, R +7, W +4; Perc +10
Resources:
Burn 0/6; Buffer 1/1; Surge 5/5; Hero Point: 3
Drancis eyes the mass of plant-flesh burning and inwardly shudders. Have to put it out of its misery! He thinks to himself. He then forms a large aether bubble in his mind and flings it at the alien fungus.
Move: Gather Power (1 Burn)
Attack: Kinetic Blast against the Aardregghr.
Kinetic Blast, Burn:1d20 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 6 + 1 = 21 Bludgeoning damage:1d6 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 6 + 2 = 14 treated as magic for the purpose of bypassing DR.
Female chlorvian NG Oracle of Wood 5 | hp 38/38 | AC 19 (t 12, ff 18) | CMD 17 | F +4, R +3, W +5 | Init +5 | Perc +0, low-light | spells: 1st-7/7, 2nd-2/5 | Current Effects: -2 Str dam | Hero: 1
GM Zed wrote:
Mayenyi - This is what threw me...
Mayenyi wrote:
...then standard to use wooden weapon.
I thought maybe you had something in your action economy that would let 'use' be 'attack'... not draw / wield...
Of course, that makes sense. And not helped by "wooden weapon" being about the most boring special ability name ever. I'll try to be more clear next time.
Knowledge (nature) because I never rolled it:1d20 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11
"Blasted fungus," Mayenyi murmurs through gritted teeth. She stabs with the new spear, trying to end the hated parasite's existence quickly.
As Drancis' manipulated aether crashes into the fungus, bludgeoning it and smearing matter across the ceiling, the screeching in the minds of the friends continues... it is enough of a distraction to send Mayenyi's spear thrusting at an inopportune angle...
GM Only:
Aardregghr = 19/85
....and, from within the strange glass prison in the chamber, the elali watches the friends with hope.
Male Ratfolk Mythic (Trickster 1) Preservationist 5 | AC (22)18/15/15 | HP 47/47 | F+7,R+8,W+3 | (+2 on saves vs. poison) | Init. +3 | Perc. + 11 | 20' Movement | Darkvision | 5/5 Hero points | 10 bombs a day | 5 Mythic power uses per day
Delaying to try to save bombs for now. If the other two don't hit, I'll go from there!
Male Ratfolk Mythic (Trickster 1) Preservationist 5 | AC (22)18/15/15 | HP 47/47 | F+7,R+8,W+3 | (+2 on saves vs. poison) | Init. +3 | Perc. + 11 | 20' Movement | Darkvision | 5/5 Hero points | 10 bombs a day | 5 Mythic power uses per day
Rikkan was torn as the creature appeared to be really wounded. He didn't want it to get off more attacks, though, so he used another bomb.
Kasia follows up on Zoreck's wounding of the fungus... and Rikkan's bomb, exploding dead centre of the vegetable 'bulb', finishes the fight. Scorched matter rains down from the ceiling, spattering the floor, the group and the surfaces of the glass chamber with fetid black material...
Combat Over
Excitedly from within the chamber, surely convinced that the group are no allies of those that call this place home, the elali gestures for the group to rescue her somehow - yet although the chamber has the faint outline of a door within it, there is no obvious way of opening it.
Female chlorvian NG Oracle of Wood 5 | hp 38/38 | AC 19 (t 12, ff 18) | CMD 17 | F +4, R +3, W +5 | Init +5 | Perc +0, low-light | spells: 1st-7/7, 2nd-2/5 | Current Effects: -2 Str dam | Hero: 1
Mayenyi will cast detect magic in hopes of gaining a clue on how to open the door.
The chamber radiates a moderate abjuration aura - its effects clearly blocking audible communication and sealing the elali within her enclosure. Further examination of the 'door' reveals the finest of orifices, a lock maybe?
It is a Disable Device DC35 to get past the lock here.
Male human Mythic (Champion 1) Barbarian (Unchained Savage Technologist) 5/Gunslinger 1
Stats:
hp 63/63 | AC 18 (touch 14; FF 14) | Init +5 | Per +12 | Fort +8; Ref +8; Will +6 (+8 raging)
With the snot-monster dead, Zoreck feels his ire drain out of him. He leans against a wall while he cleans and reloads his gun with a standard bullet and powder.
Retconning my resource tracking: I meant to use an alchemical cartridge for that last shot. Revised values are below...
He then approaches the chamber that entraps Mayenyi's friend. Tapping on it with the butt of his pistol, he asks, "Any idea what this thing is made of? Maybe we can blast our way through it..."
Female chlorvian NG Oracle of Wood 5 | hp 38/38 | AC 19 (t 12, ff 18) | CMD 17 | F +4, R +3, W +5 | Init +5 | Perc +0, low-light | spells: 1st-7/7, 2nd-2/5 | Current Effects: -2 Str dam | Hero: 1
"There's an abjuration on it," Mayenyi notes, "which might be reinforcing the walls."
Status: NONE Male Human Mythic (Trickster) Kineticist 6; hp 54/54 +6 temp hp; AC 17, T 12, FF 15 ; Init +1; F+9, R +7, W +4; Perc +10
Resources:
Burn 0/6; Buffer 1/1; Surge 5/5; Hero Point: 3
Drancis slowly approaches the enclosure. "Well, I think I can shatter the enclosure, BUT such an effort will no doubt trigger an alarm...especially if there is a magical aura tied to it. Give me a moment..." He studies the enclosure closely looking for a way to bypass the locking mechanism.
The more Drancis examines the glass enclosure, the more he is convinced that the 'cell' is both technologically and magically secured... and, as he traces out the shape of the keyhole, the elali looks at him encouragingly. Tracing out a word out on the glass, the peculiarly featured woman - her exposed brain pulsing gently, then draws an arrow pointing south...
Male Ratfolk Mythic (Trickster 1) Preservationist 5 | AC (22)18/15/15 | HP 47/47 | F+7,R+8,W+3 | (+2 on saves vs. poison) | Init. +3 | Perc. + 11 | 20' Movement | Darkvision | 5/5 Hero points | 10 bombs a day | 5 Mythic power uses per day
"Well, have we found anything that looks like it might fit in that keyhole? Any allies we can find here would make our job easier."
Status: NONE Male Human Mythic (Trickster) Kineticist 6; hp 54/54 +6 temp hp; AC 17, T 12, FF 15 ; Init +1; F+9, R +7, W +4; Perc +10
Resources:
Burn 0/6; Buffer 1/1; Surge 5/5; Hero Point: 3
Drancis shakes his head in frustration. "This is beyong my capability to open safely. We need to find the key first." He motions to the south, "and I'll give you one guess as to who carries it."
The elali within the enclosure can do little more than underline the word that she has written on the glass and, reinforcing the point, indicate towards the south... out of the room - and, presumably, along the corridor to the door that has yet to be explored.
Female chlorvian NG Oracle of Wood 5 | hp 38/38 | AC 19 (t 12, ff 18) | CMD 17 | F +4, R +3, W +5 | Init +5 | Perc +0, low-light | spells: 1st-7/7, 2nd-2/5 | Current Effects: -2 Str dam | Hero: 1
Mayenyi nods, looking frustrated. She mouths WE'LL... BE... BACK... with exaggerated movements at the elali, then returns to the hallway, longspear in hand, and heads toward the door to the south.
Not looking to actually mess with the door until it's been looked over for traps.
The woman in the glass chamber smiles benevolently at Mayenyi as she promises to return... and the group head southwards - to a sturdy door at the end of the passageway. Rikkan, and then Drancis, examine and listen at the door... finally determining that it is 'safe' to continue.
Opening the door, they find an octagonal chamber containin a smaller, square glass enclosure centered on the floor. A dense, roiling mist fills this box-like structure and an occasional thud sounds from within - as in the previous chamber, the outline of a glass door appears on its north facing, and the walls of the glass enclosure run from a gleaming metallic floor to the stone ceiling 15 feet above.
A set of double doors exits the exterior room to the west... and, peculiarly, a 5-foot-wide hole appears in the floor to the southeast.
Male human Mythic (Champion 1) Barbarian (Unchained Savage Technologist) 5/Gunslinger 1
Stats:
hp 63/63 | AC 18 (touch 14; FF 14) | Init +5 | Per +12 | Fort +8; Ref +8; Will +6 (+8 raging)
Zoreck looks around the room, hoping to find the key... or anyting else of interest.
Perception:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (14) + 9 = 23
While searching, he looks at Mayeni. "So...your friend back there..." He points over his shoulder back the way they came with his thumb. "...um...Is her skull supposed to be open like that, or did Lomrick do that to her?"
Status: NONE Male Human Mythic (Trickster) Kineticist 6; hp 54/54 +6 temp hp; AC 17, T 12, FF 15 ; Init +1; F+9, R +7, W +4; Perc +10
Resources:
Burn 0/6; Buffer 1/1; Surge 5/5; Hero Point: 3
Drancis cautiously enters the room, his attention immediately drawn to the enclosure and the mist contained therein. "What...IS that?" He breathes as he looks around for the mechanism that operates the cage.
Male Ratfolk Mythic (Trickster 1) Preservationist 5 | AC (22)18/15/15 | HP 47/47 | F+7,R+8,W+3 | (+2 on saves vs. poison) | Init. +3 | Perc. + 11 | 20' Movement | Darkvision | 5/5 Hero points | 10 bombs a day | 5 Mythic power uses per day
Perception 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13
Rikkan also searches the room, hoping he could locate a key, but doubting it would be lying around all Willy nilly.
Female chlorvian NG Oracle of Wood 5 | hp 38/38 | AC 19 (t 12, ff 18) | CMD 17 | F +4, R +3, W +5 | Init +5 | Perc +0, low-light | spells: 1st-7/7, 2nd-2/5 | Current Effects: -2 Str dam | Hero: 1
"Elali come that way," Mayenyi murmurs as she examines the area. "Not everything different is bad," she continues, looking over her shoulder at Zoreck and grinning, "and not everything different is something Lomrick has corrupted." The grin flickers and disappears as she says that last.
As Zoreck moves close to the glass enclosure, a horrific mass of eyes, mouths, and formless flesh flings its bulk against the transparent walls. For an instant, its many eyes study Zoreck intently...
Perception DC20:
A sickly green-gray biomass, a marked contrast to the pink flesh, can be seen upon the mass' wrinkled skin...
...and then it slides back into the mist - moments later, the sound of a hundred voices laughing uncontrollably pours from the glass enclosure.
Mayenyi, moving past the glass enclosure, examines the hole in the greater chamber’s floor - it descends five feet before entering a narrow tunnel although it's far too narrow to use as an escape route, even for small creatures...
Male human Mythic (Champion 1) Barbarian (Unchained Savage Technologist) 5/Gunslinger 1
Stats:
hp 63/63 | AC 18 (touch 14; FF 14) | Init +5 | Per +12 | Fort +8; Ref +8; Will +6 (+8 raging)
Looking back at Mayenyi, Zoreck responds, "Just asking questions. Didn't know if your friend needed a healer. Never seen anyone with their brains exposed and still alive, is all... but for that matter, I've seen a plant-woman or a spider-woman before, either!"
Female chlorvian NG Oracle of Wood 5 | hp 38/38 | AC 19 (t 12, ff 18) | CMD 17 | F +4, R +3, W +5 | Init +5 | Perc +0, low-light | spells: 1st-7/7, 2nd-2/5 | Current Effects: -2 Str dam | Hero: 1
Mayenyi smiles at Kasia, nodding, "She came as a bit of a surprise to me too. But as for plant people... well, I was a bit taken aback the first time I met someone who wasn't at least part plant!"
Zoreck - the mass, distinctly different to the rest of the creature's rolling flesh, reminds you of the mass on Silam Oddle's - the man who was abducting villagers back at Holver's Ferry - neck...
The creature, whatever it is, is not held within the same kind of soundproofed enclosure that the elali was... the laughing turns into muttering... and then into crazed shouting - hundreds, if not thousands of voices chattering, whistling, bawling... so crazed is it that the friends start to question their sanity...
Knowledge (Dungeoneering DC15:
Disgusting, loathsome, and hungry—these are the only words that properly describe the gibbering mouther. A foul beast that lurks in underground caves, sewers, and nightmares, mouthers have no societal, ecological or religious significance other than their ability to drive those that listen to them mad.
Everyone must make a DC13 Will Save or be confused for 1 round.
Female chlorvian NG Oracle of Wood 5 | hp 38/38 | AC 19 (t 12, ff 18) | CMD 17 | F +4, R +3, W +5 | Init +5 | Perc +0, low-light | spells: 1st-7/7, 2nd-2/5 | Current Effects: -2 Str dam | Hero: 1
Her mind assaulted by the horrible gibbering sounds, Mayenyi searches desperately for a way to get inside the box and expose the abomination within so that she might be able to attack it.
Male Ratfolk Mythic (Trickster 1) Preservationist 5 | AC (22)18/15/15 | HP 47/47 | F+7,R+8,W+3 | (+2 on saves vs. poison) | Init. +3 | Perc. + 11 | 20' Movement | Darkvision | 5/5 Hero points | 10 bombs a day | 5 Mythic power uses per day
Will 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11
Confusion effect 1d100 ⇒ 9
"Leabe that thing alone in its cage, and let's get out of here," he Ratfolk calls out as he takes a double move aWay from the creature making that godawful noise.
Status: NONE Male Human Mythic (Trickster) Kineticist 6; hp 54/54 +6 temp hp; AC 17, T 12, FF 15 ; Init +1; F+9, R +7, W +4; Perc +10
Resources:
Burn 0/6; Buffer 1/1; Surge 5/5; Hero Point: 3
Will save DC 13:1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17He receives a +2 trait bonus on Will saving throws if this is a psionic effect.
Drancis successfully withstands the gibbering, though not without some straining, and replies to the others. "LOmrick must have set this beast as a guard for his redoubt! He surely knows we are here by now!"
Waiting to see whether the others want to fight this thing or press on further.
Mayenyi, examining the glass enclosure - and the distinct door that leads into the mist-filled enclosure, quickly discovers that - unlike the enclosure holding the elali captive - this chamber does not appear to be locked.
Waiting on actions from Zoreck and Kasia - and an action from Drancis dependent upon actions from those folks.
Pushing the door to the glass chamber open, Zoreck stands at near point-blank range to the shape in the mist... and fires!!! There is a sickly wet sound as the rolling flesh of the beast is punctured by the firearm... followed by the distressing sound of child-like giggling...
GM Only:
Gibbering Mouther = 39/46
Zoreck the Unclean wrote:
So close to a crit threat!
...ah well, at least you are saved the crushing disappointment of the GM telling you that Gibbering Mouthers are immune to Critical Damage
Status: NONE Male Human Mythic (Trickster) Kineticist 6; hp 54/54 +6 temp hp; AC 17, T 12, FF 15 ; Init +1; F+9, R +7, W +4; Perc +10
Resources:
Burn 0/6; Buffer 1/1; Surge 5/5; Hero Point: 3
Once a way has been opened to face the horrid beast, Drancis holds his arms out and reaches his mind out to grab the aether surrounding it and squeezing it...
Gather Power for 1 full round (preparing to use Foe Throw upon it)
As Rikkan rushes from the room, the giggling and jabbering grows to a crescendo... and, more bubbling than moving, the mass of wild flesh moves through the mist to bite at Zoreck... hundreds of tiny mouths snap at the Numerian, no sooner has he avoided one of the bites than he finds himself being bitten at from a different angle...
Status: NONE Male Human Mythic (Trickster) Kineticist 6; hp 54/54 +6 temp hp; AC 17, T 12, FF 15 ; Init +1; F+9, R +7, W +4; Perc +10
Resources:
Burn 0/6; Buffer 1/1; Surge 5/5; Hero Point: 3
Drancis finishes moving the aether bubble around the hideous beast and attempts to grip it, flinging it against the far wall.
Use Foe Throw against the Mouther.
Your telekinetic blast can throw a Large or smaller creature instead of an unattended object. If the creature you attempt to throw succeeds at a DC 14 Fortitude save, it negates the blast entirely. Otherwise, if your blast hits, both the thrown creature and the target take the full amount of damage from your telekinetic blast, and the thrown creature falls prone in the last unoccupied space along its path. If your blast misses, the thrown creature can choose to occupy any space within 30 feet of the target, it doesn't fall prone, and it takes half the normal amount of damage from your blast. The movement doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity.
Telekinetic Blast, burn:1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 6 + 2 = 16 Bludgeoning damage:1d6 + 6 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 6 + 4 = 13 treated as magic for the purpose of bypassing DR.
Hey folks, I'll be heading out of town to DieCon 18 from today through Monday the 11th. While I'll have my phone and Kindle with me, I don't anticipate having much time to catch up on posts so please bot Palo & Relas as necessary!
Male human Mythic (Champion 1) Barbarian (Unchained Savage Technologist) 5/Gunslinger 1
Stats:
hp 63/63 | AC 18 (touch 14; FF 14) | Init +5 | Per +12 | Fort +8; Ref +8; Will +6 (+8 raging)
I don't normally plug these things, but...
As I may have mentioned previously, outside of the Paizo boards, I am primarily playing the RPG Dungeon World to scratch the fantasy gaming itch. It's a rules-light system than emphasizes the storyline and fast-paced action, without ever getting bogged down in complex rules. I have really been singing the praises of this game system for years now.
Right now, Bundle of Holding is offering a Dungeon World bundle, which gets you PDFs of the DW rulebook, plus several supplements, all for $6 (basic), or with an additional eight supplements for $15.
I can't praise Dungeon World enough. My Thursday night fantasy game these days is a DW campaign I'm running that we're calling "DungeonFinder": a sandbox game set in Varisia, with the PCs being DW-conversions of Ezren, Merisiel, Kyra, and Amiri. We've been having a ball!
If you've got $6 to spare, I really would encourage you to check out Dungeon World!
Thanks for letting me plug this, and now we return to our regularly-scheduled Discussion thread.
Please note I am fairly flat out at work trying to get a report finished by the end of this week... apologies that posting has been scarce - normal service should be resumed next week!!!
Hey guys, just a quick check-in to say that DieCon was a blast and that normal operations should resume tomorrow afternoon/evening once I've gotten home and had a chance to get settled in :)
For anyone that's interested in reading about my convention experience:
DieCon Stuff (Spoiled for Holy Crap That's A Lot to Read):
So, DieCon 18 - my second DieCon to date - went great. My brother and I hit the road around 8:30 or so Thursday morning and, even with making a couple of stops to hit up a game shop, use the bathroom, and eat, we arrived in Collinsville, IL just after 4:00 pm. We met up with friends Chris (who lives a couple hours north) and Becca (who flew in from Las Vegas and was crashing at Chris' place), got checked in to the Super 8, and then loaded up and headed into downtown St. Louis, MO to have dinner at Blueberry Hill. While there we also met up with another guy that Becca & Chris know from their time in World of Warcraft. This was the second year I've met him and he's a rather odd duck, but nice enough. After dinner we went down the street to the Snow Factory for some Thai-style ice cream. While good and also a rather novel experience, I'm not sure it was worth $8. I'd have been just as happy to go across the street to Fitz's for shakes. After all this the hour was getting late so we headed back to the Super 8 to get some sleep.
Friday morning, we got up and headed to the nearby Denny's for breakfast before going over to the Gateway Convention Center to get ready to sign up for games! Normally registration and sign-ups open at noon but for some reason they started about a half-hour early. Since I'd already preregistered I was able to get my t-shirt and convention booklet and hop right into the registration line.
Event signups for DieCon are interesting in that, with the exception of Organized Play programs like PFS or DnD AL, you sign up in-person and the events tend to be something of a first-come, first-serve basis. You have a card and you write down three sessions that you really want to get in to (first choice) and then write down two alternates (second choice) and then go through the line. The people at the desk then look at your paper and go to see how many slots are still open for the events you want. They then give you stickers to place in your booklet for the events you're able to get into. One limitation they *do* impose for Saturday and Sunday events is that they only give out maybe half of the tickets for those on Friday and hold the rest in reserve for folks who can't get there to sign up until Saturday or Sunday. Luckily for me I was able to get into all of my first choices right away and for the PFS/SFS I'd signed up for, my tickets were held in reserve and waiting for me since I'd done my signing up via Warhorn.
After a quick walk over to the nearby Mexican place for a drink (no lunch since several of us had just eaten) we then filtered back over to the convention center for Session #1, which started at 2pm. My event for this was a board game called 'Mansions of Madness' - gameplay seemed somewhat similar to 'Betrayal at House on the Hill' except with a heckuva lot more Cthulhu creep factor. The rules were a little complex and took some getting used to but the game itself was quite enjoyable and it came right down to the wire on whether we, the players, would win or the GM! I enjoyed it enough that I would've shelled out money for my own copy but none of the vendors seemed to have one. Sadness :(
Each session has an hour-long break before the next session starts so those are good times to hit the restroom, grab a bite to eat, go smoke, wander around the convention hall, etc. I brought some of my own snacks and flavor packs for my bottled water (which I just kept refilling using the canteens placed around the hall) because the snack bar is crazy expensive.
Session #2 was my first foray into playing Savage Worlds. What I didn't know, because the blurb for it didn't mention this part, is that we were going to be using the 'Pirates of the Spanish Main' setting for the game. So when I sat down and ended up being the only one at the table who hadn't played before, the GM grinned at me and said, 'Okay then, you're the captain' and tossed said character sheet my direction. Pretty sure I had an 'Oh god' look on my face but hey, it's good to try new things right? And actually, it turned out pretty good! I mean yeah, we narrowly escaped being executed only to have a rival run off with our ship (after having 'repaid' me by helping to bust us free) and had no navigator and like 5 NPC crew and no money or supplies but we did manage to take a merchant ship (using our persuasive smooth-talk and the one sword we had between 6 characters) and made it to what amounted to Tortuga. The session ended right as we'd finished negotiating a deal for our cargo and making some preparations to buy supplies and start tracking down leads on where to find some cannons...but the rest will be detailed further down for I'd also signed up to play the second part of this little adventure during the middle Saturday session! I also received a copy of the Deluxe Explorer's Edition of Savage Worlds - hooray for free swag!
After a decent night's sleep, we all got up early Saturday morning and trooped back over to the convention center for moar gaming! Session #3 was a game of 'Call of Scooby Doo' using a game system called 'FAST' that was developed by brothers Larry and Woody Babb. Larry himself ran our game and the best way to describe the experience is like a standard Scooby Doo mystery (including special guest stars as playable characters) mixed with puzzle solving and some Cthulhu-style horror. I played this last year, where the scenario was called 'Wednesday Mourning' and featured Wednesday Addams as the special guest star. This year's scenario was called 'Cereal Killer' and featured Count Chocula (or his daughter, the Countess Chocula) as the special guest star. I played Velma, same as last year, while my brother and another con-friend reprised their usual roles as Scooby and Shaggy. The player of Shaggy even brings Scooby Snacks to the game each year! Much fun was had by all and we solved the mystery and defeated the crazed Sonny the Cuckoo Bird, who was the villain for this year's scenario.
Session #4 saw the continuation of Friday's Savage Worlds game and most of the same players returned, including myself. For those of us who played both sessions, we actually got to 'level up' our characters before getting started, which was nice. More pirate hijinks were had wherein our fence wound up murdered and our money stolen...along with someone's daughter? I suspect that said daughter was originally supposed to be my character's daughter but see, I hadn't paid close attention to my character sheet during the earlier session and had given my captain a female name and gender...which in the real world setting and time period the game was set in, would've been really unusual. Oops. But it did lead to some amusing comments from the rest of my crew. At any rate, we raced off to Haiti to try and rescue our money (and the girl, I guess) from the clutches of Baron Samedi and encountered storms, hostile locals, and a bloodthirsty shark along the way. Unfortunately we kinda ran out of time after the shark encounter and the GM had to narrate the rest of the adventure and conclusion but I had a surprisingly good time with the whole thing and would definitely play with this GM again at future DieCons.
Session #5 is where I finally sat down and played my first ever game of Starfinder! Starting with the very first published scenario, Claim to Salvation, which is run using 4th level pregen iconics. Most of the other players had about as much experience as I did, which was none, so it was nice to be more or less on a level playing field with everyone else. I also saw a familiar face at this table, a kid (probably 14-15ish) who was at all of my PFS tables at last year's DieCon. He seemed to have grown up a little in that this time he didn't try to go all murderhobo right off the bat and also didn't keep interrupting the GM as they were trying to talk. All of the other players, as well as the GM, were super friendly and helpful and we all had a great time playing through the scenario. While I think Pathfinder will remain my main squeeze, I definitely enjoyed Starfinder enough that I plan to make my own character for SFS play.
Sunday morning rolls around after another night of adequate sleep and this is the day where my brother and I are in all of the same events together. Session #6, our first of the day, was a PFS game playing the scenario 'Scourge of the Farheavens'. We only had four people for this and had a really weird level split with one 5th level character and everyone else being 1st level because most of said players either only had those characters to play (the 5th level shaman and the 1st level fighter) or just really wanted to play a particular character (my brother and his 1st level druid). I can't say a lot about the particulars of the scenario itself as I want to avoid spoilers but it was highly amusing and surprisingly challenging in certain parts. It was also pretty straightforward and we finished with an hour to spare so it'd probably be an easy one to run for anyone contemplating GMing PFS scenarios.
Since we got done with plenty of time to spare, my brother and I actually hit up the nearby steakhouse for lunch and had the first proper meal we'd had since Friday morning. Afterwards, we went to Session #7 which was a homebrew game of Deadlands titled 'Large Trouble, Small China' wherein we had to solve some issues with gang violence occurring in San Francisco's Chinatown. Oh, did I mention we had to fight an evil wizard and his nigh-invincible henchmen? That was a thing. I've played Deadlands before and would actually like to play it more in the future, if our home group can ever finish some of our Pathfinder campaigns.
Last but not least, our last game of the convention was Session #8, where we played another PFS scenario titled 'Beyond the Halflight Path'. This one is a 3-7 evergreen with multiple story arcs that can be played and it was my first time playing it. The beginning has plenty of social stuff happening and then the latter part was more dungeon-crawl than anything, but that's okay. Once again, we just had 4 PCs but at least this time there wasn't quite as much of a level gap. We won and survived, but man we had one or two tough fights! Our ectoplasmist spiritualist was the MVP of the scenario and I'm positive that without his assistance we would've wiped on at least one of the encounters. On the other hand...what's up with characters not having any ranks in any knowledge skills? Some classes that are skill-starved I can understand but otherwise, I mean...really? Especially when you're 5th or 6th level? I've seen this several times now with live play but I don't know that I've ever seen it in a PbP game. I try not to tell people how to play but sometimes some decisions leave me shaking my head a bit. Ah well.
Anyhoo, that's pretty much the tale of my experiences at DieCon 18! Had lots of fun, picked up a little swag, and managed to survive through all of my games. I'm totally looking forward to next year :)
Also, apologies to those of you who will see this posted across several games!
Just to let you all know, I was travelling heavily 10/27 to 10/29, I'll be catching up on 10/30
Human GM
I didn't realize you were going to St. Louis, or I'd have told you to go by Woofie's Hot Dogs while you were in town. Great hot dogs, little hole in the wall place that's had an amazing number of celebs stop in for hot dogs over the decades.
Male Ratfolk Mythic (Trickster 1) Preservationist 5 | AC (22)18/15/15 | HP 47/47 | F+7,R+8,W+3 | (+2 on saves vs. poison) | Init. +3 | Perc. + 11 | 20' Movement | Darkvision | 5/5 Hero points | 10 bombs a day | 5 Mythic power uses per day
Male human Mythic (Champion 1) Barbarian (Unchained Savage Technologist) 5/Gunslinger 1
Stats:
hp 63/63 | AC 18 (touch 14; FF 14) | Init +5 | Per +12 | Fort +8; Ref +8; Will +6 (+8 raging)
Hey, folks.
I'm not sure how much posting I'm going to get in this week.
I had jury duty today, and while I didn't get picked, they went through 54 potential jurors and have only called 9 so far. I have to go back tomorrow for a fourth round of jury selection, and I have a weird feeling that I am going to get picked for this one.
It's a criminal case that will be emotionally jarring. I can't say anything beyond that.
Male Ratfolk Mythic (Trickster 1) Preservationist 5 | AC (22)18/15/15 | HP 47/47 | F+7,R+8,W+3 | (+2 on saves vs. poison) | Init. +3 | Perc. + 11 | 20' Movement | Darkvision | 5/5 Hero points | 10 bombs a day | 5 Mythic power uses per day
Zoreck the Unclean wrote:
Hey, folks.
I'm not sure how much posting I'm going to get in this week.
I had jury duty today, and while I didn't get picked, they went through 54 potential jurors and have only called 9 so far. I have to go back tomorrow for a fourth round of jury selection, and I have a weird feeling that I am going to get picked for this one.
It's a criminal case that will be emotionally jarring. I can't say anything beyond that.
Male human Mythic (Champion 1) Barbarian (Unchained Savage Technologist) 5/Gunslinger 1
Stats:
hp 63/63 | AC 18 (touch 14; FF 14) | Init +5 | Per +12 | Fort +8; Ref +8; Will +6 (+8 raging)
I was not picked to be on the jury, so that will not be a hindrance to my posting rate.
Details of the case. Trigger warning:
Since I'm not on the jury, and the case will be a matter of public record, I am now free to speak about yesterday's voir dire.
(To non-US residents: In American jurispridence, voir dire is the process of jury selection, where potential jurors are questioned about their biases in the case at hand... such as having heard about the case in the news; knowing the defendant, counsel, or a witness personally; having been the victim of a similar crime; believing that if a person was arrested, they must be guilty of something; etc. Potential jurors who express such biases are dismissed from serving.)
One factor that made this jury hard to fill was that the incident had received a fair amout of coverage in the local media when it happened, and many of the potential jurors were familar with the media reporting. I had not heard of this incident before, which is why I thought that I would probably be picked for the jury.
This morning, they continued voir dire and called abother 18 names to fill the remaining seats (12 jurors and 2 alternates). I was not called to the fourth panel, and all remaining potential jurors were dismissed (including me).
The defendant was charged with rape in the first degree.
The incident occured at a local bar, approximately three years ago.
The defendant and the accuser met each other at the bar on the night of the incident. They had been drinking and dancing together for a couple of hours. They both went into a single-occupancy restroom to snort some cocaine, and had sex in the restroom. The defendant says the sex was consensual; the accuser says it was rape. There were no other witnesses to the act itself.
Another factor that has to be addressed is race: The defendant is African-American; the accuser is white. As we all know, there is a long history in the US of extreme bias against black men having sex with white women, and how a black man accused of raping a white woman can be at at grave disadvantage in court. (c.f. the plot of the classic American novel, To Kill a Mockingbird.)
At the same time, women have traditionally been at a disadvantage when making accusations of rape, especially when they had been drinking and/or had willingly gone off alone with the accused.
It sounds like the whole case is going to boil down to a "he said/she said" situation, with race, the "Me Too" movement, and the chemical impairment of judgement on both parties all muddying the waters.
All-in-all, I am very happy not to have to sit in judgement of this one.
Male human Mythic (Champion 1) Barbarian (Unchained Savage Technologist) 5/Gunslinger 1
Stats:
hp 63/63 | AC 18 (touch 14; FF 14) | Init +5 | Per +12 | Fort +8; Ref +8; Will +6 (+8 raging)
Hi, folks.
In a few hours, I'm driving down to New York City for the weekend to attend a family event. I'm not sure how much I'll be able to post, if at all. I should be back home Sunday night, and will resume posting by Monday.
Male human Mythic (Champion 1) Barbarian (Unchained Savage Technologist) 5/Gunslinger 1
Stats:
hp 63/63 | AC 18 (touch 14; FF 14) | Init +5 | Per +12 | Fort +8; Ref +8; Will +6 (+8 raging)
Hi, folks.
Sorry for disappearing again. I was at an outdoor music festival Thu-Sun of last week. I was set to pick up again Monday, but routine medical exam turned up something potentially scary. I spent Monday at the hospital having tests run, and I've not been in much of a gaming mood as I wait for the results.
Folks, my holidays appear to have crept up on me with little time to think about PbP - sadly, it seems that I will going old-school and will have no wi-fi for a week... long story short, I'm not going to be in a position to post anything until the 13th August... so, hope you all enjoy a bit of summer - if you are in the Northern Hemisphere... and I'll see you on the flip-side!!!
Male Ratfolk Mythic (Trickster 1) Preservationist 5 | AC (22)18/15/15 | HP 47/47 | F+7,R+8,W+3 | (+2 on saves vs. poison) | Init. +3 | Perc. + 11 | 20' Movement | Darkvision | 5/5 Hero points | 10 bombs a day | 5 Mythic power uses per day
Male Ratfolk Mythic (Trickster 1) Preservationist 5 | AC (22)18/15/15 | HP 47/47 | F+7,R+8,W+3 | (+2 on saves vs. poison) | Init. +3 | Perc. + 11 | 20' Movement | Darkvision | 5/5 Hero points | 10 bombs a day | 5 Mythic power uses per day
I don't know about firing all the IT people but I definitely hope this finally makes the Powers That Be at Paizo sit up, take notice, and devote the proper resources/funds towards their IT department and website. If nearly a full week of lost sales and other grar doesn't do it then I don't know what will.
Male Ratfolk Mythic (Trickster 1) Preservationist 5 | AC (22)18/15/15 | HP 47/47 | F+7,R+8,W+3 | (+2 on saves vs. poison) | Init. +3 | Perc. + 11 | 20' Movement | Darkvision | 5/5 Hero points | 10 bombs a day | 5 Mythic power uses per day
The site has been cruddy ever since the end of July. Hopefully the fullstop causes them to do something.
Paizo is too influential a company to have such a poor website.
Male human Mythic (Champion 1) Barbarian (Unchained Savage Technologist) 5/Gunslinger 1
Stats:
hp 63/63 | AC 18 (touch 14; FF 14) | Init +5 | Per +12 | Fort +8; Ref +8; Will +6 (+8 raging)
That was a terrible outage!
My understanding is that the underlying technology for the Paizo site hasn't changed since it went online in 2005, and no longer has manufacturer support.
Male Ratfolk Mythic (Trickster 1) Preservationist 5 | AC (22)18/15/15 | HP 47/47 | F+7,R+8,W+3 | (+2 on saves vs. poison) | Init. +3 | Perc. + 11 | 20' Movement | Darkvision | 5/5 Hero points | 10 bombs a day | 5 Mythic power uses per day
Apologies for the lack of posting. October was... not fun. Life sucker punched me, and while I was distracted with the bloody nose, Fate snuck up behind me and beat me with a baseball bat.
Things are clearing up, but it may be after the holidays before I have the energy to post regularly.
On the good side, it's looking like I may be employed before Christmas again, so yay.
Again, apologies for falling off the face of the earth, just... as I said, October was not a good month.
Male human Mythic (Champion 1) Barbarian (Unchained Savage Technologist) 5/Gunslinger 1
Stats:
hp 63/63 | AC 18 (touch 14; FF 14) | Init +5 | Per +12 | Fort +8; Ref +8; Will +6 (+8 raging)
Sorry to hear, Rav. Hope things are looking up now.
I have emailed Zed, and haven't heard back.
I also have his real name and location. I tried looking on local media sites to see if there was any news of someting bad befalling him, and didn't see anything like that.
I'd again like to apologize for the lack of posting in October/November. It was about 30% physical, 30% mental, and 40% situational. I don't want to go into all the details, but I really did need the two months to deal with life and recharge my batteries. I spent a lot of time running around doing job searching, a lot of which included driving for 6-8 hours a day doing job interviews in Houston, which is a 3 hour drive for me. I almost had to move to Houston to get work, as I was not finding anything in Austin.
I do have good news though, all the hard work was worth it. I had two job offers arrive within a 24 hour period right before Thanksgiving. I am happy to announce that as of yesterday, at 8AM EST, I am now gainfully employed again with an international company. Best of all though, I am not going to have to move to Houston for it, I can stay in Austin and travel as needed while working remotely.
My health, and the health of all my family, is also in a much better place as of this week (other than a really nasty chest cold that made the rounds in the house, and for which I'm still hacking up congestion from).
Thank you for your patience, and I hope life is going well for you also.
If you are not comfortable with my rejoining the game, please let me know, and I'll completely understand.
Glad to hear that things are finally looking up for you Rav! Things are going well here but I'm pretty sure this particular campaign is done; no word from GM Zed, Zoreck's player has also recently stepped down from PbP due to life busyness, and at this point I've detached enough from things that I (personally) am not really interested in looking for a replacement GM.
Sad but at least it gives folks a little more bandwidth to invest in other games that are still going :)
Male Ratfolk Mythic (Trickster 1) Preservationist 5 | AC (22)18/15/15 | HP 47/47 | F+7,R+8,W+3 | (+2 on saves vs. poison) | Init. +3 | Perc. + 11 | 20' Movement | Darkvision | 5/5 Hero points | 10 bombs a day | 5 Mythic power uses per day
We had a good run! It was a pleasure gaming with all of you. I hope Zed is okay as well.
Wipes cobwebs away, brushes himself down... coughs several times and steps, blinking into the light...
Soooo... life kicked me, again and again - some self-inflicted (new hobbies) and some work, home and other stuff that just landed in my lap... long story short, I just couldn't go on... and, as I found it impossible to access PbP whilst travelling (I had six weeks in Oct / Nov where I wasn't commuting by train and that killed my ability to GM....) - and then, it built up and up and up... and I got grumpy about PF2.0... yada, yada, yada...
In the end, and for my own sanity, I just logged out and didn't think about RPG'ing for a goodly while... I am so sorry for leaving you folks hanging and without any news of where I was (or that I was, at least physically, fine)...
As for this game, I think it had meandered away from me somewhat... I think it would be great as an IRL, around the table, type game - but, PbP, maybe not so much.
So once more, sorry for how this tailed off... and maybe we'll meet each other at another table one day...
Male human Mythic (Champion 1) Barbarian (Unchained Savage Technologist) 5/Gunslinger 1
Stats:
hp 63/63 | AC 18 (touch 14; FF 14) | Init +5 | Per +12 | Fort +8; Ref +8; Will +6 (+8 raging)
I'm most pleased to hear that you're OK, Zed!
To be honest... My interest in this game had been flagging for a few months even before you went silent. I think that leaving this one where it lies is the best option.
I'm not really in a good position to add more long-term games to my plate at the moment so letting this one lie works for me too. But I did enjoy it while it lasted :)
Male Ratfolk Mythic (Trickster 1) Preservationist 5 | AC (22)18/15/15 | HP 47/47 | F+7,R+8,W+3 | (+2 on saves vs. poison) | Init. +3 | Perc. + 11 | 20' Movement | Darkvision | 5/5 Hero points | 10 bombs a day | 5 Mythic power uses per day
It was fun alright! Good luck to the group in the future.
I had fun, but if everyone else is out, I understand. I didn't see this update until today, I did respond to Zed via private mail. Glad you're ok again.
