Legends of Katapesh - Legacy of Fire

Game Master justaworm

That seems great to me :) Ok, now to get this post done.

Does anyone object to following the bronze giant up the stairway?

Hazreem is OK with that. Just waiting for the party leader to speak here :D

No objections.

Great questions! Hopefully the tornado parade coming down upon N. Alabama will let me do some research and respond after the kids are in bed. I already see a long night of hiding in the closet though, hah.

Great questions! Hopefully the tornado parade coming down upon N. Alabama will let me do some research and respond after the kids are in bed. I already see a long night of hiding in the closet though, hah.

Well, you have my best wishes that they bypass and leave you alone. It's downright freezing here in New Mexico at the moment.

Made it! I thank God that it was not as bad for us as the weather people said it could be. When you live here and it is 72 deg in February, you know something bad is about to happen. :)

I think the plan here is to have Efreat identify the items Argbadh gave to us, and then it is off to Ymeri's Pyramid.

Doh, I missed this as I was typing in the game thread. :)

You will have a chance to identify while researching in the pyramid.

As noted in gameplay:

• +2 genie bane shortsword
  
• Cloak of resistance +2
  
• +2 studded leather of fire resistance (10 pts)
  
• Ring of improved jumping
  
• x2 Immovable rod
  
• Belt of tumbling

Hummm....I could see Pae able to use all of these items, save for the studded leather as it is Medium sized. If he does not want to use any of the items then I suggest we throw them into the Party Loot list.

From my perspective, the four of you should take priority over an npc'd Pae. I intend to retire him after Impossible Eye.

The armor, cloak, and ring all seem to be at least slight upgrades for a few of you.

If no one will use the short-sword, Pae would use it even at the wrong size. I think that is only a -2

I think Mah can use the short sword.

Current Status Reminder with items & spells used/remaining. Sync your character sheets if you haven't already.

Here is some artwork showing about how you see the city of brass from the roof walk of Bayt Al-Bazan

City of Brass Link

I apologize to you all for pushing through that all a little too quickly. I will certainly try not to take too many liberties with your characters in the future.

I am very used to playing with a group (for nearly 18 years now) where your character gets played even when you aren't available, and that mentality extended to here too, where I realize that not everyone may feel the same way.

We do need to establish some sort of protocol for moving on though when someone hasn't been heard from for some time. I have noticed from reading through the full thread that there have been a lot of periods where nothing happened for weeks without anyone saying anything, and I would like to avoid that. On the plus side, there are only a small handful of major NPCs left. :)

GM:

Historically, when it is known that a person will be gone for an extended period of time, then said player will notify in the game thread that s/he would like the gm to dmpc the character. While I appreciate the want to avoid delays, one of the reasons that this game has gone on as long as it has, imho, is that we all understand that sometimes there will be times when we cannot post but we continue together when we can.

GM: What Efreat said and I personally have no issues with you making minor decisions for my character if I am holding things up. I am fine with the pace you have set :)

I as well. If my not posting is holding up the game, the GM is free to npc me until I do.

Great, thanks for the feedback! Combat will slow things down anyway because I cannot easily run that away from my home computer. It is way too much work, hah.

While we await the possible grabbing of the orb and subsequent mad dash, is anyone going to claim the last set of loot items?

+2 genie bane shortsword
Cloak of resistance +2
+2 studded leather of fire resistance (10 pts)
Ring of improved jumping
x2 Immovable rod
Belt of tumbling
Argbadh's seal (useful for planar ally focus)

Argbadh's seal would do nicely for Hazreem as he has the Servant of the Sands ability (Sp), he may call upon the aid of any type of common (non-noble) genie as if using planar ally.

Argbadh is a Bronze Giant (giant) and not a genie.

Should Iavesk offer the same service later, then it would work fine to call him specifically. Also, Dilix (shaitan) gave you a focus that Bahir has (I think) for calling her through planar ally.

Otherwise, that is a pretty nice ability that can just bring some random genie.

Out of curiosity why aren't you considering the armor? It looks like an upgrade unless your character sheet is wrong (+2 leather).

Argbadh is a Bronze Giant (giant) and not a genie.

Should Iavesk offer the same service later, then it would work fine to call him specifically. Also, Dilix (shaitan) gave you a focus that Bahir has (I think) for calling her through planar ally.

Otherwise, that is a pretty nice ability that can just bring some random genie.

Out of curiosity why aren't you considering the armor? It looks like an upgrade unless your character sheet is wrong (+2 leather).

Ok Good to know....Hazreem was saving his (backup) +1 Frost scimitar as a focus for his Planar Ally ability.

As for the armor, since Druids are prohibited from wearing metal armor; thus, they may wear only padded, leather, or hide armor.

Studded Leather + Druid = bad mojo, he he.

Ahh, right! I forgot about the *studded* part of studded leather. :)

Kind of silly since metal ore is just as natural as wood and leather, but oh well ... I guess it wasn't once 'living'.

I've got a better cloak and belt. I'm full on rings. I can't use the armor or the sword. Don't need the seal. I'll take the rods if no one else will. Immovable rods are always worth having.

I could use the Cloak and I'll take one of the rods (or both if no one else wants one).

Off to the coast for vacation, back Sunday. Bot me as needed.

Have a great vacation!

- So it looks like Mah'ysa for the cloak.
- Efreat and Mah'ysa each for an immovable rod (assuming both are ok with splitting)
- Pae will then take the rapier and belt for now.

Mahysa, will you keep the cloak+1 or return to party loot?
Don't forget to update your sheets.

I am going to try harder to not have the NPC initiate too much of their own behavior outside of combat, even though it would be more 'realistic' that they would do so. It is a hard line, though, to figure out for sure. I do like how Bahir has been speaking up for Pae, and I think that makes a more fun adventure when the GM tries to stay out of the decision making. With Pae specifically, I don't mind you all collectively taking over his actions as well.

You can also familiarize yourselves with the abilities of a standard djinni (i.e. Iavesk) (and any future traveling npc for that matter), and help direct his actions outside of combat. His HPs are bumped up (as everything else since you all are nearly max hp), and he currently has no weapon. I would assume that Iavesk has communicated his abilities to you all in this situation.

I think I prefer these interactions as suggestions to the NPC for anyone other than Pae (e.g. "Hey Iavesk, do you think you could do such and such?") and rolls as well if you want to make them (otherwise I will - and I may need to modify any rolls you make).

Preference question ... since I am still new at this and trying to find my way. :)

Who prefers the GM combat post re-summarizing everything from the PCs, including speech, versus when the GM post simply adjudicates the PCs actions and lets the PC posts stand on their own?

What is typical, if any of the two, from online GM'ing?

While I don't prefer re-summarizing to just leaving them as is and just posting enemies/npc's, I tend to USE re-summarizing extensively as an online GM. It's just handier; for me anyway.

Heh, well I decided to try it out this combat after stalking your Mummys Mask. :)

it just seems like it makes it more annoying to read through combat because you are reading everything twice. I can see how is helps the GM create an organized, comprehensive post though.

I will type up a summary of all PC actions but I don't do it verbatim. My advised is to do whatever is easier/more comfortable for you GM Justaworm.

Thanks! That is why I am trying different things. I am not sure if I have a strong preference about anything yet as I am both playing and GM'ing my first PbP now. So, I will try out different styles and see what I like.

However, if there is generally a standard that players like, then I would lean towards not going against it without good reason.

For the point of this combat, it will not matter because Memrach won't be affected by heat shimmer.

However, I am curious and so lets talk about this one.:)

I have always thought that free actions are not usable outside your own turn with the exception of speaking, since speaking is the only example free action that says it can be used outside your turn.

For other things, especially character abilities, you would need an immediate action to use it outside your turn.

Like a lot of things, it is definitely not super-clear ... I can certainly see how it makes sense either way ...

Free actions don't take any time at all, though there may be limits to the number of free actions you can perform in a turn. Free actions rarely incur attacks of opportunity. Some common free actions are described below.
Cease Concentration on Spell
You can stop concentrating on a spell as a free action.
Drop an Item
Dropping an item in your space or into an adjacent square is a free action.
Drop Prone
Dropping to a prone position in your space is a free action.
Speak
In general, speaking is a free action that you can perform even when it isn't your turn. Speaking more than a few sentences is generally beyond the limit of a free action.

Why specifically call out speaking when it is the *one* thing that you can easily infer is ok to do when it isn't your turn?

A swift action consumes a very small amount of time, but represents a larger expenditure of effort than a free action. You can perform one swift action per turn without affecting your ability to perform other actions. In that regard, a swift action is like a free action. You can, however, perform only one single swift action per turn, regardless of what other actions you take. You can take a swift action anytime you would normally be allowed to take a free action.

This to me implies that free actions and swift actions are usable at the same times, during your turn ... except for speaking which is handled above ...

Much like a swift action, an immediate action consumes a very small amount of time but represents a larger expenditure of effort and energy than a free action. However, unlike a swift action, an immediate action can be performed at any time—even if it's not your turn. Casting feather fall is an immediate action, since the spell can be cast at any time.

How do you all interpret this?

Looks like the common consensus (if that is even possible), including Mark Seifter's, is that the only time you can take a free action when it isn't your turn is when the action in question says that you can take it when it isn't your turn.

There are a few character abilities and such that call out that you can use it when it isn't your turn.

The FAQ is blocked from work so I can't refer to it to see if this answer ever made it there ...

I am in agreement with the ruling that only an immediate action can usually interrupt someone else's action and be used when it is not your turn.

Your rendition of the rules is along with my understanding of them.

On another note, I have 1 first, 1 second, 1 fourth, and 1 sixth level spells left. I can't beat this things SR. I'm saving my sixth level spell to teleport us out of here.

I guess if i put a black tentacles on the roof, the question is will it hit anyone else DM?

Ceiling is 40' up in this room, which is pretty much the norm for the palace rooms.

It's in the FAQ

While you can’t take most free actions off your turn, Grab, Trip, Pull, Push, and Rock Catching’s free actions can all be used off-turn. This will be reflected in future errata.

Since we are taking a little breather at the moment, go ahead and level as well. You all definitely earned it after that day.

"Must be a Monday, I could never get the hang of Monday's...."

Add a level of Cleric.

For HP, I'll take the 80% rule.

BAB +1/+1
Saves: F+1, R+1, W+1

Add 1 Level 5 spells, and 1 Level 6 spells.

Add Feat: Quick Channel

I left a top spell slot open to use to recharge the Staff of Courage.

Oh yeah, I forgot about HP. As with last time, choose one of the following:

Decide first and don't change (on the honor system!) :)

(1) (80% method) Max hp * 0.8 (round up)
(2) Take your chances with a roll
(3) Take the GM mystery method (assumes you are leveling up your main class) ... I will give you a hint, there is more than one roll behind the curtain this time ...

Feel free to look at these after you have decided.

Mah'ysa feel free to change your mind ... if you dare ... :)

Pae: Rogue +1 (Rogue 13)
Rogue Stuff: Sneak Attack +7d6
Hp: GM Mystery Curtain (7) + 1(con)= 8
Skils (10): Acrobatics+1, Disable Device +1 , Perception +1, Sense Motive +1, Stealth +1, Escape Artist +4, UMD +1,
Feat: ???

Anyone have a good Feat suggestion for Pae?
Vital Strike looks like at least one obvious choice...

Others:
Combat Expertise, Dodge, Sure and Fleet (+2 acro), Critical Focus, Extra Rogue Talent, Teamwork Feat with Bahir, Lunge, Step-up, Amatuer Swashbuckler

Hazreem Level Up Changes:
HP 0.8*8=6.4 hp rounded up to 7, add +1 for Favored Class.
Total HP = 142
Spells: +1 4th level, +2 7th level (Ice Storm, Heal, Scouring Winds, Sunbeam)
Skills: (4) Heal, Perception, Survival, Stealth
Druid: add Dunemeld ability.
Feat: Heroic Defiance.

Ooh, Dunemeld is very nice.

hp:1d6 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5
skills: +1 Know(planes), know(arcana), spellcraft, & fly
feats: skill focus (know(planes)) (bonus), spell penetration
Spells known: 4L - resilient sphere; 5L - prying eyes, feeblemind (favored class bonus); 6L - freezing sphere, planar binding (bloodline)