Let's just say that if Laetitia starts to say "honeypot," Kali is going to blurt out "Good Noodle" before she gets past "hon." It's not that out of character considering she's on the straight-laced side and was raised in a brothel, and would desperately want to avoid any reminders of that part of her life.
So much fun to watch this dynamic.
Ha, Laetitia is totally going to say The Honeypot. That's the sort of game she's used to playing, after all. But that's funny, I had that exact scene in my mind before I asked; I just wasn't sure which character was going to cut her off.
The conversation afterwards would probably be pretty funny, depending on how miffed Tish is with Kali.
Hah! Darling, Dirty Trick could be the title of Tish's memoir. =P
...Wait, no, no, nevermind.
"No, no. I think would be perfect," Kali snarks with a sly grin.
I'm back. If it's all the same I'd prefer not to say why I was away.
But yeah I'm here.
It's all good.
Oh boy, as satisfying as that would be, I don't think it'd be a good idea, although if she lays into Kali hard enough, the poor girl may start tearing up.
Okay, just because there's so many of you and each of you are great posters who are also great in character, I'll let you decide. S$+! can go down now, or you can enjoy the festival a bit more.
I'm good either way.
I say we enjoy the carnival a bit. Otherwise it would feel too rushed.
I'd rather move it along actually.
I agree with Owl, although I see your point about it feeling rushed, Jix. But we did start this game about two months ago now. I've enjoyed the story and the role-playing so far, but I'm ready to get into the story of the module.
I will say that I'd like to see Thomias' situation resolved before we get too far into the story, though, unless you have some other plans for him DM. Or we could keep him around as a mascot.
Wow. . . that went horribly. . . pls halp
How do you have +18 stealth at first level? I got +15. 1 rank + 3 skill + 5 dex + 4 size + 2 trait = 15
Also, you're on your own until after the "Dragon". Good luck.
Stealth
1 rank + 3 Skill + 5 Dex + 4 size + 1 trait + 2 Racial bonus due to skulk alternate racial trait + 2 Masterwork tools = 18
You still haven't adjusted your rolls to match your current encumbrance Owl btw.
Or, or, on the other hand Lia, you could just kill it. Since it's probably gonna nearly do me in this round >.>' we could take off the kid gloves and just slap it round a bit. Just sayin'.
Hey, Lia isn't the "outright murder" type. Etiquette dictates that there be an attempt to not murder someone as option A.
oh s**@ just realized you can't make an untrained knowledge check any higher than 10 soooo just consider that 17 a 10 >.>' wish I had save that roll now XD
One heck of a workday yesterday, updates coming today.
Excellent update Default <3 we love you and we missed you!
*offers all the hugs*
You too!
To anyone not in the US, Happy Thursday!
Here's hoping Kali and Tish aren't going to be at each other's throats after this fight. :)
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
About the fight: In the theatre of my mind, it looks possible for Tish to fire off a color spray without hitting Kali, assuming she is five/seven feet diagonally from Kali, ten from the dragon and aims the cone straight out in front of her, but I could very well be mistaken. I'll let DM Default adjudicate it, though.
If not, I'm sure being blinded and stunned will go a long way toward soothing the tensions between them. =P But seriously, they should bury the hatchet soon. Being a b!tch is much less satisfying than I thought, I'm discovering.
Huh, I kinda figured the space was tight enough that it would be difficult to get a clean shot off. Even if Tish could get it, from what I've seen, I'd guess that she'd get as close as she had to and plaster the dragon and anyone dumb enough to get in the way, figuring the dragon would be taking a dirt nap long enough for it to be subdued and for anyone else that fell to the blast to get pulled to safety. Tish isn't my character, so this is just a guess on my part, and I could very easily get this wrong.
Now, if she does catch Kali in the blast, whether or not Kali fails her save isn't going to matter in the short term. She doesn't have any idea who Tish was telling to move, so she'd probably rip Tish a new one for not communicating clearly on who needed to move, and not waiting for her to get clear first. She'll probably be a little more wary of Tish after that if she saves.
If she doesn't save, then she's going to get a lot more paranoid around Tish and avoid her as much as possible. She'd be terrified of her because of it. She'd have a dagger on her at all times in case she needed to defend herself and if Tish ever did touch her, it would be in her hands and pointed at Tish. I as a player wouldn't roll to attack, and probably play it off as she's too scared to do anything, but in character, it'd be clear that she does not trust Tish at all.
Yeah, I agree, they need to bury the hatchet, but really, I not sure how Kali could be the one to initiate it. She just suffers whatever the world throws her way and does her best to get through it. She is of the mindset that she will be hated and forced out eventually, and to be honest, I think she may be beginning to believe that's the way things will always be and are meant to be. In a way, this is her last desperate bid to be proven wrong. She wants to belong, and she wants to finally have a home and a family. If this group kicks her out, she'll just wander alone until something kills her.
I suffer from a bit of paranoia myself, so I am worried this is coming off as Mary Sueish now. I hope not, but I've mishandled things before and had to retcon them. I would like to think Kali is a fairly interesting character, if not the most original, but then again, I'm biased. :P
Mind's eye is pretty lenient. If you're convincing enough I'll let you get away with a lot, but respect when I say no I'm putting my foot down as the DM.
And Kali, you're fine. Technically you're all the hero of your own story, I'm just trying to weave them all together. :)
Understood on both accounts. Anyway, we need a plan because this thing is taking a chunk out of us at the moment.
Wha-? You didn't know I ran a recruitment, got you all together, just to feed you to my imaginary lizard thing and then end the campaign?
Whelp, you know what they say, no plan survives contact with the PCs. :P
Also, not sure on how you want to rule on Kali's actions, but what she's trying to do is get the lizard to focus on her and kite it while the rest of the party figures out how to subdue this thing. I'd hit it with another color spray to see if that will put him down, but we'll probably have to switch killing it if that doesn't work since our only option for non-lethal, no aoo, no penalty to attack rolls damage is currently at 1 hp.
Lia, do you have a spell that can knock him out?
Slight confusion, I was using colorful imagery when describing Otho's arms as "drumsticks." He doesn't actually have food on him that I know of.
Ah, okay then, I'll make a quick edit then.
And edits have been made. Hopefully, Kali will be quick enough to avoid getting munched.
Hey Default I don't understand why my bluff to distract provoked an AoO. According to the rules it shouldn't have. Picking up and throwing the tin was just for flavor text. I would have been able to do the bluff without it. I just added that stuff for flavor so the move would make sense. According to the rules I should also have regained complete stealth, my allies shouldn't have to help me here.
If picking up the can and stuff is an issue I can just not include flavor text in my next distract roll if necessary.
Also as far as assuming with my actions, I apologize, I was just trying to keep the campaign running instead of having to wait for you to respond every time I make a roll without ending my turn. So I kept going after making the roll because it was so high no wyrmling could match that roll on a sense motive check. But please tell me how you would prefer I handle this in the future so my turn doesn't take two posts every round.
Rules as follows.
Create a Diversion to Hide
You can use Bluff to allow you to use Stealth. A successful Bluff check can give you the momentary diversion you need to attempt a Stealth check while people are aware of you.
Source: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/skills/stealth
I may have forgotten to mention it, but I houserule that Natural 20s and 1s are auto successes and failures respectively. Keeps the risk high for both sides.
In the future, I may just give you some DC thresholds to beat where you may assume you succeed if you roll higher than the number.
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As for the diversion mechanic, Bluff can be used to create a diversion, but this is an ability tied to speech. As you are fighting a creature who has no understanding of speech, I allowed you to use the mechanic as a long as you found another method of misdirecting the creature's attention (which you did with the can throwing idea). But I can't allow you to pick up and toss items for free actions.
You could have tossed your weapon you were currently holding as an action provoking no AoO, or you could stick with the original action.
That's my take on it anyway. Bluff to create a diversion will work fine on opponents that understand speech, but if you have to resort to other ways, I have to make you use up actions accordingly.
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I'm still newish to DMing so this is current ruling, not set in stone, but the conclusion I've reached.
Actually, there's precedence for what Jix did in the rules themselves. Bluff is also used to feint which has nothing to do with speech but everything to do with actions to leave your opponent open. Jix is basically trying to do the same thing with her bluff, and the basics behind it are similar enough, that I'd say she could find a way to distract it and get out of sight.
But, you are the GM here, so it's your call. I just wanted to present a counterpoint to your ruling in case it hadn't been considered.
I had actually considered that as well Kali. Feinting does distract the enemy to lower AC, but not in the way I'd imagine would also deny him AoO (or they would have listed that as well). Plus, unless its flavor, you don't need to feint an enemy by throwing a noisemaker behind them.
Hmm....
I guess you can boil down my decisions to:
1. Allowing the use of a "distraction" with Bluff to allow denying the enemy AoO. [I'm fine with this]
2. How the distraction is made. [How does one bluff an animal? And if you have to pick up and throw something to create a diversion, does it cost the requisite actions to do so? In another words does the character benefit from not having to waste actions. In this specific example, Jix could have gotten away be sacrificing her main weapon because she didn't have a backup plan ready in case she got caught. Does allowing her a free action to pick up and throw something without provoking an AoO take away from her blunder?]
I'm trying to stick by the rules so combat's fair and such. Jix, can you think of a way you could cause a distraction with just a standard action?
Otherwise, If you guys (the players) feel I'm being too harsh here, I'm willing to rule the other way as this is a bit of a grey area.
Hmmm. . . well yo be honest a large portion of Jix's abilities are based on the rule that she can bluff to distract and return to stealth as she's fairly useless without that sneak attack bonus coming in.
I do see your point however and I had a thought before as to how that could be solved without having to use speech or throw an object but I was concerned that you wouldn't allow it.
My original idea for bluffing creatures to distract them was with a special whistling technique Jix had learned in her urchin days where she moves to whistle but, due to the special technique she whistles with, the sound appears to come from a different direction making the enemy momentarily distracted to check over their shoulder for another foe whether they are human or not. Provided they are at least not brainless like a construct, zombie, amoeba, or slime. Or deaf I suppose as well.
This is one option I had in mind please let me know what you think.
I'm going to have to say no to the special whistle ability as its essentially a spell-like ability resembling ventriloquism for free.
If no one else is going to chime in, and seeing how you weren't damaged in the attempted attack, I'm going to rule that in the cases of fighting animal intelligent level creatures, you might have to get creative or prepare beforehand in certain cases.
In all honesty, as your character class and what you described to me points out, a sniper caught in melee is likely to be at a large disadvantage. You might need to talk with your team to have a "spotter" who will fight nearby to pull off anyone who finds you. Either that or establish yourself behind your allies so they have a harder time getting to you. Will probably be better when we use map combat.
But yeah, I'm going to stick by my ruling for now. I'm allowing you to be able to create diversions using your bluff skill, but there has to be some kind of method whether by words or loud noises or such and if you're performing actions, they will cost the equivalent actions.
For now at least. I'm still researching this.
Depending on how far you are willing to stretch it, you could argue that feinting by using a flashy dagger to draw the animal's attention one direction while moving in another could do what Jix was trying to accomplish. Feinting, per the rules, doesn't just lower someone's AC on a success, but makes them flat-footed, and if I am remembering correctly, flat-footed characters can't make AoOs. I'd have to double-check the rules to be sure, but Jix could do what she wanted by the rules.
That said, the Zeroth Law of RPGs is in effect and if the GM says no, that doesn't work, despite what the rules say, then it doesn't work. As I said it's just a counterpoint. I really am not trying to cause an argument.
On the other hand, it'll be interesting to see how this plays out. I'm hoping that Lia or Tish can knock this thing out before we have to start trying to put it down for our safety as well as that of the other people.
Well s+~*, didn't realize that thing with the flat-footed not being able to make AoO.
Hmm...reading it over, it does seem like feinting is pretty much everything that you're trying to do Jix, the only caveat being you want it to look away from you so it doesn't see where you go....
How's this then Jix? I found this online in my continued research and believe it might fit our situation in the future. Full disclosure, stole this from a different Paizo thread.
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1. Roll Bluff to distract your opponents. "Look! The Winged Victory of Samothrace!" [standard]
2. Any opponents observing the character have to make a Sense Motive check, DC equal to the character's Bluff roll. [immediate]
3. The character has to move to a square with concealment, or that otherwise provides an opportunity for hiding. IMHO, staying in the same square (even if it has partial concealment) is not an option -- they know where you are now. [move]
4. Once in the square with concealment, the character rolls Stealth. [free]
5. Opponents who failed their Sense Motive check in (2) may attempt a Perception check (DC equal to the character's Stealth roll) on their turn to reacquire the character, if possible.
======
In short, Feinting seems to be your best shot here. Although, this does bring in feinting rules and as such you would get a -8 penalty to your Bluff check as you are trying to feint a creature of animal intelligence. But since it actually accounts for the low animal intelligence, I'd let you merely shout or wave your arms instead of having to throw something.
How's that?
[And thanks for your continued input Kali :D]
No problem. I just hope I wasn't being too much of a know-it-all.
I did look up the feint rules, and I have to apologize for misleading you. It says that it denies the DEX bonus to AC, but it doesn't make them flat footed. Personally, I think the distinction isn't necessary, but it does make life harder on Jix since she can still be munched on for moving after a feint.
That's alright Kali. For the case of Jix making a tactical distraction to get away, I'd say she can opt to deny the AoO instead of inflicting a penalty to AC.
Makes sense to me. :)
Hey I actually found a lot of info on the topic and I'll post it here as well as source it but that penalty for an animal should be -5. And if its got an intelligence of over 2 that's a -4. Also it says that the stealth attempt after the distraction should normally not provoke an AoO.
Feinting in Combat: You can also use Bluff to mislead an opponent in melee combat (so that it can't dodge your next attack effectively). To feint, make a Bluff check opposed by your target's Sense Motive check, but in this case, the target may add its base attack bonus to the roll along with any other applicable modifiers. if your Bluff check result exceeds this special Sense Motive check result, your target is denied its Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) for the next melee attack you make against it. This attack must be made on or before your next turn.
Feinting in this way against a non-humanoid is difficult because it's harder to read a strange creature's body language; you take a -4 penalty on your Bluff check. Against a creature of animal Intelligence (1 or 2) it's even harder; you take a -5 penalty. Against a non-intelligent creature, it's impossible.
Feinting in combat does not provoke an attack of opportunity,
Creating a Diversion to Hide: You can use the Bluff skill to help you hide. A successful Bluff check gives you the momentary diversion you need to attempt a Hide check while people are aware of you. This usage does not provoke an attack of opportunity.
Source: http://www.realmshelps.net/charbuild/skills/bluff.shtml
As far as the distraction goes, I mean Jix could just point and scream, or gasp, or pretend she's throwing something (works better on canine's I'd imagine =P)
Feinting in Combat: You can also use Bluff to mislead an opponent in melee combat (so that it can't dodge your next attack effectively). To feint, make a Bluff check opposed by your target's Sense Motive check, but in this case, the target may add its base attack bonus to the roll along with any other applicable modifiers. if your Bluff check result exceeds this special Sense Motive check result, your target is denied its Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) for the next melee attack you make against it. This attack must be made on or before your next turn.
Feinting in this way against a non-humanoid is difficult because it's harder to read a strange creature's body language; you take a -4 penalty on your Bluff check. Against a creature of animal Intelligence (1 or 2) it's even harder; you take a -5 penalty. Against a non-intelligent creature, it's impossible.
Feinting in combat does not provoke an attack of opportunity,
Source: http://www.realmshelps.net/charbuild/skills/bluff.shtml
I'm deferring to the GM in terms of judgement. In terms of this as an intellectual discussion, I'd like to contribute.
Most notably, the site you're referencing is (provided I'm reading it correctly) an older edition of D&D, 3.5 if I'm interpreting it accurately. There is a difference in the text that you quoted, versus the Paizo PRD description:
Feint: You can use Bluff to feint in combat, causing your opponent to be denied his Dexterity bonus to his AC against your next attack. The DC of this check is equal to 10 + your opponent's base attack bonus + your opponent's Wisdom modifier. If your opponent is trained in Sense Motive, the DC is instead equal to 10 + your opponent's Sense Motive bonus, if higher. For more information on feinting in combat, see Combat.
Now, there is an entry in the Stealth skill description that says:
Creating a Diversion to Hide: You can use Bluff to allow you to use Stealth. A successful Bluff check can give you the momentary diversion you need to attempt a Stealth check while people are aware of you.