Happy holidays to you too! : )
And that's an interesting trait. Forcing us to reflect and learn from what we could have done better? How cruel :P
Miranda seems to have failed on the following skill checks: Bluff, Perception & Know: Arcana. There's certainly a whole bunch of other skills that would have been handy - but that'll take a little longer to figure out : )
Hehe, glad you like it :)
My girls are not willing to sleep synchronised today(too much lingering excitement from yesterday), so no mid-day break for me.
So update time will be during the car ride later today, it seems.
Hmhmhm. I'm also considering if this arc would include our escape?
Something like Know:Dungeoneering might be helpful to avoid the pitfalls of the sewers. Or even *brrr* Swim ...
Edit: I'm just going to add Diplomacy and Sense Motive to the list :P
I am going to allow waiting until the end of the escape before picking - but I'll expect that to not be abused by arbitrarily failing a check not even needed just to make sure it qualifies.
@Varuzhan&Miranda: I had not included other DC's on purpose - it's hard enough to get the DC 20 for a 'hunch' as per Sense Motive on your level.
As such, getting that right would give you a circumstance modifier on the Diplomacy-Check. Assuming they are friendly or indifferent, taking 10 should be more than sufficient to do something with that information. So e.g. with Varuzhan, I'll go with intent, and the speech, and assume he took 10 and succeeded, rather than rolled for a 1.
(Generally speaking you can always roll instead of taking 10, if you so want, even if it means you can fail, but I think in this case it was a miscommunication - insofar as no additional check was needed to act on the information from the sense motive -)
Also, apologies for lack of a map, I am still visiting extended family, and should return home sometime tonight. I'll find time to finally update the map into the chase tomorrow or the day after - had hoped to have some time to myself in the evenings but the girls(soon 1yo and 3yo) don't sleep very well in beds and rooms they are not used to so the nights haven't been stellar -_-
I meant to update before christmas, but during the weekend, I was called 5 times during my standby service, and plenty preparations needed to be done. I had some time to post tonight, and tomorrow we'll head out to visit family, but I should have some time either at lunch, or at evening(SO is driving)...and will do the update then, rather than rush things now (not that I expect it to make much of a difference with the usual post rates this time of year).
Anyway, wanted to wish you happy holidays!
And give out your christmas gift:
Hindsight is 20/20 (GM trait)
The plan was good, certainly. But at some point, things got a bit too close for comfort. If only you had prepared for that one eventuality a bit better...
Benefit: When you gain this trait, either pick one skill you failed a skill roll with during the last story arc(from when you started to plan the blacksite raid), or a skill you have no ranks in that could have helped you at some point(Reference in a 2-3 line statement the situation, and how things could have gone differently had you succeded). This skill becomes a class skill(if it already is, instead gain a +1 trait bonus to it), and if you reach a total of 5 ranks in the skill, you receive the corresponding skill unlock for it at that time.
Honestly, Boros didn't pooch a lot of the rolls that he really needed, aside from maybe Stealth. That's a skill he could use, however, and it seems Sense Motive is another. I believe it's time Boro gets a clue.
Boros isn't very good at reading people. It's not that deception or hidden motives is foreign to him, it's just that he generally deals with such things as appropriate if they crop up. But in Kintargo, it's becoming readily apparent even to him that learning what people are really after is something that could lives--such as his own! So he's going to take some time and start studying the people around him, and see if he can pick up the subtle clues that reveal whether or not they're up to something other than what they openly proclaim.
Happy new year!
And are you sure you don't want to wait with picking until we escape? Plenty of chances to fail skill checks still :P
Varuzhan is not very good at inspiring others either, and would feel most comfortable either with a group of people already eager to join their cause and get things done, or making sure that the stragglers don't do anything nuts and sacrifice themselves. Since Boros has the rear, that would seem to place me in the vanguard.
I'm probably just going to go ahead and drop at this point. The pacing is just impossible for my brain to keep things inside of it, I'm afraid. Feel free to bot her. She still has her Veil SLA available, and her CLW wand, but she's out of spells.
Mkay. It was fun while it lasted. We'll miss you! And take care : )
Aye, I contacted Lily and offered this as a breaking point as effectively you will act semi-independently for the remainder of this arc.
On that end, I did create a template for the chase during lunch break at work today, but did not quite finish. Expect it tomorrow...
Sorry to see you go, Lily. Thanks for sticking with us up to now, and hope to game with you in the future.
Looking forward to the chase!
Hope to see you around, Hotaru!
I'm back in town, and will get caught up today.
Well Lily, thanks for sticking with us this long, and hope your other campaigns are more fruitful.
Now, question for the rest of the party, should we try to find a replacement or just go with the four of us?
Whoops.
Guess I lost the post from Monday...and now I wondered why nobody posted at all. I did update the Map section then...(currently reads: last change 2 days ago by anonym) and also did another post with more in-depth explanation, but I suppose the later was only previewed, not actually submitted.
-_-
I'll try and re-do it until tomorrow morning. Apologies.
It was such a good post that the forum gremlins couldn't resist taking it all for themselves :D.
Mm I understand. The boards have been pretty wonky lately. Usually when I make a post nowadays it doesn't even show up until I leave and reenter the page. Hard to know if anything gets eaten then :/
Update will come this week.
In the middle of last week(incidentally, a few hours after my previous post), the last grandmother I had, and the one I spent most time with as a kid, passed away. It was not unexpected, her health had been deteriorating a while - due to physical distance, she also was less present in my daily life than she used to - certainly both factors that softened the blow a bit.
But then, one helps clean out the place and it all comes crashing down all the same. I tried to keep going normally, work needed to be done, the kids have needs, and being busy keeps the mind from dwelling on what-if's or memories.
But the two games I GM have been suffering as a result, since I simply could not find the necessary focus to post in them. (I did 2 long posts in games I play in, both were a mess in retrospect).
Most things are taken care of, the burial will be on Wednesday this week. Afterwards, things should return to normal - I will update in the next few days, then proceed with the previously achieved steady rhythm. Apologies.
I'm sorry to hear of your grandmother's passing, GM Mordred. You're in my thoughts.
Condolences to you and your family. Please take the time you need.
Dude, don't worry about us right now. We're cool with waiting while you get sorted out with the important bits in your life.
Yeah. Sorry :(
I took my time, and this week I was on a 3-day mandatory training with little private time, and had car troubles(new battery needed). I figured I'll restart this weekend or monday/tuesday.
Thanks again for the patience, but we should be back to regular schedule from the get-go. I did manage to keep most of the games I am a player in going - it takes little effort to do a filler post - but now feel ready again to boot up those I GM and the solo games.
So, just a headsup that in a day or two, there should be a post up(or you may resume the flogging) - again, apologies for the inconvenience, and thanks for the condolences and patience.
Not a problem.
Mkay : )
Miranda, I am omitting Rexus and Miranda's actions on purpose for the time being. If you are done with your distraction event before the next step of your role becomes relevant, you get to do theirs, too - but there's no need to rush, I can "bank" a couple turns for the pursuers and resolve them at once after we know the target values.
@All: Also, much like a combat, I'll actually try and post more often than weekly during this :/ I ALMOST managed in-time so...
Just to double check; are you really omitting Miranda's actions or should that be Lily :P?
I am slightly worried that this might be too silly to work, but we'll see :P
That should be Lily. Serves me right for posting while dead-tired.
I would normally run her actions off-screen and put a summary of what she did, but I'll hold off on both her and Rexus's actions.
Chances are once you decided on an approach and the relevant checks are known, you can resolve them reasonably fast. There was a plan for interaction between those running distraction but...1 player running interaction with themselves or the GM is really not going to work the way it should - normally you'd also decide who of the NPC's would support whom and not have all of them available but there's also no real discussion there. (or rather, it would seem strange to have you pre-assign them so you get to decide on the fly).
Humble Bundle currently has a PF offering available with various tiers. $18 U.S. will get you just barely over $500 worth of digital releases, including a huge number of the core rulebooks, lots of expansions, and even a full AP.
Yeah, and several of those are great for character building and tie in well together with the shattered star AP book. :)
It's basically a Varisia+ bundle. Seems nifty!
OH that sounds really neat. I'll have to look into it!
I totally bought this!
Between the girls having been ill, workmate having been ill(more work for me), problems with my home PC, and a family visit on the last weekend I've been pushing posting off again and again, missing last weeks update deadline.
Apologies for that, but your regularily scheduled weekly update should come in within 36 hours.(and here I was trying to go faster *sigh*)
@Sam C.: Thanks, I missed the last pathfinder bundle they had. I'll definitely pick this one up!
@All: Glad to help, that's why I posted it! I have a number of the books from this bundle, purchased in the last bundle amusingly enough, but I'm still getting this one because there's a bunch of new stuff. And $18 is a darn good deal for that, the complete AP alone would be worth that much even if every other book I already had.
@Mordred: And yes, I figured you were a bit a busy with stuff. It's okay, I killed time with Metro: Exodus (TL;DR it's good) and got my needed daily hit of PF from my other two PbP campaigns.
Mordred, I'm wondering if you'd be willing to allow the use of the Unchained rules for Crafting and the rules for spontaneous alchemy as well?
Boop! I'm down with a cold and the creative juices aren't quite flowing as intended. Sorry :/
Boop! I'm down with a cold and the creative juices aren't quite flowing as intended. Sorry :/
Since Mordred keeps getting violently run over by life--which takes great delight in backing up and bouncing across his prone form a few times in succession--it's quite alright that you're down too, lol.
If I didn't have a library of Steam games though, I'd be going nuts because this week it seems none of my PbP games will be getting much action. But, I have Metro: Exodus (I'm currently in the f#!!ing creepy ass, claustrophobic Dead City tunnels full of corpses and mutants) and Left Alive (which I really hope doesn't suck like everyone seems to be saying it will).
*looks at Steam*
1217 games owned, 2042 DLC's owned
*looks at Boros*
Aye...I meant to check the unchained crafting for alchemy a bit more.
But lets skip that. I'm willing to give it a whirl.
A while ago, I made a Dwarven Witch. With Cauldron Hex. Brewmaster Feat, and trait. And Alchemist VMC. The options for Craft Alchemy were...underwhelming with raw rules.
That's not to say they are permanently in and without alterations, but I am willing to give them a try.
Get better soon, Miranda. Aye, we're not blazing through right now, so it seems like it's not a big worry if you take a day or two.
Well, I've been dipping alchemy hard as a sideline in my other campaigns, as it's the #1 (nonmagical) party support mechanic. So I've looked over a lot of stuff that PF has in regards to it.
Basically, what UC crafting does is make crafting a little bit cheaper to start (1/4 cost in raw materials versus 1/3) and little bit quicker to actually do; progress occurs by the day instead of the week, and exceptional results to speed things along are a little bit easier to achieve.
Further, while making an item still requires making successful Craft checks until you've reached its finished cost, UC standardizes progress checks according to an item's complexity (which is determined by the DC needed to make it). Two items with the same DC but wildly differing final costs still get the same amount of progress per day on a successful Craft check, it's just that the more expensive item requires more checks to made. It makes a bit easier to plan an item's progress, and also adds a bit of consistency to making multiples of an item (like arrows or splash weapons), where before you had to track how much work in silver pieces you got done which meant that even similar items could take wildly differing amounts of time to finish.
UC also allows for cheaper and somewhat faster item repairs, items to set aside and worked on later--though GM's discretion applies for potentially volatile or perishable items--crafting with makeshift tools and/or field facilities (as well as crafting with top-notch facilities and skilled minions), and fancy materials.
Spontaneous alchemy is basically alchemy on the fly. You trade using expensive and specific reagents*, and the risk of things going horribly pear-shaped on a bad Craft check, for the ability to make items in a literal fraction of the normal time; under these rules, the good old alchemist's fire could be made in just 10 minutes. But it would cost more in reagents than a flask normally sells for, and if you muff the roll? Well, you could lose a portion of your reagents, blow your tools to scrap, or turn your flask's contents into a wicked poison that drops you where you stand.
*Reagents are the term for the raw materials used in spontaneous alchemy, and are entirely different from the generic, unnamed raw materials that Craft (alchemy) normally uses.
In summary, UC crafting is for back at base when everything is calm, relaxed, and there's time to do it rightly and safely. Spontaneous alchemy is for when we need this or that item--and perhaps multiples as well--at short notice, and getting it done matters more than cost or proper procedures.
Hehe, thanks for the overview, but I was familiar with the 'jist of it'. I meant I would have liked to take a more in-depth look at the rules themselves, and see how they compare to traditional on a number of aspects, then see if I can easily break things using them :)
But as said, I'm skipping that part. You go ahead and use them. If I see something I'm unhappy with, we're taking a step aside and revisiting it. Hence why I said, it's not a guarantee they will be in unaltered and permanently, but right now, I'd rather spend time getting posts into games, over testing out if this subsystem is broken somehow.
Ah, okay, I see what you meant now.
Small boop!
Large boop.
Oh dear! A challenge for the thing-loving thiefling...
Hmm. I think I have some time to consider my next post, given our pace, so I might as well ask for your input!
I loathe to be the annoying rogue that just steals everything not bolted to the walls and get the party in trouble. On the other hand; shiny loot!
So what say you; should Miranda try and take something?
(After she has done her job of course. And then we hope their anti-thief measures aren't that great!)
Hehe...aye...pacing was not great. Which is why there's one other thing.
I know at least 2 of you are using Steam.
How would you feel about extending associative contact over to that platform? That way, it's much easier to give me a poke and force me into action when I'm pushing things off - plus I do like coop gaming *shrug*.
What's Steam?
I'm slightly worried that the magic glow is just the Sepia Snake Sigil they invested in to catch thieves :P
Steam is a game client/store. They have all the little social features and stuff!
What's Steam?
Tell your overlords to do a better job on their infiltration training, alien scum ;D!
And sure, Mordred, feel free to send me a PM with your Steam name.
I'll be out most of the weekend but I'll try and get a post up at monday at the latest : )
If anyone has any steal-whip-insight please share before then!