
Jacob W. Michaels |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |

Just wanted to share that my first Campaign Setting work for Paizo is finally out!
I contributed the write-up of the Formidably Maid for Inner Sea Taverns, which was released on Wednesday.

motteditor RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16 |

Honestly, this AP is eluding me. I love Lovecraft, but this feels less like Lovecraft and more like fishing. You spend huge amounts of time just to pull back an empty hook. I'm still not sure what our goal is - is it to find out who we are or is it to find this Lowls or is it something else? If I'm the only who feels this way, I'm happy to bow out and wish you well.
I thought it was worth discussing this here, as I know Tristain at the very least is frustrated with the first plot hook this book's given. I recognize that, so plan to try to speed up the pace of events a little but if others aren't having fun, let's figure out a solution.

Tenebrynn |

I was happy to pursue the witch angle, though it seems my in-game justifications have left something to be desired.
We seem to be not-well liked in town; getting on the good side of Winter's boss who holds a position of authority in a local group that may have some clout seems like a good angle to pursue.

Heinrich Ulster |

As long as it's not just me feeling off, I'm actually reassured. I thought I was just flailing. Work's been busy and I've been low-key searching for a new job, so interviewing and searching has been occupying my mind. Coupled with the flu and the colds that have been going around, it's been a rough winter. I'm hoping spring will shake me out of this persistent funk, but time will tell..

Tenebrynn |

Sorry I’ve been sluggish with the posts over the last few days, guys; we’re running out of people at the office so everyone is wearing more hats than usual and we have a huge email migration coming up tonight. S’been rough and it’s only getting worse!

motteditor RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16 |

Just a head's up that I'll be leavin' on a jet plane to go see my wife -- for I think the last time! (Hopefully last time I'll have to take a jet plane to see her, that is; I hope to see her again, more frequently starting in June).
I'll be gone -- and probably not posting at all March 10-20 -- plus sometimes need a day or two to recover from jet lag at the end of that. As you probably know by now, I also sometimes slow down in the preceding work as I set up all my arrangements/do all the chores I need to do for while I'm gone.

Tenebrynn |

Our bank got bought up by a bigger bank, and folks are abandoning ship left and right. 2 months ago I was low-man on the totempole and a helpdesk rep.
I still have the helpdesk rep title, but now I'm also a domain admin, exchange admin, and the administrator of our antivirus solutions. It's a mess. I feel like I'm riding a bullet bare-back as it's fired out of a gun every morning and for the whole dang day.

Kyffin Rhees |

I am headed abroad (UK) starting tomorrow and will be gone for a week. Travel days not withstanding I should be able to post more or less as usual (though from a very different timezone). However if there is a lag in my posting, that's why.
Please bot me as needed.

Tristain the Chalker |

Monies:
+..15.0 gp starting gp leftover
+2108.0 gp latest divvy.
------------
+2123.0 gp gold on handShopping list to come. This AP is really stingy on the gold or we are really uneven on the distribution. Can't even afford a good wand now.
Can we raid Kyffin's stash to get more monies?
Does anyone have 1650 gp to loan Tristain? Would like to purchase wand of Magic Missile (lvl 5) before heading to the Fort or Iris or whatever.
I can make do with a lvl 3 want, but would prefer something that will level better for longer.
Lvl 3 wand: 2250 gp
Lvl 5 wand: 3750 gp

Kyffin Rhees |

I suggest we sell the Strange wooden armor +2 (2,000gp) and give the proceeds solely to Tristain. He's behind the rest of us a bit due to item drops, and that'll bring him up closer to the rest of us.
If there are no opposed, I'll note it on the sheet and Tristain can have some cash that way.

Tristain the Chalker |

Wow. Wasn't expecting that, but will happily and greedily take it. Tris has a bit under 1000gp in total wealth and so the wand will help a bit.
Buying Wand of Magic Missile, lvl 5 if it's available.
Monies:
+..15.0 gp starting gp leftover
+2108.0 gp latest divvy.
------------
+2123.0 gp gold on hand
+2123.0 gp gold
+2000.0 gp sweet and appreciated distribution-3750.0 gp wand of MM
----------
.373..0 gp to spend

Tenebrynn |

Sooo... a question about jumps and movement speed. Even with a natural 1, Tenebrynn can hit a jump check more than high enough to get her adjacent to that man in the tower (presuming he doesn't have a roof overhead), but traversing such a distance is considerably farther than her speed of 25ft.
If I make a jump that exceeds my movement, do I freeze mid-air for the movement to finish next turn?
Is my movement limited to little 25ft hops?
I can ostensibly jump far enough to land beside that guy right now and then flatten him with a air blast but that also seems to be stretching things awfully far.
What if I only use a move action to jump it's capped to my movement speed, but a full round action I could go the amount determined by the jump check?

Kyffin Rhees |

It's weird, but the rules are pretty clear that you can only move your movement - so even if your jump was 35', you'd only move 25' in the first move. However you can double move... Can you jump higher than 50' in a single bound? If so, yes, you'd hover mid-air between rounds.
Turn based combat has its weirdness, and I've seen a lot of DMs adjudicate this differently to try and make sense of it. Tenebrynn's suggestion to move the full distance in a full round action seems reasonable, but what happens when the jump checks get into the stratosphere (not that they aren't already - impressive)? Do you want a move-limited character to be able to just jump around the battlefield? It is magic...

motteditor RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16 |

That's true too, Kyffin. Now that I'm awake and looking more closely, it does explicitly say "No jump can allow you to exceed your maximum movement for the round." So I'd say regardless of the roll, you can jump 20 ft. as a move action, 40 as a full action, or up to 80, which would be considered running. At the end of those distances, you would fall if you're not on a surface. Also keep in mind more distance is required to jump vertically (which you would be in this case) so higher rolls can account for that. (For example, as a move action, you can jump 20 ft. straight up, but you would need 40 feet worth of jumping on your Acrobatics check to do that).
You can increase that number by increasing your speed. This thread seems to have some good discussion, including a couple points from a developer.
If that nerfs it and you want to change your 3rd-level feat, I'm OK with that.

Tenebrynn |

No, I'm happy to keep it - it just gets weird when forced to address it in the action-chunks of six-second combat rounds.
Thanks for the discussion!

Albert Hazred |

Charging is unlimited, must be in a straight line, and allows for double move with the penalty to AC. I say we treat jumping like charging to keep it simple and allow the jump to still be special. That would also allow it to scale with increases to movement.
I also like the idea of the full round jump being the actual check. A full round attack is significantly better than a standard action. Few spells have full round casting. A full withdraw is x4 movement.

Tenebrynn |

I can't believe it's already PaizoCon season again. Good golly.
Enjoy your time out West, mott!

Tenebrynn |

I don't rightly know why it caught me like it did, but "Joe-Joe Zombies" made me bark out a laugh.

Tristain the Chalker |

Given that, and that Kyffin took one for the team last time, I would like to suggest that Albert takes the lead spot and the 32 damage, then he takes on Kyffin's action posted above and falls back to exactly how the combat map is currently setup and uses his last Lay on Hands for the day.
[dice=Rub Some Dirt on It]3d6
HP: 15/32
But also, Al, Kyffin only took 20 or so damage, not 32, so update for that.
Al
Kyffin
BK Supreme
Tenebrynn
Tristain

Tenebrynn |

Agreed to the above marching order, unless we're in scouting mode. In which case Tenebrynn will be 30ft ahead of everyone else with her +14 to stealth.

motteditor RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16 |

:/
I'm wondering if we might want to implement hero points or something? I think you all know I don't love killing PCs, though I certainly don't want you not to feel you're in any danger when you're in combat. That said, I think this AP is clearly intended to keep the original characters, with much of it tied to the original amnesiac/asylum origin. Obviously we can work a new character in if everyone wants to keep the sense of danger, but if we get to a point where none of you are the original characters, I think it's going to lose something. ...

Kyffin Rhees |

Well, we're missing our town priest and we don't have the cash for a raise dead (and subsequent restorations) - but Kyffin would be all over spending the cash if we had it and could find someone to cast it. I agree, the AP certainly seems to be tied to our history in the nut-house.
I played in a campaign with Hero Points once, and it didn't seem to have a dramatic effect on our fear level, but it did keep us alive when the chips were down as I recall. We hoarded those points, and spent 'em on life-and-death situations. It's been a while though, and I may be remembering through rose colored glasses. :) Oh, and we didn't use any of the Hero point feats or spells, just the raw rules.
I know I'm keen on seeing where Kyffin ends up if he can survive all this too.

Tenebrynn |

If Tenebrynn bites it, and today's dice rolls have brought me to considering that possibility at length, I was planning to pitch my replacement as a different race and class and all, but somehow with Tenebrynn's mind. I imagine her trying to bend air and not being able to would be amusing, as would her discovering the other abilities her new body had.
Kinda like The Doctor, I suppose, but with more of an eldritchy horror bent. =)

Tristain the Chalker |

Obviously we can work a new character in if everyone wants to keep the sense of danger, but if we get to a point where none of you are the original characters, I think it's going to lose something. ...
I prefer to have these discussions before life or death situations occur so I have a clear and unbiased mind about such things.
Like Kyffin, I have had a similar experience with hero points and their use.
As such, I'd prefer to let current events transpire as they do, then discuss them after. I recognize we're in dire perils for many good and bad reasons and that's that.

Albert Hazred |

At our tabletop games we've been using Flaws for years and they work great. Each time your PC dies it gets a new flaw, your choosing, and that Flaw is both character building and somehow related to the manner of death.
I made the mistake of taking the Flaw "unhealthy curiosity" with a rogue once, by the end of the campaign she had over a dozen more flaws :)
Also, BK should have drank another CLW potion before that battle, if Mott allowed him to guzzle the two he needed there is a chance no one dies...

Tenebrynn |

I'm still where I was when poor Belzoni bit it, and that's more ok with lethality in this kind of setting than I would be in another. I appreciate how that's at odds with the AP's ongoing hook and plot thread with the amnesia, but we're creative types - we can come up with something to preserve the latter when the former rears its ugly head!
Have the silhouettes change in that painter's work to foreshadow a new character's appearance. Or, bounce a mind from a broken body into a new one. Or, have Heinrich/BK stabilize somehow only to wake at midnight as a Skum. All of those maintain the mystery and other-ness that's so characteristic of the Cthulhu mythos without leaving us as players utterly forlorn.
That being said, everything I just said flies out the window if James were super into Heinrich/BK and so invested that death or any of those other big changes/alternatives would rob him of his fun. Same for Mott - his fun is important too!
TLDR: I'm cool with us dying so long as it doesn't cost the player or the GM their enjoyment of the game.

Kyffin Rhees |

Yeah, pretty much what I said before. Lethality adds an edge which is nice, but it has its drawbacks.
In the end, I'm happy with either choice - either adding hero points (or some other lethality hedge) or leaving it as is and deal with the deaths as they happen (new character, raise dead, etc.). So I agree with Tenebrynn - cool with us dying so long as it doesn't cost the player or GM enjoyment.