Sorry for the silence, RL has been super busy. Will be able to update once more on Thursday.
HP = 12+3 + + (3) + (3) = 35 Total.
Finishing the Avatar now and will get a post up. Hopefully the only further interruption will be while I am on vacation!
In the process of moving from a 4 bedroom house to a 1 bedroom apartment so super busy right now. I will be up and checking in more frequently by the beginning of next week.
Checking in RL has just been impossible lately, please BOT me. Hope to be back next week.
I'm currently in hectic work project mode. I'll be back in action on the boards Thursday. Please bot as needed.
I've been a bit busy of late, but will find time to post while I'm on my vacation here in the coming week!
Sorry for the delay folks, RL stuff and a vacation has kept me busy and sorta off-balance the last couple weeks. I'm going to try hard to get a post up before the end of this weekend.
Hi Folks, sorry for the long absence had to figure out a number of things in RL. Due to a significant change in circumstances, I will need to limit my presence on the boards and that includes dropping this game. I apologize for the long delay in making contact to inform you of this decision and I apologize if my absence created any issues within Gameplay.
No worries Shadow, I've also had some RL issues keeping me away from the board. I'll write you out soon, and I'm hoping to put up a post myself very soon now!
Whew, finally updated the adventure! I think what I'll do is write out Fadir immediately. He will effectively be guarding the cultist and won't engage in battles alongside the PCs (otherwise that nasty cultist might try something sneaky!) and then he'll haul him off to the authorities once you all get out of this area and back into Wati.
Are folks still around? I'm holding off on posting again to await a decision on how you react to the room you're standing on the threshold of.
Yep. Karen told me I had missed some posting. I'm up to date here.... now. Working on the others.
Now I just need to get on the stick! Going away for a vacation this weekend, but will look to update the adventure next Monday!!
Sorry it's been so long since I've posted. I have been in the process of finding and buying a house, which has eaten up all my spare time lately. That's about finished now though so things should be getting back to normal.
You've got great timing Sefanit! I'm hoping to get back to normal myself after this weekend! :)
test with profile
Think I'm starting to get back into my pbp rhythm once more! I sent out a couple PMs to Ki'dhir and Sefanit to make sure they're still with us. If not, I might recruit a player to join my actives - which I count as Elliander, Emilia, Francis and Hasina. :)
Sorry everyone, I've been putting off posting because of some nonsense with college.
No worries Emilia, glad you're back and I hope the college nonsense is going well! :)
In just attacking the Red Mastiff, Elliander is not using his move action. If he is able to defeat it, he could move and possibly offer a Flanking bonus to his allies before it's their turn.
Q: Is it possible to flank that Ajin when its hovering 5' up and we are on the floor?
It is not possible to flank Ajin - one of the reasons he's floating up there. Plus it looks intimidating as hell!
I'm sorry folks, it's very unlikely I'll be able to post until after New Year's. I've had some personal stuff happening over the past week or so, and I'm traveling starting tomorrow - oh yeah, and then it's Christmas and New Years!
Happy Holidays everyone, we'll get back on track after January 1st 2020!
Good resolve of a complicated situation, GM West. Good catch on the saving throw also. I’m still thinking about the DnD version of the spells, since for the lower level of spells there isn’t much change to PF, but in this case they had added a save. Too bad he just made the DC since lowering his strength even more would have been great.
So... Anyone got any ideas on what Emilia could do? Because none of her attacks can even get through this things DR.
Keep any bonuses you can active. With all of my magic spent I'm just trying to flank! Any bard abilities with the Archaeologist build?
I used all my magic and all my Archaeologist's Luck before we even got to this fight, literally nothing left. If we could get a flank I could probably get some damage off, but with it 5ft in the air it's impossible.
How good are you with grappling or disarming? Do you have a better chance of helping there? Will probably need some more diversion in order to survive long enough to defeat it.
Emilia is a dex based halfling, her odds of grappling or disarming are next to none.
Emilia, want to take the wand of CLW and use it? Sefanit can cast CLW one more time. That way we could, with a couple of good rolls, heal about 50% of the damage Elliander is almost certainly going to take this round.
After that it's just the wand, and with a good roll it will heal about 25% of the damage he will almost certainly take in further rounds.
Otherwise we can stand and watch so this ends sooner.
@West: I wasn't trying to imply you have rigged this combat. Maybe there was a narrow route to success at the beginning. But there isn't one now. The math is just not there. This fight started back in mid-November and it's been weeks since there's been any significant chance we could do anything but lose.
We have one weapon that matters between us all. Spells are shut down. We can muster one attack per round with a roughly 50% chance to hit. The vanth has two attacks at roughly 75% and 50% and each of them delivers more damage than ours. When Elliander is out of the fight there's literally nothing left for the rest of us to do.
The fight doesn't even really matter. When it's over everybody's healed and some dick priest gets bragging rights. It's tiresome. If this is RAW from the book then either we're just not the party this AP is asking for or it's a crap encounter we were meant to lose.
Sorry if this rubs people the wrong way but I would like to call it a loss and just move on without wasting more time.
Part of the reason for the slow pace was the holiday season coupled with a very busy month for me in January at work (tax office and I do all the 1099s and W2s that I have about three weeks to crank out with a deadline of January 31st). It's thrown my gaming schedule off badly. I'm hoping to get back to a quick posting pace in the next couple weeks or so, after a short trip I'm taking late next week. And yes, this encounter is just as described in the adventure path. I apologize if it is annoying anyone, I hadn't intended that...
Too bad about the scythe. I though I had an ace up my sleeve with my scroll of stoneskin. (DR10/adamantine) It could have bought us some time.
I've got a scroll of Slow too, but with allowing both a Saving Throw and Ajin's high SR, it's far from a sure thing.
No problem West. Bad rolls happen. I put everything into keeping Hasina up hoping she'd get the rolls needed to put the big, bad guy down. That plus the four pitiful rolls with my spiritual weapon.... What's the worst that happens then? TPK? Then we do a game reboot with a new party? Life goes on! :-)
You've definitely got the impression that Sebti is doing her best in protecting you from serious harm or death. Ajin has also been ordered not to destroy you as he would undead, though how 'careful' the creature is being is obviously in question.
Excellent! Burn that SoB! :)
Any aid in hitting it, is welcome. Seem to miss now and an extra +2 bonus might make a difference.
Multiple characters can aid the same friend, and similar bonuses stack.
Sigh, another "5" for 14 to attack. Not sure if 18 is enough to hit it (i.e. aid from two of you)?
Yeah... the dice are not being kind to you, Elliander. :(
The dice have never been so rotten to us before. This whole battle has been ridiculous! Healing rolls. Attack rolls! Damage.
If I were watching this game, waiting to see if I wanted to join, the sheer bad luck running would make me wait for the TPK to join the reboot if it happened!!!! :)
Don't think 18 will be enough Elliander.
Hasina can also add to Elliander's roll, if she doesn't want to make an attack herself at the penalty for being prone. I'll post next round tomorrow and if she doesn't post an action, I'll presume she's aiding him and will roll for her.
That's bad news on my spell. :(
The DnD version is 1 min/level but the PF only has 1 round/min. That's quite a downgrade.
A "7" this time for 16. Aid from two will bump it up to 20 and possibly hit it. (A crit instead would have been nice.)
I definitely enjoy the RP going on, but Sefanit I'm unsure if your 'anger' at the encounter is entirely IC or also OOC. Your character should recognize that the man she is threatening leads the militant side of the Temple of Pharasama - the most powerful church in Wati. I'm not sure exactly how, at the moment, to keep you from being imprisoned (or at least an attempt made to arrest you.)
I will try to come up with something, but if you'd rather not continue on with this adventure I understand. Just let me know.
I certainly do still think the encounter was absurd and designed for the party to lose.
But, I think Sefanit has reacted in a completely reasonable way to the situation. I mean what sane person would, after what just happened think "gosh, we showed up to ask if we could help, were nearly murdered for it with the side supposedly supporting us standing around to watch, but no (permanent) harm no foul."?
Sefanit has simply reacted like an actual person would react.
If telling the Pharasmans they completely suck afterward is so far out of bounds it's arrestable or thereabouts then not only is the combat encounter absurd, but the whole scenario is ludicrous.
She did specify "at a time and place of her choosing", which I don't expect to be within the immediate future. She'll get back to him come some point in later books when she's 12th or 15th level or whatever.
Of course there is an easy resolution if you want it. Sefanit will walk away if her terms aren't met.
On the other hand, if my decision to have Sefanit react negatively to the Pharasmans is problematic for this campaign, I will certainly drop out rather than create difficulties.
Reacting negatively to the Parasmans is certainly allowable, but threatening several times to murder the leader of their militant arm could be problematic - we'll have to see how that plays out. Mainly I wanted to make sure that you, as a player, are still interested in this game with me GMing it.
Oh absolutely. I believe you ran the encounter RAW. It was also an insane encounter that creates a giant plot hole in that rational characters who are not invested in the Pharasman church (Francis certainly has an out due to this) are left with no reason to want to have anything to do with them anymore.
Players just have to shrug and decide 'well, we don't want to quit the AP so I guess we'll just act like that was somehow kind of normal and move on'. It reminds me very much of a certain plot problem in Wrath of the Righteous that just sours things with an ally for no good reason.
Sefanit is on the extreme end of things though. She's a Rahadoumi atheist who has no reason at all to extend the benefit of a doubt to the Pharasmans because gods are mysterious, or priests should be respected or any other justification for cutting them a break. So she's not cutting them a break.
No worries Sefanit, it's definitely my job as a GM to try to keep things flowing along as well as possible and I intend to do that. Just wanted to make sure that this encounter hasn't soured you on the entire adventure to the point where you'd rather just drop. Sounds like you're interested in continuing onward, so we'll make do and let things play out as they may! :)
My next character is going to be a dumb Barbarian! No more diplomacy, just pound things! And Rage when needed!!! :)
Yes, Sefanit is quite a pill isn't she? Damn academics. :p
My apologies for the delay in posting folks, my busy work schedule and getting ready for a move is hammering my creative mind into mush. I'll post when I can, but probably for the next four weeks or so I'm going to be a bit unreliable in that area. Bear with me and I'll get back into the swing of things after the April 15th deadline for sure and hopefully before then, once I'm settled into my new place. Thanks for understanding!!