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That looks correct. There is also that option for stylized spontaneity, so to make it silent and invisible (which I don't think a spell makes audio effects unless it has verbal components, as the FAQ only mentioned visual effects) it would be a DC 17 Caster level check, or DC 12 if you only make it invisible for a level 1 spell.
zer0, GM Abraham: is the above correct? I want to make sure before I go that route...Summary:
+1 level effective level increase gets me:
a)+10 to the DC to id my spell;
b)adding -5 penalty on top of that suppresses
i)visual manifestations of the spell; or
ii)auditory manifestations.So we have +1 spell level, +10 to DC to id, -10 to DC id = effective 0 change to DC to id spell BUT: spell is now invisible and makes no sound.
Basically, I can detect thoughts as a 2nd level spell instead of 1st level spell, and they don't know I'm doing that unless they make a DC 27 Perception check (10+11spellcraftranks+intmod6). Hmmm.... I guess it's not bad if you're at a range of 60 feet as Perception checks are modified by distance (+1/10ft) so the DC to spot my detect thoughts at 60 feat would be 33... still a bit easy to make at level 11 but it's not completely useless... I shall consider it...
Yes, that looks correct to me. Technically, since it says "has slightly different somatic and verbal components than normal" and psychic spells have neither, I suppose some GM could say that it doesn't work for psychic spells at all, but that feels like a dick move to me. Especially since you are adding +1 to the spell level, to me it seems like quite a fair trade, particularly since they still get a perception check to possibly notice it. Going to add this to my plan for my psychic, who is only level 2 now...
This event (Outpost) qualifies for convention boon support. Hope you all win something! You get a player boon on a 1 or a 20. Good luck:
Alas... May the dice treat you better in what lies ahead...
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That looks correct. There is also that option for stylized spontaneity, so to make it silent and invisible (which I don't think a spell makes audio effects unless it has verbal components, as the FAQ only mentioned visual effects) it would be a DC 17 Caster level check, or DC 12 if you only make it invisible for a level 1 spell.
Wait a min... Stylized Spontaneity lets you do this without a higher level spell slot? sign me up!
However... I may have to just forget about it... I would need retraining and I'm not sure how that works... I would also need an understanding GM that lets me reassign headband of vast intelligence ranks from UMD to Bluff... :)
Its really funny that the opponents both have persian names. ;-)
I would not like to retcon anything. Yanndu had the possibility to take an alternative route and it was his decision to cast the spell. We all now have to face the consequences of this action. But to be honest as a player I do not mind. ;-)
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The way it's presented right now, Yanndu has NOT cast greater invisibility yet, and since his psychic spells are purely mental actions, with no verbal, somatic or material components, I'm not really sure what you mean by 'We all now have to face the consequence of this action.'
I think what we have here is the GM trying to put some order in this thing and giving the chance for other players to act BEFORE Yanndu gets to go all invisible-banana on them! :)
Moving this discussion about whether we are jumping in to melee too quickly over to the discussion tab.
First, let me say right off the bat that, while I'm an experienced PFS GM (2 stars), this is my first time GM-ing PbP, so I request your indulgence and understanding. I'm sure I'll screw up in many ways and when the game is over I'll be grateful for your honest feedback so I can continue to get better. My goal throughout is for all of us to have fun, tell a good story, feel like your characters had a chance to be heroic and show off their particular talents, and also for you to feel challenged (but not unfairly).
About this specific question, I think there are several intertwined issues:
* What does initiative mean? I view it as being like the twitch of an eyebrow when two gunslingers are facing off, that tells them each that it's time to draw. In other words, absent a situation of surprise or some other extenuating circumstances, I'm not in favor of people (either PCs or NPCs) being able to buff themselves before the first round of combat. In this case, the twitch of Yanndu's eyebrow, indicating that he was about to cast his greater invisibility spell, is what triggers initiative. That doesn't mean that he gets to cast his spell before round 1 starts - it means that his intention to act became apparent to everyone, and everyone then also gets to act (in initiative order). Another way of looking at this: the action economy of the game already strongly favors the PCs, so it will render many encounters trivial if the PCs can cast, or attack, or whatever, before initiative has even started.
* Should I have delayed their response to Yanndu's action to give the more diplomatically-minded characters a chance to intervene? Maybe. I'll have to ponder this and I can already see that this is a huge difference between the play-feel of PbP and FtF. If we had all been sitting around a table together in real time, as soon as Yanndu indicated that he was going to cast a spell, a party diplomat might have intervened and said no wait, let me try talking, and I think only the most strict and uptight of GMs would say, 'you said you were casting, so you did.' However, I have some concerns about applying this approach in PbP, particularly because sometimes some people may not post for a day or two. I can see how this could easily lead to a ton of retconning, if every time someone chimed in with a new approach or concern we had to go back over the action that had already occurred. Clearly that sort of retconning may be needed on occasion, but my instinct is to save it for really dire situations, like where I have screwed up a rule that may lead to a PC death. On reflection, I think it probably would have been better if I had waited longer before posting that initiative had been triggered, so that I gave other party members a chance to also weigh in. That said, I feel that I also gave Yanndu a clear indication that casting a spell would be seen as "an action" and hence the response of my girtablilus was in some sense determined at that point. One of the things that I've learned from more experienced GMs, and that I've come to really appreciate, is that - especially in a 7-11 tier scenario - the players should feel a real sense of consequences to their actions. In short, my inclination is to avoid retconning except when it's really needed, and this doesn't seem to rise to that level (if it's any consolation, even if you had taken the diplomatic route there's still a decent chance that you end up having to fight them).
* One thing that I think is further complicating this is the business about psychic spells that we've already discussed elsewhere in the thread. As I've already noted, if it were me writing the psychic magic rules, I would be all about the idea that they can be cast by nothing more than thinking a thought. That feels really cool to me and would definitely make psychic magic more interesting. That said, I can understand why the paizo folks came up with their faq about this - probably fearing that otherwise psychic magic would break the game - and so I treat it as that, when casting a psychic spell, something visibly happens (your eyes glow briefly or whatever).
Ok, I think that about covers everything. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Back to the play tab, where the battle awaits us! :-)
@GM: You are doing great! Your response this situation already shows that. ;-)
And I also agree with Sard! :-D
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From my short experience of PbP, I would give everyone 24 hours from when someone posts an action that would initiate combat in case someone intervenes, however I believe we are on a sort of time limit because its a con game, so that may not always be the best course of action depending on the circumstances. Regardless, even in physical games, I am quite accustomed to the "took a possibly hostile action > everyone roll initiative" although I usually see the GM allow that action to finish before the rounds begin (so, for example, yanndu would be invisible now, but it's not like he could sit there applying 5 buff spells without the enemies getting a little concerned and attacking).
Hello, just for clarification. In round 2, now that it is our turn Ali is not grappled anymore correct?
Hello, just for clarification. In round 2, now that it is our turn Ali is not grappled anymore correct?
Correct (except that it's round 3, not 2). Blue released his grapple on Ali at the start of his turn in order to be able to wield his weapon 2 handed against him. If either of his claws had hit he could have attempted to reestablish the grapple, but since they both missed he is a free man!
Although the scorpionman is stunned, somehow his reflexes take over for him and he somehow avoids Enora's pit!
Ha ha ... yes ... it is really funny how this spell works even when you face an enemy that is not dazed. :-)
Unfortunately she has nothing restorative on her item list. But I will use my cure light wounds wand on you asap!
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GM Abraham: due to real-life requirements I will have to withdraw Yanndu from this adventure. I have spoken with GM Hmm and she says you can replace me with someone else at full credit since we're all still in the first fight. This has been fun and I've enjoyed gaming with this group so far! Thank you for running this, and apologies for any inconvenience this may cause. Good luck to all of you during the rest of the module with your replacement Pathfinder Agent!
@Yanndu, oh no, very sorry to see you go and I sincerely hope that it wasn't anything about my style of GM-ing!
@Everyone - I wonder if I am being too rules-oriented or challenging y'all too much. I hope not but please (everyone) let me know if you feel that - I'm new to GM-ing PbP and I can see that it is a very different medium in ways that I am still adjusting to.
(And just when it was about to get real interesting too! If Anahita had survived the current round, I was planning to have her jump into the pit with Yanndu, which would have made things interesting, to say the least...!)
We'll have a short pause while we see if there's another player who wants to join us. Due to the crazy way the APL system works out, I'm afraid that if we don't get another player we remain at high tier with the 4 player adjustment (7+7+9+10+11=44; 44/5=8.8 which rounds to 9, which translates to high tier with 4 player adj for parties of 5 or 6). In other words, losing your 11th level psychic caster does nothing to make the scenario easier for you! So hopefully we can find someone who will step in.
@Yanndu: Was great to have you here! I am looking forward to the game with you.
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@Yanndu, oh no, very sorry to see you go and I sincerely hope that it wasn't anything about my style of GM-ing!
@Everyone - I wonder if I am being too rules-oriented or challenging y'all too much. I hope not but please (everyone) let me know if you feel that - I'm new to GM-ing PbP and I can see that it is a very different medium in ways that I am still adjusting to.
(And just when it was about to get real interesting too! If Anahita had survived the current round, I was planning to have her jump into the pit with Yanndu, which would have made things interesting, to say the least...!)
We'll have a short pause while we see if there's another player who wants to join us. Due to the crazy way the APL system works out, I'm afraid that if we don't get another player we remain at high tier with the 4 player adjustment (7+7+9+10+11=44; 44/5=8.8 which rounds to 9, which translates to high tier with 4 player adj for parties of 5 or 6). In other words, losing your 11th level psychic caster does nothing to make the scenario easier for you! So hopefully we can find someone who will step in.
I personally think you're doing totally fine. I'm in about 6 PbP games rn and this one feels pretty much the same as the rest (compliment!).
@Chasik, when you get a chance:
Please post the following:
1) Character name
2) Player name
3) PFS #
4) Faction
5) Regular progression or slow?
6) Day Job roll
7) Anything unusual I should know about your character?
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Congrats, gang! That was quite a battle - there were a few moments there were I was worried that it could turn into a TPK. For your interest, it was a CR 13 encounter: he was a Barbarian 1 and she was a Rogue 8 - between them they had 360 hp. The four player adjustment had them spend their first round actions summoning giant scorpions that then don't arrive (so they lose their first turn), so without the 4 player adjustment you would have been dealing with 4 giant scorpions as well, which can make it very tough if she gets a flank partner because she does 4d6 sneak attack damage and, as you (finally) saw, has 7 attacks on a full melee attack. The scorpions might have also let her stay at range for longer which could have been particularly deadly because she has Deadly Aim (Power Attack for archers).
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Ardashir:
2 potions of Cure Moderate
2 potions of Lesser Restoration -1
+1 hide armor
+1 greatclub
4 ordinary throwing axes
amulet of mighty fists +1
cloak of resistance +1
mwk artisan's tools
Anahita:
2 potions of cure serious -1
1 potion of haste - gone
3 potions of invisibility -1
2 alchemist's fire
3 antitoxin -1
5 smokesticks
3 thunderstones
ordinary studded leather armor
+1 spear
+1 composite shortbow
amulet of natural armor +2
belt of dex +2
2 elixirs of hiding -1
portable alchemist's lab
5 tindertwigs
a key
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Ardashir:
2 potions of Cure Moderate - Chasik, ?
2 potions of Lesser Restoration -Sajan, ?
+1 hide armor
+1 greatclub
4 ordinary throwing axes
amulet of mighty fists +1 (Sajan?)
cloak of resistance +1
mwk artisan's tools
Anahita:
2 potions of cure serious -Shel, ?
1 potion of haste - Shel
3 potions of invisibility -Shel, ?, ?
2 alchemist's fire
3 antitoxin -Shel, ?, ?
5 smokesticks
3 thunderstones
ordinary studded leather armor
+1 spear
+1 composite shortbow
amulet of natural armor +2
belt of dex +2
2 elixirs of hiding -Shel, ?
portable alchemist's lab
5 tindertwigs
a key - Chasik
Let us just take everything with us that was not distributed yet and take out what we need later on.
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Should we come up with some standard operating procedures for his ‘dungeon?’ Like maybe, Shel is 10’ ahead of the rest of the group and she will check for traps at
Every new room we enter, listen at every door and check for traps before attempting to disable a lock or a trap, whatever she finds. That way, the DM could roll the skills if he wants, so that we don’t get bogged down waiting for the whole team to agree.
And we need a marching order, if we don’t already have one.
You are great Sard, love the RP! ;-)
:-( No ... we love to be with Sajan and after this adventure Enora will help him to find the girl he is looking for! :-)
Gm: what’s your ruling of Infernal Healing + “fast healer” feat?
Is it 1/2 con mod at first “tick” or each “tick”
(Ie: lesser Inf. Heal is 13 at first or 40 at each “tick”)
Interesting question - I haven't run into that before - I'm going to rule that it heals 13, not 40, unless you can find some persuasive evidence to the contrary from a dev somewhere. Aside from the game balance issue - which isn't negligible - I'd see Infernal Healing as a single healing spell that unfolds over a minute, rather than 10 discrete heals.
It's starting to look like we are gonna miss the end date due to this dice.
If we push on expeditiously we might be able to wrap up by the 30th. How important is it for each you to finish by the deadline? That is, do any of you need your characters free for something else that is about to start? In any case, I'll do my best to push us forward as quickly as possible but we still do have some ground to cover.
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I would argue that Infernal Healing either doesn't proc it at all or procs it on every tick of the fast healing.
Infernal healing does not technically actually heal; it grants fast healing.
"When you regain hit points by resting or through magical healing"
So either the fast healing granted is "magical healing" and it procs on every tick of the fast healing. Or its not "magical healing" because it is technically just granting you the supernatural quality "fast healing" and does not proc at all.