[PFS] 5-23 Cairn of Shadows by GM Upaynao (Inactive)

Game Master Upaynao

No comment.

:p

I was up to 15 at one point. It turned out to be too many. >___>

The highest I got was GMing 8 tables and playing in ~10. The workload was manageable, but post quality definitely suffered.

Yeah I got to a similar number, 6 and 6 is about the outer limit I find before it just gets a bit much and turns into short copy pasta at best.

I've GMed either five or six at a time, but that is a stretch. I'm doing two at the moment.
Well, three if you include a slightly slower paced MW table.
Oh, and I just picked up an Eyes on the Ten that needed a GM, so four.

I'm not going to start any more until after Cosmic Captive finishes though, as apparently that is pretty tough going, and EotT is taking a bit of getting my head around anyway.

No comment on the number I'm playing, but it is probably too many (okay, so after writing that, I had to count.11 PFS and three APs).

I really am trying to cut down.

As for the quality of my posting, probably a little less than I would like. Which is why I should be cutting down.

Has Hmm announced the GMs for CC?

Not yet :)

I wanna know where to sign up for a table in due course though!

You guys win!

☺

Just a heads up.

I am away on a short family break between Easter Monday and the following weekend US Eastern Time.

I am taking my iPad, so daily posting will be no problem. But I may need some help with moving Eadie’s token on the map.

Hope you're having fun Eadie! In the meantime, I have a rules-fu question here. Could one ready a partial charge? I'm thinking about Skug's readied action.

No, I will not be able to attack. I'm readying a plain old move action, but hoping to take an AoO at the end.

Yeah, I understood that. I'm just wondering out loud if that would have been a valid option.

My interpretation has always been no. I wasn't limited to a standard action at the start of my turn. Along the same lines, I also count movement before and after a readied action for whether a PC can 5-ft. step.

I don't think you can ready a partial charge. It is really there so staggered creatures have a chance to do something. I use for for zombies all the time.

If you are able to take only a standard action on your turn, you can still charge, but you are only allowed to move up to your speed (instead of up to double your speed) and you cannot draw a weapon unless you possess the Quick Draw feat. You can't use this option unless you are restricted to taking only a standard action on your turn.

Readying an action is a choice you are making, not something you are being artificially restricted down to.

Partial charges are normally for when you are staggered, or during a surprise round.

Thanks, GM. I am having fun!

Weather is great and we are enjoying some lazy days on the beautiful southern coast of Western Australia.

While we are doing rules Q&A, I've got one.

For some monster ability save DCs eg, Incubus, it says something like 'Fortitude DC 19 negates the penalty ... The save is charisma based.'

So does that mean instead of applying your con modifier to your 'base' Fort save, you substitute your charisma modifier?

Nah, that means the monster's DC is calculated based off their charisma, at least, as I understand it.

Skug, that spot is the one. Thanks!

dien, thank-you for the clarification. I have always wondered about that.

Do the tables try to grab Eadie and Eglantine before my action triggers?

Skug may be a moron out of combat, but fighting is the one thing he knows well. If the actions played out the way I think they did, I'd assume the witch is drawing us into a trap. And I'm trying to kill her, not help her :-Þ

Yes they do. And you would be correct in assuming that.

She's an eeeevil witch.

Can anybody identify the tables/creatures? Do they have hardness? I have adamantine arrows if that will help destroy them. I also have a potion of cure serious wounds and a scroll of cure critical wounds.

@GM: Could I touch the wall next to me with stone shape and cause it to close the alcove, blocking off the other table?

These aren't creatures, these are traps (effectively). With that said, yes you could break them into tiny bits.

You could also close an alcove to avoid having to deal with the table within, provided you have the range to do so without getting grappled by their chains. From what everyone has seen they trigger when someone gets within 10 feet of one. So that may or may not work with stone shape, you'd have to get creative.

Same as Oleander, I'm going to wait to see the result of others' actions before choosing which arrows to shoot.

Hate to be a jerk, but because you should probably know this before it ruins your life at another table: you can't cast liberating command on yourself. (You also can't do a Lay on Hands and a liberating command in the same turn.)

You're limited to exactly one immediate OR swift action per turn, so no doubling up LOH and Lib Command. As for Lib Command, it's explicitly an immediate action to cast it, and then another immediate action from the target to use the bonus-- so even though the 'target' doesn't say that you can't target yourself, functionally, you can't, because you legally don't have another immediate action left for the turn itself.

Ran into this with one of my casters once when there were in a grapple, and the GM explained it to me. It suuuuucked. That is why I now carry potions of jester's jaunt, heh.

Yeah went back and had a look.

You can't change the action used to cast (ie make it a standard), it can only be an immediate, and then that subsequently nixes the option to use it on yourself, nor can you apparently cast it in one round then use it in another (Immediate followed by your next standard action).

Oh well, cancel that - Jesters Jaunt is far better!

Sometimes I really miss having a 9-5 job.

Same here. One day I love it, the next day I'm wondering how I could have been so crazy.

9-5 is still a thing somewhere? :p

Heading out bush for a few days in 24 hours, will be gone ~48 hours. Will be on limited to no comms during that time.

Hey I got reception out here on this hill! One dot of 3G!

Whoa! Did you call up for a pizza?

Any wedgies? Goannas?

I have actually eaten goanna on a high school excursion.

And yep! Tastes like chicken ... ;)

Goanna is fine, so are snakes and crocs. 'Straya mate, eat or be eaten :p

Back home, just a bit tired out now. At least the weather was fantastic.

As the pathfinders climb up, the decrepit looking one cackles. "That isn't a very nice thing to say about my pretties. Especially coming from a weakling like you!"

-- ✄ Snip! ✄ --

A ray of dark energy escapes from the creature's hand, and hits Eadie; only the fighter's resilience saves her from the full effects of the spell! She then takes a step back.

Eadie, your Strength score is penalized by 2.

Sorry GM, was the strength penalty caused by a ray of enfeeblement or similar?

If so, I’m thinking that -2 strength penalty would have worn off by now, yeah?

It was,so if your oil has expired so has the ray of enfeeblement.

I'll be updating late tonight. Train delays mean that I'm stuck in Boston far longer than I really care for.

I'm a dumbass …

No way! That’s Eadie’s job ;)

That... Wasn't me... *Awkward cough*. I think it was Eadie.

Guilty as charged!

I’ll sort some illusionary doubles out for E.G. and Insidion as well.

So, if you hadn't guessed, this fight is almost over and all that's left is a bit of exploration and perhaps some faction missions (just as a friendly reminder).

Now I'd like to talk about the next table I'll be running.

As you might know I find that 2 concurrent tables is a good spot for me. I am currently at 3, with a fourth about to launch. Thus, when this table and my Shadow's Last Stand, Part 2 finish I will not be immediately starting new tables. However, as soon as Cosmic Captive finishes, I will be starting a new table, of either a 5-9 or a 7-11 scenario.

When we first talked about this, I had said that I'd run 7-09 The Blackros Connection with 7-23 in view. However after consideration, you might be better off trying to get a local table for both of these, because at this point, depending on how fast you want to level, this could end up taking the better part of August through December for the two of these to be completed.

SoOoOoOo, I'm going to put it to a vote. Bearing in mind that I would be starting after the upcoming special, who would rather do:

A- My original plan (7-09 followed by 7-23)
B- 3-26 Portal of the Sacred Rune
C- 2-26 The Mantis' Prey
D- 5-05 The Elven Entanglement.

I don't do local tables (or at least I haven't so far). I honestly have no preference among the options. Whatever the group decides is fine with me. It's all gravy, man.

I haven’t played either of A. But Oleander, who you were initially running for has, so I won’t vote for this.

I have played B (it’s pretty good!)

I haven’t played or GM’d C

I have heard D is a bi-atch, but I know nothing more about it. Having said that, if you think an organized, co-operative group could take it GM, I’d be open to it.

TL/DR: C, with second choice being whatever Oleander wants to play. Even if that means (with absolutely no hard feelings) I sit out :)

I've done (well am half way though) 7-09; fine on 7-23 though.

I'm pretty happy for any of the others though. Oleander is only 6th, but I have a 8th level cleric just come free.

If everyone else wants to do A though, I could sit out with no hard feelings.

A- My original plan (7-09 followed by 7-23) - I've played 709, not 7-23.
B- 3-26 Portal of the Sacred Rune - GM'd, good adventure!
C- 2-26 The Mantis' Prey - Played.
D- 5-05 The Elven Entanglement - Played. Brutal.

That's pretty much my state of play :P

Happy to sit out a few if you are still keen to crack on though.

I'm actually going to sit out the next round. I won't be playing much until I finish GMing this huge batch of evergreens.

I think I'm good with any of those, and would love to continue.

FYI, I'll be traveling in Europe for the next two weeks. I'll try to keep up on posting, but will likely be sporadic. Please bot me as needed.

Alright, lets set August 6th as our next scenario start and I'll roll on which of B or C it will be.

B(01-50), C(51-100): 1d100 ⇒ 91

C it is. Shifty, do you have a game tracker where one could take a look at what you have played or not played?

Eadie just asked if I didn't mind doing just 7-23. I caved in. So this time, its a DEFINITE THING.

WE ARE ABSOLUTELY DOING 7-23 ABDUCTED IN AETHER STARTING ON AUGUST 6th.

I put a signup list on my signup sheet. Put yourself there if you wanna be a part of the magic.

For those of you waiting on a chronicle sheet I need to verify that one thing has or has not been done by the party before I give you the wrap-up.

Cool!

Also tracker as at today...
Shouldn't change much as I am just GMing again at the moment.

Tracker

Thine Chronicle Sheets!!!!!

As always all feedback is good feedback! Let me know what you think could have been handled better, what was done O.K., what you'd like to see more of, what mistakes you were tired of seeing...

Thank you for putting up with some of the delays, and I hope this didn't take too long.

Oh and holler when you have your chronicle sheet so I know when to close the thread.

Got my Chronicle. Great job, Upaynao. Good use of spoilers for skill checks, good pacing, good combat tracking. No complaints!

Chronicle looks good, thank you for running :-)

Finalize a Report: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8

That looks good. Many thanks.

Playing out of tier can get kind of scary!