[PFS PbP] GM Debug's The Paths We Choose (5-99) (Inactive)

Game Master DebugAMP

A bit less :-(, Bulgo was mythic in last adventure and unwinding some of those changes has been complicated.

Your character sheet shows level 4 but your header shows level 3. Also, its been half a dozen scenarios since I played the one you just finished, and I still find random errors in my wife's character sheet. I finally just redid everything from scratch on it.

ahh yes.

HP should be
4d8(8+15=23)+4(con)+4(FC)=31

Your character sheet shows level 4 but your header shows level 3. Also, its been half a dozen scenarios since I played the one you just finished, and I still find random errors in my wife's character sheet. I finally just redid everything from scratch on it.

That just sounds funny.

"Wait, why does your Strength score box say 'hgxiklph?' There's no such number!"

Well when going back from mythic to normal, she actually over subtracted. When she leveled up recently I did a quick character audit and got confused by her low damage output. Turns out her strength score was 2 lower than it was supposed to be. The mythic bonus to initiative was still factored in on accident, and her size bonus to attacks was omitted. Also, some of her damage boosts weren't factored into her charge damage. Was a spirited charge cavalier. Damage nearly jumped by 50% after that audit.

To all my games: I'm struggling to have some wifi from Tuesday. I don't know when it'll be stable. If my character is blocking the game, please bot him or place him in delay. Sorry for that!

What's the ambient light like? This is actually a pretty important question (important enough, as a matter of fact, that it wouldn't be a terrible idea to specify it every encounter).

My bad, it's low-light. Night time. I actually meant to say that...

I'm just letting you know that I'll be out of town this week-end. Please bot Sham if needed ;)

Hmm...Does dispel magic work on the suffocation spell?

Yes, it does. It is a spell with duration of 3 rounds, so you can end it early.

Oh, geez, this whole auction's a math/probability/game theory puzzle - it's probably got a famous name and everything.

No famous name that I know of, but I did run the math on it. It has some interesting results.

Can we use bluff to talk down some of the value on the other slaves?
I'm trying to think of ways we can make this more than a random lottery - because I can't see us getting all three of them in that scenario.

I think we would be better going with a bid or 12 or 13 for the swindler (unless we think the fourth slave is of different inherent value to the others) so we are sure of getting two. That wouldn't leave us enough cash to bid on the last slave.

Did the people who bid on the first and second slaves but not win them stick around. We could try and buy some coins off them to increase out pot size, and get all three - cashing in some of the loot we got from the ship if necessary.

There was a big gap in my ability to post today, but earlier, at least I was trying to lead Bulgo outside long enough that I could make him invisible....

@Sihir
That might be enough to help with stealing some more coins to free the last slave. Though last time I only got a single one.

-spoiler text: (it looks like we probably did this with the aids)
The other bidders are very good at estimating the value of the slaves being auctioned. None of them have any intention of bidding anything outside of what they are worth. Most of them are only intending to bid on one slave, however the Qadiran intends to bid on all of them. It seems as though for any given slave, only 1 of the buyers other than the Qadiran has expressed any interest.

----
I'm not too sure how this helps.
We have 20 coins left.
Out two obvious options are
13 - make 100% certain of getting a second slave - but not able to try for the 3rd
or
12 and 8 - likely to get #2, and unlikely but technically possible to get #3.

If Bulgo managed to steal another coin we could to a 13 and 8, or 12 and 9 or even 11 and 10.

@GM Would an appraise check on the slaves be helpful in guessing how the other bidders would value them? Or an invisible Bulgo able to see what value they write on their bids so we could game the system and just do the minimum to ensure a win?

I like that last idea of watching the bids. I think if the man is getting desperate, his is going to bid hight on this next one. But since we do not know what his funds are, he could simply bid high on all the rest and we are out of luck!

At this point he is already calling for bids, and keeping a quick pace, so you'll have to go with what you've got for at least the next bidding round. I will give you a mathematical summary of the available information though (since I'm sure Diri as a character can come up with this, although unsure about the players).

All bidders will only bid between 9 and 12 coins.
Only 2 other bidders will bid each round.
Bids of the same value are discarded, because the auctioneer hates ties.

If you bid 13 coins you win. Period.
If you bid 12 coins, you win unless anyone else bids 12 coins as well. Probability of nobody else bidding 12 coins would be 3/4 * 3/4 = 9/16 (Better than even odds)

If you bid 11 coins, you win if both other bidders bid less than you, or both other bidders bid 12 coins. Probability of both bidders bidding less than you is 2/4 * 2/4 = 4/16. Probability of both bidders bidding 12 coins is 1/4 * 1/4 = 1/16. Probability of winning is the sum of the two, so 5/16.

If you bid 10 coins, you win only if both other bidders bid less than you (9 coins) or the same value higher than you (11 or 12 coins). Since 9 is the only value less than 10, you only win if both bidders bid the same value, and if that value is not 10. Probability of both bidders bidding the same value is 1/4. Probability of that value being 9 is 1/4. Probability of winning is 1/4 - 1/16 = 3/16.

If you bid 9 coins, you win only if both bidders bid the same value, and that value is not 9, so same result as bidding 10 coins (3/16).

If you bid 8 coins, you win if both bidders bid the same value. Probability of 1/4.

Oddly enough you are more likely to win with a bid of 8 than a bid of 9 or 10. Order of best probability is 13, 12, 11, 8, 9, 10.

Also, while the auction itself is at a fast pace without much room to work, you can always try to negotiate for purchase after the auction.

I think we should go with 13 for a couple of reason
1: It guarantees us a second freed crusader.
2: It shows we are serious. I'd hate to bid 12 and lose because of a tie.

We could possibly buy the third crusader from the winner with a combination of our left over bid coins and make up cash.

If Sihir can make Bulgo invisible, I can try and steal a second coin and pass that over so we can actually bid on the last auction as well.

@GM Are we allowed to purchase an extra coin from the slaver?

I think we should go with 13 for a couple of reason

1: It guarantees us a second freed crusader.
2: It shows we are serious. I'd hate to bid 12 and lose because of a tie.

We could possibly buy the third crusader from the winner with a combination of our left over bid coins and make up cash.

This seems good to me.

We can always do a bit of post-game work to try and get the third.

The auction is moving so quickly that any interaction with the auctioneer is pretty well out of the question. From his perception, he's already got your money and he wants to get this over with and get out before a bunch of Andorens come crashing through.

Lets go with 13 for this round then.

Is there time for Sihir to make Bulgo invisible before the final round of bidding?

Bulgo Bluefoot wrote:

I think we should go with 13 for a couple of reason

1: It guarantees us a second freed crusader.
2: It shows we are serious. I'd hate to bid 12 and lose because of a tie.

We could possibly buy the third crusader from the winner with a combination of our left over bid coins and make up cash.

This seems good to me.

We can always do a bit of post-game work to try and get the third.

Indeed. Let's roll with that. I hate gamble games :p

Conlaoch's head is spinning from mathematical analysis. "I say, always bet on black."

I am good with the plan!

yay for mithril shirts and other misc gear picked up!

I'll be out of town this week-end once again. Back on sunday night. I'll try to connect with my phone tomorrow but if Shambala is slowing down the party's pace, please make him mind thrust someone. ;)

Are those two giant illusions indoors? (As in, are the buildings on the map actually on the map?) Are the fakes bigger than the buildings?

The illusions are something like 110 cu ft worth of images, so assuming they are equal sizes, that's 55 cu ft per image minus a bit of overhead to merge the 2. Assuming average human proportions in heavy armor in a battle stance, I'd estimate a ratio of 1x2x6, so 55/12=6.5 ft. tall.

If on the other hand, the images are only apparent to those in the allyway, their depth can be compromised in order to make them larger. In that case, they only need to be about a ft deep, so about 4 ft wide and 13 ft tall would be a good estimate. Given the silent image includes the surroundings, the image probably includes regressing the building's facade enough to accomodate their image. Anyone approaching from the side though would be less inclined to believe it though due to the awkward proportions.

They're supposed to be standing on top of the buildings, looking real from all angles.

And...I don't understand how 8 10-foot cubes (2 instances of 4 10-cubes merges together - I could have had up to 30 cubic feet more) becomes only the size of a human basketball player. A single 10-foot cube can make a horse. These are both supposed to be TITANS.

Oops, I read the spell as 10 cubic feet / level instead of 10 foot cubes per level. 1x2 ratio would give you around 30ft tall guards.

Heh. NUANCE!

My posting will be spotty this weekend (like usual) and I'll be gone all of next weekend. However, I do suspect that we'll be finished before next weekend.

Can I get everyone's PFS# and character numbers again, along with Day Job Rolls, and any Faction Card goals they are checking off for the session? Also, if there is any retraining, or special sheets that need GM authority that you want to do let me know as well.

15001-13
Craft Alchemy: 1d20 + 18 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 18 + 5 = 43 150gp

Using exchange Entrepreneur for +5 to Day Job.

Checking earn 100gp+ from Day Job [ooc]4 goals now completed.

Bulgo:
PFS character: 100387-8
Faction: Scarab Sages
No day job

PFS #: 40025-9
Faction: Scarab Sages
Craft (Toymaker): 1d20 + 25 ⇒ (12) + 25 = 37 Introducing: Eagle Titan action figures!

Faction Objectives:
Did we explore an ancient site (abandoned by its original occupants at least 1000 years ago, must cover at least 2,500 square ft.)?

Did we recover a gem worth at least 1,100 gp?

Either of these would satisfy a Faction Objective for this adventure (I'd rather save the "donate to a place of learning" Objective for another adventure where I'd have the opportunity to use the Diplomacy bonus that's also folded into that Objective)?

Also, Peran and I will be sharing spells once we get our gold (Peran's spellbook doesn't appear to have too many spells I don't know, but there are a few, but I don't have nearly enough money to cover transcription costs).

Speaking of such, I don't think I've gotten a chance to see your spellbook yet Sihir.

It's all in my profile here - just look under the "Magic" tab. :)

I could do with those SS faction goals too! (though the gem only has to be worth 800gp for me!)

I don't suppose there were any scholars or archaeologists at the party that he could alternatively try and recruit.

Thanks.

Copying...

lvl 1)
Vanish 10g

lvl 2)
Blur 40g
See Invisibility 40g

lvl 3)
Dispel Magic 90g
Fly 90g
Force Punch 90g
Daylight 90g

lvl 4)
River of Wind 160g
Ball Lightning 160g
Stoneskin 160g

Total: 930gp
Take 10 spellcraft=25 more than enough for 4th level spells.

I don't suppose there were any scholars or archaeologists at the party that he could alternatively try and recruit.

Is that a thing for us too? Somehow I missed that - I could also go in for that, if so.

That is a season 7 FJC. If you are working the season 6 it is not there, it replaced the "donate an amount..."

That is a season 7 FJC. If you are working the season 6 it is not there, it replaced the "donate an amount..."

So that's out of date now, too? I guess that can be fixed that easily enough, but Scheiße, always so much to do...you would not BELIEVE how far behind I am on all the superhero movies (I never even saw The Avengers).

Shambala
PFS character: 93583-6
Faction: Scarab Sages
No day job

Amanuensis time (take 10 for 27, piece of cake even for opposition schools)!:

0-level (5 gp):
acid splash
daze

1st-level (10 gp):
charm person
dazzling blade
detect secret doors
liberating command
magic weapon

2nd-level (40 gp):
communal protection from Evil/Good/Law/Chaos
rope trick

3rd-level (90 gp):
haste
keen edge

4th-level (160 gp):
enervation

Total: 480 gp

Character: Conlaoch McCullagh
Player: PJP
PFS # #150786-6
Faction: Silver Crusade

Day Job: Profession(Builder): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22

You can keep going on season 6 journal cards, but if you start a new one it is supposed to be season 7. You can (I think) even have two on the go at the same time. Many of the bonuses are the same and wouldn't stack, but most seem to have something new for season 7.

Really? I thought the season 6 was dead for new checks after 7 came out... I have a few characters with both now, but didn't get much checked on the season 6 ones.

As long as you had at least 1 goal checked on the season 6 sheet before the season 7 sheet came out, you can keep working on the season 6 sheet. If you have both sheets, the first page of the season 7 sheet states how they stack. Roughly speaking, if you have 2 boons with the same rewards, you take the better of the 2 rewards (ie whichever is on the sheet with the most completed goals) but treat it as though you had 1 more goal completed.

Lets see... no gems were found as part of rewards. The tomb you went through was abandoned more recently than 1000 years, and it was also smaller than 2500 sq ft, so neither of those will apply. The epilogue will be back at the party, so if anyone wants to attempt any of the checks to recruit people, let me know what type of person you're looking for. I list of notable NPCs in attendance.