[PbP Community MTS III] - Race for the Runecarved Key - GM HQ. (Inactive)

Game Master Nik B.

Quick question. Should we allow the players to heal up after the fight with the cultist before the chase? I'm not, since I think they would immediately race after the key but wondering what the rest of you think. (If they wish to heal up during the chase, that would be their decision.)

I didn't. The adventure does include a chance to heal after they kill the assassin.

Ah yes, that's true! Thanks!

By the way, I created a chase map, as follows. Feel free to use it if you like.

You couldn't have posted that a few days ago? :)

(sorry, just teasing; thanks for sharing, Kuey)

It is as per the details on page 40.

I'm ok with the DC's being as they are, as a 10' brick wall is still a 10' brick wall. I find it jarring when it all scales and we face high DC's to do fairly ordinary things.

Unless it becomes a Dire 10' Brick Wall :)

Thanks, Kuey, I was in the middle of making one of those myself, so that'll definitely save me time.

Quick question. Should we allow the players to heal up after the fight with the cultist before the chase?

The chase is pretty much 'on' straight away, the real variable was how far away the assassin is which is based on how long the party took to get outside. If they want to spend time healing during the chase I suppose that's up to them :)

The more I look at the waves mechanic the less I like it. Once they get to three, it simply becomes performance punishment - the fourth and consecutive waves offer no points, but if the party stops they lose points - so everything to lose and nothing to gain.

Seems... rough.

Anyhow, please keep the points tracker up to date so we can see where people are up to - so far only Redeilias crew appear to be fighting the waves :p

geeze, someone is on the waves already? The table I am playing is just finishing up the first fight, and the table I am running still probably has two or three rounds left in the first fight.

The mechanic is weird, in that if you get through the cathedral fight quickly, you shorten the chase, so you get done with that quickly, which lowers how much buffing the assassin can do, which shortens that fight.

Probably to help even out those 18-19 tables of over achievers :-)

My team is still on the first fight.

Redlia's table is a bunch of 3s and 4s :)

My table of seekers decided it's too much hassle and jumped out of combat to chase the assassin. The screams of the innocents fill the church.

#notallheroeswearcapes

You couldn't have posted that a few days ago? :)

(sorry, just teasing; thanks for sharing, Kuey)

Heh heh, yeah been meaning to work on it for a while, but only finally got to do it in desperation when my party reached this part. :P

My poor table of CORE 1-2s are all small/have move speed less than 30. This chase may take a while...

And the one likely to get ahead of the others at Dennis's table is my squishy little halfling bard.

My table just started wave 3, which is the last appropriate wave based on CR. It will probably take them less than a week. What am I allowed to do if they want to delay after this fight? Can I change my posting requirements? Can I simply announce I will not bot people, and let my game stall? Or do they just need to tap out or die?

Change your posting requirements and don’t bot people.

You can tell them you are going into a slow down mode. This is where a face to face table would let everyone have a bathroom break or get snacks.

Hmm

Yep, at that point I don't see any need to maintain the pace for those guys - let's not get into the habit of performance punishment, unless of course, they are super keen to just smash enemies for giggles.

My table's confrontation with the assassin is going somewhat pear-shaped, and they're considering just swiping the key and running for it.

I think I should be able to narrate a reasonable transition from 4D-4E as long as they get the key, but what're your thoughts on what happens if they let the assassin get away with it?

Yep, my table just finished the third wave. Unless I hear otherwise from them, we've all gone on a long 'delay', like getting a snack in person. I have filled out the spreadsheet for them with full credit for defeating all three waves. Should I also give them the non-tapping out credit now?

I kinda want to fight the shadow hounds... I don't think it would go well, but I kinda want to fight them...

APL+5???, when you're so drained of resources? You'd also probably not be able to heal up completely, because you'd have only 2 rounds, with 2 characters badly injured. I think that's spelled T....P....K. I'll do it if you guys, want, though.

(I just like a challenge, we should definitely just get snacks lol)

Oh Cwethan your Killin' me lol. At the very least we need the witch back to full if possible.

And the sorcerer, too. At level 2 in an APL 3 party, that AoO was almost to unconscious.

That's why I'm agitating over here where I won't accidentally tempt any players who don't know what's coming into bad decisions :p

:)

Ooh the temptations :)

I think I should be able to narrate a reasonable transition from 4D-4E as long as they get the key, but what're your thoughts on what happens if they let the assassin get away with it?

As in they get the key and run away gallantly, what should happen if the assassin is still at large?

Nah, if they successfully recapture the key, I figure she just calls down the portals after them, and I have a smoothish transition into 4E. My question is what do I do with them if they just run away and she still has the key?

That said, their last round went a bit better, so this may be a moot point.

If she gets away with the key then have the party see her get intercepted and cut down by a different group and the curse still being uttered. They get 0 points though.

Thanks, sounds good!

(I was really hoping I didn't have to say, "Well... you lose...")

That would be a bit sucktacular and anti-climatic.

Whilst the ride might be a bit rough and morally grey at times, I would really prefer people got to the other end and looked back on it with (some kind of...) fondness.

:)

Im away for the weekend and my laptop has just died. Can someone hit my core 56 table for two days?
Sorry about lack of notice.
They need to get moved to the chase

Well, at my table the assassin just took one of my injured PCs down past negative Con with her sneak attack tactics (and me rolling almost max damage on the initial strike and the SA both)...

Didn't expect to end up with my first PC death quite so early in my GMing career :(

It happens.

In fairness, I ran this locally, and we had four deaths total. A similar number of deaths happened in Siege of the Diamond City, and there were a stack of fatalities in Blood under Absalom.

It happens. We had a TPK on one table when the Party just couldn't hit the Assassin and said Assasin crited the fighter early.
Table was 5-6.

(offers Lady Ladile a hug, if that would help)

Aw, thanks Redelia! And yeah, I know it's just part of the game but that doesn't mean that I don't still feel a little bad - even though I probably shouldn't.

Things seemed to have slowed overall, the spreadsheet would suggest only two tables are in contact with the Waves (one having defeated 3 and are now chilling).

Everyone going ok? We're probably tracking to the end date neatly.

My table managed to turn things around on the assassin, we'll probably start the waves today.

My table reached the assassin, albeit not all of them. But they have somewhat slowed since the assassin is invisible and is finding it difficult to do something with a freedom of movement, greater invisibility (with contingency to counter anti invisibility) assassin.

My CORE 1-2s are deeply mired in the chase, with the exception of Redalia and a dinosaur pet. The assassin just went invisible.

Yep, my poor little halfling bard is marching off to her doom. At least we knew she would go ahead of the others, so the druid set the dinosaur to defend her. So hard not to metagame and wait for the others! But that's not what she would do.

Does the dino have scent at least?

As you might've guessed from my last posts, my group is engaging the assassin in combat now. Also, I think my dead PC might've just gotten better - wasn't expecting someone in a Tier 1-2 to be packing a Breath of Life scroll but there it be.

OMG he/she must have spent everything on that scroll.