form a triangle with Culder leading the way, myself and Aghon (or Beliza's half-orc) on either side. Jarvis and Moina and Aghon can move in behind us, being sheltered from the wind.
A flying V!
form a triangle with Culder leading the way, myself and Aghon (or Beliza's half-orc) on either side. Jarvis and Moina and Aghon can move in behind us, being sheltered from the wind.
Great idea, then at least we can block some of the wind.
So traveling order looks like this:
------------------------Culder
-------------------Jordan---Half-orc
------------------Moina-------Aghon
--------------------Beliza--Jarvis
I can easily carry Jarvis (he almost certainly weighs less than my anchor), he'll have to ask though.
Nevermind, inconveniencing the Cap'n can work too.
I'm not above being carried around like a suitcase. Hell, in another live campaign, I had a halfling that rode on the leg of our permanently enlarged barbarian half orc.
OK, let's go the compromise route! The PFRPG rules actually spell out that you need a Strength check to avoid being checked by a strong wind, but you guys make a pretty good point about Profession (sailor) being helpful...so that's how I'm going to handle it: anyone with a rank in Profession (sailor) gets a +2 bonus to the roll for a "favorable condition" (which I can't even find in the Core Rulebook--am I still half asleep or am I doing a 3.5 carryover?).
I may have forgotten to share the storm rules document on the Campaign Info tab, but it should be fixed now.
Oh...and the tactics for creating a sort of wind shield for Jarvis works for me. It might not be so great once combat breaks out, though...but we can cross that bridge when we come to it.
Do you folks want to run this encounter in a "theater of the mind" format or wait a day (or two) for me to make a map and try to figure out Google Drive or Roll20?
Theatre of the Mind
I like the theater of the mind approach.
One more TotM vote seals it. I'm hesitant to use a map for this encounter because the hag might end up using hit-and-run tactics...or she might slug it out wherever the PCs first encounter her. So...a map might be super-useful or a total waste of time :)
Theatre of mind
TotM is fine with me. :)
GM I need a ruling on whether my Agile Feet ability will allow Aghon to ignore the difficult terrain created by the wind? The ability does say "you ignore all difficult terrain." I just want to make sure your interpretation of that rule also covers difficult terrain created by wind. I'll wait to post Aghon's in-game action until I find out, because it will affect what he does.
Thanks!
TotM is fine with me. :)
GM I need a ruling on whether my Agile Feet ability will allow Aghon to ignore the difficult terrain created by the wind? The ability does say "you ignore all difficult terrain." I just want to make sure your interpretation of that rule also covers difficult terrain created by wind. I'll wait to post Aghon's in-game action until I find out, because it will affect what he does.
Thanks!
I'd think that a wind effect is different than difficult terrain (which means "earth" or ground"), since you could potential face both things at one time (trying to pass through rubble in the teeth of a gale, for example).
Which is exactly why I checked, because I thought that same thing. :)
* * * LULL ALERT! * * *
Library's closed Sunday and Monday for the holiday, plus there's a big rainstorm currently forecast for Tuesday. If I can dodge the raindrops, I'll post again Tuesday; otherwise, we're looking at a 3-day lull.
P.S. - I have enough stuff to do today that I'll be online at the library for the next 6 hours.
Better rain than snow, right?
Better rain than snow, right?
Generally speaking, yeah, though I'd rather walk in a snow storm in winter than a heavy rain storm (you can brush off the snow; rain...not so much). Then again, rain's not as slippery.
GM can I get a ruling on whether Aghon's icicle ability is made impossible by the wind? It is a ranged touch attack, but it is also magical in nature, and the language for storms says, "storms make ranged weapon attacks impossible." Emphasis mine. So I'd like your ruling on that. Once again, it's your game, and I can see logic supporting both sides, which is why I asked. So whatever you decide will not ruin my fun or enjoyment of this game. :)
GM can I get a ruling on whether Aghon's icicle ability is made impossible by the wind? It is a ranged touch attack, but it is also magical in nature, and the language for storms says, "storms make ranged weapon attacks impossible." Emphasis mine. So I'd like your ruling on that. Once again, it's your game, and I can see logic supporting both sides, which is why I asked. So whatever you decide will not ruin my fun or enjoyment of this game. :)
Yep, so far as I can tell, magic trumps the wind. Icicle's good.
GM can I get a ruling on whether Aghon's icicle ability is made impossible by the wind? It is a ranged touch attack, but it is also magical in nature, and the language for storms says, "storms make ranged weapon attacks impossible." Emphasis mine. So I'd like your ruling on that. Once again, it's your game, and I can see logic supporting both sides, which is why I asked. So whatever you decide will not ruin my fun or enjoyment of this game. :)Yep, so far as I can tell, magic trumps the wind. Icicle's good.
Okay, one Icicle coming up. :)
something for your consideration, re:initiative and keeping combat moving...
in my games after initiative is rolled I break the combat into groups- those before the bad guys, the bad guys, and those after the bad guys; depending on the number of bad guys i'll often break them into groups and roll for a few of them at a time. then i let everyone who beat the bad guys go in whatever order they get around to posting and (if necessary) I do a summary post make sense of that group's actions when I post for the baddies. After the baddies, the rest of the good guys get to post, then repeat.
When it gets more complicated you can continue with more groups. If you're fighting two warriors with shortswords, two fighters with bows, and a bard... I make 1 initiative roll for the warriors together, a second roll for the fighter, and a third roll for the bard. Group A=anyone who beat the baddies top roll; group B=quickest baddies; group C=everyone between B and D; group D=second fastest baddie; etc.
Its not a perfect system- sometimes you have to fudge things slightly to make the chronology work, and sometimes I have to remember to add or take away bonuses people got or lost unexpectedly, but it seems to keep things moving better.
Just a thought, do with it as you please.
@ Culder: Sounds like a good plan. It's sort of what I tried to do here (hence why I bolded everyone who beat the hag's Init roll).
I'll more or less go with Culder's plan from here on out (bolding those characters who can act in each clump of actions), though I may hop in more frequently when you guys actually post in initiative order and/of an NPC is up (like right now!).
Ranged combat is currently impossible unless you shoot with the wind (i.e.--shoot to the southwest--house rule).
How far do i have to move to get to a position where i can shoot to the southwest? i.e., what direction is the wind in relation to myself currently?
Ranged combat is currently impossible unless you shoot with the wind (i.e.--shoot to the southwest--house rule).How far do i have to move to get to a position where i can shoot to the southwest? i.e., what direction is the wind in relation to myself currently?
One more double move (40 ft.) would put you past the hag and out of her AoO range. Then you could turn around and have the wind at your back.
So I'm kinda trying to play Moina as just learning how to 'druid' since it was running away from her chores and lessons and responsibilities that led her here in the first place. She is familiar with cantrips but that's about it and will take her a bit to learn things.
Flavourfully she will feel super powerful sensing the elements/storm/nature but she will overestimate herself and her own power a lot.
Hence trying to use the power in the storm to destroy the hag is rather overreaching and all she really does is summon a frog or a fish or whatever. Plus I'm trying to add things rather than just being boring and saying 'she stands still and casts summon nature's ally I.'
Also, curse this storm and my failed strength checks...
OK...now that it's mostly over, what did you guys think of the encounter? I knew going in that it had the potential to be problematic...the effect of the wind, the unpredictability of a mad hag, running a watered down CR 7 monster against a 1st-level party. I knew it could be potentially frustrating for you players, but I hoped that if/when you triumphed over a strong foe the thrill would outweigh the frustration.
I'm afraid that's not what happened in the end. The DM dice made the wind velocity and its duration for the battle about as difficult as possible, and giving the hag a big handicap (schizophrenia) really came back to bite me.
I tried to create a different, memorable encounter and fear I failed. Sorry. As anticlimactic as this encounter was, however, I needed to run it story-wise. I hope things will get more traditional and all-inclusive (giving PCs other than Culder a chance to shine) going forward.
***********************************
I was actually surprised that we beat the hag. Going into it, i thought we were going to distract it and find some way of getting it to leave the island, but that she would recur later when we were stronger (would've made an interesting sub-plot, in my opinion).
Speaking for myself, I was a little frustrated because everything that happened (combined with poor dice rolls) pretty much nullified every action i wanted to take, which does kind of lead into some disappointment over the hag being defeated fairly easily. Once i got into a place to do something, it was over (still, kudos to Culder for anchor smashing).
All this being said, i think the effort to create a memorable encounter shows. I mean, the effort that does go into planning a game (even over PbP) is a lot, and you've been pretty dedicated about being available on a near daily basis. I think it's still going good, and I'm looking forward to what is to happen.
I was actually surprised that we beat the hag. Going into it, i thought we were going to distract it and find some way of getting it to leave the island, but that she would recur later when we were stronger (would've made an interesting sub-plot, in my opinion).
Speaking for myself, I was a little frustrated because everything that happened (combined with poor dice rolls) pretty much nullified every action i wanted to take, which does kind of lead into some disappointment over the hag being defeated fairly easily. Once i got into a place to do something, it was over (still, kudos to Culder for anchor smashing).
All this being said, i think the effort to create a memorable encounter shows. I mean, the effort that does go into planning a game (even over PbP) is a lot, and you've been pretty dedicated about being available on a near daily basis. I think it's still going good, and I'm looking forward to what is to happen.
Yeah, going in I pictured a sort of guerilla warfare battle between you guys and the hag throughout the island; therefore, I made dice rolls to randomize the strength and direction of the wind, as well as the duration in rounds until the next change came about. I figured the chase would end either with a Culder crit or high-damage smash or with the hag escaping when brought to low hps, only to reappear during another storm when you guys had leveled up.
Didn't happen, obviously.
I figured frustration might be setting in (feeling it myself, too), especially for Jordan (ranger whose main attack is penalized or rendered useless by the wind), Jarvis (only Small character and pretty much always in danger of being checked by the wind), and Moina (storm druid who didn't make a single Str check and got her butt kicked by the storm).
I'll try to learn from this experience.
Yeah, but you know what? Two things, that wasn't our first encounter. There was the gobbos, and Culder and Bain had their alley-stomp. Secondly, what a great "first" encounter. It was totally memorable, and it serves to create a very world for these characters to live in. Right?! I mean the weather is unpredictable, hags are unpredictable, and your character's actions aren't always going to work. That's the game. I personally thought it was spectacular, and I'm having a metric crapton (that's the scientific term for it) of fun. Now if we can just get Culder or Bain to tie the hag up, we can drag her candy a$$ back to town and have her put in the stocks, wearing mage-manacles, and let all the children come up and throw tomatoes at her face. :)
I don't think the encounter succeeded in the way you were hoping it would. That said, I liked it for the same reason that Aghon said- it established some important things about the game (like that the weather can kick your ass, or that combat isn't always exciting, sometimes it's just a grim bloody affair). It also played to Culder's strengths which I think will help reinforce the sort of leadership position he seems to be developing.
I wasn't upset with it. That's part of the risk of rolling a small bard at level 1. Not a huge help in a knock down drag out. That being said, I think it did help highlight some ways that we can shine as a group (playing Yoda riding in Culder's pack singing sweet nothings in his ear). I liked the challenge of nature, although I can see where it would get fruatrating if it was a factor to that level in every encounter.
It definitely allowed creative thinking and teamwork to come into play, which is what we're really looking for. If I wanted each setting to be ideal where i could kill everything with my bow (not that I don't enjoy that here) I'd play Skyrim all day (still a fun game, but not what i'm looking for here).
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Okay, this has nothing to do with anything really, but I just felt like commenting. This particular PbP campaign is actually more regular in posting than two others I'm in, both of which were very clear at the beginning that there would be a "post a day" requirement. How's that for delicious irony? The posts that said there had to be a post-a-day or you'd be botted, are the ones that have all but fallen flacid, and the one that said it would be sporadic and slow-paced has outpaced them both, not only in regularity but in overall quality narrative and encounters. :)
Kudos to GM Piratey Steve.
Edit: AND to the players!!! :)
Thanks for the kind words. So far, my willpower to walk has been good and the winter hasn't been very snowy.
When summer comes, pray for a lot of sub-80-degree days; my system deals better with numbing cold than brain-melting heat.
* * * Lull Alert! * * *
This isn't 100% official, but I was leaning toward taking an off-day tomorrow...and now I've been feeling kinda off for a day-and-a-half. Hopefully, this is a false alarm, but if I come down with a cold or the flu, the game might be put on hold for a few days.
If I haven't posted something by Friday afternoon, don't expect anything until Monday at the earliest.
Thank you for keeping us in the loop.
My wife and kids all have a nasty stomach bug... Posting will be sporadic until they recover. Apologies if I slow anything down.
My wife and kids all have a nasty stomach bug... Posting will be sporadic until they recover. Apologies if I slow anything down.
No problem. I'm finally getting a runny nose myself (after 4 days of a scratchy throat/cough)...so I figure I'll lounge around this afternoon and all day tomorrow. The game can pick up again on Monday (hopefully).
Whatever I came down with had an onset period of four days and wiped me out for the next 2-1/2 days. Feeling better today but nowhere near 100%, plus I've got an appointment in the middle of the day tomorrow, so chances are the game will get back on track on Thursday.
That'll give both me and Culder time to get back into the swing of things.
I'm also feeling quite a bit better but still not 100%.
I'm trying to get caught up on my games, right now (starting with the ones I GM); if I don't get a post up here tonight I'll do one tomorrow for sure.
Guys, I'm gonna run the undead octopus in a non-traditional manner: Each of its tentacles will act as a separate creature and will be severed or destroyed when it takes a certain amount of damage. As such, flanking will be easier (and is strongly suggested). Also, another reminder: each time a tentacle attacks, it attempts to grapple its target, triggering an AoO (zombies lose grab and constrict abilities, but you can't take the squeeze out of an octopus...even an undead one ;).
Guys, I'm gonna run the undead octopus in a non-traditional manner: Each of its tentacles will act as a separate creature and will be severed or destroyed when it takes a certain amount of damage. As such, flanking will be easier (and is strongly suggested). Also, another reminder: each time a tentacle attacks, it attempts to grapple its target, triggering an AoO (zombies lose grab and constrict abilities, but you can't take the squeeze out of an octopus...even an undead one ;).
Ha! Awesome. I once ran an adjusted Kraken encounter in much the same way. Each tentacle was its own "monster." It is still one of the most memorable encounters I've had at any table. Thanks to good dice rolls, Aghon has been rather useful in this encounter. ;) Also, did I mention this campaign is hella fun!? Good on you GM Piratey Steve. My continued thanks for you running this!!!
Usually, when someone goes unconscious, I'd assume they drop items carried and end up prone, but in this case I can picture the octopus's tentacle keeping Jordan more-or-less upright.
And in this case, him being conscious-to-unconscious-to-conscious again was so bang-bang...I think it's feasible he'd still have his weapon in hand.
Plus, I couldn't let him waste those rolls :)
i appreciate the clarification on this.
And I gotta agree with everyone else, this is campaign is tons of fun. Really enjoying everything (even when the rolls don't go in my favor)
First, as usual (at least outside of football season), I'm unlikely to post on Sunday.
More importantly, thank you for the kind words in this thread. You guys have been great sports as I muddle through things, throwing highly inappropriate, overpowered foes at your fledgling heroes while trying to figure out how to water them down enough to give you folks a fighting chance. So far, so good.
And I'm shocked (even though I don't think any of you guys even tried to loot the dead hag) that no one's grumbled about the lack of treasure so far in the campaign. The reasons for this are two-fold: a plethora of treasureless monster types like zombies and skeletons and just how cheap the PFRPG rules are for treasure in a slow-progression campaign. I considered giving the storm hag some grimy jewelry but then opted to save her treasure to beef up a later treasure trove in the campaign.
I'm also thinking I might bump up the slow-progression treasure totals some, especially if your characters spend it on stuff other than just equipment...say a new sailing ship or even homes or businesses on Crescent Harbor isle or elsewhere around Port Peril.
Stay tuned for more!
If any of you want to do anything before the guard duty at the Flesh Shack, just post your actions in the Gameplay thread. When you're ready to proceed to guard duty, just post a quick note here saying, "Ready!"
Got a big rainstorm rolling in tomorrow, so if the day looks like it'll be a washout I probably won't post tomorrow. If I [/I]DO[/I] get my butt to the library, it'll only be for a short time (noonish to 2/3 PM Eastern--that's when the FutureCast currently has all the yellow/orange/red hitting my area).
OK, your silly GM went to the library in the rain and now it looks like he's trapped there for the next 7 hours. Feel free to post away!
I am going to be out of communication from this Thursday at about noon, until next Wednesday (4/20). Please bot Aghon as needed.
Thanks!