ROTRL by DM Forgedawn (Inactive)

Game Master XanaverForgedawn

Heh, was wondering where you got the extra multiplier. I'd forgotten about spirited charge. As for armor, they are nonhumanoid large creatures, but I could see some armors being priced for medium humanoids because they only cover the torso (breastplates, for instance).

Sorry about the slow start-up and few posts. i was having trouble getting access to my books.

I will be at a convention this Saturday and will be unable to post. Feel free to bot me! If there is a foe left when it is her turn, Flo will move to 30ft away from Kargas and then will use her luck ability to allow him to roll all d20's twice and take the higher. Ideally, she will be 30ft away from him at all times and therefore/hopefully the combat too.

I will be away for about a week. I still will be able to post but those post will be short as I will be doing them from my phone. Data plan is not the greatest
Thanks

Are we missing something or someone?

Haven't gotten access to my ROTRL books recently. I'll be posting soon.

Back from vacation

Welcome back! :D

I will be leaving for a conference tomorrow, will be gone most of the next week. Might be able to post in the evenings, might not.

Really sorry about not being able to update recently. I'm gonna be able to update soon though.

Well, hopefully soon is sometime spring break.

DM if you have too much on your plate and need to bow out, just let us know. No problems.

Don't need to bow out, I'll be posting wednesday.

Or not?

I can personally say, it's spring break, he's like 16, give him a break ^-^

This is not going well. Sorry, the last DM did the same thing and it was not fun at all. I am going to drop from this game. Good luck everyone but I enjoy playing the game, not waiting to play the game.

Personally I belive a game fails when the players forsake it, not when the DM does. After all, he could have any number of reasons for not posting, where all the players have to do is say "I'm leaving" and leave huge gaps in the game that need to be filled.

So with a loss of a player... odds are shifting to the sour :/

I would agree with you on some but not in this case.

The DM could have any number of reason for not posting, that is true. I do hope that all is well and that nothing bad has happened.

This 2017 and pretty much everyone has a phone. It does not take much to type in "busy with RL be back soon". If for some reason you can not do that, fine but if you are able to log in and post in other games...then you have plenty of time to post here in this one.

I am sorry, this is more to do with the fact that the first DM in this game did the same thing and the original players decided that they wanted a new DM and we got one....now we are right back in the same boat.

The DM sets the tone of the adventure...he writes the story for the adventures to interact with. So if the DM can not post well then there is no game. It is not the players fault for leaving when there is no game.

I don't blame Cade at all on this one. We the players have received 10 gameplay posts in 40 days. He hasn't been on spring break since February, and I admit I'm frustrated by the near-total lack of communication or outreach. Especially since, yes, it looks like he made multiple posts to other games on Saturday (as player & GM).

I don't want to drop just yet, and I don't mean for this to come across as mean. If he's got too much on his plate or real life is giving him trouble it's all good, but some sort of communication is a must.

Well, being the Devil's advocate, he actually doesn't have a smartphone. He can't really use his potato flip-phone for anything...

But I do agree, he has been... lazy with this game... he's in a few of my other games and had been posting, although IRL he's more concerned with 5e games than with Pathfinder, so it may just be a case of him procraniating. I admit myself, I do tend to play premade games a little slow.

The biggest tragedy is not using this character to his fullest potential :/
My favorite part is character development through gameplay...

If this helps, it looks like our rolls for initiative were:
1. Gwestiel (26)
2. Kisper (21)
3. Kargas (19)
4. Flo (16)
5. Loktar (15)
6. Goblins (14)

So assuming the party gets the drop on those goblins, Kargas would have charged, so that attack would have been a 15 and much more likely to hit. Presumably Kisper & Loktar also would have charged, but Gwestiel's slumber hex is faster than all of us.

At a guess the goblins are about AC15, so at best we're seeing three dead goblins + one sleeping, so Kargas still would have gotten smacked.

I think that's right?

Bout right. I just needed to get a post out for the goblins, and events will just resolve in order.

I'm gonna have to back out. It seems I suck at running APs. Sorry everyone.

Would you please mark the thread "Inactive"? Danke.

Test

test

Test

When we first started this recruitment I was thinking what the party will need to make it more of a typical balanced party.
We have
two front line fighters types
a cleric

What we need
A rogue
some type of arcane

I feel that these are a good fit for our group.
1 Aërydd Llach Rogue
2 Tarianium Cholandari Sorcerer
3 Denialan Salerei Bard

Here is the final list of candidates.

Okay, looks like time's up.

Recruitment is now closed.
No more submissions, please.

Barlo is stricken from the list as he failed to submit any backstory. I will allow Aster the Spider Princess to remain in the running as the details she still needs are mostly cleanup.

So the Submissions that will be considered are: (in no particular order)

Laurana Kanan elf diviner wizard
Rig Veda ifrit arcane duelist bard
Mashiki Malbourne human aberrant sorcerer
Elsbeth TempestBorn half-elf witch
Denialan Salarei elf archaeologist bard
Will Halsey human ranger
Colvyn "Slick" Dashtail ratfolk warpriest of Erastil
Beads grippli investigator
Tarianium Cholandari gnome sylvan sorcerer (turtle companion)
Aërydd Llach halfling unchained rogue vexing dodger
Aster The Spider Princess - needs gear, animal companion details, spells

I will be discussing these characters with the existing party and should have official selections Monday night.

Thanks for your submissions.

Rune GM

When we first started this recruitment I was thinking what the party will need to make it more of a typical balanced party.

We have
two front line fighters types
a cleric

What we need
A rogue
some type of arcane

I feel that these are a good fit for our group.
1 Aërydd Llach Rogue
2 Tarianium Cholandari Sorcerer
3 Denialan Salerei Bard

I think this is a reasonable approach.

Do you wish to go for a party of five, or six?

The way I see it is similar to what Cade said. You have two frontliners and one backfield buffer.

You could use:
* A full arcane caster
* Someone to disable traps (does not necessarily need trapfinding though)
* Ranged combat
* Someone with good knowledge skills
* A third frontliner

Some of these roles can be combined in one character.

I'm going to make some suggestions for the different needs here in individual posts.

So for a full arcane caster, you have:

Laurana Kanan elf diviner wizard
Mashiki Malbourne human aberrant sorcerer
Elsbeth TempestBorn half-elf witch
Tarianium Cholandari gnome sylvan sorcerer (turtle companion)

Laurana is supposedly intended to be a buffer/debuffer, though on her current spell list I imagine color spray is going to be her main thing at low levels. She also has good knowledge skills.

Mashiki is, I think the most interesting of the group. And I have a feeling about the way that she posts that she will be good at RP and contributing. She is intended as a debuffer that can handle standing in melee range. So she won't need to be screened by the frontliners, and this is handy. Her skills are weak though aside from a good Bluff skill.

Elsbeth is similar to Laurana but she actually has a ranged debuff at will. She also has decent knowledge as well. I think mechanically Elsbeth is better than Laurana, though her background is pretty thin and I wonder how good she is at RP.

Tarianium is pretty squishy and needs to stat in the backfield, but has enlarge person which is good for Kargas and charm person will be useful against goblins. The main problem I see is that her turtle animal companion has a move of only 10'. I anticipate this will be a big problem as the party will end up bogged down waiting for her turtle. It seems like it will be more of a liability than an asset, and though I pointed this out she was not interested in changing it.

For a trap disabler we have:

Denialan Salarei elf archaeologist bard
Beads grippli investigator
Aërydd Llach halfling unchained rogue vexing dodger

Kargas has mentioned to me that he is games with the player of Beads and that he is a very irregular poster. This makes me want to eliminate him, though mechanically the character is reasonable.

Which would leave:

Denialan, who is not only a trap disabler but also has lots of knowledge. LOTS of knowledge. Sadly his archetype makes his performance affect only him, so he doesn't buff the party as a bard. His Disable Device skill is only +3 though.

Aërydd is a pretty straight forward TWF rogue who will be good at fighting giants. Character is a little nutty. I feel that the fighting style will be similar to Cade's a lot of the time, but I may be wrong.

I would be tempted to give Colvyn "Slick" Dashtail the chance to add disable device to his character by switching some traits around to give it as a class skill. With a trait that gives the skill in class he would end up with a +9. And his perception is already good.

For a ranged combatant, we have:

Denialan Salarei elf archaeologist bard
Will Halsey human ranger
Colvyn "Slick" Dashtail ratfolk warpriest of Erastil

Denialan's bardic performance will give him a +2 to hit and damage, and will scale by level. If he sinks feats into that he could get good, though not as good as the others. But he will also have spells to throw around.

Will Halsey looks like he will be a pretty straight forward ranger. Rangers are a class that are hard to screw up. He will get lots of bonus feats that archery needs, and his favored enemy bonus will probably make him a terror among goblins. He has decent skills and can probably make a reasonable switch hitter if needed. My main problem is that Halsey is boring. The character is really rather uninspired.

Colvyn is really my favorite here. He won't get bonus feats as fast as Halsey but his warpriest abilities will allow him to buff his longbow. The good blessing he has is a great buff for anyone in combat. Which means he can use his spells for other things that may be useful. And his backstory tells me that he will probably be a decent roleplayer.

For a smart knowledge type of character we have:

Laurana Kanan elf diviner wizard
Elsbeth TempestBorn half-elf witch
Denialan Salarei elf archaeologist bard
Will Halsey human ranger
Beads grippli investigator

Denialan is the hands-down winner in the knowledge contest. It is the main focus of his character. Bardic knowledge will give him regular boosts here.

Laurana comes second and Elsbeth third.

Will Halsey doesn't have great knowledge skills but does have a few decent ones and has the skill ranks to max them.

Beads I've already mentioned as wanting to exclude. Knowledge potential is high for any investigator but I don't think that's what he is going for.

Finally, for a third frontliner, we have:

Mashiki Malbourne human aberrant sorcerer
Will Halsey human ranger
Aërydd Llach halfling unchained rogue vexing dodger
Rig Veda ifrit arcane duelist bard

Mashiki deserves mention here as she will be up front often. Though when she runs out of spells she mostly runs out of damage she can deal.

Halsey is not optimal here but he can switch hit and will be reasonable in combat against goblins early on.

Aërydd's main schtick is fighting in the front line. Though her small size and mobility probably means that she wouldn't be "screening" anyone. That may not be a problem. I think mechanically she is a good character. My main hesitation here is that I don't like to have too many DEX-based characters in the party, and having a halfling swashbuckler and a halfling rogue may end up feeling like we have two of the same character type.

Rig is my favorite on the list here. Firstly because he is intended as a straight-up STR fighter with a shield, so damage and AC will both be OK (though nowhere near what a fighter would achieve). But also because he has regular bardic performances and inspire courage is a great all-party buff. He trades out a bard's knowledge stuff to get his martial archetype. He also demoralizes.

You may have noticed that Aster The Spider Princess did not appear on any of my lists.

It's hard to make of where to place her. Druids can be really good but I don't really know where she is going with it.

I think English is not her first language. The fact that her background is rather poorly written suggest this to me. And I think communication may end up being a problem. Which is why I am inclined to eliminate her.

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I do want to do a little research to see who of these people have good posting records.

But right now my three favourites are:

Rig Veda ifrit arcane duelist bard (I like the idea of having an undine and an ifrit in the same party)
Colvyn "Slick" Dashtail ratfolk warpriest of Erastil (assuming we can get him to take disable device)
Mashiki Malbourne human aberrant sorcerer

A big part of this is that these also look like they might be the best RP players. They are also interesting builds mechanically. Note though that we are not really filling the knowledge skills issue, which means the various party members would need to organize to "cover" the various knowledges.

If we dropped Mashiki, we could take Laurana Kanan in her place. Laurana doesn't seem as competent a roleplayer as Mashiki but she is very keen to play and that is always good. Laurana also fills the knowledge gap. Which makes her a very close second against Mashiki. Actually she is growing on me... I think they are about even.

Elsbeth TempestBorn would be my third choice if we don't take either of the first two.

What do you guys think?

IMO, five people would be perfect. I find that six slows the game down a little, especially if there is a time zone difference. Thoughts?

Assuming we go for a party of five, we need two spots filled.

My picks from each category:
Full Arcane Caster: Laurana (Elsbeth as a close second)
Trap Disabler: Aërydd (Colvyn a distant second)
Ranged: Will Halsey
Knowledge: Danialan (Elsbeth a close Second)
Third Frontliner: Rig Veda (Aërydd as a second)

General statement: 10 con makes me really nervous as a player. Especially if you want to be anywhere near the front.

I think Laurana is a top choice. I'd prefer if she had more knowledges, but I think having a wizard becomes increasingly important and she intends on supporting the party in ways that I cannot.

EDIT: Another sell for me was her choice of Telekenetic charge with magical lineage. Idk what she intends on doing with that, but that is a very useful positioning spell. I will have positioning options as well, but having two of us able to do things like that is pretty great!

Rig Veda also looks like an incredible force multiplier AND a third frontliner. Having a sort of "flex" character would be really useful. Like Laurana, he would be able to support the party in ways that Laurana and I cannot. Being able to then go in with a weapon of his own is icing on the cake.

This does not cover knowledges very well, but we should be able to band together to get more covered by clearing out some skill redundancies. On the upside, having 3 characters throw down buffs (or otherwise influencing the battle in our favor) and then having 3 people lay down the hurt is a powerful combination. I know we aren't focusing on combat in this AP, but combats are still important. I find their characters to be interesting and think they would be fun to have in the party.

BTW guys there is still no response from the guys at Paizo. But Paizocon is apparently almost here and it has been suggested that all their staff may be dealing with that.

If I don't hear anything by Monday I'll just create a new campaign thread.

* Laurana
The more I look at it, the more I am won over by Laurana.

I like Mashiki on her own. It looks like she is a good roleplayer and the character build in interesting, and I like that. But the character is kind of a one-trick pony and doesn't have much versatility. Her skills are terrible. So she doesn't add that much to the party's abilities.

Laurana has decent knowledge and has indicated that she plans to take more. She will be improving INT with items and with stat bumps. And I agree that telekinetic charge is an interesting choice for magical lineage. And though she is not as decent a roleplayer as Mashiki, she is very keen to play, which means I can count on her to post regularly.

So, yes, Laurana has my vote.

* 10 CON
Colvyn and Denialan both have a CON of 10. Actually Denialan originally had a CON of 8 until I suggested he bump it up.

Both of them are ranged combatants though and will generally be exposed to less damage than the melee fighters. Colvyn also gets access to swift action healing at level 2.

* Rig Veda
He probably won't do quite as much damage as the other frontliners, but he should mostly keep up. And the bardic song is a great general buff. He could also develop CHA skills and be the party face.

So I feel pretty good about Rig.

* Knowledges
I think we can probably manage here. You need to spread the love between characters. At higher levels you can coordinate some more about what needs covering.

* Number of Players
I am leaning towards six, partly because the math for redesigning encounters is easier. That and there are some good characters to choose from.

The trick is to be disciplined about getting people to post, which is my job. But I will have help from a friend...

IMO, five people would be perfect. I find that six slows the game down a little, especially if there is a time zone difference. Thoughts?

I LOOK FORWARD TO OPERATING YOUR CHARACTERS.

Rig Veda, Laurana, & Denialen are the standout picks for me.

Cade and Flor are excellent RPers, which is why I keep coming back, and Mashiki's posts are very entertaining but I think Laurana's versatility tips the balance her way. With PBP I think good character play is the most important, but versatility is a close second (says the barbarian-type :p)

Rig is a good choice because with a few well-chosen feats/items he could be quite tanky and the larger the party the greater the benefit of bardic buffs. Plus when going with mobility fighters (as Cade & Kargas both are, albeit in different ways) it's good to have another body once folks are tumbling, flying, whatever.

I'm down with a sixth person, also fine if we don't. If we do, I think Denialen is the obvious choice if he's going ranged combat. We're a little melee-heavy with the 5-list, Denialen can cover ranged/traps/knowledge. That's a solid party right there.

As for time zone differences, I'm afraid the problem there is me, as I live in Germany and won't return until mid-July.

After mulling it over for a bit, I think actually prefer six characters, and Laurana, Denialan, Rig in that order.

I told Tarianium that she could change her companion to a snapping turtle, which has a speed of 20'. It has a great AC but lame HP and attacks.

I don't think this really makes her a real contender for Laurana's spot though. Does anyone disagree?

If not then we are pretty much confirmed to be getting both Laurana and Rig Veda.

The question then remains as to whether we go for a #6 and who would that be.

Has there been any word from Cade?

Assuming this is a Democratic process, it seems like we are 2 in favor of 6, 1 against 6.

Has there been any word from Cade?

Assuming this is a Democratic process, it seems like we are 2 in favor of 6, 1 against 6.

I just sent Cade a PM.

I do want your feedback here, though as GM I reserve the right to veto things.

As for time zone differences, I'm afraid the problem there is me, as I live in Germany and won't return until mid-July.

Overall it shouldn't matter what time you post as long as you post reasonably often. I will probably be posting at weird times too.

No worries on that account I'm a frequent poster. And veto away, my philosophy is that the GM does the most work, it's their world & their rules.

Just a heads up, late June/early July my wife and I will be doing some last-minute traveling before we return stateside. I assume my posting rate will drop during that period. A great big thank-you in advance to BOT-A-TRON 9000!

I think Denialen is the obvious choice if he's going ranged combat. We're a little melee-heavy with the 5-list, Denialen can cover ranged/traps/knowledge.

Firstly, I don't feel 3 melee fighters is too heavy for a 5 person party. Though I think a ranged combat character wouldn't hurt.

----

So you like Denialen, eh?

Denialen's knowledge skills are great, no doubt about it. But for Denialen ranged combat and traps are a secondary thing.

Traps:
His ability to disarm traps is Perc. +6 and Disable +3. That's not that impressive. He doesn't get trapfinding or disable device in class, though he will get 1/2 his level as a bonus to Disable starting at level 2. So eventually he will probably be quite good at finding them, though maybe not detecting them.

Ranged:
Unless Denialen plans to sink a lot of feats into ranged combat I don't think he will ever be that good at it. Right now he has +3, 1d6 damage. His archaeologist's luck thing will add +2 to hit and damage, making him reasonable at it but not great.

Other:
He has mentioned that at level 3 he might take a dip into Unchained Rogue. If he does that he will get trapfinding and disable device in class. He will also get weapon finesse and that might mean he plans on getting into melee sometimes. Rogue doesn't give anything that particularly helps ranged combat unless you are building a sniper.

-------------

Overall I have two main objections with Denialen.

1. His personality and character story ends up being very similar to Laurana's, and they are both elves. Which RP wise means that we will have two very similar characters.

2. Rig and Denialan are very different animals, but they both cast from the bard list and have the same class skills. So I am afraid that there will be overlap here as well.

In short, I don't like the fact that Denialan will end up being a little too similar to characters we have already chosen. I would feel better about Denialan if we were dropping Laurana.

Would anyone prefer Denialan over Laurana?

FYI I have heard from Colvyn.

He plans to take a level of ranger next level to get the "woodsy" abilities and skills that a follower of Erastil ought to have, since warpriest doesn't grant them. So he will probably be the go-to guy for knowledge (nature).

He is willing to make this the Trapper archetype to give himself disable device in class.

As a ranged combat character Colvyn is hands down the best candidate. He has +6 to hit at first level (or +7 within 30 feet) and has a 3/day buff that will add +1d6 to damage for 1 minute, and make the weapon good-aligned. Later on he will get a swift action buff to his weapon to add enhancement bonuses, and he gets bonus combat feats that are needed for archery.

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The main reason I am pushing for Colvyn is that his character is very different than most of the others. He looks like a good roleplayer and his character works in different ways than everyone else.

And on top of that, with Rig, Laurana, and Kargas, we have three arcane casters and only one divine. I'd rather have more divine magic than another arcane one.

Rune GM

If traps and ranged are what we can agree we need, and Colvyn is going to take the trapper archetype, I can support offering him a spot. I do like the character and think it would make for an interesting mix of people. He would even further benefit from Rig's bard song.

Denialen vs Laurana? I'd choose Laurana.

Maybe I want all the divine goodies to be mine! ;)

I am assuming that Colvyn will probably develop the Knowledge (nature) skill as well.

Floredana, do you intend to develop Knowledge (religion)?

Cade has Knowledge (local)
So does Rig.
Kargas has knowledge (arcana)
Laurana has knowledge (arcana) and (planes)

Nobody has (dungeoneering) yet.