Revival of the Runelords (Inactive)

Game Master Cellion

Welcome to Revival of the Runelords!

I am looking forward to the game and want everyone to have a good time.

And I mean everyone! This means we all need to be respectful of each other. Wheaton's Law should be considered to be in force.

There is plenty of room for player to player tension. However, if your character is going to be hostile or insulting to another character, it is a good idea to include an OOC comment that indicates that it is not personal to the other player. I am not going to allow PvP combat in this game.

Understand that if this gets too much for one player or another I will intervene and ask that it be toned down, and I expect players to comply. Hopefully I will never need to do that.

So let's everyone get together and have a good time!

I'm going to go through some things one by one.

First of all, I highly recommend reading these:

DHs Guide to Play By Post Gaming

And:

Building a Better Doomed Hero: Painlord's Advanced Play-by-Post Play

These are really great resources to get you going.

Posting Requirements:

My posting requirements basically match my general ability to post. As I explained in the recruitment thread, I am aiming for at least one post per day from everyone on weekdays. On weekends one post for the whole weekend is fine.

If you log in and check the thread, but feel you have nothing to say or add to the situation, then it helps if you post a null post, such as:

Aragorn nods as he listens to the others speak. He stands by the door, ready to leave.

Nothing to say right now.

Or you could even post a knock that indicates you are doing nothing:

<knock>

This can be important because it is possible that one or more of the other players is waiting for you to say something before posting. This tells them to go ahead, so you don't hold up the game.

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If you expect to be unable to post for some reason, please let us know what is going on in the discussion thread. I understand that life happens and am not going to kick you out of the game because your grandmother is sick or you have to work overtime next week at your job.

If you expect a long absence (such as several months) then generally I would prefer that you withdraw from the game than make us wait that long.

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In combat it is particularly important that people post. If it is your turn and I have to wait more than 24 hours (longer on weekends) there is someone who will post for you:

GREETINGS HUMANS.

I LOOK FORWARD TO OPERATING YOUR CHARACTERS FOR YOU.

Some General Combat Rules:

1. Initiative:

I will be rolling all party initiative.

We will also be using block initiative, which means that any of the characters that are allowed to go before the next monster can post their actions whenever they want, and unless you specifically indicate that you want to wait for another character to act these will be resolved in the order they are posted.

My combat posts will have an initiative block that looks like this:

Round 3 Initiative:
------------------------
Red Dragon
Aragorn (-7 HP)
Gimli (sickened, 2 rounds remaining)
Legolas
The Kobolds

In this case Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas are all in bold which means they are up and may all post in whatever order they wish. I will also list damage and conditions.

2. Inverted Saving Throws:

Any time a monster does something to you that requires a save, I will roll the save. On the other hand, any time you cast a spell or do something that will make a monster roll a save, you will roll the save.

How this works:

First, subtract 10 from the DC of any abilities you have which require a save. This is the ability's Power. so if the save DC of your charm person spell was 14, its power becomes +4. You roll this like an attack:
Charm Person: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20

Secondly, add eleven to all your saves. These become your Fortitude Class, your Reflex Class, and your Will Class. Just like armor class, these are the numbers required to "hit" you with a spell that requires a save. If you roll equal to or higher than the appropriate class with your spell, the creature fails the save.

If you have to roll multiple enemy saves, roll them all separately (just copy and paste the dice expression). They will be resolved on the map top down and left to right in that order.

It will be a little weird at first but you will get used to it pretty quick. Mechanically this works identically to the existing system; it just changes who rolls the dice. Generally it will speed up play.

Floredana: since your bit of luck ability allows a character to take the better of two saves, in this system it forces the attacker to roll twice and take the worse result when he casts a spell at someone you have buffed with this ability. They don't get to roll their spell power rolls twice.

3. Hidden Information.

I am going to make perception rolls, sense motive rolls, and knowledge checks for people in secret.

If it takes place in combat I will post the results of these checks in spoiler tags addressed to you. If you are flat-footed you may share the information only once you are able to act.

Here are some sample posts, first a Roleplaying post and then a combat post.

Sample post 1: Dialogue

Bruno looks around the room at the people assembled. He realizes that the narrative of his actions are described in ordinary text.

"This is what it looks like when I speak," he says. "My speech is in bold."

He scratches his chin, pondering the people assembled before them. I wonder if they know that this is what my thoughts look like, he muses. My thoughts and internal dialogue are in italics.

He leans over to the scruffy man. "This is what it looks like when I whisper," he whispers. "The text is smaller and also in italics."

"Umpopo mau mwatabulu tse khohor ma 'e. Pata bu hakeh machek tse fagalor purah," he says sagely.

GM: This is an out of character comment, such as a rules question for the GM. If it is directed at a specific person it helps if you show who it is aimed at.

Sample post 2: Combat

Round 4: (Sometimes things get tangled up and it can really help to indicate what round your action is for.)

Pandora points her sword at the vampire.

"Now you will feel the divine Rune GM's wrath!"

There is a bright flash of light from her sword.

Swift Action to smite evil against the vampire to the south. (remember to indicate who the target of your ability is!)

She darts around to one side of the vampire, opposite Bruno.

Move action to move 30', going E, E, NE, N, NW. I am now flanking the vampire with Bruno. (it's not always necessary to show your exact movement path like this but it helps, especially if there are hidden traps or things like that.)

She thrusts at the vampire's heart with her longsword.

Standard to attack.

Longsword -2 Power Attack, +2 flank, +3 smite, -2 sickened: 1d20 + 7 - 2 + 2 + 3 - 2 ⇒ (9) + 7 - 2 + 2 + 3 - 2 = 17
Longsword damage +2 Power Attack +5 smite: 1d8 + 4 + 2 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 4 + 2 + 5 = 15
(You don't need to write out every single bonus, particularly if you have things like smite or power attack already worked out on your character sheet. But show me the bonuses you are applying that aren't normally there.)

Someone please move my icon to the east of the southern vampire. (If you are unable to use the map please ask for help and someone will move your icon for you.)

A note about character formatting:

The most important thing about formatting your character sheet is to make sure that I can see any aspect of your character where you had to make a choice. Race, alternate racial abilities, classes, archetypes, traits, feats, skill ranks, favored class bonuses, spells known... for all these things I should be able to see what you chose.

The next most important thing is that it is readable. I am flexible about how you do it as long as I can find the information I am looking for easily.

Create links to things whenever possible. I might know what power attack does, but it is possible I might need to see the exact wording. This is particularly important for material from splatbooks and other obscure sources. FYI I prefer links from the PRD or Archives of Nethys over those from d20pfsrd.

If you have large blocks of stuff, put them in spoiler tags. You are quite welcome to copy the entire description of your class out of the PRD and paste it in your profile, but if you do be sure to spoiler it.

Here are some examples:

I think you get the idea. A lot of things can be listed in this kind of format.

Your Quick Stats:
The boxes on your character profile for "Gender," "Race," and "Class" will appear on your posts under your character name and above your avatar picture.

Please put your stats in a line like this:

Investigator (Empiricist) 1 | HP 9/9 | AC 16 : T 14 : FF 13 : CMD 13 | FC 12 : RC 16 : WC 14 | Init +3 | Per +6 : S.M. +4 : Darkvision 60' | Move 20'

Note how I alternated colors using the ooc tag so it is easier to read. The second box can hold a resources box like this:

Inspiration, Prepared Extracts:

Inspiration 4/4, 1st level extracts shield, expeditious retreat

Rune DM

dot

Experience

Experience points will not be used. Experience will be story-based. The AP tends to indicate what level characters ought to be when reaching a specific point so we will just be using those benchmarks.

Thanks for choosing me! I appreciate all the instruction and explanation, btw.

Thanks for this opportunity.

Making final adjustments on the character sheet to comply with the format. Will be posting in gameplay thread soon.

Thanks for having me. I cannot tell you how excited I am to be part of this.

I still need to change my links from d20pfsrd to Archives of Nethys and add a few things to my quick stat line.

Guys, we're waiting for Floredana, but since we just started I'm going to give her a bit more time.

Thanks for the patience, I didn't realize we had already started!

I dotted into gameplay. Will try to get a post out before I leave for work.

EDIT: Post is up! I will make the above modifications to my character sheet when I get home today.

If the chance for an opportunity attack comes up, do you guys want to roll it yourself? Or would you rather I roll it to speed things up?

ALSO:

Just had an idea for the stats under your avatar name. Two things you could add:

IDC: intimidate DC when someone tries to demoralize you. It's 10 + your HD + your WIS bonus + any bonuses you have vs. fear.

BDC: bluff DC when someone tries to use a feint against you. It's either 10 + your sense motive OR 10 + your BAB + your WIS bonus, whichever is more.

It would speed things up to put them in there.

Whatever speeds the game up, so I say go ahead and roll it.

Because the magenta goblin is holding a bow and does not threaten Rig, does it follow that it is not engaged in melee for firing into melee purposes?

I think kargas was targeting the Goblin on the roof. That is what I got from his post.

Because the magenta goblin is holding a bow and does not threaten Rig, does it follow that it is not engaged in melee for firing into melee purposes?

Sadly, no.

The penalty for firing into melee has to do with the potential for hitting an ally. So the penalty still applies.

If the chance for an opportunity attack comes up, do you guys want to roll it yourself? Or would you rather I roll it to speed things up?

No problem if you roll them. This wway there is less waiting.

I think kargas was targeting the Goblin on the roof. That is what I got from his post.

Okay my bad. Going too fast. Noted in the gameplay thread; the attack is still a miss though.

Laurana Kanan wrote:

Because the magenta goblin is holding a bow and does not threaten Rig, does it follow that it is not engaged in melee for firing into melee purposes?

Sadly, no.

The penalty for firing into melee has to do with the potential for hitting an ally. So the penalty still applies.

BTW Laurana: it's worth noting that Red is no longer in melee (Colvyn stepped back) and you have a clear shot.

I am fine with GM rolls! I like combat, but in this medium some of it goes too slowly when we have to wait for some things. Roll away GM!

Egads! The goblins have AC17?!

Speaking of segues, I'm totally fine with you rolling our AoO to speed things up. I'll add my Intimidate & Bluff DCs now.

Egads! The goblins have AC17?!

Remember that all the goblins' ACs are not necessarily the same. But they are small and have a +4 racial bonus to their DEX scores. This is compensated by their relatively low damage output.

Imagine if they had chain shirts and heavy shields! The ones you see are wearing leather.

Edit: technically you should have had another -4 to hit for range as he is more than 60' away. He roof he is on is about 25' up.

Does Black Goblin have better-looking armor than the others?

Does Black Goblin have better-looking armor than the others?

It doesn't look that way though it's hard to tell as he's wearing a lot of junk. He has some kind of skull on his head as a mask.

First boss fight!

Sorry about that. I glanced at the bless page at d20pfsrd and I didnt notice that was the description for mythic bless. That was a truly pathetic arrow.

Ya just winged him! You'll get 'im next time!

BTW, you may have noticed a little letter underneath your icon that becomes visible when you move.

I am putting this there for error checking so I know where you moved from. Just leave it there and when I process your turn I will move it to your new location. FYI "S" stands for "Slick" because there are two characters that start with C.

I will be away for the next week and will be limited in my postings. I can still post everyday but my post will be limited in content as I will have a limited data plan until I return home.

Argh! I keep telling myself to use the foresight ability at the start of my turn. Alright, next time!

Argh! I keep telling myself to use the foresight ability at the start of my turn. Alright, next time!

That ability gets even better if Floredana gives you a bit of luck.

Wow, that is nice!

Let me know when you plan on doing something really important! :) With 40ft of movement and a 30ft range on domain powers (once you listen to me pray for at least a minute each day), luck on demand is mostly a thing!

I just wanted to add that I normally post between 5 AM and 10 AM EST on weekdays. On weekends between 8 PM and 10 AM EST.

What would be the estimated difficulty to climb the outside of the building to the 2nd floor window?

What would be the estimated difficulty to climb the outside of the building to the 2nd floor window?

Because of the presence of windows, we will say DC 15.

15 Any surface with adequate handholds and footholds...

Because you have a move of 20' each successful climb check gets you 5' up (and is a move action). After completing two checks you will be level with the second floor and able to move in through the window. The first step in the window will count as difficult terrain.

Don't forget that stowing your bow is also a move action. You need both hands free to climb.

I will be taking a double move up the stairs. Will make a game thread post later tonight. This way the game can move forward.

I hope everyone is enjoying the game as much as I am. My character is a swashbuckler and talks...a lot. He jokes and makes comments during combat but he tries to keep it somewhat respectable. I do not want anyone feeling picked on or abused as THAT is not my intent. So if the comments and jokes are becoming a problems please let me know.
Thank you

I for one am having a good time. Goblins are fun to play. :)

Enjoying quite a bit

Cade, quick mechanics question. Shouldn't you have a bonus (+1) to all your saves from halfling luck?

How do you guys want to handle treasure? If you want to keep a common stash, I am happy to keep a running list. I am all for giving things to those that will use them, no matter the gp/sp of the item.

That sounds great. If we find something that benefits certain characters, it makes sense that they should have access to it. Hopefully, it would benefit all of us in the end.

My only concern with that approach is what happens/how do we determine if a character is consistently getting a disproportionate amount of wealth. Some AP's are known for being great for certain classes as well as the opposite.

Well that comes down to us as a group trying our best to make sure that it is not lopsided....Plus we have a damn good DM that I feel will adjust things to make it work out for the party as a whole.

The party can try their best to balance it out, but some items can only be used by certain people.

If the GM can assure us that they will adjust things to work out for the party as a whole, I have no problems with handing people loot based on who it fits best. If I'm the only one that feels this way, I'm not going to be a stick in the mud about it and will roll with it.