Ruins of Pathfinder: The Quest for Arcadia (Inactive)

Game Master Robert Brookes

I do want to play a Dwarven Druid at some point...

So, even diving the XP from the Kraken up amongst Vigar and the Kol's Hammer, we should still be about 5th level now, right Rob? ;)

HA HA HA :B

We're on the Medium XP path too, wholly unrelated to all of the Krakenly XP you won't be getting (though you will be getting an XP award for the skill challenge. But that's a separate bag of cats!)

Well shucks!

...wholly unrelated to all of the Krakenly XP you won't be getting...

How unfortunate. I guess it only makes sense that the entirety of the Kraken's xp hoard be split between only Dwunderbran and Logem. I'm sure the disparity of having two level 9 dwarves mixed in with level 2 s will not be hard to overcome and accommodate. I look forward to lording over everyone with my level superiority.

Makes sense. Best course of action for the rest of us is for no one to rescue those two. ;)

Yeah, have fun getting someone to craft appropriate 9th level gear for your 9th level challenges...which you two will be facing alone. Also, cure light wounds...gonna take a looooot of rest periods to get that HP total up to snuff.

HAVE FUN WITH THAT.

Meanwhile, Vigar gets resurrected and gains 2 levels. Welcome back, mr. level 14 Dwarf king!

*points accusatory fingers at Dwunderbran and Logem*

You know, Vigar died in a very unglorious fashion. But I guess those who fight a Megabeast (Which, in DF terms, this would be) do often die as such. I'd figure he'd be around for longer, though. XD

Well, at least he got to watch the hilarity of that prologue play out.

You think that's why he didn't want to survive any longer?

I just hope the Kraken doesn't come back from the dead and, as an undead creature, crawl up on land and seek us out in revenge. You know, like the UNDEAD CARP would in DF back in the day.

o_o

Nice touch on getting the megabeast reference, Logem. I didn't think anyone would pick up on that, I'm trying not to be too overt with the dorf-isms. ;)

I've played waaaaayyy too much DF not to notice these things.

I fear the day we fight a Forgotten Beast with Deadly Dust.. though perhaps .. just perhaps.. we'll get lucky and Dwunderbran will come in contact with it and will only see his skin rotted off, in which case I can stitch him back together with Adamantine Thread, making him an invulnerable juggernaut that we let loose when the goblins come knocking.

We have the technology. We could rebuild him.

Faster. Stronger...smelling, that is.

Stupid forums, disappearing on me... Well I'm in the middle of my work 'week', will prolly get a post up on Sunday (which is probably saturday for you Americans) at the latest.

I'm finally catching up on things after everything that went on the last few days. I'm putting my stat point into Wisdom for the bonus. I was tempted by Int, but I'd have had to also put the level 4 bonus in there for it to matter, and then I'd just be getting a single new skill for all that. Not that I don't need another skill point (or three!) per level, but that's a pretty hefty investment for it. And this helps my Survival checks, so we'll have better odds of actually hitting shore. (Hopefully not hitting it too hard, though.)

I'm good with being rescued by Angrin. Especially because he was thinking about me just before grabbing the dwarf he rescued.

Yeah, I thought that as well! xD

Also, I'll try to get a post up today or tomorrow.

Did mine for wis; doesn't hurt to open up the higher level spell roof sooner rather than later, I guess.

I went for immediate gratification, rather than building up my wisdom.

I notice that noone has posted since Wednesday. Just to confirm this was not the end of the skill challenge, since Lucent posted that a new event "Sink or Swim" still had to be met, correct?

On that note, what can Dwunderbran and I do with our actions?

I was delaying posting because I was both waiting to see who passed sink or swim of the two who went down with the Kraken. Provided at least one of them is still swimming, I was going to take ten and rescue them with a Jaws of Death check. If none of them pass, I will save a random dwarf.

I could be mistaken but it was my understanding that Dwunderbran and Logem need to make the below check or they drown.

SINK OR SWIM (Swim, Survival, or Fortitude Save DC 15)
All of the ships have sank and the Arcadian ocean is looking to claim another victim into its murky depths. Hold out hope, stay afloat, and perhaps you will be saved.
Result: A successful check means you manage to stay afloat on the choppy ocean. If you fail this check you sink beneath the waves and begin to drown.

All three overboard dwarves can potentially be saved by a successful FROM THE JAWS OF DEATH check.

Note; With the kraken dead, you may now take a 10 on the skill-challenge checks.

Available Skill Challenges: Everything that isn't nailed down, from the jaws of death, sink or swim, the better part of valor

Woopsy, missed that. Thanks!

Yeah everyone should still be posting. I'm not sure if the pause was for a breather or not ;)

It was for me! I'll get something up tomorrow, I promise. xD

Missed my chance to post when the forums disappeared, tomorrow should be good to post.

still considering my next action, and a bunch of other life matters have started calling for my attention, not the least of which is college, probably soon.

Uhh, is it too late to suggest you make that an aid another on Quint (what with them being in the same boat)? we only need one more success, and he could have made it by taking 10 (even with the previous fail making the DC 17).

That being said, Komanu-kun could get a 23 Survival taking 10, so I guess we can just leave it up to him :p I'll have quint get distracted by something shiny, at least if that's okay with Mineko anyway...

Don't worry kids, ole Dwundernuts will be along presently to take charge of the expedition and lead everyone to glory. I've decided we're going to salvage all of the wreckage of Torag's Anvil, Kols' Hammer, and Angraad's Fire and build them into one super-mega-awesome ship with steel plating. Instead of founding a new colony, we're just going to hunt krakens for a living. Deal?

Also, how awesome are we that we skipped Lich to kill Kraken first?

Oops. Forgot we can now take 10... Of course, Angrin would have failed that, in any case.

Since I've already posted this in Rob's Reign of Winter thread.. best I also do it here.

Ruins of Pathfinder: Road to Damnation Interest Check

;)

I endorse this shared continuity. :D

I think that once we get ashore, I'll write up what Angrin thinks of the other PCs. It's something that's interesting for others to see, methinks.

I'm waiting on Rogath, Dakun, Quint and Mineko before I move on to next round. Mineko's player has let me know they're headed out on a business trip and may not have time to get up a post, but that still leaves the other three. We had such great momentum, don't let it die like the kraken! :)

Besides, I'm really excited to get you guys to land and really kick things off :>

It was the weekend.. everything slows to a crawl on the weekends. >.O

Mondays are pretty slow too it seems! lol

Most indeed. Which makes sense, honestly... xD

I just hope classes don't remove my best posting opportunities.

Been cruising youtube and stuff for smithing videos. nothing like a little knowledge to lend some meat to the posts, eh?

I just tend to bullshit my knowledge about how things work half of the time. Hehehe

I was hoping to hear from Mineko before I posted. Oh well...

Been extremely busy and haven't had the time I wanted to put into a post. I will try to get something up before I call it a day.

I apologize for the quick post, but I thought it better to put something up to help Rob move things forward then to go into long detail about how the psychic energies of the Kraken influenced the characters mind or the physical pain caused by muscles working though the waves or the labor required to pull a survivor back to a life boat, etc etc.

So, unless the rising DC invalidates previous successes, I think I just pointed our way to land. I'm really hoping for another round, so I can make an Everything That's Not Nailed Down check. But getting us to shore was more important.

Definitely looking forward to seeing what trouble is awaiting us on solid ground!

That would be pretty harsh :p

Lucent, if you would be ever so kind as to gloss over my post for this round, I am very busy with packing and I don't want to hold us up. I'll be returning to full time posts starting on Friday, but until then I don't want to hold us up. As far as the NPC's go, I would be happy if they kept trying to gather supplies for our wayward band of dwarves.

EDIT: When I am on the road, often I cannot access googledoc's so I just ask you to be patient in that regard. I know we have spoken before about my situation and I appreciate your assistance by posting the blank maps.

Gotcha covered, Celeador!

Angrin appreciates that Rogath didn't directly contradict him and bring him out for shame. xD

But yes, I think we all did relatively well - though I can't help but feel that if we'd done more to help, we might have saved Vigar... Perhaps not, though.

Nah, we can hardly take control of this pony if there's a level Awesome Stonelord or Kalistocrat at the reigns :) Of course I could be wrong...

I've included three visual-reference link in my latest post to give you a very good idea of the landscape you've found yourselves in. This portion of Arcadia is comparable to Newfoundland in Canada, if you'd like to get a look at more images on your own time.

Further, I've swapped out Logem's "From the Jaws of Death" check for "Sink or Swim" as I think that's the check he actually meant to make this round.

Please keep track of the XP awarded on your sheets, as well!

Right now I'd like everyone to focus on some good RP now that the vessels have landed. Later tonight I'll get up a post detailing some options you have going forward, but for now enjoy savoring the bittersweet landing but don't stray too far from the beach for the time being.

I'll also put up a post explaining what all the goods/survivors really mean, mechanically, for you later as well.

Yeah thats what I meant, my apologies. XD

Also.. I had planned on getting my hirelings' actions done today - I'm going to assume I missed out due to my own slacking off, aye?

That boat...

*puts on sunglasses*

...has sailed.

YEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAH

EXPLORATION
Now that you have landed in Arcadia, it is up to you to determine the best course of action for you and your settlers. Stranded in the new world with no ships to take you back home, you are left with few options but to forge a new life. Adventuring in the new world before building a settlement works in a way similar to the downtime system but also incorporates elements of the mass combat and caravan rules. Since you are straddling a line between kingdom and caravan, these blended rules will serve as a supplement to the sandbox exploration rules.

+ TRAVELING
The PCs traveling on their own utilize the standard exploration rules presented in the sandbox exploration section of Ultimate Campaign. However, with nearly 300 settlers in tow, exploration is a more arduous process. The settlers are significantly slowed by needing to carry and haul supplies salvaged from the shipwrecks, and with no carraiges or caravans to move things (yet), the going will be slow.

Travel/Exploration Speed: At present, when moving as a whole unit, the Dwarven Settlers have a speed of 15. See movement for what that means in travel.

Consumption: Each day the settlers are actively traveling, they consume 1 unit of Goods from the settlers' cache. For each day of exploration, the settlers consume 2 units of Goods from the settlers' cache.

+ ACTIONS
The settlers are a mish-mash of soldiers, tradesmen, farmers and families of their ilk. As a whole they are a mass of eager and tempered explorers looking to settle in a new and dangerous land. There are simply too many dwarves to individually represent each of their skills, and as such the group can be committed to a task or tasks as a whole.

The settlers can perform one supplementary task per day (above and beyond necessary daily work to survive that they perform automatically, such as cooking and general maintenance of their gear). The settlers may perform up to 5 supplemental tasks per day, but for each task beyond the first, the PCs must make a successful Diplomacy or Intimidate check (DC 15 + 1 for every point of Unrest) to successfully inspire or goad the dwarves into action without suffering damage to their morale and gaining Unrest (see below). The tasks performable by the settlers are detailed below:

  > Craft: The settlers have a combined +50 skill bonus on any one craft check, representing dozens of dwarves working together on the same project. Typically this large bonus would be used to craft large amounts of mundane equipment in days rather than weeks.

  > Defend: This puts the settlers into a rotation of watch shifts with sentries. Dwarves are positioned around the clock to keep watch for threats entering or approaching the camp. While on the Defend task, the camp makes a continual 25 on Perception checks.

  > Live off the Land: The settlers actively hunt, forage, and make themselves self-sufficient from the natural resources abundant in Arcadia. For each day the settlers perform this task, they consume 1 less unit of Goods. In a hex with the resource trait, the settlers consume 2 less units of Goods.

  > Salvage: When in Hexes with salvageable supplies, you may order the settlers to comb the land for salvageable gear, gainins 1d4 units of Goods per day until the hex's resources are depleted.

  > Scout: Members of the settlers fan out to explore the countryside around their current camp. Each day you task the settlers to perform the Scout action, you reveal all adjacent map hexes to the settlers current location.

+ UNREST
This number represents how confident and happy the settlers are, the lower the better. After the traumatic crash the settlers Unrest is at 5, as they are harried and worried about the future. Unrest can never go below 0, and any modifiers that would reduce Unrest to 0 are wasted. If Unrest ever reaches 20, the settlers fall into anarchy and refuse to perform any tasks and may leave, cause violence, or attempt to travel on their own.

  Gaining Unrest
The following actions can cause Unrest in the settlers:

  > Prolonged Travel: If the settlers are ever made to travel more an 8 hours in a day they gain 1 point of Unrest.

  > Demanding Activities: Each time the settlers are asked to perform more than one supplementary task in a day (and the PCs fail a Diplomacy or Intimidate check to motivate them) they gain 1 point of Unrest per failed check.

  > Disaster: If the settlers fall victim to a disaster (such as a flood, wildfire, monster attack, etc) they gain 2 points of Unrest.

  > Shortages: If the settlers' cache of Goods ever reaches 0, the settlers gain 2 points of Unrest.

  Reducing Unrest
The following actions can reduce Unrest from the settlers:

  > Bribe: At the beginning of each day the PCs may opt to spend 1 unit of Goods to reduce Unrest by 1 point. This represents handing out additional rations, brewing a few rounds of ale, or otherwise using supplies to curry favor.

  > Morale Boosting: A PC may spend 1 day performing a morale-boosting activity among the settlers, from a rousing speech, to laying out the settlers strategies for moving across the land, to performing uplifting music and the like. The PC performing this task may make a Diplomacy or Perform check (DC 10 + 1 per point of Unrest). A successful check removes 1 point of Unrest. A PC may take a 10 but not a 20 on this check.

  > Rest: Every day that the settlers go without needing to make any supplementary tasks reduces their Unrest by 1 provided that the settles cache has at least 1 unit of Goods in it.

  > Special: Certain special events may reduce Unrest by 1 or more points. The GM will inform you when these events occur.