Hope everything goes smoothly and you recuperate quickly, the loreweaver.
Sorry for the slow updates; I caught a cold for Christmas and am fighting sinuses and general lethargy. Feel free to position/prepare your PCs as you wish, and I'll narrate the actual arrival of the cargo tomorrow, after I've gotten some sleep.
Peg leg? Gee, I hope Gris doesn't come off as a bully, tossing cripples and hobbits about...
Unless, you know, that plays well. :)
It's not relevant since Covey is human and your roll succeeded anyway, but where were you getting an extra +4 if he were a halfling? I couldn't find any modifiers for different sizes in Pathfinder apart from those baked into the CMD you're rolling against; there used to be a +4/-4 modifier to the roll in 3.x for some of the special attacks Pathfinder turned into combat maneuvers.
I thought there was a +4 size difference, but I couldn't tell you where I got such an idea... except maybe from Intimidate. I wasn't being careful about the rules, reasoning that somebody would catch me out if I left the reservation.
I suppose it might be 3.5isms left in my head, but I never really learned the 3.5 maneuver rules, so... I just don't know.
And Happy New Year! (4 hours early)
Happy New Year. (We had ours 12 hours ago :-)
Happy New Year, all.
Feel free to come up with creative solutions to get the spider(s) off the ceiling. Off the top of my head, I'd probably allow a CMB with a weapon from a Medium character to try to knock it to the ground, at a -4 penalty or something for stretching to reach it. I figure you guys will want to focus on the ones trying to eat Gristav alive before worrying about the ones not presently attacking you, though.
I've a Grease spell, but don't favor its odds on a critter that's using hooks to climb.
Just wondering: it was said the ceilings are suspended cloth in the bar. While this is clearly true for the casino, hence the catwalks, there are no catwalks over the bar. So the cloth is on the eaves? Or on framing to blend with the casino?
It's the sort of thing you think about when you're succumbing to spider venom.
:)
I've a Grease spell, but don't favor its odds on a critter that's using hooks to climb.
Meh, I'd allow it unless someone can talk me out of it. Might not work in the real world, but fantasy spiders have a Climb speed, not van der Waals' forces. Raises the question of grease vs. slippers of spider climb, but there's precedent in sovereign glue vs. salve of slipperiness that slippery trumps sticky in D&D.
The ceilings in the bar are of normal construction: wood and plaster, or what have you. It's only in the central area under the dome -- the floor proper -- that there's a lattice of thin wooden laths, like a gazebo with an oversized weave. In between the strips of wood, bolts of cloth are unfurled horizontally across the room to form the "ceiling." When the lights are on below, someone in the catwalk can see through the cloth like a scrim without being visible themselves as long as they don't take a light source up there.
I hope the loreweaver's doing all right; it's been 24 hours so I'm acting for him.
Gristav, by my calculations, you should still be at +2 to hit and damage with your Arcane Pool enhancement. You don't actually subtract ability damage from your ability scores; for ease of play, you just take a -1 to ability-related rolls for every 2 points of ability damage so 3 Str damage has the same mechanical effect as 2 Str damage. I've done the accounting for 4 damage, anyway.
Snake, I believe we agreed to a house rule of no 1s on healing, at least on the first die. Yep, there it is, and no one objected. I'll reroll the healing hex for you in-thread.
Whee! Veronica Mars trailer! I'm so psyched! It looks like they've brought back the entire recurring cast, although a few of them have changed so much I don't recognize them.
That's good. I hate 1's. That ought to be a universal rule. When it comes to healing and hp's, they ought not exist. Hp's especially.
Mark, if P21 is as far as you want to move, that's fine, but Phil does have expeditious retreat on and isn't limited to 20 feet of movement.
I put Gristav in K23 ("past the crate"), but you still have 10 feet of movement to play with if you'd rather be elsewhere.
K23 is where I had intended, for the clear shot at the ceilinged spider.
Yep - aware that I'm able to move further... but wanted to keep the juicy people between me and any bitey fangs this round.
Braddon's AC is 16... without a makeshift shield.
(Unless he's taking penalties. As you wish. :-)
Forgot to note in the initiative order that Snake is delaying; feel free to act whenever you want to, Javell. :P
Hey all! I'm back and available to post again. Recovery went well and I have my post-op appointment today, so all is good. Once I get caught up on all the missed posts, I'll starting posting again.
Good to hear! - and don't worry... the spiders seem to prefer the taste of Gristav over everyone else.
...but of course.
;-)
Braddon got bit, too; maybe they just like half-elves. :)
Glad to hear everything went well, the loreweaver.
Okay, I'm all caught up on my reading. Will try to post my action tonight (good timing as it seems to be my turn in the round again) after I get these stints pulled from my nose (had a deviated septum fixed).
Braddon's AC is 16... without a makeshift shield.
(Unless he's taking penalties. As you wish. :-)
Braddon got bit, too; maybe they just like half-elves. :)
Glad to hear everything went well, the loreweaver.
I'm reading the spider's attack on Braddon as 15.
Is Braddon without his armour?Or did the makeshift 'shield' detract from his AC?
(And welcome back Malkith. Glad you're better. Hope we've left enough reading for you. :-)
I'm sorry, Dave; looks like we were typing at the same time yesterday and I completely missed your post. You're absolutely right; I was looking at my HeroLab file for Braddon where I still had him in the exploitative chest-baring studded leather from the grand opening. 15 is a miss.
I actually ruled that the crate lid was most like a tower shield, so Braddon could use it for total cover as part of the standard action of putting it in place: He had normal AC (with a hefty ACP due to non-proficiency, had it been relevant) until his standard action and then avoided the attack of opportunity he would have taken for shutting the box.
See, I solved that by never adding the useless thing to my Herolab copy. :-)
I'm happy to take the bite if you want to avoid a retcon. Do I still owe you a Fort save?
Let me know all and I'll assimilate it into Braddon's actions and reactions.
You see, that would be the why of it... Most spiders being female, Braddon's Chippendale armor naturally had them throwing themselves at him.
No, not at all, Dave. There's nothing to retcon other than him not getting bitten instead of getting bitten. Not a big deal; doesn't change anyone else's actions.
I'm going to give the loreweaver until I get a chance to check in tomorrow morning to post. I don't like making choices for other people's characters, especially when I know where all the spiders are. Besides, I've had a busy day and am exhausted. :P
If either Braddon or Gristav want to adjust their actions to stick around and deal with the spider trying to get out of the box, they can retcon. I didn't have a chance to update the thread in a very timely manner today.
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When I was in third grade, we had to memorize a certain number of lines of poetry and recite them in front of the class during the course of the school year. Most of the kids broke it up into six- to eight-line poems once a week or so, but I wanted to get it out of the way as quickly as possible so I memorized the longest poems I could find --"Jabberwocky" and "The Walrus and the Carpenter," for example -- so I wouldn't even have to mess with it in the spring.
There was one whose name I don't remember, but the poet was named Guy Wentworth Caryll, or something similar, and it went like this:
(Which never occurred to the rest of us),
And as 'twas a June day and just about noonday,
She wanted to eat (like the best of us).
Her diet was whey, and I hasten to say
It is wholesome and people grow fat on it.
The spot being lonely, the maiden not only
Discovered the tuffet but sat on it.
A rivulet gabbled beside her and babbled
As rivulets often are thought to do,
And dragonflies sported about and cavorted
As poets say dragonflies ought to do
When, glancing aside for a moment, she spied
A horrible sight that brought fear to her:
A hideous spider was sitting beside her --
And most unavoidably near to her!
Albeit unsightly, the creature politely
Said, "Madam, I earnestly vow to you,
I am penitent that I did not bring my hat;
Otherwise, I should certainly bow to you."
Though anxious to please, he was so ill at ease
That he lost all his sense of propriety
And grew so inept that he clumsily stepped
In her plate -- which is barred by society.
This curious error completed her terror;
She shuddered and, growing much paler, not
Only left tuffet but dealt him a buffet
Which doubled him up in a sailor-knot!
It must be explained that at this he was pained.
He cried, "I have vexed you, no doubt of it!
Your fist's like a truncheon!" "You're still in my luncheon,"
Was all that she answered. "Get out of it."
The moral is this: Be it madam or miss
To whom you have something to say,
You're only absurd when you get in the curd,
But you're rude when you get in the whey.
I couldn't resist the "most unavoidably near to [him]." :)
Not at all. There's only so much you can accomplish in a 6-second combat post anyway. Last night was the first time I've had any appreciable free time myself all week.
Braddon sheaths the short sword and pulls out his bastard sword as he follows Malkith up the stairs.
"Those things are pretty tough. Gristav talked one to death and I captured another for questioning. We're gonna trap the third in the chimney. Where's it come out?"
LOLWEP (While eating pizza)
Hey, Joana, I was thinking about switching my patron to Strength instead of Transformation. Would that be a problem? Probably not really all that critical, honestly, but I think it fits better.
It's funny, you have an idea how you think a pc is going to play out and then you get to playing him/her, and then all of a sudden your ideas change. Hard to judge those kinds of things early on(at least for me).
No worries if not.
Yeah, that's okay; the choice of patron doesn't have any mechanical effect until second level anyway.
Mark, litany of sloth is not only mind-affecting but language-dependent; Phil would surely be aware the spider's not a valid target for it. Would you like to substitute an Acrobatics check vs. its CMD, or would Phil not take the chance of moving past at all if he knew it was possible he could be attacked?
Blergh... I'll blame lack of sleep mind-addledness. I'll actually say let it stand as is with him copping an AoO. What with the first level not quite sure exactly what my abilities do schtick.
I generally assume that PCs are more on top of their own abilities and the world around them than their players might be. If you fail a Knowledge check or something's disguised as something else, you'll have to take your chances and see what's effective by trial and error, but if you're playing an elf wizard and try to cast sleep on a fellow elf, I'll remind you-the-player of what your PC would know.
As you say, first level is one thing, but a ninth-level wizard is going to know that charm person won't work on an aberration, even if his player is distracted. :)
Yeah, that's okay; the choice of patron doesn't have any mechanical effect until second level anyway.
Thanks!
Assuming Phil makes it out of the Goblin, I'll give an indication of his heading and intent.
Out of interest Joanna - for times like this where there are competing opinions of PCs vs NPCs, do you use a roll-off of any kind to assist you in determination of the outcome? Or do you make a reasoned decision based on the inclinations of the NPCs in question.
I mostly try to "play" them like they're PCs. Saul's a wheeler-dealer, always looking for a new angle or a new opportunity; he'd fence the spiders back to the Arena if he could figure out a way to do it. Larur, on the other hand, is a very inside-the-box thinker: Vermin need to be exterminated; however, he's also a follower who respects authority and has gotten used to deferring to Saul on matters. If I ever get in a situation where I'm not sure which side an NPC would gravitate toward, I'll usually try and stall and see if the decision gets clearer. (That's one nice thing about running a play-by-post rather than a real-time game: One rarely ends up kicking oneself later over a decision made in haste to keep the game going that ends up feeling out of character.) If I ever got in a situation where I really couldn't decide which way an NPC would go, I'd probably roll a d2 (or 3 or whatever); not sure if I've had to do that yet in this game.
Also, I'm biased toward outcomes that I think will be more fun or give us more options to play around with in the future. I mean, what situation isn't more interesting with a 3-foot spider in your arsenal? Sure, it's a consumable, but what a one-use item! You could do The Murders in the Rue Morgue with a spider instead of an orangutan. It would make an excellent distraction to let it loose on the streets while you're sneaking in the back somewhere (would certainly have come in handy in our WotW game). Or smuggle it into Betta's shop and let it eat the yappy dog. The possibilities are legion! ;)
Honestly, I thought Saul's directive was compatible with Phil's fire plan: smoke it out, but if you can get it to negative hp and stable, throw it in a cage rather than coup de grace it. I don't expect anyone to be running around with nets or trying to grapple it; more that if it doesn't die in the process, they might as well keep it as kill it. But if Phil would rather go work another angle, that's his prerogative. I can even put Bojasc and the NPCs on the task if the PCs as a whole prefer to avoid the mop-up.
Finally. Dang boards been down since last night.
Aye - the directive for the one in the chimney was partially compatible, but the end result was spider alive rather than spider dead. Phil wanted and still wants to kill the crated one as well.
Phil has a range of reasons for why dead rather than live, as well as reasons for curtness and dummy spitting... but Saul didn't ask :P
He asked Gristav's opinion, listened and then rather than offering Phillip a chance for rebuttal... just told him how it was going to be. Had a question been asked then Phil might have explained his position, but it wasn't. To the Calistrian he took it as a dismissal and slight... so he's off to other things.
Fair enough. Saul's not supposed to be a shiny Good Guy so it's all right if his manner grates at times. :)
Snake posted yesterday while the site was briefly up and I responded, but both posts were lost. I'll give him some time to recreate his post if he wishes, but the gist of it was he feather fell to the street rather than try the Climb check, so since the Goblin's locked and he doesn't have a key, Phil can end up letting him in as he exits.
(I'm posting from Kindle right now, Mark, which takes forever. I'll post in your game in a few hours.)
Just realized Braddon lost a post, too. As it was shortish and basically served to get him into the building and downstairs, I hope he won't mind my paraphrase.
If anyone else posted yesterday and I missed it, be aware that your post vanished into the aether; you're not just being ignored. :)
I had a much more substantial post this morning, but lost it due to my own mistake (closed the wrong window) rather than Paizo's server issues.
Sorry for brevity. I'm coming down with a cold and have very little mental energy tonight. The spider-smoking is going on in the background, and I'll narrate the outcome tomorrow. Feel free to discuss your next steps while it's going on; it'll take some time anyway.
Get well. Fast. :-/
Okay, I'm putting the matter of the spiders' fate up to a vote over here in Discussion. Please feel free to vote your own inclination and not your characters'; you're the ones playing the game.