So, how are you guys proceeding?
At Level 2, Ziomarra will be able to throw Harrow cards as weapons for damage. Kind of like Gambit!that's cool- i've never seen the cartomancer archetype before, much less seen one in action, so it's interesting watching one develop (i like the in game flavor you've been bringing to it too).
It's pretty new, and from an oddly-specific Player Companion: The Harrow Handbook. I've loved the whole Harrow thing from when I first read it, and I was very happy to see a whole book devoted to it.
as thrilled as I am about how that all went down, GM clearly stated that Zee was to act, then Natalya, and then Jo and Nalathi... also, I know I've said this before but just to reiterate- I'm trying to play Teldon's 8 Cha at least partly by acting as if he lacks a basic understanding of social niceties (like knowing not to call an angry violent woman a murderer), but I certainly don't want to offend anyone OOC...if anyone feels like I need to tone it down please let me know
I think you're RPing Teldon just fine! I totally get that you're playing him as if he's somewhere on the high-functing austic spectrum. That's a fascinating role-playing choice for an low-Charisma character-- it's far more nuanced than what I've usually seen!
Zee hasn't yet figured out what makes Teldon tick, nor does she quite understand his quirks.
I'm playing Zee as someone who's both proud of her heritage and ashamed at how she was treated by her clan. (That's why she got so ticked off at Natalya calling her a peasant.) She also has a hard time controlling her temper, and takes a while to cool down. I'm basing her personality on what I imagine that my Italian grandmother must have been like when she was in her 20s.
I'm basing her personality on what I imagine that my Italian grandmother must have been like when she was in her 20s.
That's pretty much the best thing I've ever heard, lol
That's pretty much the best thing I've ever heard, lolI'm basing her personality on what I imagine that my Italian grandmother must have been like when she was in her 20s.
She died almost 25 years ago, bur her shadow still looms large in my family. (She'd be 112 if she were still living!)
Nate, don't worry about it. I'm loving it and it's going to get some interesting interplay between Joanna and Teldon. I'm just worried that I'm ham-fisting the characterization I want for the wet-behind-the-ears cleric.
Joanna's interesting for me as a player. She's young, unsure of herself in most situations, and in the process of learning some hard life lessons, such as real decisions often involve a lot of moral ambiguity.
She's also stalwart, trustworthy, and honest to a fault. She may leave information out, but she out outright lie, or deliberately misdirect someone. She'll have your back, and she will make sure that you make it out, even if that means she dies.
She can be stubborn, a hothead, and a perfectionist. She may even lament how she's not as good she should be. She takes life a little too seriously at times, and she can be stiff in certain situations.
Or at least that's how she starts in my head. What I hope she turns into is a dignified young lady of war. She's has a head for tactics and strategy, and hopefully the martial prowess to go with it. She's kindhearted already, but I'm hoping to have that temper her temper and help her settle down some. As I say, however, I think I'm being ham-handed in how I'm handling her.
I think I have a good handle on what she's like. It's just the execution is falling flat.
Joanna, I think the execution is falling far from flat...I think the situation that Joanna has been out in is probably very far from where she envisaged her 'righteous' calling would take her...and she is responding in a very particular and focused way...
...for what it's worth, I don't think I could have picked a better group in terms of RP, cool characters and great interplay...it's great fun to be telling the story with you...and seeing where your characters end up....
I don't think she's falling flat either- I think when it comes to combat she might be a little monotone at this point, but for an inexperienced young servant of Iomedae trying to embrace the ideals of bravery and honor that over-zealouness might be expected (and consistent with the idea of a young noble woman who's largely uncertain of herself and overcompensating in some ways)
My favorite part so far has been the interrogation at the brothel. When basically all our character flaws came crashing together in one horrible mess.
I think I need to wait to see what happens with Joanna before posting a response to Nalathi's Sleight of Hand / Ziomarra's Beguiling Gift... I will give her a short while otherwise I will GMPC her roll to escape the grapple (I can sort of see another way this situation might go...which is why I'd prefer to leave it to the player)...
FYI Nalathi, stealing the necklace will be a 'Sleight of Hand' check and will draw an Attack of Opportunity...
I hate to be the rules lawyer, but...
You can attempt to take an item from a foe as a standard action. This maneuver can be used in melee to take any item that is neither held nor hidden in a bag or pack. You must have at least one hand free (holding nothing) to attempt this maneuver. You must select the item to be taken before the check is made. Items that are simply tucked into a belt or loosely attached (such as brooches or necklaces) are the easiest to take. Items fastened to a foe (such as cloaks, sheathed weapons, or pouches) are more difficult to take, and give the opponent a +5 bonus (or greater) to his CMD. Items that are closely worn (such as armor, backpacks, boots, clothing, or rings) cannot be taken with this maneuver. Items held in the hands (such as wielded weapons or wands) also cannot be taken with the steal maneuver—you must use the disarm combat maneuver instead. The GM is the final arbiter of what items can be taken. If you do not have the Improved Steal feat or a similar ability, attempting to steal an object provokes an attack of opportunity from the target of your maneuver.
Emphasis added.
Compare the Sleight of Hand skill...
If you try to take something from a creature, you must make a DC 20 Sleight of Hand check. The opponent makes a Perception check to detect the attempt, opposed by the Sleight of Hand check result you achieved when you tried to grab the item. An opponent who succeeds on this check notices the attempt, regardless of whether you got the item. You cannot use this skill to take an object from another creature during combat if the creature is aware of your presence. List a small object from a person: DC 20
So, it looks like it's possible to accomplish the same thing via either method. The big differences are: Sleight of Hand has a chance to succeed without the victim noticing, and the thief is not subject to an AOO. (At least, the skill description doesn't say anything about this action provoking). A character who makes a Steal combat maneuver has no chance of doing so undetected, and is open to an AOO from the defender.
Also: for Sleight of Hand, the DC of the chance to actually get the item doesn't scale with the defender's power level.
Of course, it's obviously your call, Zed. (c.f. Rule Zero.)
Well since Sleight of Hand specifically says you can't do it in combat when the enemy is aware of your presence, it would have to be a Steal. I do know it provokes an AoO, I'm just hoping the benefits outweigh the risk haha.
Thanks folks... I totally didn't know there was a Steal action!!! I think what Nalathi is doing is certainly that rather than Sleight of Hand so we'll go with that...
Generally, if you see me do something that isn't how you've seen it done before (or you know is plain wrong)...just shout...one of the benefits of PbP is it's possible to have those discussions without it slowing Gameplay down.
As per previous post, just waiting on Joanna and then I'll pop a substantive GM post up.
Sorry busy all day yesterday. Post in the Gameplay thread. Short version, She and Teldon are now covered in muck.
Opinions on Hero Points? In my games up to now, I hadn’t been using / considering them… but my games up to now have been modules and the Emerald Spire where, whilst character death is ‘regrettable’, it is normally okay to roll up a new character without huge amounts of emotional disasters – I think, over the course of an AP, we should put into place some form of ‘insurance’ that gives your characters a little bit of protection from untoward, dice rolling disaster death…
…my suggestion is that, as you level up, you will be awarded a Hero Point (starting at level 2)… there are lots of suggestions around the boards as to what situations these hero points may be used for…
Thoughts? Opinions?
I'm using Hero Points in my weekly IRL game. I'm actually extra-generous with them, mainly because I have 4 PCs and the campaign in running was written for 6.
Taking a page from the RPGs FATE and Savage Worlds, a character's Hero Points are represented by physical tokens. I use them somewhere between Fate Points and SW's "Bennies." In addition to the normal pool, I give everyone an additional "session point" that resets every game session. That gives everyone one free use of a Hero Point per session.
Everyone started with one Hero Point, plus the session point. Other than that, I use them as per the optional system from the Advanced Players Guide. I don't use the optional Hero Point feats, spells, or magic items.
This is the first D&D-family game that I've run with Hero Points. I think it's working out very well: The players are having fun with it. The system is a mainly a hedge against losing because of poor dice rolls: My players pretty much always use their points to re-roll failures at dramatic moments.
I've never done any society play, but I think if we were running this AP in PFS we would accumulate Prestige Points as we went through... I don't know how much it costs, but I'm pretty sure you can spend those points on things like raise dead spells... That might be another option?
I've only been in one campaign where we had Hero Points, but even then I don't think I ever used it. I don't tend to view character death as a great loss, which is why I like to do reckless and potentially dangerous/awesome things like put on the magical artifact haha. But obviously from a story perspective new characters can be awkward, so if you'd like us to have a cushion of sorts I'm cool with that.
I find Hero Points to be a way to guarantee that the story can have its dramatic moments of success. Becuase, honestly, dramatic success is a whole lot of fun.
Dramatic failure can also be fun, but mundane failure isn't. It's one thing to get TPKed in a heroic act self-sacrifice against the Big Bad. It's very much another to get TPKed by a random encounter with owlbears in which the PCs rolled poorly and the monsters rolled well.
As a GM, I don't like it when the PCs do everything right and still fail because they happen to roll a succession of 3s. Hero Points are a way to reward good role-playing choices without the fear of meaningless failure or the GM having to pull a deus ex machina rescue.
But, then again, I'm very much on the "Storytelling" side of the "Storytelling vs. simulationist" approach to RPGs. As a GM, I will never let a bad die roll derail a good storyline.
I actually don't have any experience with Hero Points, but they sound somewhat similar to Fate Chips from Deadlands so I get the gist of how they work and would be happy to include them if that's what the consensus is :)
The system as written is here. They do work similarly to Fate Points in games based on the FATE system (e.g. Spirit of the Century), or Fate Chips in Deadlands, or Bennies in Savage Worlds, or Force Points in the old West End Games Star Wars RPG.
Basically: Hero Points are a scarce resource that you can use to alter dice rolls. You can spend a point to re-roll, to take a +8 on a roll before you roll, or a +4 after-the-fact on a failed roll. You can also use a point to take an extra standard action, to recall a cast spell, or to use a class ability one extra time. You can also spend two points to cheat death.
I've never been in a PbP that used them before, but I'm totally up for giving it a try!
Sorry guys, Posting is going to be slow for a while. I need to sort through a lot of stuff and get some things straight in my head. DMPC Joanna as needed.
It's cool, life happens. We'll be here :-)
Thanks for letting us know - we will GMPC you for the time being, hope you get things straight and are back with us soon.
Good Luck,
GM Zed
Just a little thanks to Briana for the fun aside outside the hut...hopefully everyone else will enjoy catching up with that...while I decide just how bad things are about to get!!!
Well, so much for "Don't split the party!"
...one of the situations where PBP truly works over RL...it is possible to run multiple strands without things getting really awkward and weird!!! Having said that....yeah, you did somewhat split the party!!!
Yea I've called players into the other room before, but at a real table the GM can only be in one place at a time so if you're out with someone else you can't be with the rest. PbP is ideal for that.
Back on the subject of Hero Points, my proposal is to run the system as written...the default mechanism for earning Hero Points will be upon levelling up...however, I will also issue them for reaching a particular story goal or, on an individual basis, when really cool stuff happens.
I also propose to use the Prestige Points system described in the Players Guide however that is more of a help out of combat than within (the two systems complement each other quite well).
Just waiting on Briana and then I'll move the Gameplay thread on...
Cool!
my kids are off school this week (so i'm going to be home with them a ton, and super busy at work when i'm there)... i'll try to keep my post rate up but they'll probably mostly be super short posts. sorry.
I'll be on my normal posting schedule Monday and Tuesday. We're traveling to Brooklyn on Wednesday, Thursday is the holiday, and we're planning on kicking around Manhattan for the day on Friday. We're driving back home Saturday.
I'll try to squeeze in a post out two while I'm away.
YAY! i did something effective with my spear :)
Thanks to the GM for letting Joanna getting into the fray, although, she might just wind up getting embarrassed again.
And it looks like I'll get to drive through a major snowstorm in a few hours. Yay.
Safely at the in-laws' for the holiday.
And it seems that Zee enters melee combat for the first time!
Happy Thanksgiving One and All...
...and, with a certain degree of serendipity, here's a gift for you from your ever benevolent GM...
You may all Level up to Level 2...
Please post important changes / developments in character mechanics in the Discussion Thread so you all know what your current capabilities are...
Woot!
By the way, Brianna, Zee, can you two see about getting some healing stuff as an emergency for when Joanna isn't around, or is tapped out.
Also, Is it just me or could we use some more beef?
We could definitely use some more combat ability.... I'm not sure if anyone has the stats for it though... Maybe someone could try some summoning? I'm not opposed to possibly picking up some levels of slayer or maybe some kind of ranger at some point but with 10 Str and 13 Dex I'm never going to be great in melee. (If I stay alchemist up to 4th I could learn to make a mutagen too... that would help some...)
Teldon's knowledges will all get a considerable bump (I get an ability that doubles my Int bonus to knowledge checks, or Int checks to remember something), I also get a discovery... I was originally going to take infusions (which lets other people drink my extracts) but given the way things have gone so far (and the fact that we have 3 other people who can heal or buff) I'm going to take precise bombs instead. I think those are the only significant changes.
Did we decide how we're doing HP? Half rounded up? (I'll assume half rounded up while I'm leveling and i can always go back and change it if necessary)
Huzzah!
I'm away from home right now with neither my laptop or WiFi. I'll edit Zee's sheet as best I can from my smartphone.
I'll repeat Teldon's question about hit points.
Zee will now be preparing stabilize as a cantrip as a matter of course. She also gets two new 1st-level spells into her spell deck, and can prepare a third 1st-level spell. She could start prepping a cure light wounds spell, if we think that's a good use of her spell resources.
She also will get the Deadly Dealer feat, giving her a halfway decent ranged attack. She'll be using the beat-up Harrow deck she recovered as ammo at first.
Oh, and perhaps we should give Joanna the ring of feather fall? ;-)
Maximum HP for your class (further level increases in HP shall be average for class rounded up)
A combat-focused cleric can work pretty well. I think there are a few warpriest toys that clerics can play with via feats from the ACG.
I was also thinking of taking enlarge person to cast on Joanna. That grants a +2 size bonus to Strength, 10-foot reach, and bumps her longsword base damage to 2d6.
The other spell I was considering was burning hands. Witches are primarily a de-buffer class, but there are a few blaster tricks they can pull off.
I'm good with the 1/2 hit die +1 hp per level. That works out better on average than rolling.
One thing I did in my current home campaign to give the PCs a bit of a power boost was to grant all PCs one bonus feat at 1st level, from the list of feats that grant skill check bonuses. (e.g. Acrobatic, Alertness, Skill Focus, etc).
I'd be fine with re-doing our stats with 20-point buy. That would assist a bit with combat.
I hadn't really considered a combat-focused build for Zee, but let me crunch some numbers when I get home to see if a fighter level and a few levels of Eldritch Knight would make sense.
[EDITED to add:] Actually, an Eldritch Knight build doesn't seem to make much sense for the character concept.
Yeah- witches don't generally make very good EKs (now, if you could talk GM into letting you stack hexcrafter and witch levels for all your hexes you might be onto something... Especially if you took myrmidarch so you could use spell strike with your gambit cards!)
I'm an idiot... You can't stack hexcrafter and myrmidarch... Although, if you did want a little more combat prowess for Zee (and GM is on board), you could rebuild as a magus stacking hexcrafter with the card caster archetype from that harrow handbook- it would preserve her flavor really well though you'd lose your hex until 4th level...
Bri- IMO, the healing hex would be a great option for adding healing without taking away any freedom in spell selection... The flip side of that coin is that an offensive hex would give you a go to option in combat that could really aid your resource management (and give you something to do with more potential than a crossbow you don't really want to use), which could free up spells for heals... Personally, I don't think either option is a mistake, it just comes down to which better suits how you see her/want to play her.
As for increasing Teldon's prowess, going to a 20 point buy would definitely make a difference... I could bump his Str to 14 for +2 hit and +3 damage... It would take a while to come together, but if I went alchemist up to 4th I could learn mutagen too and then go slayer from there, that would let me buff my Str to 18 (22 if I do a bulls strength extract, and get to use both buffs) and add things like studied target and ranger style feats to be a decent combatant... realistically that takes til 6th or 7th level to really to work (and by then his AoE damage will be losing usefulness)....
It take it from the few responses that came that nobody is very interested in maybe focusing some on summoning as a means to add to our combat abilities?
I think it is more that you guys are on Thanksgiving!!! And hopefully having fun with family, etc whereas us poor Brits just have a normal damp November evening to contend with...
In terms of increased point buy, shall we mull it over and, if you guys are in agreement, we can implement when you get to Level 3 (and I'll give you some notice so you have time to rework all of the maths)...
...in the meantime, I have added your Hero Points to the tab at the top of the Gameplay thread.
...and once more, congratulations on reaching Level 2