Steel Wolves - A Mercenary Campaign (Inactive)

Game Master Mark Sweetman

Sounds like an epic day Monkeygod!

Let's play the ominous foreboding music while we await judgement... just a reminder that you can always roll targeted Knowledge skills to try and get more information on things.

Plus - a free tidbit of pertinent knowledge for the first to note what auspicious dates arrives later this month...

Your birthday? My dad's or George Carlin's?? Golden Spike Day? Towel Day??

Diablo 3 coming out?

Memorial day?

Good guesses but not what I was thinking.

Hint - it's PbP related.

ooh! Ooh! I know! I know!

Raises hand expectantly.

Its our 1 year anniversary!....I think...

That would be correct :)

1 year since my first post in the thread as the fill-in DM (of the time) back on May 23 2011. Since then we've managed a lazy 3,000 IC posts or so.

From my side - I'd just need a description of what sort of trap and where / how you'd plan to set it up.

I was actually hoping you'd help me out with that. I'm not quite sure of the layout. All I know is that I have a metric buttload of trapmaking stuff (mostly ropes and pulleys). Doc knows way more about this stuff than I do. I'm pretty creative, but I was hoping you might point me in the right direction in terms of what might work best.

I'll look to get a mudmap uploaded tonight to give you guys a better idea of where everything sits in the room.

Point of order - at present no-one has made any threatening movements towards the statues, and no-one has approached the throne area. If either of those actions were taken, then a reaction might be forthcoming.

So it isn't as though you'll be able to rig up a huge deadfall and try and just crush the statues pre-emptively.

Didn't get time for the mudmap - but the room is rectangular and flat where the statues and throne are, sloping upwards towards the screened area where you entered. The original room description should give you a decent idea.

If you were looking to try something, the bait and run option might be best - as in configure things out of sight, and try and provoke a reaction to follow you. As to what you're trying to achieve with the trap... there the ziggurat is stone, and it isn't exactly going to be easy to rig up pulleys and ropes and whatnot. I'd say this isn't a situation like before where you could make a complete crush trap - but if you wanted a trip wire bomb release, etc - that might be achievable.

Given we've probably run the gamut of questioning the beastie for now - would be useful to know either IC or OOC what the group's feelings are?

Remember as yet - no one has approached the front part of the room too closely.

Any OOC questions or info you feel you're lacking to make a tangible decision?

Myself, I am just nervous we're gonna get squashed by the demon statues of doom.

Just a quick note - I have removed Cort from the list of active players. The last time he made an IC post was on the 10th of April, despite the fact that I know he's been active elsewhere on the boards. It's fine if he's lost interest in the game, and I've removed him to suit that, just wanted to make it clear that moving forward I'll be considering a squad of six souls... plus Lucky and Baran... and Grusk's birdy... and the wagon ox...

Doc and I need some pets, so we can have a small zoo following us :)

I have Grusk. He's basically the same thing.

Ok, what do I have to work with if I want to hit them with something heavy?

I thought we came out of a treeline that wasn't more than an hour ways? Am I mistaken?

Are there any big rocks we can use? A stone door I can take of it's hinges?

I'm not sure what I have to work with, so describing a trap is hard.

There's lots of rocks in the ankheg caverns - so that's probably your best bet if you're looking for pure weight. No real doors in here. Above ground is pretty much savannah country - so mostly plains with some scattered small brush / trees.

The interior of the ziggurat is worked stone in reasonably good condition. You've got all the shackles and chains the man / woman bodies are secured with as well if you want to salvage those.

My suggestion was not about the trap of Docs, but a contengency barricade that does not slow us from leaving, but would not let the creatures pass.

Really we just need to free the guy, loot his throne and leave....

Destroying the guardians is just bonus, if not we could make our escape.

Gotcha. Unfortunately, I'm not sure anything we could build in any reasonable amount of time would have a prayer of stopping them. Golems tend to be pretty strong and good at smashing things.

Voice? Can we get your opinion?

Stopping them - probably not, but you've got a good indication that they can't leave the big chamber, so it's a matter of beating them to the tunnel if flight is your only concern.

Slowing them - most definitely. You'd be able to jury-rig a barrier that doesn't impede you - but would do the statues... if they move at all *whistles innocently*

Doc sets squad to working and even with Grusk's constant suggestions for improvement real progress is made on the traps.

Bawhahahaha!

Awesome.

I would go for the arms.

a harsh tongue, born of the pits of hell

German?

Yeah, ok. Makes total sense.

On the subject of coup de gracing: Objects are immune to nonlethal damage and to critical hits.

Voice wrote:

a harsh tongue, born of the pits of hell

German?

Yeah, ok. Makes total sense.

Good one.

D'oh!

Is a Coup de Grace lumped in with Crits? I was pretty sure golems and undead could be Coup de Grace'd if you could manage to render them helpless.

Thanks.

Would it be wrong to sit on Thronebound's lap when this is all over and start asking for presents?

"Santa throne-bound whats under your throne?"

"My what a big empty eye you have!"

There are presents... y'all like sacks of coal right?

There are presents... y'all like sacks of coal right?

Yup can use it to power something.

That's actually not the joke I expected Grusk to make. Can't decide if I'm impressed or disappointed.

expect the unexpected......

Heads up - I'm going out of town for a few days and internet connection availability is questionable. Feel free to run Sentis if you're having to wait. I should be back by Saturday night.

So since I didn't know the specs of the trap I wasn't able to recommend that we bless/enchant it to up our odds. (you can do that with any trap that makes an attack roll)

Can we do that retroactively?

I've got you at one hit and one miss at present, so it's not a total wash.

What were you planning to expend to bless it with?

Well, I guess it's a moot point. If I'd known what the trap's mechanics were going to be I could have planned for it and had Sentis prepare some kind of weapon enchantment, but I didn't, so oh well.

I'm not upset, I was just surprised that the trap was going to use my BaB to try to hit them. Since my BaB isn't great, if I'd have known the trap's effects I'd have tried to hedge my bets as much as possible.

I can see your point. Probably more reasonable to make it a ranged touch attack (using your +5 from BAB and Dex) - though a 2 would still be a miss on that measure.

No problem. The dice are cruel masters.

In the future, can you give me the trap specs before combat starts? The mechanics help me decide how best to employ resources and discuss tactics. (Enchants for weapon traps, debuffs for save traps, etc.)

Just a note - had today off work and hence the lackage of posts. Weekends being weekends with chidlets makes it hard to get a decent post in also. It will improve over time, but at present my evenings are curtailed with the amusement of one that does not sleep much.

So apologies, update will be incoming as soon as able - but might not be until later this weekend.

Something just occurred to me. These things are "bound" to perform a service. My bet is if those conditions end, they'll stop acting according to contract.

So they're both slowed, one of them is blind and they're pretty distracted. I can keep up a smoke cloud to block line of sight.

Kaavel could probably move in and break those chains while the rest of us tie up the nasties.

Doc has a hammer and a chisel and five flasks of acid.

I think we can still out-think this.

The DM can neither confirm nor deny that train of thought...

Yeah, well it's worth a shot. :)

thinking.....bah who needs that!

Also can someone find the funniest posts of Grusk and mark them as favorites so they pop up in my favorited comments in my profile.

Makes them easier for me to find!

Question for you guys, I am recuriting for a Legacy of Fire game, DM Voiceless knows and one of the players wants to play a Beastmaster/ druid character. I think the class is a bit much wanted to make sure it was not just me though.

So it's a Barbarian minus Rage plus Animal Companion?

Should be fine. Animal companions aren't a class strength. They're kind of a trap for people who don't know the rules.

The thing to remember about Companion classes is that they only matter in terms of comparison until 7th level. After that *any* class can be a companion class by virtue of the Leadership feat. (Who wants a wolf animal companion when you can have an Awakened Wolf Barbarian Cohort)

Also, the beast master, like most companion classes, is specific to Animals. There's a skill for that. I could play a Fighter with one feat spent in Skill Focus Handle Animal, and by the rules I could have as many trained animal pets as my starting gold could afford. Apollo Mastiffs are the equivilant of 1st level fighters and cost 50gp. My Fighter With Dogs will whoop your Druid With Wolf every day.

Most non-Companion animals become obsolete in combat after about 3rd level, but by then you can afford to outright buy better animals. Take a look at the SRD list of animals. Elephants don't cost much more than most low level magic items. That means that levels 4-6 are the levels that require GM fiat to have companions that aren't useless. Before and after that you're fine with skill use, money or one feat.

Of course there's nothing stopping a Companion class from doing the same thing and having the normal pets and an animal companion. The thing is, once you start doing that you have to admit that the comparison becomes based on all the other class abilities. That's why it's a trap. In a comparison between a Cleric with 4 dogs and a Druid with 4 dogs and one slightly larger dog, you can see how the Druid falls short. That slightly larger dog just doesn't make up for the fact that the Cleric has better armor, better weapons, better spells, and with Selective Channel, his 4 dogs will last a hell of a lot longer than the Druid's 5.

I'd say let him, and just don't tell him that every Companion class other than the Summoner is a big fat waste of class abilities.