Here you may ask any question without any fear of spoiling things! :)
Sounds good! I guess my biggest questions as a player (vs as a character) are:
1. Are we new arrivals to the party's ship, or have we just sort of been in the background for a few days?
2. Are we getting paid anything, or have we been promised a share of the wealth?
3. Do we know the players in particular (as, for instance, the first four sailors on the ship to be friendly to us or have a sort of intelligent, conspiratorial look?)
Avast and ahoy!
If okay-by-you, I'll do that holy symbol tat I asked about, although I don't think any of the spells I currently have memorized even require DF, haha. But I found this, and it's cool. :P
-Are we actually being paid (either in wages or loot shares), or is this a glorified galley-slaves thing?
At the present moment, you are being paid. You work at the Merchant ship, the Man’s Promise.
-What are the other PCs planning, and should she trust them/they trust her?
The only other PC you know at this point is Nthanda.
You may be friend, you may know only by seeing. Your choice.
-What kind of guns does this ship actually have, and can she touch them?
No guns on this ship. They use Ballista in case of any threat. And no, the master gunner is not fond of you toying with then, for several reason, maybe the recent explosion you caused…
-If a caster with at-will Mending can get out of bilge duty (at least every once and a while) by repairing the ship and sails instead?
Not really that effective. It takes longer to fix things with magic than working manually.
-Is anyone around here willing to lend her some reading material, or a notebook?
The Logbooks and ship manifest are off-limits. However, most of the crew is willing to share notes and books if you ask.
...and as Nthanda is another oracle with the same curse, maybe they'll spot that about each other and realize quickly that they should have each other's backs.
Up to you.
Sounds good! I guess my biggest questions as a player (vs as a character) are:
1. Are we new arrivals to the party's ship, or have we just sort of been in the background for a few days?
No and no. The players are currently at the Pirate ship Wormwood.
You are at the Merchant ship….
Pirates plus Merchant ship… Well, you know the end of the history.
2. Are we getting paid anything, or have we been promised a share of the wealth?
You are getting paid. Not that it will really matter at this point.
3. Do we know the players in particular (as, for instance, the first four sailors on the ship to be friendly to us or have a sort of intelligent, conspiratorial look?)
No, you don’t know Sh’torek, or Boldwin, or Ambrose or Dughal, for they are in another ship. The only one you might know, if you wish is Nthanda.
Avast and ahoy!
If okay-by-you, I'll do that holy symbol tat I asked about, although I don't think any of the spells I currently have memorized even require DF, haha. But I found this, and it's cool. :P
Pirate without tattoos are not pirates!
The princess is another castle
eta: Woot, tats. I'll mark off the hundred gold for that then, and drop my armor from masterwork down to normal so I can... afford the tat.
The princess is another castle
I'm ashamed to admit that I did not understand that reference.
I think you meant that, the actual game is not going to happen in the man's promise, but in the wormwood. :P
Victoriana is new at this, and doesn't have any tattoos yet, but that's pretty cool for the more ship-experienced oracle to have.
And being paid isn't so bad. I'm going with the backstory explanation (if it's alright) that Victoriana served briefly on a pretty mean ship, and that's the one she nearly burned up--they found another merchant with dubious recruiting practices and sort of handed her off to them (and she was willing to take a job with pay, so she could earn back some of what she'd lost).
I didn't realize we'd be on a merchant ship to start. That clears pretty much everything up, cool.
Ha, yeah, it's an old Super Mario Bros ref, but yes, that was the gist of my lame joke: that the rest of our 'crew', and the game, are not happening on our current ship. :3
Here is the ship map.
Sounds good. Should we play through whatever happens to get us to meet the party, or just describe it, or wait for them to get to us? (since I assume the pirate ship may make pirate choices)
There's a gameplay thread, Victoriana. ;) C'mon in, water's fine.
Good point, but it's bed time for me, so maybe tomorrow. I've been trapped in lab for the past hour, pushing buttons every 15 minutes and otherwise keeping myself awake with PbP, but I get to home now.
I'm aiming for a 'mutual' action between you guys and the other ship.
We’ll see where it leads us. :)
Sounds good. Just have to hope the two of us don't accidentally burn down the Wormwood when we meet up...
Ch-ch-ch-chaaain lightning!
Wait, chain-burning-hands doesn't have quite the same ring.
Don’t worry. You can do as you please.
I’m not good at writing accents, I have to admit that, but I’m usually good in understanding them.
Sounds good. :)
Heard most of those, but that's because my high school math team was the "Pi-rates" and we took the Pirate theme very, very seriously when we went to competitions. :/
Oh, about time, don't worry.
It'll be dawn, before the pirate ship get's closer enough to start really worrying about it.
You have about 12 hours of preparation.
Edit: I made it sound immediate, just to point out that the captain is nervous and not thinking right.
Ah, twelve hours is plenty then. :3
In that case..... *eyes Victoriana*
HOW MUCH OIL DO WE HAVE ON BOARD? RIG THE OIL BOMBS AND LET'S BURNING-HANDS THE OTHER SHIP TO DEAATH!
I tease. ;) Mostly.
Don't worry, plan to your heart content. :)
Just be careful with situations like this because while I find it really cool a resourceful character, for someone you described that don’t know too much about sailing/pirates/sea life, you just proved that she has a vast knowledge of sea battles and ship defense.
Oh, sure. I was going with "knows a lot about catapults and ammo, as a magical engineer but nothing about how to use them or actual sea tactics." She's got no profession (sailor), but she does have a bit of skill in craft (ship), so maybe she at least knows how to break them. I'll try to be more careful about that, but yeah, she probably shouldn't know how to use this stuff effectively—she was just lugging around a catapult in the off chance it became necessary.
But the catapult is also a big purchase for a whim. I dunno, Nthanda, you think the catapult is unrealistic to have? Maybe so, I can replace it with sillier items and just keep the flaming bolts.
...and now I'm wondering how practical it is to fire a gnome out of a catapult and into the enemy rigging. Clearly a bad idea, though...
To help you plan, here* is some additional info:
Captain Aspar Tharkidor (CN male human aristocrat 2/expert 3;Profession [sailor] +11)
1 Senior marine "Riaris" (CN human ranger 3)
3 marines (LN human fighter 2)
24 sailors
Here is a reminder:
B4. Sterncastle: This high deck sits behind the mizzenmast, 20 feet above the main deck. A pair of light ballistas sit upon this deck, next to a box containing a dozen ballista bolts.
If Aku is fine with allowing Abundant Ammunition to modify something as big as ballistae bolts (which are probably not in a pouch/quiver :P), I say go for it. ;)
Honestly, I'm down with whatever-- I hate to be a metagaming nonce, but I have a gut feeling we won't really be able to change the outcome of the fight much. ;) Although you can make yourself memorable to the pirate captain as the gnome who nearly burnt up his ship...
Well, to be fair and honest the final outcome will not be changed. The game depends on the pirates boarding the Man's Promise. And for you to join the game, the pirates have to win.
That being said, I’m perfectly willing to change how this happen.
Since I will be running things in parallel, what you do will influence in what the others players sees.
So, just this once, hear out your DM.
I’m allowing you to be metagaming nonce, if you promise to have fun while doing it. :)
Oh, I will have fun, regardless. I'm a little worried that my metagamiest plans—catapult feather token, or the all-mighty tree feather token (you cut a tiny hole in the base of the ship, stick the token in, a 60'-tall tree sprouts up through the deck) are a little smarter than my character currently is and might permanently damage the ship we're about to be on.
So I'm rethinking my crazy gnomish inventor inventory to:
-5 flasks of alchemist's fire, 10 flasks of oil (enough to make a decent amount of fiery ballista darts; these probably can't be abundant ammo'd because they're too big, but we can still make a bunch of them)
-4 fire bolts (for abundant ammunition)
-1 stubborn nail
-1 feather token (anchor)
-1 grappling bolt & pitons (for climbing up the side of a ship)
-1 elixir of swimming (for emergencies)
-1 traveler's any-tool
Also, with 12 hours to go, I have enough time to craft any one weapon, firearm, or limited quantity of alchemical supplies, if there's anything Nthanda thinks should be prepared.
If nothing else, Victoriana will take some spare sailcloth, sew it into a big "pouch" for holding ballista bolts, and then make some flaming arrows.
And I think that's all the preparation Victoriana wants to prepare, using multi-purpose items creatively to make weapons. (She'll drink the Elixir of Swimming right before any pirates come into range).
Nthanda, did you have anything to set up?
Ehh, not really, I don't think. I didn't plan out gear extensively since I was going off the whole 'you get one weapon, one armor' thing, and I can't summon up the enthusiasm to go on building jag to fight off pirates we know are going to win. ;)
(I don't mean that as a dig against you! Have fun with it!)
Nthanda is more a healer than a warrior anyway. She will cast SOF on herself and Victoriana, as described originally-- and then will probably spend most of the fight trying to triage members of the Man's Promise Crew and keep them fighting.
Ehh, not really, I don't think. I didn't plan out gear extensively since I was going off the whole 'you get one weapon, one armor' thing, and I can't summon up the enthusiasm to go on building jag to fight off pirates we know are going to win. ;)
No worries! I normally wouldn't either, but Pathfinder gnomes are supposed to have very strong personality quirks, and Victoriana's are "prepares very seriously for unrealistic situations" and "will always try to think outside of the box before giving up." If she gets knocked out by a stray arrow ten seconds into the fight, I'm fine with that.
Oh, and just so I can reference it easier (I'm basing the stats on crossbow bolts scaled up, which is how ballistas are calculated), here's the ammunition I made abundant:
Light Ballistas (with Alchemist's Fire-smeared bolts):
Damage 3d8+1d8 Fire, 1 splash damage, can ignite on impact
Range increment 120', -4 to hit (+ shooters' BAB, Dex)
Can fire once per three rounds
"A solid ballista shot will take out for the crew, but aim the ones on deck—if you miss, ye'll start a fire anyway!"
Crossbow Bolts (Flaming):
Damage 1d8+1d4 Fire, no splash damage; ignites rigging and sails, but not targets
Can fire once per round
@victoriana
Okay, let’s break down your actions:
Round one: waiting
Round two: Firing at the Wormwood and jumping in the water.
Round Three: Pick up two items. (You need two moves.)
Round four: Active the feather token;
Round Five: Activate the Stubborn Nail;
Round six: Swim to the Man’s Promise and try to climb it?
Oh, okay. I didn't realize the Feather Token was also a turn to activate, but that makes sense. In that case, though, in round 3 I could pick up the token and activate it and in round four I could pick up the nail and activate it, then round five would be to try to get back to the Man's Promise.
...the more I think about this plan, the more likely it seems that it'll fail. But maybe it will fail in a fun way.
Got it. Didn't realize the Stubborn Nail wasn't a standard item, but yeah, that makes sense. I'll probably be sticking to the PRD from now on anyway, I'll let you know if there are any unusual spells that look appealing.
@Victoriana
Withdraw
Withdrawing from melee combat is a full-round action. When you withdraw, you can move up to double your speed. The square you start out in is not considered threatened by any opponent you can see, and therefore visible enemies do not get attacks of opportunity against you when you move from that square. Invisible enemies still get attacks of opportunity against you, and you can't withdraw from combat if you're blinded. You can't take a 5-foot step during the same round in which you withdraw.
If, during the process of withdrawing, you move out of a threatened square (other than the one you started in), enemies get attacks of opportunity as normal.
You may not withdraw using a form of movement for which you don't have a listed speed.
Note that despite the name of this action, you don't actually have to leave combat entirely.
Restricted Withdraw: If you are limited to taking only a standard action each round you can withdraw as a standard action. In this case, you may move up to your speed.
==//==
To withdraw swimming, you need to have swim speed. To climb, you need climbing speed. Since you don't have it, you can't make a withdraw action.
Just to make sure we are in the same phase.
Nthanda: 3/5 spells per day - (2 shield of faithm, 1 burning hands)
Obs: The burning hands did nothing against the fog.
Victoriana: 1/5 spells per day - (1 Abundant Ammunition)
Also, considering that you cast it just before the combat started.
Their duration are:
Shield of Faith Nthanda 8/20
Shield of Faith Victoriana 7/20
Abundant Ammunition 7/20
Oh—I cast abundant ammunition on a bag with some ballista bolts in it. I don't think it's doing much. But yeah, that sounds right. (Maybe I'll even stay conscious long enough to cast another spell!)
Victoriana also has an Elixir of Swimming for the next hour, which gives her +10 to Swim, which is why she's not drowning right now.
Victoriana needs two DC 12 Climbs to get aboard. You can roll two Aid other. For each sucess you have, she adds +2 to her test. Also, there are 3 more sailors helping you, they should roll aid other too. You can roll their climb at +5 bonus.
To sum it up:
Victoriana needs one more test.
Nthanda need to roll 4 aid other, one for her, 3 for the sailors.
As a heads-up, I'll be at Pacificon this weekend, the 29th through the 1st. I will try and check the boards each night and make sure I'm not missing something super important, but posting will be minimal. GMPC my character if necessary.
Hmm. Of the defenders we can see, Nthanda's in a good place to hit quite a few of them with a spell as well, although she could just as easily whack away with her mace.
Just noting something:
When resolving the actions, the pirates act first. So depending on what they do, I may change your position a bit.
I'll keep the rolls tho.