@Elannaris: Sorry to see you go, hope the load doesn't drive you under!
@Valjoen: I'm liking the campaign so far. The pacing could be a bit faster, but that's more because I'm having a good time and want more than anything else :D.
Wouldn't mind a bit more interaction between the characters, on the one hand. On the other, however, the lack can be satisafactorily explained by the tense circumstances and lack of any real time to get friendly. Sharing backstory and being interpersonal is hard when undead rats want to eat their way to your soft, gooey center ;p. Interaction with NPCs hasn't really been an issue so far, on account of most NPCs we meet lacking a pulse, or intelligence, or a desire to actually converse instead of beat us and eat us.
The combat encounters are just fine. Well, aside from the rat swarm. Even powered down as it was, that some straight evil GM stuff right there. Seriously. No magic weapons to be seen, and we get that to play with :p. Only actual complaint about combat is the lack of time to properly check the fallen for that special, special loot and then harvest it if present. I kind of get the feeling that a few of the zombies on the underbridge rush had an essence, but we were so pressed that we couldn't safely check. (On the other hand, that pressure certainly added to the realism and tension of the encounter, and I was sweating until the party finally got clear of whole thing.)
Sandbox versus linear? Each has pros and cons, and I really don't want to wall-of-text just to repeat well-used arguments made by others. I think the quest to fetch each particular Hazard should be linear, given what they're needed for and how time-sensitive their presence is. But between these plot-critical fetch missions, we could very easily do sandbox stuff; retrieve supplies for the Tower or the Eastgate inhabitants (the alchemist's fire ingredients running low was a plot hook if ever I heard one), make contact with other survivors and guide them to safe areas, and so on.
I'd like a replacememt for Elannaris, only because that one extra person might make a difference, but that's me channeling Garidan's paranoid anxiety :D. On a related note, rather than have Elannaris just disappear or be eaten, or whatnot, why not play her out by having her find something critical she can contribute to Eastgate's defense, but that she needs to stick around to manage while the rest go on? If the workload changes back, and Elannaris can rejoin later, all good. (And, pardon the shameless player mindset, but maybe her ensuing service could pay for some supplies.
<.<
>.>
Just saying.)
Finally, the reason my post count and size has dropped a bit recently is because it's gotten hot and humid where I live, and the last thing I feel like doing when I'm trying not to die is think, lol.
I was planning on asking this after the next segment, but maybe now is a good time.
How is everyone feeling about the campaign?
In general, very good. It seems a setting that was crafted with detail and care, and I'm very much enjoying it.
Is the pacing ok? Is there too much or too little roleplay? And how about combat encounters and rollplay?
I think the pacing is great, I love the faster moving games. I have enjoyed the roleplay thus far, but am optimistic about more complex and in-depth scenarios to come. As for as combat I have been very impressed with the "puzzle fight" that was incredibly fun, even while I was out of spells.
This first section was fairly linear. Do you prefer that or would you prefer more of a sandbox feel?
IMHO I have always believed a healthy balance to work out the best.
It seems that the post count goes up during combat encounters and is pretty slow during the rp encounters. In those cases, I've just pushed the story along down the easiest, most obvious storyline.
Such is the nature of games on the boards. I think you have kept the pacing very well.
Also, I'm thinking that we don't replace Elannaris. I believe the group has most of her skills covered. Let me know what you think. I'm flexible and will go with the majority.
I am not familiar with the classes she has, so I'm not entirely sure what it is we're losing to be honest. I'm a little out of date on the newest Paizo material.
Elannaris was a rogue/bard (archeologist) so she had lots of skill points. She was built with a weak offensive abilities but good social, knowledge and rogue-ish skills.
I like Garidan's idea to have her stay with the dwarves. I'll let you guys decide whether you want me to recruit another skill monkey or another type of PC or just stay at 5 PC's. I get Garidan's concern of the difficulty of the encounters but I'll make certain they're scaled well and fair, but not easy. Muahaha!
Niyut, Truk, Gruskorb... thoughts?
I'm good with not backfilling. I prefer smaller parties anyway - everyone gets more time in the spotlight.
I'm enjoying the game thus far. As Malthazir can attest, I tend toward fast paced games. On the topic of sandbox vs linear storytelling, I much prefer the latter when it comes to a PBP environment. PBP games tend to suffer from uneven pacing and most sandbox games have their share of lulls and draw out planning stages.
Evidently, Sprint doesn't have signal in Juneau, Ketchikan, or Skagway. Sorry.
Regarding Elenarris, we have her bases covered and less people means a faster game; no replacement, please.
It is clear you've taken thought to craft this setting in the character seen in your NPC's, limited as our experience has been. The Hazard had a wizened feel to him, and the apprentice seemed obsequious to merit his status to his superior. Your environments are well-desribed to the point where I feel my character can make meaningful choices.
Given your skill in expressinh the setting, I believe you have the talent to make a more sandbox style work. With most DM's, there is not enought moisture in the writing to make the sand of stories stick, so cohesive stories usually crumble. Truk is correct PBP flow is better-suited for linear in most cases, but we will see if my hunch you are an exception is correct.
So yes, I am quite enjoying the campaign thus far. Doubly so in the future if a platypus makes an appearance! I wouldn't be going through the cumbersome task of posting all this from my phone if I wasn't having a good time.
Thanks for all the positive comments. I'd still like to hear from Niyut when she has a chance. So far, we have 2 votes to NOT backfill, 1 vote for backfilling, and 1 waiting to hear more.
This holiday weekend is pretty busy for me. I'm remodeling my basement into a teenager hangout for my daughters. Sorry, the posting is non-existent. Once I get a confirmation that the group agrees to help the dwarves or decides to head to the lower caverns, I'll post an update either tomorrow or Tuesday morning and get us rolling.
Sorry, I got super distracted by the holiday.
I'm enjoying the game. I prefer not to backfill.
I affirm what Gruskorb has said. Except the Platypus.
But if we had platypus, we could name him Perry. And he could go on adventures whenever we weren't around, foiling the plans of the evil wizard Doofenshmirtz...
Except the Platypus.
Doom!
If you ever get annoyed with the platypus comments, I've built a colossal bleeding horror platypus at CR 12 to murder them.
If you ever get annoyed with the platypus comments, I've built a colossal bleeding horror platypus at CR 12 to murder them.
I really hope you used only renewable, ethically-sourced playtpus parts in the creation of your abomination.
If you ever get annoyed with the platypus comments, I've built a colossal bleeding horror platypus at CR 12 to murder them.
He was so cute! With any luck, one of its cousins lurks below.
This just occured to me, but isn't Truk'tosh's head-friend a dwarf and a cleric of Jolnar besides? He should be interested in the goings on at Eastgate.
I've updated the Campaign tab with some new information.
First, I'm going to be using critical hit and fumble effects going forward for some additional fun and flavor. I've used these in the past, and honestly forgotten about them.
Second, I've been doing some forward planning on character progression and found a difficulty with the magical item and imbued essences. Specifically, since purchasing magic items is out and crafting was limited to one item, I would need to be handing out a lot of magic items as loot to keep you up with the power curve of the monsters. I could scale back the monsters, but that is a lot of guess work that may or may not work out fairly.
So, while we still will have some magic items drop as loot, I'm going to allow the characters to bond to additional items as they level. By fifth level you will be able to bond and imbue 3 magical items; a wielded item, a piece of armor and a piece of jewelry. When you want to imbue an item, you will need to specify which item you want to imbue with the essence, or if you want to imbue the essence to your body, in the case of life, elemental or arcane essences.
More info is in the Campaign tab. Feel free to discuss and ask questions.
As long as your critical fumbles don't feature any of the various maiming/suicide results I occasionally see in such rules, I'm game. Because adventuring with a peg leg, hook hand, and two eye patches just isn't all that exciting. And I know if it's possible for Garidan to accidentally drive his rapier through his own heart, my dice luck will make it happen eventually...
I absolutely applaud the increase in bonded items your other change adds, but there is a question I have. Does jewelry refer specifically to jewelry, or is it more a catch-all term for any worn item that isn't actual armor (capes, belts, boots, etc.)?
I was thinking rings, amulets, etc. but I suppose any worn item would work. It just can't be something that you would wield or hold. The item would need to start off as magical or masterwork. So you need to find a masterwork chainshirt or fine gold ring made by a master jeweler or loot gloves of storing or a ring of protection, etc. Remember, that bonded items can have multiple effects. So that ring of protection could eventually grant you +1 deflection bonus, +2 stealth, +2 acrobatics, +2 strength, feather falling, and fire resistance 5 or any other combination of effects.
Possible delay on my return home and to normal posting. The train I'm on hit a truck. The train won. I'll update if the previously-relayed schedule will be adjusted if that turns-out to be the case.
Sheesh, the train always wins. When will people figure that one out? Hope nobody got hurt though.
That doesn't sound good. I hope everyone is unhurt but I fear for those in the truck. Take care, Gruskorb.
I'm going to keep pushing the main storyline ahead. I know we have a few side conversations going and we will continue those, of course.
Oooo, this crypt battle looks to be fun! Short lines of sight, lots of obstacles to clutter things up, and that glowy thing at the far end surely won't cause problems for our scrappy party, right?
Sorry for not being super attentive, but have we gotten a chance to rest yet? I've been out of spells for a while.
Yes! We had a full 8 hours at the stable after the whole rat thing. It wasn't spelled out in so many words, but Garidan and Elannaris split the watch while the casters rested.
Yes, you are fully refreshed and have full spells. You were given time to rest when you first entered the Temple and Klagor healed up the wounded.
Edit: Garidan is right. Rest was at the stables and the healing was at the temple.
Updated the spreadsheet listing the various assets we have, and who has them in the case of specific items. However, I'm pretty sure some of consumable alchemical items were used, but I don't know which ones and how many of them, so I left those parts unedited.
"That would be for the remaining family to decide. Only Garlana, Balendor's second wife and his youngest daughter remain as Hammerfist's in the Eastgate."
Would Truk be able to visit them in flextime or should we wait until this goblin menace is dealt with?
You could visit Garlana now but wont have a ton of time. The Hammerfist Hall is nearby but the groups are starting to muster for the battle.
Gruskorb will continue to clear the caltrops in subsequent rounds until a path through is made.
I decided to update the campaign tab information on essences with the formula's to determine if an essence exists. I've also clarified a couple of other issues. I've italicized the updates.
Shiny! The rules by which the campaign goes are always useful, and clarification and/or expansion thereof even more so.
If possible, I'd like to propose one slight amendment to one of the rules regardng essences. Specifically, the duration in which a life essence remains available to harvest. Instead of the standard 2 rounds, could it be changed to 2 rounds plus 1 additional round per HD or level of the creature? If we're fighting against something beefy, with minions to match, it would suck terribly to be confronted with a choice of harvesting an essence that we need, or spending that action actually putting the hurt on the things trying to kill us presently (or spending that action to keep a party member from becoming cold, dead meat instead).
And it sort of makes sense that the essence of a powerful creature lingers longer than that of a weaker one.
I understand the concern over losing a life essence, and your argument for more powerful creature's life essence lingering longer has some merit. Couple of points to keep in mind:
1. All life essences are pretty much the same. The difference is that the more powerful the creature, the better the chance to get one.
2. Identifying the existence of an essence is a spellcraft check (free action). As long as your casters have just a point or two in spellcraft, this will be an auto-succeed unless they are trying to do this from afar. I was thinking -2 per range increment with each range being 25'. So, the current dead goblin with 1 HD has a DC of 11. Malthazir has a spellcraft skill of +11. If he's within 25' of it, he auto-succeeds. But since he's 65' feet away, so he needs a roll of 4 or better (80% of success). But even if he fails to identify it, he can still just extract it. He just doesn't know if he's wasting an action or not.
3. Extracting the essence is a standard action with the range of touch. So, one of the casters just has to get there and take a round of actions to extract it. Basically, to get the reward, you lose a caster for a round. This was intentional.
3. Life essences are pretty powerful. They are giving a permanent +1 to an ability score. It's the equivalent to finding an manual or tome. I want them pretty rare.
With that in mind, I'll compromise. We'll make it 1 round per 2 HD, minimum 2 rounds.
With the effect that life essences have, and their consequent rarity, losing one hurts all the more. So this compromise definitely works for me.
Just to point out, Valjoen, I made an edit to my last gameplay post that you might have missed.
Busy day today. I'll be posting an update in the morning.
Valjoen, if you didn't already know this, Malthazir's player is pretty busy for the rest of this week, so his DMPC status will last a bit longer.
Yes, I meant to double move him but forgot. From where he and Grymdor were set, he was the odd man out as far as positioning goes when the ambush happened.
In a few hours, I will be leaving for a Shakespeare festival in Canada. I will return tomorrow night and likely to post late Sunday/early Monday.
Have fun! Canada is a great place to visit.
I'm going to be busy this weekend. My 30th High School Reunion was last night. My old gaming group that has migrated all over the country has planned a AD&D 2ed marathon from noon to midnight today. I'll try to get an update on Sunday night.
Sounds like tons of old-school fun. Going to do the version of Talanor that doesn't resemble a jigsaw puzzle with most of the pieces gone?
I think Gruskorb would get an AoO off blue too, since his whip has reach.
Anyone who can manage it, lol, I'm not greedy about hoarding kills.
Interestingly, whips don't "threaten any squares" and don't get AOO's. Their advantage is that they have 15' reach and can any square within that reach without penalty.
Huh. That's rough for the whip, trip build. I wonder if there is a feat for that.
Interestingly, whips don't "threaten any squares" and don't get AOO's. Their advantage is that they have 15' reach and can any square within that reach without penalty.
Not quite accurate. Scorpion whips, which is what Gruskorb is using, I believe, can threaten an adjacent square when not being use in 'whip mode'. This offers details on the subject.
And yes, there is a feat that grants whips the ability to threaten squares at a distance too.
ok, that was an hysterical thread of some guy arguing an exploit against most everyone else. If I'm reading everything right...
1. if you have proficiency with scorpion whip (which Gruskorb does), the scorpion whip is a light performance weapon that has a reach of 5' and threatens.
2. if you also have proficiency with whip (which gruskorb does), you can use the scorpion whip in 'whip mode'. Like a normal whip, its reach is up to 15' but then you provoke an AOO by attacking with it. Additionally, in whip mode, you would no longer threaten with it at that extended range. Finally, using it as a whip, you can attack some one at 10' or 15', unlike other reach weapons which you can't attack anything closer than the reach.
All that sounds reasonable to me. Basically it's a lethal whip that can threaten 5' but attack up to 15'. In this case, the blue goblin is 10' from Gruskorb. So, he doesn't get an AOO at this time.
ok, that was an hysterical thread of some guy arguing an exploit against most everyone else. If I'm reading everything right...
1. if you have proficiency with scorpion whip (which Gruskorb does), the scorpion whip is a light performance weapon that has a reach of 5' and threatens.
2. if you also have proficiency with whip (which gruskorb does), you can use the scorpion whip in 'whip mode'. Like a normal whip, its reach is up to 15' but then you provoke an AOO by attacking with it. Additionally, in whip mode, you would no longer threaten with it at that extended range. Finally, using it as a whip, you can attack some one at 10' or 15', unlike other reach weapons which you can't attack anything closer than the reach.All that sounds reasonable to me. Basically it's a lethal whip that can threaten 5' but attack up to 15'. In this case, the blue goblin is 10' from Gruskorb. So, he doesn't get an AOO at this time.
This is more or less my understanding. There are feats that increase the threatening range and whatnot.
Doesn't Truk get a AoO before the burning hands go off because it doesn't look like black robes was casting defensively?
He was prone when she cast so I assumed he didn't 'threatens' adjascent squares and get AOOs. Looking up the rule... yes, he does get an AOO but with a -4 penalty to attack.
Essence Sweepstakes: Round 2:
1=Ga
2=M
3=Niyut
4=Tr
The power of fire calls to the son of the Firebird clan!