Temple of Elemental Evil - Delving the depths of the Abyss on Golarian.

Game Master Tirion Jörðhár

Arindale - could you list your Domains. They may be there, but I don't see them other than by identifying them through your class abilities.

Sorry about using information I did not have. Please replace Suli bard with beautiful lady.

No problem, just be careful. We all read spoilers to see what is going on with others, just remember what you know versus what your character knows.

I was not using spoilers as much as the title after her name. I am not familiar with Suli, but I'm sure I will discover what they are soon enough. Does she appear to be a human to somebody who has never met one?

I may be gone tomorrow (Sunday) as well, but I'm not sure yet. It depends on the weather and how everyone is feeling in the morning.

Arindale - could you list your Domains. They may be there, but I don't see them other than by identifying them through your class abilities.

They were just above my spells, I hightlighted them so they are easier to see as well as added them to just below the first descriptive text.

Also I updated all of my skills per your request and cleaned up the bonus'.

As far as Arindale knows, she is human...

I'll have my sheet double checked and touched up in the next day or so.

I apologize for the agonizing sound of metal on metal as the spanner lodges in the spokes of the turning wheels...

Though DM Chaos could easily salve it with an appropriately portentious sign / dream.

And I will prove I indeed have a 7 charisma.

Lol - yeh, people are playing their foible well so far:

3 with Cha of 8 or lower - still developing how people play these - so far it is:
- alcoholic and unaware how his actions affect others
- quiet and does not say anything
- loud, rude and unaware how his actions affect others
1 with Int 7 - not the sharpest
1 with 7 Wis - impulsive and questionable judgment

Only our Dwaasimar has a foible that is not a mental stat, fortunately the clumsy one has only 4 feet to fall when he trips.

Keep going, I will give some push later if our wizard and paladin continue to have different views on the same thing.

For mine the Dex 8 will represent more his stocky bulk and relative slowness of reactions rather than being clumsy.

Sorry for my long post, but there is so much being said that I was trying to see what Tybek would say and do with each of the threads of conversation.

I also want to apologize ahead of time for playing a character with such low charisma. I normally play charming, pleasant, cooperative characters and this is rather different for me. I am actually using an uncle of mine as personal inspiration on how to play him. He is nice enough, but he always says the most inappropriate things at just the wrong time and he just never quite realizes it. I actually find him quite amusing, but many people get rather offended by him easily. My hope is that he will still be enjoyable to interact with and not too annoying for all of you players! :-)

Sorry for my long post, but there is so much being said that I was trying to see what Tybek would say and do with each of the threads of conversation.

I also want to apologize ahead of time for playing a character with such low charisma. I normally play charming, pleasant, cooperative characters and this is rather different for me. I am actually using an uncle of mine as personal inspiration on how to play him. He is nice enough, but he always says the most inappropriate things at just the wrong time and he just never quite realizes it. I actually find him quite amusing, but many people get rather offended by him easily. My hope is that he will still be enjoyable to interact with and not too annoying for all of you players! :-)

ROFL - I can think of two possible uncles you might be speaking of, is it the one from the town where you grew up? or Canada?

- loud, rude and unaware how his actions affect others

I didn't think of Braden as being loud, but rude and unaware sounds right on. But now that you mention it, having Braden have one of those annoying, high-pitched, piercing voices would be amusing.

Speaking of modeling characters on real world people, having went through years of graduate school I ran into many condescending professors that were very intelligent, quite lacking in common sense, and quite rude. Braden was modeled after many of them--he has read and studied and is very knowledgeable in many things, but definitely lacking in social skills. After reading the Dresden Files, I decided a hobbit Harry Dresden would be amusing too.

Besides the pipe, maybe he needs a corduroy jacket with elbow patches.

It only took four days, but I finally got my pancakes in for brunch today!

We also made s'mores over the grill, after dinner. I don't remember the last time I made them.

"ROFL - I can think of two possible uncles you might be speaking of, is it the one from the town where you grew up? or Canada?

I thought you might think about that. I may have to pleade the 5th. I think I will let you see how my character develops and let you tell me your best guess.

Glorfin is skeptical of working for you.... but he might take your CVs on application to join his group :P

Glorfin should be skeptical of joining Tybek. At the moment he is mostly motivated by wealth. He has not found his faith and belief in doing good deeds yet. I think his own childhood was filled with too much bad stuff that he is still in survival mode.

While Tybek is certainly chatty, he obviously does not possess the etiquette or the diplomacy skills to lead the group. I think he could be persuaded to join with you. He just has to let his own damn pride get out of the way. The glass of whisky was a big help!

One way I had kind of seen it playing out was Glorfin taking the task of routing the bandits / dog men himself, then hiring on the other five of you as mercenaries - at least for the first job.

Just don't phrase as being a mercenary that way to Arindale...he sees himself as a hero, although at the moment he is mainly motivated by money since it is something he can tough and feel...or at least allows him to do so with some of the less savory women in town.

He is going to be good natured, a little un-predictable, and slightly childish. Part of it is that he is a little slow, but seems to be street-wise at times.
I see the bard eventually leading the party, maybe helping bridge the gap between the forces of law and the forces of chaos in the group, certainly at least being the face of the group.

BTW will Glorfin have Lay on Hands? I am not familiar with that arch-type. If so we should be in pretty good shape for healing with 4 people in the group capable of healing.

Arindale is a great character! I like the way you're playing him! There are some nice role playing opportunities that come from his unpredictability. Actually, I like how everybody's characters are developing! I think this is going to be a great group!

Glorfin will get lay on hands - but with less mercies and since his Charisma is alot lower than a typical Paladin it won't be quite as good. Will certainly combine well with his DR to keep himself up pretty well.

Arindale is a great character! I like the way you're playing him! There are some nice role playing opportunities that come from his unpredictability. Actually, I like how everybody's characters are developing! I think this is going to be a great group!

Thanks! Just remember that Arindale is not smart...so expect him to say and possibly do some dumb things. At least it is tempered by the fact I have a pretty good wisdom.

Good, with the extra healing in the group Arindale might actually get a chance to do some fighting instead of just healing. I hope he can aggro some of the attacks with a good AC and with him most of the time being a BIG target.

He will probably take craft magic arms and armor at 5th and plan to have those maxed out for items if we get chances to craft but that is a long way off and plan to get input from the GM around 4th...

You can take any feat you want, except possibly leadership. The only thing to remember is that this is, at least if I do it right, a living campaign. In other words, if you take time off, the enemy may well spend that time recruiting.

My family and I are visiting a friend at her camp up in Maine tomorrow. I will be without Internet for a day, but I will be back on Wednesday night. I will be able to update then.

If my posts are too long, let me know. I am attempting to be as complete as necessary and things seem to be getting rather detailed. I hope that things will speed up shortly.

I think things are moving along fairly organically and at about the right pace...no concerns here...

Speed up?! Posts seem to be coming in at a steady rate to me. In my short absence, I came back to more posts here than in any of my other campaigns! I am not sure I can handle speeding things up! :)

Lol - I meant get things moving on and out of Yanmass, sort of poor phrasing there.

Map looks good sir - and no need to apologize for any delay as there hasn't been any :P

Took me a little while to figure out how to get your tokens set up, but seems pretty easy now. Will have to play with the fog of war and stuff at some point, but that can wait, at least for a few days.

Everyone - don't worry about posting out of order, and feel free to put down alternate actions, if you want and you are posting before the enemy goes, feel free to put in contingencies if your actions may depend on how the enemy acts.

The only thing I ask is that you use the d20 rolls in the order you roll them. You don't get to make one set of rolls for melee attacks, and a different set for ranged attacks if the man in front of you is dead. Just make the rolls for the first option, and then reuse the roll for any contingencies.

i.e.
If the guy in front of me is alive, attack with earthbreaker:
Attack(earthbreaker): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10
Damage: 2d6 + 6 ⇒ (2, 1) + 6 = 9

If he is dead, shoot at the annoying mage with my bow:
Attack(longbow): 6 + 3 = 9 <-- (6 from earthbreaker attack)
Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 2

Things are going quite smoothly.

I assume Braden hasn't yet started his spell. Doesn't make sense to start a full round spell going last.

Yeah it is usually only about a sentence that is allowed...it is only 6 seconds after all :]

Yes, I admit that Tybek talks a lot. Normally I don't say that much in a single round of combat, but I was trying to make the transition from the dialogue before the battle began to the actual battle. Perhaps I took too much liberty. I'm just having fun. : )

I think GM's are usually more liberal with non-tactical speech...we have to RP stuff...that's what a PBP is good for! :]

Sorry my post took so long, I wanted to make sure I got everything right since Entangle is rather complicated.

Also: Tybek, if you're going to want finger-wagglers with you, wait til they're done waggling their fingers!

Glorfin will need to have a short discussion on appropriate battle tactics assuming we survive this... Dwarves with negative Reflex saves and almost zero ranged capability do not play well with Entangle...

Plus the three we're fighting all have bows... so they aren't hindered anywhere near as much as we are...

You have a much better chance at making the Break test than the archers who are going to be at like -4 to hit if they fail, and likely be +2 for us to hit at range... IF they fail, I admit.

EDIT: But, yeah. Maybe not the best thing to've done.

You could have centered it behind them so they get entangled and we do not...that is the discussion we need to have :)

Yeah, none of us are ranged fighters...

"Tybek, if you're going to want finger-wagglers with you, wait til they're done waggling their fingers!"

Hey Maegge,

It's all good! Tybek has mostly been a soloist before and hasn't quite learned how to work with others yet. However, with entangle, he may learn very quickly!

Yeah, none of the characters have worked together before so don't expect Arindale to not go running into the entangle, he has no idea what you just did. No spellcraft!

Well maybe if he sees Tybek get tied up by it, he might have second thoughts...

Spellcraft would only be to identify the actual spell he cast - the effects will be plain to see... and you can either choose to charge at the mass of plants that just came alive - or be wary of them.

You could have centered it behind them so they get entangled and we do not

Noted! ;) (-H, 9) would've been the best spot, I think.

Those are small trees and scrub behind the archers - difficult terrain. It would be difficult to see much past the -B row anyway. But as you have all said, you are yet to sit down and discuss tactics, so this is how one would expect 6 people with very different backgrounds to react. It will be interesting seeing how it plays out.

Note: Glorfin isn't going to hit you... but he did just see you cast a spell on both friend and foe, so he's got a reason to be a bit wary :P

Sorry if I confused things...I thought I acted drawing my MS prior to the Init...thx.

Braden starts firing a crossbow!!

Not as good as one of my favorite endings to a wizard's duel.

Wizard's movie 1977

Haha, awesome clip!

Time for bed. I will try to get something up early tomorrow, but have to leave early and will be out most of the day. Most likely will get an update tomorrow night once more people have posted their actions.

A thought for all:

With attacks, a 20 always hits and is always a crit possibility. A 1 is always a miss. Basic PF rules.

For some reason skills do not work the same way and I really hate when people get super high skills (I have seen +19 Perception and +20 Stealth in campaigns I am in.) Personally, I think that with skills a 20 should always succeed, or at least have a very good chance and a 1 should always fail.

I am thinking that I would like to modify skill rolls somewhat as follows:

Natural 20 = +10 to the skill (you will just add the +10 when you see the 20 roll in the preview.
19 = +3
2 = -3
1 = -10

In essence, this means that if you roll a 1, the impact will be worse and even with an absurd modifier, there is a good chance that you will fail your check. Likewise, a natural 20 or 19 will give you a bonus. These bonuses will not apply on a Take 20, only when you roll the 19 or 20 on the first check. Thus, if you make 4 or 5 checks to pick a lock, a 20 on the first roll will give you a bonus, a 20 there after is just a normal 20. The failure penalties will always apply (if you keep failing, maybe there is a good reason to stop).

Let me know what you all think. I view this as simply high risk, high reward - you all are not commoners, you take chances and play with fire - and sometimes you will get burned, even with halfling luck.

Makes sense to me. It might take me a few 20/19/2/1 rolls to remember to apply it, but I'm fine with doing so.

Let's try and I will consider it. I'll let you know if it seems unfair in certain circumstances.