The Fountain of Bethesda (Inactive)

Game Master TheBobJones

Sorry for the delay - sick wife. More work than sick kid :)

Will move this along today.

Sucks dude, and no troubles.

I hear you on the sick wife thing. They are way more demanding than a sick kid.

Posting will be delayed.

Way more demanding. ;-)

Just a quick update for all the games I am running or are involved in with you ... as you know my commitment to PbP is 100% and I take it very seriously. With that in mind some very real RL issues have unexpectedly sprung up yesterday.

I will essentially be offline until Sunday at the earliest.

I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience it causes and look forward to resuming normal gaming routines next week.

I hope everything is ok.

Take care of you and yours, and we'll still be around when you are able to return.

You're fine John - Take care of your family. PbP and gaming is a fun hobby. It doesn't scratch the surface of importance compared to that.

Absolutely. Steve, I could have said it better myself.

By the way, Spring Break is on here in Texas... which means more time at home with my eldest daughter. I imagine my posting speed will slow, but I'll still be able to manage daily posting... when we return of course! Take all the time you need, GM.

I'm back again myself. In continuing tradition of "life hitting me upside the head" I injured my shoulder and have been on meds that forced me to sleep more in 4 days than I have in probably the two weeks prior ;)

Edit: Also, I'm doing fine, other than feeling almost narcoleptic the past few days. I blame "Repetitive Stress Injury Onset by Displacing Cat"

Oh, the old RSIODC.

Glad you're feeling better and happy to be playing this again! Hope all went well, John.

All is well, unreal what Dr tells you on a Wednesday, and then on Sat they are like "Naw - all good.".

Mike make sure to wrap yourself in pillows when leaving the house. And I believe that I have your cat's litter mate. If I don't trip over her five times a day I consider myself to have the agility of a ballerina. Rest up and post when you can.

Great to hear, mate. Doctors spend so much time covering their asses here, it's crazy.

Just to describe this situation a bit more, Gwen is following a mountain goat that is acting oddly. The goat is on a hill off the path. The Elyas marking stones are only found on the path. So to follow the goat you would need to do some light mountaineering. Doable, but we would need a few rolls, difficult terrain, ect.

Or you would wait it out a bit.

Just let me know.

Kaddren could also use Dimensional Slide to get to it, but that seems uncomfortably likely to get into melee range with something that is either a goat or can Wildshape / Polymorph. Neither of which sound particularly pleasant.

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Also, per the cat: I'm not sure if I've described at length, but I have a very special zoo: 3 dogs, five cats, all rescues. One of the cats is "mine" despite the fact that it was supposed to be returned to the rescue group while I was away on a business trip. I have a feeling that me being on a business trip that weekend was part of why it remained with us.

Anyway, said cat loves to be in my lap, on my desk, etc, but it's new favorite spot is to lay on the router, which is nice and warm. So I've started to pick it up off my desk, up over my monitor, and rotate to toss it onto a dog bed a few feet off. Sometimes up to five times in an hour. Sure, there's certainly other posture and ergonomic issues that have been called out, but that's the one that stands out.

So I am out of guesses as to how else to get this guy's attention. Benaiah is in no real rush to leave, but at this point Elyas is the one that needs to respond to us I think.

I don't want to stop you guys from getting the attention of the goat, which I would guess is a polymorphed Elyas, so really I'm just saying don't feel like you have to waste a bunch of time figuring it out.

As an FYI, I gave Doctor Archisa Aparn a bunch of crafting feats. If you need an item upgraded or crafted, he will give it to you at cost +10%. Not to mention that Burgomaster Draslas could hook something up for you.

Will move this along in time, just don't want to take away all your player agency.

I'm happy with less player agency.

Also happy to make decisions myself. ;-)

In regards to Doctor Archisa Aparn - he has a wide array of spells. If you come up with some support that Kaddren cannot provide, he can muster up a scroll, potion, or wand (at cost) to help you out. It is unlikely that he will accompany you on your missions though.

I like where this is going - frame the harpies or giants killing each other. The village of Northpass will assist you however it can. They are quite capable mountaineers.

If the IC planning gets too cumbersome please feel free to use the Discussion Tab. That is what it is for.

I will let you all continue to plan and remember that the good doctor/Northpass will happily provide equipment or spell casting if you stumble across something cool.

I will take care of the mundane - let me know if you want anything else for your mission.

Sorry not sorry about the thread blast. Very excited.

I'm already as well provisioned for mountaineering as I can be. The others may need some extra supplies (especially tents for fending off the cold while we sleep).

Essentially, though, Arimar will not get the drop on anyone.

Oh, and we should also scout with our eyes and not our ears. Earplugs everyone!

Thanks for the earplug reminder!!! Benaiah will definitely have some of those on hand.

So I've had meetings back to back all day long today. I've been keeping up on the reading, and I'll get a post in at some point here. Just wanted to let you know I'm lurking and trying to get some time to actually post.

Kaddren should buy earplugs, yes.

He's probably the best scout of the team, as long as there's someone nearby that has sufficient survival to keep him from getting lost. +3 to survival.

I'll also memorize Invisibility while doing scouting for a focus on retreating over combat. Of course, for times that Dimensional Slide isn't enough, he always has Cheetah's Sprint as a super expensive, 300' run in one round

Advanced Base Camp
Advances base camp is located just below the Path to the Alaznist Step. Once you begin to scout, you will be faced with the following Environmental Conditions:

Path to the Alaznist Step - Altitude Zones
Low Peak or High Pass (5,000 to 15,000 feet): All non-acclimated creatures labor to breathe in the thin air at this altitude. Characters must succeed on a Fortitude save each hour (DC 15, +1 per previous check) or be fatigued. The fatigue ends when the character descends to an altitude with more air. Acclimated characters do not have to attempt the Fortitude save.

Path to the Alaznist Step -Temperature
An unprotected character in cold weather (below 40° F) must make a Fortitude save each hour (DC 15, +1 per previous check) or take 1d6 points of nonlethal damage. A character who has the Survival skill may receive a bonus on this saving throw and might be able to apply this bonus to other characters as well (see the skill description).

There will also be situational Terrain issues. I will notify you of those when appropriate.

You might want to read Player Companion People of the North pg 16-17 for a list of equipment, and some Magical Equipment on pg 28-29.

Tactically, you were at a disadvantage with the line of orc warriors. The fungal stun vial was a great move or it would have occurred sooner.

Let me know when you are ready to move on.

Tactically, you were at a disadvantage with the line of orc warriors. The fungal stun vial was a great move or it would have occurred sooner.

Let me know when you are ready to move on.

Uh... Confused here, heh.

Wrong thread lol

Just to clarify the rules here (we went through this with RoW), cold weather outfit counts as "protection", obviating the need to save between 0 and 40°F. Below 0°, and saves are needed as standard (every 10 minutes with no protection, ever 1 hour with cold weather gear).

Below -20ºF and we're f#$%ed.

Also...

"... Do any of you know about Pazuzu, the demon lord of winged creatures? ..."

This is all I could think of: Pazuzu

Just to clarify the rules here (we went through this with RoW), cold weather outfit counts as "protection", obviating the need to save between 0 and 40°F.

I agree. Rereading the rules, there is cold and there is exposure. Cold weather gear would be considered protection from cold. We will not deal with exposure in these encounters.

If you have not already, please equip yourselves with a cold weather outfit.

Thanks for that. By the way, I've been having trouble posting up to now while just loading the page to read it. Paizo's timed out a few times for me. Will try to get a gameplay post up very soon....

It seems like you all are putting for a lot of effort in the planning phase. Great job all around utilizing your resources.

When you are ready let me know and I will move it forward.

I am good to go.

It sounds like Kaddran will be scouting ahead for us, with Arimar, Gwen and I trailing behind a little ways. I think our biggest goal here is to avoid being on the wrong end of a surprise round if there is bad guys, especially harpies.

Since Gwen and her gear don't weigh very much, I will carry her on my shoulder for now, which should eliminate her from needing to make most (or all) of these checks. I double checked the levitate spell, and there isn't any issue with her using me like an elevator when I eventually (if we make it that far) levitate up the face of the cliff. That should leave just Arimar needing to climb the rope, which I should be able to attach for him.

Just to get it out there, if we end up getting ambushed or attacked while we are trying to scale the cliff, then I say the first order of business should be to retreat to the base of the cliff and make the harpies, or whatever baddies there are, come to us. Harpies can be dangerous at range, but with Gwen's countersong as our ace in the hole, we should be able to force them to come to us, instead of exposing ourselves halfway over the cliff or worse, at the top edge with our backs to it.

Man, the prospect of ADD 1st Ed really has me trying to think about all of these little details more and more... Kinda fun... :)

Got it that Kaddren is going to have a go, so waiting on his IC post.

Sorry about that. I don't know if anyone else didn't have messageboards showing up, but I had to navigate by previous posts to here. Posting soon.

I hope I got the layout correctly, retcon or adjust as needed to keep things rolling.

So far, I've used a 1st level spell, a second level spell, and a AxP on this ruin. I hope it's worth it :)

Strange... the x (1 new) is not showing up on my main screen.

Stupid Paizo.

I opened the threads just out of curiosity and saw the new posts. Hopefully it's working for others, Maybe I'll send an email just to make sure people know.

Hey boys, what's up?

Wow, just saw Benaiah's post.

And yeah, same deal for me on the no 'new' notification thing.

Hating Paizo so f$&$ing much. Glad I only rely on it for one game and it's a game that I'm not GMing.

Is there a map/grid for this, or are we just using our imaginations? If so, how far away are they? I think Benaiah is going to use up some of his bombs in this encounter, just want to understand what it looks like so I can hit some with splash damage, etc.

Also, going to assume Gwen Inspires Courage for now. I'll get a post up later and try to assume as little as possible.

No map. They move back 15 feet after hitting you. Very close quarters.

Threw together a map for you all. Enjoy.

Thanks!

I completely understand and sympathize with the time and effort challenges of a map - but the tactical/war gaming side of me loves them. I know they aren't the best in all situations, but there is an element of board game in them that I thoroughly enjoy.

Please know the effort is appreciated :)

Maps are going to make all our lives a lot easier. I say that as a lazy GM that tries to avoid adding maps whenever possible, heh.

Also, I came up with "vegimighties" particularly for the Australian ;)

Heh. Much appreciated, mate!

Also, maps make PbP tolerable when combat hits. I know descriptions are great, and I've tried a number of times to do without maps... but it really makes things much easier when there's so much time between rounds.

I really do try to do without them on the tabletop, though. Asking for clarifications, etc, isn't as much of a pain in person. Maps really seem to limit GMs when it comes time for vivid descriptions, they (self included) tend to fall into the trap of describing the map or just presenting the map!

PbP, though? Especially for Pathfinder? Let's just say, thank you for the map, John!

Yeah sorry for the slow post. Will move along tomorrow. Spring break and all.

And as for the map I will endeavor to make maps whenever possible. Thanks for all the feedback. Now that I know I do have I large bank of maps do it was easy to do at lunch.

Lockwood texted me to tell me he is in New York City for a couple of days. Gwen can do a full retreat action (so as not to provoke) and move closer to Arimar, all while maintaining the Inspire.

Thanks

Post coming tomorrow. Spring Break killing me.