Good points. I remeber also one DM mentioning that he removed "empty" space in dungeons and either not mention it, or summarize up to the more relevant to the plotline part.
I face the same questions at the moment in the Kingmaker PbP I DM (replacement really).
That being said, I feel uncomfortable bringing this item, especially in such a 'hard to read between the lines' environment. I wouldn't want to sound disrespectful or out of line, especially as I have so much respect for the quality of your work. Let me know if you want this discussion to go further and to keep discussing options.
I don't have a problem bringing it up; I can handle criticism and suggestions for what they are. I just don't know how much I can automate exploration without taking all the fun out of it. As it stands, Harrowstone is lean on "empty areas"- everything has either a resource, a haunt, a monster or some other event in it. I don't want to turn it into a situation where you all just read along as I narrate the whole thing to you. If you need input from everyone else in the group, we all have to wait for it unless it's just one person that can't post. I can roll perception checks or what have you now and again, but I don't want the responsibility of keeping track of your standard exploration procedure (on top of the other moving pieces in the adventure) because I think that takes a lot of it out of your hands. The fun starts when you have to make choices- if no one is making them then I'd rather wait than jump in and start playing your characters for you.
Good point. Then I'd say we need players involved and, as you say, whoever's there to post the call on which door and how should, even to the extent perhaps that another character is doing it (should we have a standard door opener?).
I think it would be wise to have some sort of standard plan for entering rooms. A standard door opener and the like. That way we can move ahead, even if Arasmes or Aldous are the only available posters–two character that are not particularly built for being on point.
I think it would be safe to assume that Aldous is checking for traps and Arasmes is detecting magic, even if we aren't available to say so.
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The way the prison part is going actually doesn't bother me. We can't take every encounter head on, but that is good for a horror game. I deliberately started with a more or less useless for ghost fighting spell list to play that way, but with the intention of it changing over time. There are things we could do to minimize waiting on each other though as you guys suggest.
1) 1st person available chooses the next area to explore and the rest of us roll with it.
2) We determine a standard operating procedure for simple actions that are going to repeat at each door.
3) If Evelyn is gone for a while maybe lovelydwarf, Dreaming Warforged and I can take turns puppeting her as necessary for now. Better to have her adding to the scenes rather than fading into the background of a small party until leaving at some point. Hopefully she will be back soon and that won't be an issue.
Currently Aldous is not searching for traps because we haven't really found any yet and Trevor seemed to be impatient. If we find any that will probably change. So the only standard operating procedure I have is that if the door is locked, Aldous will try to unlock it.
How large is the dungeon of the prison? Have we explored 25%? 50%? As far as rejiggering it, if nearly all of the rooms are necessary, combining a couple here and there might be an option. Whatever you want to do there is fine with me James and I won't know the difference anyway. I have noticed from other pbps that dungeon crawl areas tend to slow things down quite a bit, but with APs they usually try to make sure they aren't overloaded with dungeon crawls. Usually one volume will fit that bill for the players who enjoy that style the most. Don't get discouraged with it James. I love your style and would love to play some more of CC. If you decide in the end to go with a custom Ustalav game, I'll be here for that as well.
Btw- was on vacation for a while, but reading along and briefly posting as necessary from my phone. We are back now and I can put a little more into the posts.
I actually think this is going fairly well now that we're going to ditch the experience system and just level up at "benchmarks" thoughout the adventure. The complex itself is rather large, but you've got much of the first floor covered. And certain areas, like cell blocks, are combined into one encounter already. There are also things set to happen in town, which are also important.
I'm fine with assuming that the first person to post determines direction- I'll also assume that Trevor or Luka are most likely to be the point men.
Updated map
I can't access the file. Perhaps the privacy settings are too narrow?
Updated mapI can't access the file. Perhaps the privacy settings are too narrow?
Sorry about that, it should be fixed now.
I'm back from vacation, and just want to mention that I think everything's going fine. It's your game James, so handle things however you want. I've tried running a pbp, and recognize it's tough, but this seems to be working great, so far, although we may want to replace Evelyn at some point.
I'm kind of happy with four players right now- but if/when you guys feel the need to add someone else, we can look for a replacement.
I'll have an update tomorrow for the next room.
In case the Gowanus Canal drowns me beneath its fetid waters this weekend, thank you all for playing!
Hey folks, I've just had a death in the family, so I won't be around for a bit. Feel free to DMPC me or whatever. Hopefully, I'll be back at the end of the week.
Sorry for your loss lovelydwarf. I hope you're ok.
What neighborhood are you in James? I moved to Greece 4 years ago, but before that I was living by Prospect Park. Parkside Ave station on the Q. SE corner of the park. I didn't know a single gamer when I lived in Brooklyn. Hah.
Ah, yeah, I know that area. I live in Gowanus, two blocks or so from the canal. No flooding or loss of power this weekend, thankfully.
Very sorry for your loss lovelydwarf, we'll be here when you're ready.
Sorry to hear the bad news, LD. All the best to you and your family.
Still no connection at home. Furthermore, I'll be away, most likely from Friday to Tuesday, probably unable to post for most of it.
Hey folks. I've finally made it back into regular life. Thanks for the well wishes. I'll be reading our adventures and, hopefully, will make a post tonight.
Sorry for the continued hold up, guys, but I've got some unfortunate unforeseen RL stuff to deal with in the mean time. We'll be back in the swing of things soon.
No sweat. Things are a little nuts for me at the moment as well.
Hey, all, I just wanted to let you know I'm going to be working long hours & days for the next couple of months. I don't yet know how it'll affect my posting, but wanted to give y'all a head's up.
Might take you up on that; I've got a stuttering ranger from a defunct kingmaker game that I still have a soft spot for. I'll rework and post him.
Rest in peace, Herr Katic.
Too bad. May we find a stranded survivor in the ruins soon.
That's the first character I've lost in a long time, and the first in a pbp. At least I didn't have time to get too attached.
'hope the rest of you squeak this one out.
I've actually killed off two PCs now in the games I've run. I feel kind of bad, because you can't delete the alias. But there's nothing stopping you from putting him up again for a different game!
I'll have the next round up soon with the cavalry arriving. Billz, feel free to put a new PC together if you're still down to play and we'll figure out something to introduce you. (Beyond "Hey, you look like a player character!")
Billz, feel free to put a new PC together if you're still down to play and we'll figure out something to introduce you. (Beyond "Hey, you look like a player character!")
Hmmmm . . . what's proper pbp etiquette? I almost feel like I should bow out for someone else to get a spot. Regardless, let's see how this combat finishes, although I am thinking the group could really use a cleric . . .
Not only could use a cleric, you could use one now. That would be interesting - roll up a new character and have him stumble on the scene and bail your butts out.
Alright, I'm a sucker for a good group. I worked up a cleric of Iomadae, Caleb Hand, although I need to fill out the fluff. DMJK, work him in as you please.
Starting Wealth x 10 gp
2nd level hit points
Yeah, but Trevor just whittled them down to one.
Caleb Hand, Cleric of Iomedae, ready for duty.
edit: Hmmm . . . I might have to rethink this. I just realized Trevor is a paladin of Iomedae, and I don't want to steal any of his thunder.
I dont know whether we'll survive, but my preference (preference only) is not to have too much divine interventions. If it's a TPK, I'm fine. Again, just preference.
I am really enjoying this game so far.
Trevor would be really happy to have someone to explain him better the ways of Iomedae. His conversion was quite spontaneous.
I haven a half crazy dwarven alchemist that I was originally going to play in this game. At the moment, I'm considering him v. the cleric. Anyone have any preference? James?
Hey all,
Sorry to disappear for several days there. We had a snow storm here and lost power for several days. Nothing like living without electricity for three days to reveal your soft flabby modernity. Hopefully, I can catch up a get a post in soon.
For the record, I'm not trying to massacre you guys, just getting really lucky rolling for these angry skeletons.
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yikes. I think that leaves only Aldous who is prone, threatened, on 3 hps, and has no way to damage a skeleton other than a 1d3 acid splash which he can't manage to cast while threatened.
I have a potion, but pouring it down someone's throat is a full round action that threatens. No way I'll survive to complete it. I could throw it at the one Trevor damaged, but I think making a ranged attack while threatened will also provoke.
I'm tempted to get one of the pharasman devices and use it, but it will also provoke as I retrieve it. I'll think on this for a minute, but we can probably start thinking about our new party at the same time ;)
I'm thinking about what the next step would be. I'm not really into just continuing with different adventurers- getting a little tired of Harrowstone after so long. Maybe a different Ustalav campaign that eventually intersects with this one if I can find the time to plan one out. I'm open to suggestions, though; if you guys hate leaving your surviving PCs behind (or possessed) then we'll figure something out. Does anyone feel robbed or cheated, disappointed? Should I have handled it differently?
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I can't speak for anyone else but I'm not bothered by it at all. Im not sure if I've ever lost a character in the last 25 years, so brief as his career was Aldous will be memorable. I enjoy the gloves off kind of campaign as a change of pace.
When you decide if and how you would like to carry on from here just let us know.
Those were mighty rolls...
Speaking only for myself, I'm ok with the result.
As for continuing/new campaign/whatever, I really feel privileged to be playing with you all and would be more than willing to try just about anything. I like the idea of an Ustalav campaign that eventually crosses back to the AP. I also wonder to what extent other characters could start at a higher level, but further down the AP (doesn't have to be very far).
Your call James. Whatever you choose, I'm on board if you'll have me.
I'm willing to roll with whatever plans appeal to you James. I've had fun so far, so even though Arasmes' adventure came to an untimely end, his brief life wasn't in vain.
I really enjoyed the flavor of the characters!
Your ending was superb. It chilled my bones.
I enjoyed all of your PCs a lot and I'm sad to end on practically a TPK, but I think it would have been lame to just deus ex machina this into a victory. It could also well be my fault for not replacing Evelyn when her player disappeared and setting you up with a cleric. Ah, well.
I'm kicking over an idea to have a game set in Carrion Hill and the county of Versex in Ustalav, or Ardis the old capital or possibly Caliphas, the new capital.
The three ideas seem promising, though each for different reasons.
Carrion Hill is shrouded in a dark mystery, Ardis tells of past glory and past secrets, while Caliphas suggests political intrigues.
I might be reading wrong about those, but they nevertheless get my mind working!
I'm leaning towards Carrion Hill/Versex at the moment, but I've got ideas for each city. Is there a certain type of adventure you guys would like to see or some other preferences?