The Many-Faced GM's Skulls and Shackles (Inactive)

Game Master Nickadeamous

I sure hope not! I kinda feel like I jinxed the group, right after I showed up it started turning into a bumpy ride for everyone. :/

Na, we haven't lost him. Over 25k posts, he won't just disappear, there's certainly a reason for his absence.

And Johara, you didn't Jinx anybody - if someone brings Misfortune here, it's me *wink*

Everything will be fine again, I'm certain.(I'll also learn to bring Fortune, after all ;) )

*screeches happily at Johara*

Sorry, I've been doing a lot of traveling the last few weeks. The first train I was on about 10 days ago had wifi, so it didn't occur to me that the one I got on day before yesterday might not. It didn't, so suddenly my plan of catching up on game stuff while on the train didn't work out so well.

Yesterday I got home and had to play catch up with real life. All's well now and I should be back to my usual posting rates.

Do I really have that many posts? Sheesh.

Thanks Romello, it's good to be wanted. :)

And welcome back Sandy! :D

I love that you are a bard dervish dancer, Johara. That's one of my favorite archetypes. I have a vampire dervish dancer bard (she's based on a character I made for Vampire the Masquerade, she was a Ravnos (Romani vampires) with the Dance of Knives ability)

Oh, I wasn't complaining, I just felt that I had to respond to Romello! :D

This is my first try with a dervish dancer. Losing the bard's ability to buff the whole group seems, at a glance, like a pretty rough trade-off for the ability to apply that level of buff to yourself only, especially since bards are mediocre combatants -- thematically it's a fun flavor variation so I'm mostly hooking on to that. :)

I really like the Dawnflower Dervish for the selfish bard buffs! +4 attack/damage at 5th level is downright goofy.

I guess I'll see how it works out! Just getting to level 3 will be a huge improvement with the Dervish Dance feat and moving up to a scimitar. Also looking forward to eventually putting out more healing and buffing magic for the team. :)

I hear Arcane Strike stacks very well with Dervish Dancer.

I'm a little confused. The map shows the crab next to sandman with a big X through it. Is he grappled by a different crab? It's hard to tell.

Sandman is grappled by the crab to the west. The two crabs to his east with the red X's are defeated. I placed a net icon on both the grappled crab and Sandman.

That works.

For some reason I had assumed the one trying to murder me would be the one being focused on. I was surprised that it was the last crab standing.

Also, during my scout mission underwater, can I have sabotaged our ship in a way that can be undone? e.g. fix the rudder to the reef...so that if they try and take off without us and without fixing it, they can only go in a straight line and only turn slightly with sails, that kind of thing? I doubt they want to maroon us but an insurance would make me feel better :P

I don't like the idea of a 12 hour rest. That's 4 hours longer than we need, which could be used to try to find our missing crew.

I know we need rest, but the longer we wait the more likely it is that our people get eaten.

We only need a 8-hour rest if everybody sleeps without a shift who is casting spells, otherwise we won't get to refresh them, and still be fatigued, too.
That means Fargrimm has to keep watch alone(so we can regain spells), and may well be exhausted when we continue.

The least we can do is 10 hours, with everybody taking a single 2 hours-shift, leaving 8 hours of actual rest for each of the casters.

Even then, we'd need one more hour to commune with our patrons and regain spells, making it 9 respectively 11 hours of rest we need.

But considering we are in hostile territory, I'd prefer not taking solo-rests. Also, what's your mask gonna do if it spots an enemy? Vibrate like a phone to wake you? You may know exactly what it could or could not do, but as long as you want to stick to the mysteriousness, I have no idea in-character- and regarding patrons, I know Carth or Romello could at most hope to wake us if something is amiss, but hardly deal with attackers raiding us.

Resting 8 hours is all you need to remove the fatigue, or sleep if you want to recover spells, plus one more hour to prepare the spells. Should your rest be interrupted, you'd only really need to make up the difference. It would not reset the timer.

Okay, so you're one of the GM's who accepts that a watch shift does not count against rest time. I'll favorite your post for reference.
(Specifically, it's unusual because it opens up stuff like going with three people per watch shift because it doesn't matter as long as we're in camp)
But it's a boon to us so you won't find me complaining ;)

We'll go with Sandman's plan, then.

Yes, because while Fargrim doesn't need rest for spells he does need it to regain his Bloodrage. And a front line fighter is completely worthless if he's Exhausted. I would have an effective 10 Strength and 8 Dexterity... I'm not going to put him on the front lines like that...

Yes, well I have kids and if I couldn't function without 8 consecutive hours of sleep, I'd never get out of bed.

I feel you, since my own is 3 weeks now.

However, rest is not equal to sleep.
AFAIK the rest period include stuff like dinner and breakfast(meal before and after rest, regardless of time), building and breaking camp, taking care of basic needs(toilet break, anybody? Or using that soap you found in your kit?)

It's not like we're throwing a campfire bead on the floor, roll over and start snoring for 8 hours ;)

Your treat deadly wounds extends our rest time to 10 hours...1 for deadly wounds, 8 for rest, 1 for prepping spells. I thought you meant to hurry?

I can treat my wounds while I am on my watch. It is Light activity, like cooking.

Yass!! My Campaign page is back!

Are you certain? It seemed stuff like "long-time-care" specifically spell out they are a light activity? Also, it's fine since we do double watches with you, I suppose, but I doubt you could keep an eye out for potential attackers while performing surgery on your leg... -_-

It could be a lot of this is GM-dependant, but I got called out for trying these kinds of things in another game, so i'd very much like any rules parts/reasoning you can provide.

Hmm. I guess it's just the way I've always played with my home group. We must have read the Long Term Care description and applied it to treating wounds too. I guess it's the GM's call. If it isn't light activity I'll skip it, and I'll know for the future.

Oh, just to be clear, I much prefer your way of handling it. Possibly we could handwaive these kind of things away unless we are REALLY working on a time-critical schedule.

I mean, we have no idea where our crewmembers were taken, so it's all a gamble anyway on wether we find them in time. Dunno if there's a timer involved but if so, we had unlucky timing with our mutiny draining most of our daily power before and the storm preventing rest.
Oh, and for protocol: If Sandara died here, I fully expect to get her resurrected much, much later.

Glad your campaign page is finally fixed, Baltzar!

Okay, a few things...

Glad your campaign tab is fixed Baltzar.

Sleep

Rest is essentially the same as sleep. There is very little differentiated definitions anywhere that applies to any of the characters in this campaign. Even Sandman's mind needs sleep although it may not seem like it.

"The core rules clearly indicate that the only types of creatures that do not sleep are constructs, oozes, plants and undead. Most other creature types must rest on a somewhat regular cycle. There are specific examples that do not, such as elementals. The exact required duration of that rest is unclear as well as the consequences of having less than the required amount of rest.

For most creatures resting means sleeping. In some worlds some races can gain the benefits of rest simply by sitting quietly maintaining an awareness of their surroundings, while in other worlds those races must sleep, which leaves them vulnerable to attack.

For classes that prepare arcane spells, rest is extremely important. If rest is interrupted, each interruption adds 1 hour to the total amount of time the character has to rest and the character must have at least 1 hour of uninterrupted rest immediately prior to preparing spells. If the character does not need to sleep for some reason, he still must have 8 hours of restful calm before preparing any spells.

Some spellcasting classes, particularly divine spellcasting classes such as clerics, druids, inquisitors (and others), do not need to rest to regain spells but instead regain spells at a set time each day regardless of rest."

All of this pretty much equates rest to sleep given the current characters. All characters need sleep. The arcane casters, which is almost everyone, needs at least 1 uninterrupted hour of sleep before preparing their spells, but this doesn't mean it has to be the last hour of sleep. They can still take last watch and prepare spells normally. I'm also wrapping everything together into one lump 8 hour period. Camp setup, sleeping, and preparing spells will total 8 hours as long as you're not attacked during this time. Assuming you're attacked once in the night, then the total bumps by 1 hour to 9.

That's pretty much exactly the way I've always run things. Thanks for the clarification.

Yeah, in the 2nd Edition D&D Complete Book of Elves it said that elves didn't sleep as humans understand it, but they did a sort of meditation called "Reverie" which had the same purpose. I think it also said they only needed 4 hours sleep but I don't remember. However, neither 3.x nor Pathfinder reprinted any of that.

Didn't Elves trance in 3.x? That being the source of their protection against sleep-based stuff? Or was that Forgotten Realms? Not sure any more...I know they tranced somewhere...

That actually came out of Tolkein, got added into the mechanics during 2nd edition, and then became part of forgotten realms lore. Now it isn't in the rules for pathfinder or 5th ed, but it is still part of forgotten realms.

WTF my campaigns tab is gone AGAIN??? WTF

Sorry to hear that. I double-checked everything on this side and you're active from what I can see.

Yeah I let Paizo know, they asked me to let them know when it was fixed and when it broke again, cause they didn't fix it! BUT looking at the logs for the days it was working might help them see what's wrong.

It looks like Johara just woke up the enemy I put to sleep. That seems like a issue related to the nature of the PbP format. In a tabletop game, Johara would have known that the enemy had fallen asleep before she attack and probably would have focused on the other one or Coup de Grace'd.

In the future, if I manage to put a monster to sleep, can we assume the other characters target an enemy that isn't sleeping?

The alternative is that in the first round of any combat I Delay my initiative to the bottom of the stack, and post after each other player so that I can be sure a sleeping enemy stays asleep through a combat round update. I can do that if need be, but it seems like that would slow things down.

As things currently stand, I managed to take an enemy out of the fight, and it was put right back in it without even missing it's action. That's frustrating.

Sorry! Also, Johara moved to a tactically bad position as she's blocking the party from getting into the fray. That was me playing that she is (1) inexperienced in tactics and (2) panicked about trying to help Fargrim. Hopefully after this, that will create impetus for a side-scene where a couple party members take Johara aside and explain to her a bit about battle tactics (with some practice, of course!).

It does depend on how it's played out with side effects.

E.g. sleep by itself is just one condition...but one could easily attach riders to it such as dropping prone, or losing grasp of one's weapons.
In such a case, it might be mighty powerful even if applied momentarily to enemies where it matters.

Regarding the tactical situation: I agree that it's an unlucky turn of events, but it seems fitting for Johara to rush in.
Also, don't forget that technically, we all act simultaneous during those 6 seconds of a round. Just as you bring the sleep hex to bear, she may already be in the process of slashing at the beast.

Usually, players "optimize" their action economy more than that, but it did seem very fitting in this case(and for the character). Lets roll with it, and we all do a tactics workshop together as soon as we get some downtime, that sound ok, Sandman?
Also, it would always make sense for you to go after me if we target the same creature with our hexes. If my hex does not take hold, nothing changes for you. If my hex does, it needs a double save against yours. Plus if you go first and it sleeps already, it's kind of a wasted action for the round if I target the same enemy with misfortune- as such, we all stand to benefit from a tactical workshop...

I had interpreted Johara's attack on the non-sleeping one initially. That being said I can go either way. Johara's tactical err can be attacking the sleeping one, blocking the entryway, or just rushing in as the only active target.

Also, since most things do not sleep standing up, or while holding stuff in their appendages, I assume that they drop prone and drop whatever they are carrying.

Feel free to work out tactics and even a preset set of actions if you like. I do envision more cohesion the longer the team is together.

I'll also label the opposition with numbers and their status effects in the posts to make things a little more clear for when you target something.

Good idea Nivian.

Assuming we survive this encounter, we'll have the in-game talk about tactics.

Johara's main tactical error (that was under my control) was blocking the line of attack without support. The business of order of operations with respect to Sandman's magic is just one of those things that happens with our out-of-order posting. In future encounters it's likely Johara will just delay until Sandman and Nivian use their hexes, anyway. ;)

+1 Fort
+1 Ref

Feat: Ability Focus (slumber hex)

+7 skill points

+1 second level spell slot per day

+2 second level spells added to list
Glitterdust
Masterwork Transformation

+1 minute of Scarshield per day, bonus goes up to +2

I don't remember how we are doing Hit Points.

EDIT (thanks)
HP, con bonus: 1d3 + 3 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 3 + 4 = 9

1d6 = 1d3+3
1d8 = 1d4+4
1d10 = 1d5+5

3rd Level:
+1 BAB
+1 Ref & Will Saves
Blood Sanctuary
+3 Rounds of Bloodrage (+2 Class, +1 FCB)
Feat - Unknown
+5 Skill Points - TBD
+8 HP

HP: 1d5 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

What would you fine folks suggest for my feat? Since I'm the primary front-liner, I would like to hear your input on what you feel would help keep you guys alive.

Hit Points: 1d3 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 3 + 1 = 6

+1 Fortitude, +1 Reflex

No Feat: VMC: Bardic Knowledge: At 3rd level, he gains the bardic knowledge class feature, treating his character level as his effective bard level.

+1 second Level Spell Slot

+2 Level 2 spells known: Cure Moderate Wounds, Investigative Mind

+9(2 of which background) Skill Points:

Background:
+1 Knowledge (engineering)
+1 Knowledge (nobility)

Regular:
+1 Perform(Sing)
+1 Knowledge (geography)
+1 Profession(Sailor/Navigator)
+1 Craft(Ship Repair/Modification)
+1 Knowledge (arcana)
+1 Perception
+1 Intimidate

As for Fargrim, there's plenty of good feats, and several that will be relevant later...you could go for Cleave with the Racial Feats that let you ignore the adjancency-requirement. You could go two-weapon fighting to pick up the dorn-dergar feat letting you wield it one-handed, so you could use a shield(which would definitely keep us alive longer, by keeping you alive. One I personally like for such fighters is Furious Focus, which scales nicely to make sure in situations where you have only one attack(wether because of movement or other reasons) you don't miss that attack because of power attack. Not necessary that early but wanted to bring it up anyway, for future notice. ;) - Another GREAT option(for a bloodrager), would be to go Dwarven Hatred/Seething/Fury - (the dwarven "style" chain)...look into it, seething is awesome(even if as a style you need to activate it)

What Nivian said.

I'd also add Combat Reflexes to the list. Being able to use a reach weapon to Trip as an AoO is great for battlefield lockdown.

Nivian- Craft: Ship Repair is actually just Craft Carpentry. You don't need to be quite so specific. Modifying ships might fall under ship design, which is Knowledge: Architecture and Engineering. (all this is assuming we're using the regular rules for this stuff)

Good thoughts, Nivian. I'm debating between Cleave and Furious Focus. At 5th level I'm going to snag Darting Viper to allow me to switch between adjacent and reach on my dorm-dergar as a Swift action. As far as the Dwarven style feats go, Fargrim isn't really compatible without GM adjudication, because he has the Saltbeard racial trait which replaces the two traits needed for that chain.

I could also have gone with "Knowledge(Local)", instead of picking up the lore variant...with the bardic bonus, it won't make much difference.

I do have architecture and engineering via that, too.
I simply wanted to be specific because it fits the flavor.
Nivian should know her way around a ship, being able to repair it, fix a mast, make a rudder.

But put her on land, with a cart with a broken wheel, and she should shrug and walk off, having no idea what to do.
So yes, I WANT to be specific, there-but thanks for trying to help :)

GM, what are you thoughts regarding the Dwarven Hatred Style and switching it up a little to work with Fargrim's Saltbeard racial trait instead of the standards? If you'd rather not, I understand, but figured I'd at least ask. Worse thing you can do is say No.

I've decided to go with Cleave for now as that -1 Power Attack penalty really isn't affecting Fargrim that much right now. I'd rather avoid the Two-Weapon fighting option, because I want to really optimize that extra strength from Bloodrage on the two-hander option. Combat Reflexes is definitely one option I'm looking at picking up when possible.

Also, with Blood Sanctuary, you guys can feel free to spray, sling, throw any AoE spells you want around Fargrim. He has an additional +2 bonus to all saving throws from allies spells. So... any AoE spells that you guys toss out, I have a +7 bonus before my actual STs and then SR next level.