Year end stuff at work combining with Christmas: I factored in down time about now. So, don't worry if we're proceeding slowly or you can't get in for a day or two. Things pick up in PbPs after Christmas.
We're done with segment one. Any comments/suggestions about how things went?
Oh yeah: I forgot to ask that you not read the other group's thread. As the two veer off (you're at the same place now), you could find out stuff you shouldn't know, like what's ahead, etc. you could go back later and see how they did if you want, of course.
Rping was nice: now things are starting to pick up!
I'm a big noir fan. Raymond Chandler used to say that when he got stuck in a story, he threw a guy with a gun into the room.
I wasn't stuck, but you guys just got a guy with a gun in the room....
Darpan: "Good gentlemen" in that spot? I almost had them put an arrow in your leg.
:-)
All good storytelling to me......who are these guys, who is the woman and how far do we go to defend her? Some really good questions asked / implied just by the situation you have thrown at us.
Having said that, we should have been downing Ales in the Bulette and telling tall stories of brave heroes.....but everyone else wanted to go camping!
I think you're doing a great job GM Iliad. You definitely have put your time into preparing for this :) Kudos thus far.
Is that pack horse loaded? Does anyone think we might want to examine the contents and (if we have the ability) cast a detect magic or two to check for tracking spells or such?
Beau can cast it and has it prepaired though unless asked I would not have.
Being my first time GMing, one thing I'm consciously working on is not giving advice or suggestions as you guys go along. I imagine every GM works through that.
Having said that...don't forget to use thoughts (put in italics). What your character is thinking will give insights into them. It will also tell me what is going on in their heads as action looms.
And for several of my characters, I have lots of sarcastic thoughts that I like typing out, even if they're not being said aloud ("I said let's go down the stairs, but NO, you wanted to open the door that led to the ghouls..")
So, try mixing in a few thoughts. I would think the current situation has each of your minds churning: damsel in distress, competent looking armed strangers, lonely stretch of road..
From the PRD (since Beau asked about the full moon):
Lycanthropes are humanoids with the ability to turn into animals and animal-humanoid hybrid shapes. Natural lycanthropes are born with this ability and have perfect control over their shapechanging. Afflicted lycanthropes contract this ability like a curse or disease from another lycanthrope; they sometimes change form involuntarily.
The full moon is relevant to when a bitten person first transforms into a werewolf. The stereotype has carried on from early versions of D&D (like clerics not using swords).
Sorry I missed a post yesterday. I've been on the graveyard shift and paizo.com was not loading on the work's wifi for some reason.
Out of character, I just need to point out Beau is very new to the road, and extremely naive. Hopefully that doesn't get us killed before we even start.
@Wix, the whole site was down yesterday for several hours from my understanding I had the same issue got home at 3am and tried to get on until 7am and nothing.
You guys can use this tab for some 'whispered discussions' on what happened and what you'll do next. Then you can move back into the gameplay thread.
To set the scene, darkness is setting and you've got the woman staying with you. Unless you want to travel on in the dark, you should set up camp. It' s not raining but cloudy. No moon.
Also, please give me a watch plan for the night (one person, two hour shifts, keep a fire, whatvever..)
well, seems we have met two of the factions for this area. The Silverers (seem like major jerks) and the werewolves (whatever they are called).
Camping seems a good idea, but maybe we should move away from here. Although I don't think those elves would have a hard time finding us if they really felt like it.
With those sneak elves around, we probably should have two people awake for watch shifts so one can watch the other's back.
FYI: when you look for it, you find a suitable clearing in the woods, a couple hundred yards off the road. That should help move you along.
You have Camilia with you now. I'd have some discussion on how this addition impacts the party as we start a new day tomorrow.
Need guard duty posted. Wix made a suggestion of two person shifts. Someone lay out the logistics if you go with that. Or, the alternative you pick.
Remember, you're camping in a forest with actual or rumored bandits, werewolves, goblins, various factions (one of which you've met) and green dragons. Plus who knows what else.
Petracleus volunteers for the first watch......if anyone is going to attack, it'll be sooner rather than later......better to be awake for a while a now.......
I can second the first watch. With two up t a time, that means two shifts at 3-4 hours per shift. Makes for a long night, but who can sleep on the hard earth anyway? We have five in the party, so maybe we can have one be "off duty" each night and rest the whole night through... assuming the night is uneventful, that is. I wouldn't trust Camilia with guard duty just yet...
Beau preps spells in the morning. How many hours are we resting when we camp?
@GM Iliad, Beau will use his Good Dreams trait each night barring unforeseen circumstance.
Beau will take whatever watch is best for the group, I have no preference.
Shane will also take any watch. He's good at spotting things, but not so great at fending them off.
Rolls for watch:
Beau -
Darpan -
Petracleus -
Shane -
Wix -
Based on Wix's email, we'll go with two person shifts of 4 hours each.
Beau gets to sleep this one off. (I can't believe I rolled 2 20s).
Shane and Petracleus take first watch, Wix and Darpan the second.
Merry Christmas
Happy Hanukkah
Happy Kwanza
Happy Festivus
to all and assundry.
P.S. if your winter celebration is not listed above, I hope you have a good one :P
And season's greetings to one and all.......
Hey, checking in and giving an update. Grandfather passed this morning so I will be traveling to the funeral Friday so I will most likely be out of contact Thursday overnight until late Friday.
Merry Christmas to all. may God bless you in 2013.
I am at a PC most of the work day and have the ability to post a lot (usually). I know not everybody else does.
So, when I'm making several posts in a short time, I'm trying to respond directly to someone in a way that the situation warrants; i.e., answering someone's comments.
I don't want to "get ahead of things" and leave someone behind and take away their posting options. So, actions will go a little slower to ensure everybody gets character input.
If you feel the daily posts are going too quickly for you to play the way you want, send me a PM about it.
It's unlikely to occur at night or on weekends, as that's family time and I post very little.
All good by me.....the more posts the better.....
Having said that, Petracleus is asleep at the moment so no posts from me!!!
Came back just in time to be woken up.
I'm mixing in homebrew stuff that could impact the campaign later; or might not.
I'm curious why the group, in a werewolf forest and encounting werewolf hunters, was predisposed to defending the woman. What were your thoughts as this encounter developed?
And as I said, you don't know if the body was Camilia's or not...
FYI, the other group 'tested' her by drawing a dagger across her palm, with the cleric ready to heal if needed.
We're ready to move into the next phase of things. With the holidays wrapping up, hopefully we'll flow...
My thoughts were: 1) are werewolves inherantly evil? 2)Elves are pretentious dillweeds. Anything they are for I'm inclined to be against.
Oh man: I should have put Wix in the other group with Lucien, the elven bard...
Lol, that would have been rich :) Let the snarky comments commence!
3 on 1 is not a fair fight. If she had been fighting them or hunting the elves maybe it would have gone different but if she was a werewolf why flee in human form? Shift into a wolf for greater speed.
Also frankly its a woman had it been a man Beau would have been less adamant.
Please decide who will keep the silver dagger that was tossed at Beau's feet. Just want to know where it is if it's needed in the future.
I didn't reply, but regarding the dagger hilt, Beau did correctly identify the eagle as the Andoran symbol. I didn't make him roll a Knowledge check since his background was tied into the Eagle Knights.
I think that Petracleus last had the knife to cover the eventuality of Camilia turning whilst in our midst......now that the risk has passed, he is happy for someone else to hold onto it......
Happy New Year 2013 to all!
For the record, Petracleus was never entirely comfortable with the idea of Camilia as a travelling companion but the rest of the party was fairly adamant about giving her shelter......
Plus, those Elves were kind of annoying!!!
I'm kinda surprised the five of you (in shifts) managed to sleep with a possible werewolf among you...
Petracleus is a very sound sleeper!!!
Wix can cover the scene with his crossbow while someone moves ahead to investigate.
Beau might be able to help any with the spark of life left in them.
As we move into our first combat, please post in the follwing manner:
Action One
Whatever it is
Any mechanics
Action Two
Whatever it is
Any Mechanics
Then an in character descriptor of the round.
For example:
Move Action
Alviss moves 20' to D5
Standard Action
He attacks with his axe
Attack roll
Damage Roll
Alviss sees the spider scuttle out of the cavern and runs straight at it, slashing at a leg with his shinging axe. The crunch of metal on bone was drowned out by a screech of pain from the giant insect.
If you make a double move, etc, adjust as appropriate. If you're not sure you hit, you can just describe your attack and I'll fill it in if needed.
We'll work through any hiccups. Please keep the initiative in mind and stay in turn. I'll prompt when I can.
You guys can talk to each other here during the combat, make suggestions to each other, etc. As I've mentioned, it's harder to create the 'sitting around the table' feel in PbP, but it shouldn't be totally absent.
Now, no planning coordinated moves. That stuff should be developed in character.
For example, after Beau's round one post, I would have asked why he didn't channel energy at the skeletons instead of casting Bless. That might or might not impact what he does in round two, but it's an okay discussion topic.
Or I might suggest somebody move to a flanking position before it's their turn to post.
That kind of 'table talk' is fine with me. You guys are a group, even though you're sitting at keyboards hundreds of miles apart. You should still get some benefits of playing in a group together.
Don't forget your +1 to attack rolls from Bless.
Beau will Channel once they're all in range.
Petracleus will be keeping it simple and hacking at the nearest skeleton - he's elegant like that!!!
But, if I am in the way of anyone else, I can always move up.....
.....and if you want me to move up - shout at Petracleus in character.....he might hear you over the sound of smashing bones.....
I'm still a little shaky on the details of the combat rules -- guess I'll have to get out the rule book and read up on it again. So if I do something illegal, please let me know.
No worries. I'm looking up stuff every post at this point.
Better rools this round, which is nice. I thought for sure that paizo.com was trying to cut this adventure short by nerfing our dice :P