You've got a minute before the first wave of soldiers gets to the lighthouse.
There are enough of you that you could get all the barrels into the control room in 2 rounds.
Your water breathing potions are still in effect. Duration of 6 hours means you'll probably still have it in effect at the end of this mission.
Passwall will not work on the exterior walls of the control room or lighthouse due to anti-magic structural defenses.
This is the plan as I understand it.
1- Gather the barrels into the control room.
2- Put up a Wall of Stone to block access to the lighthouse/control room.
3- Jump into the water (you could climb up on top of the control room and jump off from there) outside the wall.
4- Blow up the control room (Anthony's automaton with a grenade or someone held up by the air elemental).
5- Play cards on the bottom of the ocean while the marines sail in and do what marines do.
Is that correct?
That sounds about right.
Aziel's only regret is not being able to smoke while playing underwater cards.
Sorry for the tardy reply. Aziel has nothing to add to what Shane said. I just hope her mage armor is still in effect when they go after the Duchess. Or if not, that their armor and whatever was delivered from the ship.
Thanks to Tarvak for letting everyone know about my connectivity problems, and to all for your patience. I think most everyone knows the story by now (from other games), so I won't bore you with details. I've been slowly adding back and resyncing my games, and The Turning Wheel (plus one of Tarvak's) are the last to fall (I took them in order of how many posts I was behind).
I'm reading through posts now to catch up on the action, and will thereafter jump back in. That's presuming you guys still want me -- if you decide to vote me off the island I'll certainly understand.
Glad to hear things are cleared up and get you back in the game. :)
Welcome back, Ralf!
I meant to post about my WOTR recruitment plug here on the discussion thread. Didn't mean to put it in the gameplay thread. Sorry about that.
No problem, Shane.
Speaking of the gameplay thread, anybody have any reactions?
I've noticed that posting frequency has really dropped off (by almost everybody) in the last month or so. Shane and I are the only players who have posted in Gameplay since Sept. 11, and things were going hot-and-heavy until Sept. 3.
I hope this game won't fade away, I'm really enjoying it...
With apologies for a US-centric observation: Labor Day and the start of school?
I haven't been playing long enough to say what the patterns are, but I've seen cycles in activity before across multiple games. I'd like to think this is just another of those lulls.
I, too, am enjoying this game (and am very happy to finally be back).
I've been knocked out by work, but I'm trying to keep up as well as I can, though I haven't had the chance to think out a post.
I'm not going anywhere, so nobody needs to worry on that account. As long as somebody's playing I'll keep posting.
Sorry,
Like Aziel, my life took a turn for the interesting. It seems poised to remain so for another week or so, but I should be back at something approaching full speed shortly thereafter.
My work schedule has made its usual five weeks shift to night shift on Mondays through Thursdays, so on those days I'll mostly be posting in the morning or early afternoon.
I am committed to this game and I look foward to getting things back to normal posting-wise. Lulls are understandable, although a heads-up is nice when one gets into a time that precludes regular activity.
Can Aziel see the guardian from the tower? I'm wondering if she can shoot the guardian from her position, though I imagine the range increments might make that impossible.
Also, couldn't the earth elemental and the shadow stay behind to protect Tarvak?
The constables are all on the ground, so the hedge is in between the group and Tarvak.
They could have, yes, but no one thought of using the elementals as guards for isolated constables. Shane could have been attacked at the tower when he was alone, but Ghillie Dhu picked Tarvak instead.
The constables are all on the ground, so the hedge is in between the group and Tarvak.
And Tarvak's not in the collective, so Ralf won't get a mental "heads-up" as regards any pending beat-down. :o/
And Tarvak's not in the collective, so Ralf won't get a mental "heads-up" as regards any pending beat-down. :o/
On the plus side, Tarvak doesn't need to win, he just needs to hold out for a couple of rounds before the air elemental comes and gets him.
The constables are all on the ground, so the hedge is in between the group and Tarvak.
They could have, yes, but no one thought of using the elementals as guards for isolated constables. Shane could have been attacked at the tower when he was alone, but Ghillie Dhu picked Tarvak instead.
Double d'oh! I thought we were in a tower. That'll teach me to check the map!
There is a tower. The constables are just standing at the ground level entrance, 'cept for Tarvak.
I'm afraid I've forgotten all the details on concealment when combined with Stealth. But I am curious now, and I'll need to know for the future since I'll be doing this a lot, either with fog or darkness...
Looking at a document I created several years ago when I was GM'ing PF (after extensive questioning on the forums), I'm now guessing I don't *have* to make a Stealth roll if I have Total Concealment (TC).
It looks like with TC, while moving half-speed (but *not* sneaking), I'm considered "invisible" to him, so instead of my Stealth check as his DC, he needs to make a Perception at DC=35 to "pinpoint" my location?
Or if I *do* make a Stealth roll while in TC, I could add +20 to it, so his Perception DC becomes 41 (in this particular case)?
Since I made the roll first, then figured stuff out, I'll be fine with Ghillie using the smaller of the two DC's.
But I'm looking for anyone's opinion on this, not just Karl's.
Total Concealment is not the same as Invisibility. Invisibility grants Total Concealment, though, along with its other listed benefits. All Total Concealment by itself does is give you immunity to AoOs and make it so you can't be directly attacked.
TC by itself doesn't even by RAW grant a bonus to a stealth check, though I'd say anyone who can't see due to fog or darkness gets the same combat penalties as they would if they were blind (–2 to AC, no Dex bonus to AC, -4 on Perception skill checks, etc.).
Concealment allows you to make a Stealth check. If you don't make a Stealth check, Total Concealment would still prevent direct attacks but would only grant the above -4 on a Perception check to find you. If he does find you with Perception and then attacks into your square, there would be a 50% miss chance.
So, basically, Total Concealment still requires a Stealth check and someone trying to find you gets a -4 penalty on their opposing Perception check.
No problem with all that (and I understood I wasn't really invisible, that's why I put it in quotes), but have the rules changed a lot in the last couple of years?
I don't know if the rules have changed, I was just looking at the SRD.
Karl, this is just FYI - I was waiting until you posted Tarvak's results, as I didn't want you to think this was trying to change your mind about my immediate situation.
From surfing the game system discussion boards a couple of years ago, my impression is that most people treat Total Concealment (TC) *like* invisibility, because of the line in "Ignoring Concealment" : "...sighted opponents may still make Perception checks to notice the location of an invisible character. An invisible character gains a +20 bonus on Stealth checks if moving, or a +40 bonus on Stealth checks when not moving".
Since that line starts with "invisibility provides total concealment", most people figure all of the above stuff also applies to creatures with *any* kind of TC in general. This seems to makes sense, since someone with TC cannot be seen by others at all, just as if they were invisible.
And a lot of people apply the other invisibility rules to situations where a creature has TC : DC=20 to notice it's even around, DC=40 to pinpoint its exact location, -5 to those DC’s if it's moving at half speed, etc.
So you'd have a DC=15 to notice the presence of a creature with TC when it's moving at half speed, but if the creature decides to sneak, the DC becomes (Stealth roll + 20), which will always be better.
Just offering a way to deal with TC that uses existing rules...
Thanks, Tarvak. That's not my read of it. Invisibility provides Total Concealment, but Total Concealment is not the same as Invisibility.
Just checking: are we supposed to find the Duchess at the top of the tower? Because then the elemental could just ferry us up there, and we could break in from above if necessary.
It's a fair assumption that the duchess is at the top of the tower. Ferry away, if you wish.
Not a problem.
I'll be very busy over the next five days with limited opportunities to post, so feel free to assume Shane does something useful and keep things moving. He's fine being the first to enter a room.
I leave for a week-long conference on Sunday. I'll still be able to post, but not often. Feel free to DMPC as needed.
Did Jaelynn ever fill us in on who Asabrey is?
Yes, Jae briefed everybody on who Asabrey is.
Edit: Just realized I'd confused Risur with Danor. Whoops.
Relying on Jaelynn for Diplomacy... *shivers* ;)
I think Aziel and Tarvak probably shouldn't be the ones to talk to Asabrey, given his attitude. Any takers?
Asabrey stepped forward and grabbed the Duchess's hair from behind, jerking her to the floor with a surprised shriek. "That's enough." He looked at Jaelynn. "I will take Ethelyn and her pet as assurances of your good faith. I will need a ship with a skeleton crew to take me to the mainland. Once we have arrived I will release the Duchess to Risuri care."
"Can you provide this?"
Er... I dunno, can she?
Probably, yeah.
I think Aziel and Tarvak probably shouldn't be the ones to talk to Asabrey, given his attitude. Any takers?
I'm pretty sure you don't want Ralf in that role...
-Posted with Wayfinder
He admitted to being wounded.
MAN, if ever there was a time to lament not having Magic Missile...*sigh*
Hey Karl,
Can you clarify for me whether or not Asabrey knows any of the others are here? If Jaelynn thinks that Aziel is hidden in the shadows with a musket aimed at Asabrey (that he doesn't know about), for example, that's going to affect her negotiation going forward.
Sorry, got sick and swamped at work.
Let's see.
Ha. After all that, Jaelynn can't tell if Asabrey knows the other constables are there.
Also, I usually stick to narrative format but given the situation I really want to put the apparent power difference into stark mechanical terms. So here: Asabrey is CR 15.
If it helps, she's basically trying to logic him into doing what she wants. Which would be a use of "Student of Philosophy" (Use Int instead of Cha for Diplomacy checks). Though I would normally use her "Adopted by Risuri Noble" background bonus for Diplo checks, I would argue that her TVM background would be more directly applicable here, as he's an Elf. But I'll leave it to you to decide.
then add either +3 pr +1, depending on which background you rule is appropriate (TVM+3/ARN+1). For a total of 19 or 17.
Anybody want to try an Aid Another to help out Jaelynn? 19's not doing it.
That was a tense standoff! Major props to Jaelynn (and Shane) for bringing Asabrey around!
I hope everyone has a great holiday! :)
All - I'm really very sorry, but I will have to drop out of all my games due to health reasons. Between physical pains and "brain fog" from Chronic Fatigue, I'm just not able to contribute to the games with the quality that I'd like to achieve. This has nothing to do with this game itself, I'm doing this with all my games, as both player and GM. It's been a pleasure interacting with all of you - have fun!
I hope everyone has a great holiday and I hope ZenFox42 will be back on his feet, healthwise, soon.
Sorry to hear about your health challenges! Been there. Best of luck!
Happy Holidays to everyone!
Hope you feel better, Tarvak.
Happy holidays, everybody.
Working on leveling up.
Working on leveling up.
[dice=Hit Die]1d8
Friendly reminder:
Re: HP. I'd never noticed that before, and my math works out that way, too. So let's say PCs get full HP at level 1 and 3/4 full HP for subsequent levels, plus Con bonus and 1 for the favored class bonus.
If there is an opportunity after the work is done, Shane would seek out some local folk and ask about the mine shaft with the magic spikes and the coins to see if those are local concerns or something instigated by the Duchess. If local, he'll offer to return his coin to their service and notify the locals of the presence of some of their own hiding and possibly wounded in the cave. If instigated by the Duchess, he will report that to the leaders as something to follow up on with the appropriate experts.
Unless someone forcibly took them away from her (or someone with appropriate authority demanded them), Jae wouldn't want to give up those coins. She could probably be persuaded to give the Earth Elemental coin to someone else on the team, but she'd really want to keep the Shadow coin (From a Meta- standpoint, I like the extra +1 Natural armor from the Earth coin though).
But I've assumed that they'd be required to be handed over to the appropriate authorities (either the RHC or the locals) while updating the character sheet to Level 3. If, for some reason, Jae is allowed to keep/no one asks for her coins, I'll add them back to the sheet. :-)
Which brings us back to that oddity that is the "requisition account." How much total GP do we get at this level to "requisition" stuff?
Thanks for the reminder on the HP.
We were given some items for the mission (potions, sunrods, etc.). I assume they go back to the supply desk when we get back.
Shane is leveled up except for possible new items. Waiting on word as to how much we have to work with for supplies and what our next mission is to do that.