The Walking Dead of Golarion, by GM Fiendish

Game Master Fiendish Zen

@Azmerai: Polonius, tapping on the sides of the barrels to get a rough guesstimate, reckons there are 3 barrels of ale in the inn cellar.

Hi Polonius, just want to get a grasp of the modifiers for that bomb throw (bear in mind I'm a new GM so go light if I have missed something!). So, I moved Polo closer than you stated as bombs have a range increment of 20 ft so longer range would have meant a negative to hit being applied (I note you already took the -4 for in melee), plus PBS only works at 30 ft or less. Also, where does +6 to hit come from? I read +1 bab, +2 dex, +1 throw anything for +4 total (+5 w/pbs). Also number of bombs/day I thought was level + int mod so 5 for you? Just seeking to understand, thanks for your patience with these questions!

No problem at all.

I mis-remembered the range being 30 foot so that's my bad but I would have taken the additional -1 for range incrememnt anyway in order to stay closer to my allies.

Breakdown is as follows:

+1 bab
+2 dex
+1 point blank shot
+1 throw anything
+1 small size

Bombs are class level + intelligence but I'm also taking the gnome alternate favoured class bonus of an extra bomb every 2 levels so currently I can produce 6 per day.

The damage is 2d6 because of my pyromaniac trait which means bombs and fire spells are calculated as if I were one level higher.

One other thing, the precise bombs discovery allows me to select up to three squares that are not affected by the splash damage of my bombs. Oh and I got the infused curative ability at level 2 which effectively means I can hand out up to 3 cure light wounds potions a day for free :) I think that's going to be a big help in this group longer term.

On a separate note, I know it's early days but really enjoying so far. Once we get a little bit of downtime I'd like to better understanding crafting rules in this game and how it interacts with my swift alchemy ability but let's see if we survive this attack first!

@Polonius: Ah thank you, I had missed the small size bonus!

FCB makes sense for bomb/day numbers too. All good, thanks for explaining :D

Glad you're enjoying it so far, I'm sure we'll have a 'post-apocalyptic crafting 101' review the next time you guys get a chance to have some time to do any!

Well as our halfling friend is still in vacation, we could use him as camp guard and closer of doors ;-) I mean he is not gone, he is just posting less!

We'll assume Turrey has stayed behind to guard the shop door with Kaiya, until he chimes in otherwise. I believe he is due back from vacation shortly anyways!

So on the subject of interpreting your movements etc in combat. After some hand wringing I decided to go with 'adaptive movement', interpreting your posted actions as best I can and shuffling you around the map to try and accomplish your intent! This is intended so we're not hanging off waiting on an exact posting order, yet you can still be happy you're doing something if posts are applied out of order etc.

I figure this is a facet of the PbP medium so something is needed in this space, but I'll open this for debate now in case anyone doesn't like the idea (which I will respect!) or has a better one :)

I agree. We all make a post and sometimes someone is earlier in turn and does something that makes our posted turn moot. But usually our intention is pretty clear.

This usually works out well. In one game I am in we are in a tight spaced combat and it has screwed us over because to succeed we need to use a series of delays and readied actions, which posting out of order made hard to do, if not impossible. But in general I believe its the best approach for PBP.

That works for me; I think having some fluidity and flexibility in interpreting combat actions works well for this sort of format. I've seen other GMs do "well okay <X> did this which makes what <B> wanted to do moot, so I'll assume that <B> will probably do this instead but we can retcon if need be" and it usually seems to work pretty well.

I'm home! Thanks all for your patience while Turrey was uncharacteristically quiet. Too tired to post tonight but I'll be back in Gameplay tomorrow.

As far as the PbP initiative/post-order quandry...nothing's perfect, but the thing I've been happiest with is using initiative blocks for the party and our antagonists...and then having character actions occur in the order that they're posted.

In other words, DM rolls init for everyone. If a PC gets the highest roll, all PCs go first. If an NPC gets the highest roll...we're all going last.*

Then, when it's the players' turn, we all post whenever we can/want to...and the actions occur in the order they were posted.

The big advantage of this (for me) is that it eliminates any "Oh, wait, I was going to attack #1, but now I see Lenneth charged #1, but I'm before her in the order, but she wouldn't have had a clear line to charge anyone else so her action no longer makes sense...".

The disadvantage is it's a significant tweak to the way init works at a tabletop and it's not to everyone's tastes...but for me the way it eliminates confusion/awkwardness (and speeds combat) win out.

All that said, I'm perfectly happy to go with whatever you choose, Fiendish!

* As a variant, I also know a PbP DM who average all PC and NPC init rolls and orders the blocks by highest average roll, rather than highest absolute roll.

In rolling initiative for everyone and taking the average - and then having each group act as a block - Turrey is describing how I handle initiative in my pbp games.

I find it keeps things moving nicely and just makes it all more manageable. It is a departure from the game and makes feats like improved initiative somewhat devalued (as well as sometimes making things difficult for the party wizard who would normally throw down a stinking cloud but now finds the party fighter in the way because they acted first.) But, we are 6 levels into my Carrion Crown game using this method and in my experience it works well.

Also - welcome back, Turrey :)

Actually I like the variant. A lot. I enjoy rolling for ini, but for the sake of flowing, i would prefer Turreys idea.
And welcome back. We missed you!!!

Hey Turrey, welcome back!

I'm sure you will be happy to hear you have not been eaten whilst you were away ;)

So on the initiative/adaptive actions front, we'll go with block initiative, and actions in the order they were posted, with me streamlining where required.

Thanks for your input everyone :D

In the Carrion Crown game I am in, I play a wizard (again) and I have specifically requested that we not use this system. That wizard has a very high init modifier as he needs to go first in order to either buff the party before they go running off or to add some battlefield control before the bad guys go. We can still use block initiative but its broken out a little more. If there are only a few enemies we have a group that goes before the enemies and a group that goes after. And once initiative gets rolling it resolves into two groups anyway. But this gives the guy who "paid" for high initiative a strait up chance to go before the enemy instead of some average init roll. It does get more complicated when there are multiple groups of enemy that the DM wants to roll separately for.

Oh wait. I thought it means that we all have a (rolled 10) as average and added our ini-modificator.

The way we do it is I roll everyones initiative and take an average on all the rolls. It doesn't affect us too badly because our wizard is more of a single target blaster but I would definitely feel the pain as a controller in this system.

How about something like this:

We set up this building as the most secure area. Upstairs becomes the locked bedroom. Biters should not be able to get past the gate without help. Heck they might not be able to handle the stairs. We work on an emergency roof exit from a window by maybe nailing toe boards on the roof to allow passage somewhere?

The main floor becomes our planing and storage area. It already has lots of shelves. We secure it even further and keep our most valuable items in the office which is lockable. Lilith will set that up as her scribing and later (if we are allowed to stay her) her crafting area. We would seldom open the door to the outside and maybe spike it shut even, but not secure it permanently as we need a "back door". Anything salvaged that is not a raw material or forge fuel would be stored here.

The basement can become our workshop. It already has a forge. We need to secure the rat tunnel though from this side once we can figure a way to do so. Bars? Doors? At least something to slow any emery from coming through. Maybe something that makes noise when used too.

Once the barn is fully secured we "stage" our operations from there. We secure that end of the tunnel to our shop as well. The trick is to have some system that does not slow us much but that can be dropped into place or secured quickly when its not in use or under assault. And of course we secure the other tunnel out too. We make the basement of the barn a secondary storage area storing large items there.

Thoughts?

Excellent. Azmerai knows why he lets you think for him ;-)

Lilith, on initiative, how's this as an option:
Keep the block initiative, but you (or anyone, really) can call out in advance "Give me a chance to cast buffs before we enter battle" and then the rest of us know to wait for you. If anything, that seems like it *increases* the chance that you go first, because we as players can coordinate our actions, as a team.

That is fine. Lilith is not the init hound some of my other wizards are. Can you say +10 init? On the other hand it seems little trouble to have a group go before the bad guys, the bad guys go, and then the rest of the party go. After the first round its down to two sets of inits as the initial group that went before the bad guys can now go again with the second group. Then its party, enemy, party enemy.

That gives a few of us a chance to act early even the average init is low. This can be very important to a rogue to catch people flat footed.

Dear GM, on something totally diffrent line. You know, would it be too much to ask for some bacon in the near future. I mean, I will also take a whole pig, but some delicious bacon would do wonders for the groups morale and yours truly especially!
Just read about Bacon recipies in the offtopic column and I just thought I let you know!

"Bacon is the cornerstone of freedom." - Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address*

*May not be historically accurate

PS: Bacon flavour salt is the greatest thing ever.

@Lilith: I like the idea, it's what I had originally envisaged! Init rolls for all, followed by block initiative after the high rollers have been. We like :D

***

So, a quick reminder/official setting down of the crafting rules:
Crafting 101:

Any item you might want to create has a gp value. In order to model your taking time to craft said item, we'll do a series of craft checks and add them all together. When your total reaches the gp value of the item, you have crafted said item. Time spent crafting (each time you make a skill check) is measured in 2 hour increments, and it is all you can do in those 2 hours.

Example 1:
Mr hobgoblin wants to craft a +1 STR composite longbow (hobgoblin version), he has craft(bows) +4

Target crafting check is: 200 gp

Assuming an average roll of 14, that's going to take Mr Hobgoblin 15 rolls to complete the bow:14 * 15 = 210

So after 14 * 2 = 28 hours of work, he has successfully made himself a lovely bow :D

The actual activity of crafting can vary, for instance it's likely the first couple of rolls were Mr Hobgoblin out collecting materials (horn/sinew/tears etc), and the rest were him sat down whittling and gluing. Bear in mind this entire system is a simplified extrapolation!

Example 2:
Ms Meg is brewing a potion, she has craft(alchemy) +8

She is brewing a potion of cure light wounds: 50gp

3 Average rolls later (3 * 18 = 54), or 6 hours sweating over a hot bubbling cauldron, one neat and shiny looking potion :)

You can take 10 whilst crafting if you like, but taking 20 is counter-intuitive given the time parameters set out above!

***

I hope that's ok for everyone :)

@Azmerai: Hmmm, well there might be some wild pigs out in the nearby forest, only there are the groaners out there too...does it make you mad thinking about all those groaners eating your bacon!?

@Polo: If we're talking quotes I've always liked Jasper Fforde's almost anything can be improved with the addition of bacon ;)

Fiendish, just so I'm clear; based on the above the value of alchemist fire is 20gp and Polo has a craft alchemy skill of +11.

In taking 10 my check is obviously 21 so does that mean I can create 1 alchemist fire every 2 hours? Or a potion of CLW every 2.5 hours? Or 10 sunrods (they have a value of 2gp)?

Sorry for all the questions.

Bet it does. But I have hopes for some huge bacon hanging in a pastry in the inn. HIGH Hopes. AND WOE to any groaner in my way to bacon.

Btw another totally diffrent thing. I have the list of found objects. How can I make it visible to you all?
Like a link? Its an excel tool.

@Polonius: hmm, that does seem somewhat quick now you've put realistic items in the spotlight compared to your skills (advanced though they are!). Let's change the time increment to 4 hours, and say only 1 check per day.

RP will play its part too, that's a chunk of the day your character might spend not doing anything else...

And questions are never a problem, how else do we chase the truth!? ;)

@Azmerai: I've seen Google docs used well in other PbP games

Azmerai, first, I do not want you to suddenly have bacon and start taking about the other "white meat". Groaners are NOT fair game. Second, you could also get the list to the GM who could place it in the campaign info tab.

Crafting - Do you intend this to replace the crafting rules for scrolls and other magic items? Those rules are actually quite good and do not need to be fixed, UNLESS, the new rules replace the need to go gather supplies to craft with. You seem to be indicating that. But I do not know how that will work with the current risks of foraging.

Also if you are crafting magic items (not potions and scrolls) you can craft 1000 gp of value a day, so the above system seems to break down. I fixes the (to me) obviously broken rules for mundane items and alchemicals, but does not seem to be in keeping for magic items.

Edit- Just read your note in the game thread - that is very reasonable for ink making. Not sure we have the ability to make paper though… )

The other white meat
Had to google it. I am not american nor a native english speaker so the slogan the other white meat meant nothing to me. It was just something for others to have a quick chuckle. And I do not get what you mean with groaners are not fair game?
Please explain? This is me, Florian, sincerly confused!

There was an advertising campaign by the pork industry for a while where they claimed Pork was as healthy as chicken, or at least more healthy than beef. "Pork, the other white meat" was the slogan. I suspect you found that.

Bacon is the marbled meat/fat from the Pig's belly. In truth you can get the same cut from most animals, including humans. I was alluding to the possibility that if you were desperate enough you might try to cut bacon from a biter's corpse.

Seems to loose something when I have to spell it out. lol. Oh well.

Now you must share where you are from/what your native language is, please.

With a perfect prussian bow
My name is Florian Dominicus Wegler. I was born and raised in Germany, but so far have lived in the USA, 24 years ago as an exchange student, Great Britain, as a student, China, as a student, France, working there, Italy, working there.
Apart from german I speak english, french, chinese, italian and little bit of spanish and japanese.
I had high hopes that you did not mean that I would resort to cannibalizm or even trying to eat an undead.
Well no. NO WAY!

Azmerai, thanks for making the loot tracker. When I've done it for other parties I've used a Google spreadsheet. You can have it be something only you can edit, or share editing with anyone in the party who's interested.

Here is an example from a different campaign. Note that there's a second tab which keeps track of distribution by character, to date.

According to my memory of some gem gleaned in high school, the term for human flesh used by cannibals in Papua New Guinea translates roughly to "long pork"

Once upon a time, we used to joke that human meat was "the other, other white meat."

I'll be at a con this weekend, please don't feed Shomari to the groaners. Or Azmerai.

Philosophically speaking it's only cannibalism if you're eating your own species...but I digress ;)

On the Campaign Info page, I've added links to Azmerai's loot list (though you will have to grant public read access to it or else everyone needs to be ok with Azmerai approving individual access via gmail account), have also added a map of your current known locations in Sandpoint.

Shout out if you want anything else added to the info page :)

Sorry everyone, didn't get a chance to update last night, so let's call that a deliberate 'waiting for everyone to post' ;)

I'll update the combat tonight regardless though, anyone who hasn't posted can still catch up, much like Lenneth and Turrey did in the 1st/2nd round.

Thanks for your patience :)

Help. I cannot get the gameplay threat to accept my posts. Any ideas why? I hit submit and nothing happens.

Sorry, Still not working for me. Anyone else having problems?

Works here :-(
Well write down you move here.

Sorry to hear! No idea, really, but here's what I'd try as a workaround:
* Close that browser window, then open a new one and CTL-F5 (refresh) the page. If *that* doesn't work,
* Try a different browser (e.g. Chrome, Firefox, IE, Safari).
* If you have the same problem even on two different browsers...I'd see if someone else has reported this problem in the forums...but I suspect it's a problem with a browser cache, given that you can post in other threads, and we can post in the Gameplay thread.

Hope you find a solution soon.

Lilith, if you still can't post in the gameplay thread, feel free to post here under a spoiler. Also, suggest contacting the tech people as have known others to have thread problems that need correcting Paizo side rather than player side.

We'll multi-thread for a minute and i'll carry on with the others, they can't see or get to you atm anyway ;)

Hey all, not dead but had some RL stuff come up unexpectedly over the past couple of days so I apologize for my absence. Feel free to not me if combat/story needs to be moved along, otherwise I'll try and get caught up later tonight!

...and I'm on the bus to Yosemite now. Back by Monday. Consider Turrey your eager bot as well.

GM Fiendish, I had PMed you a while back. Have not heard from you on it.

@Lilith: Sorry yes you did, I did read it and planned to reply later in the day, slipped through the cracks sorry!

Have replied now :)

Ironically I've never actually played RotRL or JR either! Just read them both in preparation for doing this! :)

(Though I am playing through the adventure card game with my partner!)

Hopefully other things will crawl out of the woodwork that others with some Sandpoint familiarity might smile (or groan!) at ;)

I'm playing RotR right now but very early into it.

As an aside, I'm also playing in one of the Ruins of Pathfinder games -- it's a variant history of Golarion where all of the APs up to Reign of Winter happened...and the bad guys won. So now the worst case of Rise of the Runelords, Kingmaker, Jade Regent, etc have come to pass, and we're living in that world.

Of course, Fiendish, *your* apocalypse makes that one feel like a walk in the park. ;-)

Turrey, aside from a passing familiarity with the area and maybe some of the NPCs you'll encounter, there's no spoilers here from anyone having played RotRL or JR, so all good :)

That ruins of pathfinder sounds like an intriguing concept!

I'll take you comment about my apocalypse as high praise ;p