The Year of Our Lord 1437 Pathfinder RAW PBP (Inactive)

Game Master Michael Johnson 66

I'm looking forward to destroying some evil!

As a note: the Ogon Fox won't likely ever have a lot of combat spells prepared. He has his mystic bolt which functions in most ways as a weapon (melee or ranged 30ft, deals 1d6 electricity damage). Since he has 0 BAB and not a SUPER high dexterity, he'll probably use it to do the Aid Another action for another's attack rolls a lot of the time, at least at low levels. As long as he can last in melee, that is (can't do Aid Another with ranged attacks, sadly). So hopefully he'll be giving someone +2 attack from flanking and another +2 from aid another on most rounds.

I'm going to be fine - I just need to find the monsters, point and watch as Johann and Zagathoth charge off to kill them.

Johann Kaltgeboren wrote:

Hold me... I'm scared.

Again, not that kind of priest!

That's what those priests say too...

---------

MJ66, with such a great blessing by the Pope, can Johann maybe have a 24 hour bless spell or some in game buff like that?

I would say a 24 hour guidance effect would be in order...

I'm all for seeing how things play out in a traditional dungeon crawl at first, and I'm sure we'll see more variation in the environments as time goes on. It's a sandbox, after all - if we need a change of scenery, we can just travel somewhere else!

Arc's 3/4 BAB will likely benefit a lot from Ogon Fox's Aid Another actions, should they both wind up within range of each other.

The original dungeon crawl

Lol... Johann and Ogon Fox have just changed history in my Fantasy Earth... Instead of the violent puppet show Punch and Judy, we have Bear and Fox lol :-)

In character, I was raised to be a pit fighter (like a grittier, more brutal gladiator) and was never taught about or trained for fighting anything other than humanoids and animals--plus I'm of average intelligence for an orc (aka, fairly dimwitted)--so, I have no sense of the need for weapons made of special materials, and will have to rely on others to tell me when to use them (and not to punch things that will hurt me if I do).

Out of character, I'm all about picking up some special material weapons! I'm proficient with the falchion if we can score a cold iron version of that... and I'd like something heavy and blunt (but, sadly, am not proficient with warhammers), so a silvered heavy mace would be great. Also, I didn't see it on the original list of stuff but it might be worth asking if we can get some magic weapon oils (if we run into something incorporeal at least we'd be able to do half damage, instead of none)?

Everyone gets 500 gp worth of additional gear, so if you wanted to spend some of it on oil of magic weapon, go for it.

Each PC gets 500 gp worth of upgrade to gear. Post what your character acquired in Gameplay.

Are masterwork items allowed, or should we stick to basic gear?

What he asked ^

Also, can we leave a weapon we already have in the armory to go above the 500? For example, if I picked up a new cold iron greataxe could I leave my current greataxe behind and get some percentage of its cost for other items?

I don't know what to take ahhhh. I'm so bad at equipment. I think Johann or Zagathoth should have a portable ram. Aside from that the only things leaping to mind are holy water and alkali flasks. Maybe a foldable ladder?

I'm hoping to spend 501 gold on weapons (which is why I asked about leaving behind a weapon)... I'm not sure what a portable ram does mechanically, but if someone else wants to pick one up I'd be glad to carry/use it. Also, is anyone planning to look for like a rope and grappling hook at all?

edit: @Ogon- if potions/oils and scrolls are available that'd probably be a good route for you... I'm not familiar with your spell-list but something like obscuring mist could be great if we need to make a hasty retreat, magic weapon would come in handy if we have to fight incorporeal stuff, detect secret doors could be super useful if we can't figure out where a secret passage is... basically any spell that's great when you need it but doesn't come up often enough to want to know/prepare it makes for a good scroll.

Are masterwork items allowed, or should we stick to basic gear?

Yes, masterwork is fine

What he asked ^

Also, can we leave a weapon we already have in the armory to go above the 500? For example, if I picked up a new cold iron greataxe could I leave my current greataxe behind and get some percentage of its cost for other items?

Yes to masterwork, yes to trade ins, at half value of traded in item.

I'm not sure what a portable ram does mechanically, but if someone else wants to pick one up I'd be glad to carry/use it. Also, is anyone planning to look for like a rope and grappling hook at all?

The portable ram gives a nice bonus to breaking down doors (link).

edit: @Ogon- if potions/oils and scrolls are available that'd probably be a good route for you... I'm not familiar with your spell-list but something like obscuring mist could be great if we need to make a hasty retreat, magic weapon would come in handy if we have to fight incorporeal stuff, detect secret doors could be super useful if we can't figure out where a secret passage is... basically any spell that's great when you need it but doesn't come up often enough to want to know/prepare it makes for a good scroll.

My spell list is the wizard spell list (but I only go up to 6th level spells, same rate of progression as a magus). I will get a few picked and then post in Gameplay.

For continued excellent RP, 120 XP awarded to party, divided by 6 = 20 more apiece, or 210 XP total per PC...

1/5 to level 2! Woot woot!

Giving a day or two for everyone to pick 500 gp worth of new gear, then whenever you all are ready, choose one of the entrances to the catacombs to enter...

Those catacombs are really tight corridors. Single file, maybe two abreast. Wonder if there are bigger rooms.

The nature of the Catacombs of Rome, Paris, Constantinople, and elsewhere are one of the areas of my Fantasy Earth where I have taken major liberties lol... If you've actually been in any of these catacombs, you will realize that mine are a radical departure lol...

I take full advantage of the opportunity to insert classic dungeon crawls in place of the more mundane and smaller scale reality of the cramped catacombs of RL...

My catacombs are more spacious, full of strange wonders of a Gygaxian nature lol...

Part of me loves that you keep calling things Gygaxian, and part of me feels like I should take ol’ E. Gary’s advice and have a stack of backup characters ready to go...

Oh Cardinal, where are you? Johann is getting itchy claws!

Right here :)

Car broke down last night so I was stuck away from home.

Oh bummer! Sorry to hear that. :(

Car broke down last night so I was stuck away from home.

Oh dang! Is it going to be working again, or gone caput?

I believe we are ready to enter the catacombs at San Callisto. =)

Sounds like everyone is ready to enter the catacombs? :-)

BTW, good luck with your car, Lucius. Happens whenever I start to save up a nice chunk of cash... Life says, "Ooh! He's got money, lets make him spend it on fixing his car!"

Here's a possible marching order, which puts our toughest members as front and rear guards, and allows Zagathoth to stick close to Padre Lucius. =)

(front)
Johann
Arc | Ogon Fox
Lucius | Quinlan
Zagathoth
(back)

Does that look okay?

Or are we more interested in having both big guys at the front since that's where we should be coming upon monsters if we're not caught unawares? It might be a pain for Zagathoth to move through tightly packed allies to the front every time combat is joined.

When I get home today (I’m at the beach right now), I will link a map of the first section of the catacombs of San Callisto as I have reimagined them...

Maybe move Zagathoth to the front and Lucious to the back.
So
(front)
Johann | Zagathoth
Arc | Ogon Fox
Quinlan
Lucius
(back)

keeps the beat sticks up front and the Cardinal can provide support or deflect an attack from the rear.

Yeah... for whatever it’s worth, I would much rather be upfront. I have no ranged capability, but can deal a lot of damage in melee (and with ferocity can keep fighting while below 0 hp). Plus, I have darkvision... so I can see around corners and into alcoves before light sources get there. I know Johann has a plan to try to tie sunrods to himself but I suspect that’s very quickly going to turn into dropping sunrods so he doesn’t miss out on a claw attack.

All that said, Zagathoth has spent nearly his entire life as a slave/caged-animal, and in his brief freedom has been routinely told what to do by knights and priests, so he’s pretty likely to do what he’s told...

Marching order looks good. Lucius is an Inquisitor mechanically speaking so he's not actually as fragile as might be expected. He can bring up the rear fine. :)

sounds good!

Awesome! I will try to link the hand drawn map later tonight, after a date I’m getting ready to go on... ;-). Unless I get lucky, of course... then, I’ll link it tomorrow lol

Awesome! I will try to link the hand drawn map later tonight, after a date I’m getting ready to go on... ;-). Unless I get lucky, of course... then, I’ll link it tomorrow lol

Hey, good for you! Are you still in Europe?

hey, i don't want to be a pain about the sunrods, its just... I can't speak for anyone else in this group, but for me (and many of the people I've played with in the past) verisimilitude matters... I know this is a fantasy game--a high fantasy one at that with orcs and tieflings and whatnot--but if there's not some degree of realism its hard to care about our characters or the story they inhabit.

People cast light on swords and sometimes shields because they can be held up/out where they shed light all around. They typically don't tie flares to themselves because it doesn't make sense and wouldn't work super well.

I mean, is there a reason you can't just use them normally? Dropping a held item is a free action, so you could just carry it until you have an opportunity to full attack and then drop it...

Michael Johnson 66 wrote:

Awesome! I will try to link the hand drawn map later tonight, after a date I’m getting ready to go on... ;-). Unless I get lucky, of course... then, I’ll link it tomorrow lol

Hey, good for you! Are you still in Europe?

I'm back home in Florida now, was an awesome two weeks, but time to return to reality (and work lol)...

Going to link the map now... (But that doesn't mean I was unlucky hehe! ;-p)

Ogon, I saw you dropped Kitsune Magic for Fox Shape and still had access to Dancing Lights as a cantrip, so I’m assuming you should be able to cast it as needed (unless there’s another reason I overlooked).

As for the light source thing, I have to be a stickler for reality wherever it seems to fit in this admittedly often unrealistic fantasy game. Simple real world physics can be tricky to adjudicate where there is a lack of definite RAW to govern such situations, and even RAW usually greatly simplifies the complex nature of physics in order to not bog things down with calculus and trig lol...

In cases where keeping things realistic will slow down play and be difficult to adjudicate, it is often better not to worry over much about realism. So I will rule that Johann can minimize the problem of casting a shadow by tying the sunrod atop his head like a miner's hat. Now everyone can benefit from 360 degrees of light, and Johann doesn't have to carry and drop to make full claw attacks. Does that seem a fair compromise?

Lol!

If Johann doesn’t mind looking ridiculous, I have no objection to that compromise.

Johann, please wear the sunrod like a halo on top of your head. That’d be the best.

He's a bear-guy from a fairy tale forest! He shouldn't even realize when be looks ridiculous! ;-p

I will proudly wear it on my head and thank you for being flexible. Though, with all the realism that we ignore, it seems strange to me to concentrate on this one. Once we get to level 4 I will be bear nearly full time and it will be someone else's job to get picked on.

Ogon, I saw you dropped Kitsune Magic for Fox Shape and still had access to Dancing Lights as a cantrip, so I’m assuming you should be able to cast it as needed (unless there’s another reason I overlooked).

Well, I have it in my spellbook, but if I don't prepare it as one of my 3 cantrips for the day I can't cast it.

I will proudly wear it on my head and thank you for being flexible. Though, with all the realism that we ignore, it seems strange to me to concentrate on this one. Once we get to level 4 I will be bear nearly full time and it will be someone else's job to get picked on.

Thanks for being a good sport! ;-)

I totally get your point about realism, it can be a slippery slope trying to apply RL physics to a fantasy RPG... But like Zagathoth pointed out, SOME degree of "realism" helps immerse players and gives them the sense that the world they are in does follow a logical set of natural laws. I believe in a democratic approach (where the GM has ultimate say) when these kinds of questions come up.

I'm going to link a photo of a battle mat with minis (hopefully it will be obvious from the marching order who is who, if not by the minis) to show everyone's position relative to the ghasts...

The surprise round begins with the ghasts on the threshold of the chamber, 10 feet away from the party, so no one needs to make the Fort save vs their stench quite yet...

Wow, ghasts. You aren't messing around giving us a CR4 encounter on our first battle. (Gulps seriously)

Wow, ghasts. You aren't messing around giving us a CR4 encounter on our first battle. (Gulps seriously)

Gygaxian, indeed.

MUAHAHAHAHA!!!

Of course, you can always run back up the stairs and hope the ghasts hate sunlight too much to follow you if things go south lol...