This is a non-Campaign to Test Stuff

Game Master Tacticslion

I don't have anything to say while we're going up, to be honest.

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Where does the ledge lead to? Just a platform in the middle of no where?

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang it.

You mean you guys can't just... read my mind?!

XD

... sorry.

The ledge itself is made of an obsidian-like substance throbbing with energy lines... I should put this in Gameplay.

How is the activation of the energy lies supposed to be activated? Touch it?

Problem was that I thought the ledge was basically a platform, then there's a tunnel we need to go in.

The ledge is a platform, more or less, just... a very jungle-y one. There is no obvious way to "activate" the energy lines - the only instance of outside interference "activating" them to date has either been the prayers and chants when the underwater pathways; or apparently causing Mope to bleed (plus other stuff?) on what seems to have been a kind of alter to open the door.

Otherwise, they seem to kind of just... do their own thing. These certainly responded to you a) touching the door, and b) thinking about touching your mark to it.

There is a sealed (and previously hidden) door that leads into what is now a tunnel.

Also...

Those images don't bother me. I'm female in RL. So. Not if there are any parts that I don't have...

I thought you were, but no matter what, it's good to give a boilerplate disclaimer.

Not only are different people different, but there are different mores and ideas of what is and is not proper or nice or respectful or all sorts of things that vary by continent, country, and region thereof, plus various social groups, and so on, each have their own preferences... and then there are the individuals which may or may not conform to those...

... so in any event, I figure it's best to be as upfront and clear about such things as I can be, and let others decide. Especially currently in the U.S. there are major pushes to be more considerate of how others feel (which, over-all, is a good thing; it can be used in a bullying or overbearing way, however, which kind of seems absurd, but that's humanity for you), and so I am especially sensitive to such. Plus, you know, I was raised as a (and still am, in most ways) highly conservative southern U.S. Christian, sooooo... I'm also more than aware that my time in Europe and/or exposure to RPGs by using such imagery...

I, myself, was kind of struggling to visualize what was being described sometimes, which is why I started hunting down pictures in the first place.

That said, one a completely different topic, it is comparatively difficult to find "Beefcake" art - there are plenty of scantily clad, sexily posed females (colloquially: "Cheesecake")*, but comparatively few males. I'm sure there are searches that, if I knew what I was doing, I could find more easily. But I can't, because I lack that kind of thinking... and also because it's more rare/less common in fantasy art.

Frankly, this is definitely not the kind of conversation I'd ever envisioned myself having, growing up...

XD

* I don't get this naming scheme. I more or less accept the colloquialism, but I have no clue how it started.

The only issue I'd have is if they showed the bottom (the other side which isn't the bum). Or if they overblown the b**bs or bum out of proportion, like they do in some animes.

Frankly I'm pretty urm..shapely myself, so who am I to talk lol. Well, my tummy is too fat(for my liking, but females are sensitive about that kind of thing)..but that's gluttony for you ;)

I've been wanting to get into that tunnel for a long time, so yes, I'm perfectly happy to be vortexed in. My attempts to look at the energy lines was because I thought it was the way to open the tunnel. You know, by pressing the lines, etc?

I will look into the possibility of updating again in about an hour.

I've not had time to put up a proper description, but the short version is you're entering what, at first, when you're adjacent to the open portal, kind of looks to be an infinite sky.
Don't worry, you won't die from falling damage, and it is, as can be clearly seen from further away, actually a ten-foot-radius tunnel.

Also, Usawoti: it doesn't take much for you to get your horse just a little bit closer, and that's really all it takes. Away you go!

Yeah tried to find the history of the phrase and didn't get very far. Wikipedia credits Hollywood columnist Sidney Skolsky, the same guy who coined the phrase "Oscar" for the Academy Awards.

As for the images, I appreciate your desire to forewarn us and I like that you are looking for visual references to make the story more engaging.

edit: just noticed your above post, thanks for the follow up.

I dunno, I wonder if it has anything to do with guys playing female characters in MMORPGS. There was a phase in my life I’d play exclusively male characters in MMORPGS, in Pathfinder generally my spellcasters are females, non-spellcasters are males, so – well. In World of Warcraft I play a female panda priest, because, pandas are adorable. Also that I thought crowd control was more important then it actually was in standard group play, and pandas come with racial crowd control skill(with long cool down). However, World of Warcraft is generally murderhobo everything before it murderhobos you, and crowd control doesn’t come into casual play that much. Also, if you pair up with a bear druid, you get lots of bears going to town…which is beary funny.

Now in World of Warcraft, there are Worgens(werewolf equivalent), but no catfolk, so oh well. We’ll just live with the bear necessities.

Please, if you have any follow-up or clarification questions: feel free to ask!

Yeah tried to find the history of the phrase and didn't get very far. Wikipedia credits Hollywood columnist Sidney Skolsky, the same guy who coined the phrase "Oscar" for the Academy Awards.

Thanks! I appreciate the research!

As for the images, I appreciate your desire to forewarn us and I like that you are looking for visual references to make the story more engaging.

You know, when I was younger I didn't care, and thought it vain. Now: I know better. XD

edit: just noticed your above post, thanks for the follow up.

Huzzah!

I dunno, I wonder if it has anything to do with guys playing female characters in MMORPGS.

I'd tend to guess that the two are related, but not quite the same phenomenon - I suspect it has to do with a combination of the disparity (that is slowly evening up) between males and females in the hobby, and what is and is not acceptable in various cultures about the depictions of- and attitudes of-/toward such individuals; that, of course, intersects with those who like to look at and/or envision women while they play.

There was a phase in my life I’d play exclusively male characters in MMORPGS, in Pathfinder generally my spellcasters are females, non-spellcasters are males, so – well. In World of Warcraft I play a female panda priest, because, pandas are adorable. Also that I thought crowd control was more important then it actually was in standard group play, and pandas come with racial crowd control skill(with long cool down). However, World of Warcraft is generally murderhobo everything before it murderhobos you, and crowd control doesn’t come into casual play that much. Also, if you pair up with a bear druid, you get lots of bears going to town…which is beary funny.

I guess you just have to grin and bear it~! XD

Now in World of Warcraft, there are Worgens(werewolf equivalent), but no catfolk, so oh well. We’ll just live with the bear necessities.

But that's bear-ly living~!

The only issue I'd have is if they showed the bottom (the other side which isn't the bum). Or if they overblown the b**bs or bum out of proportion, like they do in some animes.

That's more than fair. I'll try to avoid such. Though I might not be able to entirely avoid the oddity of body-shape, as there's a certain now-canon image (for reasons) that, uh... well, we'll see if you see.

>.<

That said, I do agree that anime take it to ridiculous extremes (sometimes even lampshading it in the anime).

Frankly I'm pretty urm..shapely myself, so who am I to talk lol. Well, my tummy is too fat(for my liking, but females are sensitive about that kind of thing)..but that's gluttony for you ;)

Hah! Indeed! I'm doing taekwondo as part of a series of things in an attempt to slim down myself. It's all too easy to just go back for "one more bite..."

I've been wanting to get into that tunnel for a long time, so yes, I'm perfectly happy to be vortexed in. My attempts to look at the energy lines was because I thought it was the way to open the tunnel. You know, by pressing the lines, etc?

Cool: you're in it, now!

just read the last couple of posts, I will be putting something up soon.

Awesome!

Okay, I'm going to make a ruling and use it now, but here's a question: how does Intimidate work against multiple creatures? Does it? Or are you stuck one-at-a-timing it?

I find the descriptions a little vague.

Either way: how do we (as a group) wish to handle or rule it?

That being said, I have a soft spot for bear animal companions in pathfinder. I think many people overlook the humble bear, going for big cats and rocs. They’re actually quite cool in their own way, and I’ve ever had a lunar oracle riding a bear wielding a longspear. Yep, Bear Calvary. I was also supposed to find out what the effect of form of the dragon(ancient lorekeeper archetype), had on bears…

Do you get a dragonbear?

Again…I have this soft spot for fluffy friends…

BTW I don't really care much for dinosaurs, or insect animal companions. Bleh.

You can only intimidate a single creature(Unless you have the feat dazzling display). Pick one, and let me intimidate it. Unfortunately I can't really see in the mist clearly which one I'm intimidating but oh well ;)

Ah! Thanks, yes, that makes sense.

Sadly, which?: 1d2 ⇒ 1 "Juan" wins this contest of "I'm not scared"...

Also: fluffy friends~! And bear cavalry~! And dragon bears! Oh my!

It's an update'stravaganza, baby~! XD

Swear to god, I hate maths...it eats the thoughts out of your head.

That being said, when I actually get down to calculations, I aim to be as precise as possible.

And my PFS evangelist cleric was the one that really made my head hurt, because there were so many floating modifiers on my animal companion.

You could possibly get +3 divine favour, +2 charge pounce bonus, +3 bard song to hit, +1 flagbearer morale attack bonus, all in one round.

That was...interesting to say the very least.

Archers also involve a fk load of maths.

This is actually a pretty math-heavy game, all-told...

Tell me about it. Tried to get my family into this, but eh, I think they found the rules too complicated.

It's ok. If I can manage pounce claw, claw, bite, grapple, rake, on a single attack round (with divine favour, bard song and flagbearer floating around), I can handle this.

Usawoti - I'm considering tossing you with telekinesis for flanking bonuses, but not sure if its the right thing to do, if you're getting sleepier and sleepier. Don't really want you to be in a position to be pounded by two of them when you're not in the best of shape.

I have no idea what would be best, I missed the second fort roll, so now he is intoxicated, if your only one that hit was the 33 than both of mine missed by a long shot. I can use a round to add a hex, I could use battle ward on you to increase your armor, or hanpering hex to reduce it's armor by four.

I think hamper is better. Don't want you anywhere too close to the front in case you suddenly kneel over.

Anyway, now you know what I mean by delay poison? ;) I conveniently forgot I was immune to poison, but oh wellz.

all right, next round he will step back and cast hamper. Then if he is still conscious he may have to start healing Inarus

You guys realize that it's a two-round delay between stuff?

Basically, you've got a 10-round (1-minute) delay between events.

Let me try to explain again, just to be sure.

You're intoxicated immediately on your first save, merely dizzy on a success.

Then, two round later, you save against the next step; you repeat this until you haven't failed a save, or it's night-night:

So...

Round 1 (initial exposure): save v. "intoxication." You both failed this by quite a lot, but a dragon happens to be immune.
-> on success, reduce to dizzy for this and next round, then start from round 1

If failed on rnd 1, Round 3: save v. "greater intoxication."
(We're still resolving round 2!)
- > on success, reduce to dizzy for this and next round, then start from round 1

If failed on rnd 3, Round 5: save v. "delusions."
-> on success, reduce to dizzy for this and next round, then start from round 1

If failed on rnd 5, Round 7: save v. "fatigue" (and will v. continued delusions). If already fatigued (or exhausted), skip this step and go to the next one.
-> on success with fortitude, reduce to dizzy for this and next round, then start from round 1; on success with will, ignore delusions for 2 rounds

If fortitude failed on rnd 7, Round 9: save v. "exhaustion" (and will v. continued delusions). If already exhausted, skip this step, and go to the next one.
-> on success with fortitude, reduce to dizzy (though you are still fatigued; follow those rules as normal) for this and next round, then start from round 1; on success with will, ignore delusions for 2 rounds

If fortitude failed on rnd 9, Round 11: save v. "sleep" for 1d6+1 minutes (and will v. continued delusions)
-> on success with fortitude, reduce to dizzy (though you are still exhausted; follow those rules as normal) for this and next round, then start from round 1; on success with will, ignore delusions for 2 rounds
-> at this point, if you're asleep, delusions don't matter (because you can't do anything), and you're not going to be making saves for however long you're asleep
-> if, on the other hand, you're not asleep, you've been reset to 'dizzy' and have another 7 rounds before you could fall asleep again.

If fortitude failed on round 11; Round <11 plus 1d6+1 minutes>: save v. "sleep" for 1d4+1 hours at minimum, though it's a sleep you could be woken out of, as normal.
-> on success with fortitude, reduce to dizzy (though you are still exhausted; follow those rules as normal) for this and next round, then start from round 1; on success with will, ignore delusions for 2 rounds

------

If, at any time, you succeed at a fortitude save, you start over again from the beginning. Being fatigued or exhausted makes it go a bit faster, but either way, you guys have some time before you need to worry too much.

Hope that clears things up!

I have no idea what would be best, I missed the second fort roll, so now he is intoxicated, if your only one that hit was the 33 than both of mine missed by a long shot. I can use a round to add a hex, I could use battle ward on you to increase your armor, or hanpering hex to reduce it's armor by four.

I will mention that you are incorrect about which of her attacks hit (it was the 32, not the 33), and may or may not be correct about the reasons, hence you can't necessarily draw conclusions about how powerful they are, yet.

Do recall, she's facing miss percentages, too - that actually really hurt her, this round, considering it entirely invalidated two of Mort's attack rolls (meaning they don't even check for AC).

That said, flanking isn't a bad idea, neither is using your hex. I'm not speaking up to dissuade you, but to clarify that the basis of one of your thought processes was a bit incorrect.

It's interesting, I kind of thought leaving them in an obscuring mist-like effect (that they could ignore) would be too powerful (which is why I reduced its efficacy), but I'm impressed at the increased difficulty you're having this round with it. Certainly something to keep in mind for future DM'ing.

How many AOOs is Usawoti going to provoke while getting a flank?

Zero. He can just five-foot step to get there. I don't know of why he'd provoke at all, actually. Are you guys thinking of something I'm not, or am I poorly describing the situation (sorry, if it's the latter!)?

These creatures are large and (apparently) not-very-good at combat tactics. They flank you, but that's about what they have going for them, they've left themselves pretty vulnerable to flanking after being too ticked off at the insulting dragon to care about the other "meat" nearby, at present.

I'll be sure to yell a few more insults ;)

Also, I'm waiting for my human :)

I know right?! Humans: they're such a pain to properly train...

I mean, wait-!

(That said, you are first in initiative. You may always choose to delay, of course, but, technically you're first.)

I will delay, waiting for my human :P

And yeah, you need to dangle carrots in front of them, and occasionally smack them with big sitcks. Sometimes, despite repeated smackings, they still don't get it ;)

wait, you have first initiative and your waiting for me, ah, the flank, so he will flank this round so you get the bonus also, ok, be back in a jiffy,

And Usawoti doesn't get the bonus for 'holy weapon' and he was intoxicated first round, but he doesn't have to roll for the second round but he does the third round. got it.

Ouch! That miss chance is really killing some of your deeps!

It's interesting - I rarely see such a thing used to so great an effect.

*pokes his human*

Since I'm on delay, you start first.

Again, I believe my human is currently driving off to work.

Miss chance is all fine and dandy. I'm a fan of mirror image + displacement together.

Again PCs have limited resources, so if you want to burn them early...eh well, it's your choice.

*pokes his human* ...Again, I believe my human is currently driving off to work.

your right driving to work, got set up and a few things taken care of before I got on line, will post in a bit, lets try hitting one more time, and then think about hex...

edit: Usawoti failed his third save, so he is 'further intoxicated' other wise known as nauseated...

You do not threaten while nauseated

Time to get to business, then.

So... dragon's turn?

:)

Just did. I think that just proves what I've suspected all along - natural attacks and power attack does not go well together. Full BAB or not.

In the past I thought you could do natural attacks with PA, it was just the animal companion's BAB that wasn't up to par, even when fully buffed.

I don't know, Einar seems to do ok, maybe it's just at lower levels or against lower armored opponents,

Part of the issue is, I think, that you can't get STR*1.5 with many natural attacks, and you start to lack automatic increases to static attack and damage (ala +X weapons). Those two things make huge differences to the efficacy of Power Attack, as the more static bonuses you've got to multiply, the more power you get out of "power" attack.

... 'course I could just be blowing air. This is mostly just from memory, and might even be the wrong system, if it even is correct. XD

Anyway! Usawoti up!

Vomit fort save for great justice~!

Here's hoping!

It's interesting. I had not been envisioning "intoxicated" as actual vomit. That's why I'd titled it "intoxication" and "greater intoxication" instead of "sickened" and "nausea" respectively, even if, mechanically, the same thing happens. But it's as valid an interpretation as any, I suppose - looks like Usawoti isn't really up for heavy smoking...!

he swallowed some smoke, went down the wrong pipe, don't cha know.

Hey stop foolin around and get the smoke up the right pipe!

Aka, I think its time for your fort save? I'll start posting attacks since mine take a while to throw out.

well the good news is the smoke monsters might slip on the wet floor...

They, uh... they technically fly... >.>

fort: 18 = 18

:I

Welp. Four down... >.>

As an aside, I seem to be making Usawoti in particular vomit a-lot this game. Hm. Sorry 'bout that...

The big bruisers in ROW so far have no AC for nuts. And the high ac dudes are small and don't get dex to dmg feats >.<

They get sneak attack but most of the time are tiny, so they can't flank. I swear paizo is trying to make me learn how playing a rogue feels like...since I never play rogues.

All I get to do is play hit and run with the PCs >.<

The big bruisers in ROW so far have no AC for nuts. And the high ac dudes are small and don't get dex to dmg feats >.<

They get sneak attack but most of the time are tiny, so they can't flank. I swear paizo is trying to make me learn how playing a rogue feels like...since I never play rogues.

All I get to do is play hit and run with the PCs >.<

awwww, poor kitty...

HAH! You're not the only kitty that can ninja!

(See my edit in Gameplay for the answer to your gameplay questions, there. :D)

And I know better then to leopoard form and take on a level 4 bloodrager... :P

Single attacks is one thing, but Large and full bite, claw, claw is a baaaaad idea. At low levels natural attacks are very powerful, because no one has iterative attacks.

Later there's quite a lot to be done with the crit line, specifically if you're a fighter. We called someone's nodachi a no-touchie. Basically if you touched it, he'd murder you ;) Really quickly too...

I swear, how do you get sneak attacks on a creature that is tiny? And with no strength modifier, the base damage is le >.<

Nonetheless...I suppose I could enjoy being a general pest ;) And at least I bet I have more int then the average pathfinder!