Check in here if you are in Group 1!
• Rockne Coonak - Chaotic Good male halfling Barbarian (Titan Mauler)
• Grautak Matrakha - Neutral male hobgoblin Cavalier (Fell Rider)
• Dagru - Lawful Neutral male hobgoblin Alchemist (Grenadier)
• Yandasana Fethen - Lawful Good female elf Investigator (Empiricist)
• Vianella Orlovsky - LN Aasimar Cleric (Evangelist)
Gameplay is up! Lurking in the roll20 if anyone wants to chat!
Checking in! Looking forward to what promises to be a great game!
The opening sequence has already got me pumped for more adventure. A great Superbowl game doesn't hurt either.
Feel free to pop on Roll20 and chat. I'll be here for quite a while.
Also: I'll need images from each of you to represent your characters on Roll20. If you have companions, I will need one for them as well.
If you just want your forum avatar to be your token, that is fine, just say so.
Some more updates regarding how things will work in the game:
1) Player death/Player disappearance: If a player either leaves the game, goes a long time with no posted reasoning, or a character dies, I am not going to replace them. This may seem a tad harsh, but it is what it is. This is going to be a very grim, very real feeling setting. Granted, once the magics of resurrection become available, player death will not be a serious issue. Also, if the party wishes to pool funds to have such magic performed, that is another option. However, having been in and seen several PbP games in the past fall due to player inactivity, I wanted to make sure everyone was aware of this up front.
What will I do if the party gets too small? Well, that particular party would fail, from an RP perspective. They would have 2 options at that point:
A) Seek asylum with the neighboring group/kingdom (depending on whatever phase they are at).
B) Return as a whole to Restov, and then begin searching for replacements. Which, in turn, WOULD result in my opening up a recruitment thread again and finding replacements. However, this would STILL result in some sort of negative impact on the players cities/kingdom, due to a lack of faith in their rulers.
2) Combat: Initiatives will be handled in blocks. As in, I will roll for the player's individual initiatives, as well as clusters of enemies. I would then list them out based on averages, and then play out initiatives then.
Example: Party rolls an average initiative of 17. A group of goblins roll initiatives of 14. Their bugbear leader rolls an 18. And their trained goblin dogs roll an average of 19.
The combat would run as follows:
Goblin Dogs
Bugbear
Party
Goblins
3) Maps: As I said before, I will host the maps on the game's Roll20 site. During every-day posting, the map will be placed in a default position of the main area map that you can all see now. During combats, I will transition it to a regular grid combat map for the duration of that scene.
4) Exploration: A large part of this campaign involves exploration. I suggest you do the following...nominate someone to handle the path your party takes as you explore the area. This does not mean that person is the leader of the group (though they could be). It just means, for simplicity's sake, that they are the one guiding the group through the wilds and making those decisions, to prevent us on waiting for a consensus before moving on to each and every hex. That way, if there are several hexes with nothing of note, I can breeze through them without having to wait days on end just for an update that says:
"You guys search the area, and only manage to find more scrub grass and plains as far as the eye can see."
Instead, I could say, "You spend three days searching the area. Most of the time, it is a peaceful journey through rolling plains. It wasn't until the third day, that a large shadow flew overhead..."
Checking in. Image-wise, if you just need a headshot, my avatar will do. Or you can use this pic here: Image. It's from paizo, but they don't seem to have made an avatar with it.
RE: The way things work:
1) Interesting way of handling things. I like it, although, particularly in the early game, we'll be hurting for healing (no channel and only a couple of spell slots for heal spells), so it could be particularly harsh, lol. But I guess it's an issue for both groups. At least Yandasana has some decent levels of the Heal skill. She and I have pretty decent Diplomacy too, so we could always try to talk our way out of a fight. If we ever find a 'magic shoppe', I think wands of CLW might be a priority for the party.
2) I like it when the GM rolls initiative. Saves a ton of time. Three of us have +1 initiative and two +3. The difference isn't large so this shouldn't have a large effect. We will tend to be somewhere near the middle of the pack in initiavite, though. I am curious as to why the 'bad' guys get to have separate initiatives (sort of), but the 'good' guys don't? Do our mounts, cohorts, etc. get a different initiative?
3) It looks like I'll have difficulty with this during the day. I ought to be able to view things, more or less on my cell (although I won't be able to scroll up/down/side-to-side), but my work computer has IE9, and Roll20 have decided to disable all versions of IE. It would have been nice if they just stuck a warning saying, there may be issues so beware, but still let us get into it. But nope. Anyhow, I may just have to list movements in OOC and hope someone can move my icon, either that or wait until I get home and try to find time to do stuff then. Then again, maybe I won't move around much, so it'll be a moot point.
4) Considering my Roll20 issues, I don't mind if someone else takes this on. RP-wise, we could go with whoever has decent Survival since it's "guiding us through the wilds". Rockne has the highest, with +4, and I guess I have the next highest at +2 (just from my Wisdom). Yandasana has +1 while the hobgoblins have -1 for the same... That could be a whole separate issue. We have enough that we can hunt/forage for everyone, which is good. On the other hand, I guess if Vianella makes an aid roll (or can everyone aid?) to help Rockne's Take 10, we won't get lost... Maybe the hex route should be random unless we make the survival check, lol.
"You spend three days searching the area. You had thought everything was looking the same and it turns out you were right. You just now realized you had been travelling in circles..."
Rockne only goes in one direction - forward! ;)
I don't mind trying out the role as map owner: makes sense from the character skill perspective, and I work from home 95% of the time and have my personal laptop right next to me, which means I spend WAY too much time on the boards anyway.
FYI, I'll just take the avatar image here for my token, why complicate things?
Checking in-
On the subject of survival and looking for food, my modifier changes due to Order of the Dragon. It still isn't the greatest. Next level I will take a rank in Survival so that should give us a better boost.
I am only able to post while at home. So look for posts from me in the AM (Pre 0600) or PM (post 1800). I don't work Fridays so I will tend to cluster posts on Fridays and weekends.
As I mentioned earlier- I will be leaving for Guatemala on a dental mission trip this Saturday (2/7) and returning the following Saturday (2/14). I will have phone service and internet; however I don't know how reliable the service will be. I plan on taking my Ipad and Iphone but not my laptop which means roll20 may or may not cause some issues. I do have Chrome on my phone so it shouldn't be too much of a problem. My Ipad is a lowly 1st gen so the IOS isn't compatible. I know, I know... A 1ST GEN IPAD?!?!?!? Why bother... well it was free so I can't complain. I plan on purchasing an Ipad mini soon enough to replace it.
BTW Vianella- there may be a way around the work and IE issue if you have access to your phone. Download chrome mobile and you shouldn't have as many issues with roll20 while at work.
The only other point I wanted to make is that I did change my alignment back to LN, although LN or TN doesn't really matter. If you read the personality of the character that is really all that matters. I imagine Grautak and Dagru have very similar philosophies when it comes to morality. I also changed my mount to the Wolfhound we spoke of earlier.
I posted an avatar to Roll20 that fits the character, so I plan on using that if able.
@Grautak
Yeah, I use Chrome on my computer at home and I can access the site on my phone (via Chrome app) but I have to set it to see the desktop version of the site. Roll20 only supports mobile browsers (in mobile rather than desktop mode) if the game is GMed by 'paid supporters' of a certain level. Thus it's ugly and not super functional (i.e. I can view sort of, but not much else). If there was just some way to disable Roll20's browser detection, I'd bet it would work well enough in IE.
Interesting thing on the Order of the Dragon. That might be quite helpful, particularly if we're not allowed to both gather food, protect from weather and keep from getting lost at the same time (weird that the OotD doesn't add to that last aspect).
----
@ DM Thron: On further reflection. You can just use my avatar from here. I'm not sure how easy the other would be to identify on my phone screen.
@Grautak
Yeah, I use Chrome on my computer at home and I can access the site on my phone (via Chrome app) but I have to set it to see the desktop version of the site. Roll20 only supports mobile browsers (in mobile rather than desktop mode) if the game is GMed by 'paid supporters' of a certain level. Thus it's ugly and not super functional (i.e. I can view sort of, but not much else). If there was just some way to disable Roll20's browser detection, I'd bet it would work well enough in IE...
Yeah I wish they had a free mobile friendly app. I am sure eventually they will. If they did I would get my new ipad sooner and use that exclusively.
Thron- I will send you a separate avatar token for Whisper. Do you want a separate one of me as well or will the one I posted in Roll20 work?
Yandasana?
Yandasana?
Here.
1) Player death/Player disappearance: If a player either leaves the game, goes a long time with no posted reasoning, or a character dies, I am not going to replace them. This may seem a tad harsh, but it is what it is. This is going to be a very grim, very real feeling setting. Granted, once the magics of resurrection become available, player death will not be a serious issue. Also, if the party wishes to pool funds to have such magic performed, that is another option. However, having been in and seen several PbP games in the past fall due to player inactivity, I wanted to make sure everyone was aware of this up front.
What will I do if the party gets too small? Well, that particular party would fail, from an RP perspective. They would have 2 options at that point:
A) Seek asylum with the neighboring group/kingdom (depending on whatever phase they are at).
B) Return as a whole to Restov, and then begin searching for replacements. Which, in turn, WOULD result in my opening up a recruitment thread again and finding replacements. However, this would STILL result in some sort of negative impact on the players cities/kingdom, due to a lack of faith in their rulers.
Gritty can be an interesting element of the story. If a majority party kill happens, another option I was thinking of is having the entire party be key revolutionaries.
3) Maps: As I said before, I will host the maps on the game's Roll20 site. During every-day posting, the map will be placed in a default position of the main area map that you can all see now. During combats, I will transition it to a regular grid combat map for the duration of that scene.
This is my first time using roll 20. Should be interesting.
Considering my Roll20 issues, I don't mind if someone else takes this on. RP-wise, we could go with whoever has decent Survival since it's "guiding us through the wilds". Rockne has the highest, with +4, and I guess I have the next highest at +2 (just from my Wisdom). Yandasana has +1 while the hobgoblins have -1 for the same... That could be a whole separate issue. We have enough that we can hunt/forage for everyone, which is good. On the other hand, I guess if Vianella makes an aid roll (or can everyone aid?) to help Rockne's Take 10, we won't get lost... Maybe the hex route should be random unless we make the survival check, lol.
I am not going to comment on this much because I have played the first part of the ap. Yandasana will do her best to help the party as she sees it. :)
Once I get everyone's tokens created from the images they request be used, I'll be able to move us along. I work all night tonight and have a doctor appointment and some sleep coming my way tomorrow morning/afternoon. So you got some time to find a suitable image.
I forgot to mention- for the aid another action, once I get a level my aid is +3 instead of +2. Order of the Dragon bonus, so that should help also.
The picture I would like to use for now is the bigger of the one I am using here, it is the pathfinder hobgoblin commander. I pushed it on roll20 for now.
As for my availability although very regular as far as frequency it is at various times from week to week as my job is very dynamic in nature. I travel a lot from Spring to Fall. In Winter things tends to slow down. Either way I usually will not have any problem posting at some point during the day.
The last thing I wanted to add was that our group is extremely well rounded for any situation. We are diplomatic, stealthy, versatile in both arcane and divine magic, and we can fight. The question is how we react as a group. Now we must just train and work together in the field.
Lurking while I work on campaigns.
Grautak's question: No, otherwise I doubt they would have selected you. :-P
Dagru: It is supposed to be another 100 gp worth of starting items for your character, that you earned in less than legal means. If you didn't give yourself those items on start up, it COULD be stashed away somewhere, should you choose to go that route. Give me a general description in a PM if that is what you decide, and I will find a fitting place for it somewhere. Be warned, though...Dagru may not be the first to stumble across it's location first!
I wasn't sure if the dirty look that passed between the two swordlords was because one knew about our past.
lurking on roll20
I'm around for a while tonight, but I've been in roll20 for hours and nobody keep missing people. If one of you are going to be in there for a bit, post it here and I'll come join the moment I notice.
Once you guys settle on a plan, I can advance us along. But I don't want to force a strategy on you, so feel free to RP it out, but once you settle on something post it piece by piece here, so I don't botch it up for you guys due to miscommunication.
I am lurking roll 20. :)
It looks as though we have a majority wishing for an ambush after they are within the fort. The details are the a little murky but I think we are looking at Grautak and Rockne locking them inside while the rest of us attack the group ensuring our hosts are not too exposed to the bandits.
I intended to be at a higher point so that I could rain alchemical weapons and bow fire down on them. Please add as you see fit group.
I have placed Grautak and Whisper where they intend to be at the beginning of the ambush. I am assuming the doors open inward. I plan on hiding under the walkway and behind the doors. Once all of the bandits are in the fort then I will shut the door and attack.
If the doors open outward, then we need to revise. Rockne and Grautak will have to be outside the fort hiding behind the doors. Once the bandits are inside we will have to block the opening or try to shut the doors then engage in combat.
I will use my Challenge ability on the leader once we have identified him or her and also plan on using my tactician ability once combat is engaged.
Gird: I'll need an image to use for you on Roll20.
Group: I just got woke up and got a few things to do. If I can get an update up tonight moving us along, I will, but if not, expect it tomorrow.
Okay...found some time and energy to work on some updates. Lurking on roll20 while I do so if anyone wants to chat.
Are there any changes to the plan now that Gird is at the party? I'd like to move this along (to catch you guys up in the timeline to group 2...nudge nudge), but like I said before, I don't want to force you into anything.
Reposting the description of Oleg's as I had told someone wrong in Roll20.
"It is surrounded by a ten foot palisade, at each corner are 20-foot-square watchtowers, each armed with run-down catapults. There appears to be only one entrance through the palisade - a thirty foot wide wooden gate."
So the walls are 10' high, 20' at the corners. The inner walkway therefore is 5' off the ground, and there is space beneath it. So, mechanically it would work like this:
*Combatants could strike someone from the ground to the walkway in melee.
*Combatants on the walkway have the advantage of higher ground.
*Combatants on the walkway can fire over the wall with Partial Cover, or crouch down behind it for Total Cover relative to foes outside the fort.
The Gate:
*Could be closed by one person in two rounds.
*Could be closed by two people in one round.
*Can be barred after being closed in one round.
I have placed Grautak and Whisper where they intend to be at the beginning of the ambush. I am assuming the doors open inward. I plan on hiding under the walkway and behind the doors. Once all of the bandits are in the fort then I will shut the door and attack.
Don't have control of my token in roll20, but Im thinking Rockne behind the other door so we can both get them closed fast.
But one of us is going to have to volunteer to stay out of the fight for that additional round to get the gate locked.......? Assuming the leader rides in, Grautak and Whisper are probably the best choice to take him on.
Maybe Gird and Rockne work the 2 doors, Grautak hides in the stables instead to burst out in their midst when the fighting starts?
Who are you on Roll20 and I will assign you control of your token.
We could instead position ourselves on either side of the walkway and attach a rope to the doors. Then once they are inside we can close the doors using the rope. You should be able to hide on the walkway. With gird in the party we can have him help close the doors and grautak can engage the enemy right away.
Thought I updated to display "Rockne" .... Normal profile name is mike u.
Welcome Gird. Hope you don't mind, as Charisma includes appearance in its descriptors, I've assumed, you're not necessarily that attractive.
I'm curious. Are Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidate considered Charisma-based skills for you anymore, or Wisdom-based, due to your Inquisition? If the latter, I'm not sure when your drawback will come into effect.
@DM Thron Are you going to be upping the difficulty of the AP now that we have 6 people?
I am DarkNetwerk on Roll20. Is there a way to change the name for a specific game?
@Grautak Ropes would be visible, since they'd need to cross the opening to the opposite side. I think hide someone on either side of the door. Whether or not their on the walkway may depend on who it is. Melee types should be on the ground level. Others could be on the walkway. I might like to get the Sermonic Performance started off right away (i.e. during the surprise round), so maybe not her there (heck, she could hang in one of the 20' corners with her crossbow, opposite Dagru or something, there's not really a range on the performance, and her voice carries better anyhow).
It's only a 5ft drop from the walkway to the ground. Easier to hide on the walkway rather than under it. The ropes would only be needed if the doors open out.
DMThron- HP for Grautak is 12 not 11. favored class bonus went to HP. I can change it in roll20 but i didnt want to do so without your leave.
Handle animal and performance, but bluff diplomacy and intimidate are the big ones.
Fix character stats as necessary. Soon as I fix my plumbing crisis I'll update.
Lurking while I finalize some things and then working on updates!
As a heads up: I will be starting a four night stretch at work starting tomorrow night. I will update the game as best I can, but it may be a bit slower than usual during this period.
The Gate:
*Could be closed by one person in two rounds.
*Could be closed by two people in one round.
*Can be barred after being closed in one round.
Sounded like two actions to me ..... and however it went, Rockne was going to be mad at someone!
It seems roll20 is having an issue at the moment. In the middle of first action after surprise round but can not access the map.
I will finish the action once it returns.
Yeah, I couldn't do anything with my piece and then couldn't even get into the app. She would move to the end of the alley so she could see and attack the closest fellow (unless the leader was still up, which I doubt, given Grautak's attacks).
@Grautak Just noticed your challenge and my performance (both competence bonuses) don't stack. That's too bad. At least you'll still get your +1 to damage vs the challenge opponent as it seems to be untyped.