Yeah, I figured I was the most capable of catching up with him between the haste and ability to change forms every round for awhile, swimming, flying, earthgliding, and using blur's abilities to go through walls.
REALLY don't want a bunch of these face-carving monsters running free in the city.
Good job! and GOOD LUCK!
Pig tossing for fun and profit. That along with Halfling tossing.
Wabbit will be joining in the chase :)
So I run these pretty much as written. I'd like to alter Desperate Push sometime to let those who has little or no strength have a risk/reward system, and I don't like the consequence of failing a check to be "You don't get to play anymore". At the moment I don't have anything in place for that, and you guys have more than enough speed at the moment.
So the concept is that everyone is moving at the same time, and can gain or lose distance even if everyone had the same 30ft land speed. Otherwise humans could never chase humans, and halflings would never win at anything. Things are a little crazy with haste, fly, and swim speeds, but it would even out if Crossbow also had access to these abilities. Right now we've got 2 pre-buffed pursuers chasing 1 normal dude, starting really close to each other. Chances are low for him to succeed.
What I think the challenge may be: What do you do to actually stop him? Because that costs movement points. Hit point damage is usually a poor choice, because they can survive a lot. He's already survived a fireball, so we'll see. And What do you do once your haste ends, when your shapeshifting ends? His goal is going to be to resist your attempts to catch him, and hopefully to outlast you. You're faster, maybe he's more durable.
I never thought about this b4 but the unarmored Wabbit could be quite the marathoner when you add in his ability to cure fatigue a couple of times per day
Hope the chase goes better this time... last time resulted in Maria's funeral.
If I remember correctly, you actually did a decent run. It was the paralysis effect that got you in the end.
A poor chase, but he was extremely outclassed by you two. Andreste, you've got the right mindset. Getting him caught up in the vortex was a great decision. Wabbit, I was hoping to see you deal damage, make a grapple check, or something along those lines.
Two things I'm jotting down in my notes:
- Fatigue checks: Losing the chase is too severe a penalty for one missed roll. DC might need to start at 10. Failure should impose a penalty, rather than expulsion. Exhausted may be a better candidate for expulsion.
- Desperate push: Has no benefit for non-strength characters. May consider a flat bonus rather than a strength modifier. Currently not worth the risk.
EDIT: A thought about immediate actions. Considering everyone's running, they'd be flat footed, and I think it's fair to say that they're unable to make immediate actions. Taking the Run feat could change this. With Attack of Opportunity I think this makes sense. Not sure about things like Feather Fall.
Paralysis effect? I just remember getting shot a bunch.
Wabbit, I was hoping to see you deal damage, make a grapple check, or something along those lines.
Two things I'm jotting down in my notes:
- Fatigue checks: Losing the chase is too severe a penalty for one missed roll. DC might need to start at 10. Failure should impose a penalty, rather than expulsion. Exhausted may be a better candidate for expulsion.
- Desperate push: Has no benefit for non-strength characters. May consider a flat bonus rather than a strength modifier. Currently not worth the risk.
EDIT: A thought about immediate actions. Considering everyone's running, they'd be flat footed, and I think it's fair to say that they're unable to make immediate actions. Taking the Run feat could change this. With Attack of Opportunity I think this makes sense. Not sure about things like Feather Fall.
Yeah you were fleeing from ghouls, and instead of having an instant paralysis effect, I gave you dex poison using variant poison rules. Once you hit stage 3, which results in the staggered condition, you were screwed and it went downhill (perhaps literally) from there. I think that's what happened. But I do remember that you had several rounds. It wasn't over in a flash like this last chase was.
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@Wabbit
- No worries, I see where you got confused, and I would have made the same mistake. You did lose position for that fail, but you made up for it in the movement portion.
- I see what you mean. That's a decent alternative, but I feel like it's too low of a risk. But that of course depends on if we can get Desperate Push to be worth anything. Assuming we could get Desperate Push to be universally beneficial with a decent risk involved, I would probably do something like:
A failed fatigue check results in the fatigued condition, and halves your base speed (magical effects not included). If you fail another check, you gain the exhausted condition, and automatically lose 1 position each round if a pursuer (or every pursuer automatically gains 1 position each round if the leader).
- So far I'm thinking of a flat +4 bonus. Another idea might be to allow a choice of Strength or Wisdom, as I think willpower has a lot to do with sprinting as well as muscle.
- Well I have been using flat footed AC for chases unless they have the run feat, which as a quick tangent I would want to modify so that feat give a bonus on movement checks in a chase.
I've been interpreting Top Speed as a run full-round action, which would make them flat footed, and therefor unable to make immediate actions, However, it would also imply that DC10+ Constitution check that the core rules have. If we instead interpreted Top Speed as a double-move hustle, then they wouldn't be flat footed. But a Desperate Push could be the run action
I think the skeleton Maria fought Helgarr. Cleo was too busy eating human brains with Wabbit.
Yes I think you're right, Cleo.
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I decided to post because I spent a fair bit of time writing that, and I didn't want to modify/erase it due to new posts. We can assume you hear all that, then ask your questions.
Furnok needs to work on his snarling.
"Grrrrrrrrrr!"
You can run for a number of rounds equal to your Constitution score, but after that you must make a DC 10 Constitution check to continue running. You must check again each round in which you continue to run, and the DC of this check increases by 1 for each check you have made. When you fail this check, you must stop running. A character who has run to his limit must rest for 1 minute (10 rounds) before running again. During a rest period, a character can move no faster than a normal move action.
You can’t run across difficult terrain or if you can’t see where you’re going.
A run represents a speed of about 13 miles per hour for an unencumbered human.
"If we instead interpreted Top Speed as a double-move hustle, then they wouldn't be flat footed. But a Desperate Push could be the run action"
Something fun I liked to do with these cultists was to give them Lore (Norgorber) instead of Knowledge Religion.
Because I want to share, here's Smiley's Statblock as an example:
Cleric 2
Smiley, Brainy
Level 2 cleric (death murder, knowledge thought)
NE medium humanoid (human)
Init +2; Senses; Perception +3
DEFENSE
AC 15, touch 14, flat-footed 13 (+2 Dex, +1 armour, +2 deflection)
hp 16 (2d8)
Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +6;
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee war razor +3 (1d4-1)
Ranged
Special channel 1d6 DC13 5/day, bleeding touch 1d6 1r 6/day, touch of lore keep (learn about creature)
SPELLS
Stats: DC 13+, CL 2, Conc +5
Orisons bleed, detect poison, guidance, light
1st bless, clw, shield of faith, (modified cause fear)
Powers
STATISTICS
Str 8, Dex 14, Con 10, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 14
Base Atk +1; CMB +0; CMD 12
Feats selective channel, weapon finesse
Skills diplomacy +7, lore (Norgorber) +6, profession (miller) +8, sense motive +8
Languages common, infernal
SQ aura, spontaneous casting
Gear mwk silken ceremonial armour, war razor, potion of clw
Are there any final things that someone would like to hastily do before I wrap the scene up?
Wabbits done. He wouldn't be able to figure out whats in the barrels. No knowledge skills.
Ha! That is really cool. Scary, worrying, but very neat. I see you said everyone gets to act, but Cleo is exempt from that I assume?
Well Cleo's spirit can still do stuff. It's just that she can't contribute in the fight.
Watch as your friends die!
Welp, another fight I have no realistic part in since I have a home and don't really know Ameiko. Good luck friends.
There will be at least one of us to carry on :)
Man it's a good thing I use milestones instead of XP
Would be level 3 by this point instead of 7?
Well I would hate to use EXP, because then I would have to calculate just how much experience each one of my mad creations would be worth. At least this guy is like 90% as written.
I like your mad creations. I had to b!$!%+!+ my way through a game I'm running (speaking of, I got open slots on sunday on discord)
I made a mechanical snake that delivered venom, a mud elemental in a bird bath, and a tiny bejeweled clockwork bird in another bird bath. They smashed their treasure.
Sorry sir, I had this listed on Aggah's sheet "Unique: Rage (1st level barbarian) 1 time only" from she ate that soul. Which was probably only for that fight to kill Foxglove because of the nature of their relationship and all.
I wish I had a dagger?
I'd roll for having snuck a dagger into your clothes, but I assume at some point over the last couple of days you undressed.
Lol! Nope past that point for Cleo. Ghosts ready for the ferry don't get to use daggers. I was remembering Furnok's death, with the telepathic Don't Ya Know squid.
Yeah, I was thinking only for that fight. However, I typically allow the death of a loved one to inspire rage in my games.
I remember the Don't Ya Know squid. Oh god. It had telepathy, but had like an intelligence of 5 and a charisma to match. Then grappling plus Con poison. All alone. What a horrible way to go. I'd rather get crit killed by a goblin during the swallowtail festival.
I just want to touch base with you, Cleo, regarding what has happened. I want to know how you feel, and what your expectations are.
My thoughts and feelings are:
- I felt like it was mechanically speaking, a fair death, but I'm unsure if it FELT like a fair death.
- I expect resources or favours will be exchanged for Cleo's resurrection, and I'm open to many non-cannon possibilities. As written, the church of Desna and the cathedral of Abadar are both capable here in Magnimar. The Deadeye's Lodge in Magnimar isn't powerful enough. Their cleric is only level 5. Loans could be taken out through Abadar, or the Erastils might be able to sponsor part of the cost, it really depends on creativity and roleplay.
- Long ago I introduced Death to Vandra (I think it was Vandra). This is a continuation of that story. Especially if you could expect to come back to life, it may be worthwhile talking to such an entity.
- I do plan to make your death meaningful (not necessarily punishing), regardless of what happens. I'm coming up with ideas as we speak.
- Of course, new character options are open if you'd like. This could include Aggah as a full PC.
I'm also okay with Maria being part of the conversation.
@Maria, time and space is really wonky here. You could have already been judged, you could only just be on your way. You could be in a different boat with another Death, rowing right next to Cleo. It's all up to you.
I'd personally miss cleo, she's kind of been the heart of the group and I'm not sure anybody else is fit to take over the role since candidates like vandra, maria, and ali are all dead.
If Cleo does wish to be resurrected, might I suggest this would be a good time for a dungeon crawl not associated with this path, a dangerous dive into ancient ruines to retrieve enough treasure to bring her back.
I agree. I'd be remiss without Cleo, and the story would suffer, at least for awhile, without her.
That's an interesting suggestion, and one that could indeed be feasible. The question is time, and experience, and party structure.
- Time: We've been playing for almost 5 years man (thank all of you for sticking around so long). I stretch things out long enough as it is, and we're one fight short of finally reaching book 3. I wanna see book 6 happen sometime this century, hopefully with some of the early or OG players still here. I've changed a lot in 5 years, and I don't have any heirs to pass this game down to should I grow old and weary. So I'm wondering if it's worth the extra time expenditure, even if I keep it Thassilonian-based.
- Experience: I do jack up the enemies from what is written. Sometimes this is due to my belief that a certain change in the rules/mechanics would better reflect the theme and ambiance that I want to write, but I must admit that the monsters as written are very non-threatening. For example, all as-written skinsaw cultists were level 1 clerics multiclassed with 2 levels of rogue. 21hp, 15AC, +5 to hit, 1d4+2 damage. Channel negative energy was DC9. Absolute cake walk. Wabbit as an example could probably have fought all of them by himself, even if they flanked him.
That was a long-winded and rant-y way of explaining that I don't want to increase levels due to going through an extra dungeon, which would then make me crank up the power levels of later enemies even further.
- Party structure: Your current healer is now Furnok/Wabbit. This is not good. I'd like to resolve that before we do more fighting. Subduing/killing/running off the current assassin notwithstanding.
I think there's a lot of potential for another dungeon, both financially and story-wise. But these concerns of mine make me really hesitate going down that path.
Well, I wasn't entirely sure she was dead, I have to admit. Part of me thought it was a story thing. A plot with the particular... it doesn't matter.
I will have to think.
Neither was I until I examined exactly what happened which was you got coup de graced and failed. We could do a raise dead, that's only five thousand and we might be able to make it work with a deal with the church to bring in any religous items we find on our travels. Or even be able to pay for it ourselves if we have enough money when pulled. Coming from a rich background and being a thief I figure Janis is enough of a spend thrift as to not see it as particularly taxing to chip in.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how cryptic and vague am I in my descriptions of what's going on? I'm trying to aim for a 4.
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Bacon becomes a devoted priest of Pig War Goddess 'Meeess Peghhy'
Mechanics rarely matter to me. Story and the pure enjoyment of seeing what happens are. While the sudden death of a character in a book can lead to so much potential to the story, it does not in this case for the singular owner of that character. In both real life and the game, I went to sleep without worry and then this. I believe that was evident in my confusion.
I am not writing this for condemnation or argument, just expressing where I am at the moment. Honestly upset and unsure how I as a player wish to continue. I have no desire for my mistakes to penalize the party and have no desire to continue roleplaying her continued death scene. (Sorry Maria)
I do not know what I wish to do and do not know when I will decide. If my indecision is unacceptable and the group needs an answer now, which I understand if you all do, I will endeavor to provide one as quickly as possible.
Thank you for letting us know where you're at, John. I will await your decision when you are ready.
No worries, I rather enjoyed RPing my entrance to the afterlife. It was the best death I ever had. People grieved, I didn't get looted to the ground immediately etc etc.
So, I looked some stuff up, and, if you don't mind taking negative levels, I can finance a basic ressurection by myself and as mentioned before, my character doesn't see it as taxing at all as he's of the mindset that he can always get more money.
That would be very generous. You're welcome to do that if you wish, otherwise I think there are other alternatives available.
No more generous than Cleo has been to the group. It all depends on what John wants. Maybe he wants to play a new character, maybe he doesn't want to take those negs. The others may literally force money at me to help pay for a higher end without the neg levels, *shrugs* It's all in the air until we hear from John.
sorry unable to get my post up today...will happen tommorow
There's only one NPC in Magnimar capable of casting Resurrection: Proctor Jyronn Imikar of the Cathedral of Abadar. (Technically there's another, but he lives below the sewers of Magnimar, and he's a level 15 cleric of Norgorber. Unrelated to our game. Just an interesting thing I noticed in the document)
No worries, Wabbit. I understand
There's only one NPC in Magnimar capable of casting Resurrection: Proctor Jyronn Imikar of the Cathedral of Abadar. (Technically there's another, but he lives below the sewers of Magnimar, and he's a level 15 cleric of Norgorber. Unrelated to our game. Just an interesting thing I noticed in the document)
No worries, Wabbit. I understand
That might be interesting.A cleric of norgorber being hired to save her, I am after all loosely affiliated with a norgorber cult. I might be aware of him.