Way of the Wicked(custom gestalt)

Game Master Diamondust

Yep. I'm picturing turning it into a big scissor-wedge. Slip it into the crack between two planks and then force the crack larger. Push in farther, repeat. That's how tomb raiders and archeologists used to open sealed stone doors. The look like bolt cutters with a narrow wedge shaped head opens instead of closes.

I know the planks are tight together, but I can find a place where a crack is beginning, use a chisel to make it worse, and then put the scissor wedge in. A few pulls of the handle later and the hull should split right down the seam.

Best part about it is that there's no impact or noise.

There are other ways, like using a chain and the size of a Large person at an extreme angle to capsize the ship, or breaking off the rudder so they can't steer anymore. I like the idea of cracking their ship open though.

Most ships are wooden, hardness 5. With a perception check you might find a crack to work with. The 'seam' or keel won't just split the whole way though and it's about twice the thickness as the rest of the hull. I have no idea what to make the strength check so I think I'll just say a few minutes (similar to taking 20) will give you the hole split you want. When you do it roll 1d10 minutes for how long it takes to sink.

I wasn't expecting it to split the whole way. I was thinking that once it started to split I would just slide my wedge down to where the split narrowed and work that part wider, then slide it down a little more.

Molokai like Talia and I will both need to go. She has much better eyes than me. Once the ship is close I'll make the post.

Also Touch of Corruption won't have an effect on wood. It is neither alive nor undead.

A drill might help, especially in that you don't have to find a crack or anything. The srd is a little vague, but this is what it says about it.

A drill can create a 1-inch-diameter hole in stone, wood, or metal as a standard action. Harder materials wear down or break the drill more quickly. Hearing the sound of drilling requires a DC 15 Perception check.

Obviously that doesn't really specify how thick of a thing it can get through as the standard action, and a 1 in diameter hole is probably smaller than a crack (and more obviously sabotage), but you might be able to make enough holes in the equivalent amount of time to make it worthwhile.

The Doctor and Marvin should also come up with aliases for this ruse, so I'm not just calling them "Brother What's-Your-Name" and "that priest there."

A drill also makes noise.

Why not just "Father" and "Brother Marvin?"

EDIT: I thought you were talking about sinking the ship after killing everyone on board. Is the plan to sneak onto their ship, then drill a secret tiny hole in it so they sink slowly? That seems like a really bad plan, because it gives them plenty of time to either throw out lifeboats or build makeshift rafts. If we're trying to disguise our way past them, it would be a much more convincing disguise if we just leave their ship intact.

Ripping open the hull also makes noise. The drill can make holes that we can use to pry open larger holes.

Why not just "Father" and "Brother Marvin?"

I am slightly creeped out that you apparently read my mind. :-P I was thinking that if asked, the "Father" could say that he sacrificed his name to Mitra to symbolize that he was no one, just a vessel for the will of the Beneficent Sun. I also gather that "Mitra" is not the god's true name, which is unknown and it could be a reference to that/symbolize a desire to be more like him (hopefully it's ok that I did some quick research on the religion. I'm guessing this is all pretty basic stuff that the Doctor would have read in the holy book?).

Well, seeing as we are wanted criminals, I though it might be best not to use our original names.

You never know who might know you.

Ok so yes, you only have to make the save after an hour which is way longer than is relevant for this situation. Just want you to know that in extended periods where you don't get warmed up (to heal the odd damage because you rolled a 6) it could stack up. But don't worry. If you accidentally got stranded in the north you would have worse problems facing you than freezing to death :)

Also Talia could you explain how you get 7 resistance? I see Unscathed but nothing else.

Unscathed on top of the normal tiefling Fiendish Resistance racial ability. They explicitly stack.

So I'll be away at a conference for the rest of this week... but also my keyboard is broken. Will try to post if I can.

For whatever reason I thought their base resistance was 2...

Sorry about the slow week guys. I've been unwell. Will get an update in this weekend.

Update: Computer is now in the shop. I have a bit of access to another one, but it's unpredictable.

How are you doing Diamond? It looks like you caught something nasty.

Hey guys! I finally have a working computer again. Ugh, it's been weeks. Sorry about all the absence.

So, what is your new computer? Anything exciting?

Just a heads up that I'm going to be on vacation/traveling starting on Wednesday May 24th though June 7th. Bot me as necessary

Checking in. Seems like a lot of people are busy lately.

I'm good.

Still here, have just been quiet.

Ok everyone. It's been a bad few weeks for me healthwise but I'm here again.

Glad you're PC is good now Marvin.

Let me recap on the gameplay and I'll update there soon.

Talia's weapon slides deep, piercing the Captain's heart. He falls with a whisper, "Mitra..."

I just want to check whether or not he counts as part of the church for purposes of Gruesome Butcher. If so, how many HD did he have?

No he doesn't this time. Just a standard captain.

Before I post my next action, I want to make sure I have something right. The triton leader- If he's talking to the party, I assume he's at least got his head and shoulders above the water? Is that right?

Yea. They'd be out of the water from about waist up. Their powerful legs and webbed feet that give their swim speed would help I think.

If not you'd be dealing with huge AC bonuses because they're submerged so far. Apart from them getting no AC bonus right now you should still follow all the other aquatic combat rules. You did give yourself a swim speed so that is mostly fine though.

Does grumble act before the enemies or after?

I believe he acts between Kargeld and the sailors.

I'm in the proccess of writing out my post, but I want to make super clear I have all my rules straight.

Here's my action plan-

Smite (swift action).

Pass axe from main hand to shield hand. Weapon is now held but not wielded. (free action)

Draw net and attack (standard action that provokes AoOs from the two dolphins. [weapons can be drawn as part of move or standard actions by characters with a BaB of +1 or higher])

Move 30' back toward boat. This requires an opposed strength check as per the Net rules. If I win, the netted target moves with me. (move action).

Does all that look good?

I had no idea you had a net but anyway, there are a few things.

Smite. great.
Shield and weapon in one hand. fine but no shield bonus to AC.
Draw net and attack. If you have a base attack bonus of +1 or higher, you can combine one of these actions with a regular move. Since you are not actually moving anywhere drawing is its own separate move action. Then you attack with a standard action.
Move 30' back toward boat. Unless there is some item or ability you possess you don't have any more actions for this round.

I think you are mistaken about the drawing the weapon rule. It exists specifically so melee charaters can draw a weapon while moving and then attack, or draw a weapon while attacking and then move.

As I understand it, you can draw a weapon as part of any move or standard action. It shouldn't matter if you have performed the other half of your action or not. For example, in one action, a fighter could use a move action to stand up, then use a standard action to draw a weapon and attack.

I'll go with your ruling if it's a hard no. I just thought it was worth the discussion.

All my martial characters carry Pillum and Snag Nets or Lassos. They're just too useful not to have.

I know you can draw with a move, but I don't think you can draw with an attack. Where does that come from?

All I know is the rules state its a move action and can done as part of a regular move, not with an attack or standard action. Rules here. What you are talking about is what the Quick Draw feat was made for.

Guess I should have drawn the net as part of my move action last turn. That's pretty disappointing. Hope I don't end up dying over the weapon drawing rules.

In case anyone saw the post where Rose missed with her net please refresh the page and reread my post. I had to edit some because I forgot the net was a touch attack and she did actually catch him in it.

Marvin? You there?

I think he may be still having computer issues unfortunately. I thought Rose would have posted too. Hope everything is ok there too.

Sorry! I must have somehow hit the little x next to the new post count and turned off notifications.

If the game is waiting on me for any reason, please tell me. That's pretty abnormal when it happens. I'll let you guys know if I'm going to be unable to post for longer than a day.

Regarding this jump out of water business. Something I thought about made me realise there are already rules for jumping which I should use as a base. Which basically would be, Acrobatics DC[height squared] and a -10 penalty if you can't get a running(swimming?) start. Considering that some dolphins in the wild can jump 15ft. in the air makes me think that distance squared is too difficult (DC225!). Those are some divinely powered dolphins. So putting it at twice the distance seems alright. Hilariously enough I came full circle back to my original DC10 without intending to.

I think there should be limitations too such as only if you have a listed swimspeed(naturally or gained magically). And the +8 bonus for having a swim speed would be added. It should stay within the acrobatics check like a normal jump.

That was possibly the silliest length of time I have given to making a fair rule for such a rare situation. If I have made some glaring oversight let me know. Otherwise let the hair splitting be reserved for something more deserving. This may never come up again but in case it does we have a reference.

That works great for me. I'm honestly surprised there aren't any rules to cover this considering all the different creatures that should have the ability to jump out of the water.

Here's a crocodile doing it from a standstill.

I totally messed up on posting my last attack. It was supposed to be a Nonlethal strike, which is why I added the Blade of Subjugation bonus damage.

In the future, if you see that added, it means Nonlethal. I'll try to make sure that is clearer in the future. No need to retcon. It just means that Grumble got to eat him alive for the first few bites.

oh oops. Yea I had no idea. I'll try to remember that next time.

Hey guys, my father-in-law is in the hospital, and my wife and I have our second wedding anniversary next week. Posting might be short and scarce until Thursday.

Hi, guys. To all my games: sorry I've been such a butt lately.

Basically, I was away from the internet for a while, but before and after that, I've been writing so much for work that PbP just felt like a chore. And I've come to realize that while I love my job, right now it's just not leaving me the time and creative energy I need forPbP, so, while I've sort of been sliding down that slope for a while, I figured I should actually tell all my games that I've gotta drop out.

Sorry to disappoint and potentially leave a bunch of people hanging at the end there, and I hope I was generally fun.

-Thunderbeard

Thanks for letting us know Thunderbeard. Sad to see you go. Good luck out there.

Hope thinges get easier for you, TB. Come back if you get to the point where you can.