OK, between 'killing' Grukk in the first combat and this, I seem to have an amazing ability to luck out when it (fortunately) doesn't matter. The scene also strikes me as absolutely hilarious (sorry, Drosk and Bolkin)!
Yeah Zeb, you're the man when it comes to making unepic scenes into one :) I don't know guys it seems our party's version of crypt of the everflame so far is in my opinion is so entertaining enough that it can be the basis should the module is made into a novel or even a movie or mini tv series :D lol!
Just letting you all know I'm still around. Just busy at work, and Raven hasn't had anything to say anyway.
Sorry guys! It was literally sleep and work only for me these past days.I'm definitely still here! :)
Things've gotten a bit slow here, and I just wanted to run a couple of ideas/policies by you guys to alleviate that a bit.
First, if you'll be out for a while (as Drosk has been apparently), please remember to post it here. I've been a bit remiss on this myself, but it certainly helps to know if someone needs to be NPCed. I know most of you are already aware of this and it's not always possible, but figured I'd just let ya'll know.
Second, I'm thinking that instead of waiting for a complete group consensus when it takes nearly a week, if a couple of folks agree on a direction to head that's where I'll take it. Obviously I'd wait for a full consensus on bigger decisions.
Finally, and this is mostly aimed at Telperion and fairly niche, but I was wondering if you'd mind me just assuming that Telperion was making his trap-detection checks (and doing any necessary rolls 'behind the screen') when we're primarily just traveling. (e.g., the arrow room has been mostly explored so I'd just assume Telperion checked the door for traps and roll for him; when we enter a brand new room, you've got complete control again.)
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Anyway, I'm going to be making an effort to check multiple times a day, but occasionally we hit bottlenecks where that doesn't help much. So I just wanted to touch base with you all on how to handle some of those situations.
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On a more general note, I've updated the loot list and XP. You guys might want to start thinking about your second levels; I'm pretty sure you guys'll be hitting it just as you descend to the second level.
Ouch, sorry to hear that. I weathered Ike (and Rita) a few years back so I know what it's like.
Stay safe.
Those are always fun times. Glad to hear you got through it alright, downed utilities notwithstanding.
I've had a bit of a sinus infection the past while which I would have posted about earlier had I not gotten into a rut of 'I'll post tomorrow!' and then that tomorrow being 'OK I think I will lie around miserable for a while'. Feeling a lot better though, but if I take a while to post I may have gone back under.
Just fiddled a bit with Paizo's new-fangled campaign stuff, and it looks like there's a fairly useful dashboard accessible for everyone.
I'll probably transfer the information that's been relegated to my profile (and the long un-updated Googledoc with the loot and such) to the main info tab there over the next few days, when I get the chance.
In a bit of a crunch time here, so I'll probably still be a bit slow to respond (as I have of late!) It'll probably take me a while yet to get the XP and loot info properly updated, but once that's done I'll try to be a bit more diligent about it in the future.
As this adventure runs down, is there interest in continuing with these characters? I'd like to. I like the dynamics of the group, personally, though I would like to revise Raven's spell selection.
I'm willing to continue if Zeb is. As Raven said, this is a great group.
I've had every intention of continuing, actually (and have had such for months), my recent absence not withstanding. I'm pretty much prepared to run straight into the second of this series (having read through it some months ago and have been skimming the first parts of it as this one winds down). I also have the third part, though I haven't read it cover-to-cover yet. If memory serves, the whole chain goes through level 7, which should last us quite a while at the rate we're going.
I'm very fond of this group as well - couldn't have asked for better on my first try as a DM, heh.
As for Raven's spell selection - I'm certainly willing for allowing some revision, as I know sometimes choices don't pan out for whatever reason. (Being heavy on enchantments in an undead-heavy adventure, for one). As a sneak-peek/forewarning, though, Parts 2 and 3 of this series aren't as undead-heavy as this one was.
I'm glad to hear that, Zeb! Are we going to find a replacement for Garik, since his player has been absent?
As for spells, the only one I've really been cursing has been Sleep. The casting time is too long. I might change out the Mage Hand cantrip, as well.
I've been considering re-opening recruitment. We've got a solid core of 4 folks - which was the original 'target number' since PbPs inevitably seem to lose people. If I recruit some more folks, we have a buffer should anybody unfortunately become unable to post; on the other hand, it might cause some delay (as though we're not used to those!) and possibly wind up with folks trailing off.
I'm pretty ambivalent about it - if you guys have an preferences, lemme know and I can come to a decision based on that.
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As regards spells, go ahead and swap those out.
A bit late in chiming in, but I'd be up for continuing as well. I'm also okay with recruiting a couple more members just in case.
I kind of like the idea of a 5-person group, because I feel it frees us up to have non-optimized characters, but 6 does probably start to require too much scaling by the DM.
I'm happy with a party of 4, but I wouldn't oppose recruiting one more.
Let myself put things off to give folks a chance to post, then got caught up between re-reading / prepping the next adventure and end-month drama. Pardon the delay, but I have updated the campaign page with all the XP and loot gathered throughout the adventure, and I'm ready to roll into the next one (and will hopefully be lesf sloppy with my bookkeeping; scrolling through posts to gather the numbers is a burden I really shouldn't inflict on myself).
I've also been wrestling with where to drop in the new player(s), since there's a couple of solid spots (though one might require the game to stall for a bit and the other has a couple of encounters before it). I've also considered presenting the option of someone stepping in to fill Garik's shoes, since I really did like the character - though I've always found this awkward when I've seen it done.
Consensus seems to be 'one more', though I personally have no problem with the rigors of fudging the encounters-as-presented to properly challenge the action economy of a six-man group. Unless anyone's particularly opposed to six characters, I'll open a recruiting thread (probably tomorrow) and see what applications look like; given the response last time, I imagine the Paizo community is more-than-capable of presenting at least two characters I'd love to GM for.
Yes, Happy Anniversary, everyone! And thanks, Zeb, for a great game.
Looking forward to our next adventure!
And thank you guys for being such great players. It's been a great ride, if a bit bumpy.
As for the next chapter, the new recruiting thread is up if anybody wants to watch the process for whatever reason.
I'll move the game along this evening - there's just a bit of denouement left in Crypt of the Everflame, at which point the narrative segues into Masks of the Living God.
Re: treasure distribution, I see the bag of holding as more of an item for the whole party, but Raven wanted to hold it (at least back to town, so she can show it to her siblings). Of the other items, I think the wand of magic missiles would go to Raven.
She can use the bracers of armor +1, but she uses her mage armor for now, so it would just be a little extra protection against surprise attacks. If anyone else wanted unencumbering armor (Telperion?), they're up for grabs, otherwise Raven will wear them until we either need some quick gold or can upgrade them to a useful level.
The horn of fog can really be used by anyone. I'd think Telperion or Raven could make most use of it, though. Raven, since she has little else to offer during combat, might be free to use it if it comes in handy in an encounter. Telperion could use it to give himself concealment to hide (but the noise will limit it to combat situations, as well).
The chainmail, I'd think would be most useful to Bolkin or Drosk, but I don't think y'all have discussed it yet. Or can Bolkin even wear medium armor?
Did we actually pick up the dagger from the fire pit before we withdrew from there? Did Bolkin or Telperion decide who can use that?
The unidentified objects, I guess we can pay to have them ID'ed or Raven can try again at next level.
I believe Bolkin's archetype loses some of its pizazz outside of light armors/loads; I'm not 100% on that, so the chainmail is probably better in Drosk's hands. On the other hand, Bolkin is also the group's gets-beaten-up-a-lot-guy* and his archetype isn't giving him a ton of bonuses at this point.
The dagger, I believe, was last in Bolkin's possession as he was the member least-adept at bypassing damage resistance (excepting Telperion, who just rolled high enough on his sneak-attack damage to score respectably anyway). Now that Bolkin has a longsword, someone else would probably benefit from having the magic weapon that everyone can use.
*(in fact, and I may be misremembering here, but he took the lion's share of the hits, and has the dubious honor of being the only guy to be the only party member KO'd twice)
*(in fact, and I may be misremembering here, but he took the lion's share of the hits, and has the dubious honor of being the only guy to be the only party member KO'd twice)
Was he KO'd twice? I remember he went down to the frogs, and Drosk got knocked out by the blunted arrow trap. But yeah, I've been debating whether to trade Sleep for Grease or for Enlarge Person to use on Bolkin.
Was he KO'd by the frogs? Of what I recall, he took a critical from the skeletons at the landing of the second level which dropped him, and he was also KO'd by arrows with Drosk (KOing two PCs at once was fantastic, I have to admit). Either way I think we've established he's had a bad luck streak, hehe.
Personal opinions: Grease has a bit more utility, in that it helps control the battlefield and can be used to help prevent grapples, while Enlarge Person is a pretty solid offense-oriented buff - the fact that Garik will be returning under a new player also means you've got another target it's useful on.
One thing I've often seen missed about Enlarge Person is that, like Sleep, it has a 1-round casting time - although unlike Sleep it can't fail and doesn't become useless as levels go up. The long duration (1 minute/level) and range (close i.e. 25+5/2 levels ft), offset the casting time, though.
EDIT:
Spoke with Bolkin's player via IM and we came to the general conclusion that Enlarge Person gives a slight net bonus to his combat maneuver bonus (+1) and a 10 foot reach (which is useful in all sorts of ways), at the cost of 2 AC total.
My personal opinion is you can't go wrong with either spell - it boils down to whether Raven wants to be improving others or directly affecting the field.
EDIT 2:
Actually, level 3's not too far away (I'm giving a sizable 'end of adventure' bonus so it'll only be an encounter or two in), and Sorcerers get a third known spell at 3rd level so if you wanna get both you certainly can.
And if that's how you want to do it, I'll just point out that the fastest way to Tamran from Kassen is via boat. I'll leave the potential issues of a super-sized Bolkin there as an exercise for the reader.
One thing I've often seen missed about Enlarge Person is that, like Sleep, it has a 1-round casting time - although unlike Sleep it can't fail and doesn't become useless as levels go up. The long duration (1 minute/level) and range (close i.e. 25+5/2 levels ft), offset the casting time, though.
Bah! These 1-round castings sneak by me! But this isn't so bad. With Sleep, OTOH, all your teammates have gotten in the way by the time you can target it.
EDIT:Spoke with Bolkin's player via IM and we came to the general conclusion that Enlarge Person gives a slight net bonus to his combat maneuver bonus (+1) and a 10 foot reach (which is useful in all sorts of ways), at the cost of 2 AC total.
I think he'd get a net +2 to his CMB and a net +1 to CMD. It sounds like for CMB and CMD, the +1 for being large replaces the -1 to hit from being large so he'll have +1 for greater strength and +1 for being larger. For the CMD, he'll have +1 for strength, +1 for size, and -1 for dex.
First up, I just want to say that I might go nuts and grab three more players (pushing the total roster up to 7), if the most recent applicant's character is as compelling a roleplaying addition to the party as I think he is.
Enlarge Person being a 1 round casting time is a pretty common enough mistake - hence why I brought it up (I also often forget that, unlike many buff spells, it's not touch range)
Funny enough, with regard to CMB, what I had originally done was glanced over our conversation and given the value for CMD; we had arrived at your conclusion as well. But I looked into it and now I'm thinking +1 was actually right (the only bonus being from the Strength increase).
Isolating the main issue is how size affects CMB - the 'special size modifier' is +1 for large creatures, so what's listed in the stat block should be BAB + STR + 1, and this is borne out by bestiary stat blocks.
However, there's this:
When you attempt to perform a combat maneuver, make an attack roll and add your CMB in place of your normal attack bonus. Add any bonuses you currently have on attack rolls due to spells, feats, and other effects. These bonuses must be applicable to the weapon or attack used to perform the maneuver. The DC of this maneuver is your target's Combat Maneuver Defense. Combat maneuvers are attack rolls, so you must roll for concealment and take any other penalties that would normally apply to an attack roll.
Bolded for emphasis.
So while the statblock for a given Large creature would list an increase of +1 over an identically-statted Medium creature, when it came time to roll the dice the net result would be 0 - at least, I think. I vaguely recall reading a post during the beta testing (or perhaps shortly after release) that the original intent of the special size modifier is to negate the bonus/penalties to hit a creature gets for being large or small. That is how the math plays out - it just seems to be a rather long way to get there rather than being upfront about it.
Sorry if that's a bit of long-winded rules lawyering - mostly I got curious if the intent was to make small / medium / large creatures equally adept at combat maneuvers (assuming similar stats), as that seems to be the net result of my reading.
First the more time-critical bit:
As far as the applicants go, I've played with Morthos's player before (actually with Morthos, though he was an axe-wielding wizard in that incarnation), so I'd welcome him.
I'm also glad someone wants to take over Garik.
I'm less sold on Cadj Naress, for the LE concerns. I understand the lawful bit from his explanation, but I don't understand how the evil will be expressed. And I'm not sure why the group would invite him to join us.
And then just further on the discussion of CMB size modifiers:
I would think it would make sense that a large creature would be better at combat maneuvers than a smaller one, so it made sense to me that they'd have a bonus.
In the part you quote above, the part I noticed most was near the beginning, "add your CMB in place of your normal attack bonus". When you look at the definitions of the two in the PRD,
Melee attack bonus = BAB + str + size modifier
CMB = BAB + str + special size modifier
The only difference is the size modifier in the CMB is described as "special", like it's supposed to be a different modifier. If they were meant to cancel each other out, I would think CMB would've been defined as "BAB + str + size modifier + special size modifier" or just "BAB + str".
Recruitment Stuff
The three folks who've actually been invited are LastNameOnEarth (Amadea the half-orc bow-paladin), Luke_Parry (Morthos), and Javell DeLeon is stepping in for Garik. Cadj could be interesting, but I mostly agree - slotting in a token evil teammate with the group would be awkward. Either way, I was hoping to help give his player a bit of post history for the benefit of anybody else hoping to add him to a campaign.
I've sent PMs out to those three and asked them to post here to introduce themselves and ask any questions.
I had hoped for Bolkin to post a brief synopsis of what occurred in character but he has apparently been a tad busy. If he doesn't do it today, I will probably post myself so we can move on to the next scene, where our new folks can reasonably introduce themselves and we can get the next adventure started. That should give at least a couple of days to get any last-minute character sheet concerns sorted out.
CMB stuff
I agree with the spirit of your interpretation - and it's the one I'll be using, since Large and Small critters should be better/worse at maneuvers (for the most part) - but I wound up doing the strict reading because I got a tad confused, and showed my work as I went through it.
Thank you for the invite Zebulon. Hello everyone, nice to meet you.
Amadea is still somewhat a work in progress, as I have a few details to finish up, and equipment to do. I am open to any feedback in regards to the character to help her best fit into the group and to ensure she is best utilizing her abilities to shore up any deficiencies.
She is a native of Kassen, but was not sent on the journey for the lamp ceremony, probably because of her age. A full background is visible in her profile. Suffice to say, she is eager to prove herself capable, and very determined. Of course, she is young, and sees herself as a true Paladin. That it is say, she is naive, optimistic, and perhaps a little unrealistically idealistic.
In regards to the picture, I was surprised, but I couldn't find a decent female half-orc picture. Actually, I could only find one at all, and she's orange.
Mechanically, Amadea is a Dex heavy build designed to be effective as an archer, but I also envision her as being a high AC tank when one is necessary on the front line. She is not a damage dealer (though with two barbarians that should not be an issue), but she can take a lot of punishment, and should be very hard to hit.
When resources allow, I am envisioning a suit of Mithril Full plate plus shield, which should provide an AC 24 before enhancements. My question for the existing players would be which focus would you see as more effective in this group? Range combat or AC/HP? The other option is to spread across both roles and play a switch hitter type.
Hello all! Appreciate you all letting me take over Garik.
Okay. I got a couple questions:
Would it be possible to switch out his Hide armor for Studded leather? Hide armor is a killer on his skills.
How is hit points being done? Will go ahead and roll.
Would adding the invulnerable archetype to him be okay?
That's all I got for now.
Thanks!
Morthos von Janderhoff, reporting for duty :-)
Welcome aboard, Amadea, Morthos, and Garik/Javell!
The chainmail, I'd think would be most useful to Bolkin or Drosk, but I don't think y'all have discussed it yet. Or can Bolkin even wear medium armor?
I wouldn't say no to the +1 chainmail, as long as no one else wants it or can use it.