Yeah, the roll wasn't great but with your aid another and the circumstance bonus, it's at least a 20. And besides, the result is what matters. We have access to the library and all we need is Theron or Rose to swear an oath to retrieve an unknown object and we get info about a second prisoner. Piece of cake ;-)
Sorry about not posting, I've had some stuff to deal with. I'll try and figure out what's going on with Theron tomorrow.
Rest assured, he isn't going to try to arrest anyone XD He's more of the hunter type than the law enforcer type ;)
With access to the library we can get access to all the records of the famous prisoners...
Incidently I've rolled 2 ones back to back on this PbP. I was on another PbP game, and its the first roll since I made those back to back '1's'... and got another '1'. So thats three in a row.
With access to the library we can get access to all the records of the famous prisoners...
Incidently I've rolled 2 ones back to back on this PbP. I was on another PbP game, and its the first roll since I made those back to back '1's'... and got another '1'. So thats three in a row.
Ewww... well, at least they weren't saving throws (in this game, don't know about the other).
I should warn you all in case you haven't noticed yet... I tend to do 1 or 2 edits to my posts after I submit them. Usually nothing major, but just something to watch for in case you catch one of my posts within moments of me posting it.
Hey Cyn, how do you feel about Variant Channeling? I was looking up my Evangelist stuff and saw it on the SRD. Would you consider allowing me to take it at Level 3 (when I get channeling)? If I take it, I'd take this one;
Luck: Heal—Creatures gain a channel bonus or a luck bonus (creature’s choice) on one roll (attack roll, CMB check, saving throw, or skill check) made before the end of your next turn.
Ok, here are our scores:
Dragomir: +0
Flori: +1
Theron: +1
Karrik: +2
Rajuna: +5
Lem: +6
Walter: +6
Kendra: +8 (can't lead)
Rose: +9
The thing is, Aid Another is only DC 10, and even in our aid attempts we get +4 due to the library. So our "least studious" member, Dragomir, will succeed in his aid attempt on a 6 or higher (75% chance of success).
I think the best way to do it would be to put the two highest as lead researchers (Rose and Walter), then after that put the highest scores on the team of four and the lowest scores on the team of 5. With the low difficulty needed to successfully aid, it should give us the best chance to succeed on both research roles. The breakdown would look like this:
Rose's team:
Rose: +9
Kendra: +8
Lem: +6
Rajuna: +5
Walter's team:
Walter: +6
Karrik: +2
Flori: +1
Theron: +1
Dragomir: +0
Thoughts?
I think thats a good use of the team members, and also means that Karrik gets to roll with a fellow academic. (Clearly I'm speaking of Dragomir.)
Hey Cyn, how do you feel about Variant Channeling? I was looking up my Evangelist stuff and saw it on the SRD. Would you consider allowing me to take it at Level 3 (when I get channeling)? If I take it, I'd take this one;
Luck: Heal—Creatures gain a channel bonus or a luck bonus (creature’s choice) on one roll (attack roll, CMB check, saving throw, or skill check) made before the end of your next turn.
I really like variant channelling. The decision on whether to take it or not is up to you, but with Theron, Walter and Lem as divine casters, there are a few of you to pick up the healing slack if it's needed.
Ok, cool, maybe I'll take it then.
I think thats a good use of the team members, and also means that Karrik gets to roll with a fellow academic. (Clearly I'm speaking of Dragomir.)
LOL
Ok - gonna do something nice for Karrik here... Walter is the best person to lead the team it is true but Dragomir hasn't a damn clue on how to go about research (about to post something that shows how books 'should' be used) and Walter doesnt have the time to hold everyones hand - he's the central point. Gives directions on what sort of books, timelines, names to search for in our group and then we go find and bring back and he adds up the bits and gets the result.
While Karrik isn't the right man for leading on of the research teams (on this topic), he IS the right man to lead Dragomir (so you can have your 'leadership' and 'scholarship' spotlight Karrik.
Now, I'm gonna give YOU narrative control here... I'll start Dragomir off as neutral. You can write us towards conflict or reconcilation as you desire (I think Cyn wants more 'team' and less confrontation) but I will leave it entirely to you. You've a good writing style and I like to see what others write when posting for Dragomir... also I want to give you a chance to contrast yourself from Dragomir ('dumb' sword swinger to 'smart' one) and a chance to spotlight yourself... Its all in your hands.
The Aid another roll can be made by Walter at the end of the research or Karrik during his post.
Ok, cool, maybe I'll take it then.
Is it in lieu of regular channeling or an addition to (like an channeling option)? We got healing a plenty - we just got one channeler however it is very flavourful
Ok, cool, maybe I'll take it then.Is it in lieu of regular channeling or an addition to (like an channeling option)? We got healing a plenty - we just got one channeler however it is very flavourful
Everything you always wanted to know about variant channelling, but were afraid to ask...
: D
Variant channeling is cool, but honestly... Channeling is for healing everyone for 1d6, so average 24 right now across the entire party. I can heal 4 people for 1d8+1 each right now, and I'm out. Average 20. All of Walter's heals cannot heal as much as a single channel from Lem assuming everyone is hurt.
Later, when Walter is all grown up and can drop 1d8+10 on everyone, variant channeling could be good. By then you're dropping like 7d6 for avg 13 (26/2=13)... at level 11, when Dragomir is going to have over 100 hit points. Also, channeling is a very good way to wreck up on low HD undead. It'll really suck to be dropping 7d6/2 dice at level 11.
Later on, channeling is out-of-combat healing because healing is not great in-combat as an action when you have 25 spells to cast, 8 party members to buff and 5 encounters or so per day-- plus, you might have heal and the monsters will be dropping over 100 dmg full attacks. Too bad variant channeling sticks around and now you're cut off at the knee for keeping the entire party going full health into those 5 encounters.
Also, as the AoE healer in an 8 person party, you're significantly better at healing the party than anyone else-- especially Theron, since he's not going to have tons of spells to huck around. You became exactly multiplicative +1.00x better than the normal cleric with the addition of each party member over 4. Until Walter is 10th level, he can't even stand up to the healing a cleric in a party of 8 can put out post-combat. Then he can pretend to be as good as Lem for a top-level spell... that Lem can just prep on a day-to-day basis.
Strong feelings about variant channeling, but I just wanted to post my opinions about it and couldn't shut up. >>;
Walt, you just made math sexy for me. :D
Lem, as a Edjamacation Pro, note Walt's technique.
So Raj, working with kendra... again. Good luck or good planning?
:D
HEY! That was Lem's little bit of finagling on the teams and then he nailed my coffin shut by posting that Raj was hovering over her... :)
I'm gonna get you for that, Lem.
It looks like Raj will have to do some tap-dancing here. Thankfully, Kendra is tired otherwise this could turn into a session of flirting in the stacks. LOL.
I think that was me on the hovering but if it was Lem? I must have picked up on the vibe
Was it? I was reading it on my iTouch and I could have sworn it was Lem but my eyes ain't what they used to be - particularly when looking at a size 5 font. :)
EDIT: Just checked, it WAS you.
:: Scratches Lem's name off the 'Burn'Em Down!' list and pencils in 'Dragomir' instead. ::
No worries - Karrik has more than ample opportunity to mess with me, and I'll give you the same shot later.
No worries, it's all fun.
Variant channeling is cool, but honestly...
I agree 100% with Walter on all the numbers. Standard channelling is almost always going to be more powerful, efficient and effective than variant channelling.
I would also add, though, that I am a 'nice' GM (take that however you like!) who needs to do some fancy footwork to keep the eight of you up to roughly the right wealth by level, because the alternative (leave all encounters as they are and don't change anything) makes for a kind of gritty, low-magic campaign where the NPCs are better-equipped than the PCs. And that's not the sort of game I want to run.
A wand of cure light wounds, for example, would go some way toward redressing that wealth by level issue. Not that I'm saying I have plans to give you one...but hey, you never know. ; )
In the words of Jules from Pulp Fiction, allow me to retort ;-)
As for the numbers, I agree that channeling is powerful, especially in a group of 8 and out of combat. However, the average roll for a d6 is 3.5. So an average d6 roll for 8 people works out to (3.5) * 8 = 28 healing on average across the entire party.
Average healing on a d8+1 is (4.5+1) = 5.5, so the average on 4 CLWs is (5.5) * 4 = 22
So Walter's point is still valid, but it's actually a 6 point disparity instead of 4.
Now, assume that when I only have 1d6 channeling and use variant channeling that d6 gets halved. So the average roll becomes 1.75 instead of 3.5. It still heals, on average, (1.75) * 8 = 14 hp, which isn't terrible. If a d6 gets halved to a d3 before the roll then the average would actually be 2, so 2*8 = 16 for the group (not sure how Cyn would rule it).
The thing is, channeling is best, as you guys have said, outside of combat because you get more bang for your buck when more people are injured. As more people heal up from being hurt, the effectiveness of channeling lessens. A wand of CLW, though, is dirt cheap and extremely effective out of combat, whether one person is hurt or multiple people, not to mention that many of us can use it. Funny that Cyn said the same thing I was going to say.
So I agree that channeling can be good outside of combat after a big fight.
The thing is, channeling isn't all that great during combat because you have to avoid healing enemies and you don't always have everyone hurt where you need them, etc. But variant channeling is great during combat, because it provides yet another bonus (from the Luck channeling that I would get, anyway) that stacks to people's skills, attacks, etc.
Since I already lose out on 3d6 of channeling from being an evangelist, I thought it might be better to give myself another way to boost everyone's attacks during combat while providing a small amount of healing as well (since my variant channeling effect would still scale at the normal rate, as it's based on level, not channeling dice). Like, if two people get dropped and I can't reach them, I can run up and channel, stabilizing them, and giving the others a boost on their attacks.
So yeah, the healing is lessened, but what if the attack boost causes one or more attacks to hit that otherwise would not have hit, and one or more foes that would have been alive are instead dropped? Then all of the damage those foes would have inflicted on their turn doesn't need to be healed because it is prevented in the first place. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, right?
;-)
Anyway, I haven't decided if I'm going to take it or not, but just thought I'd put the other side of the argument out there.
Since I already lose out on 3d6 of channeling from being an evangelist,
That's a big one. I retract my previous statements-- didn't know you were going to miss a big chunk of change there already, in which case it's just you wondering if you want to quarter a halved number for okay bonuses.
Raj continues to plow through the records. The general tenor of the convictions and sentences makes the pig-thief stand out even more. Harrowstone was filled with mad-dogs, stone killers, and rapists - lifers and men waiting for the headsman's axe or whatnot. What's a pig-thief doing with that crowd?
Rajuna finds the answer reading between the terse lines of the transfer orders... the Mayor was connected, well-connected. When he couldn't get the thief a harder sentence for the affront to his dignity, he had him 'temporarily' shunted to Harrowstone while the local prison was being 'repaired'. Pig-thief had lasted 3 days at Harrowstone. Throwing trout in with sharks always ended the same way. Raj closes the book in disgust and picks up another.
On a lark, he re-opens the book and notes the Mayor's name, town, and likely political connections. After this many years, he's probably long dead. But if that bastard is still kicking, I might just find a reason to rattle his cage or give him over to Theron's crew. Murder by proxy is still murder.
This is awesome. Nice work rolling with everything, Raj. <applause>
I love preventing ret-cons. :)
In the words of Jules from Pulp Fiction, allow me to retort ;-)
Well, if you are going to quote anyone, pick the MASTER. :)
First, Lem, I am totally fine with you going in whatever direction you like with your character. If you think Variant Channeling is the way to go - either for mechanical, aesthetic, or just-plain-fun reasons... go for it.
Second, I have faith that Cyn is a 'nice' DM which means that he'll make it possible for us to tweak our characters in different (and potentially non-optimal) ways and we will still be able to succeed in the adventure. So, even if Variant Channeling is a 'poor' choice (and I'm not saying it is), I think we'll be fine.
Can't wait to see what Karrik posts...
I will be at the Sydney Ruby Phoenix PFS Event all day tomorrow and most of Saturday (US Thurs and Fri respectively) with limited access to the intertubes.
So after about 8 hours from this post my access is limited until Sunday... (US Sat) where I will be tired from a late night of hiding Easter eggs and two solid days of PFS when I will be on late.
Easter Monday (US Easter) I will be avail.
Tues I fly for China and will not be back on line until late that day. Will be working out of China for about 2 weeks. I 'should' *have* access accessing the game during that period but it depends on the Great Fire Wall of China.
Thanks for the update, Dragomir.
I myself will be building a cubbyhouse on Friday, spending time with the family on Saturday, doing the Easter egg hunt thing on Sunday, and building a pergola on Monday. So I will be offline a lot too. But I'll be back for Tuesday. : )
I should, at least, be able to post each evening.
Dragomir, if you have issues reaching the Paizo website from China, do you have/want my email address so you can get in touch? Failing anything else I can probably copy/paste the thread content once a day. : )
Hell yes mate - Appreciated though I did edit the post to say I *should* have it but better safe than sorry. Will PM you.
and building a pergola on Monday.
Roll initative! I Fireball the Pagoda! How many Hit Dice does it have?
In the words of Jules from Pulp Fiction, allow me to retort ;-)... A wand of CLW, though, is dirt cheap and extremely effective out of combat, whether one person is hurt or multiple people, not to mention that many of us can use it.
How are we gonna do magic items and magic item purchases? Only get what is found? What is listed in the NPCs stat blocks in towns etc or will we be able to just go buy stuff like wands of CLW and Falcata's +3?
Sorry about the absence, but... you were warned. :)
Posted - not a hugs and kisses moment but its a start. I can see Karrik reacting with a '**** you hayseed' as much as any other response. I'll leave it to him to take it however he will. Karrik didn't ask for 'acceptance' and to be fair he's every right to expect it outright so I am curious to see how things go.
As to Karrik being 'ashamed'? Thats Dragomir's PoV - right or wrong. I could make a sense motive roll but I don't think using diplomacy or sense motive on other players works at all unless invited by the player themselves.
and building a pergola on Monday.Roll initative! I Fireball the Pagoda! How many Hit Dice does it have?
It has i hit dice. Good luck. ; )
In the words of Jules from Pulp Fiction, allow me to retort ;-)... A wand of CLW, though, is dirt cheap and extremely effective out of combat, whether one person is hurt or multiple people, not to mention that many of us can use it.How are we gonna do magic items and magic item purchases? Only get what is found? What is listed in the NPCs stat blocks in towns etc or will we be able to just go buy stuff like wands of CLW and Falcata's +3?
I have been doing a lot of thinking about this. I can tell you what it won't be.
1) I will not be running a low-magic campaign where you can only find weapons on bodies or enchant them yourselves or pay exorbitant amounts of money to have them made.
2) I will not allow a free-for-all where anyone can buy anything anywhere. On the mundane element of that, take your falcata, for example: in Golarion the falcata is a Taldan weapon. It would be highly unusual to see one in Ustalav. In my Golarion the scimitar is similarly a Qadiran weapon, but I'm a little more lenient on that one given the baseline D&D assumptions, and the fact that a bucketload of published Paizo material has scimitars showing up in the hands of e.g. Varisian caravan drivers.
The impact of that design choice on magical weapons/enchantments is that most magical items are made in large cities, not small towns like Ravengro. Jorfa, Ravengro's blacksmith, might have some basic skill, but she would need to have the Master Craftsman feat for that (she isn't a spellcaster). Otherwise if you want to buy magic items in Ravengro, beyond what Alendru has on hand, you will likely have to place an order through to Lepidstadt, or Tamrivena, or maybe Ardis. Ravengro's merchants would have the best idea. Potions and scrolls are more readily available though, and I haven't built the statblock for every single Ravengrian, so I might at some stage create someone for whom it makes sense to take Craft Wand, perhaps.
###
In the end, the assumption I'm slowly working my way towards is that +x <weapon>s (meaning weapons enchanted only with a +x to hit and damage, and no other enchantments) are relatively common, but that enchantments like flaming, keen etc are more rare. I would expect weapons with those ancillary enchantments to have a name.
So let's say you find a +1 longsword. It's a +1 longsword, and not terribly remarkable to the people of my Golarion.
Let's say instead you find a +1 flaming longsword. That is a weapon of great beauty, and probably rarer than a +2 longsword. It will likely have more care and attention paid to its manufacture, and its owner will have named it.
###
Does that make sense?
yep. Falcata was used as a rare weapon incidently and not something that you can expect Dragomir to have later.
Right, so to sum up... Raj will need to wait until 3rd level to get his dual set of +4 Holy Vorpal Dancing Defending Daggers of Vicious Wounding.
*Sigh* I suppose I'll just have to impress y'all with his uber-coolness until then. ;)
I find it amusing that the team with the worst researchers (except Walter) is finding their information the fastest. Obviously, Walter's ghosts are being helpful for once. ;)
Right, so to sum up... Raj will need to wait until 3rd level to get his dual set of +4 Holy Vorpal Dancing Defending Daggers of Vicious Wounding.
*Sigh* I suppose I'll just have to impress y'all with his uber-coolness until then. ;)
Heh! I might be a 'nice' GM, but at 400,604 gp to buy them (or, I suppose, 200,604 to enchant them yourself)...I'm not that nice! ; )
Heh! I might be a 'nice' GM, but at 400,604 gp to buy them (or, I suppose, 200,604 to enchant them yourself)...I'm not that nice! ; )Right, so to sum up... Raj will need to wait until 3rd level to get his dual set of +4 Holy Vorpal Dancing Defending Daggers of Vicious Wounding.
*Sigh* I suppose I'll just have to impress y'all with his uber-coolness until then. ;)
Only 400,604gp for a +19 equivalent weapon?! *begins saving for his super bow*
... ;)
Sooo... 4th level then?
Well, with the 10GP I spent on books and such making a dent in my savings, I'm only about 400,602 GP short at the moment. Time to sell off a chunk of that Pharasmin library and steal everything in town that isn't nailed down. :)
Hmm, having to really think about how Theron would respond to Walter there. He's not the kind of person who is going to say anything mushy or encouraging, hah.
Heh, Theron really needs a point in diplomacy XD
I've just heard from Flori--unfortunately she'll be dropping out of the game. I will try to work out what treasure Flori had so we can re-allocate it. I've asked if I can write Flori out of the game, but I also welcome your suggestions about what to do next; I am perfectly happy to consider the conventional 'Flori? Who's that? Never heard of anyone by that name.'
I'll post the results of the next lot of research tonight (in 3-4 hours or so), but may not be able to get to Walter's meeting with Vesmera until Saturday night my time (around 27-28 hours from now). Walter, if I haven't posted anything by the time you're next ready to make a post, you're welcome to narrate your trip over to the town square.
I'm sad to hear it. Hopefully the player wont give up on PbP as a format.
I'd like to write her out of the game rather than ignore her - she wasn't in it a lot but she was there and it seems wierd that she just vanishes from the narrative.
I just made a complete racist dick of myself when with Karrik while trying to spare her feelings... maybe she heard after all? - if you want to put the boot into Dragomir and really make him feel like a P***k you can have her run away from the hateful people of Ravengro.
Alternatively? She becomes a sort of home body (to be fair, ALL she needs to do is stay in Ravengro for 29 more days and she is set for the next 10 years!) and just hussles around the home, being clucky and house maidish (she never had the opportunity before and she is making the best of it now). We can still use her as a story device as a background personality.
Finally, a grim touch? There is bound to be mayhem and evil in the next few days. A death can have a very dramatic impact - it can be death by Zombie apocalypse, Death by monster if/when we get to Harrowstone, or even suicide (which is really dark).
It is sad that Flora isn't going to be able to stay with us, but I guess it was pretty easy to see that it was going to happen. Anyway, I agree with Dragomir, it would be better to write her out rather than ignore her existence I think.
I just made a complete racist dick of myself when with Karrik while trying to spare her feelings...
All the sensitive characters are talking to the wrong people, lol!
It is too bad... as a player I like to try and have my characters get along with everyone (except the enemy, hah), but I just couldn't picture an inquisitor doing much except being very blunt there XD
Hmm, I wonder if I should have Theron loudly say "We don't know anyone with a name which starts with 'V', right?" before Walter leaves. Muahaha.
I guess we can just assume that all the gathered information was shared before we head out?
