Annalya laughs, her voice like the tinkling of chimes on a summer's breeze, "Indeed it does appear that there are a number of my kin here, although perhaps Desna draws us here for some higher purpose."
Clearing his throat (mainly because the mead at this place isn't very good) Thorjar says, "I didn't come here for any specific reason. I've been wandering Varisia and this is where I currently find myself. I am looking forward to the festival though; you can learn a lot about a community by the way they celebrate."
"Well I will be looking forward to seeing all of you at the festival. It will be a great day, from the bonfire to the food."
"Are there any specific events planned? Grigore, will you be acting for us?"
"I'm curious, does the celebration extend to the bay or the boats? I'm over ninety years old and yet this is the first port city that I've visited."
This Cathedral here is interesting. Desna, Abadar, Sarenrae, Shelyn, Gozreh and Erastil. A unique assortment but I think I see the logic of it...
"I would not be surprised myself. I am not old enough to have attended the original, but it probably did as well."
"Are there any specific events planned? Grigore, will you be acting for us?"
Why, yes I am. I will be stretching my acting skills to the limit as "Second Guard". I even get a line this time.
The soldier stands up straight and narrows his eyes in a suspicious scowl. He extends his hand, palm facing outward at Erynion.
Halt! State your business!
He relaxes, smiling again. I'm a natural, huh?
Brevyre starts clapping as his old friends performance "I wonder how you did not get first guard this time."
Well, First Guard was played by a woman. I think I could pull it off, but the director said: "All the makeup in Varisia can't make you pretty," or something to that effect. Shame too, since First Guard gets a glorious death scene. Me, I just get killed offstage. You believe that?
Grigore report the news with a slight bit of disappointment, as if he finds the idea of an onstage death very exciting.
"Tis' a shame then, Grigore. I am sure you could do it, given the proper preparations."
Scoria certainly didn't mind being shunted back out of the limelight, with Grigore making a display of his prowess in acting. It was most certainly art, but unlike her craft, it was fleeting. The performance never lasted long. She preferred art that endured the weather of time.
"...I assume you do not mean you are actually executed after you've played your part," Scoria spoke to Grigore. Unlike Annalya's light and tinkling voice, her own was like the quiet rumble of a landslide in the distance.
Grigore stops still, for a moment uncertain if Scoria is joking or serious. He decides either way it's funny, and laughs heartily at the question.
A ha ha HA! No, though after some performances the audience might wish it. I assure you, however I eventually die, it will not be from execution. They'll never take me alive.
He winks at the monk before laughing again.
"So you would rather take your own life than allow others to execute you for any reason?" Scoria asked him, her face betraying no emotion - not a smile nor a frown, nor the furrow or raising of her brow. "There is honor in that, should the reasons for your punishment be unjust. But if that were the case, I would endeavor to escape instead of giving up on life. One should not blindly obey laws that are more harmful to society than helpful, after all. My master and I learned that in our travels in Cheliax."
She looked at the puzzled expression of the rugged actor, thinking perhaps she needed to switch the conversation to something else entirely. "So, I have not been to this Swallowtail Festival before. What kinds of activities will there be?"
Thorjar laughs hearing Grigore, "But you delivered your line so well!" He stands and begins speaking in Dwarvish:
"Well, it sounds better in Dwarvish but it means, more or less, "His countenance was so impressive that I had to heed his noble words."
He turns to Scoria in surprise. "You traveled Cheliax? What made you travel that devil-blighted gods-forsaken land?"
What? No, I meant I will die fighting--are you kidding? I love myself far to much to end my own life. . Grigore smiles widely at Scoria, marveling how their different paths in life lead them to slight misunderstandings.
I always assumed I'd die honorably in battle, but I think that time is probably past. In any event, the festival will be great. If Grigore the Grim portraying "Second Guard" isn't enough to get you excited about the festival, well, there will be all manner of excellent food, drink, song, tales, and I'd imagine a fair amount of prayer.
Thorjar laughs hearing Grigore, "But you delivered your line so well!" He stands and begins speaking in Dwarvish:
"Well, it sounds better in Dwarvish but it means, more or less, "His countenance was so impressive that I had to heed his noble words."
He turns to Scoria in surprise. "You traveled Cheliax? What made you travel that devil-blighted gods-forsaken land?"
Much to Thorjar's surprise, Grigore responds in Dwarven:
Had a dwarven friend in the arena. Yeah, there's a lot of time between matches during the slow season.
More surprisingly (Or less so), Scoria also speaks in Dwarven - it would have been rude of her to let them think she couldn't understand.
"As for dying, I would prefer to live a long life - there is a goal of mine that requires decades of dedication, and proper funding."
"There will be the best food and drink from all the Taverns of Sandpoint, hoping to gain new customers and keep their current ones. As for prayer, it will happen"
Aven sits slightly bewildered for a moment at the slew of talking and back and forth and acting. And then several of them start talking like they had rocks in their mouths!
"There do be a school of drinkers in here now. A festival with free ale do be sounding grand. I could do for some action and some plunder truth be told, yet there be no finer drink than a free one."
Aven looks around to see if anyone will notice his now empty mug...
The doors banged open to admit a rather disgruntled looking she-dwarf inside the tavern.More striking than the fact she was a female dwarf was the dark skin that contrasted sharply with her fushia hair. It was styled into a flaring Mohawk that added nearly a foot to her height of 4'3" with a pair of braids that trailed down her back capped with lead moles. Sweeping sideburns framed her scowling face that actually made her face more alluring than masculine. Matching fuschia eyebrows dipped above honey eyes set in a smoldering glower.
Studded leather corset over a bright yellow tunic and a leather skirt that sweeper over the floorboards and hugged wide hips suited to her race peeked out from beneath the cloak she wore. Hips and braids swinging in sync like a pendelum,the she-dwarf dwarf waddled up to the bar.
With a frustrated sigh,she slapped two gold coins onto the counter,Best ale you got. I be needin' a stout drink t' ease me nerves. Damned gobs!
Thorjar laughs yet again to hears others speak Dwarven "Well, I never expected that!" He continues, still chuckling, "To be honest, I only speak it myself because my father insisted I learn it; I didn't grow up around other Dwarves."
He shoots glances at Scoria trying to be unobtrusive about it and failing. Past tense. Did her father pass or did she just strike out on her own? Thorjar can't bring himself to ask her the question. It's a bit personal and it makes him maudlin as it just reminds him he doesn't know what became of his own father.
Just wanted to let everyone know that I may be in and out over the next few days. I am located in Northern California and we are having a major fire in the area. PG&E will be turning power off at times to accommodate the fire crews working near power lines. Hopefully things get better and I should be 100% within a few days.
I'll be at GenCon Wednesday through Sunday but with my iPhone I don't foresee any major difficulties in posting.
I like the clustered initiative roll that Thorjar put forward - given how PbP works, I can see how it would make things quicker. Expecting people to post in order of initiative is unrealistic, most of the time at least.
My idea of how combat will work:
1.) Map will be revealed; everyone will place their character, unless otherwise directed. Sometimes, I will place your character, and I will definitely do so if I haven't heard from you in a timely manner.
2.) While placing your character, roll initiative; I'll roll for the baddies. I'll also roll for you if I haven't heard from you in a timely manner.
3.) At the beginning of each round, I'll post the order of action, along with any status effects that are active. I'll cluster you into groups of two or three - like Thorjar mentioned, anyone in that cluster can act, in the order that they post. It'll make things a bit snappier, I think, while still paying respect to the initiative system. I'll act for you if I haven't heard from you in a timely manner.
4.) You will proceed to beat down your enemies and restore honour, truth and justice in the world. In a timely manner, of course :-)
5.) Repeat step three at the beginning of each round, until all enemies have been stomped into oblivion.
Comments / concerns / kudos?
Sounds good to me. Personally I don't mind if you roll initiative for everyone on the get go to make things go faster - Your RNG and dice are just as good as our RNG and dice in that respect. So long as you add the right modifiers.
Edit: Also, if I recall, you wanted to talk to people about builds before we started, so is there anything you wanted to talk about Scoria for? Or is she as flawless as a marble statue? :3
Sounds good to me. Personally I don't mind if you roll initiative for everyone on the get go to make things go faster - Your RNG and dice are just as good as our RNG and dice in that respect. So long as you add the right modifiers.
I hope your faith in me is well placed ;-)
Also, when declaring your actions for the round, it would be good to roll any needed dice - to hit and damage rolls, crit confirmations and damage, etc.
@ Scoria - haven't really had the chance to take a long look at your character sheet yet..... I'll let you know closer to "go time" if I see any issues.
Having said that - does Scoria have three traits? I thought I had mentioned two as our target number?
EDIT: With your adopted trait, which dwarven racial trait did you take?
She doesn't have three traits. The Adopted trait allows her to take a racial trait based on who raised her, in this case a Vudrani. So that counts as only one trait.
I know it's confusing, which is why I added the url links to the traits for you to take a look at.
Edit: she apprenticed to dwarf for stonemasonry, but the one who raised her was a Vudrani monk, so it's to him that she has the Adopted trait.
It actually is a little confusing - so, if I get it right, adopted is a social trait that allows you to switch out a racial trait, but it doesn't count as you having taken a trait?
I'm not familiar with traits, and I had initially disallowed them, so I hope you can excuse my questions. I'll assume that what you've got down here is correct, going forward.
EDIT: Holy crap, race traits and racial traits are not the same thing. I see what my problem was with understanding. It's a good thing those aren't confusing at all!
I like the clustered initiative roll that Thorjar put forward - given how PbP works, I can see how it would make things quicker. Expecting people to post in order of initiative is unrealistic, most of the time at least.
My idea of how combat will work:
1.) Map will be revealed; everyone will place their character, unless otherwise directed. Sometimes, I will place your character, and I will definitely do so if I haven't heard from you in a timely manner.
2.) While placing your character, roll initiative; I'll roll for the baddies. I'll also roll for you if I haven't heard from you in a timely manner.
3.) At the beginning of each round, I'll post the order of action, along with any status effects that are active. I'll cluster you into groups of two or three - like Thorjar mentioned, anyone in that cluster can act, in the order that they post. It'll make things a bit snappier, I think, while still paying respect to the initiative system. I'll act for you if I haven't heard from you in a timely manner.
4.) You will proceed to beat down your enemies and restore honour, truth and justice in the world. In a timely manner, of course :-)
5.) Repeat step three at the beginning of each round, until all enemies have been stomped into oblivion.
Comments / concerns / kudos?
This all looks good to me, and I like the clustered Initiative idea.
I agree that it would probably be best for you (DM MG) to roll initiative for everybody. I'm in another game that has a lot of players and we keep it moving, but different people are available to post at different times. I can see waiting for someone's action and RP and whatnot, but waiting for init rolls could get tedious.
And while it seems that it would be annoying/extra work for the DM to do everyone's init, one thing that makes it easier is to just put in your DM profile a "dice macro" if you will of a list of all of us with the dice command next to our name.
Like just click the quote button on this and copy and paste the following in your profile:
(it was listed as +0 but you have reactionary so I think it should be +2)
Then each combat just post this and we're good to go. I'm happy to roll my own init, but this would probably work better with such a large party, IMO.
Wow, Calkin you had to go and throw off our "all +2 init party", didn't you? ;-)
Two out of Seven natural 20s rolled--not bad.
Digger's trait-ed up and ready to lie his ass off.
Ill fix my stats sorry. Which one of those init bonuses does not belong?
Two out of Seven natural 20s rolled--not bad.
Now that you've done it in the OOC thread, we'll expect it everytime in the IC thread too. ;)
Ill fix my stats sorry. Which one of those init bonuses does not belong?
Grigore was just noting that your initiative bonus should be +2 due to you having the "reactionary" trait. You have it listed on your character sheet, but you have your init bonus as being 0.
Stats fixed, ready to go
Gave Erynion some traits. Goblins love traits.
@ Brevyre - just to clarify - is your archon subdomain from the good or law domain? It can be a subdomain of either, and you don't note which major domains you chosen. I'm assuming good.
Also, including your domain abilities on your sheet would be helpful. From what I can tell, you should be noting that your channel energy is +2 DC when used vs undead, touch of glory and touch of good abilities.
Also, maybe note your domain spells on your sheet? The notation spellcasters use in my home games looks like this:
Divine spellcasting - CL 1st, concentration +4, penetration +0
Level 0 (DC 13) - choose 3 per day
Level 1 (DC 14) - 2+1 Domain spells divine favor or shield of faith
Otherwise, your cleric is looking good!
Just wanted to let everyone know that I may be in and out over the next few days. I am located in Northern California and we are having a major fire in the area. PG&E will be turning power off at times to accommodate the fire crews working near power lines. Hopefully things get better and I should be 100% within a few days.
I'm sorry to hear about that :-( I hope you and yours remain safe during what sounds like a very scary time.
I'm planning a mock combat shortly, I'll DMPC your sorcerer until your return.
I'll be at GenCon for far too much time later this week as well. I've got my phone and I'll likely have my laptop, but I'll be in the Pathfinder area pretty much all week and I don't recall reception being all that good in the halls. So I'll post when I can, but things might be spotty so GMPC when necessary.
Good news, so far the power hasn't gone out. Bad news, the fire hasn't gotten any better. I just hope that all the firefighters stay safe out there.
@ everyone: Mock combat time!
There is a peal of thunder, and a blinding white light. You feel like you have travelled a great distance....
You find yourselves in a great hall, filled with columns, arranged in rows, reaching up to the crimson sky. You've no time to examine your surroundings closer; you hear heavy, measured footsteps, echoing throughout the hall, and getting closer.
Emerging from behind the columns are several goats. Their black fur, red eyes, and sharp-ish teeth mark them as no ordinary animals, however. They look at you with malicious intent, dropping into action-ready poses .... and growling!
You hear a gravelly voice inside your heads "Ooooh, you're in for it now, bipeds! I've made sure those goats haven't been fed in two or three hours ... they hunger!!!! They must feed! And you are the only source of underwear around!"
Here's the combat map:
Your characters should be placed in the gray zone - please post and let me know. Initiative is as follows:
Goats A-D
Alpha Goat
Grigore
Thorjar
Brevyre
Scoria
Digger
Erynion
Calkin
Go get em, team!!!
Errrr ...trying to put Digger behind a column but I can't figure out how to edit ...do I need to wait for my initiative?
Errrr ...trying to put Digger behind a column but I can't figure out how to edit ...do I need to wait for my initiative?
I have turned on editing! Apologies!
To make a little character for yourself, choose your square, then right click and choose insert comment. Type your character name and hit enter, and you've tagged yourself. To make yourself blue, click on your square, choose text background color and choose the blue on the second row down. I like the good guys to be blue :-)
Digger will attempt to hide behind a column.
I'm blue, da ba dee da ba di...
Erynion tries to figure out just what the heck these vile abominations are:
He'll draw his bow, and if he figure them out he'll start up his Naturalist bardic performance to give allies within 30 ft a +1 insight bonus to AC and on attack rolls and saving throws against exceptional, supernatural, and spell-like abilities used by creatures of that specific kind of monster.
Brevyre draws his sword and casts bless
@ Erynion - since these are animals, it would be a knowledge - nature check (DC 6). The Alpha Goat is DC 16.
"The small ones are just normal goats! They'll be delicious with a side of yogurt!"
The Naturalist bonus will apply only against them.