I'm not sure if I should sneak, search (environment hazards, lookouts, dangerous animals), or cover tracks.
I'll dig into the book today and plow through the chapter(s) on the various modes. Hopefully, I can give you some insightful feedback later today, Naadhira /._./
You've got the best Perception, Naadhira, so Searching is probably the best tactic for you. I don't think we need to cover our tracks.
Alright, I'll search
Sorry, been away with work. I'll get a post up tomorrow. Looks like we're still waiting on Caraid to update their character anyway.
Sorry - this week has been really tough and trying to find the time to sit down and build a 4th level is proving elusive at best...
No problem, Caraid - I'll keep things moving and you post when you can. Hope things improve!
Quick question: as you can see, I'm rolling initiative for each of you separately. Would you prefer it if I rolled for you as a group, using the average initiative instead?
I'm in favor of group initiative, if only because it tends to smoothen combat and makes things go a lil' faster. Regardless, I'm fine with individual initiatives, assuming it doesn't cause combat to slow down to a crawl :D
Whichever is faster. I tend to run average until boss fights at which point I roll individually and the group inevitably go one after the other anyway! :)
Character is about half done now. It's mostly gear buying left!
Either way works for me.
No issues here.
I usually average the enemies but not the players. Everyone does it differently.
Ok, for the next combat I will try out group initiative.
Naadhira - I'm fine with you using raw pesh instead of mistletoe as your focus.
Hyenas are AC 15 and the hyenadon is AC 18.
Ali must have been distracted staring at Badia's finely-toned backside. All that leaping is good for the glutes! ;D
Good Lord. No comment x'D
Drat. Six attacks and not ONE of them rolls higher than a 10.
EDIT Drat and double drat! I completely overlooked Caraid's turn. Apologies.
Nice to see you're back to your old ways WW! :)
I'll get you in the end my pretties, and your little halfling too!
Apparently, persistent damage forces a flat DC 20 check on the suffering creature's turn. Making that save ends the persistent damage. So, you need to roll .. a nat 20? Nasty.
Yeah, it's pretty brutal.
Yes - and as I understand it, healing (even magic healing) now doesn't automatically end bleed damage, which is a BIG change from PF1.
Ways to deal with persistent damage:
- You are healed to your maximum hit points
- Healing spells or a medicine check can reduce the flat check from 20 to 15
@Caraid - sorry to be a pain (I know RL can be troublesome) but do you have any thoughts on when you're likely to be ready?
The party can probably survive this fight without you but we'll need you at some point
@Naadhira - I think your staff takes 1 resonance to use each time, which means you're now out of resonance. If I've got that wrong, let me know as I'm finding the whole resonance system counter-intuitive and I may well have misunderstood.
I'm not sure. I really dislike resonance.
Oh Caraid, where art thou?
Yeah, sorry about that - I underestimated the difficulty of this encounter!
Activating a staff to use a cantrip doesn't cost resonance nor charges. Page 378 casting spells from a staff.
In addition, because I was a genius when preparing spells for today, I also have produce flame prepared normally. It's just cooler to use the staff.
After looking through resonance again, I've noticed that one must invest in a staff (which I have done), but I haven't seen anything that says that one must invest in a wand.
Oh FFS.
It's not enough to invent a pointless new game mechanic that adds to the number of resources that have to be kept track of, the godsdamn f***ing thing isn't even applied consistently across the system.
Up until now I'd assumed that the only company that hated you for trying to use its products was Microsoft. I'm having to wonder what we did to piss off the Paizo people enough that they inflicted this on us.
Don't forget EA =P
Maybe Paizo built this game specifically for the rules lawyers
oh oh oh
Paizo's 2nd edition is just as consistent as as their website
...ok, that last one's just mean.
But I laughed anyway :)
Is it mean if it's also true?
Yeah... probably
I've returned a point of resonance to my pool (which I will spend in just a second) since it turns out that I er... don't need to invest in the wand.
[dice=Heal (S+V)]3d8+4
*mutter mutter mutter stupid new system makes me track charges as well mutter mutter mutter*
On an entirely unrelated note I propose to halt here until Caraid can catch us up - the encounters get tougher from hereon in.
Right I should put those charges up top.
Sure thing
0 resonance means it's a flat check to make anything work - the DC starts at 10 plus the number of points you've overspent. See page 377 of the rulebook for the full details.
Or feed the thing into a shredder while calling down the wrath of Gygax and Arneson upon its authors. At this point, I'm good either way.
Ah you beat me! I just finished reading it. Thanks DM
Hey guys, sorry again - this weekend has had less free time than the week!
I'm mostly done apart from gear which I do not understand. Is it a flat amount of silver, silver and a certain number of items? Someone said earlier one 3, two 2 and one 1, is that right?
I've bought expert armor and thieves tools so far - can I actually afford these? I just don't know...
And I'm really glad I'm playing an non-resonance character!
The number of items is correct. You also have 300 sp to spend in gear. Light or medium expert armor is 350 sp, but it's also a 2nd level item, so you can choose that as one of your starting items.
I also just found where it said expert weapons are 2nd level items! GM, with your permission, I would like to trade my brooch of shielding for an expert falchion.
All characters have and will need resonance =P If you want to avoid using resonance, I suggest not taking magical items. If you want magical items, try to get stuff that only needs to be invested in once per day, rather than stuff that casts spells.
You can find the price of expert gear in table 6-19 (Item quality) on page 190.
Since we're level 4, we get additional access to:
- One 3rd level item
- Two 2nd level items
- One 1st level item
I had originally assumed this meant only magic items, but I was wrong.
Yeah, they really like to hide important info in random places throughout the book.
So 300sp AND the items mentioned? Can I take another 2nd level rather than a 3rd? Can I have TWO seconds instead of my first and third? :D
Yes, the silver plus the items. I believe you can choose a lower level item for a higher level slot, but you can't trade your 1st and 3rd for two 2nds.
I also just found where it said expert weapons are 2nd level items! GM, with your permission, I would like to trade my brooch of shielding for an expert falchion.
*puts on Hat of the Omnipotent GM*
*waves hand negligently*
So granted.
So 300sp AND the items mentioned? Can I take another 2nd level rather than a 3rd? Can I have TWO seconds instead of my first and third? :D
I genuinely don't know what the 'exchange rate' would be for the various level items; and I want to keep to the playtest as much as I can, so I'm going to say - alas - that you need to keep to the rules as written.
Yeah, they really like to hide important info in random places throughout the book.
I think you might be giving them too much credit - the rulebook reads more like they used the 'distributed by pixies drunk on fairy dust' method of assembly.
That's the problem I keep running into - I go 'where do I find this thing?' Look in all the sensible places and find Jack Sh*t, and then lose what little time I have n trying to find it.
Nearly done now the gear questions are answered though :)
Without the searchable pdf I would have long since given up. I pity anyone trying to run this at their table without a laptop or similar.
You asked for more things to track, right DM? Well here's an interesting homebrew idea a la 'shower thoughts'
Your armour reduces damage just like raising a shield, but in turn it takes dents and can be broken.
The only reason I haven't thrown the .pdf through a digital window is that SumatraPDF has an amazing search function. Control+F is my sole savior.
Of course, that very same idiot who wrote the above picked a class which requires you to non-stop look up spell descriptions.
I use One Note for my characters, and I've been snap-shot...ing the spells to look at whenever I need to.
@Naadhira: do.not.give.them.ideas.
@Alistilae: think playing a wizard involves non-stop searching? Try playing an alchemist...
We should track all our mundane ammunition!
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I played with an old school DM for years and years. While he did many things right, he also showed me how *not* to do many a thing as a DM. Does it further the story? Does it enrich the session? Is it a fun bit of gameplay or an enthralling mechanic? No? Okay, we can safely ignore that.
Cue counting total lbs of gear, meticulously keeping track of ammo and so on. If what you're doing is within reason, it's good enough for me.
Of course, there are situations where you need to nitpick, but if you're doing a survival game on an island, surely the players will be aware that those five arrows they got are all they'll have.
I really, really do not care for a return to ye olde 2nd edition AD&D days.