|
Welcome to my PbP game for the my game of PFS #9-09 Beyond the Halflight Path as part of PBP Gameday 7. Hope you would have a blast!
Before we start, I would to share some of my ground rules. (In spoiler tags to not take up space.)
PbP Matters
1. This discussion thread is open for all OOC matters, so no ooc tag needed. For OOC matters in the gameplay thread, please use the [ ooc ] tag.
2. Please post at least once a day. If you would be away, please let me know in advance where possible, and we can work something out. Otherwise, if you go missing, where necessary, I will bot your characters for the sake of the rest of everyone else. Thus, a good idea is to leave botting instructions for combat (with dice rolls) and non-combat in your profile page beforehand.
3. If you have any inputs or disagreements over some of my GM calls or interpretation of the rules, please take it to the discussion thread or, even better, pm me.
4. If you have played and/or GMed this scenario before, please do not metagame or spoil the plot. And please let me know.
5. I would have thought this would go without mentioning until I encountered this, so… It is the responsibility of the player to keep track of the game, including referencing the map on google slides. I understand that there are times where it is inconvenient to do so. In that case, please be as specific as you can as to where you wish your character to move, what actions to take, etc. If you regularly have issues with accessing the google slides, you might want to reconsider playing via PbP, especially for PFS as there is always combat, and thus map dependent.
Combat
6. Once surprise (if any) and initiative is determined, for the group of characters who can take actions, I would resolve actions in posting order, NOT initiative order. I used to do the latter but it doesn’t work that well in PbP, so am going with the former instead. (Mechanically, it means you are delaying for each other.) So please post as soon as you are able to. If you have actions that could depend on the actions of the rest of the team, just explain under what conditions your character would take what actions and I’ll resolve accordingly.
Rolls and Skill Checks
7. I would do your initiative rolls, as well as perception rolls for the purpose of determining surprise (if any). I generally group all the enemies’ initiative together to speed up posting.
8. On knowledge checks for general information, I would usually put them in spoilers with the necessary DCs. Just go ahead to roll, and I'll trust that you would resist reading them if the roll fails (or least not to metagame). (Don’t forget that you can make knowledge checks untrained for DC10.) There might be exceptions for plot-critical information though, where I would explicitly ask for knowledge checks. As for knowledge checks for monster lore, I would put the most basic information in spoiler as well, i.e. identity and one important info. If your roll would reveal more, I’ll provide in the next post. If you wish, you can ask for what information you want, e.g. DR, resistances, special attacks, etc.
9. On skill checks where there could be team effort involved, e.g. finding a hidden trail with survival, influencing attitude of NPCs with diplomacy, please be explicit when making the rolls whether you are attempting the check on your own, or whether you are assisting. (And take note of the pros and cons of either.) There might be situations where only one character is allowed to attempt the check (and the rest to assist) – I’ll state so explicitly if that’s the case.
10. On skill checks in general, if I feel you have roleplayed well, e.g. gave a good description of what your character does to search for a trail, came up with creative ways to befriend a hostile NPC, gave a very rousing speech, I would give bonuses, or even waive the DC altogether. :)
Roleplaying Matters
11. The maps and handouts link (at the top of the page) would display all the maps, handouts, pictures, etc as the scenario progresses. The most current page would be right on top, while previous ones would be left there for your reference. (Incidentally, Android and IOS has the Google Slides app in case you work off mobile devices.)
12. Please have your full character information up on your character's profile page for my vetting. Also, please have your stat block updated with the key information. Minimally please have your current hp vs max hp, AC (normal, touch and flat-footed), all three saves and movement. Feel free to include others.
13. Finally, playing by pbp provides many advantages compared to face-to-face games, the chief one being having the time and space to flesh out your thoughts and actions. So please make use of this and have posts that are more than simply dice rolls. :)
Getting Started
Ok with that out of the way, a few tasks before we kick off.
A. Go to the Gameplay page and dot.
B. Go to the maps and handouts page and fill out the table there. (Don’t worry about the 3 boxes below the table, i.e. token, initiative and perception. I’ll take care of that.)
C. In this Discussion thread, do your day job rolls (if any), and share whatever OOC information you would like the rest of the party to know about your character e.g. class, level, special abilities. We’ll leave character descriptions and introductions to the gameplay thread later when we are about to start.
We will get started once everyone is ready.
Fantastic!
|
I'll leave my day job roll till later. Kiboko does have the Hunting Lodge vanity, but often forgoes his day job roll to complete faction card tasks.
Kiboko and his companion hippo, Mvumbu the Wise and Beautiful, are a melee double team. They use Pack Flanking and Ferocious Beast (feat and rage power respectively) to good effect.
|
Nicolas is an APG Summoner, grandfathered in. He uses his Summon Monster SLA in combat, and casts support/control/utility spells. He’s a pretty good face: bluff +18; diplomacy +20.
Severin, his eidolon, is a small, serpentine, non-combat scout with: perfect flight (magical), disable device +26, perception +25, stealth +30, scent, and Gloves of Reconnaissance to see through walls 1/day (RIP pre-errata gloves).
Severin slithers through the air around Nicolas' head
Hello, thanks for inviting me!
Player: noral
Character: Aryas (Arcanist pregen)
PFS: 314670-5
Faction: Sovereign Court
Day job: none
Progression: normal
|
|
If you have not done so, can you put in your character information in the table in the maps and handouts slides? Thanks.
Forgot that Pooka hasn't checked in yet as his current game is just ending. I'll keep things moving and let him jump in when he's done.
Meanwhile, I would like to sort out marching order. The following is my proposal but feel free to counterpropose.
A Kiboko
B Mvumbu
C Pooka
D Ingrge
E Nicolas Aether
F Enora
G Traber
Usually, assuming sufficient space, would place everyone in twos, i.e. A-B, C-D...
|
|
Hey all! Thanks so much for inviting me!
My other game is wrapping up right now, so I will be worming my way into this one. I'll get info updated as soon as I can, hopefully by tonight or definitely this weekend.
In the meantime:
Player: Papasteve
Character: Pooka Bladespinner
PFS: 133958-1
Faction: Liberties Edge
Day job:
Progression: normal
|
|
Well I suppose that is one way to shoulder in an introduction. ha!
So quick recap of Pooka's combat capabilities.
Cavalier - so some obvious stuff. I appreciate charge lanes and Pooka can dish out some respectable damage, provided I can charge. I've got ride by attack, and a really fun feat called Wheeling Charge, which lets me ignore teammates and even make a 90 degree turn in the middle of my charge. Lots of flexibility there. So "getting in my charge lane" is really only possible for people already in melee with the baddies, who might provide cover from my lance.
Also, I've got a danger ward ability that lets me give everyone a nice bonus to your saving throws. If anyone has a suspicion we are going to need to roll something, I can try to help with that. It can be a bit of an action economy nightmare though (std action) so its best as a pre-combat buff.
Personality - I try to play Pooka as a big softie that tries to pretend to be gruff. He is a sucker for dogs (should be easy right?) and pets in general. Luna is also a big oafie pupper who likes to carry Pooka around. Looking forward to this game!
|
|
1. Alright, the remainder of the scenario is basically one large dungeon crawl. To facilitate the posting, if you are fine, allow me to lead you through chamber by chamber. Otherwise, we'll get bogged down trying to decide which path to take every time we clear a room. Is that ok?
2. If that is the case, let me know if any of your characters have default actions for clearing dungeons as you move from chamber to chamber, e.g. stealthing X ft ahead, checking for traps, and I'll manage accordingly. (As a minor spoiler, there are no doors here.)
3. The caves are dimly lit. Let me know if you want to carry your own light, as that could potentially affect how encounters trigger.
4. For those with animal companions, my usual practice is that they take their actions at your initiative. This helps to keep posting speed up. Besides, even if your animal companion rolls higher, they would usually have to delay to your turn to get your command anyway. I would have them roll perception for surprise separately though.
5. Nicholas, you mentioned that Severin would primarily be used for scouting. Let me know how you would use him in a dungeon crawl, whether he is out by default, etc. Should combat trigger while he's out, you would need one round to dismiss him?
6. Pooka, I'm going to assume that you are riding Luna by default?
|
|
Happy with your plan, GM!
Kiboko is capable of stealth (+10 modifier) but in this party will leave that to Ingrge and Severin.
Kiboko will cast a few spells now that we've reached the area we're targeting: Longstrider (+10' speed, 6 hours), Feather Step (ignore difficult terrain, 60 minutes) and Barkskin (+3AC, 60 mins).
Kiboko's relevant skills are:
Stealth +10, Perception +12, Survival +12 (+14 tracking); Knowledge (dungeoneering) +5 and Knowledge (nature) +5 might also come in handy.
Kiboko will use a charge of his Wand of Heightened Awareness (+2 to Perception and trained Knowledges for 10 minutes; so, Perception +14, Knowledges +7) and will burn the spell for +4 initiative if combat breaks out. I'll decide whether to burn more charges as we proceed, depending on size of the dungeon.
Note that Mvumbu is Large sized. Kiboko will switch her default Animal Focus to Bat to give her Darkvision unless we are making light, in which case it will remain set to Bear. Kiboko has Darkvision.
I could shrink Mvumbu with Carry Companion, but prefer to have her as an active combatant. I'll purchase a scroll of Reduce Animal before going into the dungeon segment, and may use that depending on dungeon layout.
Kiboko and Mvumbu are strongest if they can fight side by side - when adjacent, Pack Flanking and Outflank combine to give a significant accuracy boost. Kiboko will travel with his hooked lance drawn (10' reach). Kiboko and Mvumbu would want to be in the "front rank" behind scouts, but do not want to block Pooka's charge lane. Kiboko is not reliant on charging.
|
|
5. Nicholas, you mentioned that Severin would primarily be used for scouting. Let me know how you would use him in a dungeon crawl, whether he is out by default, etc. Should combat trigger while he's out, you would need one round to dismiss him?
He’s out by default. I’ll keep Message up with him while he’s scouting. If combat triggers while he’s out I do need to spend my first turn dismissing him so I try to avoid that happening. He’s got +30 stealth, +25 perception,+26 disable device and if there’s a magical trap I’ll UMD a scroll of Aram Zey’s Focus. Also scent, perfect flight, and Bond Senses.
Your method you mentioned of keeping the crawl moving sounds great.
|
|
Yes, definitely riding Luna, Lance in hand, and i prefer to act on the same initiative. Plan looks great to me!
Thanks to my Wheeling Charge feat, allied creatures do not impeed my charge, i just can't attack from a space occupied by an ally. So dont get too hung up trying to stay out of my way, ill try to find a way around you. Because of that, i dont mind being in the middle of the pack if there are others who prefer the front. (Though i do like the front row)
Danger ward is a nice ability i would like to someday use, but it only lasts a minute and is a standard action for each individual save type. If we have a chance to buff before busting down a door, that could be my contribution.
Luna also has the scent ability, which should help us avoid being surprised to some extent. I'm fine with the sunrod for light, even if that prevents us from being the surprisers. Im also fine if our stealthy folks want to get out ahead of the light. It just might take me a round to get up and provide support. Pooka can always activate his wayfinder if necessary.
Last thing to note for now is that as long as you can see me (specifically my regal looking banner) and are within 60', you get a +2 bonus on saves vs fear, and an extra +1 to attack when charging.
Enora always stays in the middle of the party.
Enora casts ‘false life’ on herself.
She uses her wand of mage armor on herself.
She casts ‘fly’ on herself.
She then spends 1 Arcane Reservoir and ‘quick study’ to change ‘fly’ to ‘dispel magic’ as her memorised spell.
She casts ‘enlarge person’ on anyone who want to be enlarged.
Ok! ;-)
|
|
It's best to "finish" regenerating monsters with damage they can't regenerate, otherwise they will just start healing again. So with these trolls, acid or sonic damage will stop them regenerating for 1 round, and in that round if they are helpless they can be coup-de-graced. The mephit can breathe acid once every 4 rounds, and has one acid arrow spell per hour. If we can drop the three trolls into unconsciousness, the mephit can shut down their regen with one breath attack long enough for three PCs/Companions to CDG them.
|
Question GM...are both Mvumbu and Pooka giving the yellow troll soft cover? I was assuming I could fire over both at the large troll and was thinking especially that Pooka, being a halfling, would not provide any soft cover to the troll. I have the Deadeye Bowman trait and it nullifies any soft cover AC bonus to my target if only one creature is providing it. I'm fine with it either way just wanted some clarification as I may have to change tactics...
|
|
I've got another question that seems to get interpreted different ways by different GMs
The Ride-By-Attack feat: Rules searches seem to show that most people assume it lets you ride through your target's square, but it looks like there are a few who don't agree. It makes sense to me to be able to go through, but not necessarily overrun (without the feat anyways)
Just wanted to make sure we were on the same page before I tried something.
|
|
Ingrgre, thanks for pointing out the Deadeye Bowman, which I missed (and even if I didn't, I would have neglected to think about Pooka's height). Mvumbu is Large, same size as the troll. Pooka is actually riding on Luna, so that's Medium. Doing some 3D manipulation in my head, you can fire over Pooka (and Luna), so that's only one soft cover. Which means one of your arrow would have hit. I'll take note in the future.
Pooka, I agree that you would move through your target's square. Key phrase being "continuing the straight line of the charge." Rules are that charge requires you to "move to the closest space from which you can attack the opponent", so continuing the straight line would almost always necessitate moving through the target.
GM, just realised that the combat map link in your posts links to another game map. Your profile link is correct.
It was a great game though! Toral very much enjoyed it! ;-)
Me too!!!
I hope everything worked out!
Have fun!
|
|
Just a head's up, I'll be on a cruise next week from Monday afternoon till Friday morning. I'll be posting up until I leave...and might be able to post a time or two from the ship but that's been hit and miss for me in the past. If y'all could bot me as needed in that timeframe, I'd appreciate it...
Don’t worry at all! ;)