Reign of Winter in Winter (Inactive)

Game Master DoubleGold

It is great on an alchemist when paired with a source of fast healing and their multiple sources of dr.

I am absolutely still interested. Will be watching for my intro if it hasn't already occurred, I've yet to read IC.

I'm okay with people having DMed this stuff.

Hey guy! Just as an FYI- my wife went into labor today, everyone is currently healthy (but only somewhat happy at the current state of affairs). I have paternity leave set up, but I might not get to games on occasion for obvious reasons. Please feel free to bot if I am the one holding up the game.

Slow clap to Goliath, Halros and Tulgram! this is fine vintage style roleplay. I feel like we're in an episode of Vikings or Game of Throne. I would pay to watch the show we are collectively writing right now! :)

Edit: Oh, and congrats to Halros and his growing family! best of luck to baby, mother and papa! If that is your firstborn, you will rediscover coffee, and your posting rate will actually increase as you stay up between the feedings occurring every two or three hours! LOL

Yes, congrats Halros!

I join in congratulations!

Everyone is happy and healthy- it was a long hard day (with some unexpected excitement) but everything is wonderful now. Thank you for the well wishes!

Game wise: I am still tweaking Halros a little (dropping agile maneuvers for Iron will)

That brings his base Will save to +6 and his raging will save to +13.

Similarly, congratulations. I have no spawn yet, only animal companions, but I do congratulate you.

Congrats to Halros. Also, update coming, I'll have the NPCs interact with your characters and advance the story.

I don't think it's possible to use 'ready action' not in battle, because your opponent can use this option too, and there is only one way to resolve whose 'ready action' will be first ... 'roll initiative' .)

Of course, we can ignore this with unintelligent animals, but I wanted to note this point )

By raw the combat starts the moment one enemy is aware of the other. Combat has a strict order of operations. We are doing things, best as I can tell, as a way that is convenient for posting but is not raw (which is standard in PBP, I do it in my games). I'm guessing the gm will allow actions that would be valid if it we not for the adjustments made for PBP, but I could be wrong. If so Doublegold will tell me.

GM: is it ok if I use a spoiler for stats since so much stuff changes based on rage/etc. If not, let me know and I’ll edit my tag line each time

Halros wouldn't know they were a swarm, just that combat is coming. He will use his own rage on round #1. I am still not exactly clear how accepting the Skald's rage effects Halros. My understanding is that I can use my level to determine bonuses- but that I don't get any of my rage powers

If Halros can use "controlled rage" off of the Skald's rage, he still take the bonus as a dex bonus and still use the wand. If Halros can't use "controlled rage" he is better taking his own rage on round 1 of combat. Theoretically, he could accept the haste, and then use his free action to enter a rage (and be raging heading into the first round).

Either way, you are right in that this probably doesn't have a huge impact on this particular combat one way or another.

You know it's a swarm because Uthred told you.

Haste will always affect you regardless of being in a rage or not. All you need for it to work is to be considered Uthred's ally. Are you? :)

If you take the Skald rage you "may use the Strength, Constitution, and Will saving throw bonuses, as well as AC penalties, based on her own ability and level instead of those from the skald (still suffering no fatigue afterward)."

So either accept +4STR/CON and +3 Will saves or your own numbers. Since your numbers are '+4 to DEX, no bonus on Will saves, no penalties to AC, and can still use Intelligence-, Dexterity-, and Charisma-based skills', I'd say you use that instead if you accept the Skald's rage, and you won't access your rage powers: you'll have to take the Skald's.

I think it is an area where you might see table variation in regards to how it works- I am OK with however it is going to be ruled (I hate making waves in games or being a needy player... sorry GM :/)

Urban Barbarian + Skald Thread

Based on my (sometimes limited) understanding of RAW when Uthred inspires rage Halros has 2 options:

#1: Accept the skald's rage and all of the Skald's rage powers: gain +4 STR/+4 Con, -2 AC, and +2 Will save. No fatigue at the end.

#2: Decline the rage, and use Halros' controlled rage and rage powers/rage rounds, and the fatigue at the end of the rage.

If those are my two options, #2 is a better option for Halros. Unless the GM house rules a different solution- which I am also open to.

In regards to the haste- because of Superstition (Ex), if Halros is raging he has to resist all magics, including those cast by allies. If Halros rages before you cast haste- I have to resist it. But if you cast it before I rage, I can keep the buff, no problem! I think you will see this a lot from Halros during combats- delaying his turn until after casters buff, and then raging at the end of round one or even into round #2.

#1: Accept the skald's rage and all of the Skald's rage powers: gain +4 STR/+4 Con, -2 AC, and +2 Will save. No fatigue at the end.

#2: Decline the rage, and use Halros' controlled rage and rage powers/rage rounds, and the fatigue at the end of the rage.

Option 1 is: +4 STR/+4 Con, -1 AC, and +3 Will save

Here's the FAQ on it

To the risk of sounding like a broken record, I will also repeat the section of the skald class that speaks of using your own rage:

If you take the Skald rage you "may use the Strength, Constitution, and Will saving throw bonuses, as well as AC penalties, based on her own ability and level instead of those from the skald (still suffering no fatigue afterward)."

So, if the GM agrees, either accept +4STR/CON and +3 Will saves or your own numbers. Since your numbers are '+4 to DEX, no bonus on Will saves, no penalties to AC, and can still use Intelligence-, Dexterity-, and Charisma-based skills', I'd say you use that instead if you accept the Skald's rage, and you won't access your rage powers: you'll have to take the Skald's.

Urban Barbarian can use Dex instead of STR & CON: they are the exception to the rule and the reason why the Skald text does not say "STR, CON, and DEX based on her own ability" I would say use DEX instead of STR&CON, but you can't use your rage powers. Those have to be mine. That is up the GM to decide though. Until then, use your own damn rage! :)

PS: the skald text specifically calls out what you can't use with the skald rage --> "inspired rage does not allow the ally to activate abilities dependent on other rage class abilities, such as rage powers, blood casting, or bloodrager bloodlines; the ally must activate her own rage class ability in order to use these features."
--> note that this does not include your actual modified rage class feature (i.e. DEX plus ability to use Int, Wis, Cha skills). If you extrapolate that 'controlled rage' is an ability dependent on the rage ability you would be wrong: controlled rage "IS" the rage ability. The dependent abilities are your rage powers.

I should have mentioned that the worst part about playing a skald is explaining them. I used to hand out cards in PFS.

LOL! the only problem is Urban Barbarian! :)

Hahaha. I have played with people that I don't want their AC to go down by one. I'm left saying, "but more damage, more HP, better will saves, better attack better for save and all these cool powers you will take less damage if you use it."

Rages :)

By raw the combat starts the moment one enemy is aware of the other. Combat has a strict order of operations. We are doing things, best as I can tell, as a way that is convenient for posting but is not raw (which is standard in PBP, I do it in my games). I'm guessing the gm will allow actions that would be valid if it we not for the adjustments made for PBP, but I could be wrong. If so Doublegold will tell me.

1. This fight conflicts raw then in a way.

2. Yes you can put stats in spoilers.

Ok then Goliath will cast flaming sphere infront of the group.

[*dice=Initiative | Tulgram (Cold)]1d20+8[/dice]
[*dice=Initiative | Tulgram]1d20+6[/dice]

Fellow adventurers... pretty serious medical procedure I'm going through on Monday and Tuesday... please bot me as I won't be available during those days... if you don't see me post by Wed or Thu, May 1 or 2... consider replacing me with someone else... wish me luck!

I hope everything is OK Uthred. I work in the hospital/post surgical world, please feel free to PM me if you have any questions or there is something els I can do to help you.

-RxGus

Goodluck. Hope to see you back.

Hope everything goes well.

What was a routine procedure turned out to be a nightmare... eat your vegetables folks, and check your cholesterol. Do it early, and do it often. I'm still shaky, but no longer in negative HPs! you might want to bot me if I'm slowing you down in the next few days though...

Thank you all for the wishes of good luck as they may have made the difference! Also send a thank you prayer for Mike: a guy who had wisely listened during his classes and maxed his ranks in Heal. Without his expert knowledge and his leadership with another half-dozen wide eyed professionals who had NOT maxed up their ranks in Heal (and had instead cross-trained in Performance: Drinking Games), I probably wouldn't be here today.

Um, just to be clear, does the spell spot spellcasters or just people hidden by magic via invisibility?

Arcane sight basically gets you directly the third round of detect magic. Strength and location of auras along with spellcraft checks.

Things like a ring of protection or cloak of resistance floating in the air would likely give away the location of a person but they would still have concealment.

Also Saber has scent so automatically detect creatures within 30 feet and would be up with goliath.

Um, just to be clear, does the spell spot spellcasters or just people hidden by magic via invisibility?

BOTH -- although it's up to the GM to decide if the caster must be visible or just his magic auras in order to do this:

"If you concentrate on a specific creature within 120 feet of you as a standard action, you can determine whether it has any spellcasting or spell-like abilities, whether these are arcane or divine (spell-like abilities register as arcane), and the strength of the most powerful spell or spell-like ability the creature currently has available for use."

@GM- do they appear hostile or do they appear to want to make friends?

They don't know who is at the other end of the door, so neither but the fey creatures are similar to ones you have seen and fought, not exactly alike. Not the type of fey you would trust, but knowledge arcana will tell you more about them.

Knowledge Arcana, Heroism, Heightened Awareness: 1d20 + 14 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 14 + 2 + 2 = 36

Uthred knows they are and knows a lot about them

Having Dmed Starfinder Adventure Paths, I was tricked into thinking Pathfinder Adventure Paths can be Dmed just as quickly. It wasn't until about a week ago maybe 2 or 3 weeks ago, I realized there was a big difference in Adventure size. I've Dmed many Pathfinder Adventure Paths before, but didn't bother to compare sizes, just assumed they were the same, and I assumed I got through Starfinder quicker cause I was more motivated. Not just in page length, but in number of combats, storyline and everything else. This is also not a dungeon crawl game, like Mummy's Mask it is, or my current Tyrant's Grasp which is about 75% similar to MM so far.
I might hand this game over to another DM when I'm finished with book 2 as a result.

Will have a post up a little later today.

Having Dmed Starfinder Adventure Paths, I was tricked into thinking Pathfinder Adventure Paths can be Dmed just as quickly. It wasn't until about a week ago maybe 2 or 3 weeks ago, I realized there was a big difference in Adventure size. I've Dmed many Pathfinder Adventure Paths before, but didn't bother to compare sizes, just assumed they were the same, and I assumed I got through Starfinder quicker cause I was more motivated. Not just in page length, but in number of combats, storyline and everything else. This is also not a dungeon crawl game, like Mummy's Mask it is, or my current Tyrant's Grasp which is about 75% similar to MM so far.

I might hand this game over to another DM when I'm finished with book 2 as a result.

@DoubleGold: I discussed this issue with other online PbP GMs for one of my games and they said the GM has full flexibility on how to run the game, amount of hints given to players, etc. In one of my games, which is very sandboxy, I have paraphrased certain encounters or narrated the action when I deemed that the PCs would have just waltzed through the encounter anyway. Sometimes in PbP it's just not worth running EVERY PAGE of an AP, and it's ok to skip a few useless minions and go straight to the boss when the minions are basically just there to lower your PC's resources (i.e. that matters in a long-running homegame, but in a Campaign Mode AP, the PCs are just used for the length of the module, so lowering resources with minions is useless... the true test reside in the boss fight, when the PCs throw their best moves, spell and items at them...)

Yes, but skipping encounters sometimes skips the story as well, otherwise I just say in text you defeated such and such.
Honestly though in PBP, do people remember the storyline anyway? Like I ran MM all six books in under 2.5 years or so and I doubt my players remember even half the storyline. Still I'd like to tell it best I can.
Anyway, I plan to get done before Gameday and put the next book on hold until Gameday is over, then I'll decide what to do with this game.

I apologize for the long absence. however, as I see it, you did very well (especially our instant battles) even without me! )

No problem Tulgram, we still have a month and a half before gameday, and I expect chronicles to be out to you before then. I'm fastforwarding as much as possible. Speaking of which, since I'm going to be combining combats, we have spellcasters with area effects, right?

Today is the last day I can post until next week. I'll check often via mobile phone but nothing fancy for a while...

Traveling for a wedding I will get a post up tomorrow. Sorry for the delay all.

You may bot me if you wish.

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Luckily with the 2 weeks extension, you'll finish on time to get your chronicles. Looks like nobody here has any questions or is roleplaying this part, so I'll get updated this afternoon. You still have one more section after defeating the queen.

Game has been fully reported now that I got all three of you on there and it is a legally reported game. You all did get full credits, 3 Xp and 4 fame/reputation, so if you are using character in gameday, go ahead and use them. I'll hand out chronicles later tonight, as I work two back to back shifts.

Wow thanks man- much appreciated!

Thanks again.