Kirthfinder - Sovalles

Game Master Kirth Gersen

Oh, is the party finally coming together? Wow. This entire thing has been such an ordeal that I hope we level up from it, heh.

Oh, is the party finally coming together? Wow. This entire thing has been such an ordeal that I hope we level up from it, heh.

LOL! OK, yeah, maybe not one of my best ideas, as it turns out.

I thought it worked well enough. Point of clarification--was any indication given at the end of the meeting as to what Kolmac ought to be working on now? If not, the most sensible avenues for the new day seem to be checking out the proposed build site or pursuing a research lead that he feels will be necessary to carry out the project--any chance either of those will help the plot along?

I thought it worked well enough. Point of clarification--was any indication given at the end of the meeting as to what Kolmac ought to be working on now? If not, the most sensible avenues for the new day seem to be checking out the proposed build site or pursuing a research lead that he feels will be necessary to carry out the project--any chance either of those will help the plot along?

It was left sort of open-ended. You get the impression the Baron thought you'd be doing magical research, and maybe make a concrete proposal about what to actually try, instead of a poetical rhapsody about the possibilities. There's something about building sites that's nagging at you, but it may just be the after-effects of the Scotch.

Eshkeval, the Card Archivist wrote:

Oh, is the party finally coming together? Wow. This entire thing has been such an ordeal that I hope we level up from it, heh.

LOL! OK, yeah, maybe not one of my best ideas, as it turns out.

I mean, the idea of having the party come together naturally is an interesting idea, and I KNOW there's probably some intriguing mystery and a bit of eventual undead slaying to come out of this. It's just that when you need a group of four strangers to come together to form a long term bond that takes a rather long time, and most GMs just throw it into the backstory.

Admittedly I am both excited and loathing the moment that he says he's going on an adventure, since I'd imagine that in regards to that and his backstory he caused quite a ruckus with it. His mother getting into an argument with his grandfather and it turning into a minor screaming match.

Kolmac wrote:

I thought it worked well enough. Point of clarification--was any indication given at the end of the meeting as to what Kolmac ought to be working on now? If not, the most sensible avenues for the new day seem to be checking out the proposed build site or pursuing a research lead that he feels will be necessary to carry out the project--any chance either of those will help the plot along?

It was left sort of open-ended. You get the impression the Baron thought you'd be doing magical research, and maybe make a concrete proposal about what to actually try, instead of a poetical rhapsody about the possibilities. There's something about building sites that's nagging at you, but it may just be the after-effects of the Scotch.

Okay, so we'll say Kolmac's idly considering some of the directions the research might take while waiting for Eshkeval and perhaps a local guide to scout out the build site for inspiration.

You want me to scout out the build site? Okay, sure.

Sorry, the way I wrote that was ambiguous. I meant that Kolmac was waiting at the inn for Eshkeval and Cayden, plus any other hangers-on, to go see the site together--I'm not certain either Kolmac or Eshkeval knows the area well enough/have been told where exactly it is.

Okay, we can assume that Eshkeval will make the negative 3D space image after he gets there.

We can assume that he started off in the inn with Kolmac.

Um... What's a negative 3d space image?

Negative space is just the empty space around things. I just want to build a 3D model of that negative space, so we know what we can build into without issue. If the Baron wants a crazy design for this house, this should help, I think.

For the purpose of architectural ponderings...what's a rough real-world analogue for the climate in southern Aviona? I was envisioning something like southern France/northern Italy, where villa-style construction with lots of open space would be appropriate but if it ever gets particularly cold that'll be a no-go...

For the purpose of architectural ponderings...what's a rough real-world analogue for the climate in southern Aviona? I was envisioning something like southern France/northern Italy, where villa-style construction with lots of open space would be appropriate but if it ever gets particularly cold that'll be a no-go...

Match up Aviona to a map of France, and there you go.

Kolmac wrote:

For the purpose of architectural ponderings...what's a rough real-world analogue for the climate in southern Aviona? I was envisioning something like southern France/northern Italy, where villa-style construction with lots of open space would be appropriate but if it ever gets particularly cold that'll be a no-go...

Match up Aviona to a map of France, and there you go.

Ah, just what I had in mind then, excellent...

It occurs to me that dimensional skip is only a 1st level divine spell if (a) it's used to banish outsiders, or (b) if you have access to the Travel domain. That means the base seed, for Eshkeval, would be a 2nd level spell (1st level +1 for Cross-Class Spell). That would make a full-round dimensional skip 1st level for him; to get it down to 0, he could make it a full ritual (which is still only a 30-second casting time -- i.e., 5 rounds, rather than 1). So far, that would introduce no continuity issues with the narrative (and might be what you were already thinking).

It occurs to me that dimensional skip is only a 1st level divine spell if (a) it's used to banish outsiders, or (b) if you have access to the Travel domain. That means the base seed, for Eshkeval, would be a 2nd level spell (1st level +1 for Cross-Class Spell). That would make a full-round dimensional skip 1st level for him; to get it down to 0, he could make it a full ritual (which is still only a 30-second casting time -- i.e., 5 rounds, rather than 1). So far, that would introduce no continuity issues with the narrative (and might be what you were already thinking).

I was under the impression that I was able to grab the arcane version, because I had access to the Magic domain, as well as the somewhat related Time domain? Hence, I wouldn't need to apply the Cross-Class Spell Metamagic cost, I thought?

I was under the impression that I was able to grab the arcane version, because I had access to the Magic domain, as well as the somewhat related Time domain? Hence, I wouldn't need to apply the Cross-Class Spell Metamagic cost, I thought?

That sounds semi-reasonable -- works for me!

It's almost like the GM is trying to keep us split up, lol.

It's almost like the GM is trying to keep us split up, lol.

Not sure why, but I had the strongest feeling your post here was gonna be about this, LOL.

Yeah.. I mean obviously Kirth can work at his own pace, but I am kinda wondering when the "Smack in the face" moment is going to come. (but again kirth run however you want to run)

Tactical considerations aside...if you're going to split the party, it runs a lot better in play-by-post than in a live game.

It's almost like the GM is trying to keep us split up, lol.

I'll let you in on a secret here: I prep scenarios, not plots. The NPCs all act according to their nature based on what's happening in the game -- I don't dictate a storyline in advance, except for stuff that will happen unless intervention puts it on a new track.

That makes sense... Although that does make things slightly difficult for my character since I am / he is waiting for a big moment that says "It's hero time", and he doesn't want to just run off in the totally wrong direction even though technically there is no wrong direction... Also is now a bad time to mention this is basically my first campaign?

If I'd known that, I probably would have made things a bit more railroad-y, as much as that grates against my style. Hopefully the others can help you get a sense for what y'all should do next.

RAILROAD SUGGESTIONS: DO *NOT* READ UNLESS YOU BASICALLY WANT ME TO TELL YOU WHAT TO DO NEXT!!!

Cayden:

That makes sense... Although that does make things slightly difficult for my character since I am / he is waiting for a big moment that says "It's hero time", and he doesn't want to just run off in the totally wrong direction even though technically there is no wrong direction... Also is now a bad time to mention this is basically my first campaign?

Disclaimer: I realize this is unsolicited advice; if you don't want it, feel absolutely free to ignore it.

There doesn't necessarily have to be that kind of moment, at least not right away. How you decide to characterize it is obviously up to you, but to use Kolmac as an example, he's not here to be a hero, he's just trying to do his job. Simultaneously, he's in a new land and hearing about events which call to mind the stories he's heard of the Days of Darkness, so that's piquing his curiosity. In his mind, he's not going looking for danger--anything really bad got cleaned up years ago (this may be naively optimistic, but that's his thought process anyway). I'm sure eventually he'll fall into bigger events, but right now he's just a young mage trying to make a living.

As you said, there's no wrong direction. Even 'bad' decisions can be narratively interesting, especially with a skilled GM.

If I remember correctly, you earlier characterized Cayden as being concerned about the disappearance of his neighbors. You could easily play up on that and have him decide to do some investigating of his own, given that the official stance on the matter seems to be downplaying the potential severity of the issue--maybe he's questioning his trust in the Baron and the local law enforcement, or maybe he just thinks they could use some extra help even if they don't think they need it.

My two cents as well - From the forum posts and game rules I've read, Kirth's games don't really center around combat and hero moments like an action movie. Your character is a three dimensional concept, and while I absolutely love the mechanical changes Kirth has come up with to make combat more flexible and martials less story-poor, the game itself is about interactions.

EDIT: Also, PbP is a great way to start your first campaign. There's plenty of time to look things up, and you can PM the GM / Other players if things are setup that way for help too. Or ask on the discussion thread of the campaign, as you did here.

I am going to have limited time to post for the next few days as I am on a work trip with limited time to access the internet. If something comes up, please assume that Aemur is looking for evidence fo the guards involvement. Specifically, the notched bootprint. He intends to look for more evidence of the bootprint, and I'll hopefully have a chance to write that up tomorrow.

If I'd known that, I probably would have made things a bit more railroad-y, as much as that grates against my style. Hopefully the others can help you get a sense for what y'all should do next.

Well I don't think that it has to be all the way from "Sandbox" to "Railroad" since it's a spectrum. I just ask for enough structure to help guide decisions when things are ambiguous. (That's kind of a false dichotomy anyway)

If I remember correctly, you earlier characterized Cayden as being concerned about the disappearance of his neighbors. You could easily play up on that and have him decide to do some investigating of his own, given that the official stance on the matter seems to be downplaying the potential severity of the issue--maybe he's questioning his trust in the Baron and the local law enforcement, or maybe he just thinks they could use some extra help even if they don't think they need it.

And.. Actually thanks for the advice. I was just kinda caught thinking

Edit:
Also on a sillier more mechanical side, worrying that if I were to run off to say.. the abandoned construction site for example, there'd be a party level encounter. Though with Kirth saying that he's building the scenario as it goes along that's a lot less likely.

Speaking as a frequent GM, I wouldn't worry too much on that front. A skilled GM has nothing to gain from arbitrarily murdering their players' characters. Even if the narrative dictated that you come across a party-level encounter on your own, most GMs will usually adjust to provide some kind of out--maybe you see the encounter coming and can back off and gather reinforcements, or maybe there's a noncombat resolution or some other creative angle you can take. That said, there are limits; I wouldn't recommend challenging the Baron to a duel, for example. And of course, GMing styles range wildly, but I think from what I've seen that Kirth's philosophy is closer to what I've written here than not.

Speaking as a frequent GM, I wouldn't worry too much on that front. A skilled GM has nothing to gain from arbitrarily murdering their players' characters. Even if the narrative dictated that you come across a party-level encounter on your own, most GMs will usually adjust to provide some kind of out--maybe you see the encounter coming and can back off and gather reinforcements, or maybe there's a noncombat resolution or some other creative angle you can take. That said, there are limits; I wouldn't recommend challenging the Baron to a duel, for example. And of course, GMing styles range wildly, but I think from what I've seen that Kirth's philosophy is closer to what I've written here than not.

I guess I assumed it was more just that GMs don't pull punches all that much than 'arbitrarily killing a character'. Like you ran into an area alone that the GM's plot or the module says has a party level encounter, then there's still a party level encounter there (or at least something that he could find that tells him there's something big there) Although again maybe that's just the new player syndrome.

It'd still be there, but in general I have enough experience planning to either give some indication of what's coming, or at least to have enough help there if needed (like Coward jumping in, when it turned out that only half the party went up against Oleg). That said, if the indications are all there and then get ignored, c'est la vie.

I've been a bit sickly this week, and managed to hurt my back pretty badly yesterday doing yard work.

Will try to get a post up later tonight.

I'll have limited internet/computer access for the next week. I'll check in when I can but please don't hold anything up on my account.

Holy f!@!, I'm on a roll this week. Defended my dissertation and now I just rolled max on my Channel Energy + Hero Point roll. I hope this gets our fallen friends back to maximum health. If nothing else, that should negate their ambush advantage over us, giving us much better odds of winning this fight without a single death.

Also, Kolmac, can you identify the creatures? If they're undead then they just took a ton of damage from my Channel Energy.

1. So the game is randomly on hold, no communication whatsoever from the GM, then suddenly comes back to life. Okay, cool. 2. But I miss not even two days and my Initiative gets rolled for me, and 3. I'm apparently penalized for having a name close to the beginning of the alphabet. 4. Oh, and apparently, D comes before C.

1. Got blocked at work, but I wasn't on hold, just hoping someone would post. Probably should have prodded more.

Kolmac has some room for improvement/character growth when it comes to Knowledge skills...at least it looks like he got through SR, though with the damage I rolled it still isn't much...

So, question time. These guys just got healed before ever reaching their turn. Does that mean that they don't need to roll saves for being dazed or whatever else have you? Do they roll those saves when hit, or on their own turn? Actually, considering the fact that they went into negatives and thus became unconscious, does that clear them of their previous ailment of being dazed or whatever else have you?

Also, hero points. Did we start out with 1 or 2? Furthermore, would rolling double max on my Channel Energy + Hero point roll be considered an "awesome outcome" enough for me to regain a hero point?

So, question time. These guys just got healed before ever reaching their turn. Does that mean that they don't need to roll saves for being dazed or whatever else have you? Do they roll those saves when hit, or on their own turn? Actually, considering the fact that they went into negatives and thus became unconscious, does that clear them of their previous ailment of being dazed or whatever else have you?

Dazing from hp loss was from a previous version and is absent in Chapter 7. Instead, you're fatigued at 1/2 hp, exhausted at 1/4, disabled at 0, dying at -1. If healed full up, none of those would apply any more.

Also, hero points. Did we start out with 1 or 2? Furthermore, would rolling double max on my Channel Energy + Hero point roll be considered an "awesome outcome" enough for me to regain a hero point?

Everyone started with 1. And, yes, saving half the party with max. results on channeling is indeed awesome, as noted in the game play thread.

...looking around for any signs of danger.

Here's one mistake I'll definitely own up to. Even though it's not explicitly stated, I should have interpreted this as a call for an active Perception check (which of course is the logical next thing to do when you passive Perception notices something amiss, like an absence of birdsong). In the future, I'll try and ask for additional clarification ("does that mean you want to...?"), and if you all can spell things out for an old fogey like me, that will help, too.

Okay a few things:

1) If you're waiting for us, but don't say anything, we don't know that it was on us. With such a long absence from posting, I thought life got in the way of the running or something.

2) I completely missed that you rolled to see who got hit. All I saw was 'attacked in alphabetical order' and then I once more was near death, which seemed like I was being singled out.

Totally my fault there.

3) I would have rolled an active Perception check, but I couldn't remember if that was a thing PCs could do on their own in Kirthfinder, and since you didn't ask us to make one, I figured we weren't able to for some reason. Either that, or we just totally failed on the passive check and thus didn't 'deserve' an active one.

Dairkal, if you want to reroll your initative, feel free to do so. One of those tree monsters is left, but you should be at max hp, and you, Cayden and Aemur have yet to actually go in combat. I think it should have less than 3 health, so I think we've got this combat in the bag, thanks to luck and hero points.

I'll have to double check that I'm referencing the current rules - my copy of Chapter 7 still has a Fort save vs Dazed for HP loss.

Given the number of attacks that hit me and only having one hero point, I think Auto-stabilizing is the best bet for me...

Would the channeled energy bring me back upright, or still leave me knocked out but "safe"?

I'll have to double check that I'm referencing the current rules - my copy of Chapter 7 still has a Fort save vs Dazed for HP loss.

Yes, I need to update that in Google Docs*. It was decided in play that being exhausted was penalty enough!

*Fixed!

Would the channeled energy bring me back upright, or still leave me knocked out but "safe"?

Let's see, you were at -8 hp. 15 hp of channeled energy brings you up to 7, so you're conscious. You're also above 5 hp, so you're not even fatigued. All you have to do is stand up!

One of the things we always had to do in 1e when exploring was declare a "marching order," which always seemed like a waste of time until we realized it gave us the opportunity to put the people with the highest AC/hp in the front. You can put a person with Alertness in the back, to guard against attacks from the rear, and put the squishy casters in the middle. In the future, when you're exploring or otherwise headed into potentially dangerous situations, I'll try and remember to prompt you to do that.

Kolmac is definitely in the middle then, as a squishy d4 wizard. He'll be sandwiched between Dairkul (in the front) and Eshkeval (in the back). We'll have Cayden (our Fighter IIRC?) stay in front, while Aemur, our Ranger, brings up the rear.

This way we have a frontline martial both forwards and back (Cayden & Aemur), as well as a skilled watchman on either side as well (Dairkul & Aemur). This leaves our wizard to be the most protected, and gives him easy access to buff the full party.

That said, I haven't really looked too deeply into Cayden and Aemur's respective builds. I would hope that the Ranger has some ranged attacks in his repetoire. If he doesn't, but the Fighter does, then we'll flip everyone's position. If neither of them have ranged attacks...then they should get ranged attacks. Alternatively, they could invest in a more defensive fighting style to keep Kolmac and I alive.

I'll stick around with Kolmac and try and keep him safe. I'm not particularly tanky as an Archivist, but I did roll awesome stats and my defenses are pretty optimized, at least for now, at this level. The two of us can also pew pew with ranged attacks to help out in combat.

This should keep us pretty safe moving foraward, though ambushes at level 1 will still be incredibly threatening. It also sucks vs AoE attacks, but I think there are Fighter abilities that counter that, plus such AoE isn't something we're likely to run into until later, and most AoE magic has been nerfed anyway.

Okay, so I looked through everyone's builds. Apparently, neither the Fighter nor the Ranger have much in the way of Ranged Attacks. The Rogue does, at least. And the Ranger has a reach weapon, which is nice.

So I'm currently thinking of a small adjustment to the marching orders. Rather than walking in a straight line, we'd be walking in a "+" configuration.

Kolmac is at the center, surrounded on all sides by everyone else. Cayden is in the front as our Vanguard Shield Fighter. Aemur still brings up the rear since he has reach on his glaives.

Eshkeval and Dairkal then will have to take up the left and right sides respectively. This opens us up for attack on our sides, but hopefully Aemur should be able to cover those areas with his reach.

More importantly, this configuration enables Eshkeval to touch Aemur and Cayden and affect them with Dimensional Skip, putting them into battle quickly while negating their lack of ranged attacks.

Since Dairkul already possesses a ranged attack, Eshkeval being unable to reach him easily isn't as big of a deal. Dairkul is also still close enough to the front to point out traps and other hazards, so this should still work out.

What do you guys think?

I like it. And I should be able to work some ranged attacks in... It's just difficult to try to cover all the bases at level 1.

I'm a little bit sad that our Fighter isn't a Barbarian instead. Cuz then we would have had a d4 wizard, a d6 archivist, a d8 rogue, a d10 ranger, and a d12 barbarian for maximal coverage. But that's just for the lols. Fighter is just as good as Barbarian, and arguably better when it comes to defending a party, which is pretty important in Kirthfinder it seems.

Kolmac's relatively resilient as long as he's got mage armor up, but a buffer between him and foes is still quite useful since his abilities are all limited to close range (25 ft) at the moment.