Perfect! Thanks for checking back in, Suetonius. With that, I think we've still got the crew to move things forward. I'll NPC Ailis until we get through Haramil's tomb, then we'll see where things go from there in terms of potentially recruiting someone else or carrying on with just a team of 5 (plus Aiyana).
I've got some family obligation stuff today and into the afternoon (taking the kids to see Avengers), but after that I plan on moving us along through the current combat scene sometime this evening. So, everyone be on the lookout for a new posting tonight. Thanks.
FYI, I'm headed out of town for an early Mother's Day visit with my family and my brother's family. Once I get back in the evening, I'll get a new post up and move things along now that everyone's taken their turn in the current round.
FYI, I'll be gone for much of the next two weeks. I'm in Miami from Wednesday through Monday, after which I'll try to check back into all my games. I'll then be gone to PaizoCon from Thursday through late Monday. I don't expect to check in at all during that time except Monday-Wednesday when I'm back home.
Obviously feel free to bot me; chances are you might be able to do a better job with Daehalya's spells than I can. In general, I'm trying to play her as more impetuous than most wizards. She's never really had any consequences of her martial actions and is eager to make up for what she sees as her mistakes.
Neil, was this a concious design decision or a byproduct of using shadowthemed monsters?Good question. Ask me again after you guys have completed Part One of the adventure (aka, "Remnants of the Dark").
Are we done with Part One now?
Are we done with Part One now?
Almost.
Hey, guys...apologies for being incommunicado for a bit. Work and homefront issues sidetracked me, especially with 4 kids and their myriad end-of-year school activities, most of which took place immediately upon getting from work every evening. And then, this weekend, my wife also scheduled an all-day campus tour of a couple of colleges for us and my two oldest girls.
Regardless, I'm glad to see that a bit of intraparty roleplay has taken place. I'll get a new post up soon...
The game seems to have slowed down considerably of late. Instead of daily posts, player participation is down to once-a-week posting at times (except for a couple of more active folks). Even my pace is suffering with my day-job work and family responsibilities at home with the kids. At this point, I'm thinking we should put the game on hiatus.
I’m very sorry to see this game stall, as I have really enjoyed it so far. But given the general drop in activity, I understand that a break may be needed.
Hopefully, we can revive the game again down the road. Thanks for the ride so far.
Yeah, I agree. I thought we'd gotten going again but it's definitely slowed back down.
I think it's for the best, unfortunately. I'm sorry that my participation dropped off. I've been having trouble connecting with this character for some reason, and things just didn't quite click for me. Add onto that growing responsibilities with my two children growing older and less free time to post and I found it difficult to muster the energy to post.
Your GMing style is great, Neil, and I did enjoy the game quite a bit. Maybe we can revisit things later on.
Consensus says computer says folks say “Hiatus”. Sadface understands. Thanks for a great if brief adventure. This “high level” play has been very educational!!!
If I ever actually get it together to run a game here on the PbP-ness I’ll be PMing each and all of you here, including you Neil.
Just a note that I'm going to be hiding this campaign. Definitely hit me up with a PM (or email) if the game gets going again.
By the way, Neil - still curious about those design considerations.
...given the general drop in activity, I understand that a break may be needed. Hopefully, we can revive the game again down the road. Thanks for the ride so far.
...Maybe we can revisit things later on.
...Definitely hit me up with a PM (or email) if the game gets going again.
Thanks, guys. I'll definitely reach back out if/when I revisit the game and bring it back from hiatus.
If I ever actually get it together to run a game here on the PbP-ness I’ll be PMing each and all of you here, including you Neil.
Certainly let me know if you do. Playing in a game takes a lot less time than GMing one, so I can probably still manage that much despite my hectic schedule/homefront obligations.
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What Aiyana just said makes me curious about the design considerations behind this module. Almost all of the monsters we have faced so far deal some form of ability damage. This presents an interesting dilemma when coupled with the sense of urgency from preventing the Reborn from capturing the Cradle....Most 8th level parties can be expected to have plenty of hp healing available, through wands and channels, but only have a couple of restoration spells and potions. This creates the temptation to stop and rest we’re in now, but we’re also motivated to push on....Neil, was this a conscious design decision or a byproduct of using shadow-themed monsters?
Under the Designer's Hat:
It was a conscious design decision from the beginning. Haramil's spirit is divided into 3 distinct apparitions. The first is a greater shadow, capable of dealing Str damage (representing Haramil's hunger). The second is a festering spirit, capable of dealing Con damage (representing Haramil's corruption). And the third is a caller-in-darkness, capable of dealing Wis damage (representing Haramil's madness). All pose a significant threat to an unprepared party, especially if there's no cleric actively spamming channel positive energy to damage them as undead creatures. And, of course, there are tenebrous worms at the entrance, capable of dealing Str damage. And deathweb spiders down a side corridor, capable of dealing Con damage. So, collectively, the encounters are meant to slow down the party and force them to carefully consider their tactics and their haste in trying to catch up to/stop the Reborn.
It also purposefully puts the PCs in a very specific dilemma. Do they take on ever greater risk to themselves by pressing forward over and over again? Or, do they risk losing the Cradle to the Reborn by moving at a slower, more deliberate pace to ensure they're at full strength when they finally catch up? Of course, there's no way to truly know (outside of divination spells) whether or not the Cradle still remains in the tomb. And, there are enough signs along the way that it becomes progressively clearer that the Reborn have already been there (especially when Zyler is encountered). So, eventually, the adventure assumes the PCs will realize the mission's goal is shifting from "retrieve the Cradle to keep it from the Reborn" to "find out as much as we can about the Cradle and the Reborn (and Haramil) so we can take it back"...
I'm not sure I did enough justice to that last part, as I was still trying to make things seem "mysterious" and hold out hope to the PCs that the Cradle might still be there to keep up some of the pace via a PbP game. That said, there's another "kicker" written into the adventure to put a sense of urgency back into the PCs. Namely, if they do pause to rest and haven't yet eliminated all three of Haramil's apparitions yet, the others will respawn in 24 hours. And, obviously, that'll present a whole new battle that risks further ability damage if the PCs don't learn from their mistakes. So, all in all, Haramil's tomb is meant to be a very challenging adventuring location crammed within a fairly small space/timeframe for 8th level PCs who'll obviously need some good resource management and tactics to push through. For the purposes of PbP, however, I did alter some elements of the adventure (to accommodate more than 4 PCs)...and trim some stuff that didn't add much to the story for a slower paced online game.
Thanks Neil! Very insightful.