Sorry for the delay. Chronicles for Emerald Spire 3 (Splinterden) are available here. Let me know if you have any difficulties downloading them or if I've made any mistakes.Thanks! Mine looks good! I'm going to play Ylosani at a F2F con at the end of the month but if you're looking for another, stoic meat sponge when you get to level 5, let me know.
And I'll even have my axebeak mount with me, then!
Will do - I'll make a note to reach out to you when we hit level 5.
What's the con you'll be at? I'll be at DragonCon at the end of this month.
All set. Did you want us to roll our day job here and record it on slide 3? Was that the idea?
Yep, exactly. Get all the stuff I'll need for chronicles on a single slide so I don't have to dig around for it later.
Should we be including the parcel of land we received as it may affect our fame and prestige and modify the chronicle sheet? Yanda will be taking C1 to gain a +1 to day job rolls.
You can go ahead and note the purchase of the parcel on the chronicle yourself. The affect on day job rolls won't take place until your *next* chronicle sheet.
I am going to continue normal track so that I can catch up as I did not do level 1.
Got it. Please remind me when it's time to do the next chronicles.
|
I see you added a column to the sheet for the parcel we will be taking. When the parcel adds fame or prestige, I'd like it added to the signed section where fame and prestige earned is recorded. Makes me nervous to overwrite something you signed. I assume we are filling it out for the next level (Godhome).
|
|
Sorry for the delay. Chronicles for Emerald Spire 3 (Splinterden) are available here. Let me know if you have any difficulties downloading them or if I've made any mistakes.Thanks! Mine looks good! I'm going to play Ylosani at a F2F con at the end of the month but if you're looking for another, stoic meat sponge when you get to level 5, let me know.
And I'll even have my axebeak mount with me, then!
Will do - I'll make a note to reach out to you when we hit level 5.
What's the con you'll be at? I'll be at DragonCon at the end of this month.
Reapercon. Not technically a gaming convention but where I get in about 90% of my F2F gaming each year.
It's Reaper miniatures annual con.
I see you added a column to the sheet for the parcel we will be taking. When the parcel adds fame or prestige, I'd like it added to the signed section where fame and prestige earned is recorded. Makes me nervous to overwrite something you signed. I assume we are filling it out for the next level (Godhome).
[dice=day job]1d20+20
I think you misread the column - it's not for noting any hex taken - it's a way to remember if you've used your reroll. If you use your reroll at some point you can just write "yes" in that column.
But it's a good idea - I'll add another column to indicate any Land Rush hex taken for the upcoming level.
Do you want me to reissue your current chronicle sheet with the hex taken noted?
Btw, is there a typo on the sheet for your PFS #? It says "141936S"
I also added a column for any Faction Journal goal achieved.
|
|
Do you want me to reissue your current chronicle sheet with the hex taken noted?
That would be nice. Not sure if it makes a difference when there are no fame/prestige bonuses, bu it would be cleaner that way.
Btw, is there a typo on the sheet for your PFS #? It says "141936S"/QUOTE]fixedI also added a column for any Faction Journal goal achieved.Cool. I see you also moved my land grab entry over.
|
I picked D2 for my hex, I wrote it in on my sheet with Photoshop, but a re-issue is fine as well.
We are filling in the spreadsheet for after the next spire level, correct? I actually took a skill for a day job, with this level up, (Apsu paladins are about building defences and helping communities defend themselves, so I thought engineer fit), but I figure it won't apply until the next sheet.
I hope I'm doing everything correctly regarding inventory, I sold his greataxe at 50% value and bought a greataxe +1, a few scrolls of lesser restoration, and a cloak of resistance +1. Oh, and also the spire transport token. (I had some gold left over from last level.)
|
|
You can upgrade a weapon to masterwork using the masterwork transformation spell once er character, so unless you are changing the greataxe from vanilla to adamantine or cold iron or something, you needn't sell it. But as a general rule buy a cold iron version of your weapons over a vanilla version as the price difference is small enough at your level as to be insignificant.
Speaking of purchases, Yanda had enough moolah to purchase a coveted headband of vast intelligence and did so.
|
|
You can upgrade a weapon to masterwork using the masterwork transformation spell once er character, so unless you are changing the greataxe from vanilla to adamantine or cold iron or something, you needn't sell it. But as a general rule buy a cold iron version of your weapons over a vanilla version as the price difference is small enough at your level as to be insignificant.
I was going from a masterwork (I didn't know about the spell, I bought that full price last level) to a +1. Was there an option there? Adding cold iron to it was an extra 2000 gold pieces, which would have meant I couldn't have bought the other things. I could probably have done without the scrolls, and the token, but I wanted those saves. :-)
|
|
I was going from a masterwork (I didn't know about the spell, I bought that full price last level) to a +1. Was there an option there? Adding cold iron to it was an extra 2000 gold pieces, which would have meant I couldn't have bought the other things. I could probably have done without the scrolls, and the token, but I wanted those saves. :-)
If it's master work then you don't have to sell it and get a new one. You can just pay the price for the +1. By the same token when you upgrade to a +2 you just pay the difference between the +1 and +2.
We are filling in the spreadsheet for after the next spire level, correct?
Correct.
Can you take me out of the campaign so it won't pop up for me, anymore?
Done - thanks for playing.
I've updated the chronicles for Yanda and Romulus to reflect the land rush hex purchases (Dasus, you said you were able to just update the sheet yourself, which is fine with me). You can download the updated chronicles at the same location as before.
Everyone, note that the first hex you purchase for the Land Rush needed to be A, and each hex after that needs to be contiguous to an already purchased hex. If you haven't followed that so far, don't worry about it but do adjust to bring future purchases in line with those guidelines.
Thanks and I'll try to get us started with Godhome soon. Please put your token on the new map slide when you are ready to get started.
|
Alright guys, I have some new toys.
Before we begin, I'm going to use 1 of my rounds of bardic performance to play Triple Time so we'll all get a extra 10 feet for a hour. I'll do this any time we set off and it runs out.
During battle, I will likely begin playing the battle song of the people's revolt to allow everyone to gain my +4 to AC bonus against the first attack in a round instead of just 1 person. If for some reason we really need damage instead of AC boost, just let me know and i'll switch.
Alright guys, I have some new toys.
Before we begin, I'm going to use 1 of my rounds of bardic performance to play Triple Time so we'll all get a extra 10 feet for a hour. I'll do this any time we set off and it runs out.
During battle, I will likely begin playing the battle song of the people's revolt to allow everyone to gain my +4 to AC bonus against the first attack in a round instead of just 1 person. If for some reason we really need damage instead of AC boost, just let me know and i'll switch.
I think Triple Time will only affect 4 of you and there are 5 in the party, so you'll need to leave 1 person out.
Re the battlesong: so this will give (only) +4 AC to the *first* attack against the *first* ally that is attacked after your readied action is triggered, correct? And you need to have line of effect to the attacker? Or only your targeted ally?
I'll be traveling until Sunday night. Will post when I can.
|
|
Meh, I'm fine using the extra bardic preformance round to get everyone. Just the penalty I gotta pay.
As for the battle song, it's a little twisty. I only need line of sight to the enemy I'm targeting. I make a basic "Aid another" check as an attack roll with my range vs. DC 10. If i'm successful, than everyone in the party that shares my covering fire feat (Which is everyone because of the song) get's a +4 against that baddy's attack. It mostly means that I don't have to do the delaying and messing with my turn order thing to guard someone specifically against the baddy's attack, since everyone is covered.
I'll be at DragonCon from Thursday (i.e. tomorrow) through late Sunday night and most likely won't be able to post during that time.
Ok, so at this point I feel I have to pull the curtain back a bit and consult with you all about how you want to proceed. I don't like doing this, but in this case I think it's sort of unavoidable.
In a nutshell: you have now - kind of - completed this level. Or, to put it another way, you have completed one of the possible routes through the level by making sufficient offerings to the Godbox, leading to the door to the next level of the Spire being opened to you. There's nothing more you need to do here in order to be able to continue on to level 5 of the Spire.
Unfortunately, the way the chronicle sheet for this level is written, if you proceed ahead at this point you will receive minimal rewards for the level. Even more unfortunately, the way the chronicle sheet is written, the way around this is to basically act in ways that are probably very problematic for at least some of you. To be blunt: this level of the module punishes you for not being borderline-evil murder-hobos.
This isn't just my opinion - the online commentary on this level is, um, vigorous. Locally, there were a number of players who gave up on the Emerald Spire after this level (which was a pity because in my opinion it gets better and better the deeper you go). I thought about mentioning all of this to you before starting, but I didn't want to predispose you against the adventure, and not having run it myself, I wasn't sure if your experience would be pretty similar to mine (it has been).
So, what to do from here? I offer you some options:
A) Conclude the level now, knowing that while you have not solved the mystery of the Godbox, your offerings were acceptable to it and the door to level 5 is now open. You will receive minimal xp, prestige, and gold, and of course Romulus' armor and Dasus shield will remain behind as offerings. Further complicating matters, the reduction of xp messes with the PFS progression for the future Emerald Spire levels, so you might want to do this level as normal track even though it was originally advised for slow track (I'll allow you to change that at this point if you wish), though it may still (possibly) create some unintended complexities with the PFS progression for those of you who wish to go all the way through the Spire.
B) Keep going on this level, trying to "solve" the puzzle. Personally, I don't particularly enjoy these sorts of RPG puzzles but some of you may. When I played this (at a con) we kept working at it until we ran out of time - we never came close to figuring it out - but of course in PbP we don't have the same sort of real-time accountability. If you wish to pursue this option I suggest we agree on a certain amount of time to work at it; otherwise I'm afraid the game could easily just drift into a kind of frustrated limbo.
C) Use aggression or other forms of compulsion towards Slaagh and his friends, in hopes that that might help you in some way. Among other things, depending on how it was done, this may present alignment challenges, especially for Altovin and Dasus.
D) Something else that I haven't thought of.
Let me know what you think and please feel free to ask any questions you may have.
|
|
Dasus will happily give up his shield, since he most certainly doesn't want to either offend or fight these peaceful troglodytes. To him, they seem downright pleasant except for the smell.
So yeah, I'm good with going forward with fewer rewards, but if we do I would definitely want to change to the normal track.
|
|
Happy to conclude with A.
Having GMed this before (although several years ago at this point) I was not in for any surprises here on the rewards.
I don't really consider it a punishment, you get appropriate gold for the reduced XP. It was problematic at the time since you could only change from slow/normal xp at even level breaks but fortunately that changed not too long after (partly due to the trouble it created)
|
|
TBH I was at a loss of what to do because berating Slaagh without him pinging evil or acting it in the slightest was out of character so A would make sense but making people leave behind gear also feels cowardice so Altovin would do his best to retrieve it even if it meant going at odds with Slaagh.
It seems this dungeon is certainly a mix of difficult and out of the box encounters.
Just sent Romulus a PM. My preference would be for everyone to be in agreement before moving forward.
Still no reply from Romulus. I would prefer to wait another day or two so that he can weigh in, especially since it's his magical armor that is stuck to the Godbox (and will be lost as a sacrifice if you move on).
In the meantime, assuming that we are going to conclude the level here, please let me know:
a) do you want slow track or normal track for this level?
b) would you like to keep playing and head on to level 5?
a) Normal
b) No, the next ES level I'm missing is 10.
Ok, do you want a seat at the table for level 10 (assuming one is available) when/if we get there?
0.5 xp for slow track and 1 xp for normal
My only frustration is I do want to do the entire spire with this character and I don't wanna mess things up.
This isn't as much of a hassle as it was when I played through the Spire because at the time the rule was that you had to decide whether or not you were slow tracking or normal tracking at the start of each level, and you were locked to that choice until you went up a level. Now that this decision is made on a per-adventure basis it should be easier to make sure that you stay in tier for each adventure. Note that the legal character levels for each level of the Spire is listed on one of the slides (the next one: "The Drowned Level" is 3-5, same as Godhome, and the next is 4-6.
What will the fame be? I hate half points of fame and will do normal track if there is a half point of fame involved. Otherwise, Yanda will do slow track then to put her at 13 XP.
0.5 fame/prestige for slow track or 1.0 for normal. So I'll note you down as normal track unless you say otherwise.
I should be able to get the chronicle sheets out on Monday or Tuesday, so hopefully everyone will give me an update on slow vs normal before that.
Ok I think I’ve got what I need for your chronicles.
Altovin and Yanda, do you want to continue to the next level?
Are you ok with continuing as a group of 4?