DM Blayde MacRonan's Of Aeons and Giants: The Continuing Adventures of Team Ruby (Private Campaign, Closed Recruitment)

Game Master Blayde MacRonan

Happy New Years. May 2022 bring many bless to us all.

Did I miss a memo? Between this turning into a season of The Young and The Restless and characters being complete jerks to one another, I hardly recognize this game anymore.

Did I miss a memo? Between this turning into a season of The Young and The Restless and characters being complete jerks to one another, I hardly recognize this game anymore.

No, you didn't. And I understand your frustration... but just bear with us for a bit.

Things will sort themselves out soon enough. And I will go ahead and tender my apologies now in advance of any explanation to come.

I can wait, but I was starting to wonder if this was a ride I wanted to participate in any further. I don't jump ship lightly - the fact that it even crossed my mind says something.

Just a reminder... this is the surprise round and the group is able to act but the the bladeleafs (both the swarm and the tendriculos) are not. So if you're waiting on me to act as either of those creatures, then don't. You are limited to taking only move or standard actions unless you have an ability that allows you to take more than those type of actions.

I will give Tsadok's player til Sunday to take an action. If he does not, then Liesel-Marie may act and we can move on to the first of combat.

Two things...

First, I originally had a response from Ewigga to Nyym's retort about righteous indignation, but decided not to post it in lieu maintaining the flow of action.

Second, I also wanted to discuss something with the rest of you, concerning a conversation I had with Tsadok's player. It was about the possibility of using an app called Microsoft Teams to message each other in real time, thus allowing a greater degree of coordination amongst the group as a whole. I'm not opposed to the idea, but I wanted to get an idea of where y'all stood on the matter.

I’m in games using Discord for that purpose very successfully. I’m very familiar with Teams, but not terribly excited about trying to get my various systems to keep work and play in Teams separate. Microsoft is great at pulling everything into the same stew whether you want it that way or not.

Actually, Liesel-Marie started the round with 60 hit points, due to having already suffered 12 slashing damage and 6 points of bleed damage in the previous round. 76 - 10 (due to DR) - 6 is 60 hp. So, using your math, 30 damage - 2 DR - 24 temp hp is 4 points of 'real' damage is 56 hit points, and 6 bleed reduces that to 50. Because every hit point counts. ;)

I've used Discord before, so I'm more familiar with that than I am with Teams.

I would be happy to utilize a Discord channel to augment the game. I have struggled to keep Office from mashing personal and work things together, so I try to keep personal things off that platform.

Thanks for the review of the math. I had noted she was at 59 before meeting Ewigga, but I will defer to GM judgment especially when it is my favor. ;-)

I have Discord aswell, so either way can work.

Merry Easter everyone!

I am currently working on my next post, but work has been really kicking my butt as of late due to the later times that I'm getting out.

I hope to have it up before the end of this week (I'm making this one before going in to work).

Which means the use of Discord will probably become more important going forward. So the sooner we can work this out, the better.

In the meantime, I hope that everyone will be able to enjoy themselves today.

I don’t currently have a Discord server set up. But I’ve been giving it some serious thought for other communication. I can see if I can get something simple together.

I wish to convey the DMs apologies for the stall in posting. Alot of RL issues have arisen that is occupying his time as well as a full work schedule do to short staffing at work. As soon as he is able, we will resume with the postings. If anyone else wishes to post thet next action or rp post. They are welcome to do so. Hopefully things will settle down and he can start moving us forward again soon. He thanks everyone for their patience and understanding. Hope all is well with everyone.

All is well and improving on this front.

My BFF and I are hitting the road to celebrate the latest of many anniversaries. If you feel it necessary to bot the Erutaki warrior princess (TM), please do so.

Happy Anniversary Liesel-Marie. Hope yall have a great time.

I wish to convey the DMs apologies for the stall in posting. Alot of RL issues have arisen that is occupying his time as well as a full work schedule do to short staffing at work. As soon as he is able, we will resume with the postings. If anyone else wishes to post thet next action or rp post. They are welcome to do so. Hopefully things will settle down and he can start moving us forward again soon. He thanks everyone for their patience and understanding. Hope all is well with everyone.

Things are beginning to settle down as far as the RL issues are concerned; while we still continue to be short-staffed at work, I hope to be able to pick back up with things next week. If I am unable to do so, then I will let everyone know as soon as possible.

Again, I want to thank everyone for being both patient and understanding.

All is well and improving on this front.

My BFF and I are hitting the road to celebrate the latest of many anniversaries.

Though late, allow me to add my congratulations to those already extended!

Much appreciated. Hoping for some relief for you - so many are still terribly understaffed.

As for me, things are on a downswing, but I have a plan that might help. We’ll see.

Yes... I flashed forward.

When it becomes more of a necessity to do so, we'll go back and touch upon y'all getting out of the Vault of Thorns in some sort of flashback.

But I figured the flash-forward was the best method of moving things along, at least for right now.

What do you think of the decision?

Sorry, which decision? To flash forward? It’s certainly a legit way to proceed.

Taking the time to wish everyone a happy Fourth of July!

I'm hoping to be able to resume the game soon, but finding time outside of work has become something harder to do these days.

In the meantime, enjoy yourselves and have a grand old time celebrating the holiday.

Be safe, be chill. Life is busy, don’t sweat it.

I hope everyone is enjoying a safe and fun summer season and all that goes with it.

Just wanted to update everyone as to what's been going on. I've been dealing with work, as well as another matter: a divorce.

I and my wife, with whom I've been with for over 20 years and to whom I've been married for almost as long, decided to call it quits. Thankfully, there's no real animosity between us and it was concluded amicably.

I've been taking the time I felt that I needed to cope and deal with everything, and now, I'm ready to get things moving again.

So... expect a post from me Thursday doing just that.

Thank you once again for your patience, and your understanding. It means a lot to me, more than I can adequately express.

I'm glad you checked in. I honestly have been a little concerned. With the state of the world, radio silence has a way of becoming permanent. I am very sorry to hear about this life development, though - I cannot fathom how crushing that would be for me and have no useful advice other than - take your time.

In other completely unrelated news, did you hear that PF2e has a kineticist playtest in process now that GenCon is done?

We are preparing to leave for our trip to Somewhere New (tm) and I have no guarantee of a network connection for much of the next week. Please bot Liesel-Marie as necessary and I look forward to seeing what you’ve gotten up to in my absence. Cheers!

Sorry I posted in the pbp channel.

I obviously had not accounted for the days of natural healing. I would indeed have been at full health. Now I'm needing for clarification regarding my position. I appear to be a five-foot step from Kelseph, but I'm on stairs and behind some degree of cover, so I don't think it's as simple as hopping down or stepping over to engage. Especially not when Kelseph has a burly sword-wielding wingman.

Sorry I posted in the pbp channel.

I obviously had not accounted for the days of natural healing. I would indeed have been at full health. Now I'm needing for clarification regarding my position. I appear to be a five-foot step from Kelseph, but I'm on stairs and behind some degree of cover, so I don't think it's as simple as hopping down or stepping over to engage. Especially not when Kelseph has a burly sword-wielding wingman.

The base of the stairs is in the moat, which is fifteen feet below the level of the outcropping. Though it's hard to tell on the battle map, I would say that Liesel-Marie is approximately five feet beneath the outcropping, which will put her ten feet from Kelseph. Moving to confront the general directly runs the risk of potentially provoking two attacks of opportunity (one from Oloch and one from Kelseph). Blade Rush could help her avoid the AoOs, but she'll have to figure that out for herself. I've said more than I probably should... ;P

OK, so they are above me to my left and Aiko is in front of me on the stairs. I did want to ask, also - I'm guessing there was no surprise round since she got a full round attack on me.

OK, so they are above me to my left and Aiko is in front of me on the stairs. I did want to ask, also - I'm guessing there was no surprise round since she got a full round attack on me.

You are correct... there was no surprise round.

Is Kelseph standing next to a ledge above the tent you mentioned earlier? I'm confused by the remark that the figures were near a tent not far away. Are there tents at the top of the stairs?

Kelsephs tent was at the top of the steps. The rest are in the mote. Kelseph and her guard came from her tent. Not the ones that are in the mote.

Thanks. Elevation is hard on 2d maps. Pity she’s not down in the bathtub with her thugs.

Nicely done, Tsadok.

The dice God's were with me. Thanks

GM: The map looks like I’m adjacent to Kelseph. Is that accurate? Or is there an elevation difference I need to account for?

The boulders that you're behind are 5 feet high.... going to the left, you're close to Oloch and Tsadok, with Kelseph being furthest away from you.

Hope that helps....

I would like to jump on the rocks between me and Kelseph (+23 to Jump checks) and vital strike her with my bearded greataxe.

Is that viable?

I would like to jump on the rocks between me and Kelseph (+23 to Jump checks) and vital strike her with my bearded greataxe.

Is that viable?

Jumping up on the rocks and performing a Vital Strike...? Yes. Hitting Kelseph...? No. She would be 10-feet away from you. However, you would have the high-ground, and that gives a +1 bonus to your melee attack roll. It seems that you learned very well the lesson of Obi-Wan and Anakin... ;)

So… the map is 10’ grids, not 5’?

I really need a three-action economy!

Then can I jump down as a charge attack?

If I recall from a previous encounter he botted you, he had used blade rush in a way that ur axe was the rush weapon with it bathed in fire allowing both ur axe damage as well as the fire damage. The GM can correct me if I am mistaken or have left out anything. This could be an option for ur attack as well. Hope this helps.

So… the map is 10’ grids, not 5’?

I really need a three-action economy!

Then can I jump down as a charge attack?

The map has 5-foot squares, but I think that I understand the problem now that I've had some time to both literally and figuratively sleep on it.

A 10-foot long jump is a DC 10 Athletics check, but becomes DC 20 if you perform it Hulk-style (flat-footed, no running start). The issue for Liesel-Marie is the landing, as in where she lands. There's only one space where she could land, and that's on top of the general's tent (though yurt would probably be a better choice of word). It's approximately 6 or so feet tall, 9 feet toward the center.

Seems to me the simplest route in this instance would be to scramble up the boulders (DC 10 Athletics check) and hop across to the nearby yurt-roof (DC 5 Athletics check), where she can move without provoking an AoO to Kelseph. Again, she'd have the high ground, and therefore a +1 to her melee attack rolls.

If I recall from a previous encounter he botted you, he had used blade rush in a way that ur axe was the rush weapon with it bathed in fire allowing both ur axe damage as well as the fire damage. The GM can correct me if I am mistaken or have left out anything. This could be an option for ur attack as well. Hope this helps.

Ah, a cool option, thank you. I will take what’s offered and delay us no further.

Merry Thanksgiving to all, and to all... a good bite! ;)

Happy Thanksgiving, all!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Happy Thanksgiving all

I'm not going to lie, that took forever, but it was fun to write up. I hope it works with the lore.

Figured I would let everyone know that I'm taking some much needed vacation time starting on the 7th and ending on the 14th. I can say for certain that on 4 of those days (7th through 10th), I will be incommunicado. After that, I should be able to post.

I'm not going to lie, that took forever, but it was fun to write up. I hope it works with the lore.

I can only speak for myself, but I for one both appreciated and enjoyed the additional lore you provided.

Thank you.

Plenty of room for hooks. And I have a great personal visual regarding her village now.

And actually scoring a hit was gratifying.

I hope you are able to relax and enjoy your vacation without everyday concerns weighing you down.

Enjoy your time off. Relax and veg out, lol.