Hellknight Hill: Bumblebrashers! (Inactive)

Game Master Joana

Would Aronida know if Alek is wearing Hellknight armor?

Hi folks, sorry for falling off the radar this past week. Work has been picking up and I haven't felt like sitting behind a computer once that's done. Also, to be honest I've felt a bit burned out on PbP. All of my other games have ended or are on hiatus, and I haven't even felt inclination to sign up for another PFS scenario.

I still really like the group we have here, but the process of PbP gaming has felt like something of a grind lately. Maybe I'm missing the personal aspect of roleplaying, not that my RL campaign has been running over Roll20 for the last half year. I don't know...

I'll try to hang in here, because as I said I like the group and I wouldn't want to waste that...

I certainly hope you stick with us, Iff! Revka is a great character, and you're a great player. I would miss you if you left us.

I certainly hope you stick with us, Iff! Revka is a great character, and you're a great player. I would miss you if you left us.

Seconded!

Where to next? Going to explore some more or take a rest?

I vote for a rest, even though Alek may not like it.

Well, Alek's an NPC and doesn't get a vote; too bad for him. ;)

Are you going back down to the Bumblebrashers' rooms to rest, as you've been invited to, or do you want to rest in one of the rooms here on the main floor?

It might not be a bad idea to rest with the Bumblebrashers: That way, they can acclimate themselves to Alek's presence in the ruins and vice-versa.

I agree (both with resting and with Staying with the Bumblebrashers). We also get to see him and try and gauge whether he’s trustworthy.

(Been flat out with banks/accountant this week. We might be buying a house. :o)

Best of luck with the home purchase!

Resting with the Bumblebrashers makes sense to me!

Sorry for slow posting. My kids went back to in-person classes today for the first time since Spring Break never ended back in March, and we're trying to get back into the routine!

Will narrate you up until after you've rested within 24 hours.

The loot list in the Campaign Info tab is updated.

Hi folks, I apologize for not getting back in touch earlier. Looking back at my previous post, it was already two weeks. I've come to the conclusion that I have to back out of this game; over these two weeks I just haven't felt like sitting down at the computer to roleplay, at all. I know I won't live up to my own expectations in terms of activity and involvement, which meant my games (of which this is the last one) felt like a concern more than a source of recreation and enjoyment. Because of that, I've decided to step back.

I'm really sorry, because I liked our group and the way Joana oversaw our table. Apologies once again for leaving the group mid-way. Take care everyone, and I hope you'll have many great adventures.

Yeah, the entire PbP forum seems to be under a malaise of some sort (end of summer/start of school/covid-19/rough job market); several of my games are on hiatus, too, and those that aren't seem to be proceeding at a snail's pace with occasional spurts of activity. It kinda sucks. I think it might be the new normal.

I hate to see you (and Revka) go, but if that's your decision, I just want to say it was a fun time while it lasted. Best wishes for you going forward.

I"m very sorry to hear that, Iff, but thank you for the notice. :(

What's everyone else feeling? As Profession Smith points out, things seem to have slowed down on the boards in general. I'm not excluding myself, either: my kids have definitely gotten out of the habit of getting up and dressed and out of the house with their work done by a set time, and I haven't enjoyed getting back to the drop-off and pick-up schedule after being used to leaving the house only when I choose for so many months.

Easing back on posting expectations is certainly doable if it helps keep the group together at a slower pace; on the other hand, a slower pace can sometimes sap the momentum of the game if everyone's not on the same page with it. Now is the time for feedback!

Easing back on posting expectations is certainly doable if it helps keep the group together at a slower pace; on the other hand, a slower pace can sometimes sap the momentum of the game if everyone's not on the same page with it. Now is the time for feedback!

From my experience, Joana's hit the nail on the head: In my forum PbP games that aren't on hiatus, all are struggling to one degree or another with maintaining momentum. People seem to be posting less frequently, and even when they do post, it's often just a sentence or two.

Now that I have home internet 24/7, I can post more often; I check the boards several times a day, but there's just not a whole lot going on. I'd like to keep up a brisk pace, but I'm OK with a slower pace if that suits other folks. I'm enjoying this game and appreciate Joana's work on it, so I'd like to see it keep going.

Although I'm definitely one of the main culprits (life is manic at the moment with work, rural commuting, mother-in-law-+-mother-nursing and househunting) I'd like to return to daily posting if we could, but would rather return to a couple a week rather than drop it completely. When things are "normal" I really have no excuse for daily posting (at least Monday-Friday) and I'm very much enjoying the game (both for the story, the other PCs and for learning how PF2 works...).

I've probably still got another week of manicness in all likelihood. But my mother is back in her car, my mother-in-law is clearing the last steps to citizenship tomorrow, the bank have finally got all our paperwork and things are soon going to slow down!

I hope Revka can chill out with the Humblebrashers for a little while and maybe come back to the group down the track if Iff gets back into the mood for it. She's a fantastic character.

Hm, Mark and Ever_Anon's absence is worrying. I know Mark's been struggling for time lately; his last post in my other game was September 10th.

Aronida's player appears to be posting in her other games. Perhaps she accidentally hid our campaign or lost notifications on it. I have PMed her.

This has been a very busy week for me. (I had a half a pint of Ben & Jerry's for breakfast this morning; that's what kind of week it's been.) However, I'm hopeful from a glance at my calendar that things will calm down a bit at least until the holiday season begins.

Revka can certainly join the Bumblebrashers for now so that if Iff gets the itch to play again she could rejoin the group.

I'm sorry, for some reason I didn't see that there were new posts in this game. I'm not sure what happened. Thanks for the PM!

As for my input, things have mostly settled down for me. For the past couple weeks I've been able to post basically every weekday. Weekends are a bit more busy, but I'm usually able to at least check and post a short update if I would otherwise be holding something up.

I'm comfortable with a slower pace if that works for everyone else, but ideally I'd like to return to posting more often. Part of the reason I didn't notice the lack of notifications was because I'd stopped expecting this game to have regular updates. (I'm certainly also to blame for that, so please no one take that the wrong way.)

Edited to add: Revka, I'm very sorry to see you go but understand these things happen. If things calm down, I'm sure we can reintegrate Revka into the group.

Good to hear from you, Ever_Anon! I'm not going to wait around on Mark's input right now. He seems to have been AFK for several days, but I have a long history of gaming with him and expect him to pop in eventually.

In my experience, a faster-paced game is a healthier game so we'll stick with a default expectation of at least one post per weekday. One of the applications from the original recruitment thread that just missed getting into the game was a goblin PC; I can PM that player and see if they're still interested. If so, it will be an easy place for them to join the party from the Bumblebrasher tribe.

To help cover for the healing we'll be missing, I can do a quick and dirty respec of Alek as a warpriest for now since the adventure makes allowances for him to travel with the party until his ring is found. At that point, we can see where we're at and if we need to pick up another player (or if, ideally, Iff wants to pick up Revka again). Is that okay with everyone?

The Gethric/Mark entity is still in existence and not going anywhere in the metaphorical sense, just getting crunched by the travails of a significantly increased work pressure (longer, later, harder, busier) and my kids growing up (bedtimes getting later, less free time, etc). Man-flu didn't help either.

PS - a half pint of Ben & Jerry's for breakfast sounds great... I can remember a halcyon time where I considered a king-size Kit Kat choc bar and a 600mL carton of iced coffee as a well rounded and nutritious breaking of fast.

I won't judge you for Ben & Jerry's for breakfast if you don't judge me for beer & popcorn for supper (it's a quarantine thing).

If you want to branch out, let me cut-and-paste from the "Happy Holidays" email I just sent my sister:

Tomorrow: National Cheeseburger Day! (I can haz!)
Friday: International Talk Like a Pirate Day (aka Ham Nite!) AND National Butterscotch Pudding Day!
Saturday: National Pepperoni Pizza Day!

Each an all-day affair (except maybe Ham Nite, but ham's good in the AM as well).

I won't judge you for Ben & Jerry's for breakfast if you don't judge me for beer & popcorn for supper (it's a quarantine thing).

If you want to branch out, let me cut-and-paste from the "Happy Holidays" email I just sent my sister:

Tomorrow: National Cheeseburger Day! (I can haz!)
Friday: International Talk Like a Pirate Day (aka Ham Nite!) AND National Butterscotch Pudding Day!
Saturday: National Pepperoni Pizza Day!

Each an all-day affair (except maybe Ham Nite, but ham's good in the AM as well).

Whoops--got my days wrong and gave sis a heart attack! ;)

(Looks at own breakfast which consists entirely of garlic bread.) Uh, no comment here.

It sounds like we've still got Aronida (ranger), Darla (bard), Gellius (fighter), and Gethric (rogue). With Alek respeced as a warpriest, that seems like a balanced enough party to not need a fifth. I am okay with inviting someone else though if you think we need it.

Also I will point out that Aronida has healer's tools along with being trained in Medicine. In PF1 that wouldn't be anywhere near sufficient, but PF2 has greatly increased the efficacy of non-cleric groups. She doesn't have Battle Medicine so she can't patch anyone up in combat, but out of combat she can supplement whatever healing Alek provides.

Ok. Weekend is here. I’ll be able to catch up shortly - I know I haven’t posted in a while.

Then I’m going to resolve to go back to posting at least 5 times a week. Life should be manageable again!

I’d vote for staying with the current four - to leave room for Iff’s possible return, if nothing else. Maybe a six month break or something will re-energise her and it will be easy to make space that way.

It’ll be interesting to see how a heavily martial party does.

All right, if you guys want to move ahead with Alek for now, that will buy Iff some time to decide whether to make a triumphant return. One of the players in my RL group really hates GMPCs so I wanted to check if the group would prefer a replacement player.

I'm good with Alek as an NPC to give Iff more time to regain interest.

I won't judge you for Ben & Jerry's for breakfast if you don't judge me for beer & popcorn for supper (it's a quarantine thing).

2 liter bottle of coke and a pack of mint slice choc biscuits... has been a dinner for me in University days...

Ok. Sorry to do this so close to just g-ing myself up to resume posting. Political news has got me seriously depressed. I’m going to go offline for a little while - at least a few weeks.

Again, sorry but I’ve been low for the last several months and this weekend I’ve just crashed. I have no emotional/creative reserves left.

I completely understand. Take care of yourself.

Hang in there, Steve.

I was going to suggest, since we're down 2 players for the next few weeks, maybe considering a short hiatus for the game, but with the election and the holidays coming up quickly, a short break could easily turn into an extended one.

Do we try playing with just 3 players? Darla's not much of a combatant.

I do really like the game, fwiw. So in a month or so i really hope the stars can align.

I just need to log off for a while. I'm not sleeping, not talking and not functioning. Just browsing the bleakness of the internet and dwelling on bad news. :(

I need to focus on some local politics and social stuff for a while. Somwthing I can actually influence.

Well, we have a few options:

1. Go on hiatus until Steve comes back. Downside: We lose momentum and maybe more players.

2. I bot Gellius until Steve comes back. Downside: I'll be playing Gellius, Alek, and all the bad guys, which could get a little overwhelming.

3. Gellius stays with Revka and the Bumblebrashers for a while and then rejoins the party when Steve comes back. Downside: The party is reduced in numbers, and Alek has to take the lead in melee when GMPCs ought optimally to take a supporting role.

4. We pick up a replacement player. Downside: If Steve and Iff come back, we have a six-PC party.

What do you think? Does anyone have any other suggestions?

My inclination is option 2, with the minor adjustment that the GM doesn’t necessarily have to do the botting. Fighters aren’t particularly complicated. I don’t think it would be too much extra work on our parts to have whoever is closest to Gellius in initiative post his actions along with their own. (Obviously this is subject to Darla/Gethric’s agreement.)

Option 4 would also be okay; but if we do end up with a six man party Joana might have to adjust some of the encounters.

I don’t like Options 1 or 3. A hiatus could well be a death sentence for a game that’s already struggling with momentum. I wouldn’t mind Alek taking a leading role in combat, but it seems risky given that he’s also being respeced into our primary healer.

I would be hesitant to load you up with more work than necessary Joana, so I'd hedge away from option 2 for that reason.

My preference would be for Option 4.

Options 2 & 4 seem the best to me.

My inclination is option 2, with the minor adjustment that the GM doesn’t necessarily have to do the botting. Fighters aren’t particularly complicated. I don’t think it would be too much extra work on our parts to have whoever is closest to Gellius in initiative post his actions along with their own. (Obviously this is subject to Darla/Gethric’s agreement.)

I considered including that as an option 5. I've seen it done in some other games. The downside I would have included is that the botting can sometimes fall through the cracks when the players all assume someone else is going to do it this round. Since Gellius is Gethric's flanking buddy, ideally I'd suggest Mark bot him to get them in position, but I know Mark is making an effort to find the time to post for just one PC.

Anyway, sounds like we can eliminate options 1 and 3.

With regard to option four and the potential for having too many people. I fully understand I'm causing the problem - I wouldn't expect my place to be held.

No, no, don't be ridiculous, Steve. We definitely want you back. We just want to be sure the rest of the party survives in the meantime. :)

I think the best way forward for now is for someone to bot Gellius. As Even_Anon says, he's a fighter so it's not like we'll have to keep up with expended spell slots and such. If we have to juggle him around like a hot potato, with different people botting him each round depending on who has the time, we should be fine.

When we get to the point where Alek is due to leave the party, if we haven't heard from Iff or Steve by then, we'll have to pick up at least one player. At that point, however, the group should be back in Breachill so it will be easier to explain picking up a character of any ancestry or background than having someone randomly pop into the citadel.

I'll put my hand up as a nominal bot person for Gellius, though happy for others to take his action if they've got the time / inclination as they check in.

So, given that the stairs down are blocked, do you guys want to investigate the doors to the east that the Bumblebrashers say lead to monsters or the passageways leading south that lead to dead longshanks (and where the kobolds found the magic ring)?

Or do you want to go back upstairs and finish searching the main floor?

With Revka gone, I'm gonna choose the generic 'monsters' over '(un)dead longshanks.'

Heading east towards the monsters sound good to me.

Aronida eyes the doors warily, knowing that there are supposedly monsters behind them. "Should we just...pick one? I think working our way from outside in makes the most sense."

Voting for the western door.

We're actually looking at the doors at the right (eastern) end of the map, not the passageways to the south. (Those are the ones that lead to the dead longshanks.)

As you say, there are no real clues for you guys to discern between them, but I didn't want to pick one because I do know what's behind them.

On the general premise of "outside-in," we can start with the southern door at X17 and work closer to the "safe"-ish area the Bumblebrashers control?

Ah, gotcha. Southern door works for me.

I'm assuming Darla has moved her light from Gellius's main-gauche to something else until he rejoins the party. Where's the party's light source for now?

Do we have a marching order for entering rooms/corridors? The old one was Aronida-Gellius-Gethric-Revka-Darla.

I was going to suggest Aronida and Darla take the lead for now (while Gethric seems to have hit another busy stretch), but if Darla's the group's lone healer that might be unwise.

Do we know if Alek is anything other than a warrior?

As for the light spell, that could go to Aronida or stay with Darla. Probably should be with someone up front.