Quick question for our GM. If Saiya gave Vixen her Lesser Talisman of Healing Power, (acquired here), would it take effect immediately?
The answer can be, "Saiya wouldn't know" :)
Well, I do have an available neck slot at the moment.
The talisman has to be worn when the condition happens - so usually adorning it after the condition already happened doesn't do anything. They're trigger based. If she's healed over half her hit points and then (while wearing it) she's reduced under it, then it'd work (healing and then crumbling to dust), without requiring the usual 24 hours of attunement like other magical items. Of course, the GM might change the way it works.
Must you have half your HP to be reduced to fewer? I mean, I’m at 4 HP now. I expect if I put it on, nothing happens immediately. But if I get clawed again and take 7 damage, my HP is “reduced” to -3, which is “fewer than half” of my max HP.
I would like to think that meets the condition.
You are already at fewer than half - you're not being reduced TO this status, you are already in it (just being reduced further). Notice the condition doesn't say something like "while being reduced in hit points after which ending with less than half of its maximum". Anyway, considering the fight, the GM might want to house rule something more lenient (especially considering it will destroy the talisman).
Well, if the GM sees it like you do, it’s fine. My point is more that I think Saiya’s question is valid. That the three of us genuinely have three different interpretations proves that.
And I suppose one of us is right by the GM’s interpretation. (There can’t be a 4th interpretation…?)
Just to chime in it specifically says "The first time that the wearer is reduced to [u]fewer[/u] than 1/2 his maximum hit points, he automatically heals 4d8+7 hit points." I would read this to mean at anytime they are hit and go anywhere below half their hit points this would trigger. In this specific situation even though she is already under half her hit points, when she puts it on and was hit again she would still meet the trigger condition of being reduced to fewer than 1/2 her maximum hit points for the first time while wearing the talisman, since any damage she would receive puts her at fewer than 1/2 her max.
However, I'm a pretty lenient GM in most cases so YMMV. Of course, up to the GM on how they would rule it.
Lahrehn I have a slightly different interpretation. The trigger is "The first time that the wearer is reduced to fewer than 1/2 his maximum hit points..." there are two conditions that need to be met to trigger it, the wearer takes damage and that damage puts them at less than half hp. So Vix takes the amulet she wouldn't trigger it right away but it would trigger when she takes any kind of damage. Even say if an ally punched her for 1 nonlethal.
Saiya knows how it works.
Beat me to it Miz, got distracted at work
I guess I'm a much more evil GM than the average here. I would never rule it like that (since the interpretation feels very forced, for me).
The similar item, from old AD&D 2nd edition psionics, had a specific wording of "this item won't work in a creature already under half its hit points". Well, it was also 3/day, so I guess it's not that similar.
It's like the other item that says "when the wearer takes enough damage that would kill him, he's instead alive and stable at -1 hit point" - there was a long discussion if it'd work on someone already dead that takes a high damaging spell. The quantity of damage he (as an object, now) takes WOULD KILL him if he was alive, so would shooting him with a high damaging spell outright resurrect him and make him stable at -1? It was obviously FAQ that it doesn't, and that "the 'from' part of the condition" had to be inferred. In the case of the talisman above, it feels to me that "from over half hit point" should be implied, but then again... Maybe I'm just a much more evil GM.
Lahrehn I have a slightly different interpretation. The trigger is "The first time that the wearer is reduced to fewer than 1/2 his maximum hit points..." there are two conditions that need to be met to trigger it, the wearer takes damage and that damage puts them at less than half hp. So Vix takes the amulet she wouldn't trigger it right away but it would trigger when she takes any kind of damage. Even say if an ally punched her for 1 nonlethal.
Saiya knows how it works.
I’ll gladly take a slap to the face for that.
Would I roll my own healing, or Saiya or GM?
Its would be your item, Vix, so you can do the honors.
Maybe I'm just a much more evil GM.
I try to be evil in other ways. ;)
Its would be your item, Vix, so you can do the honors.
Cool. I’ll wait for the slap.
And holy s$&~! 4d8+7!!! Average rolls would get me from to full. (Well, almost since the slap knocks me down to 3.)
Thanks for the ruling GM. I haven't run into talismans much in my games and wasn't entirely sure how they worked. Didn't think it would spark such a discussion!
Thanks for the ruling GM. I haven't run into talismans much in my games and wasn't entirely sure how they worked. Didn't think it would spark such a discussion!
The way they phrase it is a bit weird, but it does come from Occult handbook so that tracks.
@Lahrehn,
Though they didn’t update the maps, Ci-Ci’s post indicates she’s coming down the hall toward us. Miz is in the same room.
@Delmoth,
Would Saiya be able to complete her movement (2 diagonals instead of 1) and put on the talisman herself?
While Delmoth might rule differently, I would assume not. Saiya ended her turn not knowing what Lahrehn would do, and you can’t split a turn to act both before and after someone else.
I also think that removing the talisman, moving, and then putting it on someone else would be three actions, not two. (Which is the primary reason I didn’t do that in the first place.)
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Dropping a note in all my games. I am hoping things won't change too much, but wanted to forewarn my games that there may be some delays in my posting. My work schedule is usually busiest over the summer months and while it is slow right now I know at some point it will get crazy busy when I start getting shipments in of hundreds of new computers for a rebuild of one of my schools I manage. On top of this I am finishing up my dual MBA/MSIS this summer with three classes in a condensed 8-week semester.
All of this to say, I will do my best to keep up and if I know of major delays I will try to notify people (like when it is finals week), but if I do end up disappearing for a few days here or there just know it won't be long term. All the craziness I have going on over the next couple months should primarily be wrapped up near the end of July.
As always, if you need something quick you can generally ping me on Discord.
I updated myself on the map and moved accordingly. I'd rather we regroup and prepare/come out with a better strategy to deal with him. Plus, I'd really rather have all characters of the party somehow more involved in the combat, especially if it's "the final boss" of the module. It's not the GM's fault, but the bad design of the creature (in my opinion, considering circumstances etc.).
Hmm I am unsatisfied with completely preventing actions with fear effects. If everyone is ok with it I'll cook up some house rules to make it work better and give you a chance to act normally.
I was actually going to ask (but forgot), could it even be as simple as you get a will save for every round not panicking?
So maybe Ci-Ci and Miz have had a round or two before the vanish, and the current round to shake off their panic.
That's what I was thinking but the trade off is once they steel themselves enough not to run the penalty for shaken increases to -4 if frightened, and -6 if panicked.
That’s better than being 100% out of combat, and also easier on Miz who mentioned possibly blind-fighting. (I hate miss chance rolls. Especially with a friggin’ crit misses.)
Will you let Ci-Ci and Miz get a few Will Save rolls so there’s a chance they have that status now? (I think Ci-Ci had 3 rounds of not seeing the enemy, current included, and Miz had 2.)
Now that we "know" the kind of effect the enemy causes on us, I'd argue that we can try to prepare ourselves better. Honestly I'd rather we stay on the rules as they are and try to circumvent the challenges as designed, even if badly designed. If one of us in the future plans to use fear, or now decided to use the mechanic because of its power, I think it'd only be fair.
Strange Aeons is more of a horror than an adventure and I feel that withdrawing and fleeing from an encounter should be perfectly acceptable and, in fact, probably targeted design. Maybe it's the lack of a divine caster at this point (a paladin with aura, a cleric doing "unbreakable heart", I don't know) that is harming us, but the pleasure of RPG is finding creative solutions around problems within the scope of the system rules, without the need of adapting it.
Now, if we were to manage to flee and regroup now, to better prepare, I'd even say that adding for example a +2 circumstance bonus on our fear checks would make sense - as we already "know" what to expect.
Maybe preparing better could even mean that we go with our eyes closed. Or some of us. For instance, I have scent (something to remember on our invisible friend right now) - I could spend a move action to try to know his direction if he was close enough, or pinpoint if within 5 feet.
I actually agree on not modifying the fear, though I think the potential blind-fight for Miz may be an viable alternate solution, even if the miss chance sucks. It sucks being out of a fight because of fear (and funny enough is the second time it has happened to me in about a months time on a boss fight) but it is what it is.
In any case, I was getting the feeling that he just vanished to regroup, though I suppose we will see for sure once Ci Ci gets results from her detect magic. I don't know that leaving and then returning is an option and even if it were I feel like we have this thing on the ropes and with Vix having the healing now we should be ok.
I don't know that leaving and then returning is an option and even if it were I feel like we have this thing on the ropes and with Vix having the healing now we should be ok.
I agree with the opinions here, but the fact seems to be:
I don’t have the healing talisman.
Idon’thave the healing talisman.
^fix’d
@Lahrehn,
Seems we get a few rounds but won’t get away—which makes sense, given the rubble that the bad guy can float over while the rest of us struggle. But for strategy, can you grapple (without penalty)? Dragon Style allows Vix to charge through allied squares.
@Delmoth,
Is the Oneigron room free of difficult terrain?
If so, Vix will suggest waiting there in defensive stance (if the enemy doesn’t show himself before she can do that).
Also, I know there’s blind fight. I know (from experience) a caster can summon creatures while blind. But what I don’t know: can Ci-Ci use any of her spells blind, casting toward the source of a sound or toward an anticipated 5’x5’ square? (Presumably with a miss chance.)
The eastern half is mostly free of difficult terrain.
If Ci Ci closes her eyes she has line of effect but not line of sight. She can target squares with attacks but has a 50% miss chance. If it targets a creature but doesn't involve an attack roll the spell automatically fails. Spells that target an AoE work normally. She would need to make DC 40 perception check to pinpoint a square of a creature, including allies.
The DC decreases by -20 if the target is in combat, that is taking action in initiative other than moving. -10 if moving at full speed. There are other modifiers under invisibility.
I'll get a post later today.
Blind-Fight would be a nice feat to have in this situation.
How do magic weapons work in ABP? My understanding is that, next level, we can assign a +1 enhancement to a weapon of our choice.
…and we can choose to replace the +1 with a weapon magic quality of our choice. So if someone wanted a combat feat they don’t have, they could—for example—make the +1 weapon a Training weapon with a combat feat of choice (provided prerequisites are met), right?
You choose one weapon to attune to that weapon can gain a +1 enhancement bonus, like a normal magic weapon. If the weapon is already magical it will have a special ability associated with it. Red Destiny for example has Wounding which is a +2 equivalent, if you attune with a magic weapon you can spend the enhancement bonuses to activate the special ability. If you don't have enough to activate it you use up all your enhancement bonus.
So next level when Saiya chooses to attune to Red Destiny she can choose to gain wounding with no enhancement bonus or to give it a +1 enhancement without wounding. It shouldn't affect feats at all unless those feats interact with magic weapons.
Oh, so you can’t just choose the enhancement on a whim. If the weapon has Haste, you can activate Haste with a +3. Or you have the +3 and keep Haste inactive.
Another question then… could we obtain armor that has qualities like Aquadynamic? That doesn’t use a +1, +2 or whatever. You just pay the $3,750 for the feature.
Right.
You can still attune to special with more enhancement equivalent bonus than you have it just uses up all of your enhancement bonuses, this is how Saiya is using wounding on Red Destiny when she has no enhancement bonus to give.
Specials without enhancement equivalent bonuses, such as aquadynamic, aren't affected by ABP, and work normally.
@GM,
Where are we on the map now? Would all except Lahrehn be converged around Saiya, who would have moved 6 or 9 squares east? (Run would get us further, but I take it we didn’t run because of the perception checks.)
Saiya wouldn't have run unless everyone else was running. I'd assume Saiya is 9 squares to the east of her current position, since IIRC the room was difficult terrain but not the hallway. Still, I'd like GM confirmation just to be sure.
Oh. If it’s not difficult terrain there, I don’t need to charge and we can all reach the enemy this round!
I moved myself on the map to a position behind Saiya. If the GM confirms we moved 9 squares east of Saiya, that puts her at the east side of the gray rectangle. Miz could be behind Saiya and Ci-Ci can be next to her, east of Vix.
Vix of course will be in the fray. I just had her guiding the blind(folded) samurai, and maybe the front position is better for LoS?
I had assumed that no one was moving from where there tokens are currently. You had since Friday to adjust your tokens and everyone has checked in.
I can rewind time if you really want.
Hallway and the smaller room are difficult terrain.
I can rewind time if you really want.
I think we should keep our actions. The map should match the narrative. That’s all I’m asking.
I think it’s just a matter of:
• Ci-Ci and Mix ran to the Tatterman’s room
• Vix got the talisman.
• Saiya moved east and we all followed
• Lahrehn moved ahead of the group without waiting
So what I’m asking (and think would be fair) is that you move Lahrehn’s and Saiya’s pieces wherever you deem fair. The rest of us are 1 square away from her.
(If you move those tokens as well, Vix is to Miz’s left, as she offered to guide the blindfolded samurai through the rubble.)
My piece was already where it should been as I was moving it properly on the map every turn and indicating with an arrow.
In that case, I guess it’s a matter of whether Saiya moved 9 squares or less. At any rate, I should at least have moved to get the talisman and can charge 12 squares regardless of terrain.
@Lahrehn, can you grapple? (I mean with the natural attacks or some way that doesn’t penalize you.) Lowering his AC and negating his ability to 5ft step would help!
No one can grapple without improved grapple, grab, or provoking an AoO. Stop trying to play other people’s character.
Stop trying to play other people’s character.
I’m not. I was asking what you can do, and I know from playing a druid that some natural attacks include “grab.” I don’t know if yours do. So I asked.
You said you wanted to regroup for teamwork/strategic purposes, but the enemy is outpacing us so we can’t get away. Thus, I thought you might want to team up now and I was asking if that’s an option. Even if it is, you might prefer full attacking. (I know I do, and I can’t grapple anyway unless I have a teammate for flanking.) You answering my question doesn’t force you to do things “my” way.
I’ll wait for your post and see what you do with no further comment.
I apologize for not moving my token. I was a little confused how the 'fast-forwarding' would work given that it seemed Lahrehn intended to continue running and the rest of us intended to follow. I wasn't sure where we were going to end up or how far I should be moving, and so I just didn't move. That's my fault, and I should have asked for clarification earlier.
Since we skipped rounds 6-7 I only missed out on the move actions I intended to take in round 5. I'm fine with that being the consequence of my lack of attention to detail.
I'll post in a few minutes assuming that my token is in the place it should be and moving accordingly.
Hi team - my apologies for any disruption, I'm leaving the game. Best of luck.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Sorry to hear that, and I apologize if anything I said (unintentionally) led to hard feelings.
As for moving pieces, if we’re voting on this, I say:
No retcon. —meaning we just play from our positions as Saiya and Lahrehn already have (and Ci-Ci’s play works from her position), and I just want to make my post before the round ends.
I’ll wait for the GM to unpause before I post anything.
Hi team - my apologies for any disruption, I'm leaving the game. Best of luck.
I will bot Lahrehn until such time as I can have the character leave sensibly.
@Lahrehn: Sorry to see you go. Good luck in your games!
@GM: All Saiya would have done in round 5 was the double-move I just posted. Her token is currently in the correct place.
Moved to be up next to the others.
I adjusted my position to be closer to where the Tatterman appeared, figuring that would have made sense.
I do not wish to change my action, though. Still casting burning disarm on its war razor.
@Delmoth, given that everyone seems fine leaving the posted actions as they are, can I just make my post for this round—when you unpause, and *IF* you leave the last 5 actions intact?
It’ll just be a taunt, since charging was not a possibility, but as I said, I was about to post but didn’t because the game was paused. Vix was impressed with Lahrehn’s attack and even though the player left, I still want to get those words in. (Especially since I copy-pasted them into Notes when you paused, so it won’t take a whole lot of effort.)