Oh, yeah, Charles is way down. Well, you're about to get major gifts and big shots are coming to check you out. Some magical healing could be among them if Valerie chooses to exit now.
If Valerie has any remaining spells for the day, she could Mystic Cure him before she leaves.
If you're not having fun and have decided to leave, you should leave when it feels most comfortable to do so.
I conceived of this PbP to be episodic and comic-book-like so characters could come and go. I committed myself not to creating any big mysteries that couldn't be resolved in one episode.
One of the reasons this game was designed to be episodic is so people could come back any time, and you'd be more than welcome to rejoin the game if it ever seemed like fun to do so.
That is extremely generous of you, and I may take you up on that offer at some point in a later date. Right now work and the PBP I am GMing are taking too much time for me to be able to focus on this game to a degree that I feel comfortable and entertained playing. But at another time it might work better for me.
Uncanny Valerie can easily disappear in character. Next time you traveled transdimensionally, I was going to offer everyone the choice of arriving safely or getting lost in the Shuffle. Theo and Valerie being outsiders would be especially likely to take a different route.
I think that works well and I can play through to the end of the Beowulf saga.
As for healing Charles, IIRC all he needs to do is take 10 minutes to recover his SP. Then he'll be at full SP and only down 5 HP. I can also attempt a medical treatment check to recover a few more HP. (If this has already been discussed in the game thread, cool; I haven't read it yet and I'm behind several messages).
I'd rather save the two spells per day I have left for any other healing that may need to occur.
I think that works well and I can play through to the end of the Beowulf saga.
Yay!
Nissa’s got a bit of a fan-girl thing for Valerie, so besides being glad she’ll finish the episode (both in-char and out-), I hope when the episode’s over, Val won’t leave without saying goodbye.
She definitely will say goodbye if she is able. :)
And thank you for your comment above. Once or twice I have stuck around a game when it was clearly not a good fit with me, trying to stubbornly stick to it even when I was getting more miserable playing. Long story short, the departures ended up being much uglier than they should have been if I had just recognized it wasn't working out and left. In this case there's no red flags or anything, it's just not a good fit for me and I'm feeling increasingly lost.
Thanks for the warning in-game, Val. The question + queen-scream was a give-away. I really thought I pissed off a mourning mother (of a Grendel victim), then thought oh s**&, literally walked right into that.
Well, halflings are known for fearlessness, so I just ran with the boldness.
Nissa is already talking to her by the time she casts telepathic message, targeting Nissa and the two nearest people to her. (Probably Verve and Charles.) :Be careful, that woman's a witch.:
Then Wealhtheow screams.
Valerie moves toward the queen.
Everyone turns their head to see the queen scream.
Val. Chill. It wasn't that big a deal. Theo, like me, likes to play it loose. No harm done. Let's enjoy the game.
Godmoding (presuming the actions or reactions of a character that is not your own is under your control) does cause harm. It's not cool, so don't do it.
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I don't think, in the history of people telling people to chill, has anyone every chilled after being told to. And, yeah, godmoding, even when you're a godling, isn't a good idea. In this case, I do want to know where Nissa's looking and she's made it clear she's keeping her eye on white-haired stranger, so that's good to know.
Val's idea of where everyone was standing matches mine. The Queen's closest to Theo, partly because she likes it there.
I do want to know where Nissa's looking and she's made it clear she's keeping her eye on white-haired stranger, so that's good to know.
Yes, as much as Nissa is worried about the queen, she is not about to turn her back on the witch. The drawing of guns is intended as a reaction to the scream, so they’re pointed down and away—but Nissa is battle-ready, with her eye on a potentially-dangerous person.
Are we just waiting on Charles then?
Thanks.
Valerie has turned her attention toward the queen for the moment.
For the +1 weapon, two questions:
#1. Can I use my gun while wearing a bone cestus?
#2. Can I get a pair?
Okay… I just noticed that my multi-weapon attacks work only with operative weapons. So while that limits my choice, upside: I can use DEX for the atk rolls (STR for damage).
There’s an Inferno Knife! …but it’s Lv.4.
At my current level: light sap for nonlethal DEX-based melee!
Note that magic weapons don't have pluses in Starfinder, unless we're tweaking that for this campaign. Counting as magic is important for penetrating certain sorts of DR, though.
I want Charles to keep depending on his natural weapon attacks, because I like having his chimera form be his battle form. I am a little worried they'll fall behind at higher levels, as while I've worked to give them a large bonus to damage their die size will never go up, unlike with normal Starfinder weapons where both the bonus and the die size tend to go up with level.
To be fair though, most natural attacks inherrent to a creature are both: unarmed attacks (if you look at the vesk, for example, it specifically mentioned making an unarmed attack with your claws) and they get a variant version of weapon specialization that adds 1.5 x character level to damage.
I'd just take Improved Unarmed Strike, which scales up unarmed damage, and see if our glorious DM is fine with you taking the improved Weapon Spec.
Oh, I have the improved Weapon Specialization, that's part of why my bonus is so large. I hadn't thought about Improved Unarmed Strike, though.
Did we rest for ten minutes so we could recover Stamina? Otherwise I'm in trouble if combat starts here.
I’d like to think, with Charles hurting, we’d have rested somewhere along the uphill return trip.
Did we rest for ten minutes so we could recover Stamina? Otherwise I'm in trouble if combat starts here.
I'm sure you rested in the cave while things were being gathered. I remember people checking on you. I assume they didn't push you to get up and get your lazy ass in gear.
Yes. Plus there was some good time spent looking at the stuff in the cave, where Charles didn't do much, so it's reasonable to assume he was resting/recovering.
Maybe Nissa can join Val? Theo’s conversation with the queen is likely private.
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From my game post:
If Nissa joins her she smiles a welcome and whispers, "Is everyone okay? What did that woman say to you?"
Does Theo think one chest of gold would not sink one of the boats he came in on?
Does Theo think one chest of gold would not sink one of the boats he came in on?
I have no idea what size of boat Dionysus put Theo in, but it couldn't have been too small if he wanted Theo to arrive safely and have fun.
My intention for this game was that, although there could be larger mysteries still unresolved, the end of each 'episode' allows entrances and exits. Anyone who wants to exit can disappear during the transdimensional journey. This allows them to exit gracefully with their character still alive, and would allow them to return as well.
Valerie intended to withdraw and agreed to stay to finish this episode, which is now done. She's not from this Earth so, perhaps, during this jump, she gets teleported to another dimension instead.
Yeah, bring on Ep.#2!
I am indeed pulling out now, and I appreciate the ability to complete this adventure and bow out gracefully. If there is anything you need me to post one last time let me know.
Should things change and I am able to participate later and the game continues, I will let you know. Thanks very much for having me and happy gaming!
P.S.: Tarren, once Uncanny Valerie is written out, please remember to edit the campaign tab and mark Uncanny Valerie as "inactive." This will keep the campaign from showing up on my active campaigns list, which will make things easier for me to track. Thanks.
I would gladly have Nissa give Val a proper goodbye if she returns, then decides to leave Boston Theoretical to go help others on her own terms.
But… if that’s not an option, I can play up Nissa bemoaning her inability to say goodbye, know where Val ended up etc.
There are some games where players leave and we don’t acknowledge the characters having existed, but I prefer Val remaining an important influence to Nissa, regardless of how the character’s last post goes (or already went).
I am indeed pulling out now, and I appreciate the ability to complete this adventure and bow out gracefully. If there is anything you need me to post one last time let me know.
Should things change and I am able to participate later and the game continues, I will let you know. Thanks very much for having me and happy gaming!
P.S.: Tarren, once Uncanny Valerie is written out, please remember to edit the campaign tab and mark Uncanny Valerie as "inactive." This will keep the campaign from showing up on my active campaigns list, which will make things easier for me to track. Thanks.
I wasn't sure if Valerie wanted to say goodbye to anyone or just disappear. Tomorrow at some point I'll have everyone arriving in the Flight Deck. I kind of imagined her bursting with angelic light during the trip back and then just vanishing mysteriously.
Thanks for staying until the end of the episode and safe travels.
Are we comfortable with the number of PCs?
The Fantastic Four made it work. And there's always room for guest stars.
I’m fine with 4.
Sure.
Four is fine. I only worry about restoring HP without a mystic (from my experience it's doable, but tends to involve buying a lot of healing serums).
I tend to need healing a bit less than the rest of you, and I can look at taking Kinetic Healer next level to pick up the healing slack (although it will cost a resolve, it will be a decent chunk of hp healing).
We don't have anyone who can heal stamina as yet, so that might be something we look at eventually as well.
Dr. Moore is reminding me worringly of King Radical. XD
Dr. Moore is reminding me worringly of King Radical. XD
Not familiar with King Radical, but Dr. Moore is definitely chaotic selfish.
So, settling up XP and wealth from that adventure:
After taxes the chest of gold you brought back will be worth 4500 credits.
You also came back with the augury cup that gives you information about what dimension you are in when you drink it. It also grants a +2 to navigation checks to pilot interdimensionally. Once per day, a person can ask a question of the cup, drink any liquid from the cup, and get guidance on whether or not the action is wise, as per the spell augury. It's designed to make transdimensional travel less about "guess where we are" and more "Oh no! You'll never guess where we are. Let's get out of here."
There's also the sword of truth,. which when activated by a command word, compels creatures within the area to be compelled to be truthful, as the spell zone of truth. The command word was the celestial word for 'truth.'
Hrothgar also invited you to take a magical archaic weapon from his armory. This was intended to make sure everyone had a backup weapon that could deal with creatures that have DR/magic.
As for XP, you defeated one creature, talked down another, and earned story awards for helping Hrothgar to rally the Danes. 1,500 XP each, putting you more than halfway to 4th level.
There will be some superhero stuff to do so saving Boston, but not until everyone is fully rested.
@Theo,
There are three types of upgrades. I use magic because it doesn’t disfigure the body.
You can use magic for all three types.
(At first, I thought you had to get each type once to have three upgrades, but nope. All can be the same type.)
The max upgrade is a +6, a +4 and a +2. No two upgrades can have the same bonus.
Is that 4500 each, or is that the total of all treasure?
(I’m assuming more than one chest was carried down. I didn’t refuse gold!)
Also, you can't upgrade the same stat at the same time (i.e. you couldn't have a +6 personal upgrade of con and a +4 personal upgrade of con).
My plan is
• +2 CHA @ game-start
• +2 CHA, +4 DEX @ Lv.5 (I want to bring DEX to 18 before adding to it)
• +6 CHA, +4 DEX when I can afford it
So CHA and DEX can never have the same bonus, but one can surpass the other. And I could then get a third stat increased +2.
Is that 4500 each, or is that the total of all treasure?
(I’m assuming more than one chest was carried down. I didn’t refuse gold!)
That's 4,500 credits to divide between you. It's after taxes.
The credits were calculated based on the treasure value per encounter for encounters above your level and then some story bonuses.
https://www.d20pfsrd.com/Gamemastering/#Table-Treasure-Values-per-Encounter
Dividing’s fine. I plan on saving my share (1125 each, I take it) so I can increase DEX at Lv.5.
Thanks for the help guys. I like Nissa's progressive method, and will likely mirror hers.
I don't actually have a personal upgrade yet, but I'll be picking one up eventually.
Verve is going to pass on her share of the gold; she didn't take any of it, so it wouldn't be right for her to take some away from Theo.
I’m assuming Hrothgar’s men carried chests for the rest of us. (Verve would then have Val’s share.)
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Charles's personal upgrade is in strength at present.
One thing I'm thinking of doing with Charles's money over time is mostly getting augments with it, claiming that it's further mutations happening due to what PhDestruction did to him. The expense could be passed off as Boston Theoretical having to try experimental proceedures on him with expensive equipment to make sure none of the mutations goes too far.
When calculating wealth, I'll remember to keep us on the fast track. It's the only speed appropriate for PbP and even more appropriate for a super hero PbP.
Hmmm... maybe Charles should take the sword of truth. As much as I want to focus on his natural weapons, if there's a likelihood of needing magic weapons, he might as well take the one that also has a possibly useful side power.