Sorry, Nabi. My dice apparently burn with the fire of a sun.
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chanticleer rage
Can I award the GM a fake hero point for this lovely turn of phrase?
Tennessee. Overruled school mask mandates, which was the only thing that made me feel the slightest bit safe sending my children to school. It was a lovely "gift" to receive after spending the previous 16 days taking care of kids with COVID-19 in the PICU.
I swear, if I had the money, I would just retreat to the woods and have my food delivered (can't hunt because I might get hurt and have to go to the hospital).
Anyhow, in cockatrice news, if my dice don't roll hot due to my IRL fury, your best strategy might be too smack the monster into unconsciousness with non-lethal strikes. Let's go see how my dice roll...
Our governor is okay here in our state.
It's a self-righteous and entitled subset of our state that knows no class, race, or religious boundaries that is causing the problems.
The Employer's Board is a bunch of mealy-mouthed enabling effs that are more worried about outdoing last year's numbers than the safety or health of the employees.
The lackluster "We're not going to force you to wear masks, but maybe you should even if you've been vaccinated" ask is outright ignored by that entitled subset. More often than not, they're emanating ick from their bodies, coughing, sneezing, wheezing, etc.
The customers who have either A. Suffered through the infection B. Have kids and actually care about them C. Don't want to be responsible for getting anyone else sick are good, though, and very understanding. It's only because of them that I'm still working right now.
I feel lucky to be in CA… for now (it is looking VERY likely Newsom will be successfully recalled and who knows what fresh hell awaits us then).
makes a mental note to not be so close
Are you using a bow with the volley trait? Or just don't like being so close to the things that want to eat you? :)
A Longbow has the Volley property, yeah.
The 'not being close to things' is a secondary bonus. :>
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You ever type a post up, have it ready to preview, then get horribly distracted by RL and by the time you come back you forget you're posting and you close your browser window, forgetting you have a post that you just have to preview?
Yeah, I did that.
I haven't done that yet, but I have forgotten which device I was typing the post on...
I suspect that to be the cause of posts that "vanish" on me.
Leaf's first arrow hits, if you'd like to roll damage. The fourth arrow is just a hit (the natural 20 bumps the miss to a hit), just FYI.
That's why I put the ? after Deadly, because I wasn't quite sure what the interaction was there with a 'nat 20'.
Still, that first arrow almost made up for it.
Natural 20 increases the degree of success by 1 step.
Natural 1 decreases the degree of success by 1 step.
So a natural 20 with a total that would be a failure becomes a success, success becomes critical success. You should never hit the case where a natural twenty would produce a total that would be a critical failure…
On the roads this week end, bot me as needed
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*Ding!*
Now is the time to level your characters to 3rd!
We can do the circus performance with your level 2, if you prefer for expedience. The difficulty scales to the level you're performing at.
Yay!!
I think Ephie will take Crafting to Expert.
Having a hard time deciding between Fleet, Canny Acumen (Fort), and Toughness for the general feat but leaning to Fleet.
Best level 2 spells? Glitterdust & Hideous Laughter? (I feel like Hid. Laugh. is a sleeper hit because it takes away reactions even on a success).
I would like to start enabling the crew instead of trying to do damage as well. So let me know if any good spells are under my radar for that.
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I am a big fan of Hideous Laughter, but you might want to check what spells Song plans to take.
Web and Flaming Sohere tend to cause enemies to move around or away from them. It isn’t full area denial, but it is something.
Heightening Longstrider to 2nd level makes it last 8 hours. I think that is a nice little hidden gem.
Ephie will be leveled up tomorrow. Sorry for the delay.
I’ve got the leveled up version of Rulean ready, but since you said that we would be doing the performance at level 2 I’ve avoided updating the profile.
Religion becomes expert, grabbed toughness feat. I’m now proficient with all martial weapons.
Apologies. Things got hectic over the weekend.
We'll run through your circus performance this week.
I had sketched out something for Leaf but now not sure on it, will have to revisit.
Work's been busy this weekend so I'll try and have Clover leveled up by Tuesday, hopefully.
No rush. I'm pretty sure it will take the week to do the whole show. It's largely narrative on your parts with checks to determine the success of your performances, but running through 7 acts will take time.
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Looks like Secrets of Magic added some interesting new spells as well.
Ones that caught my attention:
Ash Cloud Creates Difficult terrain for flyers.
Elemental Zone is something to consider for later when you want a lower level spell to boost effects of other spells.
Flame Wisp Could work well with your axe and the focus spell you like. Other than that, more of something a Magus wants.
Ignite Fireworks is something you should have just for the show. Your a wizard, cheap to put in the spell book. :)
Warrrior’s Regret Will save to do damage to creatures that melee.
Another spell that is fitting for our situation:
Bull Horn A Cantrip that amplifies your voice.
Circus performances take place in a type of Encounter Mode.
The performance is one "Round" and each act is a given PC's or NPC's "Turn."
Each performer has 3 Actions and 1 Reaction.
The valid actions are linked above and HERE.
A PC may also assume a non-performer role, which adds specific bonuses or effects. Performing a trick suffers a multiple "attack" penalty. You do not need to use all of your actions. These roles are listed in the same linked document at the end.
You need to assign your acts in the following order:
The Opener (one act)
The Build Up (two acts)
The Big One (one act)
The Finale (three acts)
A total of 7 performers are required.
You can assign several NPCs to the acts as well (I need to link this list).
You currently employ:
Axel's Amazing Aviary (Level 1 Trick - Nature +7)
The Dwarven Throwers (Level 1 Trick - Acrobatics +7, Athletics +10)
Elizia and Mr. Tickles (Level 1 Trick - Nature +7, Intimidation +7)
The Flamboni Sisters (Level 1 Trick - Deception +7, Fortitude +7)
The Featherfall Five (Level 1 Trick - Acrobatics +8, Athletics +6)
Mordaine the Magician (Level 1 Trick - Thievery +6, Fortitude +7)
Leaf-On-Wind is going to do Medic or Security Guard (whichever one isn't covered) unless someone has a better spot for him?
His act (while it was good for Madame Dusklight's show) isn't really great for a town suffering from lots of violence and death lately.
Since it wasn’t clear last time, when doing your round could you do something like:
Perform to be eye-catching
Your custom trick
Circus Lore to wind down the trick
Basically use two other skills that make sense in context of the act to fill so you don’t get the Multiple Action Penalty.
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Clover's 3rd level self is ready to go; will update her profile once the performance is done.
As far as choosing our acts go, I do think we should mix it up a little and try to fit in the few acts that we didn't use during the last performance. From rereading, it looks like the Featherfall Five were the only NPC act we didn't use - have they had time to repair their nets?
Ephie can help them repair nets too. Just keep Mr splinters and his sharp teeth away.
I'm not sure what Ephie can do as he doesn't;t know any fire spells yet. Should have taken produce flame!
Longer-term Ephie would like to work on some sort of crafting-centric signature trick involving clockwork gadgets or special effects. He will always want to be a ventriloquist but he will never be GOOD at it :D
Since it wasn’t clear last time, when doing your round could you do something like:
Perform to be eye-catching
Your custom trick
Circus Lore to wind down the trickBasically use two other skills that make sense in context of the act to fill so you don’t get the Multiple Action Penalty.
Essentially, no. The Trick's check(s) represent the sum total of the artistic expression. As you level, you get more checks for more complicated Tricks.
What I failed to relay well was that you do not need to spend all of your 3 actions for the round. If you get a success, it is safer to let it ride rather than gamble on a second success.
I think I could also do better explaining the Costar reaction. That will help you a little with the chance of success.
First, I have been referring to Tricks as acts, because that makes sense to us as people. However, your character individual performance, mechanically, is called a Trick. An Act, mechanically, is the time frame in which Tricks are performed: Opener, Build Up, Big One, Finale.
So the 2 Tricks in the Build Up could each help each other Costar. E.g., Elizia and Axel are performing in the Build Up. They could each Costar using Nature on the other's Nature check for their individual Trick.
Also, remember that this is a hero's journey, so the fact that you didn't get a standing ovation on your circus' very first ever real public performance would be expected.
Also saw Lose the Path for occult/primal casters. Looks really good for later levels when you have extra level 1 slots.
Let me know if ephie can make any checks to kick off the show. He can send in the clowns for now for his rounds, I guess.
If we are doing this, I think our first step is to figure out what acts we want for each of the phases.
The Opener (one act)
The Build Up (two acts)
The Big One (one act)
The Finale (three acts)
My reading of Send In The Clowns is it was to prevent a failure from destroying the whole performance. It isn’t something that can be done until someone tries their trick check.
Requirements: You or another performer has failed or critically failed a trick check during the current act.
You give the signal for the circus’s clown troupe to come onstage and rescue a botched trick. A failed trick becomes a success instead, or if it was a critical failure, it is instead a failure. The clowns can be sent in only once per act, and only one trick check is affected.
The NPC tricks are listed here.
Sorry, I can’t find everyone’s tricks. Here are the ones I can find:
Clover: Badger Dancing (Nature, Animal) Nature +6
Rulean: Metal Sculpting (Athletics, Prop) Athletics +7
Leaf-On-The-Wind has already stated they want to do a non-performing role (medic or security guard)
It sounds like Ephraim also wants to do a non-performing role, but I’m not certain which one.
I don’t see tricks or suggestions of non-performer roles for anyone else.
Do people want to just skip the circus performing part of the AP? I believe that GM Blake said that was an option. The mechanics of the circus tricks seem to be a little mini-system they created for this AP. It isn’t part of the standard PF2 system.
Yes. The circus mini-system can be completely skipped going forward. You might still want to recruit the recruitable NPCs for flavor/fun when you encounter them.
The non-Performer actions are below Send in the Clowns. Ephie might do Backup Clown or Pyrotechnics if the Flamboni Sisters act.
Animal Handler: Trick checks with the animal trait gain a +2 circumstance bonus, and a PC whose signature trick has the animal trait can perform twice in the same show (though not in the same act). If the animals break loose event is rolled on Table 3: Random Circus Events (below), reroll on that table instead.
Backup Clown: Performers can Send in the Clowns one additional time per act.
Bandleader: After each trick is completed, the bandleader can choose to generate Anticipation equal to half the bandleader’s level rounded up. The circus must have the acoustics permanent upgrade before a PC can choose the bandleader role.
Carnival Barker: The carnival barker draws in more audience members as the show goes on and increases the show’s maximum Anticipation. For every successful trick check performed, the carnival barker can choose to increase the show’s maximum Anticipation by 5.
Clown Coordinator: You can Send in the Clowns as a reaction instead of using 1 action.
Costumer: Performers get a +1 circumstance bonus to trick checks with the audience trait.
Lighting: Performers gain a +1 circumstance bonus to Deception and Thievery trick checks. The circus must have the spotlights permanent upgrade before a PC can choose the lighting role.
Medic: Performers can’t become injured from critically failing tricks with the injury trait.
Pyrotechnic: Trick checks with the fire trait generate double Excitement.
Security Guard: Any rolls of hecklers or scalpers on Table 3: Random Circus Events are negated and have no effect on the performance.
So what does Anticipation and Excitement do?
They determine whether you “fail,” “succeed,” or “critically succeed,” which ultimately determines the circus’ income.
Anticipation is the “DC.” You need to generate as much Excitement as Anticipation to succeed. Otherwise, you overhyped your circus and the audience was disappointed, generating less income.
I suppose I should have started by explicitly polling who wants to play the mini-game of managing and performing the circus.
Maybe I could be a barker
My 'disconnect' is that I want to see the nifty part of being in a circus, the thrills and chills. The joy of victory, the agony of defeat, etc...
The problem is that it's sort of like RL work -- not as in an effort to do, but as in 'overpromoting is a danger' because RL work expects these *impossible* goals, yet there's no way in HELL that they can be accomplished. We get chewed out regularly for not accomplishing the Impossible and when we do something Great we get ignored.
And with a character that can at best 'help' (sort of like how I've been getting by at work) but not do the 'heavy lifting' (which is not my forte) it strikes a little bit close to home.
Preventing the hecklers of the first night is a noble cause (even if Leaf-On-Wind isn't big so much on 'nobility' as much as balance) and seems like it'd be a reasonable fit for him.
With the training in Medicine, being able to keep our troupe from being hurt long-term is also very reasonable and helpful.
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I like the idea of growing the circus, and even made coherent plans for Ephie in that regard: I imagine him starting to make magical clockwork "copper arcade" attractions for the circus as a sort of standing side-show (When friends visit I always love taking them to the Musée Mécanique here in San Francisco! I imagine him building an attraction of fortune-telling machines, mechanical dioramas, and other oddities for the circus.)
--
Overall, however, I feel like the circus mechanics themselves may be a little over-designed and perhaps clunky for PbP?
I wouldn't mind just skipping, though if we do that I would prefer to somehow codify how our circus progresses. Maybe earn income checks flavored as our take from the larger circus show?
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Face-to-face, the regular shows (not the one that starts the AP) really could be boiled down to pointing around the table and calling for checks then tallying the results.
The way I envisioned it, if you guys wanted to keep doing them, was that you'd each make a post for your Trick (and whoever was Botting the NPCs post for them), in order, deal with the random encounter, and then move onwards. Your performances would start out as simple demonstrations of skill and work toward more complicated descriptions.
However, I am fine if you all would prefer me to summarize the circus days. I could let you deal with any of the random encounters.
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Though part of me feels kinda silly for signing up to play 'the circus AP' and not being all that into the actual circus mechanics, well...I'm honestly not that into the circus mechanics. Nor any of the many, many other mini-games and subsystems that Paizo has shoved into their various APs over the years.
I appreciate the effort and some of them would probably be fine at a live table but in my experience, they tend to bog PbP down even further unless you've got a really enthusiastic GM and/or couple of players who don't mind taking the reins and handling most of the work.
My own experiences with mini-systems have been mixed.
Kingdom building in the first edition Kingmaker was way too much work. I didn’t mind the hexploration but the whole mini civilization building system was too much in my opinion.
The system for dealing with forming a rebel force in Hell’s Rebels was a little simpler, but I still felt there were times it goes in the way of the story.
I am willing to handle most of the system, but each player should at very least decide and define their tricks as well as any non-performing roles they see their characters taking.
I would also be fine with us hand waving most of those details and just give a story of what each performance is. We would still likely have things that go wrong which we have to react to, but maybe it doesn’t have to be the full mini-system.
Given it has been a couple of days and no one has said anything, I think we can assume there is no one strongly in favor of using the circus mini-system.
I think we are at the point where you just summarize the circus days and we deal with the fallout. I suspect you would still like us to put together some sort of lineup.
Since they didn’t perform at all in the first show, let’s put The Featherfall Five as the main act.
Here is my suggestion for acts:
Opener: Clover
Build Up: Elizia and Mr. Tickles, The Dwarven Throwers
The Big One: The Featherfall Five
Finale: The Flamboni Sisters, Axel's Amazing Aviary, Rulean
Mostly looking to give The Featherfall Five their chance to shine since they couldn’t perform the first time. Tried to put complementary acts on either side of that, then some that help wind things down after that.
I have no objection to switching around things.
PbP Con kicked off and I got a bit distracted. (4 tables… stepped up last minute to run the 2e special… yowza. I have run some of my other scenarios before at least).
I think that is a good lineup! Thank you.
Ephie can repair the nets and do some magic to help out, however we want to play it.
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Also I think there's another factor here: leveling up AND doing the shows. I think it can be a lot of cognitive load all at once, especially if one is still learning both the system and the circus minigame.
Speaking of Ephie is all leveled but waiting the official go-ahead here before updating profile.
Yes. Go ahead and update your profiles.
I'll post a summary of the day.
Update completed.
At some point, we should probably go through the treasure. I don’t think anyone is proficient with heavy armor, so we probably sell that. In the case of the one weapon with a rune, we should probably move the rune to Clover’s weapon.
Yeah, Gameday kicked off + working some OT this week so apologies for not getting back to this until just now!
I'm fine with Rulean's proposed order of acts for the next performance. Picking out basic lineups and/or having the equivalent of a set routine for each PC (kinda like the default Exploration Mode activity) when it comes time for performances sounds good to me. We can always change things up as we go, after all.
I'll try and get Clover's profile updated this evening or tomorrow.
Works on leveling up!
Heres are my choices so far:
Deny Advantage (automatic at L3)
General Feat : Incredible Initiative (+2 to Init)
Skill Increase: Expert in Thievery
Skill Feat: wary Disarment
+1 to AC/Attacks/Saves/Perception/Skill Modifiers/Class DC
A question: how can we become (if possible!) Expert and more in weapons and armor (withpout dipping in fighter class)? Can we use a skill increase for that? (I guess not!)
A question: how can we become (if possible!) Expert and more in weapons and armor (withpout dipping in fighter class)? Can we use a skill increase for that? (I guess not!)
Rogues become Expert with their weapons at 5th level (Weapon Tricks) and Master at 13th level (Master Tricks). Fighter Dedication would have given you more weapons and armor that you were proficient with, but does not allow you to improve on that until 12th level where it would make you Expert.
For the most part, choosing your class determines your weapon, armor, and saving throw progression. In the case of saving throws and perception, you could use the Canny Acumen feat to get to expert faster, but it wouldn’t progress beyond that.