Thank you, Lash! Thanks for the invite, GM! If you guys have any questions or anything you so desire me to change, please let me know. Cheers! Happy to be here.
Welcome Shantanna, the Invoker/Ley Line Guardian Witch! Never even glanced at that one before. Sounds interesting.
Neither of them are great archetypes… they trade off some crazy strong things (like prepared spells, familiar, and many hexes). But I think they still make for something thematically cool, and a witch with more of a “sorcerer with hexes” flavor :)
I've been home and awake maybe a total of 20 minutes since Monday. Sorry about that. Things have been crazy. I'm working less hours a day but my social schedule has filled up haha I might get something tonight.
No worries, enjoy a more full social schedule! The game will be here when you have time!
I had been thinking caster type - that's why I went for the grapple. Activating a magic item and deflect arrows - that make me think more monk...
@GM Nameshortage: Hrolf doesn't have improved grapple; his grapple attempt would have drawn an AoO if the crazy guy has Improved Unarmed Strike (like a monk would...). Did it?
Thanks for catching that. Yes, that would provoke an AoO.
OK, putting things together that I don't think Hrolf knows enough IC to put together.
Previously, the party found a dead woman who had a note :
https://paizo.com/campaigns/v5748p75ivlbf/gameplay&page=39#1928
"Find the pillars. North. South. East. Match the element. Follow the lights..."
Egarthis here was working with a woman who left, who always took notes...
Same woman?
Also, wrt to the note, we have found a set of 4 pillars inside the ring of standing stones (cells Z9, AA8, AA9, AA10) and we are to
"Light three pillars, take to the sky
Light them wrong, meet your demise"
North, South and East could identify 3 pillars. Light could be either set on fire, or reflect light onto...
Another question for someone with more spellcraft/K Arcana than I: Could the Egarthis's death be the result of relying on a Ring of Sustenance (maybe cursed?) for a long time, and then it being removed?
Interesting thought on the ring.... Kahli has no Knowledge skills but does have spellcraft +6.
I think I'll have to add a ring like that in the next campaign that I run. Thanks!
I will be travelling starting today until the 14th; posting may be irregular. Please bot me if necessary.
A thought, this barrier that holds out air movement, what does it do to other elements. Anyone want to light a torch and carry it inside the circle? Or throw some earth or water into the circle...
Good idea. Post it in character!
@Gm Name Shortage,
1) I have a language precision question: pillars vs trilithons/dolmens. You (and Lash and so forth), keep on using the word pillar for all the stones in the circle... The map shows a circle of 8 Trilithon surrounding 4 smaller pillars. Lash is clearly touched a Trilithon at AA12 for example... Is this you running with the assumptions the players have made or are you not making a distinction between the outer stone circle and the smaller stones in the middle?
2) When Hrolf looks a the stone circle, can he see any sort of alignment with celestial phenomena? (eg. how stonehenge is "aligned to the sunset of the winter solstice and the opposing sunrise of the summer solstice.")
again, not IC, because Hrolf's not the guy to be discussing archeology and linguistic precision...
First, apologies for my absence. It's been another busy week getting ready for the baby, including traveling for the baby shower. He's going to be here early September! That's like, no time from now.
Second, Hrolf, the smaller pillars you're talking about are just large stones. I was using the term "pillar" to describe the elements of the standing stones. That's on me for not clarifying the elements of the map. Of course I, as the GM, can read the map perfectly. It's up to me to accurately and clearly define the map.
Thirdly, I have noticed I have a penchant for using flourishy language when I need to be blunt. I will work on that, either through better explanations or through additional skill checks that will allow me to reveal more information if I'm still bad at descriptions.
I'll just say what I'm feeling. I don't know what the others are thinking. The problem I think I am having is that the clues to unlock/figure out these problems our characters face are so obscure that there is (maybe) no figuring it out almost until you do what Lash did and blatantly and randomly 'push the button', which hopefully will give us some clues, and at that point, why have the clue/message at all? I think the problem stems from the fact that you as the GM can visibly see the problem and know the answer. The clues make perfect sense to you and are a beacon to figure out the riddle, so to you it's easy/simple, but we don't and from the onset, Lash tried to search for more information (which is a communication that your puzzle is too hard). For us the players, at least for me, figuring it out is more like trying to figure out some Sherlock-level puzzle but I'm just a normal person who is nearly sight-blind and can't even really fully see like you can (as I am reliant on your descriptions of everything). I mean, even at this point, we may have figured out how to activate the pillars, but we clearly have no idea whether they are right or wrong. We've come up with some brilliant guesses, but that's no more right or wrong than what Lash did because we don't have any semblance of an answer.
My advice would be to maybe tone down the puzzles a bit, or try to leave more clues, or to allow us to roll intelligence rolls for insight if we are all stuck and floundering like we are instead of spending more than a month (real-time) in the same location with absolutely no advancement. I check this every day and it's frustrating to not move forward. I like the mystery and plot twists and combat. I also like puzzles, when I can figure them out. All of these make a good dungeon crawl, but this saps the fun out of the game for me when it just seems impossible to figure out.
Thanks for the GM for the opportunity and my apologies in advance, but I'll be stepping out of the game. Again, I'm truly sorry, but I'm not having fun and I don't want to be disruptive to everybody else's experience! I wish you all the best! Have fun, and hoping we can play together in some other game around.
I understand, Shantanna. I enjoyed having you here. Thank you for your character and joining the game!
@GM Nameshortage:
Hrolf was mounted on She-ra; does that mean a) both Hrolf and She-ra are falling behind b) both Hrolf and She-ra are keeping up? Also, what are the implications for the ability of Hrolf to take an action without falling off the pace?
Ah, I thought they were side-by-side. Mounted, you would use She-Ra's Fly check, so you would be with the front pack. You can take any action you can normally take while mounted (with any Ride checks if they're required). She-Ra can take an action an stay ahead of the Drakes, or attempt another Fly check and push even further ahead .
Lash succeeded in her second Fly check, so she's up to speed with the first group. Hamley needs to succeed in a Fly check or risks not staying ahead of the Drakes pace.
So, I know I haven't been the most prompt posting recently, but I wanted to give the update that my wife has an induction date for the 31st. So it's crunch time as we've been doing the final preparations.
So yeah, I'm still wanting to keep this game going, but I may have to adapt in the near future regarding my posting rate and details. Thanks for your understanding.
Thanks for letting us know and congrats.
All the best to you, your wife and the baby. RL does come first; at least this time it's a happy event!
RL beats any game. This one is fun and still will be if it has to slow or even pause for a short hiatus. Enjoy the time with the baby! The lack of sleep, etc. shouldn't be terrible right away....
Actually, I remember those days very fondly and am now enjoying my grandchildren even more. The next generations are the best of life's blessings!
Thank you all for the well wishes! We're super excited.
We did have a bit of a fall scare today, so we spent the evening in the hospital. Everything is good with her and the baby, but definitely no post tonight as it's 1am haha
Y'all get to find out more about the doors tomorrow! Good night!
I'm so sorry about the immediate delay in my posting. After the fall and evening in the hospital, I've been going nonstop since then getting all the final things put together just incase he (the baby) comes early.
I think we're done with the big things, so I shouldn't have to take this long between posts again (hopefully).
I'm finishing my catch-up for a funeral Friday and babysitting my grand-daughter Saturday. Didn't have time for hardly anything online. Back to it now!
Hey everyone. Sorry about my absence. My son was born on the 12th and, as you can imagine, it's been an eventful week. I thank you for being patient with me so far.
I'm going to put the game on hiatus. I'm not sure for how long. It hurts, because I think of the game every day, but I can't bring myself to hop on because I'd have to halfass a rushed post, and I hate doing that to y'all. I'm posting this without even reading the Gameplay tab.
What I am going to do, with the little free time I have, is take your feedback and advice, tweak and fine tune my game, and come back, eventually, with a more polished version of what we have now.
I'm looking forward to being back here, but real life calls, and it sounds like a crying baby haha
Also, he's beautiful and prefect and I can't be happier.
Thank you for running. It was fun. I hope your relationship with your new family member is full of great times.
Feedback:
1. Pbp is slow, and we've been playing this game for a long time. It's hard to not have change in your character when RL time is passing by for so long. XP gain to me might work for the table, but on Pbp it is hard to go a long time after many fights without a level or at least some change in the character because by then, months have passed.
2. I also struggled with the item system and weights. You either take nothing from the dungeon with you and have no money, or you take many things and you are overweighed because you don't know when you'll have a person to sell to. Perhaps giving a bag of holding to start would be ideal, or giving a starting gold amount and highly suggesting the party have someone pick one up. Which brings me to my next suggestion.
3. Having a frequent and not illusive place to sell your items, to a trustworthy enterprising person might be handy too; such as someone who has made a living by deciding to stop trying to beat the labyrinth (or knowing they can't with their ability), and instead work to help others succeed where they can't. The original guy asks adventurers to press hard until they can't anymore and then suggests they do what he did--open a shop.
That way, you will have occasional people who are shop owners who are sympathetic to your plight, but just can't go on anymore. You as the player would trust to buy from them, not like you suspiciously don't with "Eyes". They would only ask that when the final foe is defeated, that you come down to their lower levels and let them know they are free.
Enjoy the time with your son. The early days (daze?) are great and you will remember them!
Take a break. If you can come back to this game let us all know then. If you can't, I know I understand. RL/Family first!
Congratulations on the wee bairn. Let me know when you're back, I'll be happy to pick up...
WRT to feedback, you've already changed the map thing so that players can do their own movement (and make marks to ask questions and so forth...). I'm not sure what else to say, but if I think of something, I will post it.