GM Xavier Kahlvet's Hell's Rebels 2e (Inactive)

Game Master KingTreyIII

Ugh. Well, that’s 60 gp worth of incense, crystals, and patchouli oil down the toilet.

Okay, I know that y’all don’t regularly read my House Rules document, but I wanted to bring attention to one in particular. I had a home game just barely, and after deliberation and trying to run it RAW, I’ve finally given up and put this in the document because it makes everyone’s lives so much easier:

Attack Rolls

House Rule Ignore the erratum relating to attack skill checks and attack rolls. Any check made as part of an attack action is an “attack roll,” but it can also be a skill check. The sole exception to this is finesse and skill traits (such as disarm or trip). A character using a rapier to Disarm would still not use their Dexterity bonus for the Athletics check to Disarm.

I love this system so much, but that one erratum “clarifying” that just made everything so unclear and stupid. I tried to run it with the erratum intact, and it just led to so many headaches and confusion regarding “a roll as part of an attack” and “an attack roll.” It is my biggest annoyance with this system and is (along with the Focus Point thing) the house rule I will now stand on.

TL; DR Inspire courage applies to the check to Trip. No, you do not get to use your Dex to Athletics to Disarm with a rapier. This makes more sense, and if you have a problem then deal with it because I’m the GM.

I don’t like invoking Rule Zero, but this is one that I will do so with.

Always appreciate updates! I did actually read through it in detail the other day, so now I know that the shadow signet has a once a day limitation.

Retraining the Hellknight Dedication feat, I lost Smite Evil, but my Intimidate skill increased from +13 to +16 and my resistances all increased 1, from [Mental 3, Slashing 3, Bludgeoning 2] to [Mental 4, Slashing 4, Bludgeoning 3].

7 days: retraining Debilitating Bomb for Medic Dedication, since that's something Edrakk has been doing a lot of, and it would give me the option of taking Resuscitate later so we have a dedicated way to raise the dead (at least within 3 rounds), since we don't have a divine spellcaster to do it.

The feat gives you expert in medicine, which Edrakk already has. Would I be correct in assuming I wouldn't be able to reallocate a point somewhere else, and that this part of the feat just doesn't have an effect?

Yeah, it makes things weird since you retrained into it instead of taking it at 2nd level. Since you're already an expert in Medicine, I'll say that you become an expert in a trained skill of your choice.

I think it was originally written before they had totally firmed up their policy on what to do with stuff like that. Most similar feats nowadays have that bit about becoming Expert in something else if you already were.

Worst case scenario, somebody could retrain the skill increase to something else, but that's weird and clunky.

I will be out of town and away from my computer from this Wednesday until about Saturday. I will have my phone on me, but I make no promises of posting regularly.

"Hello. I am a spy. Please let me spy on you. If you do, I'll give you presents. You like presents, don't you?"

Heads up for everyone: I'm going to traveling from the 23rd through August 6th. A lot of that is going to be me very bored while I ride in a car, so I'll probably still get some posts in.

Reminder to Vitalis: a critical failure on that Intimidation check doesn't mean that you embarrass yourself, it means that you insult the person to the brink of hostility. Just, uh, gonna give you a chance to reroll that if you so wish.

You know, I think this is probably the first time Jisara has ever actually left Kintargo. I'll have to keep that in mind.

Also, I loved Chance's characterization of Jisara. Great stuff.

Just look at that image of Nerrenn. He's either trying to take a massive dump or he's about to punch a hole into some drywall.

Since we are expecting undead, I'm going to have my blade ally ability be Disrupting for now.

I believe that's what the kids call a "pro gamer move."

This AP really is just a real good time for paladins champions, isn't it? Almost as perfect a fit as Wrath of the Righteous.

Edit: I totally forgot about swim fins! Would it be reasonable for us to have bought more of them in anticipation of further underwater adventures?

◆ Swim (I'm assuming the athletics is only for if you don't have a swim speed, if not Edrakk's athletics is +1 and he should get a +4 bonus because of his swim speed)

Yeah, that was specifically for people without a swim Speed; you’re fine.

Also, just a note, but while underwater everything has resistance 5 against acid.

Has anyone heard from Jisara's player? Been a hot minute since they've posted.

I have not.

She posted above that she’ll be traveling for the next couple of weeks.

Heads up for everyone: I'm going to traveling from the 23rd through August 6th. A lot of that is going to be me very bored while I ride in a car, so I'll probably still get some posts in.

She posted above that she’ll be traveling for the next couple of weeks.

Jisara wrote:

Heads up for everyone: I'm going to traveling from the 23rd through August 6th. A lot of that is going to be me very bored while I ride in a car, so I'll probably still get some posts in.

Facepalm That's right! I'm just forgetful XD

I forgot too.

Sorry - haven't been able to focus on PbP this weekend. Instead, I spent hours on the phone & computer trying to help my father deal with the aftermath of getting scammed into giving some a*%*+~%s his identity and bank info. And buying thousands of dollars of frakking gift cards from frakking Home Depot and giving them that info too (he was able to get those transactions canceled *before* he called me, once he got some sleep and snapped out of it).
Anyway, if you have older relatives, it's always a good time to remind them that if they think they’ve been hacked to call you before calling whatever number they think is Apple/Microsoft/Whatever Support. And that no tech company will *EVER* call *them*.
And not to download TeamViewer just because some jerk tells them to.

I should also probably explain my notation for the initiative cards:

Things in parentheses have to do with HP (damage, temp. HP, etc.).
Things in curly brackets are for conditions.
Things in square brackets are for height differences.

Apologies, all. Today in particular was absolutely insane for me (finished a campaign and decided to go out on the town with some of my players). I will need to recuperate, so no posts from me until Monday.

No problem. Enjoy.

Hey everybody! Still, ironically, recovering from my vacation. It was a lot faster paced than I was really expecting and just didn't have very much downtime to sit and post. Whenever I did, of course, it was in places with no signal.

Welcome back.

Hey everybody! Still, ironically, recovering from my vacation. It was a lot faster paced than I was really expecting and just didn't have very much downtime to sit and post. Whenever I did, of course, it was in places with no signal.

Will you be able to get a post in today, or should I just bot you again?

Sorry, trying to get caught up with everything! Shouldn't need to do it again.

I'm sorry for being missing--for some reason I didn't get any notifications or see any new posts. I just got a new computer and am still setting it up, so it's possible that was part of the problem. I'll post within the next couple of hours.

Also, sorry for my absence, I've been dealing with move-in stuff for college over the last few days so I haven't had much time.

Yup, gotta do that myself tomorrow.

Sorry to go silent over the last few days. I picked up my daughter from the airport on Saturday - she’s home for a couple of weeks before going back to campus for fall semester - and we got hit by another car while making a left turn, just a block from home. Spun us around about 120 degrees, set off all the airbags and probably totaled my car, but we’re both in pretty good shape. The other driver continued onto the sidewalk and into the glass storefront of our local Starbucks. She wasn’t injured, neither was anyone on the sidewalk or in the shop. Lucky all the way around. Apparently she blew through the red light, so she got the ticket. Anyway, we're all pretty rattled.

Awful, but I'm glad you're all physically okay.

Take care Chance. That sucks. Glad everyone is okay.

Jisara's eyes narrow, and she delivers a whispered warning to Vitalis and Chance.

"She's lying to you. Be on your guard."

Delivering this with a couple castings of message, so she can't hear what I'm actually saying to them.

Remember that even though message doesn't have a verbal component (because of my house rule), there are still obvious visual manifestations around you indicating that you're casting a spell. I'll give it to you this time (since Menotha is distracted with her explanation and Jisara hasn't really drawn her attention), but just a thing to note going forward.

Yep, I know! But she didn't react to me casting discern secrets and it's not like it would be more subtle if I swam up and whispered into their ears.

Thanks, all. And this morning, my daughter woke up feeling lousy and tested positive for covid. My wife and I are negative so far, but …

That really sucks. Fingers crossed. :(

GM, I'm waiting to see what the results of Vitalis's turn is before I take mine.

I mean, technically you go before Vitalis, so what he did is irrelevant to you. (I only resolved Chance’s turn because he’s first and I KNOW Menotheguro vanishing would change people’s turns.)

But for the record: crit on the shark (it’s still up), doesn’t hit Menotheguro, and I won’t mention if the Demoralize worked because you obviously can’t tell.

Not important right this second, but I have been meaning to ask you, Edrakk: What did you do with the greater backfire mantle that Barzillai gave you? Did you wear it yourself? Give it to Vitalis to protect him from your splash damage? Throw it in the Yolubilis because you don't want anything from the Inquisitor?

Vitalis doesn't have it.

Hey everyone, really sorry but there's been a bunch of fairly time/brain intensive stuff at both work and school, so I'm needing to get that sorted out.

Off-topic from quite literally anything, but I was reading through Lost Omens Travel Guide and found something that made me laugh, especially since I mentioned it so long ago:

Once, for some unknown reason, half the world was convinced a leap day should happen every four years while the other half insisted on eight. Getting everything straightened out took three days and ended in six deaths, two marriages, and at least one blood feud. But that’s a story for another day.

I know it's a slight cop-out, but I love that when Paizo does do a retcon like that, they actually incorporate it into the setting by a misunderstanding (such as Arazni's story and the Wounded Wisp/Pig's Paunch confusion).

Hero Points have reset

Two things for Chance:

1: You posted before the first of the month from my point of view, so I will allow you to use that Hero Point to reroll the Swim check before you immediately lose it.

2: I’m going to call the first sentence of pernicious poltergeist (where it implies that only your foes are harmed by it) as just being fluff text; if you’re in the area of the spell, then you’re still capable of being affected by it (such as by the telekinetic storm option). And choosing one of the options for the spell is not optional. Thus, if you’re the only one in the area, you still have to be affected by something.

My point is basically “You CAN reroll the check to Swim to move into the spell’s area, I’m just not sure that you want to.”

And @Edrakk: Still waiting for your answer to my question on Monday.

Gameplay post coming in a bit.

Hey everyone, things are settled back down on my end. Appreciate your patience, as always.

Can I identify the spell that was cast on Edrakk? If it's an Arcane spell of 6th level or lower, I should be able to automatically identify it (though I still get a roll to see if I get a crit success), or 2nd level for Divine/Occult.

It's not totally clear what to go with if the spell is on multiple lists (like if it's a 4th level Arcane/Divine spell) but my guess is you'd probably go with the tradition used by the person casting it.

Can I identify the spell that was cast on Edrakk? If it's an Arcane spell of 6th level or lower, I should be able to automatically identify it (though I still get a roll to see if I get a crit success), or 2nd level for Divine/Occult.

It's not totally clear what to go with if the spell is on multiple lists (like if it's a 4th level Arcane/Divine spell) but my guess is you'd probably go with the tradition used by the person casting it.

For Recognize Spell, you specifically need to see the creature casting the spell, so that doesn't work. You would need to take the Recall Knowledge action to be able to identify it otherwise.

Whoops! Thank you.

Hero Points have reset

Two things for Chance:

1: You posted before the first of the month from my point of view, so I will allow you to use that Hero Point to reroll the Swim check before you immediately lose it.

2: I’m going to call the first sentence of pernicious poltergeist (where it implies that only your foes are harmed by it) as just being fluff text; if you’re in the area of the spell, then you’re still capable of being affected by it (such as by the telekinetic storm option). And choosing one of the options for the spell is not optional. Thus, if you’re the only one in the area, you still have to be affected by something.

My point is basically “You CAN reroll the check to Swim to move into the spell’s area, I’m just not sure that you want to.”

And @Edrakk: Still waiting for your answer to my question on Monday.

Gameplay post coming in a bit.

Got it - I’ve been tied up at work but will review and post tonight. Edrakk’s player has been sick for a few days (not testing positive for COVID - yet - but feeling pretty crummy).

Got it - I’ve been tied up at work but will review and post tonight. Edrakk’s player has been sick for a few days (not testing positive for COVID - yet - but feeling pretty crummy).

Well, that actually makes my job easier.

Vitalis points out the alghollthu's position. "The wall here is an illusion! The alghollthu hides behind it!"

TECHNICALLY, Pointing Out is a separate action, but Menotheguro already made his position known to everyone, so I'm not going to harp on the details.