Welcome back, Rackal! Hope you're feeling better.
Fire!
Explosions!
Gasps!
Bees?
BEES?!
Bees.
Applause!
Which reminds me of the classics. :)
(Towards the end, and Lina would probably like to think of herself as less of a Lavinia and more of a Camilla.)
And now I’m thinking about the delightful paratexts of Victorian burlesques of classical drama that have way too much fun with directions for staging.
re: hiding the map from us--
In Roll20 you'll need to enable the Fog of War in the individual page settings. (I haven't messed with dynamic lighting, so I'm feeling "old school" now.) Once you have that: on the left side icon menu where you can set initiative and all that, you should see what looks like a little cloud. Everything should be hidden by default once fog of war is enabled, so you can reveal with "reveal areas" or "polygon reveal". I'm a fan of the polygon reveal, which lets you use shift to snap to the grid.
If it works, you'll still be able to see the whole map, but we'll only be able to see what you reveal to us. If you want to try it on on the current above-ground map, we can let you know what we can see vs. can't see.
The GM layer is also a wonderful thing.
Hope that helps!
Oof guys sorry about the delay. I just got my second shot and wow it messed me up yesterday. I'll try to get everything set up for combat today.
Oof. Hope you feel better soon!
Yeah, the second dose is no joke. Rest up!
Oh the map is also up if yall were unaware~
Somehow, I get the sense that Meneas is gonna get hurt. Possibly quite badly.
I didn't have you go in a four person dungeon all alone <3 you had a fourth strong member with you all along you just didn't give the little guy enough credit!
To be fair, he was just tortured and dehydrated!
Also, ouch.
"Alas, poor Mekmek! I knew him, Horatio: a kobold of most excellent qualities..."
Have folks seen the Munchkin parodies of the old d20 core rulebooks? I can't help but think of the kamikaze kobolds in their Monster Manual.
Hey y'all, very busy day but I'll get a Brental post up in the morning.
No worries Brental! Don't work too hard.
Go, Mekmek!
If you can find those parodies, I'd love to see them!
You know, I probably should've challenged that centipede. I can't actually challenge any of the mites - my order bars it.
Also, I've adjusted my stats up at the top of my posts to reflect the -1 Dex damage. Which is, you know, unfortunate, 'cause I may well forget to change it back.
If you make it a note in the main bar reflecting the Dex damage, it will be easier to keep track of.
Between the shadow roc and whatever other pets might be down here, I feel like you'll have another opportunity to Challenge in the Old Sycamore!
Well, here's hoping that we can beat up more mites. xD
Annnnnd their new pet ;)
His name is Tickleback and he likes you Meneas~
Just need to set up a flank! Ideally. Then sneak attacks!
The dice roller is just being mean today!
Although wonderfully thematic. I mean, if anything’s on-brand for Lina getting that distracted for an initiative check, new magic – like a mysterious portal – is. :)
Ah, well. Hopefully in another round of maneuvering, we’ll be able to sort ourselves out so that we’ve surrounded the critter and Meneas will have his flanking.
Hey guys just checking in! Sorry yesterday was slow I was dating my wife for her birthday hope yall can understand!
Also, how do you like me rolling initiative and saves for you? Do you find it annoying or are you happy with the time saved? Let me know!
Also, I'm having a bit of trouble with casting here maybe you guys can help me out... Should I be making attacks of opportunity on casters doing their spells in melee? I'm never sure if you guys stepped away first to cast the spell or what so I don't know when I should or shouldn't AoO.
Also not sure when Brental and Meneas are using their shields a lot >.>' if anyone has any suggestions please let me know!
Also wow, Mekmek almost get absolutely eviscerated >.>' Lucky kobold
I appreciate the time saved with regards to the initiative and saves. As for shields, when I GM, I assume that unless they specify otherwise, or they're in a situation where they don't have access to their shields, a PC who has a shield on their sheet is using their shield.
As for spells, I would ask the players to consider it - if they don't specify, they get AoO'd. But then, I'm not a caster, so I don't get affected by that as much. (I might when I eventually get SLAs, but until then...)
Also, it's totally understandable to spend time with your wife for her birthday.
Birthday time and partner time is important time!
I'm good with you rolling our initiative and saves--it keeps things moving.
I usually try to cast my spells outside of AoO range. For instance, for my most recent cast of shillelagh I was outside of anyone's range. The text of the spell doesn't specify that you must be holding the club at the time of casting, just that it needs to be a weapon held by you (so you can't cast it for someone else). So with my hand free I made the gestures for the spell and touched the club (standard action), and then moved into the flank with Meneas while drawing the club (move action). None of that should provoke. If I am planning to cast in melee, I would try to cast defensively. But at Level 2, defensive casting is hard! DC 17 with a Concentration +5 means I would lose the spell more than half of the time. So that would be a desperate gambit.
When I cast cure light wounds on Meneas, that may have been within the centipede's attack range, though Brental would have had cover (from Meneas). So that one could have provoked.
For Lina, I believe she has been specifying when she is casting spells defensively, which is an important feature of the magus class.
As for shields, Brental has his shield out at almost all times in combat unless I specify that he puts it down. The only time I assume he doesn't have it out is when he needs two hands to complete an action (e.g. climbing). So when he was aiding Meneas with the climb check, he sheathed his sword (I believe out of range) but kept his shield out.
In 1E, unlike 2E, the shield is assumed to be raised most of the time. The only time we should lose the shield bonus to AC is if we drop the shield or use the shield to attack. If we were using bucklers instead, we would also lose the shield bonus if we attacked with a weapon held in the buckler hand or cast a spell using the buckler hand. Meneas and Brental have light and heavy shields respectively, so we can't wield weapons in our shield hands, and Brental needs his weapon hand free to cast spells.
Similarly, with Brental's sling he can fire it one-handed, but requires two hands to load. So I consider it a one-shot in most combats, figuring that he carries it with a rock loaded in if he needs it, and reloads when combat is done. If I need to reload (which I think I did in the fight against Kressle), I have to drop the shield (move action) and reload the sling (move action). I would probably take cover in that case, and would want to retrieve the shield before stepping back out, so it would be a couple of actions to manage that.
Were Meneas in more control of himself at the moment, he'd probably have aimed at the spider, but I figured he'd hit the mite because one freaked him out so much.
Duly noted! Thank you both for your feedback. I'm still new to this and want to make sure I'm not overstepping my bounds as far as rolls for my players goes.
Sure thing! You're doing great.
Just to chime in: please, don’t apologize for prioritizing your other half! Real life always comes first.
Game-wise, you rolling initiative and saves is great. I know some folks have different ideas about dice karma, especially for important saves, but I imagine the dice roller knows when it’s going to get you.
I’m one of those dorks who quite likes the fiddliness of Pathfinder combat (and generally), so please feel free to pick all the nits. :)
I play casters mostly exclusively, so I try to be conscientious about specifying whether my characters are trying to step out of melee range, casting defensively, or trying to soak the AoO.
Especially with magi, the 5’-step Spell Combat Boogie is a big thing, too.
Taking those things together, like I said, I will try to be precise about Lina’s casting, so don’t hesitate to have opponents to take AoOs as provoked, with the understanding – in case I do miss spelling it out in any given post – that if she’s not casting defensively and there are no tactical considerations (like providing flanking) to keep her where she is, she’ll regularly take a 5’ step to avoid the AoO for casting in melee.
Otherwise, unless baddies have Combat Reflexes or the like, they do only have the one AoO, though, so even if one of us does provoke by casting, cleverer opponents might have to weigh whether interrupting a cantrip from Lina is worth letting Meneas reposition himself for a sneak attack with impunity, say.
I think Meneas would prefer to tank that hit - he's tied for the highest AC of the party (normally), and has the most hp. It's a worthwhile strategy, I think, to bait out AoOs with Meneas so that Lina can get off larger spells.
Oh no >.>' My party is starting to think like a group!
I need to flood them in mites immediately.
Whoops! I put my movement provoking AoOs in the wrong spoiler. Juggling too many things.
When Brental left his current square, his movement provoked an AoO from Green.
I think Meneas would prefer to tank that hit - he's tied for the highest AC of the party (normally), and has the most hp. It's a worthwhile strategy, I think, to bait out AoOs with Meneas so that Lina can get off larger spells.
Noted, and thanks! I was just throwing out a confected hypothetical for AoO weirdness involving spells, but yes, Lina definitely would prefer not to play bait, under normal circumstances.
At which point I, as a player, begin chanting A-O-E! A-O-E!
Much though I don't want to, Rackal, I feel I should share that doom stacks - it can (unlike cause fear) kick you up from shaken->frightened->panicked. So if you were avoiding using it on Meneas, you don't have to.
As a note cause fear brings you directly to frightened, and doesn't inflict shaken, so I assume it doesn't stack the way that things that inflict shaken do. I could be wrong.
I believe we can move through friendly spaces as long as we don't end our movement there, so Lina could still make it to the last mite.
That is correct Brental!
Also thank you for the helpful tip Meneas~
*noting the description of exhaustion after combat and Mekmek's crazy high attack and damage*
Is Mekmek a barbarian?!
Barbarian kobold is best kobold.
Mekmek is best kobold.
Mekmek is my new best friend.
(Awesome scene. I have an exam this evening, but I'll post later once I have recovered.)
That makes sense, and is terrifying.
Lina plays a bit at getting about in the wild, but pioneering is not really her thing.
If that's right, and we're dealing with honest-to-goodness barbarians, she'll be quietly appalled. She won't say anything, but she'll definitely be thinking along the lines of the meta banter to the old, old Stratford (ON) production of Iolanthe, in which the Queen of the Fairies is played by an Old World diva: "Oh, that it should come to this!" :)
I can't imagine they're all barbarians. Kobolds like traps and orderly behavior, after all.
Oh my goodness Iolanthe! I was in the chorus for a semi-staged production of that back in undergrad. Absolutely absurd, and probably one of the Gilbert & Sullivan pieces I'm more fond of. (I have a love-hate relationship with G&S. I once attended a festival that put on all fourteen in one weekend and was frequently bored and vexed while still having pockets of outrageous fun. But that's a story for another time.)
And yeah, I believe that kobolds are canonically lawful evil, but any individual could be anything. I haven't quite figured out Mekmek's alignment, and as we have no paladin, cleric, or inquisitor (etc.) I doubt we'll find out.
I can't imagine they're all barbarians. Kobolds like traps and orderly behavior, after all.
Maybe these kobolds have loosened up a bit? I mean, we’re an anarchic bunch in the River Kingdoms, and might be a good influence on them.
Though for Meneas and Brental’s sanity, I hope you’re right. It’s bad enough babysitting two lightly-armoured skirmishers with an unnerving propensity for melee like Lina and Mekmek, but a whole tribe of the latter would be something else. :)
The way Brental is developing, I think he may need to take the Orator feat, really lean into this aspect of himself. Eventually. If I keep with the plan to prestige into Green Faith Acolyte at 6th-level, I need to pick up the Green Faith Acolyte feat at 3rd or 5th level, and Orator requires Skill Focus (Linguistics). It’s one way to keep pace with the rest of the party and serve as more of a Face. It’d be interesting at least! There are so many other good combat- or healing-oriented feats to take first, though. Ugh. Thoughts, fellow players?
Go for it, if it sounds like fun!
There’s no rush, I think, since Meneas and I at least dabble in the social skills. If anything, I think we’re weakest in Diplomacy, so if you find a few spare skill points while you decide when or whether to opt for Orator…
I haven’t got a particular direction set for Lina, so you don’t need to worry about stepping on any toes! She’ll probably be a bit scattershot and rely on spells to keep up, since she has access to the bard list.
So really the question boils down to what you think Brental’s priorities would be. :)
Feats are always so difficult to choose, I find. Too many nifty ideas!
Thanks for the feedback y'all. Further development will depend on what else happens in the story (and whether we recruit anyone else). Somehow I have managed to build a skilled druid who has also been very effective in combat so far. I'm a happy player.
re: Prepared spellcasters! (Have I mentioned this is my first time playing a prepared caster? I have always played spontaneous before. But with the benefit of a slower pace, I feel more able to take my time and look at the spell list. Even if I have go-to spells, flexibility is nice.)
Brental's go-to orisons are detect magic and guidance. He usually prepares light as well, with the fourth slot having been taken up by grasp, mending, purify food and drink, and create water on different days. Chameleon scales and detect poison will be interesting if we ever have any kind of subterfugey thing an need to hide our identities, but that's a niche I don't know will be present in this AP. (Rackal knows, though!)
The overlapping 0th-level spells on our respective lists are:
So on that note:
I’m not really worried about covering all the bases, as far as spell selection goes, just thinking out loud and trying to figure out how the puppetmaster works and get into Lina’s headspace.
Not being able to add an offensive cantrip to just about everything is kind of freaking me out (I’ve played quite a few other magi), since her magus-y stuff only works with enchantments and illusions, but I’ll get used to it, I’m sure. Though it will probably mean a lot less spell combat than usual.
For the next little while, I don’t mind preparing our light spells (possibly rather in-character, since Brental has darkvision), but it occurs to me that Lina should gently nudge him to use his continual flame ability on a couple of portable things over a few days when he doesn’t need to cast it on something else.:)
Right! Nearly forgot your magic loot!
Potions
Potion of Remove Paralysis (CL 3)
Potion of Remove Fear (CL 1)
Scrolls
Scroll of Mage Armor (CL 1)
Scroll of Bull's Strength (CL 3)
Wand
Wand of Detect Evil (CL 1)
Brental has definitely been using his SLA to mark the sites of our battles (and the graves of our enemies). So far it's been Oleg and Svetlana's Fort (following our initial killing of Happs and his bandits), then Kressle and her bandits, then the poachers, and now the mites. I was sort of thinking that maybe the Green Faith Initiate's 9th-level Path to Refuge ability would eventually allow Brental to travel to a variety of places around the Greenbelt near instantaneously if he starts setting up these standing stones early on. But for now it's just a fun quirk, and his way of (nonmagically) consecrating a battlefield to discourage their enemies from rising as undead to take vengeance. It's about sending a message...
But in all seriousness, Brental would happily make the group a permanent torch.
Oh they were different! Nice. Is the wand fully charged to 50 charges? And while I assume that the scroll of mage armor is an arcane scroll (as the spell isn't available to divine casters), is the scroll of bull's strength arcane or divine? (I remember there are wonky rules about only being able to cast scrolls from the proper tradition.)
Lina, are either of the scrolls worth adding to your spellbook? I don't think mage armor is on either of our spell lists, and bull's strength won't be available to the magus until 4th-level, right? But it could come in clutch as a one-off in this book, give one of us a hell of a boost for a few combats. I guess it depends on whether you would want to hold onto it until Level 4 or use it sooner.
I don't think any of us can use detect evil without a UMD check, and none of us are trained in UMD. If Lorna returns, she could use it. Same with the scroll of mage armor.
Since Meneas and Lina both have lower Will saves, one of them should take the potion of remove fear. I'd venture Meneas might want it after recent events.
And for remove paralysis, would that still be only a single target as a potion? Or could the drinker sort of use it as a pulse to affect the up to four creatures specified in the spell's description? Remove paralysis is a great effect, but difficult to use on yourself if you're the one paralyzed. It's a full-round action to administer a potion to an unconscious creature. Just trying to anticipate the logistics.
I mean, I wouldn't object to getting the potion of remove fear. It'd be kind of depressing to admit, but worthwhile nonetheless. That said, I think magi get good Will saves, which cavaliers don't. It depends on how much we'll need it before that comes into play.
Fully charged wand, both scrolls are arcane, and the Remove Paralysis potion only works on the drinker I'm afraid~
Cool cool.
I think the loot sheet is now up to date!
The harvesting is very fun and very flavorful! A couple clarifications:
Brental's primary interest in the chitin would likely be if he could make some kind of +6 medium armor with it. He's unlikely to use grapple or trip maneuvers, but those are super cool abilities.
I suppose that we technically had a 15-minute adventuring day as far as combat was concerned, but between traveling from the Narlmarches to the rickety bridge, having our encounter with Vincent Surtova, attempting to negotiate with the mites, killing most of them, healing up, harvesting, looting the place, and barricading ourselves in, that was definitely a full day. I mean, this day took a month of real time.
Also, if y'all wanted to discuss options more in character or would rather push back to Tyg and Peri, that's fine. Just trying to help keep things moving.
So the chitin is worth 60 gp on the street, as a crafting material it is double that. As in 120 gp off the cost to make any armor or weapon out of chitin.
Chitin is listed under special materials if you use a quick google search. I believe it only can replace leather/hide armor.
You do need to preform a craft check to make the items from the material.