GM Jhaeman's "Dawn of Flame: Soldiers of Brass" (Inactive)

Game Master Jhaeman

General Notes:

I try to post every day to keep things moving, and if you can keep a similar pace, that would be great. We all have real life interruptions of course, so if you can't post and we're in the middle of something like a combat, please give me bot instructions or I'll assume your PC does Total Defense.

Please place a good array of information in your character header. Knowing your PC's EAC/KAC, Perception mod, Initiative mod, etc., saves me a lot of time when doing posts. If you need help figuring out how to format that, we can help you. Please keep your tagline updated if you take damage, expend resources, etc. I won't do this for you.

Please post a full character sheet in your profile. That way, I can look stuff up and answer my own "how did they do that?" questions. Related, if you have some crazy weird or complicated build and want to explain anything, here's a good place.

I will give out SFS Chronicles at the end of the chapter for those of you who are interested.

Finally, role-playing is good! Please give your PC some personality and engage with the other PCs and NPCs. I'll gently move us along if we're dwelling too much in one part of the adventure.

Any questions, ask away!

:D

I'm still here. :)

Who's been leaving all these tiny paint-covered fingerprints on the walls?

Totally wasn't me. I washed my paws after our kleptomania discussion.

Oh, maybe it’s our poor fey friend from the fire ship! I knew they’d enjoy that sparkly green paint!

I have dotted in, and will dot some i's and cross some t's on Hani's character sheet tonight.

Meanwhile, I'll try to sneak in a post in gameplay today, though I work days, so I usually keep it short. In any case, I'll get something going tonight.

I have a paper character sheet here at home (I'm old-fashioned that way). I'll be transferring everything to the online sheet here over the next couple of days. I already have basic stats updated along with skills and equipment.

Sounds good, thanks.

Excellent RP, everyone--we're off to a good start!

Role-specific XP Awards

Complete your individual role challenge below at any point during “Soldiers of Brass” to earn a bonus XP equal to a CR 2 challenge. Each challenge can only be attempted (and XP can only be awarded) once, and you should state clearly you are attempting the role challenge before making any dice rolls. Each challenge involves making skill checks vs different DCs (the first one is easy, the middle three are average, and the last one is hard).

(a lot of these were also options during Chapter 1 that were never achieved)

Just to clarify a few things in case there's confusion: only Dawnshore Spaceport has the facilities to handle actual starships, so people who want to travel between bubbles take rail-like public transit called "linecrawlers" that travel along the magical tethers of force between bubbles or they take "sunskimmers" which are small space shuttles (not designed for anything other than orbital flights and considered dangerous by many). Nib promises the Deep Cultures Institute has dormitories you can all stay in during your visit. And to catch up Hani and Jin specifically, the reason the expedition is travelling to the Deep Cultures Institute is because a) it's the only local scientific cooperation the Advanced Institute of Heliocentric Studies (in Near Space) has been able to arrange so far; and b) the DCI is very interested in the mysterious disappearance of "Far Portal", a magical gate to . . . somewhere . . . during the events of the previous chapter.

On the role-specific XP thing... is a new community like a new city/planet, or could this Deep Culture Institute count?

Certainly--a university (or equivalent) campus is a community.

Okay, thanks. I'll go put in a diplomacy roll to start the process.

EDIT: Well, I did, but it was a low roll. Are we supposed to roll all 5 at once, or throughout, as we meet people, etc.? Also, do we know what the DC is? If it is 18 or less then I could afford to take 10, but I don't know how it works.

You can roll all five at once and role-play what you're doing. Check # 1 is easy, # 2-4 are average, and # 5 is hard. I can't tell you the DCs.

Okay. Well, that first post is over an hour now so I can't add to it. Maybe I'll wait till the morning (game time) and do it then, mentioning the individuals that I talk to, etc. and ending with the gala, where she can perhaps make a speech or something suitable to the actor life, and make a big impression on everyone.

Just as a future note, if we end up waiting 8+ rounds before a fight, donning armor etc. and letting the other side take all of that time to do whatever, Zharis will not wait with the rest of the group in the future. I'm fine with it now, because it is done, but she would not have waited that long just to get the group together. She meant to get Jin, but not wait for everyone.

I'll take any blame for this one. Outside of actual initiative, I find it harder in play-by-post to sort of handle what each PC is doing and how long that takes and whether folks want to change their minds based on what the others appear to be doing, etc. I'm reluctant to slow things down with a lot of double-checking posts, so I tend to make some default assumptions (like a group will wait to move together). But I'm also happy to adjust my defaults based on what players would like.

Yeah, and if it is to make life easier for the DM, then it's okay... I get that. I'm just concerned about in-game consequences of waiting. If you can guarantee that there won't be any, then wait away, but if there are potential consequences, then I prefer at least the choice as to whether to move forward alone or not.

Yep, Jin meant to wait for one round before moving in, just to let anyone ready for action to show up.

But let's plow through!

It won't be my intention to always play Hani as so naive and inept. As he gets shot at, hacked, and stabbed, he'll very quickly become grizzled and jaded. While he'll never be a Jin Goei, he'll realize he needs to be prepared for violence.

Are the stairs difficult terrain?

Nope.

Do I need to take an action to clear the jam or is that merely flavorue

Oh, that's just flavour (sorry for delay in responding).

You are tracking the loot, right Cabizo?

Can do, but I would ask then that we actually have Cabizo collecting all the gear and stuff. It fits with his character (I'm helping!) and he's got the hands for it. XD

I'm fine with Cabizo actually collecting it, but not okay with Zharis refraining from searching for it... if she finds something, feel free to take it away from her or whatever works the way you want it.

Also, if you don't want to do it, that is also fine with me... I just thought you wanted to from the last game, which is why I moved everything over to your spreadsheet, and wanted to make sure you were still wanting that. If not, I can just note down what I find.

The spreadsheet is there so anyone who wants to can add inventory or mark things as being carried by a particular character, and because it took very little work to copy and reformat to our needs. And we both know there's no way Cabizo would take something from Zharis. XD She's welcome to dump stuff on him if she wants, and more power to her in the searching! Just another odd hiccup between "scientist" and "adventurer" mentalities. XD

But I'm happy to review inventory and make sure the spreadsheet is up to date on a regular basis if that's not as much fun for everyone else.

That would be easier for me. If I am going to be in charge of it, then it is easier for me to just keep it in my profile where I'm already keeping track of things. If we're going to use your sheet, then it is easier for me if you keep track of it, although I'm fine with going in and being accountable for what I am holding, etc.

I do like the idea of Cabizo having everything. With all those arms, he can draw and pass things to others a lot more easily, and it's a funny mental picture of him having extra guns that fall out when he is looking for the fingerpaints, etc. :)

Added the new stuff to the sheet (but didn't look up prices)

I posted earlier that I copied Nib and Taeress when I messaged everyone... wondering if that was overlooked out of character, or overlooked by Nib, in character because she was "busy"? :)

Let’s say “both”!

In other news I finally remembered to change Xylian's armor to reflect that he isn't wearing any.

Thanks--appreciate the attention to detail.

Whew. Combat is going pretty good so far! I don't know if our new friends perused the gameplay for the previous book, but combat was a disaster for us pretty much the entire way through the book lol.

Jin is built to make combats finish as fast as possible, so we can dive into the plot - the dice aren't helping much, and he really starts to shine at level 3 - but the rest of the group landed some solid damage as well, double crits, Xylian had a max damage shot earlier...

I thought I'd have to leave the ikeshti and focus on the elemental (looking at his attack bonus, he's clearly the map boss), but he seems to be in good hands!

Jin is highly efficient at what he does.

I'm hoping Hani can end up soaking some damage and possibly being a flanking buddy on tougher opponents. His problem is that he's slow right now. I'll look for some solutions to that in the future.

I'm also thinking he may take a level of soldier at some point too. Only concern is that it will keep him from weapon specialization. Maybe 4th level will be a sweet spot for this.

Xylian, just a reminder that if you're overcharging each attack, you'll be running through ammo quick (x3 ammo). I had a PC in Dead Suns who did so, and I ended up getting him the conserving fusion to make it more manageable.

I was doing 2x cost for... I dunno I think my dog told me to. Since Xylian wasn't using his move actions there in the end, is it alright if I retroactivly reload?

Edit: Also is there a place to recharge batteries somewhere in the city? I don't think we have a charging station on the ship.

Edit 2: I've also been doing 1d4 addtl damage when it's supposed to be 1d6 because I am just not good at this game.

No stress, mistakes happen. We're temporarily off initiative, so you can reload. Yes, there are recharging stations in your dormitory.

So it was mentioned that the dudeguy couldn’t take an AoO due to being flat footed. Does that apply to the arms as well this first round?

Hm, it's a good question. You don't see many traps that get AoOs (and only in a stated unique situation)

I guess functionally, it doesn't matter since the Engineering check wasn't high enough and you've healed Xylian to max hp whether the attack or misses, so the only real effect is that he's been knocked prone.

Xylian, I'll interpret the ambiguity in favor of the PCs and we can assume you stagger back to your feet as a free action.

It's this were-crocodile's wedding anniversary, so I'll be away on a jaunt for the next couple of days. Back this weekend!

To be precise, the ikeshti couldn't use an AoO because "You can’t use a reaction before the first time you act in a combat", from the Reactions entry.

Flat-footed only happens in the first round if you start combat surprised.

The robot's on the ceiling it doesn't have feet.

Thanks for your patience everyone, I'm now back.

Better yet, I'll delay till after the ikeshti goes, so for sure he won't kill me this round - and perhaps he'll be dropped before he gets to attack again in the next round.

It can be safely assumed that Xylian will take any batteries no one else wants.

Experience Points (Instalment # 7)

Jin goes on a sidequest to kill rats in the sewers...