So four ships with broken masts. If Elek can get them out of the cave are any of them salvageable? Is it possible to get them out?
I did say briefly in game that he wondered if they were salvageable, just following up on the idea.
I'm assuming that since they are submerged in an underwater cave that they are in pretty bad shape, but if not let me know.
hmmm, the four ships are salvageable, I'll get a post up, how much description/time/energy do we want to put into the four ships? Can we narrate resurfacing the ships and repairing them and crewing them. Or what do we need to roll?
For example: Between the 'Banshee's Revenge' the 'Cyclops' Eye and the Island of Empty eyes Elek has 87 crew. He would need 20 crew for the 'Cyclops' Eye' and leave 10 on the island, that would give him 57 to split between the four ships. (he would use the skeleton crew from the anchor to get the Revenge back to port) Adding Alise Grogblud and her eight crew, he would still need to recruit, or do we hand waive that?
My plan is to give the 'Devilish Duchess' to Alise to captain and she can join Elek's fleet or not. The other three ships would be captained by three officers from the fleet. But how do you want us to proceed with the raising and refitting of the four ships? IE: what rolls do you need from me?
Most of that can be handwaved, actually. The three big decisions are 1) how to bring the ships to the surface, 2) what to do about the destroyed masts, and 3) how to get the four ships to a location where they can be restored to fighting shape. You can get enough materials from Big Jaw/Little Jaw to patch holes and otherwise keep the four ships afloat, but you'll need to get them to a proper shipyard to fully repair them.
Cool, I think we should be able to drag them to the beach to patch the holes and pump the water out. Then he will use three of his fleet and the Revenge to drag them to shipyards. Would that work?
He will probably leave the ships names whatever they are now. He'll add three of them to his fleet and give the 'Devilish Duchess' to Alise Grogblud. If she wants to be part of the fleet, great, if not, he will sponsor her until she gets her own charter.
That should work.
EDIT: As you see, this is a 'roleplay' challenge as opposed to a 'roll-play' challenge. That's why I haven't called for any dice rolls. XD
I like 'roleplay' over 'roll-play' this is one of those tricky puzzle things gygax used to do to make the players think.... which is harder without coffee first.
The reason I asked about the anchor, I was thinking about using the skeleton anchor as the 'solid piece' to hook the other ships anchor on to winch with. It would have been nice if the skeletons could have been doing the work underwater, but I get them not leaving the ship.
What helped, I started looking for the right phrases to use and I ended up on a page I have saved with naval terminology and saw 'careen' realized it was sort of what I needed to do.
OK, do you care if I narrate them pulling the ships ashore and the other fleet ships arriving to help and to haul them to a shipyard? As for time frame, a couple days to hall all four ships out and the other ships to arrive, another day to hook them all up and a couple more days to get them all to shipyards?
More questions, does any major city have a ship yard or do they need to go to a specific place. I figure if I spread them out they'll get done faster. Also, what sort of cost? And do I need to 'recruit' the crews or can the 'captains' of the ships recruit while the ships are being refitted?
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You're good to go for narrating pulling the ships ashore and the other fleet ships arriving to help. As long as nothing happens, hauling them to shipyards should be okay, but it's always possible for complications to happen. XD
The major cities (Quent, Port Peril, etc) will have shipyards. Smaller ports (such as Firegrass Isle or Oyster Cay) won't. Cost of repairs varies slightly per vessel but will average out to 1,000gp per ship. As for crew, now that we've moved to fleets and squadrons (as opposed to individual ships), there are no rolls for recruiting crew. We'll get to that after ship repairs have begun.
ok, I hope the post works for you. Felt rushed, but that's on my end. Trying to get posts done before it gets warm enough outside to do the 'spring weekend outdoor things.' Anyway, Four ships in Elek's fleet taking the four derelicts to the four largest ports in the Shackles. He's sitting on close to 24,000 gp. so, paying for the repairs is simple enough. Let me know the final cost, assuming they all survive to port.
Also, will spend enough time in port to see the ship fully repaired, probably will sell the plunder, and possibly purchase items. Figure he's headed to the Black Tower next.
Do the other three derelicts have names?
Mermaid's Revenge
Erinyes
Gylou's Cage
Anything interesting happen on the way to the ports?
Nice post in game, I'll get a post up in a bit, need to go to the store with my wife. I'm trying to decide if I want to spend 8-10 days in port to sell the plunder, or if I want to take any time to rebuild disrepute.
Also should double check to see if I need more sending stones.
love the idea of coral weapons, not sure if he will purchase any.
Ok, though it feels disjointed I've at least got a post up.
If Elek Used two plunder to trade for the tridents, that should put him back at zero after the eight days selling plunder. If the locathah don't want to trade for 'full' price (1.000 gp) he can just pay them out of pocket and take two more days selling plunder.
I'll look at his items and determine if there is anything else he should purchase in the eight days, or anyone he should talk to.
Did Alise agree to sail with his fleet until she earned her own charter? He had 12 sending stone, one on each ship (10) and one on the island and he gave one to Wide Olga. So needs more...
Once we calculate the price on the plunder rolls, I'll calculate the expenditures and get the info posted to his sheet.
This is a good time to level up. Congrats on reaching Level 13!
yikes, already? Ok, you're the boss GM. I will level up and work on what to purchase in the morning.
Going to watch a movie with my wife.
Having trouble with the fourth bonded piece of equipment, considering an estoc and using the talent balanced blows. Or doing something with a buckler. If he goes the buckler route could he determine which arm he had it on at different times. When using the cannon alone on the right hand, but dual-weapon on the prosthetic?
Once I figure out if I'm adding a buckler or estoc I'll post 13th lvl. Here's the math from the last few transactions.
Loot/income:
500 gp. Ivory statuette of two entwined succubi (worth 500gp)
250 gp. Sargavan rum (three bottles worth 250gp apiece)
3,625 gp. bottle of air
1,200 gp,
9,100 gp. for 8 points of Plunder
Sub total: 14,675 gp.
Expences:
4,640gp. for repairs
1, 230 gp. for two MW 'living coral' tridents and - 1 plunder
5,600 gp. for 4 sending stones
2,000 gp. Deathwatch eyes.
sub total: 13,470 gp.
Monies remaining to add to total: 1,205 gp.
He's going to be sitting around 25,000 gp. I've not really kept track of how were doing ships combat. Is ship to ship combat going to make enough difference to bulk up siege weapons?
I'm not entirely sure what you're asking in regards to bound equipment. You can have multiple pieces summoned at once. A couple potential alternative ideas: a bow of some sort (to increase your range) or a staff (to increase your magical abilities).
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The majority of naval combat for the remainder of the campaign focuses on fleet combat rather than individual ships. Elek's been good at avoiding warships, pirate hunters, and other heavily-armed vessels thus far, but if the Revenge runs into one - or gets attacked by multiple ships at once - you'll run into problems. Currently, the vast majority of your fleet isn't particularly well-armed, so they won't be too effective against real threats unless you use excellent tactics. If you're uninterested in increasing your offensive capabilities, you could also hire mercenary fleets.
What I was asking about a buckler, can he switch it around. When he's fighting two weapon he would wear/call it to the prosthetic arm. When he's using the cannon exclusively, he'd call it to the estoc hand. Is it ok to switch the buckler depending on what style of fighting he's using? Or does it have to stay on one hand or the other?
But a bow isn't a bad idea...
I am interested in increasing offensive capabilities, I know we put a ton of stuff on the catamaran, and I intend to run ships in fleets of three, so they stick together. I wouldn't mind hiring mercenaries too, but I know there is only a certain amount of money to spend. Where are the rules for mercenaries, I'll look into that as well.
I can look at the prices for siege weapons for the 'Revenge.' IF I were to building the offence for the fleet ships would I go about it the same way? I know earlier I said for the fleet to keep it's 'tithe' and to spend the money on ships defenses, just sort of assuming it would happen off screen. How do we want to handle that now?
Also, Elek has one feat to add, if he adds something with siege weapons will it improve he crews performance? Is there a feat that would do that?
After some coffee it became clear Elek should purchase some weapons for the ships. The question if he just needs to focus on the Revenge, because the other captains have upgraded their ships, or if he needs to purchase for all of them.
If the prosthetic turns into the buckler, it'll (naturally) have to stay on that hand. You can have multiple pieces of bound equipment active simultaneously, though, so there's nothing preventing you from 'summoning' it into your non-prosthetic hand.
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You can hire one mercenary squadron at each of the following ports: Port Peril, Quent, Ollo, Drenchport, and Hell Harbor. Each comes with three ships and costs 40,000gp. You can spend up to 3 points of Disrepute, reducing the cost by 5,000gp each time. A mercenary squadron is well-armed and armored will serve you loyally for one major battle.
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After checking your crew upgrades, I see that they're already trained to use light and heavy ballistae. The 'Siege Engineer' and 'Master Siege Engineer' feats somewhat boost crew capabilities ... but only if Elek personally spends his actions to lead the crew.
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As ordered, your fleet captains have mainly focused on improving their ships' defenses. Your ships are fast, maneuverable, and sturdy. Like you, they've predominantly preyed upon poorly-armed merchants via rapid boarding and focus-firing on the enemy captain.
Thanks, I'll look at the best way to arm the ships, and retcon those purcases and have them installed on the ships once he arrives at the Isle of Empty eyes, then he'll move on to the black tower.
Anything interesting happen on the way home?
So working on the present armament on the fleet.
The ships I found info on,
Ships purchased: Black Serpent (costs 12,500gp) A frigate with two bow-mounted light ballistae and a Narrow Hull and Grand Storm (costs 11,600gp) A schooner with one heavy ballista at port and starboard.
Ship from the pathfinders: The Wayfinder is a two-masted xebec with silk sails and a magically-hardened rudder.
The Catamaran: two firedrakes (8,000 gp.) two standard catapults (1.600 gp.) four balistas (2,000 gp.)
Ships I have no info on, did they have any armament to start with?
The Devil's Shackle' squibed and renamed the Black Corsair
The Devil's plague Squibed and renamed the 'Devil's Bane'
'Jester's Grin' squibed and renamed ‘Rats Demise’
The new ships Mermaid's Revenge, Erinyes, Gylou's Cage and the Devilish Dutchess
Once I inventory present armament I'll figure out how to spend the25,000 gp.
Existing Armaments
Devil's Shackle: light catapult x1
Devil's Plague: heavy ballista x4
Jester's Grin: light catapult x2
New Ships: none
nice, just saw this after I posted in game. Hope it makes sense :) I will start working on a list of siege weapons and which go where right now :)
I'm not entirely sure what you're asking in regards to bound equipment. You can have multiple pieces summoned at once. A couple potential alternative ideas: a bow of some sort (to increase your range) or a staff (to increase your magical abilities).
I was like, 'this is a great idea, he can use a longbow' Until I realized he isn't trained with a longbow. I think I'll pick and estoc, just because. So here us the updated info. I'll get it on his sheet soon.
Added @ 13th lvl
ABP:
Feat: Steadfast Personality
Deflection + 4
Armorist:
+ 14 HP
+ 1 BAB
Bound equipment (4 talents, 4x) adamantine Estoc
1st Enhancement bonus: Preventative
2nd enhancement bonus: shock
Original trait: balanced blows
13th lvl trait: the sniper sphere
Rogue:
Sneak attack 7d6
skill ranks @ 13: +1 disable device, escape artist, fly, influence, sailor (profession), Sense motive, stealth, use magical device, + 2 knowledge (Civilization) and + 3 knowledge (arcane)
I've listed the ships under their new names with the original items, then show the new items added. Elek would have had the weapons added to the 'Revenge' in Port Peril, the other ships will stay at the 'Isle of Empty Eyes' until they are retrofitted. It looks like I'll go with three fleets, each with a heavily armed ship, a medium armed ship and two lightly armed ships. We'll figure that out after he gets back from the 'Black Tower'
After which he will go speak with other counsil members/captains about adding their ships to his fleet. I'll also need to looking into selling some magic items to arm his ships more. I don't love the idea, but if he isn't taking anyone with him on adventures, they won't need the armor and such.
Banshee's Revenge: light ballista x 4, ram, + heavy ballista x 4, springal, arrow x1
Cyclops' eye: firedrakes x 2, standard catapults x 2, light ballista x 4
Devil's Bane: heavy ballista x 4 +light ballista x 4,
Rat's Demise: light catapult x 2, +light ballista x 4, light catapult x 1
Black Corsair: light catapult x 1 +light ballista x 4, light catapult x 2
Grand Storm: heavy ballista x 2 +light ballista x 4,
Black Serpent: light ballista x 2 +light ballista x 2
Wayfinder: +light ballista x 4,
Mermaid's Revenge: +light ballista x 4,
Erinyes: +light ballista x 4,
Gylou's Cage: +light ballista x 4,
Devilish Dutchess: +light ballista x 4,
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Improvements:
38 light ballista: 19,000 gp.
3 light catapult: 1,650 gp.
4 heavy ballista: 3,200 gp.
1 Springal, arrow: 1,000 gp.
Expenditures: 24,850 gp.
We're showing a count of 87 crew. I'd assumed some of those would go to the catamaran and the island. Do I need to split those up and tell you how many are at each location of the three. Or does Elek's new success, stock those locations from other sources and the '87' are his unnamed crew?
Quick post: I'm going to be radio silent for a bit. Our apartment is flooded. Will probably be a couple days minimum before I'm back on the boards.
I'm afraid to ask how it got flooded.... Hopefully natural causes and not bad neighbors or old plumbing. Should help with the motivation to find a new place :(
Take all the time you need, hopefully the flooding hasn't ruined too much stuff. Of course it may mean less to move...
Just a heads up, In the morning I'm taking a friend to the nearest 'City' (Columbus Ohio) for an out-patient procedure. So I will not be posting at my regular time. I'll be up later tomorrow than normal and should be able to get any posting done before I head to bed.
Welcome Back! You must have found your books :)
It's fairly safe to say Elek doesn't need sending stones, he needs a cell phone he can take a picture with and call Sandara.
I'd decided to check the boards before I went to read, but wasn't sure I'd make any posts. But, I do want to ask, he's in the tower found some images and you stopped there. Has he explored the whole tower and needs to sort out the squid monster puzzle? Or is this just really important stuff and he will need to figure it out eventually but can keep moving forwards (at his own risk)?
There's still plenty to explore, but I wanted to give you time to react before moving on. The descriptions might be important - or just flavor text. Perhaps even both.... XD
Cool.
For continuity sake, I went back and checked. Elek put the Helm of comprehend languages in his pack here and I never said he gave it back. So, I'm figuring it's still in the haversack :)
OK, the things I know:
1. The statue ... holds its hands in front of its chest to clench a fist-sized chunk of serpentine carved in the shape of a human heart.
2. The lump of serpentine in the pedestal basin weighs ten pounds. It's a similar size to the stone held by the statue on the other side of the room
3.
4. a serpentine statue carved in the shape of a naked male human being ... save for an area over the center of his chest.
5, The archon slides aside the chest section, revealing an empty fist-sized chamber over the statue's heart.
So, my guess is that the stone heart goes in the statue, I can swap the rock I picked up for the heart. Now the question is what happens in the meantime.
I've got three more rounds for the Archon, is that enough time for the Archon (and possibly Elek, I haven't decided yet) to go back upstairs and for the Archon to swap the stone for the heart of stone being held by the statue?
It certainly took me longer than 18 seconds to come to this conclusion, maybe Elek is a genius and came upon it instantly...
The wand functions off of caster level, not spell level, so the Archon sticks around for seven rounds in total. I believe that'll be enough time. Swapping the stones will require a DC 20 DEX check to avoid triggering a trap.
yikes, a straight DC 20 Dex check. that's rough.....
Magic traps are fun. XD
That's my bad, I meant a severe storm, but didn't check my terminology. Can I decrease the storm? Is it a free action or a move action. If I can't I'll switch to another weapon. I also need to check if 'windstorm' costs an extra spell point.
When the effect ends, the severity of the altered weather categories returns to normal by 1 step per round.
That is the sort of information I was looking for when I asked the above question....
Ok, he used the standard, and recast the spell, I'll burn another spell point but now have a 'severe storm' right?
Yes, that's correct.
I knew he couldn't move a storm but I couldn't remember if he could make it less strong. Anyway, I forget sometimes that fighting the minions usually isn't a problem and get worked up when things don't go as planned :)
It basically comes down to whether or not you're concentrating on the storm. As long as you spend your Standard action concentrating, you can move the storm and increase/decrease its strength. Once you spend the spell point to keep it around, though, it stays in its current state until the duration expires.
Now I just need to remember that :)
So on summer break?
Yes, I've been on summer break for three weeks now. It's been really helpful, since I haven't had to juggle moving and work at the same time. XD
I'm a bit confused by your actions for this round. Could you clarify? Here's what I'm seeing:
Standard: Control Weather (strong wind)
Move: Fast Flowing Feint (move into range and feint)
AoO: Spend focus to Dual Opportunity Feint Strike
That leaves you adjacent to the creature.
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Another possibility:
Standard: Control Weather (strong wind)
Move: Fast Flowing Feint (move into range and feint)
Swift: Feint Strike (no fatal thrust)
No Action: Spend focus to move up to 1/2 speed
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You did't use Verbal Feint this round due to the lack of dialogue, so feinting with the estoc requires moving adjacent to the creature.
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Elek's attack routine's pretty complex, so I might have missed something that renders all this irrelevant. Just let me know. XD
For some reason, when I saw the images on the map, I was thinking that Elek had moved down the shaft and was close enough to strike with the estoc. Now reading your description of the events it seems he was still further up the shaft.
If need be, just ignore the move action and leave him up the shaft.
Just spit-balling, wouldn't the combination of Fast Feint and Flowing Feint work here? It looks similar to me, but I've not had any coffee, so I may not be reading it right.
I didn't mean t make it confusing. If the fast feint/flowing feint opens him up for an AOO, can we just use the quick shot and the standard action and leave him up the shaft?
Yes, the ceiling's higher than the creature is tall, so even if you'd moved completely down the shaft, you still wouldn't be in melee range. XD
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The Fast Feint + Flowing Feint combination is the second possibility from my previous post. That'll give you feint + one attack (no fatal thrust or dual opportunity). The issue is that both "AoO Feint Strike" and "move with Fast Feint" require spending your martial focus, and both occur after the feint, so you can't regain it in between the actions.
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If you're attacking with the estoc, your initial move (Flowing Feint) will provoke an AoO, but the move back up the shaft (Fast Feint) will not.
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It sounds like you'd prefer to Quick Shot, then spend your standard action to make a strong wind. That leaves your move and swift actions available if you wanted to do anything else.
Yeah, let's do the quick shot, spend the standard and make a strong wind then a move action to go back up the shaft.
I don't know why I was thinking two dimensionally when I posted, but that's what happened.
So we know the thing can fly, and probably can climb. I didn't use the fast feint/flowing feint, which we may regret. I'm curious to see if it will squeeze and climb and what it's restrictions will be.
Sorry this post took so long, did church with the moms and did lunch (it was my mother in law's birthday)
The Fast Feint + Flowing Feint combination is the second possibility from my previous post. That'll give you feint + one attack (no fatal thrust or dual opportunity). The issue is that both "AoO Feint Strike" and "move with Fast Feint" require spending your martial focus, and both occur after the feint, so you can't regain it in between the actions.
Ok trying to figure out how to do this without getting Elek dead.
With the Fast Feint + Flowing Feint, I'm trying to figure out how I can use Focusing feint to my advantage. Let me ask is this is right: with flowing feint he can combine a move action to move with the feint. If the Feint is successful, he can regain martial focus with a swift action. Take his attack action, then move back up the shaft, expending the martial focus to move a second time. Then rinse and repeat.
If he doesn't feint the creature, (thus not refreshing his martial focus) instead of using the standard to attack he can use a move action to move back up the shaft.
Now I've learned he can't use 'verbal feint' So he will need to feint with the estoc, which means moving within range. That would open him up to an OOA every round (I think) But that would be about it right? I mean as long as he moves back. IF he misses the feint and is taking a second move action (without Focusing feint) would that open him up to a second AOO? (assuming the creature has the ability to do a second AOO)