GM NovelEnigma's 1-01 The Absalom Initiation (Inactive)

Game Master asdffghjkl01

Looks like Veecs blew the Deception roll on the drunkard. Hopefully it wasn't a crit. Our best bet is for Apollo to try Intimidation (+11) even if the DC is higher, because the only Deception we've got left are Itka (+4) and Atae (+3).

Ya, Roddy has no viable skills here.... except knuckle sandwiches.

Drunk is gonna fight me lol

Ya, Roddy has no viable skills here.... except knuckle sandwiches.

Given that Roddy has Deception +0, the odds of his crit failing are waaaaay higher than the odds of a simple success. In general, give those with a better shot at success a chance to go first.

Lol yeah, I tried to help Veecs's low roll, I figured it wouldnt do much harm but not the strongest on PF2e rules for helping.

Lol yeah, I tried to help Veecs's low roll, I figured it wouldnt do much harm but not the strongest on PF2e rules for helping.

Yeah, trying to Aid is really not worth doing in PF2e until higher levels. You need to reach a difficult DC 20, just for a paltry +1. And worse, if you crit fail with a DC 10, it's a -1 penalty.

As a comparison, in PF1e, you just needed a DC 10, for a +2 bonus. Even better, several PCs could aid, and all the +2's stacked. Basically Aiding was awesome in 1e, and is pretty terrible in 2e.

Our best bet is for Apollo to try Intimidation (+11) even if the DC is higher, because the only Deception we've got left are Itka (+4) and Atae (+3).

Apollo is of course willing to have a go with Intimidating the drunkard, if our GM allows.

Is there a picture of the monster we fed?

I posted it earlier, but it's in the slides! The description the scenario gives makes it sound more like a gibbering mouther rather than a human-shaped creature, but this is the picture it gives.

@Apollo, I would let you roll against the drunk since you critically succeeded earlier, but I'm going to take the lore underworld check from Veecs (at a slighter higher DC) and give him the success.

A riot. lol!

Wow! It seems the goblin pyro is tougher than it looks. I figured Apollo's massive damage would be more than enough to take it off the board. Perhaps a PC with some remaining actions can target the pyro and get it out of the picture before it returns the firesome favor.

It would normally be enough, but the level bump gives it 10 more hp than normal

Nice when you get near perfect damage dice. Could've easily been a total of 4.

Atae: if you have a choice, maybe target the Pyro, who is hopefully close to death (and frightened to boot!)?

GM: speaking of Pyro, he's only -20, not -25, yes? unless it has Weakness to Fire or something like that.

You're right! Fixed it. I accidentally applied Veecs damage to the Pyro rather than the warrior.

You've earned a group Hero Point! Use it when you need it!

Yay! Is that one Hero Point for each of us, or one Hero Point that is (somehow) shared by all of us?

It's one that you guys can use for anyone that needs it. I'm supposed to give out a hero point at the rate of one per hour of gameplay and I just make those shared because it's hard to pick a single player to give it to in a fair way that still makes it useful. To be honest you probably won't need it but it's always nice insurance if someone goes down!

It's one that you guys can use for anyone that needs it. I'm supposed to give out a hero point at the rate of one per hour of gameplay and I just make those shared because it's hard to pick a single player to give it to in a fair way that still makes it useful. To be honest you probably won't need it but it's always nice insurance if someone goes down!

Ah, OK. I see.

I usually use my Hero Points to re-roll important failed attacks, skill rolls, or saving throws. In fact, I can't actually remember ever using Hero Points with any of my PCs to stabilize a dying condition (you have to use them all for that anyway).

I am going to assume that this Hero Point is available on a first-come, first-served basis. The first PC that can make use of the Hero Point should feel free to use it however they like. How does that sound to everyone?

I do not think I have ever used a hero point, I just don't think about them, lol.

GM: Pyro is still frightened, right?

Evil Eye: "The target becomes frightened based on the results of its Will save. This condition value can't be reduced below 1 while the spell is active and you can see the target."

At least until Itka's turn, when he can either Sustain or let the spell lapse. Is that correct?

Oh, cool, I didn't realize Evil Eye had the "no reduction" effect like the Bard song one does. Yep, still frightened 1 then!

GM, I just noticed you are spelling her name wrong, it is Atae (as in Come Atae hot from hell with a monarch's voice, cry Havok, goddess of vengence in Rome) not Atea :)

@Elfino You may heal more with Battle Medicine, but it's only once per person per day at this point. You also can use Battle Medicine in combat, but not Treat Wounds, so you're kind of losing out on in-combat healing by using it now.

The Forensic Medicine methodology states that When you use Battle Medicine, on a success the target recovers additional Hit Points equal to your level, and the target becomes temporarily immune for only 1 hour, not 1 day.

In addition, the Medic Dedication states that Once per day, you can use Battle Medicine on a creature that's temporarily immune.

So the Forensic Medicine Investigator gets a suped up version of Battle Medicine, and the Medic Dedication puts that on steroids. It's a great combination.

That's what I get for checking quickly while I'm doing something else; I stopped reading after "additional hit points."

Regardless, a creature at full health does lose its wounded statues after 10 minutes of being at full hp.

Doesn't expert assurance at level 2 give you a result of 16? 10+2 for level, 4 for expert. Either way, you pass, just for future reference when you want to do those DC 20s.

Shoot! You're correct. This is my first outing with Elfino since I levelled him up and got him Assurance with Expert in Medicine from Medic Dedication. I just grabbed my Battle Medicine template and replaced the 1d20 with a 10, but that's not right. According to Assurance I only get 10 + your proficiency bonus, which as you say is only +4 (expert) +2 (level) for a total of +6. I don't get to add my +2 ability modifier, which means that Assurance is only the equivalent of rolling an 8 on a d20.

Thanks for catching that. I'll fix my templates for the next time I use them.

You get to ignore all bonuses and all penalties! No MAP for Assurance Athletics, no penalty for a low ability score, etc. It's got a lot of nuance to what it can work around.

I should be back on tomorrow. I spent most of the day in Intensive Care to be diagnoesed with an eye lid infection.

Yikes! I hope you feel better soon!

Sorry for my less frequent posting. I am currently on vacation and the internet here is awful. Still trying to get at least 1 post a day to keep the game going.

I hear about vacations but do not know what they are. lol.

Are Roddy and Veecs still with us?

Roddy last posted 5 days ago (Sunday) and Veecs last posted 6 days ago (Saturday).

Players, these PbP games are slow enough with once/day posts. You kinda need to let the GM know if you'll be away for an extended time. If so, the GM can "bot" you to avoid unnecessarily slowing down the game.

But please hurry back...we need you!

I definitely get lack of posting during exploration bits, especially when they are as extended as this. Honestly I don't find this scenario especially interesting which can lead to a lack of motivation to post for it.

Anyway, I'll try and bot them later today when I get the chance. I'll be driving back home on Sunday where I have much more reliable internet to work with.

Sorry all, I didn't realize it's been so long!

Are there some scenarios that are better run on PbP than others?

Better on PbP? I don't know if any scenario necessarily works better or is more fun in PbP. However if you enjoy RP, character dialogue, and more focus on NPCs and the story, then I think PbP is better for you.

My experience with real time is that you don't really play as your character, you play a game where the choices you make are made based on your character, but a lot less personality shines through.

For motivation in PbP, I think it's really important to develop a character with motives, backstory, and beliefs. If you don't have those, most scenarios will feel like they are happening to you rather than for you or with you. It'll feel like your just there to type [dice] in order to progress the story.

The worst ones I remember from 1E were those awful chases.

I believe it is Roddy who is at 0 HP, Unconscious, Prone and Dying 1, not Apollo as you have in the encounter tracker. Also, if it is now the Yellow zombie that put in the killing blow rather than the Orange, then Roddy should be moved a couple of ticks down in the initiative order from where Apollo is now.

I should point out that the survivability difference between being at Dying 1 vs Dying 2 is huge, so good thing Elfino went back to patch Roddy up (he almost didn't). In general, I find PF2 encounters are usually designed under the assumption that everyone is at full strength going into them, and this situation is a perfect example of why.

I agree with your assessment of PbP. Personally, the only reason I play RPGs is for the role-playing. That is why I find PbP so satisfying; I get to spend as much time as I like crafting my posts and slowly revealing the personality and motivations of my PC. Even if I'm the only one putting in the effort, I am still happy to play, but the very best games I've enjoyed have been when all the players get into the swing of things and have their PCs interact closely with one another. Sometimes it just seems like everyone has their PCs doing their own thing without regards to the presence or actions of the other PCs (or even NPCs sometimes), which I find to be less enjoyable.

FtF games are less appealing to me for the reasons you describe; as far as the game itself is concerned, everything becomes somewhat mechanical (like moving chess pieces around a board) and a lot of the RP is either assumed or OOCed. The only advantage to FtF might be the more personal and immediate interactions between the players and GM, but even in that case, it requires a level of familiarity and comfort between the players and the GM that is not always available, and difficult for some of us to achieve without years of close contact.

Sorry, my brain gets Roddy and Apollo mixed up a lot if I'm not paying close attention. Yes, Roddy is the one at Dying 1, not Apollo.

Sorry for the errors here!

Sorry, my brain gets Roddy and Apollo mixed up a lot if I'm not paying close attention. Yes, Roddy is the one at Dying 1, not Apollo.

Sorry for the errors here!

No biggie. One last item: Is Yellow currently sharing the square with the prone Roddy? That's what it looks like to me. Should be a workable situation as long as Roddy remains prone, though I look forward to what happens when he regains consciousness, heh heh.

Quick question. How much time has elapsed since Elfino did Battle Medicine on Roddy. Any chance it was more than an hour ago?

How much did he get healed for?

How much did he get healed for?

All the way.

Clerics channel through the heal/harm spell now correct?

Atae wrote:

How much did he get healed for?

All the way.

That only works on a character once a day correct?

That only works on a character once a day correct?

Once per hour for Elfino.

GAME NOTE: I moved Apollo from my last turn. Since Grey wasn't down at the time, Apollo moved into the room with Veecs, rather than move next to Grey.

So, I'm a little confused. Is Roddy down and Dying 1? Or is he up with 1hp? If he's up, who healed him?

Either way, it's Roddy's turn with either a Recovery check, or a full turn, yes?

Regarding the other discussion, I agree with our GM and Elfino. For sheer RP, all PbP games are far superior than F2F. Even if there's no action going on (like searching this haunted house), there's opportunity to roleplay with every post. Something like this is pretty mechanical in a F2F game.

But I still enjoy both. I like getting together for F2F games -- good seeing the familiar faces who pop in at your lodge. With F2F, it's easier to plan strategies, talk through flanking opportunities, and cheering together as a group for an amazing crit at an important time.

Of course, racking up XP and AcP is much faster in a 4-hour F2F game than a 2-month PbP.

Roddy is prone with 1 hp from Atae's heal spell.

I'm not sure what you mean by moving Apollo. Was he not targeting grey with the fire ray? You mentioned in your post that you were acting on your original initiative order like you were supposed to and blasted grey with a fire ray. If you mean you're now taking your previous TBD stride, go ahead and do so now.

Re: Apollo
Yes, all that is correct. I meant I was taking my previous TBD stride. He is now in the room with Veecs.

Re: Roddy
Ah, yes. Didn't realize Atae's heal spell affected him too. Excellent!

Roddy is prone with 1 hp from Atae's heal spell.

Much as I hate to point this out, I believe that the 3-action Heal spell with its 30ft Emanation requires at least Line of Effect and quite possibly even Line of Sight between the caster and the target. Unless I missed something (wouldn't be the first time), from where Atae was positioned in the hallway next to a solid wall, only Itka and the Red and Grey zombies should have been affected by her spell (and Atae herself if she so chooses).

Still here family go hit by the crud this last week, the puking has subsided for the time.

Get well soon, Veecs!

The hp is determined by # of actions used in addition to lvl of spell.

Atae -- that's partially true. Here's the link for the Heal spell.

Description: You channel positive energy to heal the living or damage the undead. If the target is a willing living creature, you restore 1d8 Hit Points...
◆ The spell has a range of touch
(1 target for 1d8 w/ range touch)
◆◆ The spell has a range of 30 feet. If you're healing a living creature, increase the Hit Points restored by 8
(1 target healed 1d8+8, 30' range)
◆◆◆ You disperse positive energy in a 30-foot emanation. This targets all living and undead creatures in the burst
(all targets within 30' emanation for 1d8)

Once you reach level 3 (and odd levels beyond), you can Heighten the spell to include an extra 1d8.

[u]Bottom line[/u]: Since Atae is casting a 3-action version of the level 1 spell, it does 1d8 to all creatures in the emanation.

:( that was a waste of a spell

:( that was a waste of a spell

I wouldn't say that. In addition to healing us, the 3-action version also harms undead within the 30' emanation. And if the undead have Weakness to positive energy, the zombies may suffer additional damage as well.

Also, since our GM allowed the spell to affect Roddy, simply providing him 1 hp was enough to bring him back to consciousness and allow him to have his normal actions.

So while it may not have been as effective as you thought, it wasn't a waste. Especially from Roddy's perspective.