Coldwater's Abomination Vaults

Game Master Quentin Coldwater

Lough: What armor were you using before we found the +1 Resilient Splint? Can we sell off your old armor? What was it?

Assuming we're all good with getting Lough a Lesser Reinforcing Rune for his shield, the accounting now stands at:

Stuff We're Keeping
Scale Mail +1 Resilient (Lough)

A: Cash or equivalent
...
A TOTAL: 684.05

B: Equipment that we're cashing in at 50%
...
B TOTAL = 1372.97 (2745.94 @ 50%)

C: Purchases
300.0 Reinforcing Rune (Lesser) [Lough]
C TOTAL = 300.0

GRAND TOTAL = 1757.02 (A:684.05 + B:1372.97 - C:300.0)

I've been looking over possible purchases for Kka heading into Level 7, and the one that looks most promising right now is getting her a 340gp Wounding Rune on her second shortsword. This will require putting a +1 Potency Rune on it first, but we have several of those in the loot list we can get at half-price (17.5gp), so that shouldn't be a problem. This would let her deal 1d6 additional persistent bleed damage on every hit when using her second shortsword during a Double Slice. I'd also like to get a couple of Low-Grade Alloy Orbs for her shortswords (20gp) and a Snapleaf Talisman for her armor (9gp).

I'd like to point out that at 8th level, it is common for the front liners to upgrade their armor to +1 Resilient. Lough is being upgraded one level early because we found it in the loot, but we'll need some 2*340 = 680gp when we hit level 8 to upgrade both Kka and Fuìn's armor.

Still working on upgrading Kka to 7th Level. Depends a little on whether I can retrain an old feat or two.

The armor we found with the Resilient Rune is Scale Mail.

Lough previous armor was Splint Mail w/ Armor Potency Rune.

Transferring the Resilient Rune from the Scale Mail to the Splint Mail will cost 10% of the rune's cost or (340.00) x (0.1) = 34.00gp.

Selling the Scale Mail and decoupled Potency Rune will generate 50% of their combined cost or (13.00 + 160.00) x (0.5) = 86.50

The difference between these two numbers (86.50 - 34.00) is 52.50 which can be added to the coffers as a result of selling off the de-runed Scale Mail and unused Armor Potency Rune less the cost of transfer.

I am assuming everyone who wants an Armor Potency Rune has one already?

I think I did math and rules right?

=)

General Feat:

Toughness

(I was thinking about getting Shield Block and wish-listing a Spellguard Shield.)

Cherry, have you looked into getting a Wooden Breastplate?

It would raise your AC by 3 at the cost of -5 speed and it looks like you have the Bulk allowance to shoulder it without penalty.

=)

I believe we settled on the level-up to switch to remaster, yes.

General Feat (7th): Swift Sneak

And as a fighter, I get Weapon Expertise, so a +3 to damage and critical specialization effects with my meteor hammer!

Also Battlefield Surveyor, which isn't quite as useful since I usually roll Stealth for initiative, but it does boost me to Master proficiency in Perception so that's nice.

As for the wishlist, I'd really love those slippers of spider climbing if we have them in the budget. I know they're unlikely to come in handy super-often but they'll be clutch when they do.

EDIT: Before I forget again, I will be traveling for the next week or so and my posting will be a bit spotty. Just bot Fuin as brooding in a corner and you'll be gravy. :P

EDIT EDIT: As to the remaster transition. Would you allow us to retrain something if there's a new option in Player Core for us? In particular, I'd very much like to retrain Knockdown to get Blade Brake. I rarely use Knockdown because my Athletics is pretty meh, and even though BB is pretty niche, I think it would come in handy more than Knockdown. Plus it'd look cool :D

Are we fully swithcing over to remasterd now? The change to Leshy lore gives Cherry another skill to Master.

Cherry is getting level 4 spells:
Fly x 2 (Air Walk if we are allowed Legacy Spells) (Not necessary if Flier's don't lose an action to keep flying)

Yes, we're switching over.

I'm a bit confused about legacy spells. If your spell is reprinted or has a new name (Acid Arrow --> Acid Grip), it's available, but other than that, old spells are no longer an option? I think Air Walk is reasonable enough to have, it's okay to grab that spell.

Also, Fuìn: I'm fine with freely retraining something to a new option in PC1. For other retraining purposes, you'd have to take time off yourself. There's no immediate time pressure, but you know something brewing down in there... >:D
Also, please make a note in your header if you have something like Blade Brake, otherwise I will forget.

In PFS all old options are still totally legal.

If anything shares the old name, it is treated as errata.

I am remastering Kka.

I think I did math and rules right?

=)

Not quite :) Lough already had +1 Splint Mail and we found some +1 Resilient Scale Mail.

Transferring the Resilient rune to Lough's Splint Mail results in Lough having +1 Resilient Splint Mail. What will be left is some +1 Scale Mail, which we can sell for 160/2 = 80gp. When dealing with magical armor, the base cost of the armor is irrelevant. Even if that were not the case, Scale Mail is only 4gp, not 13gp (which is what Splint costs).

Including the purchase of a Reinforcing rune, the Resilient rune transfer cost, and the sale of the +1 Scale Mail; the purchase of a Wounding Rune, 2 Allow Orbs and a Snapleaf Talisman for Kka; and the purchase of Slippers of Spider Climbing for Fuìn, that leaves us with:

Stuff We're Keeping
Resilient Rune [Lough]

A: Cash or equivalent
...
A TOTAL: 684.05

B: Equipment that we're cashing in at 50%
...
B TOTAL = 1452.97 (2905.94 @ 50%)

C: Purchases
300.0 Reinforcing Rune (Lesser) [Lough]
34.0 Resilient Rune Transfer Cost [Lough]
325.0 Slippers of Spider Climbing [Fuìn]
340.0 Wounding Rune [Kka]
20.0 Alloy Orb (Low-Grade) [Kaa] (2)
9.0 Snapleaf Talisman [Kka]
C TOTAL = 1028.0

GRAND TOTAL = 1109.02 (A:684.05 + B:1452.97 - C:1028.0)

If Cherry wants a +1 Wooden Breasplate, that will be 160gp. I haven't heard anything from Kvit yet.

Whatever money we don't spend will carry over to the next level, just like last time.

I'll be updating Kvit to remaster.

There isn't anything in the current loot list that I particularly want. If we think the fast healing 2 from the Ichthyosis Mutagen would be useful, I could use one of those to reverse engineer the formula.

@Fuìn I am totally okay with setting one reagent aside to always prepare two spiderfoot brews. We don't really utilize Kvit's alchemical items anyway. Though they take one extra action to activate and only last 1 minute instead of 1 hour.

It's been 6 levels now, still don't really seem to be using much of Kvit's free archetype. :( Not sure how else to use it more.

As far as wishlist, I would like

Kvit, I'll include the purchase of Waterproofing Wax in the accounting.

I've leveled up Kka. In the end I didn't feel the need to retrain anything.

Here is what she picks up for Level 7.

Rogue Ability: Evasive Reflexes (Reflex -> Master; Success -> Crit)

Rogue Ability: Vigilant Senses (Perception -> Master)

Rogue Ability: Weapon Specialization (+2 damage to attacks)

General Feat: Toughness (+level HP)

Skill Feat: Advanced First Aid (reduce frightened/sickened by 2)

Skill Increase: Medicine (to Master)

Just need to clean things up for the new equipment and update my templates and I'll be ready to go.

Things like the GMs Initiative rolls will need to be updated.

Cherry, have you looked into getting a Wooden Breastplate?

It would raise your AC by 3 at the cost of -5 speed and it looks like you have the Bulk allowance to shoulder it without penalty.

=)

Unfortunately I am not trained in armor, at all. I would lose my proficiency to armor for a net loss of 7 AC.

However, I can get +2 to my AC by taking Armor Proficiency (Light) and getting Studded Leather armor. At least after I transfer the rune.

Or should I just take the Toughness for +7 HP?

Looking at updating Kvit for remaster.

Need some feedback/thoughts/ideas/suggestions.

1. School:

Thinking of going to school of Unified Magical Theory. I think as Kvit's spell knowledge has expanded rapidly (thanks to several otherworldly Grimoire) this seems like an appropriate fit. And he hasn't really been utilizing illusion spells very much (except for the amazing rock band performance).

School of the boundary would be closest other option but the focus spell is not great and it heavily relies on summons and void damage. Which, considering the sheer amount of undead down here, doesn't seem like a great plan.

2. General Feat

Not a lot of good options for him. I am thinking incredible initiative, but that's meh.

My other thought was taking weapon proficiency. Once trained in martial weapons my options for Hand of the Apprentice (from the school of Unified Magical Theory) could be better. Such as if I claim the Bloodletting Kukri (at least temporarily).

3. Spells.

With the the school UMT, I get to use drain bonded item once for each level, but I get to prepare one less spell per level (no free school spell slot). Which means picking utility spells is not as good. I could retrain a skill feat back to magical crafting and spend a couple days making some niche spells scrolls. But that'd be dependant on time and the group's thoughts on what would be useful enough as a scroll. And suggestions on "must pick" spells in arcane list for rank 4?

4a. Alchemy

I would really like to make this more useful for the group. Is there any formulas for things that would be useful and used? I think I used one reagent and the spiderfoot brew in the whole level. 5/7 reagents gone to waste. I like the idea of the alchemist dedication for the free archetype but I'm not utilizing it really at all.

4b. This one's for GM Kwinten mostly. Since I took the Eldritch Researcher dedication. How do you feel about changing that to my free archetype slots and dropping alchemist dedication entirely? (And how do the rest of you feel)

However, I can get +2 to my AC by taking Armor Proficiency (Light) and getting Studded Leather armor. At least after I transfer the rune.

Or should I just take the Toughness for +7 HP?

I think a +2 to hit translates roughly to 50% more damage once you factor in the increased probability of criticals. You could look at it from the other side of the equation: would a +2 to AC act similarly?

On the other hand, Toughness increases your HP against both Strikes and Spells / Abilities.

So I figure you are asking yourself if you’d rather have modest defensive improvements against all kinds of attacks (physical and magical), or, stronger defensive improvements against Strikes (and Spell Attacks) specifically?

=)

However, I can get +2 to my AC by taking Armor Proficiency (Light) and getting Studded Leather armor. At least after I transfer the rune.

Or should I just take the Toughness for +7 HP?

Whether it is worth sacrificing a feat for Armor Proficiency or Toughness depends on how often you're likely to be attacked or take direct damage by other means. Unless you are a frontliner that regularly gets within melee range of the bad guys (ie Lough, Fuìn, and Kka), the answer is probably not often.

So far, you (and Kvit) have played more of a backline support role and have not often taken damage from the bad guys. In fact, my guess is that you've probably taken more damage from your allies than anyone else :)

Then does anyone else have some ideas for General Feats?

I could take Fleet and have an easier time positioning. Incredible Imitative so I have to deal with less 'cleric initiative'.

Could also take Thorough Search I guess, but that would slow our movement down.

As for Kvit's questions? I have little to no experience with prepared spellcasters, magical crafting, or alchemists. As such, I can offer little useful direction there.

For Kka, I had a choice of Toughness or Incredible Initiative for her General feat (Fleet is almost always my first choice of General feats). If she didn't have Gang Up and no one was Scouting as their default exploration activity (someone is, right?), then I would definitely have gone for Incredible Initiative to increase the chances of using Surprise Attack. I went with Toughness because that's more useful during an entire encounter rather than just at the start.

For Cherry, in the absence of anything else more in tune with her build, I'd go with Fleet, Toughness or Armor Proficiency. I doubt that Thorough Search will ever be useful enough to make it worth sacrificing a General Feat for. Maybe Canny Acumen to bring up your Reflex saves is a possibility (I thought of doing this for Kka and her Fortitude).

Going through all of Cherry's things reminded me of a lot of abilities Cherry has that I haven't been using.

For example, Cherry has a wayfinder, why do they have Light in as a cantrip still? (Though Cherry's Light spell is now 60 feet instead of 30, which the wayfinder still uses)

Cherry also gets Vitality lash from the Hunter's Broch, which might have come in handy a few times there.

I was updating my templates when I remembered that I have a Striking Rune on my wishlist for Kka's +1 Handwraps (for when she has to punch something if the bad guys are resistant to piercing and slashing damage, or weak to bludgeoning). I see that we have a +1 Striking Rapier on the loot list, so since the Striking Rune in question is half-price, it seems a pity to let it go to waste. Now that her dex-to-damage applies to unarmed finesse attacks, Kka should be able to do some serious damage with her fist and beak.

I've replaced the +1 Striking Rapier in the Selling list with a plain +1 Rapier, and added the transfer cost of the Striking Rune to the Purchase list. The net cost to us is 65/2 + 6.5 = 39gp. I hope that's okay with everyone.

That took WAY to many re-edits, but Cherry's stat block is updated.

@Kkka, that is fine.

I'm fine with that Kka.

I'm leaning towards wanting Kvit to use the Bloodletting Kukri for his hand of the apprentice. Worst case we can sell it next level if he doesn't end up getting enough use out of it.

I'm leaning towards wanting Kvit to use the Bloodletting Kukri for his hand of the apprentice. Worst case we can sell it next level if he doesn't end up getting enough use out of it.

Since we don't need the cash from selling it, we can definitely hold onto it for another level (or more). Looks like a good choice of weapon to use with Hand of the Apprentice.

Fact is that the weapon was also of interest to Kka as a replacement for one of her shortswords. Essentially, she would be giving up Piercing damage (which wouldn't be a big deal given her remaining shortsword) in exchange for Trip (which she is unlikely to ever use) and the 1d8 persistent bleed on a crit (1d6 of which she gets anyway due to the crit special effect of Knives) with 1d8 temp hit points gained. Bottom line is that the extra 140gp cost above a plain +1 Striking weapon in exchange for a few temp hit points on a crit attack, didn't seem worth it to me.

Moving the Kukri to the keep list, we now have:

Stuff We're Keeping
Resilient Rune [Lough]
Bloodletting Kukri [Kvit]

A: Cash or equivalent
534.05 Starting Gold
20.0 Platinum Medal
40.0 Emerald Ring
70.0 Ruby-Encrusted Dagger
20.0 Mithral Bracelet
A TOTAL: 684.05

B: Equipment that we're cashing in at 50%
5.0 Chain Shirt
2.0 Steel Shield
0.6 Dagger [3]
1.0 Longsword
0.7 Pick
0.3 Caltrops
20.0 Professional Fishing Tackle
20.0 Spyglass
0.14 Pitons [14]
12.0 Chain [3]
160.0 Magic Wand (L2): See Invisibility
25.0 Research Notes
230.0 Clandestine Cloak
50.0 Healing Potion (Moderate)
70.0 Glaive +1 [2]
340.0 Cold Iron Shield (Standard-Grade)
30.0 Acid Flask (Moderate) [3]
220.0 Ghoul Hide
150.0 Serpent Dagger
225.0 Cloud Pouch
35.0 Rapier +1
160.0 Magic Wand (L2): Peaceful Rest
160.0 Magic Wand (L2): Force Barrage
55.0 Alchemist's Lab (Expanded)
1.0 Glaive
35.0 Composite Longbow +1
0.2 Arrows [2]
25.0 Repair Kit (Superb)
50.0 Healer's Toolkit (Expanded)
70.0 Antiplague (Moderate) [2]
60.0 Crafter's Eyepiece
30.0 Emerald Grasshopper
50.0 Charlatan's Gloves
50.0 Iron Cube
48.0 Ichthyosis Mutagen [2]
160.0 Scale Mail +1
B TOTAL = 1300.47 (2600.94 @ 50%)

C: Purchases
300.0 Reinforcing Rune (Lesser) [Lough]
34.0 Resilient Rune Transfer Cost [Lough]
325.0 Slippers of Spider Climbing [Fuìn]
340.0 Wounding Rune [Kka]
20.0 Alloy Orb (Low-Grade) [Kaa] (2)
9.0 Snapleaf Talisman [Kka]
10.0 Waterproofing Wax [Kvit]
6.5 Striking Rune Transfer Cost [Kka]

C TOTAL = 1038.0

GRAND TOTAL = 940.02 (A:684.05 + B:1300.47 - C:1044.5)

In PFS all old options are still totally legal.

If anything shares the old name, it is treated as errata.

Thanks! Annoying that some old spells from the CRB are hidden by default on AoN, even though they're still legal. Makes searching for them pretty annoying.

Kka: Said it before, but thanks for doing the loot stuff! Really helps smoothe things out for the party, I feel.

Also, I've updated the header and initiatives (except for Kvit, who hasn't updated his). I'm now also including HP totals during combat now, because that makes it easier to see how badly hurt everyone is I've held off from this because this means I have to do subtraction for PCs and addition for monsters, which might confuse me, but I'll try it out. See if I've missed anything:

Initiatives:
Cherry Berry: 1d20+15
Fuìn: 1d20+17
Kka: 1d20+16
Kvit: 1d20+11
Lough: 1d20+14

HP:
Cherry Berry 78/78
Fuìn 106/106
Kka 83/83
Kvit 42/42
Lough 92/92

Kvit's header is updated. Need to finalize spells mostly (but that won't change the headers). Switching from one school to another would be a big enough pain without adding in the remaster.

Planning to take Sliding Blocks and Wall of Fire as my Rank 4 spells.

His initiative looks correct.
Kvit's updated HP is 48/48

Kvit's Level up to 7 and Remaster Changes

Remaster Impact: No Skill or proficiency changes from Remaster. I don't see any changes regarding the Staff Nexus. None of the feats he currently has have changed. Many of the spells and spell names have changed. He looses the School of Illusion but is changing to School of Unified Magical Theory.

@Kka Can sell off the alchemist's tools, Formula Book, Formulas? (Purchased 2x rank 1, and 1x rank 2, 5x rank 3 over the course of the adventure). Purchasing a scroll of "Bind Undead" and learning it will be 46gp.

Done.

GRAND TOTAL is now $918.02.

Hey all, I wanted to discuss something with you. I've noticed that lately people have been more focused on their own narrative and less on interacting with others. I've said so before, but Cherry Berry (for example) repeatedly asks questions (asking about everyone's health after combat and such), but gets ignored completely. Or earlier this week, when Kvit asked HERE for input, and no one responded (including myself, shame on me).

Maybe it's more the nature of PbP where people have more room to narrate their own actions, but please don't forget that there's several other people sitting at the virtual table. Interacting with them is where (IMHO) most of the fun lies. I can rattle off the narrative just fine, but the interaction is what makes this our collective story.

Please take some effort (when possible) to react to other people's posts. This isn't a single-player game, you know?

I'll chime in.

I'll admit that my RP style is often (but not always) within my own narrative. The truth is I like to make posts that entertain me, to see where the writing can go, and if you guys read them too and are entertained, cool, or if you skim them and make your own posts, that's cool by me too. Some posts (that anyone can make) warrant further interaction, and some are simple exposition. I enjoy reading Fuin's mental dialogue, for example, even if I don't always respond.

I think my best collective action is when we get into a fight.

Will try and step up my interactivity in more modes, GM.

Back to work tomorrow. BOOOO.

I apologize if Fuin's standoffishness has led anyone to think that I personally don't wish to engage with people. I was sort of trying out a narrative arc for Fuin but it doesn't feel like it's panning out. Mostly it just feels like I've been having him be a moody jerk for apparently no reason. There was an end goal in mind, but at this point I've been pulling him away from his original character and I haven't been able to reach a satisfying conclusion, so I'm probably going to drop it, at least for now.

So I think a little R&R will have Fuin back to his old chipper self, is what I'm saying, and interacting with folks again.

As to Blade Brake, since it's a reaction (good gravy I have so many now!) I was planning on putting it in my usual Reactions spoiler, if that's okay? If not, I suppose I can add something to my taglines.

I'll chime in.

I'll admit that my RP style is often (but not always) within my own narrative. The truth is I like to make posts that entertain me, to see where the writing can go, and if you guys read them too and are entertained, cool, or if you skim them and make your own posts, that's cool by me too. Some posts (that anyone can make) warrant further interaction, and some are simple exposition. I enjoy reading Fuin's mental dialogue, for example, even if I don't always respond.

I think my best collective action is when we get into a fight.

Will try and step up my interactivity in more modes, GM.

Thanks for your post. I have to admit, I had to get used to your posting style at first. I've had a few people IRL who had to showboat how cool they were out of insecurity, but this is different. You're just exploring your character.

Fuìn: Could you do both? I might not always look in the Reactions, but if I have to reference your Fort DC (for example) I see it in your header anyways.

Anyway, I enjoy everyone's internal monologue, and please keep doing that, but keep in mind this is a social game and you'll have to interact with others at some point. :)

I need to get adding Cherry's own reactions to my posts as well. They have a couple now.

Admittedly, I don't think any of those have ever triggered, but still they should be added.

Sorry I've been a bit quiet recently, but leveling-up/remastering Kka and the loot accounting, took all the Pathfinder time I had and then some; my partner was beginning to notice and comment on my hyperfocus, so I took my foot off the game post accelerator.

I quite enjoy reading the other posts that delve into the inner life of the different PCs. I also have a general arc in mind for Kka, but I have to admit to coasting a little on character development during this level.

We're 2.5 years into this AP and my level of interest and enthusiasm for the project has waxed and waned over time. This is natural and I've noticed the same thing from the other players and the GM. At the end of every level, I always ask myself whether it's worth going on... is the enjoyment I'm getting out of it matching the time and effort I put into it (usually an hour or so per post). So far the answer has been yes, but I'm not as certain about it as I was before.

I try to play off the other player posts when possible; when I have the time; and when I'm in the mood. Despite the time it takes, I enjoy putting my RP posts together and some give-and-take with the other PCs can increase that enjoyment. Hopefully the freshness of starting a new level will help reenergize me, but repetitiveness and a lack of novelty is the nature of a dungeon crawl and there's no real way around that.

When it comes to patching everyone up after combat, I usually make a comment to acknowledge the hand-waving away of healing we agreed to early on. Kka is so loaded up with healing feats and skills that I sometimes think she's a doctor cosplaying as a thief rather than the other way around. As such, I tend to skim over and not register any mention of healing outside of combat because in my mind it's already been taken care of.

If I have knowledge that can help someone with their questions about PC development, I'll provide whatever input I can. Fact is that I do not really like playing prepared casters, clerics or alchemists, and my knowledge of these classes is minimal to nonexistent. If I can't help, then either I will say so (as I did with Kvit) or I'll say nothing.

Palandri hits the nail on the head.

In my own game, I am experimenting with a "Wealth by Level" soft rebuild at each level (similar to PFS) to avoid having to saddle anyone with upkeeping a loot spreadsheet while also not shortchanging the party on treasure. So far, it's working well. Ask me anything!

But yeah, I stick with this game because I am committed to the long haul. So much so, that, hypothetically, if GM were to request an out, but was willing to remain as a player, I would strongly consider heeding.

GM and my's enjoyment of the game seems somewhat differentiated. Not a bad thing. Some of our core axioms are different, some match. I like that he gives hero points out pretty frequently - I am surprised by how many GMs simply forget or are downright stingy about them. On the other hand, I have observed him be somewhat of a softie when it comes to character death - I tend to lean the opposite way. But yeah, while we are here contemplating our existence, these are some things I have noticed.

I am still hoping to build Lough into an Exemplar - whether that is here, or PFS, or ideally both remains to be seen.

What else?

I think an NPC gallery would help me to engage with the direct plot - something I could refer back to when we re-encounter someone from another level. (I still remember that dog man who blocked us off from level 2 I think - will we ever see him again?).

May have some more thoughts later. This is the only game I am in that pre-dates my becoming a father (kid is 9 months old now!) and when he crawls up to me, I put the computer down, and sometimes lose a post (whoopsie!). And, while I think my PbP is still strong, it is more difficult now than then to retain hyperfocus for more than 45 minutes (I squeeze a lot of games into that fortyfive minutes too!). You guys have probably noticed that here. There was a time my partner noticed and mentioned something, but lately it has not been much of an issue, because I have cut down in recent months.

Anyways, still having fun, and down to continue, and curious what others are thinking.

=)

We're 2.5 years into this AP and my level of interest and enthusiasm for the project has waxed and waned over time. This is natural and I've noticed the same thing from the other players and the GM. At the end of every level, I always ask myself whether it's worth going on... is the enjoyment I'm getting out of it matching the time and effort I put into it (usually an hour or so per post). So far the answer has been yes, but I'm not as certain about it as I was before.

Holy... An hour per post? Wow. Then again, you usually put a lot of effort into your posts, which I appreciate. :)

Regarding the waxing and waning interest, I'm still fully committed to this adventure, but I must admit I misunderestimated how long this would take. I also don't blame anyone for dropping out or losing interest here and there. Now I have a job (for almost five months now, wow), time is getting more precious and I have less energy to post, so I certainly know how you must feel.

Maybe I'm jumping ahead of things, but if people want to quit now (or finish the book and then quit), I certainly understand. I can also cut a few more fights each level, that would speed things up too. I sort of want to show off the cool enemies and the story-relevant bits, but I can skip more fights if people want. I'm honestly pretty surprised how much sense most of the encounters in this dungeon make (so far).

Lough: An NPC gallery is a good idea, I'll implement that from now on. Sadly, the wolfman from last level does not return (at least, not according to the book, I might tweak stuff). The adventure assumes you murderhobo everything, as that's the easiest, but if you want more interactions with the people you've left behind, I can certainly work with that. :)

I only started playing PbP shortly before this AP and was only playing PF2 a little before that. This has been my longest running PbP game ever and Kvit is one of my first PF2 characters. I've learned a lot about PF2 since the start. I've learned a lot about PbP in general. I still enjoy this adventure and group and plan to stick with it.

I am active on a couple discord-based PbP and find them easier to communicate and interact with each other. Posts can be smaller. Emojis and even a thumbsup reaction to a post lets me know folks are reading or paying attention even if they aren't directly responding to something. I play almost exclusively on mobile which is less ideal on the forum. The forum also doesn't give me a notification when a new message is posted, so I have to rely on checking in frequently, which has its issues, namely if I check a couple times over a day or so and nothing is new, I start checking less frequently, and then miss when something is posted. Also having two kids now (with a third on the way), most of my posting time is sporadic, and I often have to compoe a post over multiple hours here and there. Sometimes the post is not cohesive and sometimes it's posted as "close enough" after too many attempts.

Overall I thoroughly enjoy everyone's RP and styles. Lough's posting style was at first hard to get used to, but now I see it as a part of Lough's personality and "post accent". Kka does obviously put in a lot of effort with just the sheer amount of formatting if nothing else. I have enjoyed Fuìn's internal struggles. I even had Kvit mention it about specifically not interfering, which I thought was a kind of PC-PC interaction. Cherry's cherry personality comes out in all their posts and is certainly a light in the darkness of AV. I enjoy everyone's contributions even if Kvit doesn't have anything to say about it or add to it.

For Kvit's RP, I feel I have the semi-grumpy old man vibe down. But I don't have a good plan for any character arc. I'm not really sure what direction to take him. I feel humbled or insecure (not sure what word I'm going for here), posting against the bar you others have set and it's easier to just make a quick post then trying to shine. I'm hoping that the removing alchemist, which was a big distraction too, will help me/him focus on some kind of character development.

For feedback, I do try, but like the others, if I don't have anything to add, I just don't say anything. Or I miss the question. Like Cherry's question on general feats, I thought Kka was spot on. I should have still chimed in with "ditto" or something to at least show I've acknowledged it and will endeavor to in the future.

As Palandri mentioned, Part of the issue is the dungeon crawl aspect of the adventure. It's easy to become directionless when we just go room to to room looking for loot monsters. The fights, mobs, and NPCs have been very interesting. I've enjoyed the encounters for sure.

I like to NPC gallery/summary idea. I think one issue with the dungeon crawl aspect is that we meet these interesting things and people and then never see them again or any consequences. I think the mitflits and slurk stick with us more since we at least encountered them more than one. Even if we don't meet an NPC again, a gallery would be helpful in keeping track of some things.

One idea to maybe help is eliminating the lag time between rooms with the "where to next" and waiting for someone (Kka or Lough usually) to open the door at the appropriate time. We already have a pretty standard arrangement for checking the door for traps/unlocking (Kka) and who opens it (Lough). So if GM Kwinten could shuffle us to the next door when appropriate, that might help. Most of the time, without context or information we're blindly picking doors to tackle anyway.

I've mentioned it before in-character and out, but I think we should get one of the portals working. My fear is that we'll have to run against a clock at some point. Such as if we defeat belcorra and the classic trope of the lair crumbles around us.

Oh!

Congratulations on your third on the way!

Cherry's cherry personality comes out in all their posts and is certainly a light in the darkness of AV. I enjoy everyone's contributions even if Kvit doesn't have anything to say about it or add to it.

For Kvit's RP, I feel I have the semi-grumpy old man vibe down. But I don't have a good plan for any character arc. I'm not really sure what direction to take him. I feel humbled or insecure (not sure what word I'm going for here), posting against the bar you others have set and it's easier to just make a quick post then trying to shine.

I feel very similar in many ways. Cherry is more or less on this adventure to support the town, their god is one of the ones that doesn't generally have a lot of adventurers.

Abandoning the town would be worse though, so Cherry is in it until the town is safe, at which point they will probably 'retire' from adventuring.

I don't really have much of a character arc for them at all, Cherry is a reluctant everyman at best.

(Of course there is some silinies in Cherry's attitudes. They detest undead in general, but remember Leshy are immortals themselves, so the specter of death doesn't really hang over Cherry like it would most mortals.)

I believe Kvit's full profile is up to date and correct now.

I have to get back to work so I'll update my headers another time, but I wanted to quickly chime in @Kvit. You're not the first person who has mentioned feeling like my posts are hard to match, which feels very strange to hear every time, but I'm also my own worst critic. Regardless, everybody has a differing writing/posting style and that's okay. Great, even! Not every post should feel the same because we're all different people, you know? I like Kvit's grumpy-old-man vibe, and Lough's crazy thought trains, and Kka's moral flexibility, and Cherry's reluctant optimism. Everyone feels like a unique character, and that's great.

I have no plans to quit either, fwiw, though I can't promise that won't change. I've found myself scrambling to find time to post some days, due in no small part to the fact that I'm always taking a long time to write out what I want to do. It usually takes me between 20 to 40 minutes to write a post for Fuin! (Which is still preferable to my GM posts in CotCT, which take me between 40 to NINETY minutes, depending.)

Anyway, I'll throw something in the header about my reactions soon.

For what it's worth, I don't expect anyone to have an arc or character progression. It's interesting to see people develop, but it's also totally cool if you're just along for the ride and stay the same all the way through.

So, from what I gather, enthusiasm is maybe a little bit down, but everyone's still interested in continuing. That's good to hear. :)

Things I'll try to do from now on:
- Make an NPC gallery. I used to keep some pictures in a separate tab, but I cleaned them up after they stopped being relevant. I'll keep them around and feel free to add notes to remind yourselves of what happened to them.
- I'll cut more less relevant encounters to speed up progress.
- I'll auto-advance you to the next room after a long enough pause so you don't have to keep typing "we explore the next room." I wanted to hold off on that to prevent it from becoming a meat grinder without pause, but if people specifically request it, I don't mind doing so.

I'm still thinking over Lough's suggestion of the "wealth by level rebuild," if Kka's tired of bookkeeping. I've heard of other people doing similar things, and I see no harm in it.

At the very least, I am very interested in learning more about how the "wealth by level rebuild" works.

I can see the benefits of less bookkeeping for one person and making sure everyone has a more even distribution of loot.

I appreciate Kka doing most of the bookkeeping for us for sure. I tried making the loot sheet as automated and easy as possible. If there is more I can do, let me know. Or if you want to trade off bookkeeping next time around, let me know.

The idea of wealth by level rebuild is basically you strip everything from your character and I give you some amount of money to buy new gear with. When you level up again, you "lose" all your gear again, you again get a lump sum of money, and you buy more stuff. See also This Page.

The advantage is that there's less bookkeeping by the treasurer and that you don't have to worry about looting every single thing for gold (if you deliberately skip rooms I might dock you some money, though) and allows you to be a little extra generous, since the loot evaporates anyway. Plus, you can try out different "loadouts" if you want: you can take a niche item for a level and play with it, and if you don't like it, it's gone next level anyway.

The disadvantage is that it might feel a little "gamey" and lose a bit of immersion, but it not perfect system.

In the game I run, I ask players to keep arounf 80% of their wealth consistent by level, for the explicit purpose of trying to gain back a little immersion and reduce the loadout gaminiess.

You can open the "Houserules" spoiler to see more details in my other game: LINK

How does that work with consumables?

I'm not particularly tired of keeping track of the loot during the game or the end-level accounting process, but I'm also fine with trying out the "wealth by level" rebuild stuff if everyone else is onboard. I'm pretty sure I'd naturally fall into the 80%+ consistency of Lough's approach, with a standard base package of gear that I repurchase at every level (tweaked for rune progression & upgrades), with the rest spent on other permanent stuff I want to try out, or consumables.

How does that work with consumables?

I mean, I haven't even looked over my player's character equipment sheets, because I am not interested in "auditing" them (even if I did have the time!). But nobody has attempted to spam consumables, so, it hasn't come up. The game we are playing gives out plenty of consumables too, so, perhaps they don't feel the need to purchase that many.

Dunno if that answers your question. It's a good question. I suppose I just trust my players to read the "intent" of the "rule" and make their own interpretation?...

=)

I'm fine trying it out at some point, though maybe we should wait for next level since I think everyone has already updated their stuff for level 7. For now, I have added clawed bracers to my character (assuming that purchase was OK'ed, which I think it was?)

I'm fine trying it out at some point, though maybe we should wait for next level since I think everyone has already updated their stuff for level 7. For now, I have added clawed bracers to my character (assuming that purchase was OK'ed, which I think it was?)

Yeah, it was accounted for here. loot update

Drosil "Fuìn" Arimsyn wrote:

I'm fine trying it out at some point, though maybe we should wait for next level since I think everyone has already updated their stuff for level 7. For now, I have added clawed bracers to my character (assuming that purchase was OK'ed, which I think it was?)

Yeah, it was accounted for here. loot update

Apparently Slippers of Spider Climbing got remastered to Clawed Bracers, so yes, as Kvit said, it has been accounted for.

I can't recall, were we doing any downtime this time around?

WELP so much for a more chipper Fuin. XD

But honestly after that, it only makes sense for his mood to worsen ya know? Well played, GM. I don't know if that was something that was supposed to happen or if that came entirely from you, but either way, I am super curious as to how it will play out!

I can't recall, were we doing any downtime this time around?

You said you wanted some downtime, but people hadn't responded to it (hint hint). But maybe developments over the next few days might change people's opinions.