Sorry, all! I wasn't feeling well this past weekend and accidentally slept through most of it.
I'm not feeling well currently.
I'm not feeling well currently.
Yeah, coming back from the dead will do that for you. Get better soon.
Yagon's image post prompted me to head to Hero Forge and throw something together for Slick. Here's what I came up with.
"There's an idea," Aoibhean says, grinning at Slick. "We see a name whose name we like, we just kick their asses and take it."
It was supposed to say "team" there, instead of just saying "name" repeatedly. Oh well.
I'm working on a hero forge thing as well, since there's precious few art of ganzi out there. But what I have now is relatively close, at least.
Couple things:
Aoibhean -- How is your name pronounced? You may have mentioned it earlier, but I can't find it. Not that it truly matters in PbP, but still...
Yagon -- Wanted to make sure you saw my post (on the prev page) about Billy having Faerie Fire. Again, no problem with both of us having it. It just seems niche enough that you might not want to use a prepared slot for it.
1) How many days is the tournament?
2) How many Hexploration Turns per day?
3) How many different types of Terrain are there?
4) Do the PCs get a map?
5) Where is Mount Haminabu?
Extra Credit: If I don't know an answer to a question, where can I look?
=)
Yagon -- Wanted to make sure you saw my post (on the prev page) about Billy having Faerie Fire. Again, no problem with both of us having it. It just seems niche enough that you might not want to use a prepared slot for it.
I'll keep it at least for the first day as Yagon is coming from a different direction than most (Kasai, not Goka). It just made more sense that Yagon, would have sailed from that direction due to his background story.
The way I am playing Yagon is that the team was chosen for him, not that he chose the team, so he isn't really too familiar with you all and what you can do.
It's pronounced like the word "even." In Irish, aoi is pronounced as a long "e," bh is pronounced as "v", and eann is pronounced as "n." Unfortunately, there's already a character on the boards that spells it with two Ns so I dropped one of them. :)
Yagon -- Sounds good!
Aoibhean -- Interesting. Thanks!
At the risk of being a debbie downer regarding team names, I really hope we can do better than having our name include cursing. But if everyone else is good with it, no worries! I'll have fun with Billy doing little things to avoid ever actually saying it. :)
On the off-chance it's not set in stone, here are a few other (admittedly boring) attempts:
Steel Reign (or Steel Rain)
Iron Fist
Super Novas
(Or ... with a ganzi, aphorite, half-elf, dhampir, strix)
Stranger Things
Motley Crew
And some that others have mentioned:
Bad Omen
Blitz Patrol
Mysterious Strangers
But seriously, if the majority likes Ass Kickers (or if we can't come to consensus), that really is fine!
Now ... to think about that Pop Quiz ....
Hexploration on Bonmu Pop Quiz:
1) How many days is the tournament?
At the end of three days time, all Teams are to report to Mount Haminabu to present their Silver Feathers.
2) How many Hexploration Turns per day?
32 turns.
3) How many different types of Terrain are there?
3 types: open, difficult and greater difficult (costing 1 2 or 3 turns)
Extra Credit: If I don't know an answer to a question, where can I look?
I'm with you ok that, Billy. It's funny but not exactly the most inspiring name. I like Stranger Things!
Also, GM, I forgot one part of my staff preparation: I'll put the crushing rune on to my staff.
Pop Quiz
1) How many days is the tournament?
There is a 3-day pre-qualifier here in Bonmu. 8 out of 32 teams will qualify for the tournament proper, back in Goku. Don't know the schedule for the tournament proper.
2) How many Hexploration Turns per day?
32 (Full disclosure: I copied from Cirri. I have no idea how she knows that.)
3) How many different types of Terrain are there?
3 types (Again, copied from Cirri. I clearly was asleep when the hex rules were announced.)
4) Do the PCs get a map?
Yes! Looks like there's a map on the GM's Maps/Slides link. Also, there's a map of Tian Xia in the Players Guide.
5) Where is Mount Haminabu?
Look to the sky. It's the tallest peak in Tian Xia. Maybe somewhere near Bonmu since we're supposed to go there to qualify for the tournament proper.
Extra Credit: If I don't know an answer to a question, where can I look?
In the Ruby Phoenix Player's Guide. Or in the GM's Maps/Slides link. Or Google. Or, if all else fails, ask here in the Discussion tab.
My fault - I missed that in your opener. Let's say, for simplicity's sake, that you are altogether on the same ship!
Looks like, by RNG, this Ship only has four other Teams:
Biting Roses
Lightkeepers
Tino's Toughest
Winter's Roar
More later!
No worries. I got a late start being busy this weekend and the coming down with something sapped my remaining energy.
Whew!
The beginning of this AP is pretty front-loaded, so bear with me, but it should even out pretty soon.
I have a couple of notes about how to format your Character Bar to be "GM friendly"! As well as some "asks" for formatting your Encounter Posts to be "GM friendly"!
You can expect these probably sometime tomorrow. Essentially, I will be asking a little more of you than, say, a Bounty or 1st-6th level scenario might ask, looking to "keep up" with the added complexity of starting with 11th level characters!
Cheers.
No problem! Always happy to help.
Slick licks the end of his pencil and bends over to examine his pop quiz sheet. The small school chair-desk he's jammed himself into creaks ominously every time he moves. He squints as he reads the first question. How many days is the tournament? He mulls it over. "Is this a trick question?" He turns his head slowly towards Cirri on his right; the chair creaks slightly as he glances at her answers. She starts turning to see what's going on, but Slick quickly shifts his gaze back to his own paper, <creak!>. He starts quickly filling in all the answers; they look remarkably similar to Cirri's.
Serously though, I (re)read over the hexploration subsystem section of the Gamemastery Guide and saw nothing referring to "Hexploration Turns." The closest they had was "Hexploration Activities", the number of which per day depends on the speed of the group, but is no more than 4. Travelling across a hex will take up 1, 2, or 3 of these activities depending on whether it is open, difficult or greater difficult terrain. Reconnoitering will take a similar number of additional activities, and so on. There is no mention of hexploration in the AP Player's Guide. I would be interested in learning where Cirri got her 32 number from as it suggests that I'm missing some crucial source of information.
The number of terrain types seems to be 7 (aquatic, arctic, desert, forest, mountain, plain, swamp), whether a particular hex is considered open, difficult or greater difficult for hexploration purposes depends of how severe is the type of terrain it contains.
Mount Haminabu is mentioned in the AP Player's Guide as the place to take our 10 feathers at the end of the 3-day qualifying round on Bonmu to advance in the competition. That's it. I find no mention of its location anywhere, but presumably it is on Bonmu somewhere and being a mountain, its location is not a secret.
Again, no mention of maps in the AP Player's Guide except for it containing a map of Tian Xia. The slides contain a covered up map of (presumably) Bonmu, but given that it is covered up, it suggests strongly that the PCs do not get a map and have to hexplore to fill it in for themselves.
As far as sources of information are concerned, there are the standard rule books and the AP Player's Guide. Is there some additional source of information that I should be looking at?
Re: Tino's Wager
Wand of Death Ward (5th)
Death Ward is a divine, occult and primal spell, so useless to arcane only users such as Slick and Aoibhean. That leaves Yagon (divine), Billy (divine), and Cirri (primal). Given it's negative energy aspects, I think Yagon is the natural person to take it.
2x Ghost Touch Runes on Runestones
As (bad) luck would have it, I already coughed up 75 of Slick's hard-earned gp to get a Ghost Touch rune for his greatsword. Looks like Yagon has maxed out the property runes on his War Flail, so I'm not sure who else would be able to make best use of them.
Ideally it would be someone who is likely to come into direct melee contact with ghosty enemies, as it doesn't work on ranged weapons. If there are no other viable candidates for the runes, Slick can always add one to his Handwraps (his +1 Meteor Hammer already has a Crushing Rune). He'd love nothing more than to punch some ghosts in the face.
Thematically, Yagon should take the scroll of Death Ward.
I'm hoping to be in melee more often, so I could attach it to my own +2 Handwraps. I assume they would still work if I transmuted into a dragon.
The Campaign Info tab has information about the number of turns and types of terrain we need to deal with.
I agree on the wand going to Yagon. He won't need the negative resistance since he's already healed by negative energy, but thematically he is a great choice.
I have a ghost touch rune in my spellbook, but I can only apply it to my staff. I wouldn't mind having it on my handwraps of mighty blows, though, so I could slap ghosts around with my tail.
And yeah, Cirri, as far as I can see the property runes from your own handwraps would still apply, at least as far as constant effects go. Any activations wouldn't be usable, but that's not relevant here. The property rune would still need to be valid, so no vorpal runes on bludgeoning attacks, but it'll be a while before we can afford one of those babies.
Looks like, by RNG, this Ship only has four other Teams:
Biting Roses
Lightkeepers
Tino's Toughest
Winter's Roar
Quick reminder in case this got lost...
Unless someone else speaks up, it looks like the Ghost Touch runes are going onto Cirri's +2 Striking Handwraps and Aoibhean's +1 Striking Handwraps.
Billy can get his friend Urnak to transfer the runes if none of us are up to it.
Cirri, if your dragon transmutation has the expected Polymorph trait, then if you take on a battle form with a polymorph spell, the special statistics can be adjusted only by circumstance bonuses, status bonuses, and penalties. Unfortunately, the +2 of the Handwraps are an item bonus, so you would not get the attack bonus while in your transmuted form. The effects of the striking and ghost touch runes should be considered as constant abilities as per your gear is absorbed into you; the constant abilities of your gear still function, but you can't activate any items, and still function.
And, Campaign Info Tab? What Campai... Ooooh, look at that. Looks like they tweaked the rules in the Gamemastery Guide slightly; maybe the hexes are smaller or something.
You're correct about item bonuses normally not applying. However! The spell itself says that you can use your own unarmed attack modifier if it is higher, which would include your item bonus.
You're correct about item bonuses normally not applying. However! The spell itself says that you can use your own unarmed attack modifier if it is higher, which would include your item bonus.
Hmmmm... maybe. But it seems to me that an item bonus is an item bonus regardless of where it shows up. We we may want to get an official pronouncement from the GM as to how he wants to play it. Looks like most of the dragons in the list already do at least 2 dice of damage, so the Striking Rune probably won't do anything for Cirri in her transmuted form either.
Quick reminder in case this got lost...Looks like, by RNG, this Ship only has four other Teams:
Biting Roses
Lightkeepers
Tino's Toughest
Winter's Roar
I saw this go by, but I'm not sure what the significance is. What is RNG?
Re: Battleform Attack Bonus. Cirri, what would be the numeric difference between the Spell's Attack Bonus and Cirri's Attack Bonus? Is it a big difference?
Re: Battleform and Constant Abilities. I will ask the forums, see how other GMs rule it.
Together, these constitute a big decision with a big impact for Cirri. And so, I'd like to apply a ruling in such a way as to balance between being fair and being fun. Give me the day to research!
...
Re: RNG is "Random Number Generator" aka the 1d8s everyone rolled as determining which teams was randomly on the same boat as you.
...
Re: Quiz. Yes Slick - check the Campaign Tabs! I transcribed the slight modifications to the Hexploration rules there for your convenience.
If Cirri stays in her Strix form, her unarmed attack has a +21 to hit.
Cirri has a +19 Spell Attack bonus to most of her spells (DC 29).
- Animal Form uses a +9 Attack bonus by default (heightened to 5th level this goes up to +18)
- Humanoid Form uses my current gear, so no change
- Aerial Form uses +16 Attack bonus (heightened to 6th level this goes up to +21)
- Fey Form uses +16 Attack bonus by default
- Dragon Form uses a +22 Attack bonus by default
For most of these forms your ruling would change +19 to +21 attack. I'll go either way because Polymorph always leads to a bunch of corner cases, and I'd rather not bog the game down.
I am not seeing Cirri's Order, Order Abilities, or Focus Spells in her profile.
Did she take the Wild Order?
Re: Bog - My goal is to set the clear expectations now rather than later, so you can "completely" take your turns when you come up to post, etc.
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Battle Forms in Ruby Phoenix
Alright gang, I did some reading, and here are the conclusions I drew:
Handwraps Property Runes: That fall under the purview of "constant non-activated abilities" function normally in battle form (so yes to Ghost Touch, Crushing, etc)
Handwraps Potency Rune: Function with battle forms only when "using your own attack modifier" as a substitution using the similar logic above
Handwraps Striking Rune: Does not function as it "adjusts special statistics" and looks to be already accounted for by the spells' granted Strikes
Skill Feats: Any reasonable function not requiring Casting a Spell, Speaking, or Manipulate is okay, unless the spell indicates otherwise
Attack Trait: Consequently, any skill function with the Attack trait not precluded above functions normally (Grapple, Escape, Shove... all okay)
Importantly: Do people think these are fair conclusions?
...
Whew! That was a deep dive. Let me know if you can think of anything else Cirri!
To the rest, I will move us along in gameplay when everyone has weighed in. Cheers!
I might not have much time to post tomorrow given that it is a holiday, but I will see if I can squeeze something in during the morning.
Gotta get this Team Name settled stack - GM is stepping in - please check your PMs!
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Rainzax asked me to post a clarification question here.
Billy is a Master in Performance for a +22. I wanted to verify I'm reading things correctly as far as stacking bonuses:
+2 circumstance: for Virtuosic Performer feat (Singing)
+1 item bonus: for Virtuoso Lute
+1 status bonus: if using the Bullhorn cantrip in an arena
Bullhorn seems pretty clear: "You gain a +1 status bonus to checks to Coerce and auditory Performance checks to Perform at a large venue."
I believe all bonuses would stack, for a +26 to his Lingering Performance check for his bard song. Just wanted to get the GM's okay before I assume anything. If anyone sees anything wrong, let me know!
Re: RNG is "Random Number Generator" aka the 1d8s everyone rolled as determining which teams was randomly on the same boat as you.
Ah, got it. Yes, the d8s seemed to be loaded that day. Doubtless we'll meet the other teams in due course.
Re: Team Name Selection
I pushed the team name issue to Gameplay because it seemed that we as players weren't heading to a consensus in Discussion. By moving it to Gameplay I thought we might be able to speed up the process by getting the characters involved. Why? Because as players we're all equals; there is no leader to make any final decisions; it's all driven by the need for consensus, and where there is no consensus, there is no decision. As characters, that's not necessarily the case. The tensions between the characters caused by the team name selection process would determine to some extent which character ends up as the de facto leader.
The way I see it, the choice was essentially between Cirri and Slick. Both have strong ideas about what the name should be and both in their different ways have strong personalities. Slick is an intimidation build and he's going to try and bully his views onto the rest of the group. If Cirri backs down, then she's essentially ceding the leadership mantle to Slick. If Cirri can get Slick to back down, then she becomes the de facto leader.
As a player I'm not at all sure I want Slick to be the leader; I don't think it'll be as much fun to RP him if he's the leader. But Slick (of course) feels differently, so I RP him that way. The question now is how do we get Cirri to come out ahead? I was hoping we could RP this battle of wills, with Cirri either coming up with a way (for me) to get Slick to back down, or eventually using her trump card.
What trump card is that, you say? Well, in Spain there is a saying that goes el que paga manda. In English, the equivalent saying is he who pays the piper calls the tune. Cirri financed the team; without her, the team would not be in the tournament. So her voice carries more weight when it comes to team decisions... but only if she chooses to put her foot down and use that trump card when all else fails. Otherwise, she's letting someone else take the lead, namely Slick.
Unfortunately, we were taking too long, so the GM stepped in. Now we're going to end up with some randomly selected team name and the leadership struggle continues.
So yeah, I'm apparently the role-playing equivalent of a method actor and I think waaay to much about my character's personalities, history, motivations and how they all come together to determine their behavior in a particular situation. I also think telling a good story is important so I'm constantly looking for ways to make that happen and trying to get the other players to help me. I think we were that close to resolving the issue in Gameplay, with Slick throwing in the towel and becoming a Sentinel of some sort.
Anyway... sorry if I made things a little tense with the whole Ass Kickers thing, but from an RP point of view, I was having a blast. As a player, I'm not married to any particular team name and though I have my own opinions of what makes for a good fighting tournament team name, fundamentally I don't really care what it ends up being.
Cirri is a Wave Order druid. I just realized I never actually wrote that into the profile. I get the Rising Surf focus spell and I get the Shore Step feat. All of those should be in the profile now.
Slick, I love the team name discussion we're having. It helps mold Slick's personality, and it provides good in-character reasons to apply some names. I think we'd have a great running gag where Cirri just deals with the name, but I personally don't care what we call ourselves.
However, we do need a name so... maybe we start with Cirri's Corsairs and then request a name change if a better one arrives?
Slick, no need to apologize! I was thinking the same thing, and your post gave me something to play against with Aoibhean. For me, it helped show one of her pet peeves, something that irritated her enough that her casual affect fell away a bit. It also led my thoughts down a path that ended up with a name that I liked!
Re: Billy Bardy's Music
Frankly I am unsure what the question really is as it seems pretty straightforward! If you are meeting all requirements of any stacking bonuses, then yes they stack, per the rules of Bonuses and Penalties, normally.
Does this answer your question, Billy?
...
A note: I will be setting the DC for Lingering Composition equal to the Monster Level instead of the Team Level using the Level-Based DCs table.
Yes, thanks. Sorry for the confusion. Just wanted to make sure I was understanding the bonuses at higher levels.
A note: I will be setting the DC for Lingering Composition equal to the Monster Level instead of the Team Level using the Level-Based DCs table.
If you don't mind, I'm confused about the need for such a change. According to Lingering Composition, "The DC is usually a standard-difficulty DC of a level equal to the highest-level target of your composition, but the GM can assign a different DC based on the circumstances."
The targets of the composition are the level 11 PCs, yes? Seems like it's going to be giving us information based on the success/failure. In addition, it makes it harder for me to complete my post (and to know if a Focus Point was spent) if I don't know the success/failure when I make the roll.
I'm going to run it as the "targets" are who you are fighting, meaning easier foes are easier to inspire against, and tougher foes are harder to inspire against.
You will know the CR going into most fights.
=)
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For reasons described HERE, when you get around to it, please reformat your Character Bar as similar to the example below as you can.
GENDER
Alignment Abbreviation, Ancestry, Background, Class (Subclass) / Dedication(s), Level | ◆◇↺
RACE
HP xyz/xyz (w/ feature) | AC (w/ modified AC) | Resistances: none | Fortitude (*) +F (w/ feature) | Reflex (*) +R (w/ feature) | Will (*) +W (w/ feature) | Perception (*) +P (w/ vision, senses)
CLASS
Conditions: none | Hero (□□□) | Focus: (☑□) | Spell Slots @ 6th (☑□), 5th (☑□□), 4th (☑□□), 3rd (☑□□), 2nd (☑□□), 1st (☑□□) @ DC ?? | Other Resources / Gamestates | Explore: mode
=)
I took a shot at formatting Slick's character bar. Let me know if I screwed up the formatting, didn't add necessary stuff, or included unnecessary stuff.
I noticed that speed wasn't specified anywhere.
I've done my best, but I had to move around a lot of things because I very quickly ran into character limits for each field. As a prepared caster, I'm not sure how useful it is to have each of my spell slots listed in the bar, but they're there. My usual practice is to go into my sheet and use strikethrough to mark the expended spells.
Character bar updated.
Do you want checkboxes empty until we use them? Or do they start off as checked?
Quick Feedback:
I did forget Speed!
I see that Aoibhean put it after Perception in the RACE line. I think that is a good place for it.
The "AoO, Clever Improviser, Breath Control" info is unnecessary - you can delete that row.
If it fits, can you put your Sorcerer Bloodline in parenthesis like a Subclass?
Also, unchecked boxes (□) mean "unused" and checked boxes (☑) mean "used".
Otherwise looks good.
Thank you.
Well formatted!
The "Reactions: Attack of Opportunity" info is unnecessary - you can delete that row.
Also, unchecked boxes (□) mean "unused" and checked boxes (☑) mean "used".
Otherwise looks good.
Thank you.
You are right about the boxes (empty until used).
I forgot to put Speed - can you put it after Perception in the RACE line?
"Toughness" and "Breath Control" do not need to be in the Character Bar.
Otherwise looks good.
Thank you.
Okay, updated my character info bar. The biggest future issue will be listing whatever battleform I'm using - is it OK if I put the form on the Gender row?
Also, my Race row is pretty much out of room.
I modified mine though I'm not sure what use the spell slots bar is for prepared casters.
FYI visiting family and friends. I won't have a chance to respond until late tonight at the earliest.
Checkboxes are fixed now. :)
More Quick Feedback:
Hmm.
When I do my GM turns, I want to be able to have your current relevant combat stats available on your Character Bar.
So, yes, at the end of the GENDER row could work, but also maybe something like: "AC 29 (or XX w/ Battleform)" - what do you think?
The "Fast Recovery vs Poison, Disease" info is unnecessary - you can delete that part.
As for Trapfinder, can you put it in Exploration? Formatted like "Explore: Detect Magic w/ Trapfinder"?
Sidenote: Does Cirri have a Dedication?
Otherise looking good!
Thank you.
Could you also place your Deity inside your Subclass parenthesis?
Otherwise looking good!
Thank you.
Looking good!
Thank you.
...
☑ Aoibhean @ Success
☑ Cirri @ Success
☑ Slick @ Success
□ Yagon Suel @ ??
☑ Aoibhean @ Critical Success
☑ Billy @ Success
☑ Cirri @ Critical Success
☑ Slick @ Critical Success
□ Yagon Suel @ ??
With the unnecessary stuff deleted, I should have enough room to add my Battleform stats. I'll make sure to add a link to the spell on my GENDER bar, as well.
Will do.
I forgot I took Rogue Dedication (hence the Trap Finder), so I'll add that to my status bar.
In addition to the three official sorcerer spell slots (one each for levels 1, 2, and 3), Slick also has three innate spells he can cast once a day (one each for levels 1, 2, and 3). All use his Charisma modifier. Should I add additional checkboxes for these innate spells under slots; add a separate innate spells section with checkboxes; or do nothing about it?
When you Transform - will your AC be the same value?
Maybe "Innate (□□□)"? What do you think?
...