GM Otha’s The Moonscar (Inactive)

Game Master Otha

Sorry I haven't been posting. I thought I would have time during my beach vacation but it turned out that I fell asleep every night when my kid did. :-)

I'm catching up now - I feel like I'm way behind on everything so my apologies if I've slowed the start of the module down.

No worries, Agata, we don’t get into the teeth of this module till we hit the Moon…

The cruise starts tomorrow…but as I mentioned earlier, I have the streaming package and will check the thread morning and night and try to post at least once a day…I’ll be back on Thursday…

Happy cruise! make sure to eat shrimps daily! :)

Have a good time, GM!

Thanks, y’all…and yes much shrimps will be eaten…cocktail shrimp, coconut shrimp, tiger shrimp…loves me from shrimps…

Just an FYI, there are a couple of storms in the Caribbean…don’t think they’ll affect us too much but not sure if they’ll mess with the streaming…if I don’t post, there may be an issue with the Wi-Fi. Even if I can’t post daily in game, I’ll try to at least post here to let you know…

Hopefully the storms will not impact your vacation or your ports of call. Have fun. :)

I am just going to give it a bit more time for my character to post his actions in game just in case there any objections to the plan. I am not really expecting any surprises but it is a seeker level module so I do not want to get cocky either. :)

Sounds good, Flint.

Hey, just an update. We might be on the cruise a couple more days than expected; the current trajectory of the hurricane will likely close the port for a couple of days so posting may not get back to normal till the weekend. Will still try to post once a day…

Keep your head down! Tropical storms and hurricanes are nothing to trifle with!

Take care GM Otha!! Have fun!! ;-)

Wow! -4 to all rolls because of alignment is tough.

Do you guys have spells to negate that?

Yes it is pretty horrible, I will not sugar coat it for you. :)

I am going to do some of my own research to know its effects.

I know already it will impact:

1)All ability checks for INT, WIS and CHA.
2)All skill checks for INT, WIS and CHA.
3)Concentration checks based on INT, WIS and CHA.

But there were these spells that you could cast to adapt to that, right?

Planar Adaption is the right spell for the situation, but it is not on any of our spell lists and is pricey at 4th level.

Nope! Planar Adaptation does nothing about the evil/chaotic aligned planar traits. You need Talisman of Reprieve for that, and it's too late in the game at this point. We need to forge ahead and be heroes! ;)

QUESTION TO GM: since you're on a cruise now, I'd figure I'd ask since these 'regular' giants are probably not going to do much against us. Do you prefer if we: 1) fight them; or 2) just intimidate them.

I'm good with either; cheers and keep eating the shrimps!

Nope! Planar Adaptation does nothing about the evil/chaotic aligned planar traits. You need Talisman of Reprieve for that, and it's too late in the game at this point. We need to forge ahead and be heroes! ;)

That’s a petty!! :-(

Theodric de LaMontagne wrote:

Nope! Planar Adaptation does nothing about the evil/chaotic aligned planar traits. You need Talisman of Reprieve for that, and it's too late in the game at this point. We need to forge ahead and be heroes! ;)

That’s a petty!! :-(

Not really, seeing that we're a large party with spellcasters, all built with the latest classes and feats in the game, and that Moonscar was written way back almost during the 3.5 days... I don't want this to be a walk in the park and want this to be challenging/memorable, as I've never ran/played the adventure before. :)

Yes people, Theodric is generally right about the Planar Adaptation spell. It is up to the GM of course and his interpretation of the spell effects.

Now what I believe in effected by the negative planar effects are:

1)All ability checks for INT, WIS and CHA.
2)All skill checks for INT, WIS and CHA.
3)Concentration checks based on INT, WIS and CHA.

and

4) Will saves!!!

5) Any roll which you swap out a Strength, Dexterity or Constitution stat for a INT, WIS or CHA at the time of rolling. So Scion of War (replaces Dexterity with Charisma for Initiative), Side step Secret (replaces Dexterity with Charisma for Reflex saves) or Zen Archery (uses Wisdom modifier instead of Dexterity modifiers for ranged attack rolls) (ouch,ouch,ouch)!

The good news is that abilities that add a second (mental) ability to a physical ability based check (such as Cunning Initiative) will not be impacted as it does not change the nature of the roll (it remains a physical ability based check).

Zaarah Katsu wrote:

Theodric de LaMontagne wrote:

Nope! Planar Adaptation does nothing about the evil/chaotic aligned planar traits. You need Talisman of Reprieve for that, and it's too late in the game at this point. We need to forge ahead and be heroes! ;)

That’s a petty!! :-(

Not really, seeing that we're a large party with spellcasters, all built with the latest classes and feats in the game, and that Moonscar was written way back almost during the 3.5 days... I don't want this to be a walk in the park and want this to be challenging/memorable, as I've never ran/played the adventure before. :)

Okay!! I agree!!!

Yes people, Theodric is generally right about the Planar Adaptation spell. It is up to the GM of course and his interpretation of the spell effects.

I am 100% right. I ran the high level scenario Rasping Rebirth in last year's online Gameday and this is the ruling we got from up on high. Note that Talisman of Reprieve is a higher level spell than Planar Adaptation, so that should settle any cheese mongering claims made by certain players at your table, should you come across this in the future... ;)

PS: on a more 'world building / fluff' note, the outer planes and their weirdness are built on morality and abstract concepts made tangible... in such planes belief and faith win over matter and other elemental forces (i.e. the opposite of elemental planes so to speak, the 'prime material' plane being 'in the middle' with a mix of elements and morality...) Thus, at very high levels, there are things wizards can't do in the outer planes that clerics can, as clerics draw directly from the divine/belief/morality forces. Anyway, interesting little nuggets here for those who like to dwell/dabble/ponder about the origins of this game... :P

I agree with your position but this is a vaguely worded spell and therefore up to the GM to rule if it applies. Reasonable people can disagree on this point as the spell should provide protection but as written does not explicitly state that it does. :)

A moot point until someone actually is able or wants to cast it however.

It is not my position, but that of the PFS campaign leadership (you may do/handwaive/interpret as you want in your own home campaigns, but this is a shared Organized Play campaign with a set of rules set in stone).

Talisman of Reprieve is a newer spell from Plane-Hopper's Handbook developed specifically to deal with this problem. There is only another solution to this problem that I know of, but not readily available by means of a spell or buff (PM me if you wish to know more, as it is a bit outside the scope of this adventure and more aligned with long-term character building/planning)

@Flint: The map is up so I assumed we're there already; if not Theodric will either use magic from a friendly caster or down a potion. In any event I'd like to keep this game moving guys and not slow down the GM with 100,000 questions. The guy's on a cruise for Pete's sake! :P

PS: you should put OOC questions in the discussion thread, dear dwarf friend, as you're taking away from the cinematic spotlight I'm trying to shine on Theodric's well-groomed head! ;)

@Theodric - If you read through the game thread you will notice that none of the other characters are down on the landing yet. Clearly the giants are going to take some sort of action when they see the party approach. Granted it will probably be pretty futile but still...

The point of my game post is to make sure that everyone gets to take part in the first combat and not be stranded 300 feet up when it begins. :)

@Flint: I don't mind if they spot us. It will just mean we waste resources on coming down faster than the 3-hour climb originally mentioned by the GM, which I'm fine with. Earlier I did ask the question to the party if we could mass-conceal ourselves, and I don't think I heard a resounding answer on that subject. Therefore, let's roll with this already. Let the rocks fly and the buff spells being fired! ;)

I think with a split hex slumber party witch they are out in seconds. :-/

All I know is that a '300-ft climb in 3 hours' is the GM's way of saying, "Use some of your resources folks." I will take my cue and down a potion if we don't have a communal air walk or something. :)

PS: this is the last time I'll ask I swear -- do we have a way to mass conceal or mass fly? @Agata/@Alie? thanks!

@Theodric - The GM was answering two questions with one sentence hence the possible confusion. It took us 3 hours to climb up the entire volcano and now we are only 300 feet above the platform. How you get down is up to you. :)

@Zaarah - Feel free to put them all to sleep. Of course Agata has the same trick as you do so it is potentially 4 opponents per round asleep. :)

What's the range on those sleeping hexes? hopefully Theodric didn't do his impressive speech to a gallery of sleeping giants! :P

Usually 30 ft. Love the entrance so let’s see if they pi$$ their pants. ;-)

I don’t have a way to make the whole party invisible or concealed unfortunately.

Sorry, internet was spotty yesterday; will try to update soon. And yes PDK, feel free to intimidate.

Flint, penalties only apply on the Moonscar…

On another note, with the hurricane, we’re definitely staying at least one extra day, more likely 2…

Scaring the giants away was nice work. It was likely to be a very trivial combat anyways. :)

@GM Otha- Hopefully you are far enough away from the hurricane that it will not impact your vacation too badly.

When Jim Cantore is on tv from a place, it’s bad. When he’s wearing a helmet, it’s the absolute worst.

Our cruise has been extended two days till the port reopens due to the hurricane but we are safe. The internet was out most of yesterday so if I do not post, please not me as needed since it’ll be because I’m not able to…

I would never *dare* to bot the GM... but if he says so... ;)

I would never *dare* to bot the GM... but if he says so... ;)

Dangit, my bad. I was cutting and posting and forgot to delete that part…

It’s morning and the bandwidth is good, incoming post…

We just docked and should be leaving the ship in an hour or so. Should be able to get back to a normal posting routine and will post this evening…

I just had a look at the scale for the Moonscar map which is measured in miles. Unless we hit an encounter soon I think our characters will need to rest to avoid becoming exhausted as we have travelled for the entire day to reach this point.

Flint and Theodric are well ahead on the map (as the scale is large) but I imagine that the rest of the party is following right behind them.

Let’s assume that we’re never more than 60 ft apart.

Let’s assume that we’re never more than 60 ft apart.

Yes, let's. I figure we travel for 8 hours before camping.

Marta, our characters have travelled all day long already. So travelling for another 8 hours at 10 PM at night does not make a lot of sense.

I understand that the players do not want to stop but the characters require rest soon. :)

I don’t care. We can rest.

Sounds good. Basically my vote is for 8 hours of travel each day before making camp.

Right, that is the standard before the party enters a forced march situation so good call. :)

Assuming that our characters do not run into anything very soon we can settle in for the night.