GM Trevor's Skull & Shackles

Game Master Trevor0828

I'll gladly jump in after him but I'd like to understand the plan.

The plan is simple Nivian, I am leaving the game.

While the plan is simple, the reasons are complex and mostly my own and I'd rather not get into all of that here. I will say that after stepping away from the game last night to consider my options, I came back to write Onnello standing down; but it didn't feel right for the character. Nor did it feel right dragging the group into an untenable situation. So Onnello and I have taken the cowards way out.

Trevor thank you for running the game, please move Onnello to 'previous players'. Nivian. Ioney, Helgash it was good to play with you again for a bit. Good luck and good gaming all.

I'm sorry you feel that way, but the futility of your situation was made clear at the beginning of the adventure. The whole idea of the first part is to bide your time. We were just reaching that point.

Also, why do you need to back down? It wasn't required at all. Events would intervene.

I am very sorry to hear that. I liked Onnello, and was looking forward to seeing more of him once we got past that first hurdle.
Incidentally, I hope I did not play into your decision. You were pursuing an engaging playstyle, while I decided that Nivian would lay low and not draw attention if possible during that first section of the AP.
Also and specifically because I do remember many of the things that take place early - the overboard sailor being the one exception where I felt compelled to act.
She would be more outspoken and "active"(I am well aware she was often passive on prompts) once we achieve freedom.

That said, by all means you should have dragged us into an untenable situation if that is what Onnello would do. As said, at least one person is supposed to be in one, by design. The more, the merrier.
I think Helgash just wanted to give you an "out" because we didn't have the full picture before(of more officers arriving in 2-3 rounds).

You said yourself that discussion and dialog are ways to resolve situations, to understand - if you do not wish to do that of course I'll accept, or if you would prefer to do so in private, by all means, I would love to hear you out.

But I'd prefer if we could somehow salvage this, it would be sad to see you(and Onnello) go.

Well, that makes us short of a skill position (mainly, he was the only one that applied that had Disable Device). What are everyone's thought s about recruiting a replacement? There is a spot coming up very shortly where a new charcater can be intorduced.

I am sad to see you go Onnello, but I understand and accept your reasons for doing so. Will see you around the boards!

---

Regarding moving forward, I think mechanically we are missing more a divine caster of some kind, with some healing and buffing capabilities, than we are missing someone with Disable Device. Perhaps a divine caster/frontliner, or a divine caster/ranged combatant, since these seem to be departments we might be lacking in.

Since I am going Investigator, from level 2 (and more at level 3) if we find it necessary, Helgash can invest in Disable Device and other roguish skills, and become pretty decent at it.

I am in PM contact with Onnello, and understand his reasoning. I'll let it go here, and will reply to him later in PM.

So just focusing on our situation:
For what it's worth, at level 4 Nivian picks up the healing hex, and probably at Level 9 Healers Hands - so in the long run, she will be a decent enough healer.

I would also switch to the alternate path fetching Natures Soul/Animal Ally/Boon Companion - so eventually there's be another frontliner available, too.

So I can pick up some of that slack, but it's all "in the long run" - we could probably function between the 4 of us, but it will be rough. Having one more person would be welcome.
I think an Aquatic Druid or Kraken Caller would be a nice fit - some melee, a decent spell list that can share some healing load(and has quite some utility for the sea) - but I concur that Helgash can pick up the rogue stuff and a fifth person would be better in the direction of divine caster - where tankish would be my preference over ranged focus(as both casting and shooting take up your actions forcing you to pick either each turn - where being a tank and casting work simultaneously).

I agree, if Helgash can cover DD, then a more dedictaed healer to replace Hraak would be preferable.

As for Onnello, I'm less undersatnding. Everyone knew that this first part of the adventure is a grueling period of having to take abuse with no real way to fight back. Several times the GM made a point of how it is impossible for 1st level characters to fight the ship's officers. If Onnello's characetr wouldn't put up with that while waiting for a realistic opportunity, he should never have had that character as his application. His arguing about that last encounter was also a bit annoying. It was pretty obvious to me that the fight was over and Scourge was just RP material. His own actions suggested he was aware that he was starting a new fight.

So just focusing on our situation:

For what it's worth, at level 4 Nivian picks up the healing hex, and probably at Level 9 Healers Hands - so in the long run, she will be a decent enough healer.

Nivian, I have never played a Witch, so apologies for my ignorance on the subject - do you also get access to restoration and status removal stuff?

I can't directly speak to what went on/is going on in Robert Henry's head.

I can say that my communication with him in and around other games has suggested to me that he is also an older gamer. Sometimes we don't recognize something as relevant until we are unhappy as a result of it. I don't think that's necessarily an age thing, but people like to pretend it is. He found a way to implement leaving the game that fit within the storyline of the game pretty seamlessly. It may have been based on making choices that most wouldn't want to make, but it did, actually, fit into the story well.

Personally, if I was planning to do something like that, I like to think I would try to communicate with the GM a couple of times about my concerns first. But things would have to be REALLY, REALLY bad for me to just drop instead of finding a story-appropriate exit.

IF he was thinking along these lines, he might not have intended to go right now, but the story provided the opportunity RIGHT NOW. As players we often go with our gut, yes?

Nivian Mazu wrote:

So just focusing on our situation:

For what it's worth, at level 4 Nivian picks up the healing hex, and probably at Level 9 Healers Hands - so in the long run, she will be a decent enough healer.

Nivian, I have never played a Witch, so apologies for my ignorance on the subject - do you also get access to restoration and status removal stuff?

That's a good point. A cleric is not just cure spells, but the other forms of healing as well. And Channeling is a big part as well.

Only some - I can for example remove blindness/deafness, and of course I get the break enchantment and remove curse stuff as most arcane casters(albeit at the lower level, 3) and some other stuff.
No Restoration, unfortunately, though. Some status removal is exclusive to clerics.
(I do get Heal, though, so via that I can status remove - but only at Level 13+)
I can transfer afflictions, but the questions is if that is desirable.
The main counter-point is that I have no "free access", I need to actually learn the spells in my familiar, so if a specific spell is needed, we'd need a level-up or a scroll so that I can "copy" it.

I did not mean to imply a cleric is only cure spells, only that healing should not be a primary concern for a replacement. It's good IF the replacement can heal or status remove, but a warpriest, shaman, or inquisitor could also be decent matches.

Your point regarding Channeling, I don't really understand - beside very specific circumstances, that's simply out-of-combat healing. (which is of limited need)
Or a burst damage against undead. (which can be provided more efficiently in other forms).

I did go on to suggest one more person, I just attempted to point out that I can take on some of the needs mentioned, so that whoever comes in as replacement has some "wiggle room" when it comes to needs.
To be clear, there is no such thing as "too much healing", certainly. Just meant to be clear that it will not be a critical shortage we face, either.

Channeling, I don't really understand - beside very specific circumstances, that's simply out-of-combat healing. (which is of limited need)
Or a burst damage against undead. (which can be provided more efficiently in other forms).

Out of combat healing? I think it is far more effective in combat as you can heal all of your allies. And yes, the burst damage to undead is a big plus as well. Add to that the Purifying Channel feat and it is highly effective in combat.

The general consensus is that it's mostly a waste of action economy.

If someone is in critical need of healing, then the limited healing provided by a channel will not be enough. (Thats 5d6 at Level 9, or ~18 points average...pretty much anything will do more than that in a single hit - and at level 11 for clerics(or 13 for witches) Heal is available, which is a far superior single-target tank refresher)).

Pretty much it's only decent in-combat if the enemy spreads chip damage all around the party. Otherwise spells(wether buffs or else) or direct contribution(via weaponry) will often be superior - unless the wounds subsystem is used, there is hardly a need to keep everybody topped off healthwise.
So considering that in a typical 4-5 person party 2-3 will likely attempt to avoid frontline and damage the total effect diminishes.

Same thing for bursting undead - most damaging spells provide double the scaling of channel, and some specifically target undead to do even more damage to them. It's great if you have nothing else available, but if you know you will likely face undead there are vastly superior options.(plus those which REALLY matter usually have resistance which further reduces the damage)

Don't get me wrong, I love channel. In another game, I even picked up the Blossoming Light Archetype to get even more channeling.
I just don't share your point of view regarding in-combat efficiency compared to the other options a cleric has.

At high levels, I somewhat agree, but at low and mid levels, especailly when facing groups of enemies, it is better. Besides, by 9th level you are either casting cures as a swift action or channeling as a swift action. Plus, a dedicated healer cleric will have a phylactery by then so an additional 2d6 healing. Too many times I have seen a frontliner go down because the healer had to choose one target for healing. Finally, it is a great defense for AoEs that target the group as you can negate a bunch of the damage taken.

I find that accepted conventional wisdom is defined by the loudest, most insistent voices, which tend to be the "race to zero massive damage is all that matters" crowd.

So, I tend to treat that conventional wisdom as the opinion of people who play the game a specific way and look to see what other things different people find to be important.

The only thing absolutely wrong in such discussions is the idea that different opinions are inherently wrong and thus irrelevant.

At Level 5, it's 3d6 - or 10.5 points of healing.
Versus a cure serious wounds of 3d8+5, or 18.5 points of healing.
At Level 3, its 7 points from channel or 12 from CMW.
At Level 7, it'S 14 from channel or 25 from CSW.
(If you want to be a dedicated Healer, pick up the Healing Domain and at Level 6+ the healing spells are all empowered for free pushing them further ahead)

Getting Selective Channel, Purifying Channel, and Swift Channel is a 3-Feat Investment, the Phylactery for Channeling takes the Headband Slot - so in most games you want the extra wisdom and increase that price by 1.5 for an additional ability.
Thats 11k or ~16k gold that you do not have in other items.(with a WBL of 46k at Level 9).
You also only get it 3+Cha times, so if you burn through that with Swift Channels, you have to get Extra Channel(we're at 4+ Feats now) and/or focus Charisma to even get enough uses for it to be worthwhile(with one extra channel and 20 CHA you get 10 uses, or 5 swift uses per day - if you double-dip with swift and standard to match up single-target spells, that's 3 rounds of healing).

Look, of COURSE you can make it work, if you dedicate yourself entirely to it. But at that point, you have to wonder why you are playing a Cleric and didn't go for an Oradin with Life-Link and swift action lay-on-hands that does the same thing essentially AND contributes in combat.

Everybody has their own style, and by all means, you do your healer clerics the way you prefer. I am just saying in absolute terms, you have a LOT of investment going there, basically spending most of your Feats and WBL to get it to work, only for the Heal spell to roll around shortly and vastly outperform anything channel could offer.

So I am not convinced that Channeling is as big a selling point as you present it, considering that it would lock the new person into a very specific build.

@Frontliner going down because the healer had to choose one target: If the healer is tanky, he can often take a place up front, and too many frontliners disregard the existance of "Withdraw" and try for a glorious last-ditch effort because withdraw is more boring than a full attack. That said, if both frontliners in a 4 person party are so low they are in danger of being felled, then the stats and composition may need review - one glass cannon or DPS is fine, but at least one frontliner should have SOME staying power(via high AC, self-healing, DR, spell buffs, ...) - in that case the tank gets the heal, and the DPS temporarily withdraws and regroups.

@Ioney: I am not trying to present this as absolute truth. I LOVE niche builds, too, and will often do things or try builds that defy common tropes.
What I do not like is playing "Band-Aid" the cleric that has to be dedicated healer and spend all day patching people up. Or forcing people into that role, because someone insists that in-combat healing is needed beyond what the spell lists already provide.
I pointed out that I will have access to various methods of healing, via spells, hex, and conduit Feat, and will be able to provide - not as much as a dedicated healer, but decently. And a lack of Channeling was pointed out as a huge flaw with that statement.
I contested that statement, and my opinion stands that Channeling as in-Combat Healing is below par for whats needed - except possibly if you really dedicate yourself to that role, in which case there ARE better options for dedicated healer. What Channel excels at in my opinion is topping the party up to full HP between encounters, without any other resources spent.
But by no means am I trying to tell others their opinion is wrong, but if "you don't have channel" is presented as a shortcoming of me providing healing, then I get to contest that. I admitted to several things I would do worse - accessibility of spells first and foremost, some missing from spell list etc... - but lacking channel as in-combat healing is not one a point I will let stand uncontested.
And, more importantly, not a point I would force on any replacement.
(which would be the logical consequence of accepting the provision of in-combat Channel healing as necessity).

So… Onnello’s character is still around as an NPC? Is that it?

It seems that way.
I could see the situation developing that in the near future, Scourge or Plugg make an example out of him - letting him go down fighting and him possibly inflicting some serious wound on whoever fights against him.
His death, then, would be the straw that breaks the camels back and incites us to mutiny.

To be clear, I liked the character and would like to have him around as NPC, but if the player wants the "exit by death"-scenario...

"but if the player wants the "exit by death"-scenario..."
Except the whole idea of this part of the adventure is to show the PCs that they have no control over their fate at this point. So yes, he can do exit by death, but he wouldn't get to choose the manner of his death.

We get that. I understand that - no control over fate and all that.
But you don't HAVE to drive the point home.
I am unhappy about his sudden exit as well, but an amiable solution for the characters exit is always preferable.
Forcing him to die in an anti-climactic way out of spite seems undesirable, but I understand the surprise exit also does not warrant any heroics.

Not looking for a discussion, I trust you will handle it in a fitting way.
Just saying that most of us are pretty aware of our situation, for the time being. And Fiat versus Agency is a conflict I think is best avoided, in most tables. (as said, not meant in a confrontational way - it's hard to transmit 'tone' in a written statement.)

My apologies. I should have said something.

I play Santa on top of my day job and trying to help care for my grandkids. Kind of a busy time of the year for me.

My wife has 16 appointments on the calendar for me over the next 19 days. People are still trying to book me for more.

So, when I saw the pause as we tried to deal with this recent conflict, I kinda let it lie. Trevor just poked me in an IM. Last thing I saw, I thought we were waiting for the conflict to reach a conclusion that we thought it already had . . ..

No problem, I realize that the next few weeks will be a bit hectic for some. I know Sebastion is dealing with issues with the FL Bar as well.

Fyi everyone, I have someone from the original recruitment that is making a healing focused character to join shortly.

Sorry for the delay had a call out Sunday and yesterday was hectic too.

Everyone is now level 2. Consider the level was gained the night before the upcoming battle, so you can have whatever spells and such available. I will proceed with the battle once everyone has leveled.

Wohoooo!

Question to Trevor0828: Did we have time to grab our gear before being summoned by Krine?

Wohoooo!

Question to Trevor0828: Did we have time to grab our gear before being summoned by Krine?

Everyone has ample time to get all of their gear for the upcoming fight, and are expected to do so.

Solid.

1d10 ⇒ 6

Leveling done and profile updated.

Likewise!

Nice. I had some trouble accessing the page in the last couple days, but I'll try and post/level over the weekend.

Had the office Christmas party tonight. Work 0700 to 1600. Go home, get the wife and grandkids. Party from 1800 to 2200.

Edit:

Hmmm . . .. Level gets me a familiar. Archetype says specifically a Monkey or Parrot (raven). Guess that class feature sits idle until we spend some time ashore somewhere. Not a stress point.

Sebastion(and others):

HPs - max at 1st and 2nd level. After that you can opt for average rounded up or roll. If you roll low you can take average rounded down instead (essentially you take a 1 hp hit for the chance to get a high roll).

No roll this time.

Level-Up-Summary:

+8 HP(6 class, 1 con, 1 FCB)
+1 BaB
+1 Will

Hex: Cackle(reflavored as singing).
+1 spell/day: Level 0, Level 1
New spells known: Sow Thought, Ray of Enfeeblement

Skills:
+1 Profession(Sailor)
+1 Perform(Sing)

+1 Heal
+2 Intimidate
+1 Perception
+1 Knowledge(Arcana)
+1 UMD

Carth
No new stuff, but better derived stats(+4 HP, +1 Bab, +1 Will...)

Thanks Nivian, I forgot that.

Hello everyone, I very much hope you all are well!

GM Trevor0828 was so kind to invite me to the game.

I am really looking forward to playing with you all!

I wish you a great weekend!

Welcome aboard Yar!

What is an Halfling Aasimar? :)

Hello Helgash! Thanks a lot!!

Well, Yar was born in the capital of Cheliax. His mother and many, many other Halfling and human women were used as the toys of an Asmodean sorceress that regularly experimented by cross-breeding tortured slaves with the planar creatures that the sorceress brought to the material plane. Yar in particular is the unfortunate child of a Hafling slave that had to copulate again and again with celestial outsiders. Unfortunately, his mother was not able to endure the dark rituals of torture, death and birth and eventually died as a broken woman when he was only an infant and thus she could not prevent the Asmodean indoctrination that Yar faced day to day.

In rule terms he is a non-human Aasimar.

Thank you for the explanation Yar!

On a side note, wanted to let everyone know I will be traveling from the 19th December through the 3rd January, visiting family and so forth. I expect to have some time for posting but... It is completely unpredictable :D

Feel free to bot me as needed!

Dear fellow players, a question:
Would any of you be willing to construct a brief encounter in the past so that our characters at least know each other and there is a rudimentary foundation of trust so that the integration of Yar into the campaign is a little smoother?

*points at Yar*
Who is that stowaway? Shall we keelhaul him?

J/K.
To be honest, I think the smoothest and easiest entrance into the campaign would be if you are on the ship we are about to raid.
Since we were press-ganged, there's a high chance the survivors of the battle get a chance to decide between becoming pirates or becoming shark food.
Just opt for the former, and we'll gladly on-board you, considering we've recently run into the same problem of finding ourselves on the ship involuntarily.

Yes, that is how he is getting introduced.

Exactly! ;-) GM Trevor0828 suggested the same route. Thanks for the recommendation. I just thought that some additional flavor of recognition could help the bonding process but totally works like this. ;-D

Leveling done and profile updated.

Hey Sebastion, was looking over your character profile, and I don’t think you can be an Unchained Monk and Master of Many Styles? :/

Exactly! ;-) GM Trevor0828 suggested the same route. Thanks for the recommendation. I just thought that some additional flavor of recognition could help the bonding process but totally works like this. ;-D

Yar, I am perfectly ok with us having met each other before - any ideas on how? Helgash is kind of a ‘man on the run’ after having skewered someone he shouldn’t have :P

Hey Sebastion, was looking over your character profile, and I don’t think you can be an Unchained Monk and Master of Many Styles? :/

Trevor allows the updated archetypes list for Unchained Monk from Rogue Genius Games. He has links to them on the very first Recruitment post.

I haven’t checked those because they are not free - but I stand corrected!

I haven’t checked those because they are not free - but I stand corrected!

No problem, both of them together were only $5. Also, I have zero problems with anyone pointing out possible mistakes I make with character creation. I prefer accuracy over ego :)

Yar Aval wrote:

Exactly! ;-) GM Trevor0828 suggested the same route. Thanks for the recommendation. I just thought that some additional flavor of recognition could help the bonding process but totally works like this. ;-D

Yar, I am perfectly ok with us having met each other before - any ideas on how? Helgash is kind of a ‘man on the run’ after having skewered someone he shouldn’t have :P

That sounds great! Thanks a lot!!

I see that you have a trait that has this background: Besmara’s Blessing
You came to a tavern in Port Peril called the Formidably Maid in search of your fate. You’re not sure how many drinks you had, but they quickly went to your head and you passed out on the table before you found your destiny—unless it lay in the bottom of a bottle. Then again, maybe you found your destiny after all...

So maybe you were in the Formidably Maid tavern before and we met there and had a couple of drinks together? We have the same alignment so we could have had a good time and liked each other?

Would that make sense?

Helgash is not quick making friends based on a ‘good time’, but he will offer respect to others for their actions, if they resonate with him. Maybe Helgash had been jumped the day before, and was taking a beating until Yar somehow distracted his assailants, allowing him to escape? Or found a way to attract the attention of the guard? Something along those lines?