GM GuardYourPrivates' Shards of Golarion

Game Master SqueezeMeNow

I had to triple check he hadn't mentioned Rabbit in a previous post. The image in my head was so clear before I went to bed Sunday that I remembered it like I had already made the post.

No drinks? Well, then I hope you're hungry~!

Kevan's laser guided b#%%$+#~ might have missed a little to the left this time.

oh come now, BS? That speech was straight from the heart.

I assumed if needed you would roll my bluff. I just noticed I forgot to add in my skill focus for bluff. I currently have a 13. I can roll it if you prefer

I always roll against your bluff behind the scenes for general perception, but since he's asking for things go ahead and roll it publicly. ;)

I was going to smack my head into my desk if he failed that roll. Kevan is frighteningly good at bluffing. If you'd like to keep that roll going forward in the conversation you're welcome. I would hate to not give you anything for that godly roll.

Thank you, and sure, I'll keep it in the bag for the next one. But I really wanted my garlic. ;)

GM, how are we doing? Is there initiative you are hoping for from the players that would help move things forward? I only ask because it took us about a real-world month to have the conversation in the office, and it seemed at points like we might have been in that circular pattern of "we are waiting for the GM to nudge us forward but the GM is waiting for the PCs to nudge forward".

Just checking in.

I admit to being slow, but in this case I was waiting for the party to commit to an action. Are you all going back now? It seemed like it, but then people kept talking so I was continuing the conversation.

That's kind of what I'm talking about, we as the players are sort of trying to judge what you're expecting from us and you're trying to judge what we're wanting to do without the benefit of being at a table and just saying "okay guys so what are you doing?"

In this case, I think we all agree we want to try and gather more information from anyone we can. It makes sense to start in the town and talk to any family members of victims, if anyone knows anything, and if not then we go back to our base.

The problem with trying to do it all via IC communication is that things can get missed and lost and unnecessarily slowed down. Like I think at one point several of us had evinced a desire to go talk to the Swan Lady again but we just... didn't do that.

PBP can benefit from some OOC checking in from time to time (which I love Discord groups for, but they aren't necessary). In this case, I think you'd be within your rights as GM to say "You ask around town, but nobody has any further information, and so you start the trek back to your own little bit of the world..." rather than us potentially winding up in a long fruitless chat with various NPCs (if that is in fact what would happen-- maybe they do have information! IDK).

If you need more clear decision making from us, that's fine, but signals that we are 'done' with a scene and need to make a decision for the next one can be helpful I think. As opposed to us just going 'well.... maybe there's more to learn from the mayor... let's keep asking questions I guess?' If that makes sense.

@GM: It seemed like the PCs were being 'shown the door' by the NPCs so to speak to go check with their sphere.

I agree with Rabbit. It seems the group has learned what we can here.

Alright. I think from the future I will include some OOC questions and comments to keep us all on the same page.

I gave it a week to let everyone post and then something came up.

I want to say that the RP you all gave after leaving the city was wonderful. I got a lot of delight and entertainment from it. I meant to reply that Thursday, but unfortunately I had a very hectic schedule between my two jobs, house/lawn work, and other obligations. I do feel genuinely bad it took me this long to respond.

With that said I will be able to respond quickly the next few days, and in the week off that follows. Hopefully I have not forced a holiday slump on this campaign. I am VERY excited for what is to come and to share battl- some entirely non-hostile maps with you all.

Oh yeah! Feel free to walk through your actions a bit as if this was downtime and I will do my best to address it all as expediently (or carefully if desired) as I am able. Time passed will be logged, so if you wish to speak with any magical creatures of some distance it would be best to consider the time investment needed or an alternate means of getting in touch.

Alden should be perfectly fine here, right?

Yeeep.

I can't bear to watch!
grabs popcorn

Alden subscribes to the Tao of Roadhouse:

”Be nice…. until it’s time to not be nice.”

Of course, he’s badly outnumbered here, so a last stand will be just that.

Maaaaybe, he could run for it and get to some sort of defensible position?

I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Alden survived! Maybe he's part druid?

So I have been absolutely swamped with work lately. My normal job goes into overtime, and then some, during December. On top of that my other occupation suddenly hit me with documentation and additional work outside the normal schedule.

The latter is taken care of, but the former will continue to be an issue during this month. I will try my best to keep updating, but it might be a bit rough.

Anyway, have a dragon!

So things have finally settled back into their normal patterns. Now that I am not dealing with family, paperwork, and 60+ hour work weeks I can commit to this campaign properly again. I hope to see you all receiving downtime and the chance at another merging as soon as I am able.

I should also add that I am recruiting for a second table. I don't intend to have people playing multiple characters in different campaigns, but if you could get word of mouth to others I would appreciate it.

Might be fun having someone you can compare notes with.

Even with the +1 height advantage I forgot to add that is a miss. Still, if the group manages to net a kill this evening I will be stoked.

Thanks for the reminder of having alchemy. I don't craft often. Anyway, I have 715sp in alchemical supplies but a DC 20 will mean I have only a 45% chance of success. Right at 20 will mean I get 400sp done for a week. The balm is 300sp to complete so that's 57sp per day or 6 days to complete. If I roll better then that speeds it up by a day for every 3 over the DC.

Wasn't there a whole section on this silvery stuff? GM, would you be so kind as to add it into the game header or at least put it on the campaign tab?

Well, you could have someone assist you. There are also at least two casters that can give you a +5 via magic. Of course it would be at penalty since you don't really have a lab or proper tools. Next downtime you might want to work on that.

That said, there is no guarantee the ghouls won't abduct someone in the time it takes to craft.

Edit: Yes, there was an entire spiel on etherium that I can move over to the information tab.

Tentative Marching Order so far (first to last):

Kevan (scouting ahead)

Tymos / Jaxom?

Rabbit / Eochaidh?

Alden

I guess we need to clarify the middle as far as single order.

Eochaidh is s decent secondary combatant so closer to Rabbit is probably a good idea.

I'd say put Eochaidh before Rabbit, yes, if we have to be single file.

Etherium crafting rules added to the campaign info tab. Will shove the group into the catacombs tommorow.

I can't control my icon on the map, just view it all.

I can't control my icon on the map, just view it all.

I have the same issue.

The map is just an image. I have been updating it. My internet situation is con5inuing to be a problem. Should have someone out to the house this week.

Is something wrong and I'm only seeing Alden post?

If Alden notices Kevan's gesture, he will move to engage the enemies he is alerting the group of.

If so, I will go ahead and post that action.

If Alden didn't notice, then he'll hold is rearguard position, keeping an eye out for an attack from the flank or from behind.

Is something wrong and I'm only seeing Alden post?

It looks like only Kevan's surprise round action is the only thing we're waiting on? Perhaps send him a PM?

it was supposed to have been a readied action. My apologies for not being more clear about that.

Just a gentle reminder for the targets of my Fortune hex that it only has a benefit if you declare you're using it :) It's fine if people want to declare they are saving it for a paralysis reroll, but we should communicate that. Jaxom, you could have used it on your attack last round if you wanted-- not saying retcon now, just saying there are opportunities if we claim them.

Just a gentle reminder for the targets of my Fortune hex that it only has a benefit if you declare you're using it :) It's fine if people want to declare they are saving it for a paralysis reroll, but we should communicate that. Jaxom, you could have used it on your attack last round if you wanted-- not saying retcon now, just saying there are opportunities if we claim them.

Can I use it on a readied action or do I need to use a move action to activate it?

Didn't know it was still active.... But I'll use it later if i get a chance.

It is probably going to be active this entire combat. I am using my move action each turn to sustain it on Jaxom and Eochaidh, so unless something interrupts my ability to do so, it will stay active.

It does not require any action on your part to activate it-- I am the one spending actions to keep it going, you just declare that you are using it. It just requires you to declare you are using it before the roll, in theory. Declaring that you want to use it on any saves against the ghouls' abilities is valid, but has to be communicated so we know that's what you want to do.

Again, using it doesn't "use it up" - it is an effect that is active ON you-- you are under the effect of the Fortune hex-- and you can use it once per round for as long as the effect stays active. (And I'm keeping the effect going with my actions.)

The witch can grant a creature within 30 feet a bit of good luck for 1 round. The target can call upon this good luck once per round, allowing him to reroll any ability check, attack roll, saving throw, or skill check, taking the better result. He must decide to use this ability before the first roll is made.[/ooc]

It's basically a free reroll once a round for people Rabbit is maintaining it on. One of the Witch options that is so good everyone runs either it or their evil eye.

Not sure that Evil Eye would work on ghouls....

After checking I find it is mind effecting, so it wouldn't work on mindless undead. Ghouls though it should.

Yeah, Fortune alone makes witch a solid buffing class.

Map is updated so you lot can see what Kevan sees. I hope you all enjoyed the short break for Easter.

I was a little unclear on the exact path I had traced. It looks like it was south and then east, true?

You effectively scouted the entire revealed path there.

Have a reward! A perfectly mundane, pretty cape. Nothing special. It's just shiny I'm sure.