Mummy's Mask

Game Master Whack-a-Rogue

Epperson still has 6 points of nonlethal damage. He’s going to naturally heal 1 point of that per hour. GM, is it fair to estimate that an hour has passed since the fracas that injured Epperson? More?

Unless someone went back to town to get the holy water (didn't seem like it), it's only been a few minutes since the haunt ended.

If Epperson takes any actually lethal damage, healing it with the wand or Unatti's potions will heal both types of damage at once, so I'm not too worried that Epperson will suffer from the remaining bruises. :)

(You were punched in the fracas? Yes, in or around the fracas.)

Hmmm. Need a ruling, GM. Who touched the silver ring first?

Shall we roll percentile for it?

First curse of the game?!?! EXCITING!!

Hmmm. Need a ruling, GM. Who touched the silver ring first?

Shall we roll percentile for it?

First curse of the game?!?! EXCITING!!

I'm a little confused, Tribim posted he started picking stuff up, then Epperson posted he started picking stuff up and he should check to see if anything was cursed. Tribim obliged handing stuff to Epperson to check. YBD interrupted with the 'cursed Item.' Tribim has rolled the Fort DC and reacted. What is it you need a ruling on? Why would we retcon? Wouldn't it be better to move the action along?

Due to the asynchronous nature of the PbP format, multiple players posted about touching the ring before I had a chance to update. As such, I left it to the party to decide who triggered the haunt. Since Tribim has already made a "reaction" post and rolled the saving throw, nothing else is necessary. On a related note, everyone in the room saw the vision and heard the dialogue, but only the one saving throw needed to be rolled.

The way I interpreted the scene was that Tribim had started to collect the valuables from the room and Epperson interrupted him from doing so with the desire to check for curses.

It wasn't definite who had touched the ring first, but you (Tribim) have made the saving throw and the GM has weighed in. All good!

@Aerith: When you get the chance, can you add your Initiative to your profile header? Thanks!

GM, would you kindly move me into the room with the skeleton on the map?

I'm going on a week-long vacation starting Friday, and I might not be around much tomorrow. I will have my laptop with me and internet access for most of it, so I will probably check my email and respond during that time, but just a heads-up that I might be slower than usual.

Can somebody move me to lurking at the doorway to the bedroom?

Sorry folks, I feel like I jumped the gun on my last post. The discussion in game about the headband is really good. I was trying to decide if I should post last night so YBD could respond, or wait till this morning.

In hindsight I feel like I should have waited. All the posts between mine and after were awesome, I should have let the RP breathe a little. I'll try to be a little more patient. From June 4th to today I've posted forty-one times in game, an average around one and a third times a day. In my mind we're keeping a decent pace.

Please let me know if I'm 'rushing' and discouraging RP.

I think Mahmoud's still out of town, so we're advancing to the next round. :-)

@Tribim: So close! The feint only failed due to the -4 penalty for feinting a nonhumanoid.

That is why I listed the ' flowing feint' in the 'OOC.' On his page he has it spelled out this way: The rogue also reduces one of the penalties by 4 when feinting against a non-humanoid creature or when feinting against a creature of animal intelligence. At 10th level, the rogue instead reduces both of these penalties by 4. I did it that way to indicate he's selected to reduce the penalty for non-humanoid creatures.

That negates the -4 penalty right?

Not that I think the 10 or the 7 probably hit :)

Gotcha. I'd wondered why you'd written it out like that.

Would it be to terribly impolite for someone to bot Mahmoud?

I'm hoping he'll be back in another day or two. His trip may have ran long.

Sorry, I'd forgotten about the trip.

I'm back at my computer today and busy catching up. I'll post something in a little while. :)

For future reference, I don't mind if anyone wants to bot me. I'm always happy to advance the game and mortified if my absence ever holds anything up.

Aerith is on the second floor on the map. Does she need to move down to the ground floor to join the party? Depending on where she is, she might not have the range to make any attacks this turn

Once everyone has joined him downstairs, Tribim will open the double doors, north of the steps in the western wall.

So I'd assumed the door wasn't opened until everyone came down, in spite of what the map showed. Especially we don't do a good job of moving on the map all the time.

Edit: The thing seems to be huge, do we just want to shut the door?

I try not to move PC avatars unless absolutely necessary, so anyone not already at the door can move themselves there before acting. :-)

Mahmoud considers quickly. "This doorway is a defensible position-- I'd rather stay here and fight than try to lure it into unexplored areas. But I'll follow you if you decide you want to risk it."

I'll comment in game once the round is over and it's out next action. I believe with it's size, it will have a 15 ft reach. Which means to hit it with melee weapons we will need to leave the doorway. I wonder if it can enter the building if we step back and attack from range.

Edit: my thought was to close the door, finish exploring, then try and bait it over to the other side and close the door behind it. Letting us search the lawn shed.

Once we were ready someone could be in the far east area, with the door open. A second person open the double doors to the west jump back inside, then come out and close the eastern doors, while the 'bait' ran in the building and shut the door.

We could have a familar watch and let us know when the caterpillar was past. or someone could yell the information from inside the building.

I'm just worried how much damage we'll take fighting a fifteen foot caterpillar.

All fair points. It might be that a person standing next to the door could attack it with soft cover, since it might have difficulty attacking around a corner. Mahmoud won't object if you close the door, of course. :)

... It might be that a person standing next to the door could attack it with soft cover...

What hide around the corner? I never.... :)

let's see how the first round go. I'm just nervous about something this big that's unintelligent. Tribim's feints will be useless against it. So he's chucking chakrams at it all day long. If it gets in spear range, we're all in trouble.

This might be a dumb question, but are there any windows(normalish ones, or even just big openings that are partially blocked) that go from the interior to the garden?

I know the GM didn't mention this area having any, but I don't think he's mentioned them at all...

The only thing mentioned in the module is "Small windows high up in the exterior walls provide normal light in most of the house's rooms." I figure they're up near the ceiling, so too high to see out of unless you're around 9ft tall.

Are we all just gathered around this one door, trying to attack the centipede from a distance? Should I assume after each PC attack, they five foot step out of the way of the others, so we don't get any penalties?

That's the impression I got, Tribim, who was at the southern door, did step to the side as the map indicates.

I don't know that we should assume someone five foot steps, if they didn't say that in their post.

As you can see, this thing hits hard, so because there are multiple PCs in range and there's still some discussion about positioning, I'll let you decide who gets attacked. :-)

Now you've gone and done it, no one's going to step into Tribim's empty spot...

Pragmatically speaking, Unatti can heal herself, so maybe she is a good candidate for taking the damage?

Pragmatically speaking, Unatti can heal herself, so maybe she is a good candidate for taking the damage?

Wouldn't she had to have stepped up into Tribim's spot? Or did the caterpillar move closer than its 15 ft reach.

I dislike the idea of 'voting' who gets attacked about as much as I like assuming people move so we can 5 ft step.

YBD would you place the caterpillar on the map and identify who is within reach based on their present location. We should roll to determine who the unlucky person is.

Edit: I should have said based on their location when the attack happened. Mahoud you moved after the caterpillar's attack, then recommended someone else take the hit.

Mahmoud steps a little closer, trying to see the creature more clearly, and throws his dagger at it in two direct arcs, setting it ricocheting back each time.

Mahmoud considers quickly. "This doorway is a defensible position-- I'd rather stay here and fight than try to lure it into unexplored areas. But I'll follow you if you decide you want to risk it."

You even said you'd rather 'stay here' saying the doorway was a defensible position.

Bad form.

Clarification
The centipede is in the correct spot on the map. At the time of my post, Mahmoud and Tribim were in range. Knowing that PC icon placement isn't always accurate, I didn't want to assume anything about the positioning - especially since a few people had Gameplay posts that mentioned movement.
Let's let fate decide!
Mahmoud (low)/Tribim (high): 1d100 ⇒ 13

Why are you attacking me, Tribim? It seemed clear that YBD thought we were all within range, and generously gave us the option of determining who the creature hit. You don't like my suggestion, fine. Rolling randomly is certainly a way to resolve it. I would have offered to take the damage like I have done multiple times before, but since Unatti would be healing it anyway, it seemed better to eliminate the middleman if we have a choice.

Why are you attacking me, Tribim?

That was not an attack, it was an observation. Was anything I observed incorrect? If so, I apologize.

We're all supposed to be on the same team here. Do you want me to apologize for moving Mahmoud when I thought we were assuming characters could five-foot step after our attacks? If so, I am sorry. But come on, nothing kills enthusiasm for a game like the players squabbling amongst each other!

I apologize for letting my frustration get the better of me and verbalizing it.

I apologize for letting my frustration get the better of me and verbalizing it.

I hate to prolong the unpleasantness, but can I ask why you are frustrated? Maybe it's because I didn't embrace your plan to close the doors and try to lure the creature elsewhere. I agree it's a tough fight, and in my defense I didn't realize it had such a long reach that it could attack us through the doors without coming into melee range. I'm sorry I didn't consider your idea more carefully before dismissing it. Are you thinking you'll try to close the doors anyway?

but can I ask why you are frustrated?

Having played in previous games together, I thought I should take this conversation to PM's So I was typing one when I saw this.

Short answer, no, your decision to fight has nothing to do with this. Your character is a fighter, you're supposed to want to kill the monster. My character is a Rogue, he's supposed to want to avoid a fight, or when unable to, to cheat and stab the thing in the back when it's not looking.

I believe that to make shutting the door effective, we'd need to shut both of them.

If it helps, Epperson doesn’t want the doors shut because how’s he supposed to jinx the thing if he can’t see it?

Plus, open doorways provide ventilation for his constant flatulence.

I think it really depends on what Epperson and Tribim do. To actually attack it, Epperson probably has to move towards it, and if Epperson goes out then presumably Tribim will too, hopefully to flank it? As long as the doors are open, Mahmoud will keep throwing his dagger at it, but I don't think that's much help for making this decision. :)

I'm figuring at some time Tribim will toss another chakram at it, he's not going out the door.

May I ask someone to please move me into a flanking position on the map?

May I ask someone to please move me into a flanking position on the map?

I'm not sure where you want Epperson to wind up. He's got a 20' move, and he attacked this round, so I think where I put you is the best you can do for setting up a flank in the future.

Is anyone planning on actually going out of the building to attack the thing in melee? Tribim is not, he will attack with chakrams until he is out.

Aerith avoids melee like the plague. That is what friends are for.

Epperson, son of Epper wrote:

May I ask someone to please move me into a flanking position on the map?

I'm not sure where you want Epperson to wind up. He's got a 20' move, and he attacked this round, so I think where I put you is the best you can do for setting up a flank in the future.

I'm a bit confused - how did the centipede attack Mahmoud if it's still as far away as it is on the map?

Perhaps a map update is needed. Either way, Epperson would like to move into a flanking position - and if he can't get there, then he'll just stand and bang.

Because Epperson is the son of Epper - and Epper ain't no chump.

I'll hold off on updating until tomorrow morning in case Unatti wants to take an action.

@Epperson: The centipede has 15ft reach. That's one of the perks of being a Huge creature. :-)

Sorry for the late reply, I'm working a local con this weekend. I'm actually surprised I'm awake(even though it's fairly early for my usual hours), but I'll reply in game now.

Sorry for the late reply, I'm working a local con this weekend. I'm actually surprised I'm awake(even though it's fairly early for my usual hours), but I'll reply in game now.

I think that Epperson’s apt curse had been overlooked. Or is the bug immune to it, GM?

The centipede made its initial saving throw, so it's immune.