This is the Discussion section for 'Phantom Phenomena.' Please direct extended OOC discussions/questions to this thread.
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Here is the BB Code for the first level Quinn, if you want it.
Glad to be here with you all. I'm putting Cannoli third in marching order. She has the best reactive healing and low perception and low vision, so center of the group seems smart. She is high AC though, so could slot in at 2nd easily.
Maybe Guardian XI for front line tank? Or Quinn to scout/trapfind?
I hesitate to generally push for a scout in most society games. The maps are small and you are tossed into a certain spot really close to the enemy most of the time. And if its a bigger map we can adjust our PC's to any marching order as you move through it.
Okay if someone (hopefully everyone) can let me know if you have access to the RPG Chronicles and the Google Slides.
Google Slides was acting funky but I think I have the permission set correctly now.
Also did one of you request 'Editor' privilege on the Slides? If so just whomever did it send me a PM. :)
@GM: The slides are still set to "Viewer", but I've now sent you an editor privilege request too. (it might be easier just to open it up for everyone)
Sorry, first time I've done this. I approved the other 2 editor requests *AND* I went in through Google Drive this time and changed the 'Share' options to everyone with the link is an Editor.
Hopefully this fixes things!|
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It's all good! Those mistakes happen all the time in everyone's games.
Google slides defaults its sharing to 'invite only' with 'editing access'. You have to then change it to 'anyone with the link', and then slides changes it to 'view only'.
I get the reasoning for the progression, but it just means for our game setups we have to change several things every time we setup and share a slide deck.
It's all good! Those mistakes happen all the time in everyone's games.
Google slides defaults its sharing to 'invite only' with 'editing access'. You have to then change it to 'anyone with the link', and then slides changes it to 'view only'.
I get the reasoning for the progression, but it just means for our game setups we have to change several things every time we setup and share a slide deck.
I have a sneaking suspicion, and I'll test it first this way next time, that if I set the permissions through Google Drive it will keep it.
Or I'll get my hammer!
I can access and edit the slides.
Filled out page 4,5 and 6.
Thank you very much! We have 3 with their information filled out, and 3 to go. I don't want to start in case the other 3 are thinking/rethinking their builds and don't have them completed yet.
Vreekka just needs to get her equipment finalized. Afterwards she should be good to go.
Currently, I wonder how many Acid flasks she should craft for 3.33 gold a piece... ;-)
The correct answer is: 100.
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Another suggestion: consider letting the whole block of players who are up consecutively from now until the enemy's turn, all go at once and taking their actions in post-order to speed things up.
I've seen that and I'll probably do that in the future. :)
And thank you for coloring the borders. I was going to but I don't think these targets will last long enough to worry heh.|
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Surprise Rounds are tough. A lot of scenarios allow for them, but never mention them as a tactic. So it’s up to the GM to determine when to use them. With melee enemies, a surprise round usually just means they get to move up. With ranged, it can mean a free attack. With ranged casters it can mean really bad stuff for the group, especially when we start talking fireball.
In this case, giving the skulls a move to close with everyone is fine. Or just even flavoring them rising up in the positions they start at. Then letting initiative see who goes first.
One suggestion to consider is to break large groups of enemies into block initiative. So, two groups of three or three of two. Something like that. It can help space out things a little.
Are these enemies tiny or smaller? If so, they have to enter our squares to attack and never get flanking (I think). If they enter, we get an AoO usually. It would have been a good reason then to use a surprise round to get them into our squares while we were flat footed. We probably would have all stepped away then attacked, but it then brings into play anyone with combat reflexes getting a nice bonus attack.
Anyway, those are my thoughts. None of them written in RAW stone.
Are these enemies tiny or smaller? If so, they have to enter our squares to attack and never get flanking (I think). If they enter, we get an AoO usually. It would have been a good reason then to use a surprise round to get them into our squares while we were flat footed. We probably would have all stepped away then attacked, but it then brings into play anyone with combat reflexes getting a nice bonus attack.Anyway, those are my thoughts. None of them written in RAW stone.
They are size Tiny which is why I wondered if the intention was for them to have a surprise round to take a move action so they could attack on the 1st round of inits rather than serve themselves up for AoOs.
I haven't run any PFS before now so I don't know if surprise actions are always called out in the module or if the GM has to resolve the situation.
To keep paperwork simple, and at a minimum, I won't be sending out the Chronicle sheets at this point. So everyone needs to post this Boon somewhere you will remember; your PC's character sheet, preset rolls, etc.
Draw from the Deck: You have recovered a psychically charged harrow deck, commonly used for telling fortunes. You can expend its remaining energy to draw a card at random as a standard action, and you gain a +2 enhancement bonus to the ability score that matches the suit of the card drawn until the end of the adventure. If you do not have a harrow deck available, instead roll 1d6 to determine the suit (1 is Strength, 2 is Dexterity, 3 is Constitution, 4 is Intelligence, 5 is Wisdom, and 6 is Charisma). When you use this boon, cross it off your Chronicle sheet.
NOTE - EXCEPTION!: A player can use the Draw from the Deck boon without crossing it off her Chronicle sheet once during each subsequent quest in Phantom Phenomena.
We will be using the "roll 1d6" method.
Since we have enough votes to move forward I will start posting the next part tomorrow morning. If anyone does *NOT* wish to continue, and wants their Chronicle for the adventure, send me a PM.
Clarification on the exception: does using it in every quests of this session still cross it off *at the conclusion of all quests*?
My reading is that you can use it on the remaining parts of 'Phantom Phenomena' and still have it as a one-time use Boon afterwards. Here's the entire paragraph that includes the 'Exception' I posted above:
"In addition to players earning credit for this adventure, check the harrow Resource box on each player’s Chronicle sheet. A player can use the Draw from the Deck boon without crossing it off her Chronicle sheet once during each subsequent quest in Phantom Phenomena."
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Having double checked you're right, taking 10 doesn't say it takes any longer than a normal check, just that there can't be any distractions or threats, so you wouldn't need to spam guidance to get the benefit from it which feels a bit more realistic. I probably should have used guidance in that case.
Having double checked you're right, taking 10 doesn't say it takes any longer than a normal check, just that there can't be any distractions or threats, so you wouldn't need to spam guidance to get the benefit from it which feels a bit more realistic. I probably should have used guidance in that case.
Since that was Victor's intention I added Guidance back in. :)
The Haunt was written with a couple of exceptions to the general rules for haunts. It's much bigger than it should be but it specifically manifests when the party approaches within 40' so it does not get the benefit of a surprise round. It's easier to detect/spot than a normal haunt.
Since the haunt and the PCs are aware of one another I'm going to rule it reacts like a readied action when a PC (Cannoli in this case) gets within range. So the situation is thus:
Cannoli is holding the charge for CLW, moves to attack Haunt.
Haunt grabs and entangles Cannoli.
Cannoli still gets her touch attack, albeit at a -2 penalty, to strike the Haunt.
The Haunt will move to the top of the inits order since it was triggered by Cannoli's action.
P.S.: Thanks to Mike R for telling me haunts don't get a save. I would've read that when I read the haunt rules but I've never had the luxury of 'defeating' a haunt the easy way.
How much time do we have between quests? Do daily ressources (like spells, channels, extracts/number of bombs per day) reset?
It doesn't explicitly say but I'm going to rule that it is at least one day between Quests because:
1) The Boon from part one is usable "per quest".2) Your group isn't using teleportation to travel. In fact, since you don't have or are provided any kind of mount, it would appear you all are footing it.
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This is an FYI that I'll be away in nature next weekend, June 8-9. As this is a weekend I expect minimal disruption and i will return to resume posting Sunday evening (US/Pacific time).
Thanks for the heads up; the salivating rust monster will take care of Guardian XI. ;)
just got internet back...second weekend in a month to lost it..time to change providers i think
I hate those bums!
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Moving this discussion to discussion ;-) in order to not clog the gameplay thread.
I understand what you are trying to do - you want to make a recipe for non standard throw-situations (=thrower is not attacking directly from one of the 8 compass directions, but somewhere between - like Vreekka now) that you can also easily use in the future.
I think the easiest correct way to go about this situation is the following approach:
1. Draw the two lines in compass directions from the target towards the thrower, one straight (N, S, E or W), one diagonally (NE, NW, SE or SW) that are closest to the thrower.
2. Determine which line is nearer to the thrower and name it line 1.
3. Count clockwise to the line the result of the d8 roll. That's your miss line.
4. Go along that line the number of range increments to get the landing square.
Vreekka's case as an example:
1. Draw 2 lines to N and NW
2. Determine which line is nearer to Vreekka. (I think it's N.)
3. Count from this line clockwise to the d8 result of 8. (Therefore, I think it's NW.)
4. The range of bombs is 20 feet, so the target was in the first range increment. (Therefore, I think it's the first square to NW.)
Alternatively:
You could create a shape with 8 perfectly(!) aligned lines (numbered 1-8) extending in each compass direction (like an area effect template) and use that. (Maybe you can even use you linked picture, the Splash Weapon Miss Chart. Just make sure it is resized correctly for the respective map.) You draw the direct line between thrower and target, put the template right on top of the target and rotate it so many degrees, that the "1" aligns exactly to the throwing line you just have drawn. Count to the miss line (result of the d8 roll) and go along the number of range increments to get the landing square.
(I think at least for Vreekka's case you will get the same result as the first approach.)
I hope I made it clear how each step works - and that you can use one of these recipes! :-)
@all: If I made a mistake somewhere, please correct me! I need want to interpret the rules correctly!
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On one hand, it is very important to get the rules right. And setting up a consistent template to use for splash weapon misses is a great way to resolve this and move forward.
On the other hand, I myself have found that getting every rule perfect is not feasible for a decently flowing game. Many of the times that I see a rule that I think is being used wrongly, I will first check to see if its use is changing anything important. If it isn’t, I adjudicate the action and move on.
If it was something that will lead to a future problem, I’ll bring it up in a discussion post so the issue doesn’t happen again or the rule can be discussed to find a group consensus.
This specific case was handled well though, there were a couple different interpretations so it did need to be resolved before moving on. And there was a really quick back and forth to get it resolved, so kudos to all involved.
Them’s my two coppers.
man...i posted and it's gone..getting caught up...
There's been an uptick in the servers eating posts across my games; one of the VOs must've forgot to feed it.
The best I can do is arrange for its transport to Thrushmoor and into the custody of Count Haserton Lowls IV."How ominous :) I know that reference. Was this quest released before Strange Aeons?
I have no idea and I've never read/run/played Strange Aeons so it's purely a coincidence.
Since this doesn't involve any skill checks, inside information, etc. I'm going to post the text from the Quest:
"Dr. Quolorum’s office is a single-story, 20-by-20-foot square building made of fitted limestone and covered in ivy vines. The door has a lock, but is swung partially open. The PCs received the key with Dr. Quolorum’s
letter. Once the PCs enter the room, read or paraphrase the following."
So here's my assumptions/questions:
1) The ivy vines cover the outside so the PCs can't see inside the room.
2) Mentioning the key *after* stating the door is partially open - why? If it's open you don't need the key.
3) "Once the PCs enter the room" seems to suggest there's some reason none of them could *see* inside before *going* inside but there's nothing to block the PCs from seeing into the room?
And no there is no map of the room.
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1) Very reasonable assumption.
2) Probably just related to the fact that we have the key because the door was supposed to be locked. I wouldn’t have read too much into this.
3) I have seen this statement a TON in pathfinder writing. It always bugs me, because the PC’s are almost always ‘looking into a room’ before going into it. It usually just needs to be adjudicated by the GM as to how that may affect the situation. A haunt is easy in those cases, because it doesn’t trigger until the group enters. A trap or enemy might be seen from the doorway, but may have extra cover too. No clue how to handle the floating stuff here, but it is reasonable we would see it before entering.
1) Very reasonable assumption.
2) Probably just related to the fact that we have the key because the door was supposed to be locked. I wouldn’t have read too much into this.
3) I have seen this statement a TON in pathfinder writing. It always bugs me, because the PC’s are almost always ‘looking into a room’ before going into it. It usually just needs to be adjudicated by the GM as to how that may affect the situation. A haunt is easy in those cases, because it doesn’t trigger until the group enters. A trap or enemy might be seen from the doorway, but may have extra cover too. No clue how to handle the floating stuff here, but it is reasonable we would see it before entering.
That's what I was thinking.
BTW I sent you a PM on a different topic.
2) Probably just related to the fact that we have the key because the door was supposed to be locked. I wouldn’t have read too much into this.That was my thought too.
On 3)... yeah I dunno except maybe "vines."
I'm guessing the vines are for keeping the PCs from seeing into the room from outside the office.
They also reduce the light level to "dim light" which is why Quinn couldn't see into the room.It's just oddly written with no 'reason' for why the PCs would *have* to go into the room *before* looking inside.
Since neither option has a real detrimental effect I'll just ad lib! :)
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In the absence of the scenario providing a specific reason why the party can't see into a room (e.g. they are teleporting in), I've always interpreted things like "Once the PCs enter the room" as just a turn of phrase and let the party know about anything they can reasonably see in the room from outside before they enter. Obviously there may be things that can't be viewed from the door, for example the vampire hanging from the ceiling just above the door or the pot plant lurking in another area of the room not visible from the door.
Incidentally with dim light those with normal vision can see, but just not as well usual (it provides concealment).
Obviously there may be things that can't be viewed from the door, for example the vampire hanging from the ceiling just above the door
Don't worry, he's here just for Cannoli. :P