I'll stick it out long as you keep doing the auto-explore thing that you did with the last update.
Search Posts
I think the battle we just finished took almost 6 months I would have probably dropped out of that long ago. That's too slow. I'm in a Legacy of Fire game that is nearing that point too. It's so slow that there's almost no point. It's like one post per month per player because the DM is so slow.
I think a "P9" or "P11" version of Kingmaker would be really fun, and I'd love to give that campaign another go. Already have a character for it too.
My experience as a DM has been that a party of level 10+ characters can take out any challenges 5+ CRs higher than them with little issue, and that's not involving mythic. High level combat in PF becomes an exercise in throwing wave of enemies at them, or giving the enemys very favorable terrain etc. There's a reason PFS is capped at 12th level...a 12th level party of moderately optimized characters will pwn a Balor or Pit Fiend or whatever other traditional "ultimate monster" you throw at them. You have to throw three balors inside an active volcano with an anti-teleportation effect at them or something like that for it to be challenging. Also, I like magic items the way they are traditionally in PF. Because it lets you do builds, and it makes the world high fantasy which is what matches best with the PF classes. They are very flashy etc. If you want to create a more traditional old-school, or LoTResque fantasy world you have to cap level advancement somewhere in the low mid levels and basically rethink huge aspects of the system. Why not just go play one of the 1e clones or Barbarians of Lemuria or something?
You get capped at 8, and then get feats instead of leveling up. There are feats to upgrade BAB and stuff I believe. It's originally called E7 in 3.5 or E6, can't remember. I'm not sure how mythic would interact with it.
Well, we haven't heard from Jonas in nearly a week as well (though I don't think he'd bail without saying something). I feel very meh towards Rappan Athuk for the same reasons Edmund listed in his post. If you guys want to continue it, I'll withdraw and you can recruit a replacement for me too.
I've found myself very pressed for PBP time lately, because I took on DMing 6 games and then my work schedule increased unexpectedly. That being said, with the pace we've been moving I wouldn't mind switching over to an AP game. It won't take much time for me to post here when needed. So I don't necessarily need to quit. I'm currently running Carrion Crown, and Wrath of the Righteous. I'm playing in Age of Worms (your adaptation), Shattered Star, Rise of the Runelords, Way of the Wicked, and Crimson Throne. I've begun and played through part of the beginning of almost all the other APs as well. The ones that interest me the most at this point would be Kingmaker, Mummy's Mask, Legacy of Fire, Jade Regent or possibly Reign of Winter (just for the eventual WW1 cameo).
Ariella joins Edmund in laughing. "Nice one, Edmund!"
"You alright, Jockbur?" Areilla asks concernedly. "Does anyone need healing?"
Hope you and yours are ok. No worries :)
Ariella will send a line of arcane force down her blade and then attack the remaining spider with a twirling assault.
Ariella attempts to move past her companions into the corner in a series of quick acrobatic maneuvers.
Then she assumes her battle stance, whirling and twirling in place while hopping back and forth from one foot to the other.
"Hermann, longspear!" Ariella says.
"Join the club, bro. Been wondering that for days now. Who could have even built all this? Dwarves? The mere engineering is incredible."
Unfortunately, this is primarily a dungeon crawl module which we all knew when we signed up. If there is nothing for your character to do, post a comment or irrelevant discussion. Our characters would be chatting as we wandered through the dungeon, talking about food or love lives or favorite pets or religion or whatever else people discuss. Just start a discussion. Yeah, that's great. But how many times does that actually happen and get sustained? Trying to force artificial conversation isn't going to get rid of the dungeon crawl format issue...
I am here, but again, dungeon crawl. Dungeon crawl in PBP = the trap-spotter posting most of the time outside combat. We had a little RP spout there for a while, but now it's back to check this door, check that thing again. In most of my dungeon crawl games I use something I call flex time. I just take the party's standard search procedure do it for them off screen, then list all the empty or uninteresting rooms they come across all at once and update the map. I don't post the room descriptions and update the map until they find something worthy of consideration (combat or an interesting object). If we follow the right hand wall at all times, never go up or down and always take ten or 20 on perception checks at intersections and doors you can do all that for us without input from us. Then instead of weeks of waiting for Jockbur to type essentially the same post over and over, we get a string of interesting things from you and all the boring empty room and searching stuff happens off screen. I wouldn't do that at a tabletop game, but PBP is a very different beast.
I'm in WoTW in real life and loving it. We are a group of three gestalt characters, and last session we faced down 30 boggarts in an epic ~20 round combat and came out without any PC deaths. I'm also full up on games at the moment. So thanks and good luck, but I'm not personally interested.
Ariella shrugs. "I thought the point was to get rich and not die?"
She shakes her head, trying to make a solemn expression.
"No way! We'll have to try next time we go back to town." she says, shoving him lightly on the arm. "Man, all this searching for traps is sooooo tedious. I bet most of the groups who come down here die because of boredom. They can't take one more five minute wait before opening a door or touching something, and they finally just do it and then get rocks on their heads and incinerated or something."
Ariella lets the others puzzle over the graffiti while she and Jonas watch their backs. "So, bro, like the new me?"
"Nice!" Ariella exclaims, "You did well Jockbur."
"I think I can do it three more times before I'll need to rest. Maybe Jonas could patch you up better? I'd prefer to save my energy for emergencies."
"Qui, could you not cast your spell, then swim down a short way, and try moving the skull? Surely if you're only ten or fifteen feet under the water you'd be out of range of any trap on the skull?" Ariella asks. "Let me heal you some," she says reaching out and doing a little dance to summon some magic. She lays hands on the frog to heal him.
"Well, we know there's no magical trap at least. But if our previous experiences are any guide its got to be trapped somehow."
"Edmund, can you summon any aquatic creatures that could manipulate the skull? That appears to be quite a bit of wealth, it'd be a shame to leave it here."
"Try pushing the button again?"
"Daaaaaaaamn!" Ariella swears. She rushes forward peering down into the pit. Seeing that Qui and Jockbur are alive, she says "Are you two okay?"
Ariella can't help herself, and burst out laughing. After a few moments of mirth she says, "Sorry guys, that was just so unexpected. The looks on your faces when you appeared in the air....You guys are alright down there, right?"
“I’m guessing that opening the door will push you into the pit. Do you have a way to open the door from afar Edmund?” Ariella asks the wizard.
Ariella casts detect magic and takes a look at the pit and the rest of the room.
"Maybe it's an illusion?" she wonders, before walking over to the pit and sticking her hand inside.
"For some reason it's so much easier now," she replies. "Sarenrae has truly blessed me."
True. I'm not sure how many magical weapons a 3rd level party would have normally, but probably at least one. I am loving this combat because I always loved the concept of a bard, but thought they sucked. This is proving to me how wrong that was. Ariella is sweet now. 10,000% more fun, thanks for letting me switch :)
May I ask in what way?
"Thanks bro!" Ariella mutters as she slices the gargoyle again with her crackling blade.
Ariella slashes at the gargoyle again with her empowered blade.
Ariella enters into her battle dance, whirling and twirling her blade about her in ever faster arcs. She sends another surge of crackling energy down the blade before lashing out at the Gargoyle with lightning speed. Her blade slices through the gargoyle's flesh as easily as if it were butter. "Ha!" Ariella taunts the beast, dancing back and forth in front of it.
Ariella dashes forward, moving up next to Qui. Her scimitar flashes as she sends a tendril of power up the blade. She slashes at the stone fiend, but fails to penetrate its rocky hide.
Miss
Areilla will lead the phalanx after the scouts, following them at a twenty foot distance.
"Seems like we should be good to move on guys, the statues aren't moving..." Ariella says, relaxing her shield stance a bit.
Ariella moves to stand in front of Hermann and Jonas, hefting her shield and scimitar. "We're like a little phalanx, now," she says smiling.
That's good :)
"I do feel different. Much different actually. I feel stronger. I feel like I can dance the same way Qui does now. At least that's what I was doing in my dream. I could fight better than I ever have before. But at the same time, I feel less connected to the Dawnflower's healing light. It's as if she burned away the soft parts in me and left only the hard..." Ariella says. She moves into the center of the room, and and draws her scimitar. Before, she had always held the blade somewhat awkwardly, as if it were more of a prop than a piece of her. Now she holds the curving sword with the steadiness of a trained fencer. Furrowing her brow for a brief instant she concentrates and the length of the scimitar's edge crackles to life with arcing bands of golden yellow and red energy, which flow up and down the blade. "See?" she asks, holding up the crackling sword. She breaks into a series of lighting fast twirling turns and leaps, using her momentum to whip the curved blade around her with frightening speed. The energized scimitar leaves burning slashes of afterglow in the air and in the others' vision. After a second she stops, the energy recedes from the blade and she sheathes it. "I think we're good?"
"Quite. Is breakfast one of the insects we've killed lately?"
Ariella's eyes gently flutter open at the sound of voices. She looks around slowly getting her bearings. "What happened?" she asks groggily, sitting up. "I had a nightmare...I was stuck in the darkness," she continues, and then she remembers where they are and stops talking.
|