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There is nothing hasty or knee-jerk about my decision. I don't drop out of things lightly. I can't give the game the attention it deserves, and that isn't going to change anytime soon. Enjoy the game, guys.
I'm sorry to say that I have overextended myself and some life things have come up to make it difficult for me to keep up with as many games as I am in. I need to bow out of this one. Apologies for the flakiness & I hope you all have a good time.
I'm getting sick and couldn't get caught up with every game tonight. I will post tomorrow - my students are all finishing projects and need very little handholding right now. Cross-posting my untouched games.
Astrid stays along the back, her quarterstaff in her hand, and waited quietly until she was needed. After weeks of scraping by to survive on her own, she was grateful to let others handle the worst parts of exploration and survival and just trail along for a time.
Okay, so then my last question is just amended to, "If we aren't attempting a long rest, should we all just join in the recon?"
Okay, I am kind of confused as to what everyone is doing and what the plan is, so I'd like to hash that out really quickly. Who is doing recon? Are we attempting a long rest? (I forgot wildshape comes back after a short rest, so Astrid can hold on a little longer without one. She's just tired, lol.) Is there a point of doing recon if we're not doing the long rest, or should we all just go down into the sewers?
Astrid stretches, an odd, uncharacteristic smile crossing her face as Grim offers a blessing. She shakes her head, holding up her dirty hands. "I appreciate it, but I feel much better after this bit of rest we've managed to get." The spore druid took another deep breath, closing her eyes and extending her senses through the spores, the invisible aura suddenly becoming strangely sparkling in a flash before settling around her again. "I'm ready to go when you are."
The spore druid is more caught up in her own discomfort at being around so many new people to catch much of the interaction between the other survivors. She closes her eyes and breathes deeply of her spore colony, seeking the comfort of her fungal allies just for a moment. Astrid watches the interaction between Simon and Reya play out, eyebrows raising. "If we are going to get out of here and accomplish these goals, we need to be willing to work together. This conversation is not productive," the druid comments in her hoarse voice, glancing between Simon and Reya through yellow-green narrowed eyes. "It seems like sleep is not in our future," Astrid sighs, stretching out and taking stock of her resources. "To the sewers?"
Fair enough on the long rest, ahahaha.
Astrid really needs a long rest before we go do anything like trying to find the citadel.
Astrid looks uncomfortable at the question of whether or not she has food, but is thankful for Syrina saving the day in that way, so to speak. She had barely enough to keep herself fed, let alone a group of survivors. The druid eventually shuffles to sitting with the rest of the crew, sitting by Syrina and regarding the rest quietly, drinking from an open bottle of Educated Guess as well. "Any organization will have corruption within," Astrid adds quietly in her hoarse voice. "Especially organizations such as The Hellriders." At the question of where to go, Astrid shrugs. "The Citadel seems to be the most logical goal...As for how to get there, your guess is as good as mine. I may be able to scout a path, but I need a good night's sleep before I can shift into an animal. My magical resources are about tapped...I didn't anticipate fighting a dragon today."
I may not be able to get a post up today, my apologies <3 I am not feeling well. Feel free to move things along if I am holding anything up.
Astrid moves within when they are allowed, going to the makeshift infirmary setup to go check on Edyn and Jaine, her former patients. After checking on them, she would seek out her newfound allies. She would approach them with a grim expression, the spores in her aura hitting the infernal light just so, giving her an odd, unearthly look to her. She crosses her arms over her chest, glancing about the fortifications. "It would be a good idea to shore up the defenses...and then try to find a way to get some sleep." The druid's voice seems to break at the mention of 'sleep,' exhaustion written on her face through deep, dark circles around her eyes and the way that her posture had begun to slump. "And to talk about what we do next, I suppose. This one," she gestures at Simon, "mentioned saving Elturel?"
Astrid smiles at the two sentinels, holding up a hand. "I had found Sprog..." She glanced around the group, frowning deeply, trying to spot the small, annoying child she had chased. "We don't have a lot of time to negotiate, dears. There is a horde descending in this area, and we need to barricade. These people helped slay the bone dragon. They claim to have plans to save Elturel..." The druid shrugs, but she looks determined.
Oh, don't worry, this is just Astrid <3 She will settle down a little bit when she gets to know you all better. Surviving in hell and all. I think Simon is GREAT.
Astrid jumped slightly as Simon appeared near her, regarding the fellow half-elf through narrowed eyes. "This morning, I beat the brains of an already-dead man in with my staff," She began conversationally, a dangerous look on her face. The druid picked off a bit of viscera from her robe and flicked it outward, watching the arc of its descent as it landed on the ground without a sound before continuing. "I mercy-killed a man who was going to turn undead and burned his body to protect the print shop folks. Then...all of this. That was just today." She leans in to whisper back to Simon, her red-rimmed eyes catching his, and she grinned toothily. "It is never that simple, Simon Eltan. But I hope that you all can help." She nods to Donal, slipping ahead of them to enter the print shop and make sure the survivors weren't alarmed by the sudden entrance of many people.
Astrid watches the halfling descend and skittishly takes a step away from him as he lands to put a bit of distance between them. "Astrid Morchella," She says in her low, husky voice. "I was here when Elturel sank. Studying The Companion, in a way..." She glances up at the orb, a disgusted expression on her face, before looking back down at him. "You all look too fresh," She says, drawing out the 's' sound with a hiss, a wry grin crossing her face. She longed for a bath, to get the pervasive smell of sulfur and soot and death off of her skin. "You come here voluntarily?"
Astrid slips through the crowd, seeing the others have things handled, and heads toward the small halfling who seemed quite hurt. She stops in front of his perch, staring up at him with her fevered eyes. The air around her sparkles softly with her spores, and she speaks softly, her voice hoarse and harsh, "You were hurt. Badly. If you would allow it, I will heal you?" If Mal will let her, she would reach out and tap him twice, her spores washing over the halfling to help the wounds on his body close.
Once I get a nap in, I will get something up. Expect my posting to pick up again. It was unblocked at work again. ❤️
I second the Grim nomination. :)
Astrid continues to swing her quarterstaff, her aura of spores undulating around her menacingly.
Astrid stumbles into one of the horde, shouting angrily as a zombie bites into her flesh. She quickly casts shillelagh and takes a swing at the one that bit her.
Sorry for not clarifying that sooner. They blocked Paizo at work. Y'all are correct with Moonbeam. The swinging around was more for dramatic description. <3
Astrid casts moonbeam into the crowd again, swinging the beam around to sweep through the undead.
It is also the last day of my break and I am experiencing the end-of-break panic where I've spent all of my break actually relaxing and not doing any work, so my brain is like "HEY YOU ARE A FAILURE AND YOU DON'T REMEMBER HOW TO TEACH" Going to get Astrid posted...soon. <3
If you stick with the "mini-likes" is there anywhere I can make a custom one? :D
I think this is cool! I would say that if your issue with a grid before was that it took a lot of time and stuff, I would keep it much simpler for us so you don't burn out on it. However, if you're having fun and it's not a huge hassle or anything, keep doing it! It is definitely easy to tell where things are at with that map.
Gotta embrace "good enough" - but also do what makes you happy. The map looks neat!
"I don't know who any of you are, but I assume you're not with them given...all of this," The spore druid gestures helplessly at the mess and the chaos. She casts a critical eye on the newcomers, noting their lack of filth and the lack of brimstone scent coming off of them. She herself is worse than before: her blonde hair matted with soot, smoke, and decay; her robes tattered and stinking. She is a sorry sight and certainly not one that seemed...welcoming. Her spore colony sparkled slightly in the dim light, giving her a somewhat feverish glow. "I found shelter in an old printing hall. Big, sturdy walls. Some troubled folks in there, but they're trying to get by..." She glanced over the worst of them, frowning. "And I can probably heal a few of you." The druid's normally smooth, low voice was gravely from the atmosphere and long disuse, and it cracked here and there as she spoke.
Astrid takes aim at any one of the remaining skeletons with her moonbeam.
If anything comes close (within 10ft), Astrid's spore colony will ATTACK!
Mal, I think the issue is that in 5e, investigation/perception rolls are considered full actions for a round of combat. Not sure if GM has been ruling otherwise.
Astrid makes a soft noise of surprise as the skeletal dragon explodes into shards and then swings her Moonbeam at the nearest skeleton.
I tend to agree with Syrina on this. I have a good time, though. I do struggle with visualizing things so the theater of the mind stuff is really difficult for me in big fights. Even if it's just little colored circles on a grid in Google Drawings, I would love to be able to see our positioning.
It had been some time since Astrid had faced anything of true challenge, and the skeletal dragon before her was quite the re-introduction to battle. She glances about, noticing new faces who are fighting as hard as she, and raises an eyebrow curiously. She didn't have much time to contemplate this before the thing breathes out a horrifying vapor.
She manages to dodge out of the way just in time to save herself from the worst of the damage. Although the life-stealing vapor stings. Within her head, the spores are going crazy. The wartime efforts are in full swing and her community is ready, but her fungal army struggles to find an opening that they can exploit on the skeletal dragon's body. She snarls at the dragon between gritted teeth, fishing in her components pouch for a few seeds and a shiny stone. The druid calls the spores back to her, holding the components in the palm of her hand to create a reflective surface that she aims at the skeletal dragon, projecting a Moonbeam at the beast.
Okay, gotcha. I like that idea!
yeah, unfortunately, spores druid is super heavy on the necrotic damage. but hey...it's something! lol. So, legendary thing. I think I need a little more detail as to how you're imagining that working. Can you give an example of how you envision it in play? I just want to make sure I'm understanding it correctly!
Yep. As of today.
Astrid casts Shillelagh on her quarterstaff, solid mushrooms spreading out along the hitting end of her staff. She rushes forward and swings high at the skeletal creature.
Her spores pulse, infesting the skeletal dragon and attempting to eat away at it.
Sorry for being slow you guys, my work f*cking blocked Paizo because our IT department treats staff like children who need to be nannied. We're as restricted as the students and it is infuriating. I'm working on getting caught up on all my games. Thanks for your patience.
I have been writing some stuff on my own time with friends, and it is SO difficult to avoid using the tags on dialogue. It's automatic for me at this point.
I'll give you the headpat, DM. I did actually laugh out loud at that. :p
Astrid allows the child to speak and frowns deeply. "What in the world are you talking about?" She demands, right before a bone dragon emerges about 100 feet away and slams its tail down near them. Her eyes go wide and her spores burst out around her, forming a halo of protection. "Oh...f~@@!" Astrid curses as she runs forward 30 ft before brandishing her focus and calling forth the spores to boost her power.
Her halo of spores contracts and detracts around her threateningly, ready to strike at any enemy who comes too close.
Only if I'm a s+!!ty teacher ;P - I do prewriting, conferences, and step by step essay writing. I know their voices quite well by the time we write an essay. The ChatGPT can't replicate that yet. It's a subtle skill.
Especially as an English teacher. No shade to the other subjects, but not only is my subject kind of subjective with grading (and I have to use rubrics and stuff to try to make it seem more objective...), But the amount of WRITING... It's not check an answer and see if the did a formula. Analytical skills and writing are so abstract and it takes a lot of work to pore through it, even if I'm only really grading for one skill or looking closely at one question. Imo my subject is way harder to assess. Anyway, that's kind of my soap box. The kids won't put forth their best effort unless I grade everything, so if I want to see improvement I have to do a lot, grade a lot, and work on some things that auto-grade at the same time. Got a new textbook this year for honors and I've had to create everything from scratch again. Because I'm a control freak. <3 lol
I have no real major plans aside from the Solstice. My family and I are keeping vigil. Other than that, I will be a posting madwoman until the new year! I have been in a bit of a creative rut all around with all of my games the past few days because I'm a little burnt out as the winter break approaches for me. :P I have about 40 study guides to grade, 60 writing assignments, and about 120 quizzes.
Cat-strid gives up on smacking Sprog with her paws and merps at him, her little meow trilling softly within the decaying wall. She darts around the little boy's feet, trying to herd him out of an opening, biting the hem of his pants, and then trying to drag him out. Eventually, the boy's curiosity takes over, and he follows Cat-strid outside, where she promptly drops her cat form and snatches up the boy. "You have people very worried about you!" She says quietly, covering his mouth with a hand to muffle any shouting from the boy. "I'm not here to hurt you, kid. but your people sent me out here to look for you. I will let you talk if you don't scream, okay? There are people here who really don't need to know we exist."
Sorry I didn't post yesterday. Super long day at work and then I had IRL Pathfinder. Getting something up shortly!
Sorry for the wait! I will get something up tomorrow, my brain is broken after today.
Hey DM! No worries or pressure about me. I'm sure you know how wild the days before winter break are...I have a stack of papers literally three inches high to grade, and that's not counting the three assignments on Google Classroom I have to deal with either.
So, in my mind, Astrid has been surviving in hell alone, cut off from the rest of the colony that had given her life again back on the regular material plane. All she has are the spores that live within her, and while that's great, she is very community-oriented. So, finding this group within the printing area has given her more of a purpose beyond just "Find out about The Companion" - it's given her the chance to plug back into a community. So, to me, rescuing the kid (or failing to, because we're in hell and all) is another way that she hopes to gain favor so she doesn't have to be alone anymore. Mercy killing the guy before really affected her - more than killing anyone for self-defense. It reminded her of her own humanity (half-elvenity rofl I don't know). I think a satisfying overall conclusion would be her finding some kind of community with a group. I don't think it needs to be a happy ending, but I think SOME kind of community would help, especially if it's a way for Astrid to meet up with the other two. Does that help? We can chat more if you want. No shame in asking for input, GM. I do it with my players a lot. We're writing a collaborative story together. <3 I have been having some block myself. |
