Bonthwain Kressler's page

So I'm running a darksun conversion, a setting where riding around on Vermin is fairly commonplace.

Being mindless, they can't actually be combat trained (correct me if this assumption is incorrect). But by the same token, I would think being mindless also makes them immune to being Frightened in battle.

I'm fine fudging things to make the game go, but am curious how RAW should actually apply to this situation.

So the situation is this: a vehicle is about to run over a character that has decided to stand their ground in front of it.

The rules I found in Ultimate Combat are pretty clear about how to resolve things if the vehicular overrun is successful. However, I can find little to no solid rules as to what happens if the check fails. My assumption is that the vehicle suffers a "Sudden Stop" and everything that that entails. Does that sound right?

Also, reins under the "Driving Devices" table are listed as having an AC of 14. Does the driver's skill bonus get added to this while in motion?

So the PBP campaign I'm running here is suffering from a little player attrition and could generally do with a bigger party. I'm looking for 1-3 badass characters to face the desert and its horrors.

Right now, we have just started the Tyrian Conspiracy module. Once that is done, my current players have expressed interest in founding their own settlement, so this will likely become a Kingmaker game. I also have plans to run the Day of Light module at some point in this campaign, players willing.

The party currently consists of:

• a human ex-templar (inquisitor/fighter),
  
• a half giant psychic warrior,
  
• a human cerulean mage (wizard),
  
• and a human sniper (rogue)

• Consistent posting. The only things that prevent me from posting at least once a day are life and death emergencies and waiting on players.
  
• My games are a little more on the crunchy side of things. While there certainly is roleplaying, I try to keep the pacing swift.
  
• I stick to RAW wherever possible (Exceptions are noted in my character creation document).
  
• I prefer to use Google Docs for maps and record keeping.
  
• I use tactical maps for all but the most straightforward combat encounters (party vs single enemy on open desert)
  
• Do not expect wealth by level. Athas is a hardscrabble place where even basic survival is a challenge.
  

• Post at least once a weekday and once a weekend (preferably more).
  
• Know the rules, know how to use every advantage you can muster. Dark Sun is unforgiving, random encounters are rolled on a chart that does not care about CR. Running away is sometimes the correct choice.
  
• Get along with the party. Rivalry and verbal conflict is fine. But when push comes to shove, you should all be working together.
  
• Familiarity with the Kingmaker rules is a plus.

A backstory is appreciated, but not required. Come up with some reason your character would be in the trade town of Altaruk and has taken a job from a mysterious woman they met there. She's instructed you to hire on with a caravan bound for Tyr by way of Urik and to keep an eye on the caravan master.

After your arrest, you are tied at the ankle to a few dozen other prisoners by a stout length of giant hair rope, forming a chain and stuffed on a wagon. The wagon, a glorified cage on wheels, does not fail to hit a single pothole as it trundles up the north road.

When you finally reach your destination, it’s late afternoon. You see a couple squat mud-brick buildings and a sea of tents interspersed with livestock and more wagons. The haze of a silt estuary is visible a mile or so past the buildings to the northwest.

The Overmap
You are on the west side of the smaller circle (the pit)

The cages are opened and men and women wielding spears encourage stragglers out onto the cracked earth, the rope at your ankle keeping you in a queue of sorts. The line of slaves is dragged towards a wide hole in the ground near one of the structures, whose top is covered by some kind of bone latticework. As your draw nearer, an assembly line of men in leather armor works the queue with grim efficiency.

First, a pair of guards strip you of your armor, weapons and valuables. They aren’t shy or gentle about it.
Sleight of Hand may be used to try and smuggle an item through here. The DC is 15. If successful, you may attempt to smuggle another item through, but each requires another check with a cumulative +2 DC beyond the first. This check can be made untrained.
Other skills and abilities may also be helpful.

Next, you pass by a small fire pit, another guard holds you down as an apron clad dwarf hefts a thin stone rod from the pit and plunges the end onto your shoulder. The burns form a mark, a straight line with 2 symmetrical curved lines extending out from its midpoint.
This causes 1 point of fire damage

Finally, as you get to the edge of the pit, a bored looking guard asks in a repetitive monotone ”Are you trained as an artisan, slave?”

An ugly hunchbacked mul tromps up and down the line, barking orders and whipping slave and guard alike at the slightest provocation.

While all this is going on, a fair haired man in a loose robe lounges on a low chair about thirty feet to your side. A small table sits next to the man covered in foodstuffs and a silver goblet from which he periodically sips and a large hide umbrella keeps the whole affair in the shade. One of the templars who brought you here approaches him, talks for a minute, then money changes hands. After the exchange, a low hum can be heard coming from the man and the air around him shimmers slightly. The guards pay it no heed.

Twelve more guards keep watch with crossbows a couple dozen feet back on either side of the line.

Your first quest is simply to escape. The means are limited only by your creativity and luck. While making a break for it first scene is certainly a possibility, you probably will want make a plan and gather allies (at least of your fellow PCs) as the desert is a dangerous place to be alone. Completing quests will grant extra experience points

If you aren’t already, I encourage you to familiarize yourselves with Performance Combat and Hero Points.

As a heads up, I will be rolling certain checks (some sense motive, perception, some saves, knowledge checks, etc) for you in secret so you don’t know how well you did, or in some cases that you made a roll at all. If you would like to apply limited use abilities or hero points for these kinds of rolls, let me know under what criteria you would like to do so. You’ll still be rolling yourself for things with obvious, immediate effects.

It’s free year 11 and under the dark sun of Athas, they've finally caught up with you. Nowhere left to run, nowhere left to hide. They've bound you and dragged you off into the desert. For now, you only have two goals: survival and escape.

Inspired by a post here a couple weeks ago, I’d like to try to run a PBP campaign in the Dark Sun setting. I’m looking for 4-5 characters, beginning at 3rd level. House rules and character creation information can be found here. Equipment rules I will be using are here. If you are interested, post a character. Include the crunch, the wild talent roll and a reason why the character was arrested and convicted to the slave pits (but not summarily executed) by Balican Templars. Further backstory is appreciated, but not required.

A few things to note:

• Be at least somewhat familiar with the Dark Sun setting. As per the setting, arcane spell casters are going to have a hard time, especially at the start.
  
• This will be a very low loot game with an emphasis on survival. Don’t expect anything even close to WBL.
  
• I’m hoping for a balanced mix of roleplaying and rollplaying. I tend to stick to RAW whenever I can.
  
• It will be brutal. It will be unfair at times. Character death will be a real possibility. I’m of the opinion that success is all the sweeter when the challenge is high. I’m going to use old school second edition Dark Sun wandering monster tables when out in the wilderness, which care not one whit for APL. Sometimes retreat is going to be the smart option.
  
• I would like players to be able to post once a day so we can keep things moving.
  
• For all but the simplest encounters, I will be providing turn by turn battle maps.
  
• Assuming things go well for the first adventure, I hope to incorporate the ‘Tyrian Conspiracy’ and ‘Day of Light’ adventures. Alternatively, if the players prefer, I could run more of a sandbox game (pun intended).

Consider the following scenario:

A Half Orc with Toothy has Cleave, is wielding a pole arm and is adjacent to an enemy who is adjacent to a second enemy who is 10' from our hero.

The Half Orc declares a Cleave, and hits the second enemy with his pole arm. Is making a bite attack against the first enemy a valid second attack from the Cleave?