Brathas's page

Yeah, I was thinking of posting the same thing earlier today. Two weeks without a post.

I think 11 days from first post to last has to be the record for the quickest campaign death of my PbP experience.

"You know Jermaine, I imagine if you just showed up they'd have you doing all the boring apprentice stuff like scrubbing floors, and just not get around to teaching you anything for years. Free labor! I think you are right to want an agreed-upon contract or however they do it."

"Oh, getting married soon, are you, Venla? Is the lucky fellow aware of this? Let's see, who shall it be?"
There aren't that many young men in the village, so he starts ticking them off on his fingers.
"Sampo's going to be little help. He likes farming even less than I like masonry. Now I can't deny that your children would be handsome, but you'd be doing all the work.
Jermaine? Why, you have just sent him off to the Black Tower!
Oh! His brother, Gand Purth. Now there's a real prince. What a kind, considerate fellow." A quick look to Jermaine clarifies that nobody thinks this of Gand.
"And who else is there in town that is of age and not yet spoken for?
Oh! Me?" he says with mock surprise - for he and Venla have flirted and bantered for years. He continues dramatically, "Why, you flatter me, milady, and I should swear on my honor that I would make a fine husband. But you would have to embrace adventure and risk, for the farming life is not for me."
He returns to a more normal tone. "I mean it. If we have a good run of shows and word spreads, we might be performers one day. Or we do what I have suggested. We save up our money, and two or three years from now we bring a really good show to Ashlar or somewhere and put it on in the streets. Maybe we get noticed as performers and picked up by a theater company. And you're an excellent brewer, so the company could have its own ale sold at performances! That would draw the crowds. We should at least take the chance."

Brathas has raised this idea before. Sampo dislikes the idea of working and refining one idea for a long period to make it a really excellent show. Venla, the sensible one, regards the plan as a risky long-shot. Tilda, the youngest and the one with the biggest family, doesn't like the prospect of leaving her mother alone with all of her younger siblings for a month or two. Brathas, the confident risk-taker, is the most enthusiastic about it. He'd have to save up enough money for the trip to assuage Venla's concerns about risk, make the show good enough before rehearsals start that Sampo doesn't get bored working on it, and wait for Tilda's siblings to grow enough that her mother can let her make the trip.

"Yes. That I could surmise," He arches a brow "But if that's frustrating for you both you have my sympathy. Trust me, I understand how vexing parents and limitations can be."

"Nah, it's not a big deal. In our case, constraints breed creativity. It'll be a good show. Three more weeks maybe."

"When I finally get a chance to apprentice to a wizard, that'll all change. I just need to keep sending out missives and messages. The law of percentages suggests eventually I will get a positive response."

"Mmm-hmm," Brathas replies noncommittally.

He looks like he is about to speak, reconsiders, then reconsiders again.
"Aren't some wizards self-taught? Why couldn't that be you? I know you have some books and scrolls you've been reading."

Brathas knows he shouldn't voice the thought What if you never get a 'yes'? even though it is on the tip of his tongue and, like many youths of his age, it can be hard to stop from blurting out what is on his mind. And so he is grateful to be rescued from such embarrassment by Venla, and takes her arm.
"Yeah, come on Jermaine, let's see what there is to see."

"Well, Jermaine, Venla is right. Those fine performers in Ashlar have what is known as 'artistic freedom', whereas we have what are known as 'parents'. And 'children in the audience'. Some compromises must be made.

How have you been spending your Freeday, Jermaine?"

Brathas had been in a barn, working on a scene with the rest of the theater troupe.
Sampo, at 16 a year younger than Brathas, was the most handsome lad in the village and was generally the male romantic lead in any story. His parents were farmers and he took every opportunity to shirk his duties.
Venla, a year older than Brathas, was fairly tall and broad-shouldered with long brown hair. She was studious and diligent and typically played the female romantic leads. Her parents were farmers and brewers (though Venla's attention to detail had made her the primary brewer), and today she had brought a jug of small beer.
Tilda, a scrawny and energetic 14-year-old, was the youngest member of the troupe. She brought skill at acrobatics and mime to her performances, often cast as a fey but sometimes a younger romantic lead. Her father had died of illness two years ago, leaving her mother to raise six children. The theater troupe were sort of unofficial guardians to Tilda, keeping her (relatively) out of trouble and even on occasion watching some of her younger siblings.

The scene wasn't working out as well as hoped. The book that Anvar had brought back, "Tusk Love," had to be adapted in such a way that it retained at least some of its risqué nature, but no so much as to get the show shut down. Currently the idea was to move some scenes behind a curtain with lanterns casting shadows, and then use props to make the shadow-play too ludicrous to cause much offense.

"Let's take a break," said Brathas, pouring a bit of the small beer for himself.

"Sounds like something is going on by the mill. Shall we go see?"

It is raining outside, so the youths put on their cloaks before heading out.
----
"Huh. Nobles, or at least their retainers."

Brathas sees the half-orc Krezen off by himself, and the butcher Lodric talking to Anvar.

He moves over to Jermaine and nods. "Any idea what's going on?"

I would note that "stonemason apprentice" is not how Brathas sees himself.

He is apprenticed to a family trade, but he doesn't really like it, he isn't interested in it or that good at it, and he doesn't see a future for himself in it. Much as Luke Skywalker would probably not think of himself as an apprentice moisture farmer in the beginning of Episode IV. It might be technically accurate, but it's not part of his self-image.

Kind of envisioning a cross between Luke Skywalker's "restless youth bored in a small town and dreaming of adventure", and Rob Gronkowski's "big kid with incredible strength and a flair for showmanship".

That's why theater shows appeal to him. They can be epic and dramatic and larger than life, while life in Pebble Mill seems just too small and boring.

Hmmmm Earthbreaker seems way too big to slaughter animals in general. I actually think a small hammer like a warhammer would make more sense, probably used to kill smaller animals like rabbits and such. I seriously doubt larger animals were slaughtered with a blunt instrument.

Come on man... Butchering Axe for a Butcher. I mean. Perfect match?

Currently watching American Gods and the use of a sledgehammer to slaughter cattle is a plot point. A sledgehammer in PF is treated as an improvised Earthbreaker but that penalty would be pretty harsh. Straight-up Earthbreaker sounds reasonable to me.

Brathas is just a kid, and not terribly focused. That is probably how everyone knows him - great potential, but little drive and some lack of seriousness.

It is likely that everyone has seen his "theater troupe." This is a group of Brathas, one other boy, and two girls, all of similar age. They stage dramatic scenes, or mocking parodies of the same. Most commonly at festivals, but occasionally a pop-up show in the street some afternoon when they have nothing better to do. Brathas is usually cast as an ogre or a giant and has a habit of doing protracted and melodramatic death scenes when he meets his inevitable demise.

He has been known to ask Anvar to bring back books from his travels. These books are then "improved for the stage adaptation."

Jormvo is too stoic and quiet for Brathas's taste; he has had little interaction with the old noble. Brathas is respectful, but does not seek out the elder's wisdom. How many strong, confident, and happily directionless 17-year-olds are inclined to do so?

Nor does he have much interaction with Krezen, as the half-orc is rather a recluse. However, Krezen did bring home his friend Venla (one of the actresses) when she was lost in the woods a few years back, so Brathas holds a good opinion of the trapper.

He quite likes Jermaine, who is of the same age. Brathas has never seen any reason to bully those smaller or weaker. He doesn't go out of his way to visibly defend Jermaine (as that might be seen as patronizing), but a couple of the youths who bullied Jermaine have found themselves 'accidentally' knocked to the ground in collisions. Brathas is not as smart as Jermaine, but he's reasonably bright and curious so hopefully has earned some respect from Jermaine for not entirely being a dumb jock.

He knows Tarja - perhaps her brother is one of Brathas's fellow actors? Someone who, like Brathas, is rather uninterested in his family business and finds other distractions when he is shirking his responsibilities.

Lodric and Brathas know each other. While there are others of very notable strength in the community (Krezen at 18 Str, Anvar at 17, Tarja at 16), Lodric and Brathas are truly outstanding. Perhaps they have had Strongman contests at some festivals? If so, Brathas as the younger of the two might be lacking in the skills and technique to best employ his strength, but considers that with a bit more experience he will be able to best the butcher.

I'm in! Looking forward to it.

The linked rules for NPC wealth do specify "Leftover gold from any category can be spent on any other category," so I will do that.

Brathas needs only 12 GP for weapons, so he will shift some over to the protection category to afford chainmail (which is 150 GP).

His chainmail and glaive were his grandfather's and have been used by his father on militia duty. A small village like Pebble Hill needs as many able-bodied individuals as possible to trained, especially those as strong as Brathas, so the youth has been training.

He'll have a bit of gold left over, but I can figure that out if selected. Maybe a couple of potions from a local witch as payment for helping with some heavy tasks (moving rocks, digging ditches, etc.).

Here is Aldizog's submission.
I kept the human +2 in Str because I envision him primarily as a warrior and that level of bard will hurt BAB. Going with a reach weapon and Combat Reflexes to hopefully take down opponents before they get to melee.

I limited myself to Core weapons; if non-Core were allowed, would probably take the Bardiche or Lucerne Hammer over the Glaive.

If alternate human racial traits are allowed, I would lean heavily towards taking the Silver Tongued trait to reflect his gregarious and generally charming nature. He wouldn't yet have any ranks in Bluff or Diplomacy, but would fix that upon taking levels of bard.

Aldizog's submission here.

Brathas is ready to go, with 20-point buy.

Looks like... I had a great time with this one and will keep you all in mind for any openings that appear in the various APs I am in (or running).

And if you find anybody willing to run some B/X, or even pick this one up, I'd be up for that.

He has also vanished from the Kingmaker game that Ana and I are in. Where once again I am arguing for tackling a huge group of foes because I don't see any other option.

(Although this time it is others trying to do clever trickery and I am playing a tank cleric who wants to make a head-on assault with AC, other buffs, and healing.)

Still here!

Yes, but the GM is having connection issues. He is in another game with Ana and I and we haven't seen much of him lately there either.

Those are the paralyzed ones. Light blue is a paralyzed shaman, light yellow is a paralyzed hyena. That's 19 paralyzed and 3 dead so far.

* Why do you ask? Were you peeking behind the GM screen? :)

For the record, there were too many initiative blocks so I fudged it to speed things up. Sometimes that fudging has been in your favor. Leave it as it is. But you shouldn't be looking in those spoiler tags.

Okay, understood and my apologies. When I GM the dice are 'in the open' but I sometimes spoiler-tag them just to avoid cluttering up the post. So all your 'dice' spoilers are GM only. Will adhere to that in the future.

Brathas shouts to the prisoners, "By Usamigaras, this is your chance! Break out, grab a camel, and ride!"
Then he runs, cutting through the camp and moving faster on the hard ground.

Where is the gate to the slave pen? Does Brathas know where the dropped Oil of Smoldering is? And who has the other Oil of Smoldering? Brathas suggested that Walia take it (June 26) but I don't know what came of that.
Should Zynazyr go before White and Red in Round 7 or his initiative penalized for some reason?

Brathas will delay until after Black and Red go.

Sorry, Wallia. That was rude of me and uncalled for.

Was this counted in the hyena's hit on Ana? One of the reasons for making a stand on the stairs was to use the high ground advantage, after all.

Other Modifiers: Attacking a target that has high ground gives a -1 penalty to hit. Attacking from the high ground gives a +1 bonus to hit. Attacking when exhausted gives a -2 penalty to hit, while attacking a target that is exhausted gives a +2 bonus to hit.

I have to say, I'm feeling much less optimistic about this fight now that Wallia decided against healing Ana. 8 HP is not a lot. But Zynazyr still has a Sleep spell I think.

I did suggest Ana use Ferrous's shield here but nothing came of it. It was a long time ago.

Given the way initiative works in B/X, there is a risk of enemies getting two turns back-to-back. Ana has +3 Init, at least.

The regular gnolls can move 3 squares and attack? Or 9 squares if they don't attack? 30' move, halved for going up the stairs.

And Ana can move 1.5 squares if she uses the rod, or 4.5 if she does not? She ended up pretty far from the hole.

Wallia, Ana was just hit for 5 points of damage. She is now at 8/15. Did you not see that? Only she and Zynazyr can use the scepter, and Zynazyr is even squishier. Can you please try to keep her alive?

Does she have a shield at all? Like Ferrous' old non-magic shield?
AC 3 is pretty good but could be better.

The scepter is doing a good job. I don't know at what level of casualties the gnolls will rout but they're already at almost 20% paralyzed or dead.

There are a couple of shamans coming up. Don't know what they can do.

Ana should move back this round if she can. And maybe next round use the Mirror of Protection to summon some Mirror Images for herself.

Walia should maybe start delaying, so he can come out of delay and heal Ana if she gets hit.

Is Ana carrying Ferrous' magic shield? That would help her AC.

There still is one more Oil of Smoldering. And Brathas may try to get the one that the spirit was carrying (unless the gnolls took it).

Fine, moved back, sticking to a single move so I can hopefully use Stealth and have the hyena lose me. I need the gnolls away from the prisoner cage before I can do anything there anyway.

Brathas moves more carefully, moving to enter the side of the camp near the slave pen (this is 60' of movement, so a double move). Now that he is is on firmer ground, he can move faster if he needs to.

The stairs are a lot wider than I had thought. And the gnolls are faster than I had thought too.

The paralysis lasts a long time. As in turns. With no subsequent saves to throw it off. Don't worry about killing paralyzed ones now. Better to let them clog up the stairs and provide cover.

I would suggest you fall back towards the fighters. I would not suggest anybody advancing on the gnolls. Our fighters are much slower than theirs. If things get bad you can drop in the hole.

The maps of the interior are still up (Tier 1, Tier 2, etc).

For the purpose of detection, your position at the start of your move matters as much as where you end up, since a creature has a chance of spotting you at any point along your move, rather that just where you end up.

Okay, next round I'll move more carefully and Hide so he loses track of me.

Brathas has been trying to give the hyenas a wide berth to avoid this problem. He is 50' away, with multiple camels in between and multiple burning pack-mates nearby. And multiple human prisoners nearby, who smell basically the same as he does. He is going to think it impossible that the hynena is reacting to him.

Brathas keeps looping around the camp. Another 80' move.

Uh, I think you've got their attention, Zynazyr.

The steps provide a fantastic defensive position by limiting the number of gnolls that can attack at once, being narrow enough to allow a high-AC frontline, and also forcing them to fight uphill. It'll be even better once the steps start getting choked with paralyzed gnolls.
An open field doesn't have that advantage. You'd all be outflanked and massacred. Right now Ana is out in front of the fighters, out in front of everybody except Zyanzyr - and he's fast enough to fall back when the gnolls start coming.
For now, just exploit the huge range advantage the party has with bows vs javelins (and maybe target the relatively few bow-wielding gnolls). Fall back and let the gnolls come to you.
I dislike OOC strategizing but these are points that Brathas made multiple times already, though a long time ago IRL.
I'm sorry for being harsh earlier. The rod is a key part of how we are going to win. But patience.

"Everyone rush the gnolls' camp" was never the plan. I don't know what you all are doing up there. At least Zynazyr moves at 40' and can run back to safety. But he's still too exposed. It would be suicide for Walia to move up and join him. WHY is Ana triple moving to get closer? That makes no sense at all. I see Ferrous has advised her to change her plans - if the player is away, can we bot her as listening to his good advice?

Brathas begins looping around to try to get to the prisoners from the other side.
Path drawn on the map, at 80' of movement rather than 120' for because he is going on the sand.

You guys have it easier than Brathas does if this goes badly. Fall back into the pyramid and use Wizard Lock on interior doors - doors deep enough in the pyramid that the gnolls can't tunnel around them without risking a collapse. Maybe Brathas can catch up to you before you start locking doors and maybe not - right now, he's staying near the camp in hopes of freeing the prisoners.

But we haven't even used the scepter yet. At the moment, the party has a massive range advantage while the gnolls are disorganized and don't know what's going on. And if they get close to you, the scepter will probably paralyze more than half of the gnolls it catches in each shot.

You don't have to paralyze ALL the gnolls in one shot to defeat them. Paralyzed ones will clog attack lanes and further reduce the number that can get to you at any one time. Just make good use of positioning and the stairs and, if needed, corridors.

Level 5 thief.

Brathas's plan was to form up a tough front line on the steps, to limit how many gnolls can attack at once, and use the scepter - which covers a big area.

Taking them on was a huge risk, but I don't know what else we could do. They were carving a path through the pyramid with ease, slaughtering everyone and capturing some of our allies.

Maybe we'll pull this out. It will be an epic triumph if we do. Brathas is both invisible and fast, so I'm not too concerned about him... Though the gnolls have way more shamans than I thought.

Brathas sees he can't get to the prisoners just yet, so he slips around to the south, hiding in the corner formed by a couple of walls. He doesn't want any gnolls bumping into him as they are checking out the blaze.

His spell from Zynazyr worn off, Brathas now drinks his Potion of Invisibility and moves away from the burning hyenas. He has to wait for the gnolls to be elsewhere before trying to free the prisoners. He'll be alert for gnoll movements so none of them bump into him as he hides in the lee of another tent.

Brathas debates a few ways to get the camels to start moving.
I don't think this stampede plan, or even the 'wandering off' plan, is going to work. Will have to break invisibility one way or the other, and those hyenas are going to smell me.

He moves west and throws the Oil of Volatility at the red box (this is 10' wide and 15' long, along the axis of the throw, as the item description says), using the Ring of Sparks to ignite it as he throws.

Showtime!

Ranged Attack, Medium Range (central point): 15 - 1d20 ⇒ 15 - (7) = 8
Should be good enough to hit the intended area.

Brathas moves and unties a couple more.
How far can he throw an oil flask with reasonable accuracy?

Brathas moves up a bit and starts quietly untying the two camels on the east edge, reaching over the low wall. That way, if they get free and start wandering off, they don't trample him.

It's broad daylight in a hot desert so infravision probably can't pick him up. He is aware that he makes footprints in the sand so will try to walk carefully, using Stealth and taking advantage of the gnolls' distraction.

I am ready. Should we bring some furniture out in front of the entrance to make it a little more difficult for them?

If all goes well, Brathas will be leading a group of freed prisoners up the steps and into the pyramid. Don't want them slowed up or tripping.

Okay, Brathas will make a wide loop around the camp and then come up on the southeast corner. He wants to lure the gnolls away from the prisoner cage.

He knows that even Invisible, enemies can see his footprints or hear him, so he does his best to be Stealthy. His Stealth is +7 (plus any bonus for being invisible), and I think you prefer to roll that in secret?

Best spot for Oil of Smoldering should be the hyena pen. About 20 seconds after the camels start fleeing. Not only should that slow the hyenas down, it should be in between the active gnolls (who are going to the SE corner to see what's up with the camels) and the prisoners.

How big a cloud does it make? Want to catch the hyena pen, not the prisoner pen.

Of course this is subject to change at Zynazyr's discretion based on what he sees.

Which way is the wind blowing? Brathas wants to sneak around the downwind side of the camp so the hyenas don't pick up his scent. Once I know that I can place him on the map.

Zynazyr can use Brathas's shortbow while the thief is running around doing his thing. Better quality than the goblin ones.

Brathas plans on taking the Potion of Invisibility, Ring of Animal Control, Oil of Volatility (in Flask of Recovery), and Ring of Sparks. The Rings are short-range effects and it doesn't make sense for anybody else to be close to the gnoll camp.

Zynazyr said he would prep the following:
Lvl 1: Sleep, Charm Person, Binding
Lvl 2: Invisibility, Stinking Cloud (replace with Wizard Lock if known). Brathas can get into position under cover of Zynazyr's Invisibility spell, take some actions, and then get re-covered by the potion if he has to break invisibility.

Binding is to conjure the servant spirit, to drop the Oil of Smoldering just where we want it to be (between Brathas and the prisoners on the one hand and the pursuing gnolls on the other, while Brathas is leading the prisoners back to the steps).
I thought he did learn Wizard Lock, so that would be ahead of time on the west door out of the central room on Tier 2. A wand charge to Wizard Lock the east door out of that room. We can go back and forth through the west door at our leisure.

I don't think we'll have that much control over the direction of a stampede, other than 'away from danger'. So trying to get them to stampede through the camp but then not towards us afterwards could be challenging. I think it easiest to just get them to go away from the camp, not through it. This means probably no trampled gnolls, but then again also no trampled prisoners.
We do have a Potion of Invisibility. There is also the possibility that Zynazyr could prep a second one as backup (it's a fairly long-range spell so he could use it on Brathas from the relative safety of the steps), but he has many competing options for his 2nd-level spells so we need to know what he has prepped.
I am ready to get this show on the road whenever the GM is ready. Here are my current thoughts:
Brathas will become invisible, sneak around to the *downwind* corner of the camp, free ~10 camels, and try to create a stampede without breaking invisibility.
If the untied camels don't break and flee at once, the PCs fire flaming arrows at them.
If that still doesn't work, Brathas uses the Ring of Animal Control on the south-edge hyena to cause a stampede. Would this break invisibility? That's why I'm reluctant. I'd like Brathas to be invisible freeing the prisoners. If it does, Brathas thinks 'the hell with it' and throws the Oil of Volatilty at the shaman's tent and uses the Ring of Sparks to ignite it, before trying to hide again. Zynazyr could cover him again with a casting, but I don't want to place demands on the wizard's spell slots. If we get a stampede without Brathas having to break invisibility, that's better.
During the chaos, Brathas moves to the prisoner cell and frees them.
Brathas and the prisoners make a beeline for the steps. Gnolls are off chasing camels, or fleeing the fire, or trying to get organized. A few might be in our way and some prisoners might fall. Brathas will be willing to 'take one for the team' or even take two, but hopefully our diversion has cleared our path. If not, PCs on the steps shoot at any gnolls in our way, focusing on clearing the path.
Once Brathas and the prisoners are closer, PCs throw Oil of Smoldering behind them so they don't get skewered with ranged weapons as they are running to the steps.
When the gnolls form up to come after the PCs on the steps, Ana hits them with the scepter.

The keys to this whole plan are taking the initiative, and not letting the gnolls know what is going on. And then, of course, the huge-area-of-effect scepter of paralyzation.