I want to apologize to you guys. My life/work balance has been in turmoil lately, and t's been heavily affecting my ability to be consistent with my games. Apparently my pbp eyes were bigger than my stomach.
That being said, I'm going to step out of this game. It's been fun, and I think we have a great cast of (powerful) characters. I just don't want to constantly be the guy dragging the sppeed of the game down.
I wnt back and forth on this decision,and it finally came back to me wanting to really put an appropriate amount of thought into my characters and to respecting the time and efforts of my fellow gamers -- and especially my DM.
So I apologize first-and-formost to Wraith. I respect you on the boards, and I'm sorry for jerking the game around like this. It's been fun with the rest of you, too.
I hope you guys keep going despite the loss of one big, oafish half-giant.
You should ask Swinging Beauty over there (Castiel) if he'll keep a watch over you. :D
Bryce grimaces at his friend's 'sleeping arrangements'. "Castiel. I swear that's gotta be givin' you some kinda cancer or somethin'. At the very least it looks weird as hell." He rolls his eyes at the inevitable response from his marrionetted friend about the supposed health benefits, muttering a quiet. "Whatever... it's weird" before crashing into his too-small bed.
So i guess we're moving on to the morning? Or at least to the night?
Bryce's body language relaxes as the newcomer's does, and he grins at the exchange between the newcomer and Rasso, "Seems to me the real danger of losing your fingers is near his mouth." He extends a meaty hand half-again as large as Mordecai's head, "I'm Bryce. Another... uh..." his gray eyes shift to the rest of the team before snapping back to Mordecai with a shrug, ".. bodyguard. And the elf is Castiel. He's not being rude; he just doesn't realize there's a new guy here."
The big man looks around the room, "I'm gonna take an hour or so to whip pu another drink... ya know, in case more tentacles get hungry."
Would love to take an hour to put together another Strength Mutagen.
Rasso wrote: Rasso sidles his way over to Bryce and whispers in the giant's ear "I'm not sure what she's on about. But that was fun wasn't it?" Bryce, taking way too long to come down off his chemical/adrenaline high, gives the mer-man a wide-grinning nod before listening in on the conversation. "Love yer work," he comments good-naturedly to Rasso.
Bryce watches the approach of the newcomer with mild interest… until the man's stance becomes threatening. Bryce steps closer, his own demeanor darkening slightly. "Might wanna take it easy, buddy." He's a huge young man, and his giant heritage isn't exactly subtle. At seven and a half feet tall, he dwarfs nearly everyone except the strange merman in the room, with thickly powerful limbs, and a face that wears a dumb expression… only his eyes giving away an above-average intellect. What draws your eyes, however, is his blade… which is as tall as a small house and looks like it would be unwieldy even in a giant's hands (it's a Huge greatsword).
Okay, things should be closer to normal now. Though I don't see that much has happened in the game thread. this thing still running?
Sorry everyone. Work turned into a s###storm. I don't anticipate being able to put any mental energy into a post today… maybe not tomorrow.
So sorry. I'll try to get back on-board as quickly as possible.
Once more the giant man closes on the remaining tentacle and swings his huge blade. His fury seems to be building with the frustration of the fight -- and his massive swing shows it.
Huge Greatsword Power Attack
Attack 1d20 + 13 + 2 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 13 + 2 + 5 = 39.<-- CRIT?
---> damage 4d6 + 14 + 6 + 4 ⇒ (5, 4, 5, 1) + 14 + 6 + 4 = 39.
---> Crit Confirm 1d20 + 13 + 2 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 13 + 2 + 5 = 37.
---> Total crit damage 39 + 4d6 + 14 + 6 + 4 ⇒ 39 + (5, 6, 3, 5) + 14 + 6 + 4 = 82.
Okay, how many villagers are in the room?
Bryce yells as he takes another swing (at the tentacle that replaced original tentacle 2), "WE NEED TO GET THESE PEOPLE OUT! THE TENTACLES SEEM TO KEEP SHOWING BACK UP? ANY IDEAS?"
~~ Round 3~~~
Huge Greatsword attack.
Attack 1d20 + 13 + 2 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 13 + 2 + 5 = 28
---> damage 4d6 + 14 + 6 + 4 ⇒ (2, 4, 3, 4) + 14 + 6 + 4 = 37.
So whose hits landed and whose targets were destroyed? It's a little hard to determine from your summary.
I say let's go for it and try it on our own.
Also, Swagger, I hope you don't mind, but I tossed a post into your recruitment thread saying that we've intentionally made 'oft-considered-OP' characters intentionally.
The mutagen takes hold as Bryce begins to rush the tentacle grabbing one of the villagers (Tentacle 2), massive blade coming off his shoulder and into his meaty hands. As he rushes, Castiel's device's power takes hold of his mind and body, and Bryce can't help but release that internal mechanism that dams up his adrenaline. An earth-shattering admixture of magic, drugs, and adrenaline thunder through his veins as he finishes covers the space… his eyes dilating wildly under the combined influence.
"BBBAAAAAAAAAAAAAUAUAUAUAUUAUUUUGGGHGHHGH!" The wordless battle cry is as wild as his swing… but deadly none-the-less.
~~~ Round 2 ~~~
Move: close with tentacle 2, drawing Huge Greatsword on the way. If at all, move into a flank with someone.
Free: Rage!
Standard: SMAAAAAAASH! (using power attack [furious focus] + reckless abandon + Overclocker + flank [if available])
Lol. my concern is as it always has been... healing through rage. :)
I guess I'll go ahead and post actions...
Bryce struggles to his feet, slamming down he contents of his mutagen vial.
Move to stand, standard to drink mutagen.
Initiative 1d20 ⇒ 18.
EDIT: A few questions. How high is the ceiling in this room? And are you looking for us to add our first round of actions? I was thinking I'd wait until you'd kicked out a initiative block or something.
Also, how sturdy are these floors? :D
Reflex 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7. DOH!
WHOMP!
Bryce seemingly walks out without saying another word to his teammates or the villagers, his hulking form disappearing back into the village towards the sorcerer's house.
His voice,however, pops into Dizit's head.
: : Dizit! Hello! You there? CAn you hear me? It's Bryce…the big guy. You there? What exactly did you want us/me to look for at the sorcerer's place? : :
Even as he thinks the communication, he begins an external examination of Gerlach's lab… looking at the ground as well as the structure itself for any hints as to the current mystery.
Perception 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 28
Survival 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (7) + 14 = 21.
ONce his external search is concluded, he heads inside. He duplicates his search for tracks or clues, then switches to a more intellectual study of the place, from an arcane perspective.
Knowledge: Arcana 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20
Perception 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (6) + 10 = 16
Survival 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (2) + 14 = 16.
Bryce pipes up with a question of his own, "Maybe I just missed you sayin' it, but where is Gerlach now? You say he went mad, but is he still around?"
Bryce, not able to think of anything better to do, heads back to where Castiel is working. On his way, he tries to set his new mental connection to 'on'.
: : Dizit. Dizit. You still there? Can you hear me? Hey, I took a circuit of the town. Only tracks I see look like the ones we saw down by the water. And all the tracks like it also go to the water. : :
When he arrives where Castiel is working, he gets really, really close behind the elf, stoops so his head is just over the elf's own head, then yells.
"HOW'S THE WORK COMING?!"
:D
I can't think of anything else constructive to do until the meeting.
Bryce nods at the Dizit's offer, then decides to test it as he heads out after relaying the incomplete contents of the papers.
:: Dizit. You there? Hear me? I think I'm going to check the perimeter of the village. Try to check for any tracks or signs. I have nothin' better to do until the meeting. Shout… or… think loudly if you need me. ::
Unless there are objections, Bryce sets out to slowly do a perimeter check of the village. He's specifically looking to see if there seems to be one monster or more. And if there are multiple monsters doing the abducting, are they all the same type? Size? Coming from the same direction?
Perception 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (11) + 10 = 21
Survival (tracks) 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (5) + 14 = 19.
Hmmm... not good that we lost our cleric-equivalent. Superstitious Raging barbarian could be hard to heal otherwise. :(
Bryce takes the pages with a confused look. He gives them a quick glance, his face only scrunching up more and more as he looks. He gives an obvious look around before putting them in one of his over-large pockets.
"I'll see what I can do," he says skeptically, already lumbering off to find a place to research.
When he finds the time/secluded spot to look…
.
Knowledge: Arcana DC 20, huh? 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23. HEY!
Thirty minutes later, he tracks Castiel down where he's working on… well.. .whatever he's working on. Once again, he looks around to make sure there's no one to overhear their conversation. "So, I took a look at those papers Dizit gave us.They're incomplete, but they seem to be some kinda notes on some transmutation-based magic. Formulas, maybe? I don't' know." He gives the elf's work a dubious look, "Pass that on to the crew through your handy-dandy brain-link?"
I guess we could just assume Castiel does that, unless Castiel wants to actually re-write the message to Dizit.
Bryce waves a meaty hand, "See you there."
He turns back to Castiel. "So you wanna take that swim now?" [ooc](Or have you already done it?)[/ooc
Bryce gives an affirming nod to Rasso's agreement to check out the meeting as he hitches the massive blade on his shoulder. Im just floored that this sheriff handles talking to a shark man so well, he thinks as he gives the water one more look.
something that was used in another thread that I thought worked.
the telepathic character would mind-speak to people like this:
(format used to think-speak to one specific character)
(format used to think-speak to everyone in range)
: : Hey! Did everyone know that CAstiel's brain has a weird echo? : :
The brackets had a nice visual way of splitting it out into its own format, without stepping on the toes of the commonly used Bold for speech and italics for internal dialogue.
The reason i don't love the doubling up on those two is because there are many times when you can use italics in speech to create specific emphasis... which is lost if that doubles for thoguht-speak.
Just my 2 cents.
"Hmm… me either. And honestly, most humans are scared cause they're pretty soft. Get a bad flu. Dead. Get a sword stuck in yer gut. Dead. Have a mysterious sea monster come at night and drag you into the depths of the ocean? Dead." He shrugs at the merman with a smile, "They're not as fortunate as us, I guess."
He seems to think the merman's idea of checking on Dizit's shack is a good one, and follows.
Castiel Lashilsh wrote: How is the young one doing?
She and my wife are doing well. Thanks for asking. Other than a lack of sleep and that whole no-schedule-limbo in which we live for the time being, it's been pretty good.
Oh, well, I guess ignore that last post and assume Bryce is at whichever location had the tracks? The shore group?
Sorry, sleep deprivation.
Bryce answers his woven friend as he leans down to look for traps on the door. "I think we're gonna check out this shack first..."
Perception 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (10) + 10 = 20.
If he finds nothing, he turns to offer the door to Rasso, "Aint it standard procedure for the fish tank to go in first?"
Even on a 1, Bryce hits that Survival DC... everyone take a look at the spoiler.
Bryce wordlessly points out the seaweed, the tracks, and the lack of village folk. He sums it up simply, "Either something dragged all these folk into those boats... or the problem has gotten worse.
He doesn't wait for anyone's confirmation before he pulls two vials out of his belt.
"Anyone know what kind of tracks those are?"
Knowledge: Dungeoneeing/arcane (to identify tracks) 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10.
Just getting an Enlarge and his Transmutation ready. :)
Still bobbing his head to the merman's tune, Bryce continues yanking on the mule. "Castiel. You either get to do it your way or have me do it mine... the two don't mix."
Bryce throws his back into the loading as well, all the while leaving his ginormous sword resting against the eaves of the roof. At first he scowls at the singing fish-bowl, but as time goes by, he seems unaware that he's nodding in time to the strange tune.
Thanks, Dizit. But we're not to the big day yet. I just wanted you all to know what's happening when it does happen.
Gear: Bryce actually has 900g left to spend. If that'll make us that much more prepared for aquatic adventuring, then I'm game.
Hey, just a heads up. My wife is about to burst with pregnancy. So if my posting becomes suddenly erratic or sporadic, that's probably what's up.
If it holds up the game, feel free to play me however is needed. I'll try to give a more specific heads up when it happens, though.
Bryce can't help but smile at the merman. "It at least means ya know more about the water than we do... gotta count for something, right?" When the merman looks over, Bryce just shrugs and holds up his hands in a 'not any skin off my ass' gesture.
Dizit wrote: "The Master Hardins … could I ask that you second Master Brinner [at combat captain] … ?" Bryce responds with the classic deer-in-the-bullseye-lantern-light look. He blinks once, twice, then seems to realize everyone seems expected to lead something. "Uh… sure."
All of a sudden having an abundance of nervous energy, he stands abruptly, seat banging onto the floor. It strikes you now that his full height is nearly 8 feet tall. "Well.. um… guess I should start preparin'."
His eyes dash around -- obviously looking for a way to look like he knows what he's doing -- before he rights his chair. "Actually, everybody here already geared up for combat? Ranged? Melee? Healing?"
He seems unaware that he's resting his meaty hand on what you had originally assumed was a huge novelty greatsword leaning in the corner -- barely fitting in the room from floor to ceiling.
He's never been what you'd consider any flavor of leader before... and his charisma (self-confidence) is tanked. But other than that, he's ready to rock! Anyone need anything for combat purposes? I assumed we pretty much came ready for the task. :)
Bryce not-so-gently elbows the elf, covering his hissed warning with a fake swig from his stein. "Shut. Up... you trying to lose us this gold?"
Soooo... is this totally an aquatic adventure?
Bryce shakes his head as he mouths 'merman', only to be interrupted by the arrival of their new employer.
"What makes you say it was a sea-witch?"
We have 5, right?
Bryce, Leon, Sama, Castiel, and Rasso. :)
Leon, should we assume you're known to the group? Or would you prefer to meet us for the first time? I don't remember us talking about it before now.
Bryce watches the athletic human approach, nodding once as he sits. Then he chokes on his drink.
He nudges Castiel as the… walking… fish… thing (?) approaches their table. His look could not be more obvious. What the hell is that?! it says.
Still sputtering, he catches the waitresses's sleeve as she goes to get some rum, "Two.. *cough* *hack* .. more of these, please." He holds up his stein… still trying to not drown in his own surprise.
"So.. Rasso. Not sure how else to ask this. What the hell are you? Oh, and I'm Bryce. This is Castiel."
He turns back to the human, "What kind of strange beast?"
The brute looming in the corner seat absolutely dwarfs his chair, the table, the inn, and especially his stein… which looks about the size of a baby's sippy-cup in his head-sized, ham-thick fist. He sets it not-so-delicately on the table with a thump as the older human man approaches. His features -- somewhat Varisian in a thick-browed, heavy sort of way -- settle on the newcomer.
Nearly everything about the seven and a half foot brute says 'meat-head', from his thickly-muscled trunk to his travel-worn clothes to the weapons peeking out from a couple of places on his large body… until you notice his muddy-gray eyes, currently latched onto the man. You see a surprising level of intelligence and awareness in them. When he catches you watching him, however, he picks back up the baby-stein and buries his face.
Those eyes shift over to the lady, who looks like a porcelain doll by contrast. At the words 'alacrity', 'diligence', and 'skill', he rolls his eyes. The same eyes that lit up so brightly at the mention of the sum of gold offered in the deal.
He sets down the mug, clumsily sloshing ale onto the table for a second time. "A hundred platinum for the effort, with triple for success?" He scratches behind one ear with a thick finger as he gives a shrug, "Color me intrigued."
He looks around at the group, giving a quick nod to the elf -- who he already seems to know. "The name's Bryce. I'm just good at thumpin' things. Though I been known to find a thing or two, myself…. thems that needs trackin', anyway."
He looks back at the human, "I'm in."
For some pay, the chance at some loot, and the promise of some fun, Bryce would be in. Don't tell anyone, but he's actually a decent guy... willing to help out.
EDIT: also, if we can roll our HP's...
12 + 3d12 + 1d10 + 1d8 + 18 + 4 ⇒ 12 + (8, 12, 7) + (5) + (5) + 18 + 4 = 71
|
