Chris Banks's page

I'd go with a local. Good opportunities to bring some slightly left-field skills and perspectives to the group.

Interested. I'll have to dig out my Only War book and do some brainstorming.

Reasonably extensive fluff knowledge. I played the wargame from 2nd through 4th edition and continue to take an interest in the setting.

Played in a Dark Heresy pbp game some years back. Immensely fun, as I was able to lean into the dark humour aspects of the setting.

Leaning towards an enginseer with ambitions to advance through the Mechanicus ranks.

Definitely open to new systems.

I like to see a mix of different activities in a campaign, even if it's just the occasional interlude. That said, a heist does sound appealing.

I'd be interested.

Quite interested, if I haven't missed the boat on this one. It'll probably take me a couple of days to work up a character sheet, but I'll be writing up a Witchwarper with reformist (if not downright revolutionary) tendencies. Catching occasional glimpses of alternate realities does give potential insights into how the world might be different after all.

Still around. Putting together a character sheet hasn't been a quick process.

The dual full caster approach does sound like a worthwhile challenge.

Character-wise, I'm looking at an android from a World of high technology. Highly attuned to the ruins of prior worlds and the constructs which populate them. Fairly outgoing, inquisitive, and keen to see civilisation climb upwards once again (well, he will be once he orients himself within the Ninth World).

Initially, I'd considered a cleric/arcanist build to represent this concept (with the Augmented template), but the more I think about it, the more I'd like one of those gestalt classes to be a reworked version of the druid. My perspective is that, over billions of years, technology has worked itself into the very fabric of the planet, with ruin complexes (or cities, in better days) and the constructs inhabiting/maintaining them operating akin to an ecosystem. And if Horizon: Zero Dawn is anything to go by, the constructs need not stick to the ruins.

I think the changes for a 'techno-druid' would be relatively straightforward for me to make, substituting construct-themed abilities and tweaking skills/spell lists as appropriate. Plus, there's a good deal of amusement value in imagining classic Transformer sound effects for the transition to and from construct form.

Anyway, let me know your thoughts. In the interim, I'll continue typing up a character sheet.

Quite interested, though there are a fair few options to sort through when putting together a character concept. Are there any gaps in terms of party roles?

Very interested, and leaning towards a half-orc ranger who's made a name for himself as a guide on expeditions into the depths. Details to come.

I find myself quite interested. Leaning towards a kobold Scholar at the moment.

My rolls:
1d10 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14
1d10 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18
1d10 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12
1d10 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12

So, that's 18, 18, 14, 12, 12, 8.

I find myself tempted to play a Changeling Binder (from Tome of Magic). Will have to get to work on the background.

Alright, apologies all around, but I'm going to have to pull the plug. When I realise it's been a week since my last post, it's a good indication that life's gotten in the way of GMing and between studies and extracurricular activities, it isn't likely to let up any time soon.

Wesley works his way through a series of six more doors, each opening from one wall of a subsequent chamber, and ultimately looping back to the original room in which he found the gargoyle. The final door had been concealed on the outside, though once he'd opened it and knew what to look for, he could see the faintest of seams from the northern side.

Marius regards the necklace thoughtfully, muttering a brief spell as he turns it over, "No major enchantments," he says at length, "But the is something... Hah." He springs a hidden catch, revealing a small hidden compartment within the body of the necklace, with a scrap of parchment concealed inside.

After perusing the runes on the parchment for a few moments, Marius mutters a different spell, before reading aloud.

"Look low and high for gold, to hear a tale untold. The archway at the end, and on your way you'll wend."

Meanwhile, Wesley's investigation of the gargoyle's room reveals little beyond what he'd already seen. Opening each of the doors in turn reveals two small, empty chambers, one with another door on the far side, the other without.

Map has been updated.

The gargoyle, as it turns out, is much too heavy to haul out of the pit, short of being smashed into pieces. However, the spikes at the bottom are widely-spaced enough that one can easily avoid stepping on them while at the bottom of the pit.

Climbing down, Wesley is able to retrieve the bejewelled collar fastened around the gargoyle's neck. In all, there are ten large, blue quartz gems set into it, each worth perhaps a hundred gold.

As Wesley pops the trapdoor open, Victor drops a couple of bombs in on the gargoyle which, skewered as it is on the spikes, is in little position to resist. The creature seems weaker, its wounds more deeply etched into its form. The bombs blast further craters into the creature, one destroying an entire arm, the stump spurting black blood. Nevertheless, it pulls itself from the spikes, rising to its feet, only to catch a pair of burning rays in the chest.

"Once more should do it," Marius says, coolly assessing the impact of his own spell on top of Victor's efforts. And indeed a second pair of rays from the mage cause the stony monstrosity to crumple back down again, rage spent at last in death.

Figured I'd save a bit of time by using the real dice there, and between the poison spikes and a crit from Victor, there didn't seem much point in calling for a final round of attacks on the gargoyle. Victory is yours.

I actually interpret it the other way. From the wording of the sanctuary spell (on which the ability is based), if the creature passes its will save, it is unaffected by the sanctuary for the duration of the spell, while if it fails, the sanctuary holds it at bay for the spell's duration. The major difference between the domain power and the spell is that the domain power protects multiple people.

I've ruled that, as a single aura, each individual enemy needs to save once and once only, regardless of how many people the aura is protecting. I did work through my reasoning prior to making the will save, and in fact entirely expected the gargoyle to be scrabbling helplessly at an invisible barrier for as long as Dresmond chose to maintain it, with no additional will saves to overcome the effect. That wasn't how the dice fell, though. Bad luck there. So, the damage stands.

It's also worth noting that this makes the ability a bit more predictable, avoiding situations in which you're taking damage round after round, but still having to refrain from attacking lest you lose the dubious protection.

And no, the gargoyle doesn't have combat reflexes, otherwise it would have taken another chunk out of Victor when he moved. So no AoO there.

Wesley soon gets one of his tools hooked around the catch the group used to hold the trapdoor closed, waiting only on Dresmond's retreat to pull it loose. The moment Dremond is across, Wesley pulls the catch loose, leaving the gargoyle, in hot pursuit, to plummet into the pit trap and onto the sharp spikes at the bottom. The trapdoor swings closed behind it, though whether that will hold the creature remains to be seen.

Gargoyle reflex save: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11

Fair enough. A disable device check is a full-round action though, so you won't complete the action until the following round, though you will still have a standard action up your sleeve after it's done.

Since I recall, more fire damage from the bombs: 2d6 ⇒ (4, 5) = 9

Withdraw is a full-round action, so Victor can move up to double his normal move, but will have to wait until next round to go after the trap.

Gargoyle Will save: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21
Attack: 1d20 + 24 ⇒ (4) + 24 = 28
Damage: 2d8 + 10 ⇒ (8, 2) + 10 = 20

As Victor scurries away, the gargoyle takes a swing at him, claws reaching out and halting momentarily. With a grunt of effort though, the gargoyle overcomes the Dresmond's aura, claws slashing into the fleeing alchemist.

Attack: 1d20 + 24 ⇒ (10) + 24 = 34
Damage: 2d8 + 10 ⇒ (1, 7) + 10 = 18

In its pursuit, the gargoyle crashes into Dresmond, claws scything through protective aura and armour alike to sorely wound him.

Wesley is up.

On the other hand, if Victor makes a withdraw action, the gargoyle only gets a single attack of opportunity, as opposed to four plus attacks from a full attack action if he remains where he is. I think under the circumstances, a possible AoO (subject to passing the will save from Dresmond's divine presence) is the lesser evil.

Also, the pit traps have been disabled so that people can move about without worrying about them. Somebody's going to have to re-enable them if you want to use them against the gargoyle. Also, Dresmond, you still need to select your cleric spells for the day. This will be your last reminder.

With the sounds of combat echoing through the passage, Marius moves up to see for himself what's going on. For now, he seems to be holding off acting while the plan is put into action.

Victor is up. Fleeing or standing your ground?

Light blue squares are doors. I've updated the map with characters' positions, and we're now down to the three active player characters plus Marius on NPC duty. Remember that squares are ten feet across, so characters take up only a quarter of the square (Hence the small icons). Now, on with the combat.

Even as Wesley reteats, Victor hurls his bombs at the gargoyle, blasting chunks out of the creature's craggy hide. Unfortunately, the damage appears to be largely cosmetic. Certainly, the creature isn't slowed at all by the flames licking over it, bearing down on the one who hurt it with murder in its heart.

Fire damage: 2d6 ⇒ (5, 6) = 11
Gargoyle attack: 1d20 + 24 ⇒ (13) + 24 = 37
Damage: 2d8 + 10 ⇒ (1, 5) + 10 = 16

As with Wesley, Victor's defenses are no match for the gargoyle, its claws slicing deeply into his flesh. If it brings the rest of its four arms to bear, he'll be in deep trouble.

Taking a leaf from another GM's books, I'll be providing basic combat stats so you can assess whether you're hitting and describe damage. Incidentally, an alchemist's bombs get bonus damage equal to his INT modifier, so that's a bit extra damage there. Dresmond is up.

Gargoyle stats:
AC: 21/8/21 HP: 176/199
Damage reduction: 10/-
Saves: F/R/W 17/5/6

Mindful of the danger posed by the gargoyle, Wesley scurries hastily back down the passage, leaving Victor and Dresmond standing before it.

Surprise round is over and Victor is up.

Apologies for the delay. Resuming now.

GM Rolls:

Wesley advances towards the statue, spotting a couple of doors thus far hidden in a corner, before stopping abruptly as he realises that the statue is, ever so slightly, moving. Unfortunately, that realisation buys him insufficient time to act before the creature realises it has been revealed and lunges at him, claws outstretched. The first swing tears a chunk out of his side, claws not even slowed by his armour.

Gargoyle attack: 1d20 + 24 ⇒ (14) + 24 = 38
Damage: 2d8 + 10 ⇒ (7, 6) + 10 = 23

Surprise round. As Wesley has made his perception check (barely), he gets to act in the surprise round of combat. After that, we go into the usual initiative order:

Initiative:
Victor: 17
Gargoyle: 14
Wesley: 10
Dresmond: 2

I suspect it plays a bit better in person as well. There isn't really a great deal of NPC interaction to hold players' attention, and the necessary caution drags out a bit when combined with the slow pace of the play by post format.

Okay, it's now been a week with no activity since my last post, so I think I can safely conclude that the game's run out of steam and may as well be abandoned. Do I hear any dissenting voices?

A careful search of the corridor and door reveals no traps, leading to the group opening the door. A decent-sized room is revealed beyond. Not all the corners are visible, but up against the opposite wall there is a large statue of a grotesque, winged humanoid with four wickedly-clawed arms. About its neck is a collar studded with huge, gleaming gems.

An updated map.

And an image of the statue.

A bit of cooperation is necessary to reach the trapdoor, along with due care to avoid being skewered by the spikes, but the trapdoor swings open easily enough, allowing the pair to clamber out of the second pit trap from the south, back in the original entrance corridor.

Iset, meanwhile, swings open the door, revealing a short passage some twenty feet in length, with another door in the opposite wall.

There are no signs of any traps on the door; it seems safe to open.

Victor and Wesley, meanwhile, follow the crawlway through a couple of turns, before reaching the end - a pivoting stone which swings effortlessly open to reveal some suspiciously familiar-looking spikes. If this is indeed one of the pit traps, it should simply be a matter of opening the trapdoor above to rejoin the others.

The chipping at the plaster soon uncovers a plain door of wood set into the wall. It seems ordinary enough, as doors go.

Victor and Wesley:

Can't say I got it either. There's no actual explanation of the riddle's clues, just the usual location listings.

Victor:

Victor and Wesley:

Iset's chipping away at the plaster soon uncovers a wooden surface beneath. It will take time to uncover completely, but could be worth pursuing.

Meanwhile, Marius steps up and touches the three stones in sequence at Dresmond's direction. The mists swirling in the archway clear, revealing a short corridor, ending in a wall after a mere 15 feet. The tiled pathway continues inside, terminating at the far wall. Neither Wesley nor Victor (nor the weasel) is visible within.

Wesley walks into the arch and vanishes into the mist, the rope going immediately slack as he disappears from view, with the neatly severed end falling to the ground. There is no indication what might have happened to him, nor does he walk back out again as time goes by.

Iset's investigation is delayed somewhat by the need to secure the trapdoor in front of the mosaic in question, and does not initially yield much. The bars look to be embedded in the plaster underlying the mosaic, but said plaster does appear rather old and crumbly.

Wesley:

Wesley touches the orange stone, causing it to grow somewhat more brightly. Otherwise, the scene remains unchanged. The mist continues to swirl within the archway.

Iset's perusal of the mosaics reveals a third point of interest. In addition to the protruding chest and the leering green devil's face, one portion of the mosaic, surounded by scenes of a torture chamber, portrays an iron door which evidently restrains some horrid creature (its scaled and clawed hands grasp the bars of its small window) that can be released to torment the prisoners. Like the chest, the bars seem to be real, recessed into a small hollow in the wall.

This last point of interest is located at J5 on the map.

As Wesley approaches to arch, three of the stones making up the archway begin to glow. The bottom left foundation stone glows yellow, the bottom right glows orange, and the keystone at the top glows blue.

The weasel, entering the archway, disappears into the mist.

Does Wesley still want to enter the mist?

A length of rope and a sharp tug on the lever caused the trapdoor in front of the chest to swing open revealing, to nobody's surprise, a pit full of spikes. This one contained a layer of dust and several scattered bones amongst the spikes.

While this was going on, a slow, steady advance down the corridor revealed several more pit traps, to the same design as those before. There were no hidden triggers for these, the trapdoors opening to any pressure upon them. The tiled path seemed to cross or avoid the pit traps at random. Beyond the last of the traps, the tiles bifurcated, one path leading to an arch filled with gently moving mist, the second leading to a leering, green devil face set into the mosaic on the southern wall. The devil's mouth gapes wide and is dead black, light failing to illuminate anything within.

A link to a map of your findings. The red indicates pit traps, green indicates the demonic face, blue indicates the arch of mist. Squares are ten feet across.

Knowing what he's looking for now, Victor has no difficulty tracing out the outlines of another large trapdoor beyond the other two and to the left. An experimental shove causes it to swing open revealing, surprise surprise, more spikes. It should be possible to step diagonally across the trapdoors, avoiding standing on either while still proceeding.

Meanwhile, Dresmond's questing hands find a long, metallic rod sticking vertically out of the chest's base, quite invisible to the eye. Following it to the base of the chest, it seems designed to pivot back and forth. Though his hands won't fit through the (invisible) hole in the chest's baseplate, it's a good bet that it connects to some moving object beneath. Looking at the set-up, it's a good bet that something is the catch for the trapdoor he's now standing on.

The two trapdoors discovered thus far are ten feet across.

After a moment's discussion, Iset's mage hand is decided on as the best means of manipulating the stud. A brief press from the hand saw the chest swing anticlimactically open, revealing... absolutely nothing inside. Very anticlimactic. On the other hand, the trapdoor hadn't opened. Small mercies, at least.

Huh, so it does. Not sure where I picked up the 10-20 minutes from, but I daresay I'll be a bit more willing to take 10 or 20 in future.

@ Wesley: This is the part where that low charisma score comes back to bite you, I'm afraid. Wesley's leadership score is 7, which means he can attract a 5th level cohort. Pixies are listed as a level 8 equivalent, and I can see why, given they're small, intelligent, loaded with magic and can fly. I think a pseudodragon with two class levels is about right, and if you like you can use the stats for a pseudodragon to represent a faerie.

@ Dresmond: I see you haven't picked out your spells for the day yet. Kind of an important thing to sort out, since you may find yourself needing to cast them at some point.

@ Victor: Yeah, I think we can take crowbars as a given. Go ahead and add it.

@ Kelsey: No problems with bronzed-looking mithral. In fact, I'm unlikely to take any issue with purely cosmetic choices.

For my own amusement, I think I'll upgrade Marius to your mysterious patron, the one who put you onto the tomb in the first place and will be paying for the inevitable raise deads and the like. He's here for the first day to observe you in action (you know, make sure his money's being well spent), after which he's heading back to town.

A quick note: Although I have no problem with people taking 10 or 20 on checks, do bear in mind that this represents ten or twenty minutes of effort. As such, other players may like to consider what they're doing with that time. Potentially checking the rest of a room for traps, for instance.

Okay, clearing a couple of things up. The pit spotted earlier is in fact concealed. You've spotted the outlines of a trapdoor at that location, faintly visible against the flagstones of the floor, and an experimental prod against the flooring causes it to pivot on a central axis, revealing a ten-foot drop onto some rather nasty-looking spikes.

The trap-door in front of the chest doesn't move similarly, and in fact there is no means of opening it that Wesley can discover. It seems to be solidly in place, but does constitute a potential hazard in terms of investigating the chest, standing right in front of it as it does. Even from a distance though, Wesley can discern the opening mechanism for the chest - An out-of-place, slightly raised stud atop the chest's lid.

Should be alright, though you'll have to define the 'cat's luck' and 'sprinter' racial abilities for me.

Anyway, I'm about ready to get started again. Should have a post up later this evening.

Yes, that's fine. Should be interesting.

Gunslinger is okay, though I suspect a paladin would be handy to have along from a healing perspective.

Maybe Kelsey plays instead?

That was my thought, yes. Marius is available to use, or you can stat up a new character. Or you could get Marius killed, then sub in a new character.

I'll get cracking on reading through the adventure.

If you're feeling out of your depth, there's no obligation to continue. I'm willing to take over GMing duties if you prefer. I'll just need a bit of time to bring myself up to speed with the adventure.

Well, that's no good. My commiserations to Kelsey. I hope the user in question was banned. That kind of thing is not on.

Fair enough, really. Anyway, I'll just sort out my stat and HP rolls.

4d6 ⇒ (4, 2, 1, 5) = 12 11
4d6 ⇒ (5, 3, 3, 4) = 15 12
4d6 ⇒ (6, 3, 5, 5) = 19 16
4d6 ⇒ (5, 3, 3, 5) = 16 13
4d6 ⇒ (2, 5, 1, 2) = 10 9
4d6 ⇒ (4, 5, 4, 2) = 15 13

HP: 2d6 ⇒ (1, 2) = 3

Not to worry, I've run down a link on the Wizards website for the 3.5 version. Never did get around to reading it, but it certainly struck me as a heck of a free download.

There we are.

I wouldn't say no to gestalt, but I suspect it's a heck of a lot of work for a GM to adjust encounters so that they're level-appropriate.

I'm quite interested, if recruitment's still open. Looking at a somewhat eccentric sorcerer with the Destined bloodline.

The great problem with carriages is that the minute you take them off the main roads, they break, get bogged down or otherwise have to be abandoned. And main roads aren't as common as one might like in the north. To say nothing of the difficulty in hauling the thing through the tunnels in the first place.