DM Ray's page

@ Dien,
Yes, I knew I changed your first round action a little bit; please accept my reason: When I first designed this encounter I knew it could be too much of a fight, especially if dice rolls went poorly -- and that without character sheets yet it could be a little harmful to the game as a whole. (I feel we are past that, maybe, but it's still in the back of my mind.) Anyway, I wanted to maximize each PC's Action and try to get one Attack Roll per PC each round, just in case I really need it. Six rolls vs one roll each round was the hope (What if I roll a crit; what if it starts looking like a tpk). So I just made it so everyone got off an attack roll. Also, I swapped your location with Lemming's 'Torch' PC even though you had wanted to be the supply chain of handing rocks to the PCs like a bucket-brigade -- from a safe distance. I did that only because I knew you had something with which to attack the Faceless Stalker. And 'Torch' does not; he can only throw rocks. It is all my fault. I understand and appreciate your concern and moving forward will 100% respect your prerogative to move your PC the way you lay out his actions. This was my acting out of fear rather than impatience. Please continue to roleplay the way you see fit. It is good.

Monday was a bank holiday and I really thought it would be slow at work but holy moly, yesterday -- and today -- have been busy. I'm free now for a few minutes but trying to read Gameplay and see if it's my turn to attack or not: My brain is just fried. My monster may even be dead but I think it has one more hit left. Maybe in a couple hours, after dinner, I'll be recharged enough to actually *read* instead of stare with unfocused eyes at the blurry words.

I hope everyone is okay with the placement of their PC.

I think Lemming is the only one without some kind of melee weapon so I put him out of the way. Everyone else has something to swing at the Faceless Stalker. Obviously the Dagger and the Morningstar are the two best weapons; the scalpel, baton/sap, and one of the stool-legs rounds out the group's meless options.

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How is everyone doing viewing (and editing for their PC) the Google-Slides document? Are you able to see the combat well enough?

Almonihah,
You'll need to place your Avatar/Token into the room for that 17 to hit. Or, mwahahaha, you can wait for 'Me' to place your PC on a square of 'My' choosing, mwahahaha.

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We started with another critical hit and, if Almonihah actually enters C9, a second hit. Maybe y'all can kill my Faceless Stalker before Rd 2?!?

As I recall, the group has a masterwork Morningstar, a +1 Silver Dagger, a Sap (the baton), four improvised-weapon stool legs, ... and 23 remaining Vials of Holy Water. I don't know for certain who has what; y'all ought to.

You remmeber Novembre Clacza the Inquisitor telling Autumn Evanescu that Holy Water does *not* work on Faceless Stalkers as they're not Undead nor Evil Outsiders. (They tried to test to see if you were Zombies at first.)

The dead priest with the Silver Dagger? .... Yes, she has a purple robe and a basic Cleric/Priest outfit. No problem. It is the property of 'Bat' now.

Yes, there is a small cupboard/pantry connecting B11 and C9. It has spoons and forks, towls; it has bowls and plates and cups. It has salt and even a few jars of vinegar, alcohol for drinking, and food oil.

The Strigoi is helplessly pinned in the rubble. Getting close to it 'may' bring you in reach of its tongue attack. Covering it with rubble not in its immediate vicinity is possible. Throwing Holy Water on it from afar will kill it. Trying to remove the rubble around it to make a path to continue up the hall (north) may inadvertantly free it.

I'll give everyone a bit more time to roleplay something to say or do, just in case -- then Wednesday late morning or so go ahead and describe the encounter in C9.

Ray, important question,

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*excellent question.

I spent weeks thinking through this off-and-on while I was designing everything. Considering this or that. And ultimately coming to a conclusion: In general I felt I'd like to keep it somewhat open-ended. I knew the first scene was a nightmare anyway and can have different physics and 'mentality.' And for the first few encounters in Briarstone, I knew that it should be pretty quick when PCs get to the chapel for rest and get their basic info from the office of Doctor Eliege Losandro. Of course, PbP makes it last forever, but we're actually still in the opening game session if this were over-the-table. Open-ended means I can keep it a little fluid, keep a little uncertainty or ambiguity. Which I felt would be good.

*But*! I also decided I wanted to convey some info to the PCs for effect. So my rule-of-thumb is one of "Common Knowledge": I think everyone in Ustalov would recognize Pharasma and Desna. As for other stuff, here's something I typically consider-- If I went to a person who never played D&D and asked them to describe a Vampire I think they could -- even if specific powers would be different depending who I asked. I think if I used the word 'strigoi' in Romania the average person would say "Vampire." But still 'common knowledge.' I think in the US after 'The Strain' lots of folks would know Strigoi. But Ah Ha! I am purposely keeping it uncertain if the in-game Strigoi are like that in the show (with Worms like Kyuss Spawn), or actually more like Romanian Folklore (just Vampires), or more like the D&D "Mohrg." That kind of detail will require an actual character sheet and Skill check. (remember in Gameplay when Wyatt was saying 'faceless monster' while an actual Inquisitor with Lore said "Facelss Stalker" -- common knowledge vs trained lore)

Right now your characters all know what you think a person who never played D&D might know -- as well as things so ubiquitous in Ustalov that, for that part of the Campaign Setting, everyone would be aware.

It's not a perfect answer. I knew designing this that the beginning would be very unusual. My initial design was for my home-game group where we take turns DMing -- me in the Pathfinder setting, my friend for the Greyhawk setting. And this would have been the introduction of Ustalov to the group. I always DM in Varisia, Cheliax, or Absalom. So this to them would have been a completely blank slate. Never heard of Ustalov. And I wanted a session where they didn't have to have a character ready made. Let them feel the setting and the game first, and try to get a horror atmosphere.

For us it's a little harder. You gotta make 'something' in Recruitment. And the opening encounters take much longer than in a homegame over the table.

So, specifically:

1) What would be the first 'one-or-two-sentence' answer most PF fans would give to describe Pharasma to someone who's never played? .... Those two sentences are what you know!

2) What would the average person who has never played D&D, and is only vaguely aware of the tv show and Romanian folklore *think* they know about Vampires or Strigoi? .... That's what you know!

Check out the spell used to make it. Where does the 5 pounds of silver dust go!?!

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LOL
Yeah, the number of times I memorize that deeply into RAW is pretty small. Ah well, hopefully we can still have fun.

Reading Gameplay it looks like the majority are content to leave Ulver Zandalus locked up for the immediate future. And continue searching Briarstone for a way to get to the chapel.

But the idea of bringing Ulver Zandalus *to* the 'Monstrous EYE' covered by the tapestry to find out what happens if they see each other is the first solid proposal as to try to get new information.

I'm going ahead and move the group up to B11 and B12 (in the next few hours; I gotta get some work done since, uh, I am at work.) -- for the record, I thought y'all were going to encounter B12 and B11 before you even got to B14 and B9, let alone B5. So I am Happy for this.

@ Critzible,
Best use of a straight jacket, Ever.

I remember when I was younger and a Sunday like that one (Super Bowl party AND climactic-chapter-ending D&D session vs BBEG) wouldn't make me a Zombie all Monday long! It wasn't even super busy at work yesterday but I was absolutely exhausted. I feel better after a good seven hours of sleep!

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Regarding Holy Water Vials: This is pretty Meta; I have been wrestling whether to put it in a Spoiler Tag. It's adventure-design stuff.

Hope this helps! And keep asking questions!

At the game store buying new miniatures. I will post something and try to be novel; this was the earlier post:

Autumn Evanescu

Priest of Pharasma

"I can not know whether killing Ulver Zandalus would bring an end to this. Aerwyn Savoia seemed to believe there is a connection, perhaps even some causal factor, but I would like some hard evidence, preferably proof, before killing a patient. Murder on a hunch feels dark. Of course, we don't even know what you'll find when you open the door to the solitary confinement chamber -- whether Ulver Zandalus is even still alive."

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Novembre Clacza
Inquisitor of Pharasma

"Perhaps you'll consider me just another "cold" Inquisitor but, Autumn's superior clearly felt there was a connection -- when I get sufficient nightmare-free rest I can use Divination magic to determine if Ulver Zandalus is Evil. If he is, that's sufficient 'evidence' for me to promote his execution -- if there is even a chance of saving the doctors, clerics, and patients remaining in Briastone. (Not to mention, who knows how far the nightmares and fog have spread, to Thrushmoor and Hallowfeld or even beyond.)"

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Autumn Evanescu
Priest of Pharasma

"We know that the chapel is still a Hallowed sanctuary and will protect us from Nightmares if we sleep there. The three cauldrons in the surgery room, however, they are just enchanted to Create Water to fill each day. We have to Bless the Water (an easier task because the Cauldrons are sanctified to Pharasma) in order for it to become Holy Water. But unfortunately, sleeping near them won't shield us fom the preternatural nightmares."

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While the others attack the zombies, he ponders the words Ulver mutters. She turns to the pair of Pharsmans. "That kinda sounds similar to what that thing behind the tapestry kept saying. Do you think the two are somehow linked? I hate to say it, but I'm thinking more and more that the best decision for us is to put that poor man out of his misery."

"No-Name" is Almonihah. He says he doesn't care for now so sure.

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@ Monkeygod, I did not feel any negative vibes when I read your request for clarification. I almost just went back to reread your post but then stopped myself -- I didn't read it originally with any thought of anything negative; why would I go back to reread it to see if it felt negative on the second time of looking?

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@ Lemming, Picking Tokens/Avatars for NPCs and posts has been both fun and frustrating. Salvatore Scream from CotCT just *Looks* like Ulver Zandalus to me! But thos Nurse Zombies. I dunno. I also will have to consider whether to get a new Zombie token/avatar. I mean, there are a finite number of nurses and that number is smaller than the number of Zombies. But if I use a different token/avatar for a Zombie just because it had a different look in life, would that cause consternation amongst the PCs who wonder if it has a different stat-block? Do I perhaps *want* to throw a curveball early on to the PCs-- You see a Zombie but it has a different token/avatar than the Undead Nurse; is it different mechanically?! Mwahahaha! I don't know yet.

Combat is over.

Khardon Dourstone did not have to throw that Holy Water wherein he rolled a 5 -- so only four vials of Holy Water were used (someone can double check that if they like; I'm going off memory) -- leaving the group with 22 Vials of Holy Water. Likewise, his PC was never in reach of a Zombie so his weapon roll was not used.

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I did move some of the PC avatar-tokens to kind of explain line-of-sight and line-of-affect and such.

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Now there's Ulver Zandalus. (And while his avatar-token may be from 'Curse of the Crimson Throne' well, the avatar of the canonical Ulver Zandalus is just not the right fit! This 'Salvatore Scream' token-avatar is a perfect Ulver Zandalus!)

@ Monkeygod,

Holy Moly, I am shocked and appaled that Autumn Evanescu is a Liar. But it's all her fault! ... no really, sorry about that. I'll take the blame for her mispoken words. I made mistakes, but maybe have a little excuse. At the time I was (Metagame) concerned that I was Turtling the Players and obviously went too far in the, 'Hey, you're actually in a Good-Guy place overrun by Bad-Guys, rather than the *you're-all-stuck-in-an-Evil-place-with-no-hope* vibe. Then there's the actual Briarstone I edited from the "In Search of Sanity" AP volume. The land once belonged to The Briarstone Witch and her Evil Stank permeates the ground. But she has been exorcized and the ground consecrated. But now an Evil Nightmare is flooding the area. And there are parts of Briarstone that are like the Hollywood cliche trope of 'Oh the church is holy ground' stuff.

C6 is an actual church / temple / chapel of Pharasma and Undead or Evil Outsiders trying to get in have to make a Will Save and even then will be weaker if they succeed and step inside. Because of Pharasma's sanctity there, Nightmares can't affect your ability to rest for eight hours if there. .... As far as the cauldrons go, Yes, they are 'Of Pharasma' with her Symbol on them. They Create Water when they are emptied (once per day max) and the magic items themselves are non-rule-mechanics-"Blessed" by Pharasma. So they are nice objects for Flavor but their only Crunch is to Create Water. If an idea or suggestion of Flavor is so novel and interesting that I am forced to add some Crunch, hey absolutely I will. Like, I have no problem with y'all moving(dragging) them into C6 once you clear a pathway 'to' C6. (and rest for 8 hours cuz you can't Drag right now) Even though I liked the design idea of having your water source away from your sanctuary, it was a cool thought. Anyway, I do apologize for communicating that badly. I hope this clears it up. Yet another example of why Discussion is very beneficial. I totally see the confusion I caused.

Ooh boy what a Wednesday -- sorry I couldn't get here.

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Gameplay: I went a little overboard in describing the Zombies getting hit in 'Round 1' while they were Flat-Footed. One never even made it. The second though, despite all the flavor text of turning and stepping and blah, blah, well, it was Flat Footed. At the very bottom of Initiative that Zombie would shamble forward, provoking AoOs by Moving into Torch's Square. So I'm treating some dice rolls as AoOs. Then 'Round 2' will have happened and everyone can go again before my Zombie gets to eat Torch's brains. I am going to check Gameplay now, but I'm pretty sure the Zombie will be destroyed before it can attack. .... Also, I have to play fast-and-loose with the door closing action. Get someone to say, 'Hey don't close it while friends are in there' kind of thing. I'm certain this was just a case of not seeing the updated Google Slide and realizing three PCs had already entered the room with the Zombies. (Heading to Gameplay in a second,...)

Just try to make sure and move your 'tokens'/'avatars' appropriately. Khardon Dourstone opened the door and threw a Vial rolling very well (despite the range). Y'all can Move around him or through his square.

Let me know if you can see -- or not see -- the entire Slide for combat.

Combat:

The two Zombie nurses will notice you once you come in -- but when you step in and then step back out, they stop and return to try to get to Ulver Zandalus beyond the bars. (Bottlenecking doesn't appear to work as living flesh is present opposite you; remember they are mindless: closest blood means closest food.)

The Zombies go on Zero Initiative. Last. So post what you want to do.

Y'all know who has a stool leg and who has the morningstar. More importantly to me, y'all *each* have some Vials of Holy Water. At the end of combat we can count how many of the 26 you will have used up. For now, throw 'em as though you got 'em!

If someone wants to reenter room B14 (where the 3 cauldrons are) and enter B9 from that angle, the squares are there to count. The door to B14 is closed (y'all listened at it a few sessions ago but didn't open it. So a Standard Action opens it).

Remember, no Charging; you're too fatigued/ehausted.

And just roll that d20 to fling Holy Water or swing a weapon.

C6 is the chapel to Pharasma, a place Hallowed area where your sleep will be shielded from the nightmares. Sleeping anywhere else in Briarstone will not offer respite from the nightmares.

Still, asking about the Cauldrons of Holy Water in B14 was good.

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PS: I am really pleased how Gameplay is taking off now that some uncertaintly and concern is passed. It just so happens that things really, really, are hurting at work this week and next. I'm here but boy oh boy are each of my days sucking right now. I mention it because, well, no good reason, just had to vent.

Yeah, that's certainly a great way to roleplay it -- if you know (and presumably you do) what even the most basic of your character build is -- that you'll feel as though you're proficient with this or that once you get a hand on it. .... The opening scenes (both in the Nightmare *and* in Biarstone before you can rest-for-8-hours and get your paperwork from Dr. Eliege Losandro's chamber, are specifically designed with an attempt at just keeping dice rolls just a naked d20. So, like, most stuff you find is an improvised weapon. But, you know, when you throw a Vial of Holy Water at a Zombie, I'm not interested in BAB, DEX, Range Increment, blah blah blah. Not now. Of course that will be a thing later. But now I'm just trying something more amateur, more simple, in order to focus on atmosphere and roleplay. Again, yeah the Morningstar is Masterwork, but that cool-beans +1 to attack rolls is not something I'm interested in for the moment.

Thanks for the questions and Keep Them Coming!
(I think Discussion is SO important in a Play-by-Post. I can't see the look on youur face, hear the tone of your voice, feel the temperature of the room. It all relies on Discussion.)

Awesome! Thanks for the Gameplay guys!

We just finished our Sunday campaign and I have to get to bed. Monday promises to be outrageously busy but I ought to get here late in the day.

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Please ask if you are having any problems seeing the map clearly.

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As per Monkeygod, we'll start up B2 asap. Going up to B2 will have a little encounter and unfortunate confirmation there is currently no way to get to the chapel through there. This part of Briarstone is cut off from the rest of the hospital/asylum. (And it'll be good to clear out a bad guy or two from behind before pushing ahead.)

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Then there is the 'Thing' manifesting at B8 halting your progress to C1. I don't want to call it a "Puzzle" but the Pathfinder design is a little more 'puzzle-like' than combat. The Thing speaks despite being a freaky eyeball with spider-like iris -- I'll give the description and of course the actual image tomorrow -- but it whines about what it is turning in to, what is it becoming, as though it also has amnesia. I'll check the canon tomorrow but I think the phrases are like, "What am I become ; Who am I ; How can We crawl" -- whatever. It'll be a thing when I can actually post it. For now, any pre-guessing for the puzzle is possible.

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You can get to the C6-chapel through B1 but you know there are Zombies in that courtyard where visibility from the fog is limited to 5 feet. But in B1 you can shatter a stained-glass-window to Pharasma's chapel from the outside, from the courtyard of B1, and crawl through into C6 -- if you really really want. ALSO, someone asked in Gameplay and I missed it -- the Yellow Fog permeating the outdoors arrived immediately when the Nightmare 'erupted' (the prevailing guess from Priest and Inquisitor). It does not seem to have a 'Source' per say. But they admit they don't really, really know for sure.

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Aerwyn Savoia's bedchamber B7 has her bed, some gold that doesn't belong to you and a few books on Ustalov (geography, history), Pharasma & cosmology (including Black Butterfly and the Cosmic Caravan), and The First World of the Fey and its connection to the Dimension of Dreams. That they exist may provide contextual information to the campaign. But the details will be under Spoilers in the Campaign Tab -- These posts will be optional as they add Flavor for the campagin but show significant differences to canon. Read them if your curious about the cosmological and historical differences in my head canon; I'm trying to make sure, though, that they won't really affect your perception of the campaign world around you if you are hardcore PF canon.

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Whether you enter B9 to see Ulver Zandalus who you know has some connection to this is up to you.

Perhaps it's my enthusiasm for the campaign that makes me impatient, and there's nothing to see here,... but I do feel Gameplay is going slowly. I've been considering DM-errors as problems and wanted to share my concerns to see if, indeed, poor DMing has impeded the game. Please consider if any of the following I've wondered about are true, and let's see if we can move forward:
1} Players are a little "Turtled" (PCs feel like turtles, hiding in their shells and not wanting to move because the adventure is too deadly or even unfair.)
2} Players are a little uncertain about what to do / where to go. There's just too much ambiguity.
3} Despite how it 'sounded' -- the amnesia thing and no-stat-block element is just not very playable. Sounded good in theory but just not working. PCs *need* character sheets & equipment.
4} DM posts are just mass walls of text and it's too much to get through.

I'm going to push through a few posts in Gameplay later Thursday -- but just want a little feedback on why there are seemingly so few posts in Gameplay. Hopefully once you convince the young lady to calm down enough to draw a map, and maybe go to Ulver Zandalus in B9, and explore the 'thing' beyond the tapestry in B8 -- we'll be that much closer to really getting going.

That's a really good idea.

I'll give a day to see if anyone else remarks -- but maybe late Wednesday if no one really objects I'll 'reverse-order the Google Slides so that #1 is current and they go backward in chronological order or relevance.

Something odd:

Tuesday night ; all Wednesday ; probably Thursday:

I can be available on The Boards constantly. I can likely answer questions within a couple hours (or couple minutes) of posting.

(I'm half taking a few days off, kinda/sorta. My business is going through a hiccup which is giving me more time for leisure. And I don't have to go to sleep as early.)

Also, if I missed someone's question in Gameplay -- or an NPC barely addressed something or if it was confusing, please ask again. Here if you want to cut out all ambiguity -- or in Gameplay if you want to roleplay reasking the question.

None of us are on slide 15. On slide 5 we are in an unlabeled room. Slide 15 indicated that is B15. ??

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Oky, I tinkered with the Slides. Hopefully it's all a litle more understandable.

Y'all are viewing Slide 15. The PCs are in room B5. I guess technically Khardon Dourstone is in B4 as lookout through the makeshift barrier demarcating the long hallway that is B2.

But the Slide 15 locations are easily accessible to the PCs and survivors.

Metagame: I blundered in the memory of how large a Vial of Holy Water is. I was thinking they are just like Potions, just a little one-ounce vial that can neither be halved for partial benefit, nor weigh down low-STR PCs on their equipment sheet. But looking at the Core, those friggen things are suppose to be, like, a pound of Water! .... Well, owing to my mistake: "From This Day Forth (just for this campaign as the precedent is set), A Vial of Holy Water is itty-bitty like a shot glass!"
And y'all got 26 Vials.

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Please give some feedback if the Slides on the Google Doc are doing the trick. You can see the little kids okay and know which is which. You can see where you're at. That kind of stuff.
B3 are the two chambers, now connected, that housed Autumn Evanescu and her friend Vera.
B4 is the makeshift bulwark Wyatt Wrunevescu is guarding from the long hallway (B2).
B1 is the foggy courtyard in which some Zombies are roaming.
B5 is the lounge where the survivors are holed up.
B6 & B7 are the private chambers of The Briarstone Asylum & Hospital High Priest, Aerwyn Savoi (now missing).
B8 is the tapestry (of Pharasma & Desna) that is hiding the hideous, monstrous manifestation of something 'not-of-this-world' that is presumed to be the result of the Briarstone Witch's evil.

Coming This Tuesday to a PbP near you:

Your DM

(exhausted Monday)

we're all good, right? Or do we remember what good and evil are?

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That is one of the core assumptions of the game. ... And even if one doesn't remember what Mama taught about sharing toys and not selling your Soul to 'De Devil', or whatever, even without memories of lessons in morality, one could be Good. (or Evil)

Okay, I added Slide 14 which shows B5 where the survivors are congregating -- and a couple adjoining areas.

I am absolutely exhausted after a long day (and week) but Saturday sometime likely morning I will get some exposition from the NPCs -- and a Slide with the children.

Metagame: Pathfinder canon has, like three kids and a bunch of adults and that is rougly what I was going for. But looking for images, well, most female NPC images one finds are either the lame sexy-hot vixens or evil witches or ghosts. Most men images look way too cool and strong. It was hard to find good NPC images. But the kids. Holy crap, the kid images are great -- creepy but innocent, frightened but appropriate. There were, like, tons. I found one or two that I was going to use, then another I couldn't resist. And another. .... So designing this I was like, 'I know, there are only a handful of adult survivors but a bunch of children. The PC heroes will want to keep a bunch of little kids safe, right?! And certainly the good NPCs will!' So that's what I have in B5. The hospital Lounge for off-duty nurses, doctors and priests -- converted to an emergency shelter.

Feel free to roleplay a bit amongst yourselves as I rest my brain Friday night.

Falling behind just for six to twelve seconds, one of the survivors takes the moment to listen closely at the hallway doors close to the barricade.

"If they don't want us, there are a lot of other places to look. We'll find the way out eventually."

First, the door seemingly to the same western room from which you heard shambling sounds previously. The same sounds emerge, no louder or more intense than previously.

Then, across the hall on the eastern wall, some twenty and another thirty feet north, two more doors. But no sound emerges from either of these. And they 'look' like interior doors rather than 'exterior' doors.

Then, with everyone else being invited beyond the barricade, this survivor joins them.

19 wins!

You chose not to add any roleplay text so I just used your previous text from earlier.

It felt much more like a Diplomacy rather than an Intimidate, so that's how I'm treating it.

In a few hours from now (late Friday morning) I will update the maps and add a bit more in Gameplay. Right now I have other real life things that must come first -- but I wanted to at least get over this hump.

They want to know more about your nightmares. And they admit they have all been having similar nightmares -- though not as deadly: The Tatterman is nearby while they try to hide, rather than The Tatterman is chasing them.

Neither Priest nor Inquisitor are able to rest enough to prepare spells. The last spell Autumn Evanescu cast was an Augury, a divination to see if she should lead the children and other survivors out a window and flee this place. Pharasma answered her through the spell that such a gambit would bring dreadful Woe to them all.

Perhaps it's the tone of voice, or even just the way he held the Holy Symbol of Pharasma. The simple words,

"Easy now. We're no enemy of yours, promise."

It was something. Enough. An empathy that showed an understanding of equal 'fright,' 'confusion.'

Autumn Evanescu is the first to accept it. And though the Priest of Pharasma (as she introduces herself) acquiesces to Novembre Clacza (introduced as the Inquisitor of Pharasma) in matters of defense and security, it is the Lady Priest who may have ultimate authority on who is deemed a survivor and who is an enemy.

They call you over and remove some of the barricading so as to help you reach their relative safety.

Wyatt Wrunevescu is the first to apologize of the defenders. There are children in back, you see, and the 'Faceless Monsters' (what the Inquisitor has named as 'Faceless Stalkers') can change shape and look like people. They couldn't just risk the fragile bit of safety they have achieved.

Okay, y'all can roll Intimidate and Diplomacy. (Dien's early Diplomacy didn't come off so well, but it also didn't have a few rounds of conversation preceding it -- so Dien can reroll that one.)

The first Skill roll -- whoever posts it first (and whether it's Diplomacy or Intimidate) -- will be treated as the Baseline; everyone can add or subtract from that.

The DC is 16.

The first attempt (whether Diplomacy or Intimidate) will be the baseline and everyone else can modify that number with an additional Diplomacy or Intimidate. (Playing the ol' "Good-Cop/Bad-Cop" routine: Some PCs getting aggressive and impatient / other PCs being diplomatic and reasonable.)

If you roll a 12 or higher you can add 2 to the initial Baseline roll.
If you roll a 5 or lower you will subtract 2 to the intitial Baseline roll.

(It looks like at least two of you are going for Intimidate, and a few are going for Diplomacy. You can all roll. Or, if you're concerned that you may roll that 5 or less and don't want to roll, that is your prerogative.)

If the group gets that DC 16, you will have half Intimidated / half Negotiated past the fear and mistrust of the NPCs. If not -- uh, you'll have to go kill a Faceless Stalker and maybe a couple more Zombies.

A flurry of whispering from behind the makeshift barricade follows, as fear and uncertainty mixes with fatigue and a glimmer of hope.

Then a pause.

....Okay, sorry about how the Gameplay posts played out, here.

I think I have gone back and included 'off-the-cuff' responses to each PC's questions and dialogue. I kept hitting the "Edit" button instead of the "Reply" button and so I kept deleting one text of response from the NPCs instead of just adding a new text of response.

If I missed a response to your PC in Gameplay, uh, it was not intended. I guess just chalk it off to what would often happen in a real encounter of frightened strangers yelling back and forth to each other across a forty-foot hallway in a critical situation. Some things will get overlooked on both sides. (I know I lost a few good bits of dialogue from the NPCs.)

But in general, of course I try to respond to each PC's post, one way or another.

Crap!

I screwed up a Post. I went to edit some dialogue I had already posted and lost the original text.

These posts may seem a bit disjointed.

Sorry.

I guess that adds to the confusion and mayham, though. Folks hollering in fear.

Edit:
Yeah, I keep screwing up my posts.

In my haste I have accidentally 'Edited' recent posts instead of written new Posts. Damn it!

Do any of us hear the comment about children?

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That is how I had intended it; a whisper that you could overhear -- or at least, let's say 'guaranteed one or two PCs would overhear with a good Perception' so it's given.

I'll provide an example in Gameplay in a couple minutes of a Whisper that you can't hear. ...Though, again, I guess someone could ask to roll a Perception and try to get a very high number.

.

PS:
LOL, I never expected one of the PCs to respond with something like, "Hey you stupid Dummy, of course we're not Zombies!" Totally threw me off for a second!

How are the Google Slides working for everyone? Please feel free to move your Avatar-Icon to a more appropriate 'square' as needed.

And let me know if it's not working very well for you (I can't imagine using a tiny cell phone screen for this.)

One of you advised to use the Battlemat image as a "Background" and I will attempt to learn how asap. For now, though, it seems usable.

And let me know to what degree of clarity and comfort you have in understanding the map in the Slides so far. (Soon enough you'll get a map of the whole place. But alas, not yet.)

B2} Fifty feet down the hallway, your torchlight barely pushing back the darkness, you hear a muffled alarm vocalized by panicked-sounding people, followed by the immediate shuffling of haphazard barricades being repositioned.

Six seconds later you see the flickering ignition of a torch illuminate a makeshift wall of broken furniture and sundries, and the torch is thrown northward up the hall in your direction, shining its light on you, giving the sentinels a vaguely better look at the forms you feature.

The southern stretch of the eastern wall of this long hallway is a series of large windows of thick glass, cracked in several places and far more delicate, that should provide a clear view of the courtyard (B1) but a yellow mist hangs low and a gray fog overshadows the sky above. Visibility is practically nonexistent through the haze. Nonetheless, from time to time, a humanoid form shambles in view for a moment before disappearing again.

And of course, from the south, the barricade, you hear the warning. ”Zombies! The walking dead have figured out how to open the doors. One of those Faceless Creatures must be leading them; they have torches.” The fear in their voices is palpable. As is the fatigue.

As everyone prepares to exit through the southeastern door, one survivor is still examining the cauldrons of water etched with the markings of Pharasma. It is the survivor who holds aloft the Holy Symbol of Pthe deity.

He looks at the group as if to say something.

There is magic in these cauldrons. He can *feel* it somehow. Some kind of Holy or Divine eldritch energy.

Several of the other survivors offer to help, willing and able to hold a few vials each.

And a few people look to claim the stool-seat now that the nurse's baton/sap is taken, but quickly defer to any of the front-six prefers it.

There is a quiet noise coming from B9. No sound from B2.

The nuse's outfit and smock fit quite well, dirty as they are.

The water is not merely refreshing, it is nourishing. It is not a substitute for food or medicine, but it removes your dehydration. All remaining survivors take their turns drinking from the three cauldrons, a few nodding to the Dwarf that it is good. .... Looking at the cauldrons up close, they each are etched with a symbol of Pharasma.

The twenty-six vials are not usable as drinking receptacles. The tiny flasks must have a different purpose.

The two medical tables -- their restraining bonds and their legs -- are strong and sturdy. Not easily broken apart for weapons or shields.

The shelves in the back, whereon broken glass and medical tools lie (including the 26 vials) could be broken apart more easily -- a little effort with an axe. But the wood could likely then only be used as fuel for fire. Nothing else, none of the other medical accoutrements, are present.

The southeastern door sounds quiet putting your ear to it.

But the southern door gives away some soft scratching or moaning sound.

I 'think' I counted all four stool-chair legs, meaning Lemming was left with the stool-seat. If I'm wrong and I only counted three, ah well. No biggie.

For those counting, what you observed:

It took three blows to the head (rolls of 13 or higher) to knock out the Zombie. And then a fourth as a coup de grace.

Zombies are very slow, can't use tactics, and provoke AoOs walking into your square. However, once in your square they will start eating you automatically like a Swarm.

.

For now at least, there is enough time and NPC survivors that, your items from the nightmare, you can hand them off in a fight. And reclaim them afterward. I know someone got a delicate clay bowl, for example.

B14} The Undead defeated, you begin searching the room:

The long, north-to-south rectangular room looks to be some kind of hospital or surgery room, partly because of two tables that are equipped with restraining cuffs where a patient would lay, and partly for shelving on the far-south wall that looks to have contained potions, alchemical items, and equipment for chirurgery. Along the length of the western wall, seemingly oddly in this place, are three massive cauldrons of water. Perhaps used for healing and washing -- the water is Clean! Potable. And there is Lots of it in these three cast iron cauldrons (a few hundred gallons maybe).

Moreover, there is a difficult-to-describe, almost shine to the water, as though its purity is as, well, as 'spiritual' as it is potable.

At the far south wall adjacent to the shelving is a closed door exiting to the south. And in the center of the east wall is a closed door leading to the east.

On the shelves, among the broken items, are twenty-six empty vials. Each is about the size of a man’s thumb and the glass-&-wax-stoppers is very delicate, brittle.

The baton or sap the Zombie held in its hand is still on the medical table whereof it was dropped.

Retrieving the scalpel stabbed into the Zombie's brain and wiping it off on the nurse's smock, your adrenaline rush begins to subside.

And the hunger from your malnourishment once again threatens to overwhelm you.

Looking at the remains of the sandwich you took from the lobotomized-or-Dominated nurse in the prison cells downstairs, you see just how badly stained with formaldehyde and some greasy substance it is. *Perhaps* you'll eventually get hungry enough to take a bite -- but you're pretty sure that canibalizing the Zombie nurse at your feat would be only mildly worse. Still,... just in case you do get that desperate, maybe there's no harm in keeping it.

In desperation another flurry of blows lashes at the Zombie, mostly striking her body and arms in vain as she lurches into the dwarf.

The Zombie does not seem to shy away from the everburning torch as it does the Holy Symbol of Pharasma.

Nonetheless, the Dwarf slams the Undead nurse on her forehead with his good arm, knocking her back a few inches.

Then, from the side, the survivor with the scalpel slashes a meaningless graze against the Zombie's shoulder before stabbing it in the head, three inches deep -- and the Zombie nurse drops to the floor. Apparently there were enough bolws to the head to fell the creature, disrupting the Negative Energy animating it.

On the floor, however, the Zombie continues to twitch, and open and close, open and close, her mouth as if trying to bite.

With your chair legs, it is a simple matter to bash its head in like a coup de grace -- permanently destroying the Undead's ambulatory-if-mindless existence.

A brief pause occurs as everyone catches their breath after 'killing' the Zombie.

The poor random person who could barely keep a hand on the makeshift stool-seat he attempted to use as a weapon can only offer a smile to the others acknowledging how lame an attempt his was at striking the nurse -- as if to shrug and say 'Hey, you guys got the four stool-legs; all that was left for me was the stool-seat. At least I tried.'