Just finished my Monday at work -- gonna go home in a few minutes and crash out on my bed for a few years; wake me up in 2034.
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Yes! Formulae Book, Spellbook -- Holy Symbol for casting -- those kinds of things are among the itmes found in C18. Not weapons or armor or Items. But your Formulae Book, with notes in your own handwriting-- 'Hey look, when I write it looks like the same print as this book.'
I'll look at the differences between the Paizo canon for the Harrow and mine. I think mine is just a little more truncated and streamlined but still mostly similar. . EDIT:
If you are familiar with the Stolen Fate AP you will understand. I have modified the basic plot of that for use in this campaign regarding a "Harrow Deck." The Nine Alignments or categories/columns for the 54 Harrow Cards just as easily correspond to my 36 cards -- the Divided by Nine is still obviously a thing. Again, mine is just a little truncated. And that won't affect this campaign.
Yeah, I focused on Black Butterfly in the Cosmic Caravan. My emphasis. Black Butterfy likes you. Even if you're just curious.
@ Monkeygod, Hopefully that Gameplay post is good enough for 'everyone' for now. But I do need character sheets asap. . Regarding Wayfarer:
. Azlanti (& other Lost) Language:
. I didn't like "Sullied Ancestry" but you can absolutely, 100% have an Arazni background. Just no mechanic for it. Incidentally, a tremendous amount of Divination magic was used on Subject: 'Arazni Arvanxi' that is in the little document! You were a focal point for a ton of research on "Gatewalkers" -- Mostly bacause of The Cosmic Caravan, that you're an Oracle, that you are a Harrowed,-- I mean, you are a textbook example of what this campaign is all about! So please get me some info soon so I can help get it to the group so the group can start solving the mystery. Yada Yada.
It's not my fault; it's not my fault This morning our home group, with today's session canceled for Mothers' Day, got a text from the DM that he added a couple posts to our Campaign Journal and we the players ought to check it out. Apparently, even though we aren't playing today, the apocalypse can begin anyway. Our NPC King just magically told us The Enemy is advancing with a massive Undead and Abyssal army and we have to Teleport back home and begin defending-via-attack. SO for a good couple hours I was part of our group texting what our PCs are gonna try to do *next* Sunday when we start rolling dice. So I'm just now getting here. 'It's not my fault; it's not my fault!' . Give me a few minutes and I'll get to Gameplay and try to respond to questions -- and look at y'all's character sheets.
My Saturday is jammed packed full of stuff -- INTRODUCING BRAND NEW GAMERS TO PATHFINDER AT THE LGS!!! -- so I won't be adding Gameplay posts today. But tomorrow my regular HomeGame has been canceled for Mothers' Dayand I have no plans Whatsoever. So as long as I decide to get out of bed and do something other than read a couple books -- I have Zero excuse to not get to Gameplay. ....(Oh yeah, I do want to go to T-Mobile and Office Depot, so I have to at least take a shower tomorrow.) But mostly I have NOTHING Sunday except staying in bed and reading. So I really should get here to focus on Gameplay.
@ Khardon Dourstone,
But *no* memories. Just records written down in your file from NPCs.
Yeah, casters would need time to prep. .... Thinking about it now that it's here, this is a design glitch, but just a baby one. I loved the amnesia idea from Gatewalkers and Strange Aeons (it has been done before back in the early 90s as well, and a player in a Korvosa campaign once wanted his PC to have amnesia; I even played in a ToEE campaign in GH recently where my PC had amnesia as an excuse to explain why I had so much metagame/insider knowledge of ToEE). But here it's like, 'Well, we just finished resting ten minutes ago; let's rest another hour!' But, hmm, I dunno, maybe we've just gotten so used to our PCs resting and then rushing to the "Fifteen Minute Day" we forgot to roleplay out a little down time. Thinking about it further, I think if I awoke in a hospital with amnesia and then read that I loved something called 'Star Trek' and was really good at playing hockey and chess, I'd want to take a few minutes to watch some 'Star Trek', put on some ice skates and dance around, and then play some chess -- just to feel like my old self maybe. Metagame, I see nothing wrong with y'all taking your papers, going back to the chapel of Pharasma, and giving one or two posts of your PCs practicing their stuff: Change into a Bat; cast a couple Cantrips; whatever. And we can segue most of it pretty quickly if you want. I remember designing this and really wondering, [i]'Well, once they get thir information out of C18, why don't they just leave Briarstone?! Why *wouldn't* they just leave? THere's no reason to stay. And so I made sure to be ready if you didn't want to 'finish' clearing out Briarstone like some kind of dungeon crawl. (Of course, there's playable reasons to stay and finish, too!) But what I didn't think of was, well, fully rested and recovered -- should there be another rest? I'm completely open to however y'all want to do it. . And 'Yes' to someone earlier, Max HP every Level as per advancement guidelines at the beginning of the Recruitment Thread.
Thanks Grumbaki! It gave me the impetus to go back over character sheets and notes to refresh my knowledge of your PCs / PC-concepts. That's an important thing to do, I feel. But yeah, it was pretty grueling. I figured you'd want the PC stuff before the NPC and campaign stuff, that's why I didn't start with the profile for Ulver Zandalus and Dr. Eliege Losandro's desk papers. . If there is anything you want to adjust from, Hello(!) FIVE months ago -- now is the perfect time. We can discuss it here or, if you really prefer, via PM. I saved Monkeygod's and Almonihah's for last because, for Almonihah we had originally decided I would create Flavor and Background whole-cloth and all he would do is Crunch for his Skin-Changer, allowing the game to unfold as a mystery a little more. So I felt I had a little more time since his file is mostly empty. And for Monkeygod, I was extremely excited about his Harrow Oracle, especially with a connection to The Cosmic Caravan, but he also indicated (again, *5* months ago) that there were still decisions he wanted to make / left open. So I figured I'd give him a bit more time to Crunch out his PC before I post something too inaccurate. But we know the files your PCs find may have a couple inaccuracies built in, as they're from 3rd party NPCs. So it gives us a little leeway!
Okay, four of six posted .... plus some relevant documents giving a taste more information that, of course, start more questions than they do finishing answers. But I am going to get some work done at the shop too. It may be Friday before I get to Brimlik (of Almonihah) who Dr. Etward Ritalison has gleaned almost Zero information on -- and Monkeygod's Oracle (Harrow Ancestor). But it's coming! (And y'all all can get your PC sheets finalized too.)
I'm trying to leave some of the PC information open-ended or hypothetical. There is a little more in each entry for each PC, butyou get the gist. Reading about yourself, well, as soon as you see a Proper Noun or Ability, you kinda remember or it seems familiar. The Harrow Cards, however, no clue. Again, the more you have in your Profile the better for me. But we can all be a little open-minded for my efforts here. Feel free to Level-Up to 2nd!!!! ALSO: I need to know if y'all are grabbing these documents (and a few more that may look relevant) and scooting back to the (relative) safety of the central Chapel of Pharasma -- OR -- if y'all are going to stay in Dr. Eliege Losandro's office while you read about yourselves!
I'm coming, i'm coming -- a little busy and it is taking me longer than expected writing up what you find in c17/c18. Hey, do your best, if you can, to get a profile for your PC so I can use it. Thanks. Meanwhile, in Gameplay, feel free to post a little roleplay with your characters in Briarstone -- from feelings or impressions or opinions or whatever. And also -- since you're about to have 2nd Level PCs -- go back over the first few posts in Recruitment to refresh your memory on my Houserules. Thanks!
In case y'all want to do any in-depth searching or maybe a bit of roleplay -- I'll wait just a bit before opening the door to the C15 hallway and give the description of the Warden's chambers, Dr. Eliege Losandro -- where your paperwork should be. Now is certainly time to go back over your character sheets. They are about to be available!
You now have your spellcasting -- yes -- but I'm hoping to play it like, well, you are able to dunk a basketball or put on ice-skates and do a whirly-do-flip-de-flip-super-triple-somersault. But you just don't know it until a basketball is in your hands and someone says, 'Dude, look how fast you can dribble -- see if you can dunk!' or something. With Spells there is even more of an ace in my hand: After resting for eight hours you gotta spend an hour preparing (reading a Spellbook, Praying -- even a Sorcerer has to concentrate or something for 15 minutes). So the sooner you get to C17, C18 the better. Well, for Crunch.
If you want to do a full search of any of the chambers, let me know. After we get to C17, C18 you will have your character sheets and can roll a Perception check. And if you want to search now, before getting the character sheet, we will assume you are taking the time to comprehensively search (Take 10 or Take 20). You may or may not feel the time ticking, ticking, ...ticking, while taking time to fully search. But. It may be.
Everyone is fully rested and recovered. (One Cure Light takes care of Khardon Dourstone.) Autumn Evanescu is a 4th Level Priest with plenty of 1st and 2nd Level Spells including Lesser Restoration and Cure Moderate Wounds. She uses ALL of her spells first thing in the morning to get her and the PCs up to full. Likewise, Novembre Clacza is a 6th Level Inquisitor and she uses her limited Spells to bolster or finish what the Priest started. Everone is feeling much better -- but the two casters are once again out of Spells for the day. They can stay and guard the children and such -- but with their daily spells gone so quickly, it will be up to you to continue through Briarstone. . When you're ready to go toward C16/C17 to get to your records -- let me know. Dien mentioned *burning* the book, 'Chains of Night' -- I admit, this never once crossed my mind as something the PCs would do but, sure, if y'all want to! Just let me know. The Book radiates Magic. And Evil. But is not an Artifact.
I have reordered the Slides in the Google Slides Doc and I hope you like it. . If you want, some really good roleplay opportunity is available -- if anyone is at all interested in talking with any of the NPCs.
. And I am ready to post the 'night' watch and move Forward -- as soon as you are.
@ Critzible,
. @ Lemming,
. @ Everyone,
I don't believe I have a weapon atm, aside from more vials of holy water, maybe? . I haven't been keeping track of the stuff you found and moreover, don't know who has what, but....
The various stuff y'all got from the Nightmares of The Tatterman, yeah, not much there to use as Weapons (improvised or otherwise) -- but there is an ecclectic trove of stuff and y'all are quite creative. But understood -- if your PC didn't grab anything but the Holy Water then be honest. And maybe use your Rd 1 Standard to grab one of the not-being-used items and Move up so you can help in Rd 2. Up to you.
Apologies again. I don't know where the week went -- each day I was like, 'Eh, I'll post later or maybe tomorrow' and I honestly didn't think the days were going by that fast. All the sudden it's Saturday. And late afternoon at that. (Truth be told, I was not a thousand percent zealous aboutthis last fight; I just wanted it over.) . . . . @ Monkeygod, yes, of course, Splash Damage in normal situations. Here I wasn't overly concerned with 1 point of adjacent damage as 1 point here or there was not needed for tracking: "Either One Hit or Two Hits will drop my Zombies" was the rule I was using. I guess if there was a situation where three or four 1-pt-Splashes added up I would have absolutley counted it. But I was pretty sure that if my Zombies got a chance to start eating you, one point of splash (or even 2) just wasn't gonna save you. .... Again, once we get our character sheets (C17! , C17!) it'll be a different ballgame.
If you can drop these two Zombies before they enter your square to feast on your blood -- remember they act similar to a Swarm, once one is in your square it is Auto-Damage -- we can quickly move to the chapel. C6 Here We Come!
Loading a Light Crossbow is absolutely a Move Action; a Feat or Class Ability or such may exist in the univers to shorten it. I am unconcerned (at this time) with something like that. Y'all don't even have character sheets in this attempt to horror-Fu the opening few encounters of the campaign. Please let me know if the Google Slides Doc is not as user-friendly as I am hoping for: I wonder what it looks like on your phone, for example, if you're not using a computer like I am -- or if you have a different operating system or even if an iPhone looks okay but not an Android. Whatever. My gut tells me that a little of the confusion -- the parts not a result of 'horror-themed-ambiguity' -- is from trouble with the Google Slides Doc. Regardless, more important than any counting of Move and Standard Actions, 5-foot-steps and dice modifiers, is that we each understand where our characters are in relation to the story / encounter -- and that we're enjoying the combats with just a little fear and concern rather than feeling Railroaded or Turtled or confused. For me personally -- I am anxious to get you to C17 & C18 so you can get your names and such. I am having a hard time remembering which nickname goes to what PC. I also would like to see what each of you has on your blank character sheet -- who has x amount of Holy Water, who has the Dagger, a Morningstar, etc., and who has the chess piece and who has the needle and who has the Varisian playing card, etc.
Right now -- in an attempt (maybe it's working, maybe it's not) to keep to a horror atmosphere where there is uncertainty (but hopefully still DM-trust), I'm avoiding Modifiers on dice rolls (such as Attacks and Saves) and I'm avoiding Damage rolls. I've got it in my head what needs to be done (obviously these Zombies were 1-hit-kills) but the uncertainty factor was *intended* to add a little anxiety. Same thing with using different Images for the Zombies. I thought it might be a little fun if the Players were like, "Hey, that Zombie looks different than the others; is it a different stat-block?! Uh Oh! Oh No!" or something. Meh, maybe it worked a little bit. (I'm better when it's over the table and I can see if your eyes grow wide or, you know, if they start glazing over sleepily.) But hey, it's PbP. What can you do. . Regarding Critical rolls: I hope y'all are cool with it: If you check the 4th Post in Recruitment (the first several posts are collectively my intro) -- under House Rules and the "In-Game" tag -- the second Houserule listed says that ALL 20s are Crits but that everything else is just a plain ol' number -- NO Threat!
NO weapons have an intrinsic Threat Range; Nat 20 always Crits. The Feat “Improved Critical’ and the Enchantment “Keen” can stack so you can eventually get a Threat 19 and a Threat 18.
SOunds like a winner -- and looks like it too, seeing the adjustment to the Google Slide.
Alrighty! I have re-done Slide Two to make it a little better. I covered over the now-gone Manifesting-Eye so it looks like a clean floor. I have made the squares bigger so it's easier to see and centered on the area for the battle. I have ADDED two deceased Inquisitors of Pharasma by placing Avatars of Pharasma's Holy Symbol on the entry squares whereon the deceased lay. I figured Pharasma Holy Symbols would be better to represent these two fallen Inquisitors than two more dead bodies that would look like, uh, Zombies. Those two squares count as ROUGH TERRAIN making it harder (hopefully) for the Zombies. I even ADDED Novembre Clacza and Autumn Evanescu as guarding the door to the children and other survivors. Enjoy!
I will check periodically the rest of Saturday, throughout Sunday and hopefully now and again on Monday -- and reply where needed. But considering how long we have been on delay, if you can't really get here to post your PC's Rd 2 Actions and place your Avatar on a square you feel is good until Tuesday, I understand. Hopefully by Tuesday, though, we can get everyone back to once-post-per-day Mon-Thu, and one-post-per-weekend.
Okay The Google Slide Doc is up to date with Slide Two. Y'all please put your PC Avatars in a Square if you don't like where I arbitrarily placed them beyond the Bottleneck. Also, please keep track of your own PC's stuff -- who has a crossbow or a morningstar (I believe there are three now.), who has the Silver Dagger, who has the chalk (chunk of orpiment) and who has 'what' from the Nightmare.
I think I'll just post a little Flavor in Gameplay over the weekend as opposed to real Crunch and Action -- give everyone plenty of time not merely to discover I've climbed out of an abyss and can apologetically resume -- but also give everyone time to get back in the headspace of their PCs. (Admittedly, I have been in need of getting my own zeal and passion back into Briarstone after a few weeks not thinking about our PbP at all.)
Okay, my 'long national nightmare is over.' 'I hope' I've had a couple days of normalcy in my little business and I even got to the Boards to post a bit or two (the Ask James Jacobs thread is back after a few years of emptiness in my existence). More importantly, I have taken a few minutes here and there over the past couple days to go over my notes and the canon for our PbP to get back in the sauce, reinvigorated and excited. I will find time during the weekend to post -- I believe the Zombies are hungry for your tender PC flesh! If you want to post your Action,....!!!! There are two weapons and a couple crossbows up for grabs if you *enter* the room as Almonihah did. My Zombies go last. And once again, thank you for your patience during my absence -- keeping my business afloat really took my full attention.
I am really struggling with my business. A couple weeks ago I really thought I had fixed everything and gotten back on track, but a new wave from the financial tsunami is crashing against my little store. (I even had to cancel my home-game campaign over the weekend.) And the financial quarter ends 31 March and the accounting for Q1 has to be done for the Tax-Man; I haven't even started on it. If you guys want to run the fight with the Zombies in the room you can. Or if you can wait, I dunno, hopefully no more than a week or so. Plus!!!!
I am still 100% invested in this Play-by-Post. But my business is struggling in real life and I have to keep my days on that. The stress and fatigue and anxiety are really hampering my energy and creativity. Please continue to be a little bit patient.
In addition to the Gameplay post for today, I have added a brand new Slide to the Google Doc showing C1, the main lobby/entry/foyer of Briarstone Hospital & Asylum. It opens directly into the Chapel of Pharasma where everyone can sleep without nightmares -- regaining HP, spells and ability score drain from exhaustion and such. I didn't post in Gameplay the description for C1 yet just in case y'all have something specific you want to roleplay over Ulver Zandalus. ....(and now that I think of it, or if you wanted to go to B1, the inner courtyard, to kill those 3 Zombies so as to not "leave any monsters behind you") But I'm ready for C1 whenever you are!
Thank you!
@ Critzible,
@ Lemming, Regarding your PM: Absolutely! and Of Course!
I want to get through The Wall without a battle-grid. Throw out any ideas you may have in Gameplay. .... I thought about arbitrarily having Ulver Zandalus and The Eye kill each other but, well, in case y'all want to try something to save the patient or whatever, I didn't want to railroad the outcome.
Well it's been a couple weeks but I am back. The anxiety of a financial crisis in my business -- even as I was getting ahead of it and resolving it -- took its toll on me emotionally and, even when I had leisure time to come here, and energy rather than exhaustion -- I simply could not concentrate on being a DM. Every time I had a few minutes to try to think of how to develop the next scene -- Ulver Zandalus and The Eye -- my mind would go straight back to real life. I became concerned I could actually lose my business and be forced to retire early, leading me to start looking at retirement lifestyle. I knew I'd get past it, but, well, I couldn't stop thinking about it.
Sorry about this week -- work has been bad, putting out fires and fixing some banking and acounting stuff. I will get to the Campaign this weekend -- likely Friday sometime. Becasue of the lost week and the feeling of falling behind, and my desire to get y'all to your character sheets asap, I'm going to resolve the Ulver Zandalus-Manifesting Eye Encounter a bit easier than originally designed. Just gonna do it. Again sorry about the lost week. Monday Tuesday and Wednesday of *next* week will ALSO be really tough for me. But by all accounts everything should be resolved for the second half of next week and I can get back to a standard routine. Normalcy.
Emergency at work today (Banking stuff).
Yeah, every once in a while I hear someone say Sunroom. Here in Florida we just say Florida Room. I think if our game were in Qadira or Katapesh we could call it a Sunroom. In Ustalov, I think Day-Room is good. But I had never heard of Florida Room until I moved here. We ain't got FL Rooms in Northern Minnesota (or South Philly) so I don't know. But Googling some images gives you an idea of that room is and why it's part of B1 -- and why its outer door broke so easily.
I'm ready to post what happens if you release Ulver Zandalus and escort him to the Manifesting Eye in B8. But it may prudent to allow you to suggest exactly what you try to do.
In Gameplay I just compiled a handful of past-posts and tried to put it in a roleplay-like text. It will seem a little awkward but hopefully it'll help! . Coming in a few minutes will be a new Gameplay post....
So far, One vote for showing The Cube to the Manifesting Eye to see what happens One (or two) votes for releasing Ulver Zandalus and taking him to the Manifesting Eye to see what happens. . If y'all want me to compile a post of the various descriptions and such of the Eye, Ulver Zandalus, and Cube to put here so it's easy to see in one post, let me know.
What are you taling about, Snow?! It is 77 degrees outside; I have the air conditioning on! .... Oh yeah, I forgot, I live in South Florida. Even though I'm from northern Minnesota. . And "Yes," one may guess that it is supposed to be Exactly reminiscent of a Hellraiser Box.
I think I went through everyone's ideas and tricks with The Cube well enough for group satisfaction. Obviously there will be more to come but for now, it's about as much as you can know: A really, REALLY good roll on a Spellcraft-like Skill attempt (Untrained) ; An attempt to destroy it even with Magic and Silver, and that it heals itslef ; Connecting the Cube with the Needle or Pin from the Nightmare ;... All done. If any new ideas come along, go for it. But at least for now it's still mysterious. I did rearrange the order chronologically from posting but that seems fair. The order of events I posted made for a reasonably good step-by-step series of attempts and ideas. And of course, just because Player A happens to post one idea/gambit before Player B, well, that's just a symptom of us having different schedules and getting to The Boards to post at different times. .... I think if we were all around a table the order of attempts would have voted for in about the same order: Most innocuous to most pernicious. Metagame: When we are in a situation where, uh, 'Pushing The Flashing Red Button' would have dire consequences I'll make sure the group votes on an action rather than just let it happen just because the first Player on The Boards goes first. Um, like the following: Please make the Ulver Zandalus gambits and The Manifesting Eye gambits a little more like votes: "I suggest that we do X instead of Y" rather than "I go and immediately do X." I mean, no Pit Fiend or Balrog is going to jump out of The Manifesting Eye if Ulver Zandalus says "Hi" to it or something. But still, pretty please try to roleplay some suggestions. And remember that ain't no one in the group knows what's what in this situation. 'The-PCs-will-never-think-of-that'
Get well soon. I'll go ahead and roll an Aid-Another for a Fortitude Save for you, you know, just in case it may actualy help. Good vibes and all that. Let us know when you're able.
@ Dien,
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. . How is everyone doing viewing (and editing for their PC) the Google-Slides document? Are you able to see the combat well enough?
Almonihah,
. 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?!?
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