Sadly, I think Zachary has the right of it. In the last three days only two players have been active. I have not been doing a good job either. Truth be told, I think I would prefer to end it now - or at least resign as the DM.
I'm sorry.
I have been active as well, I've just been expecting to hear about what happens next. Zachary, do you want to start a new campaign with Harmor (Rafael) and me? I'm happy to DM if nobody else wants to. We just need maybe 2 more players that will post regularly. I would be a good fit for DM because I work at my computer all day long and can post multiple times a day.
Frum continues to look for herbs and other materials that could be useful to him. the knowledge check has been set at 23 I'll take 10 (16) on the Perception check unless he notices something that warrants investigation, in which case he'll stop and take 20.
Frum pulls his sword from the strange man and drops it. This was the first time he had every killed anyone. Sure, there had been the monsters, but they seemed artificial and devoid of true life. This was different, and Frum didn't know how to feel, and worried whether he was reacting the way a 'normal' person should.
He decides to not think about such things until later, instead finding something useful to do. Frum searches the Crazy man for anything he might be carrying.
1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18
He then picks up his sword and cleans it carefully while speaking with his owl companion
Technically, in order to flank, I cannot just be next the man, I have to be directly across from a friendly co-attacker. So when Lucca was on J4, Darche was on H5, and Zachary was on H4 (and conscious) I was flanking on F4 (because of Zachary.) But when he went down, the only flanking square available to me was F3. Technically, if Lucca had been on H3 to make his initial attack, then That would give me F3, G3, and H3 all as options to flank.
And if he had moved onto that square from the beginning to make his initial melee attack, that would have given me F5 as an option to flank rather than F4, which would have given me a chance to flank attack a whole move sooner and would have saved me 2 AoO for movement.
Let's take the discussion about where Lucca is in here. . .The problem with having Lucca occupy Zachary's square is the round where he attacked in melee when Zachary was still conscious and fully occupying it.
H3 is the only square that makes any sense to me, but it isn't my call. Other wise, are we saying Luccas was on H3 for his first attack and then moved to Zachary's square next round?
I say we wait to hear what DM Patcher wants to do and leave Lucca on I4.
we'll have to see how DM Patcher rules on whether Lucca can occupy the square of a prone player, and whether Lucca wants to be on that square. But I don't see why H3 isn't just as easy, and it surrounds him more. What happens if Rafael heals Zachary while Lucca is occupying the square?
I'll obviously let DM PAtcher make this call, but Zachary was not unconscious in the first round when Lucca made his first attack, so . . .and besides, Darche has made his attack based on me flanking with him, so I'll take the AoO to flank with him regardless where Lucca ends up
I assumed that without the -4 penalty for firing into melee it was not, but whatever -- I don't care as long as I know where he is so I can play my character properly, who can only do any meaningful damage if he is flanking. I'm just asking for it to be clarified.
@Rafael, yes I'll take the AoO in order to get the flanking attack. Should we just put Lucca on H3? He is still out of range on the map, yet making attacks.
Frum takes a 5 foot step to flank the crazy man - I don't know which square it is because Lucca could'nt have hit in melle from where he was on the map, so he must have moved to one of only a couple squares, any of which Frum would have access to a corresponding flanking square.) So @DM please choose which square Lucca is on, and place me on the corresponding flanking square.
Frum flanks his enemy and tries again to skewer him with his blade, still snifling from his cold.
Frum: DEX 14, Initiative: +4. But I prefer for us to continue to roll for initiative rather than have every encounter always have the same order. I don't think this will increase the speed or improve the flow of the gameplay. . i think that is tied to regular posting.
@Zachary, oh I see. All I knew is you took 8 hp damage. . .hmm, well, I'll do the same thing anyway, with the same rolls, but with an attack of 5, since i forgot to account for the fact I am sick. only difference is if I hit, which I don't think, then all I'll do is 1 hp damage.
Frum shrugs off his insane attacker's refusal to eat his magic tablet and moves to the escaped prisoner's rear to F4 via G6, F6, E5, E4 and takes out his short sword.
Frum dodges the awkward attack and sniffles from the nasty cold he caught in the night.
If I gave you something to eat, friend, would you calm down and call off your dogs? I've got a magic pill that will make it so you don't need to eat for a long time - The're nothing else like them!
Frum pulls a small pouch from a pocket in his cloak and holds it up for the lunitic to see while focusing his mind on pure defense.
I'm not going to attack you if all you are is hungry
@DM Patcher my perception is +6, not +0 as indicated above in Rafael's list, fyi.
Frum wakes up upon hearing Zachary's racket and looks into the shadows for wolves and other undesirable companions while he puts on his backpack and climbs a nearby tree as quietly as he can. - perception check, then stealth check, then climb check 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19 ; 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 111d20 - 3 ⇒ (1) - 3 = -2
You might want to consider creating a spell for detecting Crystal itself rather than only monsters made of crystal. We will need to be able to find the crystal cages, and a spell that could do that might be helpful.
And if I am correct, it seemed that the dragon was different than the crystal Golems -- it was not crystalline. Or at least I don't think we are sure it was.
I wonder if everything could remain the same with your research, but instead of using "Detect Undead" as a baseline spell you could use "Detect Animals or Plants" or something that would help you find a crystal with something living about it (ie, a trapped life force)
OK, so now this makes a lot more sense. This is my first play by post game, and I never visited this site before Rafael's suggestion to play, so I guess there are random things I don't know that are otherwise common knowledge.
I read the ruling on take 10 and take 20. Sounds fair. I rolled my knowledge check.
Congrats Skender for graduating! Very exciting.
Sorry if I have been aggravating to play with, seeming to ignore you guys.
re: knowledge checks - my bad. re: the OOC room - this is the only window I've ever had open for this. I'll find the thread and check it out. Here is my knowledge nature roll:
Frum sees Rafael leaving and suddenly feels the need to do do something and starts off for the fishing village with them.
As they travel his mind works at a kind of alchemical problem he had avoided before - the kind many people had offered him large amounts of money to explore, but to which Frum had limited interest: how to make things that killed, that did damage -- items for battle.
Frum is consumed by the need to rise to the occasion and wastes no time with thoughts that do not explore some aspect of winning this campaign. As they travel, he looks for organic materials he might be able to use and loads them on to Donte; alchemical, poisonous, dangerous. If he sees trees with branches that would be useful for various kinds of traps or snares, he stops to collect them. And anything with healing properties, or anything at all that would be useful on their campaign - Frum is focused keenly on finding these things as they travel, moving off the path often, never wondering too far.
Frum will take 20 on these checks: Knowledge nature =28, Perception = 26.
Frum wonders how much the Gods are helping them on this quest, or conversely, how much they might be completely on their own to battle a force so powerful it overthrew the Gods.
He feels uncomfortable, and even a bit guilty about a thought that continuously pricks at him: what if tools/items/money that could help them is on the dead bodies in their path? What if the Gods put them there to help? After all, he had asked the God-bird for treasure to fund this enterprise.
Frum makes a perception check (takes 10) to see if anything jumps out at him: 16.
The perception check is not to see the items themselves -- He is looking for people he knew, or clothing that indicates wealth, or magical inclination; clues that warrant further investigation. It would not be uncommon for somebody to grab the most valuable thing to them (which could be a picture or something only valuable to them.) Obviously a book covered in cloth, clutched by rigor mortis-ed fingers would be a clue. So would a coin purse. etc. . .
If Frum sees anything worth investigating he will run to the person and take a pulse, check for vitals. If the person is indeed dead he will use another perception check, taking 10 = 16, to investigate further into what might be there of value, and if he sees something of value, he will use sleight of hand (take 10 = 16) to obtain what he finds.
This is a process he will perform over and over again, looking through the rubble for clues, taking 10 = 16 for all perception checks, and for any sleight of hand checks.
Frum runs over to the bodies in search of friends and colleagues, crying. The carnage overwhelms him and he vomits self-consciously.
My God, . . . is all he can say before he has no more words. He walks amongst the dead looking for hope, answers.
An explanation, in case you need it for how a Lawful Good character would abandon dying students and faculty - his friends.
Being Lawful Good, Frum values all life, not just the life of his friends, or people he knows.
Frum sees this situation as a moral dilemma that pits the worth of millions of unknowns against a handful (at best) of friends.
Choosing the friends is an immoral choice, to Frum, because it devalues the lives of people who don't have any personal meaning or importance to him. To Frum, a stranger's life is as valuable as his mother's. But all things being equal, if he had to choose to only save one, he would choose his mother because of preference. But 2 strangers versus his mother would make things harder. In this case, you have a ratio more like several million to 1.
This balance switches, however, when it becomes obvious that the rest of the party refuses to listen to him. Now, he has to stick with the group in order to have any hope of saving the world.
He will try to do what good he can, under the circumstances, but is smart enough and moral enough to understand that a short-term act of good in exchange for a substantial increase in risk to lose the whole war against evil is a trojan gift he need not feel guilty in rejecting.
Because the Lawful Good one understands that we risk killing the whole world in order to do what? The WHOLE mountain is coming down. How far are you going to drag these people?
Kill a whole world to save a few, Frum spits. Fine, I'll come too but mark my words. We'll regret this stupidity. Its up to the Gods to save us, if they want us to save the world.
perception check: are any of the people looking at us? 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13
Frum can picture what it might have looked like as the passageway opened up from the mountain. Had the Academy fallen into ruin with the initial earthquake, or when the dragon emerged, or when it was defeated, or when the passageway opened? Frum feared the worst, addressing the band of adventurers:
Nobody move. not a single step! Zachary, get back here right now!
Turning to Skender and Coross - Whoever is fastest, go get him and bring him back screaming if you have to! Go! Don't get caught.
Addressing everyone else: Listen, he began, choosing his words carefully and trying to be as diplomatic as possible. For all we know, we will not be welcomed warmly. Chances are good that the passageway out was opened in a dramatic fashion. I'm sure it was noticed. And then, what do people see? A bunch of adventurers come out of the magical exit with crystals embedded in their hands?
What good are we going to be able to do anyone here? The mountain is coming down. We've got to keep this in perspective -- if we don't survive this the whole world is destroyed, not just a few people in a school.
And mark my words, we will be blamed for this. Blamed, detained, and killed. We've got to get Zachary back and disappear. I'm sure plenty of eyes are on us now. We don't have much time.
Frum nods in agreement with Rafael's assessment and pulls out his short sword. I've decent skills fabricating armor. Might as well collect what we can, suit up, and sell the rest.
Frum appraises the value of the dragon corpse and harvests everything of value, including teeth, claws.
As they walk Frum asks the group So if Southeast is where we need to go, there is a fishing village and then, further Southeast, a dwarf village near the sea. Any objections to heading to the fishing village?
Frum takes up the rear of the party order.
4 DM:
Frum will also look for more gems in the walls as he goes. 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19
OK then, important info quickly: where are the prisons? who knows more about this and where can we find them? We need a next step. Oh, and a way out of here.
When I uttered a silent prayer to get out of writing that paper and presenting at that conference on the structural integrity of alchemical bonds near absolute zero, I didn't really have this in mind. . . works for me, though. Frum shrugs. But I will probably pray less from now on, if that is alright with you.
So Shelyn: where do we go, and what do we do? Can we use these crystals on the Enemy or His avatars?. . . and do you have a hint about how we could fund this quest? Any idea where we might find some treasure?
and can these crystals be used to syphon power from other sources, or just you and other gods? Can you give us a quick training session, since they are the key?
?for DM only:
did my owl get sharded with crystals also? The idea was to have the option later to use it as a familiar.
Rafael, you had better take a look at Skender. I don't think the University will let me take any more students on research field trips
Perception check: looking for anything dangerous, other creatures - a mother?
1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21
Frum walks up to the dragon corpse and examines its scales. Could these be used for armor?
While Rafael tends to Skender, Frum will take as much time as is needed to perform the following checks (taking 20, 2 minutes minimum for each):
Perception: 26 looking for treasure, around the dragon, all around the chamber Appraise: 28 on everything seen, including the dragon's scales, any other body parts, etc
"Another thing. Frum, you cannot flank unless you are in melee. The only way to get SA damage on a ranged attack is to be unnoticed by your target."
1st, there is a chance that the dragon hasn't noticed me. I am 3 feet tall and was 80 feet away in a dark cave when I moved to the flanking position, and didn't move at all when the dragon was attacking with its breath weapon at a specific target. The DM would need to make a perception check or something, I guess.
2nd, the core rulebook (page 68) regarding sneak attack with a range weapon says nothing about being unseen. maybe it was a D&D 3.5 rule?
However you want to handle it, Patcher is fine with me. I am just trying to play for maximum damage here, and have to rely on you, the DM, to decide whether stuff works - whether I;m seen or unseen, etc.
3rd, The real issue, imo, is whether this dragon can ever be sneak attacked (maybe it has a Feat that makes it impossible. Maybe it cannot be flanked regardless. Of course, my character would try to do this as a learned skill (rogue) , and without knowledge of prismatic dragons. For me to not try to flank would be meta-gaming.
But I cannot even meta-game this because I have no idea what a prismatic dragon is, or if it really is a dragon (versus some kind of elemental ?)
So not knowing how DM Patcher will decide to handle it, I simply include the flanking damage roll.
