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The ranseur digs in hard to the invading tentacle and as it tries to retreat back down into the sea, Clearchus holds fast, letting the recoiling limb rip itself apart in its attempt to escape.
A resounding cry comes from the seabed below, almost sounding like the earth itself splitting apart. Round Stats and Conditions: Alecta Ariadne - Extra Turn Polymetus - Prone, Extra Turn Porphyrion - Prone
If you don't use your second action that is saved up, I'll aid the crew with you. I won't allow you to save up more than 1 action, so I'll generally 'bot' you and do something I feel like you would do.
The tentacles continue to crush the ship, the floorboards starting to almost warp out of shape.
The one that was struck by Clearchus removes its grip and feels around for the offender who struck at it.
However the hardened warrior is able to deftly move out of the way by positioning himself between his ranseur and the foe; instead leaving a barrel to be crushed beneath it's weight. Alecta coming up from the hold, sees and assesses the battle, moving to fight off the monstrosity. Pieces of rot fall across the deck and the boat lurches once again.
Polymetus tries to grip the Box but finds there is nowhere to hold onto and tumbles aside, his materials clanging as he hits the ship deck. Porphyrion gets back up with a grin, hungry for battle, but falls back down quickly as a lash from the sails flies freely toward his neck.
The crew manage to keep more of the grasping, seeking tentacles down although their exhaustion is starting to show. There is shouting that the ship needs to get moving as the skies begin to get darker.
Round Stats and Conditions:
Alecta Ariadne - Extra Turn Clearchus - Smiting Polymetus - Prone, Extra Turn Porphyrion - Prone
Prone: The character is lying on the ground. A prone attacker has a –4 penalty on melee attack rolls and cannot use a ranged weapon (except for a crossbow). A prone defender gains a +4 bonus to Armor Class against ranged attacks, but takes a –4 penalty to AC against melee attacks. Standing up is a move-equivalent action that provokes an attack of opportunity.
Updating this evening if Ariadne and Polymetus don't post. I'll probably have you both Aid the Crew otherwise.
Ariadne manages to hold onto her spell as the bubble or magic surrounds her, giving her protection in this chaotic melee. Clearchus' ranseur strikes true into the oozing mass of briny flesh; the power of Zeus that he wields being channeled creates a rumble from underneath the ship as the ship rocks from a bubbling scream down below the depths.
The crew aboard the Ship Thyella start striking as other oozy tendrils begin to claw their way up the ship, they are doing their best to hold them off... The tentacles of the rotting sea-beast being unable to cover the distance up due to the heroic efforts of your war companions. Stats, Conditions and Damage: Alecta Polymetus Ariadne Porphyrion - Prone, Extra Turn
So a couple of things: 1) Sorry to our lumbering friend. I had to move it ahead so everyone can post and act, feel free to take double actions now to make up for it. 2) Sorry if you wanted it to have a little more of a chatty start, I wanted to get some action going because I need to ensure things don't stagnate. It's the number 1 killer of play by posts. To help with 2, don't be afraid to post and interact, I'll usually do 1 a day, or 1 per weekend, so don't feel like you're hogging the spotlight too much. The more of a story we weave, the better it becomes and the more people can play off of and it basically makes itself propagate. Use this as a way to flex your writing chops, I enjoy reading everything here as much as playing. I'll roll saves when it makes sense to me (based on some arbitrary rule), generally to expedite things. I'll always go alphabetical when possible. Hopefully that's okay with you all. Thankfully PBP allows us to do flashbacks and other cool narrative things to do conversations and monologues, so don't be afraid to add them to your posts before or after. Example Monologue in Combat:
The witch, I had seen her once before we boarded... I had a suspicion when I saw her talking in some strange language. Was she what caused the tentacles to come? Did she bring the ire? I had no time to think on it and made a note to discuss with her later, should we survive. Attalos went into the fray, charging with his battle-worn sword.
Also if I can get Ariadne's information that would be swell, either linked through Gdoc, FB or here. Thanks!
Ariadne begins casting a spell, the older woman had been seen on the boat before, but many of those on board had no idea about what she was capable of. There is a shout and a ringing of a bell as the sounds of the slimy tentacles start making their way up the ship's side. Many onboard begin to stab and fight with whatever they have. Attalos screams an order out, "Get those tentacles off and get us moving again! If the storm drives into us with this going on we're all dead!"
The ship shakes violently as the tendrils and whatever lies below grab hold and begin wracking it.
Porphyrion, unused to the motion of the ship, and hindered by his height is knocked flat by the rocking from the invaders. The crew do their best to deal with the threat, but this is unlike anything you've seen before. The sounds of thunder begin getting louder and ore frequent, and you can feel the electricity in the air of a storm beginning to finally catch up. Some sailors are throwing spoils and even food and weapons overboard to lighten the load and hopefully make a quick escape once the winds catch again.
Stats, Conditions and Damage: Alecta Polymetus Clearchus Ariadne Porphyrion - Prone, Extra Turn Ship Thyella (-36 HP) Rotting Ooze Tentacle (Red) - Grappling Ship Thyella
Alright first combat! If you have any questions give me a shout somewhere. So because you can preview your rolls, make sure you always roll in order and try not to doctor them! What I mean is if you get hit by a tentacle that has disease, make the disease save at the start of your turn, before doing any actions. Basically just do things in the order they occur. When it comes to Knowledge Checks, always try to do them on the first turn of combat as your first roll; as it would be the first thing you would do before anything would happen.
Clearchus definitely sees the seafolk bracing for the storm. He gives a glance to his post but also sees the rocking waves and the ropes flying about, the crates shifting, and realizes that there is a danger.
The scholarly inventor Polymetus's clothing batters in the wind, revealing a strange clockwork arm; however the gasps from the crew barely register as he deciphers the text as best he can. Babylonian and K: History (DC 20) or K: Geography (DC 20):
You realize that it may have to do with the Babylonian practice of astrology. Suddenly, everyone on board the ship stops. There is a shaking and a stench that permeates through the sea-spray and the mist. At first, you think it is lightning and thunder, a peal from Zeus, but it only takes a moment before you see a snake-like ooze start crawling up the sides of the ship like tendrils. It only takes you another glance to realize that there are more. The stench of rot and decay fills the air, and before you can catch your breath, the boat lurches! All those aboard are shouting and you hear a call to arms! --- K: Religion (DC 15) or K: Nature (DC 20):
You recognize the rotting snake-like tentacles as a part of some offspring of Ekidna. Slashing them and piercing them would help deal with their rubbery, rotting hide. You can recognize that they are immune to mind-affecting effects and carry a deep earth and sea rot... Judging by the smell and the stories of the serpent-mother who birthed it.
Mini Tutorial:
Initiative and Action Chart:
Ariadne
Rotting Ooze Tentacle (Red)
Alecta
Going to move this ahead come Friday I think. If you want to chat with each other and stuff, now will be the best time.
Also because I got asked this by a couple different people now, assume that you can use any of the Ancient Greek Lore. If you want to incorporate a character from the mythos into your story or whatever feel free to, but leave their major points intact. IE: Don't have Daedalus not build a labyrinth or have Prometheus fail to steal fire.
Babylonian: The runes begin as such and then seem to repeat in different variations. When the pretender sheds its master's shadow so too will us.
The old veteran looks at her. "So you know as well? And you claim Hermes has sent you message of our journey?" Some of the sailors and soldiers shift uncomfortably, "This must be greater than we thought." He weighs his options and extends his hand, "Alecta, daughter of the great epilektoi Agamedes, welcome." He waves off some of the murmurs. "She claims she is a Spartan, we need use of their skills in battle. We were told a great trial awaited us and should we shun a gift from Hermes and Athena?" With some looks, he shakes his head, "Never!" The boat rocked. "Alecta, if you can sail, we might need all the skill we can get. If not I think that giant of a man Porphyrion might need some help with musclework."
The captain walked up to the woman and gave her a once over in the dark, "If she had the power of sorcery this boat would be destroyed by now and our quest over." Giving her a wary eye, he questions her a little more, "Where do you hail from? What do you know of our quest?" Attatos saw the giant man, Porphyrion, lumbering around, "Porphyrion! Get above deck if you can, I need someone as hearty as yourself up there."
Some voices are shouting about the storm and how best to handle it. The sailors are generally at odds with the soldiers but as it stands right now, everyone seems to be ready to do what is necessary... Until the talk of the spoils comes to light and the extra weight they are bringing on the ship. P: Sailor (DC 10) or K: Nature (DC 10):
You find that the storm is getting worse by the minute. It is only a matter of time before the rains come down and you end up in the thick of it. You may be able to avoid the storm if some of the hull is cleared. Beat either check by 5:
Judging by the distance you've covered, the clouds seem to be almost following the boat. It doesn't look like this storm will be small enough to maneuver around without a faster boat. In fact, you're certain they are following you and reducing your load won't help.
"Men! This might be our first trial! Who knows what sort of sorcery might be belowdeck!" The word sorcery sent shivers through most of the the soldiers, they knew that where sorcery stepped, swords followed. While some knew the stories, and some even had respect for the Gods of magic such as Hecate, it was never a comfortable admission of one's own mortality. Dropping down the hatch, the commander led the way, his men in a tight formation. His experience is clear, he speaks aloud hoping to gather some information and figure out the positions of whatever lurked. "Who is there? Show yourself for we have the blessing of Athena herself." Giving some hand signals, they began to fan out in the thin ship.
Ok so some formatting information. Feel free to test here! I recommend copying your post before you post it in case the forums hiccup and swallow your post. Nothing feels worse than making a real cool text and then having it vanish. Sometimes you might have to refresh the page after a post for it to actually settle in. Surround the text with the tags you want. Just remove the periods for the formatting stuff. Bolded Text is conversation
Italics is usually internal thought
P: Sailor (DC 15):
[.spoiler=Name of Spoiler] [/.spoiler]
The waves crashed, but mercifully you were able to keep your footing. Many of the soldiers and sailors on board were doing their best to keep the ship set right. The job was a difficult one with how capricious Poseidon was but it was more important than anything else right now. The foam of the Aegean washes over you, though the sun is still hiding behind the cloud coverage. You have heard of worse storms, you've definitely may have braved worse, but there was something unsettling about the black clouds and the rays of light that only barely touched the rocking boat. It was almost as if the clouds were following you, a trial or curse from the heavens. Attalos was yelling over the cracking sound. He needed some folks to watch the box, there was some development on the lower levels that needed his attention. Your dedication, honour, pride... Something made you volunteer; and you found yourself faced with a few others. Thankfully there was a lot to grab to, and the job wasn't physically exhausting. The less devout would call it a break, but you know it is just as important as keeping the ship sailing.
moved my avatar on the map, made a comment below image... seems good? Int is Init (Initiative)! I can see how that's a muggy difference on first glance. Add a Perception score and boy howdy! Also where are the rest of you silly geese?
Take a look under my name here to see an example of this. It definitely makes things easier for quick reference. You basically stuff the section with more than just your Classes to get it to work. Also please note that the Campaign Info tab has information on formatting (how to bold, spoiler, roll dice, etc); and you should be able to move characters on the map. If someone could test the permissions and let me know that would be swell.
Alrighty! Let's do an Alias check here. To make an Alias, go do the following:
If you got your character alias, give it a post here and make sure it has the following information in it: 1) A link to the sheet, a pasted in sheet, relevant info (there can be an infinite amount of ways to do this, you can look at some of mine to see how people do it).
2) A bit of background.
3) In the Classes/Level section of the Character Profile, the following information (this creates a neat banner under your character that shows other people the info quickly)
4) An Account Icon for the character, it makes it easier to follow who's saying what. It's only fixed images sadly but you can definitely link a picture in your Alias' description as well. 5) Read the How to Post in the Campaign Info tab, it shows how to format to do things like bold, italics, roll dice, etc. Once we're all set up, we can get going!
Welcome! This brings us to our 3rd character, BeanBeanery on a Slayer who's focus is on mobility through Spring Attacky stuff and Trickery. I believe a worshiper of Hermes. Also @Christoast: I got your Sheet updated and bought you some weird and esoteric items.
So we have 2 out of 4 pretty much ready to run!
EnglishTony on a debuffer Witch (Hecate as a Patron).
I would love to have this rocking by the end of next week at the latest while Hephaestus' flames are hot. Even if you're not fully done the crunch we can get the introductions and cold open going. Have a great sunny weekend and please remember to add relevant details to your character page... Most importantly in the Class section as that creates a banner that can hold your AC, HP, Saves, Perception, Initiative and other bonuses for my quick access. You can check out some of my aliases to see what I mean. It helps a lot and looks snazzy under your posts (you can also link to images and sheets directly there too)!
Greetings mortals... If it wasn't explicit you can add your Patron spells to your spells known for free at the appropriate levels. This is a very old school, flying by the seat of my pants kind of game so I don't have hard rules for a lot of the classes as they didn't exist in the 3.5, E6, low magic conversion.
Welcome! I'm going to be capricious like a Greek God and change my mind regarding the -1 Spell/Level. The Spontaneous Casting with the full round cast times are enough of a nerf to casters. Rejoice! For you may need that extra slot when you lose concentration!
Added a PBP Alias Template in the Campaign Information Tab, just copy it into a new Alias and fill it out with you're own information.
Also I should mention as well, there is a 1 Hour Editing Window for posts and that's it, so bleh. You can find some guides on how to format posts and such in the Campaign Info tab. I'll try to make this as easy as possible for everyone!
The ship was rocking. Poseidon must have been displeased. The peal of thunder struck through the air, almost in time with the boat's near capsizing. Hearing shouts along the ship, the shouts of your fellow countrymen, you remembered the item that bound you all here. The Golden Box. It sat in the middle of the ship like a pariah being ostracized, unmoving and mysterious. Whenever the lightning struck you swore that your eyes saw the Box light up, hungering for Zeus' bolts. There was something wrong with it, why else would the Gods have come down themselves to point it out... ---
It had been a long campaign, but the war was done. Sometimes you wonder the reason why you came here, whether it was for honour, for duty, for glory, or money... You were ready to head back home. You saw the fellows that you worked with in these times and the hoard of treasure you were to bring back. Maybe that was why it was worth it. "I can't wait to go home and see my child. I just know that we've been blessed by Hera herself." The voice came from Attalos, a commander of the faction that you did some work with. He was a nice man, older but his grizzled nature wasn't thick enough to hide his concern for his newborn. Some of the other soldiers in the room gave a cheer for their commander, mixed with the sound of metals being unsheathed and examined, coins tinkling to the floor, it was a cacophony of victory. The sounds stopped suddenly though, it was almost unnatural when a Golden Box was revealed. Smooth to the touch, with no noticeable openings. You wondered if it was a sculpture unfinished... But it wouldn't have made sense. A Box of that size, the size of a small king's throne, it would have been wasteful. You noticed that once the coins and spoils were cleaned off, once the light hit it, there were strange symbols on the side. It wasn't Greek. "What is this?" Attalos put down a helmet etched with the signs of a foreign language, "What did you find here?" He curiously approached it, "A strange box." The aura of mystery permeated the air, many of those working with Attalos putting their items down to discuss what it could mean. The forum continued for a few minutes until a shape stepped out from behind a column. She was radiant in a sense, but you knew for a fact she wasn't here before or you would have noticed her. She was armored, with a mantle that flashed the image of an owl. "I would stay away from that if I were you." Much like the Golden Box, she demanded attention with those simple words and everyone turned. You heard a few gasps from the looters, but the common thread in all those gasps was a single name. Athena Hearing the Gods coming down is one thing but seeing it... You knew that there was something with this whole situation. "All of you, you in this room should know who I am. I am victory, I am the wisdom that leads to that victory. I am Athena and I have guided you in this battle here to get to this point." There was nary a sound in the room other than the shuffling of feet to get a better look, the sound of some of them going to their knees. "I have a charge for you. All of you. This Golden Box carries inside it something that cannot leave for any reason." The silence weighed on the air, "I need not remind you of Pandora and the evils she unleashed on the world. You aren't children." The words were sharp and with it you felt the consideration of a few of those in the room immediately wilt. "Bring it back to me, to my Temple in Athens. There, and only there can it be protected properly." It sounded like one of the stories, you had heard tales of course, but it was unreal for it to... Well... Be real. "It will be dangerous. You will meet adversity. Should you be one of the ones to sail back with this Box, know that you will be rewarded for your bravery and wisdom." She sweeps her hand over some coin and she almost floats through the room, "This is small." For a moment it almost looks like she is speaking with someone. "But it will not be easy." She nods, "Tyche cannot approach those who have been cursed by the Box, she cannot provide you her favour, even us the Gods have trouble with this Golden Box; but my link to you all allows me these brief moments." You can see her fading somewhat, "This I tell you." And with a glimmer she winks out of existence. It was all too real. "You heard Athena! We sail! I will not force you to, so if you wish to go home Theroply is sailing there as well, I will speak with him personally." Some people nodded, shook hands and hugged before speaking with Attalos and leaving with their spoils. --- You wondered if that was the right choice. The thunder shook you out of it, Attalos and his men were standing fast around the Golden Box. "You knew what we agreed to! This will be our story!" The darkness in the air did tell of a tale, but it wasn't just going to be your own...
We have a surprise 5th player as well. Stay tuned for further information. Also any starting Magic Items need to be okay-ed, obviously with low magic and the emphasis on rests and the Heal skill I wouldn't allow for a Wand of Cure Light Wounds or whatever. I want Magic Items to feel special so don't worry your heads about getting magical items. Also no item should cost more than 25% of your wealth (so 750 GP).
I'll think about a character concept. Likely something melee focused. The style suits me. I'm expecting at least one person with a sword in this sword and sandal adventure.
I'm tempted to make some sort of witch.... If so I might axe the Slumber Hex as a basic feature due to its insane power (or change it a little), just a heads up. Probably would roll it into an Epic or Signature ability. I should also mention that Epic and Signature Feats are listed in the Campaign Information tab. Since E6 was made just for 3.5, we can build custom abilities. So if you want to get a look at what kind of Signature Abilities you can take, take a peek! If you're worried about spells/day, you get enough Feats later on for everyone to basically be semi-competent in combat or to spend on more Spells. E6 is all about being clever with how you approach battles and combat so keep that in mind!
Alright everyone here we are. Figured it would be easier for me to build a singular post where we can discuss the game here as well as the creation rules that I just hammered out for the most part. Setting
Think of it as Clash of the Titans, Jason and the Argonauts, The Illiad, Sindbad (yes I know), and of course The Odyssey all smashed together. Magic is very low and the universe will be adjusted for that of course. This means that teleportation is very rare (if even possible), flight is only for those who are very studied or blessed by the Gods, etc. Character Creation
Characters should have been away for war, whether they were a sailor, soldier, prisoner, thief, it doesn't really matter. What matters is that your character is willing to go on this adventure back home and wants to deliver the Golden Box of the Gods. Magic
Initiative
Surprise rounds can be taken like normal, you may have to perform two actions at once if it goes Surprise -> Your Turn. If this is the case don't be afraid to pre-post your next action. Additional Rules for Survival
Players can rest for a 15 minute break to heal an amount equal to their level + their Con Modifier. This can be done a number of times per day equal their average Hit Die they have (rounded down): Average D6 - 1 time per day
Long Rests at the end of the day heal twice your Level + your Con. Epic 6
Epic 6 does not take Path of War into account. We can have a discussion about it here though. Posting
Weekends are whatever. I'll definitely get one up on the weekend so we have a fresh start Monday with new stuff to work with. Oh and of course, if you aren't feeling it for whatever reason, no biggie! It's definitely not for everyone but I absolutely love the storytelling and internal monologues and description you can do with this.
Post setting up our discussion and out of character talk about the adventure.
Stand-in post slot to create the gameplay thread. |
