GM Kwinten's page

Need to think about the sneak attack transferring. I think officially no, but it would make sense (if you share MAP, why not other things? On the other hand, you're the one trained in Rogue, not your eidolon). I'm just wondering if that would make the Summoner overpowered or not. I'll allow it for now.

Kvit lobs fire at the spider while sustaining his protective runes. It connects!
Dorianna manages to counteract some of the poison, giving Lough a +2 to his recovery. Meanwhile, her ancestor goes to town on the spider, connecting once.

Spider, 134 damage, Frightened 1
Dorianna 120/120
Aesephna
Iribo, 40 damage
Cherry Berry 88/88, 20-ft bless
Kvit 54/54, Forbidding Ward on Lough and Spider
Lough 54/96, Hasted, Slowed 2, poisoned stage 2 (2/6) DC 30 Fortitude save vs poison, Life Boost 1/4

Spidey is now definitely down half his HP.

Dorianna glowers at the spider, causing it to shrink back in fear, despite the enormous size difference. She then boosts her companion, who lashes out twice, but unfortunately misses. She does shake off the poison, which is good.
Kvit traces runes in the air, protecting Lough from the spider, and boosts him as well.
Lough fails to resist the poison and gradually slows down as the venom paralyzes his nervous system. He raises his shield, boosts his own vitality, and hurls his chakram, but misses.
Cherry Berry pours life energy into Dorianna, completely healing her, then boosts Lough even more. Sadly, the Guidance doesn't stack with the bonus Forbidding Ward gives against the poison, nor with the Bless.

The spider is annoyed at the commotion around it, but since only Iribo damaged it, it turns around and goes to snack on her.

Fangs vs Iribo, Frightened 2: 1d20 + 24 - 2 ⇒ (14) + 24 - 2 = 36
Not a crit due to frightened, so good job.
Piercing damage: 2d12 + 12 ⇒ (6, 7) + 12 = 25

Fort Iribo: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (7) + 15 = 22
Poison damage: 3d6 ⇒ (5, 5, 5) = 15

Fangs vs Iribo, Frightened 2: 1d20 + 24 - 2 - 5 ⇒ (5) + 24 - 2 - 5 = 22

Fangs vs Iribo, Frightened 2: 1d20 + 24 - 2 - 5 - 5 ⇒ (8) + 24 - 2 - 5 - 5 = 20

Iribo is slowed, but grits her teeth and returns the favour, trying to injure the spider back.

Rapier vs spider: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (18) + 18 = 36
Piercing: 1d6 + 9 + 2d6 ⇒ (1) + 9 + (4, 3) = 17
So close to a crit, but alas. Was looking if I could redirect Cherry Berry's Guidance, but she's out of reach.

Rapier vs spider: 1d20 + 18 - 5 ⇒ (4) + 18 - 5 = 17

Fort Iribo: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (15) + 15 = 30
She stabs a second time but misses, but does shake off the poison.

Spider, 103 damage, Frightened 1
Dorianna 120/120
Aesephna
Iribo, 40 damage
Cherry Berry 88/88, 20-ft bless
Kvit 54/54, Forbidding Ward on Lough and Spider
Lough 54/96, Hasted, Slowed 2, poisoned stage 2 (2/6) DC 30 Fortitude save vs poison, Life Boost 1/4

Everyone is up! Lough heals a bit from his Life Boost, but is still poisoned. The spider is pretty injured, but not quite halfway just yet.
Poison progression HERE.

Cherry Berry extends their Bless radius, then conjures up soothing flowers that help recover from poison.

The spider, mesmerised by Lough's movements, decides to chomp down on him.

Fangs vs Lough: 1d20 + 24 ⇒ (5) + 24 = 29
DC 5 flat: 1d20 ⇒ 16
Piercing damage: 2d12 + 12 ⇒ (8, 4) + 12 = 24

Fangs vs Lough: 1d20 + 24 - 5 ⇒ (18) + 24 - 5 = 37
DC 5 flat: 1d20 ⇒ 13
Piercing damage: 2d12 + 12 ⇒ (1, 6) + 12 = 19

Fangs vs Lough: 1d20 + 24 - 5 - 5 ⇒ (13) + 24 - 5 - 5 = 27

The spider hits twice, despite its overstimulated eyes, and injects venom into Lough.
Lough, please make 2 DC 30 Fortitude saves.
That's 43 damage, total. I assume you Shield Block, so 34 damage for Lough, 13 to the shield.

Iribo stows her crossbow and grabs her rapier, then goes for the flank with Aesephna.
Rapier: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (19) + 18 = 37
Piercing: 1d6 + 9 + 2d6 ⇒ (2) + 9 + (5, 2) = 18

Spider, 86 damage
Dorianna 81/120
Aesephna, poisoned (1/6) DC 30 Fortitude save vs poison, Slowed 1
Iribo
Cherry Berry 88/88, 20-ft bless
Kvit 54/54
Lough 62/96, Hasted, two DC 30 Fortitude save vs poison

Everyone is up! Lough and Aesephna need to make poison saves.
Poison progression HERE.

Yes, I'll list what happens when you fail and go to the next stage, but for planning's sake, I'll also list it in a spoiler tag.

Thanks Lough for the reminder!

Will save spider: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (2) + 17 = 19

Spider fails its save and is fascinated with Lough's beauty.

I'll rule that you go last, so others don't break the fascination. So spider is currently dazzled and fascinated.

Aesephna had +1 to AC due to Protect Companion => the web would miss her. Due to summoner having only one reaciton, I would probably use it for Reactive strike and not for block, so all dmg comes through.

Thanks for the correction! Must've misread your eidolon's AC. 10 more damage added, reactive strike used.

Correction: Spider did not grab hold of Aesephna. She's free to move around.

As the spider descends, Aesephna lashes out. It just about hits the spider, thanks to it still being Clumsy due to the Befuddle.

The spider sinks its fangs in Aesephna and venom flows through Aesephna's body. She takes 3d6 ⇒ (4, 3, 1) = 8 poison damage and is slowed 1.
I should've listed the effects of the poison, because you've already taken your turn and this complicates things. The Summoner says "you share your actions," so effectively the summoner itself counts as slowed? So I'd say choose one action you'd rather not take this turn.

Kvit throws a cascade of colours into the spider's many eyes. It fails its save, but due to the Incapacitation tag, it's only dazzled for a round.

Aesephna lashes out with both hands, connecting twice, while Dorianna bolsters both her offense and defenses.

Lough raises his shield and once more tries to trick the spider, which fails. He lashes out once, which does connect!

Spider, 68 damage
Dorianna 81/120
Aesephna, poisoned (1/6) DC 30 Fortitude save vs poison, Slowed 1
Iribo
Cherry Berry 88/88, 15-ft bless
Kvit 54/54
Lough 96/96, Hasted

Cherry Berry is up, and Dorianna must choose an action to retroactively "lose." Sorry! :(

@Dorianna Took a minute to understand how that reads at first, but I love it. Interesting way to show their link/tandem communication.

Heh, thought that was a copy/paste error, but this makes more sense. Cool!

Kvit, Dizzying Colours is Incapacitation. Unless it's heightened, it'll take one degree better. You can do a different thing if you want. I'll trust you to decide before seeing the results of the save.

I said three months ago that you'd need about 60 foot reach to reach the spider with spells, but I'll let that slide for now since that was unclear.

Dorianna lets out a big yell as she saps the life force out of the spider. The spider is startled, but recovers quickly.
Sorry, didn't know you had Battle Cry. It's worn off now, anyway.

Spider Fort: 1d20 + 25 ⇒ (12) + 25 = 37
Unfortunately, the spider is so massive that it shrugs off the attack with ease.

She bolsters her companion as Aesephna moves away.

Kvit tries to befuddle the spider's mind.
Will save: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (16) + 17 = 33

The spider is big, but its mind is apparently much easier to influence. It still resists most of the effect, but it's still somewhat clumsy.

Kvit then chucks his dagger at the spider, which misses.

Cherry Berry blesses the party with Erastil's holy energy, then boosts the eidolon some more.

Lough tries to divert the spider's attention away from him, then chucks his chakram twice at the spider. The distraction fails, but the chakram clatters against the ceiling both times.

The spider, uninjured but annoyed at all the attention it's getting, spits some more webbing down at 1d6 ⇒ 1 Aesephna.

Webbing, minus Clumsy 1: 1d20 + 22 - 1 ⇒ (5) + 22 - 1 = 26

Aesephna, you're now Restrained and tethered to the spider. You can't move away from the spider. You can sever the tether (AC 20, hardness 5, 20 HP), but that won't free you from the restrains. Breaking the restrains is a DC 30 Athletics, Acrobatics, or Unarmed Strike.

The spider then descends from its web Provoking if Aesephna has Reactive Strike, and reeling in its tether at the same time, then chomps down on the eidolon.

Fangs, MAP: 1d20 + 24 - 5 ⇒ (10) + 24 - 5 = 29

Piercing damage: 2d12 + 12 ⇒ (7, 12) + 12 = 31
Aesephna, please make me a DC 30 Fortitude save versus poison!

Dorianna redirects a chunk of damage to herself, but a lot of damage still goes through.
First time I see Protect Companion in action, so let me see if I get this right: Heightened to 3rd rank, so absorb 20, dealing 10 to Dorianna. Since it's the same health pool, effectively reduce damage by 10, right?

Iribo moves closer to the group again to make use of Cherry Berry's Bless, shoots once, then moves away again.

Repeating crossbow: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (15) + 20 = 35
Piercing damage: 1d6 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 9 = 14

The dart is coated with poison, and the spider needs to make a save...
Fort: 1d30 + 25 ⇒ (2) + 25 = 27
The spider is completely fine.

Spider, 14 damage
Dorianna 99/120
Aesephna, Restrained and tethered (AC 20, hardness 5, 20 HP, DC 30), DC 30 Fortitude save vs poison
Iribo
Cherry Berry 88/88, 15-ft bless
Kvit 54/54
Lough 96/96, Hasted

Everyone is up!
Cherry Berry has a Bless active, and Aesephna is restrained and tethered by the web, and needs to make a DC 30 Fort save versus poison.

I posted the information about the spider in this post, which is *checks* whelp, three months ago. I still had that information in my brain, but I don't blame you if you didn't. Stupid me making assumptions again. Will mark in the future.

EDIT: Also, Lough, thanks for the explanation. The Exemplar is still a black box to me, I need to look into it some more to fully grok it.

Sorry, I was just making sure everybody got the chance to prebuff if they wanted.

Cherry Berry: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (10) + 16 = 26
Dorianna: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (13) + 16 = 29
Kvit: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (5) + 14 = 19
Lough: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (1) + 14 = 15
Iribo: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (11) + 16 = 27
Spider: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (12) + 22 = 34

The spider senses hostile intent, and spits a glob of web at 1d6 ⇒ 3 Lough.
Web: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (6) + 22 = 28

That's a miss, if I understand Lough's header right.

Iribo also joins in, and shoots her repeating hand crossbow at it.
Hand crossbow: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (2) + 20 = 22

She also misses, then makes a circling manouvre, to draw hate away from the group.

Spider
Dorianna 120/120
Iribo
Cherry Berry 88/88
Kvit 54/54
Lough 96/96, Hasted

Everyone is up! The spider is still in the air.

By the way, I intended the drow to be a somewhat friendly group, especially since you're friends with Falxi. I sorta kinda roped you into being their prisoners to avoid direct conflict, but I didn't mean to cause problems with you not wanting to serve them (mainly Cherry Berry helping them conquer your own community), so I'm open to retconning and/or creative solutions to this conundrum.

The bar is floor 6. So now the floors that are connected are floors 2, 6, and 8.

As you go down, Kvit connects two more portals to the system, allowing you easier access to the lower levels. It's well midday when you're ready to go back to adventuring proper.

You arrive back at the level with the drow and caligni. Iribo, the drow with the spider companion awaits you. "Welcome back captives," she greets cheerfully. "You had to leave one upstairs, I see? That venom can be nasty. Luckily you found another prisoner for us, so all should be good. Now, do you have any plans on how to tame that giant spider?"

Dorianna: To give you some context: the drow here are working for Belcorra, but have taken the group "prisoner" and let the party do the dirty work for them. Their current task is to capture the ginormous spider that's clinging on the ceiling 60 feet above them.

Anyone can cast some prebuffs now, if they want. Also, place yourselves where you want to be.
Dorianna, could you make a token for yourself and for Aesephna?

Technically, uppermost portal needs some money to re-install the silver ring (all the silver has been pried out by looters over the years), you mentioned so earlier. I'm fine with spending some money on that, or you use that check for level 2.

No need for a secondary check, crit success means it's open. You could flavour helping, though.

Kvit concentrates for an hour on the circle and it hums back to life. The air in the teleport circle tastes a little different, but you can't put your finger on how, exactly. It feels... heavier?

Do you want to re-activate all the portals, or just some? Or now jump straight back to level 8?

Just checking before I continue with Kvit's results: is the matter of picking up Dorianna now finalised, or do you want to play that out more?

There's no full rest, just a quick trip to town to drop off Kka and pick up a new team member.

I'm guessing you put the hood back on Murmur to disguise her somewhat. She would cause quite a stir if it became known there's a medusa in town. The priests of Erastil will babysit her until you're back.

I can't find it, but I believe the intention was that if you don't have a secondary caster, you automatically crit fail on that check. So a secondary caster isn't there to make the primary check easier, but to not make it worse.

"I am left handed by I don't want to loose my hand ..." she says with a shaking voice. In the end she did not loose the arm right?

The hand/arm was wilted, but turned back to normal quickly after defeating the Denizen of Leng.

Yes, it's absolutely okay to request an "X card" for anything, don't feel afraid to do so. I wasn't planning on putting Dorianna in any specific harm, or at least not something I wouldn't put any other PC in. But if anyone is uncomfortable with child endangerment, I'll keep that in mind.

---

For Dorianna's age, nothing is specified, but it is described she's on the cusp of puberty. A quick search tells me that's typically between 8 and 13 for girls. In my mind she was in the 10-12 range, definitely on the more mature side, but still very much a child. But feel free to give your own twist to the character. :)

I had to find some way to get you back topside. :)

Looks good, welcome to the team! :)

(Do you have healer's tools? Can't do Medicine without them. :P)

I've seen Summoners in action, and I know their action economy gets tangled up sometimes. I'd like to propose the following house rule, if everyone agrees: Act Together lets you split up your actions so you effectively have four actions to spend between the two of you. So you could cast a spell, and your eidolon can use a two-action activity (such as a breath weapon, or a spell of their own, or whatever).

Normally, if the master uses two actions, the eidolon can use two separate one-action activities, but not combine them into one two-action thing. I've seen people get annoyed by that, and it makes sense to me that as long as you're only spending four actions in total, you can split them up however you want. This might be too strong, I don't know, so I reserve the right to revoke this house rule later on, but this seems like an easy fix. Do people agree to this houserule?

---

Also, looking through your statblock, I see your eidolon is large. I'd just like to warn you that there are a lot of small corridors and rooms in this dungeon, so that might pose a bit of an issue. Feel free to train out of it if it becomes a problem.
Also, could you maybe organise your statblock a little bit more in your profile? You probably did a quick and dirty writeup, but a character progression would be good to have, so I can see what you picked up when.

As you stand close to the spider's territory, the spider clicks and hisses as it senses your ill intent. It spits a glob of venom at you as a warning, which catches Kka straight in the face. She shrieks as the venom burns her eyes, and you quickly retreat. Cherry Berry does a quick round of first aid, but after half an hour, Kka's eyes are still swollen shut. Between Kka and Cherry Berry's combined expertise, you come to the conclusion that Kka needs long-term medical care, or she could lose her vision permanently. So you go back to Otari and see if the church of Erastil can take care of her.

As you're in town, rumour quickly spreads that one of Otari's heroes is gravely injured, and a throng of people gathers around Kka's sickbed, asking when she'll be better and what happens to vanquishing Belcorra now that Kka's incapacitated. The head priest of the church shoos everyone away, saying Kka needs rest and is forbidden from adventuring for the near future. The crowd slowly dissipates, leaving behind a familiar figure...

Farol, this is your cue.

Ouch Cherry Berry! I hope you recover soon.

Cherry Berry: do you agree with adding Farol to the group? You're the only one I haven't seen a definitive "yes" from.

---

As for the pause, I was ready to skip the last bit, but we could do a quick trip back up to pick up Farol. How do the others feel about that? Also depends on what Farol wants to do with their character. Farol, could you PM me with what you intend to do? So I can inject you into the narrative a little easier.

Free archetype rule, and I made a small addition to it: You can have different "tracks" for your archetypes, allowing you two archetypes at the same time. I hope this makes sense:
- Free archetype feats have to be archetype feats. No double-dipping on class feats.
- Your regular class feats can become archetype feats, including free archetype ones, or start a new archetype.

For instance, if your Free Archetype is Acrobat, you can choose Celebrity Dedication as your normal class feat. Free Archetype feats can be spent on Celebrity or Acrobat feats, but not on main class feats. You still must choose three archetype feats before grabbing a new archetype.

Needlessly complicated? Yes. But it allows for a little more variation, if people need it.

I'm fine with most uncommon options, just let me know beforehand. I doubt I'll veto them, I just want a heads up. Definitely let me know if you're looking ar Rare options.

Normal gold for level 8.

Preferably choose a background from the AP, if it makes sense. Ties you a little bit more to the story.

GM Kwinten wrote:

Is that your way of saying you want to leave, or just chiming in they're a good addition?

I believe I've been quite clear about my wishes to wrap up the adventure and call it a day, and that if the rest of the players wish to see this through in some manner, then I am happy for Kka to be killed off, replaced, or botted by someone else. Nothing in the discussion so far has changed my mind on this point, nor is it likely to do so given the degree of burnout I'm feeling about the AP.

Ah, my apologies. I hadn't realised how burnt out you were. I had thought (or maybe hoped) a new party member would revive your enthusiasm, but I completely understand being burnt out. Regardless, I would like to thank you so incredibly much for being such an enthusiastic player and keeping the loot sheet up to date and stuff. I will miss you, and I hope we'll see each other in PbP again.

----

I understand the wolf guy not being a great fit. Dorianna as a playable character would be cool, with either Aesephna or Kka as an eidolon (just for reference, Kka is female. :)).

You could also take over Kka's character, if you feel like it (and her owner allows). Might feel a bit weird to play a "second-hand" character, but I'd like to offer it as an option anyway.

Which reminds me, there are also several other older party members you could pick up, if you wanted. There's Sam, a human monk fighting with bow and arrow (dropped relatively early on because the player didn't really have a connection to the character, and thus the adventure), Gyozara, a gnome sorcerer (dropped because they started GMing this adventure and didn't feel like playing it again), and Fuìn, a kayal reach fighter (life got too busy, had to drop the game). If you like the sound of any of them, take a look through the old party members in the Characters tab.

If Farol were to join with a brand new character, I don't expect them to fill the exact niche Kka occupied. I will allow players to freely retrain some skills and skill feats if necessary. For Farol's sake: Kka was the medic of the party: she had Battle Medicine and the important Medicine skill feats for out of combat healing. She also was the default trap disabler (I handwaved out of combat healing away to speed things up, but having Ward Medic and Continual Recovery would be nice to have for the fiction of the game). She also demoralised a lot, but that was her personal playstyle, I don't expect you to fall exactly into those footsteps. Not sure you have room for that on a Summoner chassis.

Is that your way of saying you want to leave, or just chiming in they're a good addition?

I agree, I've played with Farol for a few games, both a great GM and player.

One thing I can do is try to post if I'm waiting on someone else, for more clarification, have nothing to add, planned update time, etc. (instead of not posting)

Yeah, this is a good suggestion. I hope this also incentivises people to post more, even an "busy right now, hope to post tomorrow/the day after" would be helpful. And indeed, an "I have nothing/don't want to add anything" also helps to know people are at least keeping an eye on things, and is hopefully low effort enough that it doesn't feel like a burden to people.

Indeed, I would like unanimous agreement on adding a new player. But in case Cherry Berry agrees, I'd like to provide a little more information on the NPCs I mentioned earlier so maybe Farol can start brewing. Or they can make their own character, I just think it's cool if it's a character you've already met.

- The party "freed" a couple of mitflits on the first level, and they've been running around the Fogfen, and they became a recurring background thing in the first book, after which I faded them out. I think I had one turn into a Druid/Ranger type with a pet bear. The other two I don't remember as much. A morlock tinkerer joined that party after level 2, and I had him pegged as an Inventor.
- You're already familiar with Dorianna Menhemes. She's a latent Psychic, but a Summoner would be cool too.
- The party found a loophole and managed to keep Carman Rajani alive. He's been rebuilding the Danwflower Library after he set part of it on fire, and he has a bit of a redemption arc. He's a Rogue type, but I could see any martial working for him. In the adventure he fights with a longsword and can throw light hammers.
- You seemed to have an interest in the wolf guy. The party failed their knowledge checks, so they don't know this, but he's a werewolf (beastkin would also work as a PC) and a murderer who fled into Gauntlight a long time ago. He has a pet wolf (but if you don't want a wolf, you can leave him at home) and fights with katars. He's officially a Druid, but I can see Ranger working for him as well. He's escaped Gauntlight and is now harassing a Druid group nearby, eating their sheep. They've requested that Cherry Berry deal with him, but we never got to that part. Could maybe also give Cherry Berry a reason to interact more and be less passive, if they're okay with that.
- The level the party is currently on is full of drow, caligni, and an urdefhan. There's no playable ancestry for them, so we'll have to homebrew something, but they could definitely tag along.
- The party just picked up a Feebleminded medusa. They could break the curse and have her join. Typically medusas fight with a bow, but any weapon would work, really.
- Mister Beak, from all the way back at level 1 is a goblin named Borbo that's been put in a soul gem. Lough has kept it around and used it as a power source for his mechanical arm. Lough could maybe construct a full body for him if you're interested.
- There's a bar a few levels back that has plenty of people you could pick up. There's a drider, several morlocks, a few of those augmented morlocks, and the band Shadow Malice, consisting of a xulgath, duergar, caligni, and a ratfolk. They could be great Warrior Bards. Most of them have some band-related custom moves I'd be happy to share with you.

Any of these pique your interest? Again, you can also make your own character, but these could be introduced a little more naturally. You could also be a prisoner on the next level, but that would mean waiting for a bit until the party reaches you, which might not be ideal.

Oh yeah, Murmur definitely assumes you're breaking the Feeblemind, of course. And yeah, I thought adding a character you have some history with already gives you a closer bond with than "Wrin found someone, good luck."

A "progress bar" could be a good idea, gives you a sense of progress. Maybe with some goodies at certain intervals. Seems maybe a little too (meta)game-y, but could be a good idea. Also helps with preserving spells and such. The details of how much to show (increases of 10%? More? Less? Or X out of Y battles fought?), could be hashed out if we decide to use it.

I'm okay with this Farol character from that but if info. They sound like a good fit, especially since they're familiar with what's happened so far. (Though I also feel the party should talk about potential recruits before. If only especially since we're working through communication issues here, so it's probably better to over communicate)

Yeah, definitely this. If Farol gets added (that's still an "if"), they would need to fit the party. Is there a specific build or class you'd like to see added (or don't want added), or can Farol just drop in with whatever?

EDIT: I've been keeping things in the back of my head just for funsies. Potentially interesting characters to add could be:
- One of the mitflit gang (and one morlock) from the first level that are still wandering around.
- Dorianna Menhemes could join as a fully-grown Psychic (we'll just handwave how she just jumped to level 8).
- Carman Rajani could join as a second Rogue (or Rogue-type).
- The wolf guy from a few levels back hasn't been dealt with. You could "recruit" him.
- Maybe one of the drow, caligni, or the mad urdefhan on this level could become a party member through shenanigans (I'll need to homebrew some ancestry feats, but could be cool).
- Murmur?
- Borbo in his own new body.
- Some person from the bar a few levels back, maybe even a band member.

Heh, I think our posts just crossed. I think Farol as an extra player would already help, but I really appreciate your input, Kvit! I'm gonna comment on some of these. I might sound negative regarding some of them, but I don't mean it as a critique on you. Again, really happy you're thinking along.

I think mostly people need to post more, and make decisions. That takes the load off of Kka, and gives people more to interact with. With more interaction, people will be inclined to post more, leading (hopefully) to a positive spiral.

Adding an NPC could help with the former, but again, it requires interaction. I can just drop a clown in, but that would break immersion and if no one comments on it, it's still a moot point.

Changing platforms wouldn't help, I think, but if people say they'd much rather play using a different platform, I'm definitely open to that.

Picking a day of the week to post is a good idea, but I don't want people to feel forced to post if they don't have the time. And skipping a day due to real life could reinforce that shame spiral I'm trying to avoid. Other suggestions in a similar vein (posting frequency/party leader of the week, and so on) also seem more punishing than rewarding, IMHO.

I'm sort of doing maximum wait times already. I try to gauge when a conversation is over or when a consensus has been reached, but I could be off. Please say so when I am.

Similarly, posting a schedule seems to put more pressure on the game than I'm comfortable with. Positive reinforcement like extra awards would be cool, I just need to think of what, exactly.

I've been in the shame spiral, and it sucks. Hope you get out of it! And even if you don't, I still enjoy Cherry Berry's contributions a lot, so don't feel pressured. This is still supposed to be fun.

Passive characters are tricky, I've had the same thing happen to me as well. Without proper investment, you don't feel attached to the story. Could I help in any way to help facilitate that? I have some ideas in the back of my head about this. Or maybe this is the level where Cherry Berry finally snaps and realises being proactive is the way to go. For several levels you've only encountered creatures that don't want to live peacefully, and CB's finally fed up with it. Character growth doesn't have to be external, you can just decide now to change. Again, I'm willing to help if you need it.

---

I got a message from Farol. Apparently they've been contacted by rainzax* and they would like to join the campaign, if people want to have them. They've played up to most of book 2, so they're familiar with the story. They could easily slot in after this level and change up party dynamics a little. I've been in several PFS scenarios with them, they're a fun player and from what I know they put effort in their posts.

* I don't mind you talking to other people about this, but it does feel a little "behind my back." No bad feelings, but in the future I would appreciate a "hey, I think I know someone, mind if I give them a nudge?"

I'd just like to re-state (or clarify, if I wasn't clear) that I don't plan on quitting as GM if the others still want to continue. It's just that I can see Kka's frustrations with the game, in that Kka's the only proactive player. I would also like to see this through to the end, but my fear is that, if worst comes to worst and Kka drops, it won't solve the problem of the lack of people participating.

I dunno, maybe a change of GM would be a nice change of pace, breathe a little fresh air into the campaign. I hate to put it to an ultimatum like this, but I feel the bottom line is this (speaking for Kka more than me): something needs to change, otherwise this campaign can't continue.

And it's fine if things can't change. As said, people are busy and I don't blame anyone for participating less than others. But right now it feels like we're just stuck in place.

Hey all, you might've noticed that the PbP has been stagnating lately. Kka has even messaged me privately, and I have her permission to mention that here (pretty sure Kka's player is male, but I'll keep referring to her as female, for ease). I will use the points she raised and add in my own comments, to show this isn't just me complaining as a GM. Also, Kka, if you feel like I'm putting words in your beak you do not agree with, please say so. Don't want you to feel like my puppet.

Note that I do not wish or intend to point blame to anyone in particular. If you feel like I'm singling you out, please say so.

Well, the big thing is, Kka feels like she's been pulling the adventure a lot lately. At the start there was a nice interplay between all the characters and while more characters were more proactive than others, characters interacted more with each other and progressed the story as a group. But lately, it feels like Kka is making all the decisions by herself and the rest is just following along. I raised this point during last level up, but people were content to continue. But now Kka feels like her interest in this campaign has run out, and frankly, I echo her sentiment. I liked the banter between everyone, but everyone now mostly just follows in Kka's footsteps. Maybe it's just that we've been doing this for over 3 years. Maybe it's because of the repetetive nature of the AP. But I get the feeling people aren't as invested in this game anymore (and I don't blame anyone for that!). Maybe it's time to wrap up this campaign.

I also said this to Kka: level 9 is basically a big turf war between three deadlocked factions and some random monsters in between. Storywise it isn't too interesting. The drow here are open to an alliance, but you don't seem to keen on that (completely understandable from your characters, again, no blame), but that would mean another faction to wipe out. Level 10 is relatively short with several nasty monsters and Belcorra herself, but nothing really to RP with. I think you've encountered the most interesting things down here so far. I could let you level to 10 and jump straight to the final boss battle, but that would mean a lot of effort just for the sake of a lukewarm conclusion to a campaign that has gone cold. I mean, I'm up for it if you want to, but it seems perfunctory.

Again, I don't blame anyone for losing interest. We've been going at this for 3,5 years now, and a lot has changed. The pandemic is over, people have partners and offspring, life just goes on. I'm definitely interested in finishing this campaign, but not as it currently is. People have been noncommital about this for several levels now, and I think it's just a good moment to pull the plug. Do people agree?

Anyone?

"Hmm, that complicates matters. As I said, due to our agreement with Belcorra, we cannot let you go. But, let's say we capture you and order you to do our dirty work for us. It's only reasonable to let you guys rest and resupply. Throwing you to the urdefhan unprepared would be a waste of everyone's lives, no? We don't break our agreement with Belcorra, you get to prepare, and everyone profits. Well, except the urdefhan. What do you think?

"Well then," he starts without waiting to see if you agree. "I have three tasks for you, my captives. First, we want to tame that big-ass spider that's lurking on the ceiling just outside. Iribo, take these wretches with you and get me that spider."

The woman who escorted you here salutes.

"Second. We're running low on arrows. We can order more from our settlement deeper underground, but that'll take time. Go back upstairs and get me a hundred arrows. Here, use this." He digs in his pocket and throws you a single gold coin.

"Tomorrow you report back to me, give me my arrows,and I'll send you downstairs to deal with the urdefhan. If you don't report back to me on time, we consider you deserters and we will hunt you on sight. Now, get out of my eyes."

---

As for the lake, it's a bit weird. There's a small skiff halfway up the lake you can access, but you'll have to swim to get it first. From there, you can explore the water freely. I have no idea why they didn't give you a boat at the beach to the south (apart from the thing lurking below the surface, of course), but I'd be happy to materialise one there if you want.

The drow leader waves away Kka and Kvit's concerns. "Pfff, of course you weaklings don't want to incite violence yourselves. That's fine. As you guessed, the urdefhan will solve that moral quandry for you themselves. We're currently interrogating one of them, but he's not exactly forthcoming with information."

He nods to the door opposite you, where screams and curses are currently coming from.

"They'll happily attack anyone without clear skin, so go nuts on them. If you don't want to harm the caligni, that's fine, they're holed up in their own little stronghold. We'll deal with them eventually. But if you could return to us with the head of the urdefhan war hero Khurfel, we'll consider you temporary allies. For now. Otherwise, we won't let you pass back up."

He looks at Cherry Berry. "You make a good point. We have heard of Absalom, and we will take the necessary precautions. But Belcorra has promised us many reinforcements if we give her Otari. Absalom will not stand a chance with our forces combined, trust me on that. So you'd better succeed at your mission quickly, before we succeed at ours."

"Excellent," the drow beams. "Look, I don't really have the final say here, let me bring you my boss, he can decide for us. Zhirax, stay."

She pets the spider one final time, then leads you to another room to the southwest. There's another door to the southeast that's slightly ajar where pained screams come from every now and then.

This large room might have once been richly appointed, but it’s now full of mold and decay. Shattered furniture covers the floor, and tattered, mildew-specked tapestries hang from the walls. At the north, curtains obscure a wide bay window made of what looks like transparent stone.

Five more drow are in this room, standing around a table. The drow walking alongside you hails them.

"Heya boss, got an interesting issue for you. I found these four snooping around, say they're friends of Falxi's. He says they're good people, but I just found out they're here to kick Belcorra's incorporeal ass. My first instinct was to shoot them full of holes, but then I thought they could be a 'neutral fourth party' that could solve our territory was for us., in return for us turning a blind eye at their intrusion. Whaddaya think?"

The drow with the bow (Orange on the map) looks you over and is silent for a moment. "And you say these surface-dwellers are interested in helping us in our turf war here? From my experience, many topsiders are burdened with things such as 'morals' and a 'conscience.' Are you sure they're okay with a little bloodshed?"

Though he's talking to the drow woman, he looks at you when he says it.

I understand, and I appreciate you staying in character. Just saying what the consequences of such blunt talk might be. :)

I'm waiting for at least one other person to weigh in. Don't want this to be a one-person decision.

GM Kwinten wrote:

The carvings are in Elven, which no one can read.

Kvit can with Strange Script

Ah, sorry! On the plus side, they were instructions on how to move the boulder, but they're intentionally wrong, so you'd set off the trap and warn the people on the other side of your arrival. :P

---

Kka, your tone is very threatening for someone not wanting to roll an Intimidation check. I'm not gonna penalise you for it, but I will warn you that she might not like that tone.

The drow frowns as Cherry Berry explains the situation. It looks like she's going to raise her crossbow, when Kka drops the name "Falxi." She startles for a moment, then lowers her crossbow again.

"Duh, of course you're Feathers. I did not expect multiple tengu to roam down here anyways. Falxi told us you're wandering around down here, says you're good people. He didn't mention your companions, but I guess if you're good, they're good as well."

She drops to a more relaxed pose and pets her spider once more.

"Well, this is a bit of a pickle. Yldaris is a small drow outpost one level below, and Falxi said you're welcome, but you also mentioned you're working to fight Belcorra. You might not have any quarrel with us, but Belcorra hired us to take over the world above. So that technically makes us enemies.

"But I have an idea. Like you said, there's this feud going on between the three tribes that's getting in our way of conquering topside. We're pretty much in a deadlock here. If we attack one of the other tribes, that'll weaken us both enough that the final tribe can defeat the both of us. If you were to eliminate either tribe, we'll consider you allies. For the time being, of course. How's that sound?"

She smiles enthusiastically, as if she didn't just suggest wiping out an entire tribe of humanoids.

Cherry Berry rejoins the group, trying their best to be as quiet as possible, but doesn't escape the spider's notice. Luckily for them, the spider is content with its fungal snack.

Kka checks this door, deems it safe, and opens it.

Sheets of webbing hang on the south wall of this room, between two wooden doors.

At the other side of the door, a medium-sized spider looks at you in surprise. A second passes, and it emits a shrill shrieking sound. A few seconds later, a drow opens the door behind the spider, crossbow in hand, but not aimed directly at you. She bends down and starts petting the still-hissing spider.

"Well done Zhirax, who's a good girl? Yes, you are!"

The spider starts cooing happily and demonstratively stands in front of the drow as if to guard her. The drow finally addresses you.

"I noticed you passing by, so I sent Zhirax here to warn me when you'd arrive. You're not from down here, right? Would you mind telling me what you're doing in this battleground between urdefhan, caligni, and drow? By your surprised faces I can tell you did not expect much civility down here."

She seems mildly amused and interested in you, but is still on guard.

I specifically asked here where the others are because they might not want/be able to sneak past the spider and wanted to check in what they wanted to do. But yeah, in general, I assume they follow when the coast is clear.

Lough quietly sneaks past the spider. Kvit, on the other hand, stumbles and kicks a loose rock across the cavern floor, which clatters loudly. You hold your breath and make ready to attack the spider, but it seems content with its current prey. It makes no attempt to jump down.

You can pass safely. :)

Also, I missed a part of the description. On the map it looks like you can pass by the boulder in the middle, but apparently it blocks access.

The path ends at a door leading west. A large boulder covered with spidery carvings blocks a cave entrance to the east.

The carvings are in Elven, which no one can read.

3d20 ⇒ (1, 9, 15) = 25

You notice that this boulder is trapped. You think that something will happen if you handle the boulder in the wrong way.
Disabling the trap would be a DC 28 Thievery check, or you can make a DC 25 Nature, Perception, or relevant Lore check to to find the proper way to move it. Or you can make a DC 30 Athletics check to just roll the boulder aside. Failing these checks would mean the trap goes off, however, unless you disable that first.

Stealth vs Spider: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (20) + 17 = 37
Sigh.

Perception: 3d20 ⇒ (2, 4, 2) = 8
Double sigh.

Kka quietly slips past the spider and reaches a door. But she also notices that opposite the door, a narrow pathway leads to a different room in the cavern.

You're quite far away from your allies. Do you wanna call them over?
I also want to notify everyone that Follow the Expert is a good option if you're not trained in Stealth. It allows you a +10 plus DEX on your Stealth check instead of your own Stealth mod (assuming Kka is Expert in Stealth, which her bio reflects). I've seen this used only once, and it's super useful.

The spider keeps an eye on you, but is occupied with wrapping up its current prey. It ignores you for now.

The curtains are on the other side of the glass, there's no way of moving them from this side. With your darkvision (the room isn't lit), you do see vague shapes through the curtain of several people huddled together. They seem to be standing around a table. The glass is thick enough to not let any sound through.

I have no idea how darkvision would interact with seeing through a curtain, but this seems to make sense.

I might be skipping too many fights. If you feel like I'm giving you the win too easily here and there please say so, I do want you to feel like you get your level's worth of fights. There will (potentially) be several more fights, so it's not like this is an empty level, I'm just cutting out some of the filler and preventing us from being here for half a year (again). I can tell you what I've cut after we've finished this level, if you want.

Kka inspects the doors on the southwestern side of the cavern. The doors don't seem to be locked or trapped.

This squat stone building looks like a storage room. Inside, a pile of fungus woods still sits, along with a bundle of axes and saws used to collect the fungus and cut the boards into shape.

Nothing of interest here. Next door.

This shed has a small hole where a lock would be, but traces of rust around the hole are all that remain there. Inside, the tools once stored here have met the same fate as the lock and are nothing more than a piles of rust around axe handles, wooden shims, and other non‑metallic materials. The shriveled corpse of a fat rust monster lies in the center of the room.

Final room.

This simple storage shed is filled with small, gnawed bones, discarded scales, and a pungent reptilian reek.

You find a large reptile that attempts to tear your face off. You recognise it from one of the stasis cells one level up. This one must've escaped somehow. This must have become its nest. You kill it.
Skipping this fight, because it's not super interesting. Also, the idea of fighting a large creature in a 10 by 10 foot room is stupid.

Among the remains of its nest you find magical armbands, as well as a secret door. You open it, and it leads to another portal room.

Across the bridge, you see two giant floating puffballs slowly drifting closer to you. You play keepaway with them and eventually kill them. They have a movement speed of 10 feet, no reach, and not super threatening ranged attacks. Like I said, you can easily play keepaway. The big fungus was much more threatening.

Across the bridge’s span, fungus grows to greater heights—some reaching nearly to the high ceiling of the cavern, fifty feet overhead. The remains of old paths remain here, but most are covered with clumps of smaller fungus or patches of pale slime. Spores drift through the air, and huge red blooms on the fungi shift as though in a wind, although there’s no wind here. An enormous iron ladder hangs down into the deep chasm. Each link of the chains that hold it up are about as large as a human, but the rungs are spaced to give even small creatures an easy climb.

Just across the bridge, a glass window is visible in the southern wall, with thick curtains preventing you from looking inside.

There's more of the cavern to explore to the east, but you'd have to pass by the enormous spider, first. Though it seems pretty occupied with webbing up its fungal prey at the moment.

What do you do with Murmur? Do you leave her behind, or take her with you?

Kka checks the secret door for locks and traps. Fortunately, neither are present. The secret door leads to a narrow hallway, which leads to a new door, which is also untrapped and unlocked.

The remains of a table and some chairs are scattered around the room. While the western door has been ripped off its hinges, the southern door is still intact but open. Two torn, soggy corpses are slumped in the doorway.

Nothing of value is in this room. You can, however, see to the west and south. To the west, you see an underground lake.

At this southern terminus of the foul underground lake, a small wooden dock juts out from a stone and masonry building. The dock is in ruin; its front has been ripped away with massive force, leaving the rest of it sloping down into the water. The building had a door at the dock’s end, but it has been ripped off its hinges, with a chunk of the door partly submerged and leaning against the cavern wall. South of the structure, the lakeshore gives way to a forest of massive fungi. The water near the dock occasionally bubbles, as if something massive dwells somewhere below the surface.

To the south:

While the fungal forest continues to grow high, there are also signs that this area was recently tended. Rocks outline sections of healthy growth, and the paths are clear of all the but the occasional bits of mold and fungus. Bioluminescent moss provides a low, even glow throughout the area, as though intentionally cultivated for the effect. To the east, a wide stone bridge spans a massive chasm. A gigantic iron ladder snakes down into the darkness of the chasm from its other side. Beyond the bridge and the ladder, the fungal forest becomes even more overgrown.

Coincidence I think. At least it wasn't pre-planned."

I recently heard this: "Luck is when planning meets opportunity." (Or the other way around, dunno if that matters) I don't know if I ascribe to that, but it certainly applies here. You made good use of the opportunity, and that really helped in the fight. That deserves praise. :)

Definitely some good synergies this combat. Was cool to see. Though it would be nice if Kvit could hit the broadside of a barn.

That thing had an AC of 32. Cherry Berry needed to roll a 17 to hit, and I presume you do, too. That miss wasn't your fault, it's just got an absurd AC for casters. You're missing out on runes and no flanking/off-guard, that's just crap. That ray would've made quite an impact, it just doesn't work well on boss-like creatures.

Kka opens the door to see how Murmur is doing. You see her staring in amazement at the giant spider to the east dragging off the fungus corpse back to its lair. "Mrrmrr.. Chkk prrroi wee."

She notices you and waves, then points back at the spider. "Drrrp plak?"

I'm having fun making up sounds for Murmur. :)

Kka, I just noticed you counted the Gloom Blade as a +2 weapon, but that's only in dim light or darkness. So it's only a +1, making your last attack a miss. But because it's a nat 20, that becomes a regular hit. I should've corrected you sooner on that, my bad.

Kka hesitates slightly as doubt washes over her, but doesn't let that slow her down. She chops three times, and after her third strike, the nilith falls to the ground, dead. Combat over! No need for those saves anymore.

Hero Point for everyone! Realised I forgot to hand them out this level so far.

I presume everyone heals up now? Kka heals 16 more hit points thanks to Lough, but Lough and Cherry Berry are still hurt. That also means the Shield Other ends.

Cherry Berry's Protector Tree remains standing. In this pseudo-forested room it looks like it'll survive.

You look through the room, and you find some treasure hidden behind some vines. You find a bag with 253 sp, three topaz gemstones worth 60 gp each, a thundering runestone, and a moderate bravo’s brew.

Also, I wanted to praise you for your teamwork. Lough's free sustain allowed Cherry Berry to use Evangelise, which in combination with their Soothing Words allowed Kka to just make the save, not becoming slowed. :)

Cherry Berry's bow fires once more and hits the creature for a fair bit of damage. The nilith is now pretty bloody (below half HP).
Cherry berry plants a tree in the room with swaying branches, then preaches to the nilith to overwhelm its mind.

The nilith weaves a spell.
Stupefied flat check, DC 6: 1d20 ⇒ 6
It falters slightly, but manages to get the spell off. Lough, you can make a Reactive Strike. If Lough hits, Kka can make an Opportune Backstab.

A rush of anguish and self-doubt hits everyone in the room. Please make me a DC 28 Will save versus Wave of Despair! If you fail your save, you must make a new save at the start of your turn or be Slowed 1.

After seeing that Cherry Berry also gets hurt when it hits Kka, the nilith grins and bites once more at Kka.

Bite attack vs Kka: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (4) + 23 = 27
It misses thanks to Kka's Nimble Dodge!

Everyone in the room takes a -1 penalty to Will saves.
Nilith, 85 damage, stupefied
Kvit 54/54
Lough 70/96, shield 60/68
Kka 76/94, Shield Other, +1 on will saves for a minute, +2 on emotion effects, fast healing 8, round 2/4
Cherry Berry 56/88, Shield Other with Kka
Protector tree, 10/10

Everyone is up! Kka heals 8 HP, and all need to make a DC 28 Will save versus Wave of Despair (and potentially a second one at the start of their turn). Kka gets a +2 because it's an emotion effect. Lough gets a Reactive Strike, and if that hits, Kka gets one as well.

Ah, sorry, poor phrasing on my part. I agree that half of 19 is 9. I was just wondering how that 9 is split. But upon reading the spell, it clearly says this:
The target takes half damage from all effects that deal Hit Point damage, and you take the remainder of the damage.

Half of 9 rounded down is 4. Ths remainder is 5, which goes to Cherry Berry. So technically you get 1 HP back, but I'll leave it as is for now.