Gordon the Whale's page

Tol puts his lance in his lance-cup, and goes to inspect the little lizards, arms crossed over his barrel chest, and a scornful look in his eyes. "One for everyone? Hmph! You do remember they shoot lightning out of their heads? They're not puppies, Miss Gatherine, they're monsters. What do you think to feed them? Kill them as a mercy, or throw them back." He glowers over her.

Tol continues to bluster at Gatherine. "Ви слухаєте мене, юна леді? Що ви ... Що ви робите? Що у вас є? Ох, не кажіть мені, ті ... Покладіть їх назад прямо зараз! Ні не ... Я категорично забороняю вам прийняти ці ящірки!"

The immediate danger past, Tol sheathes his axe and retrieves his lance from the ground, wiping lizard gore from the steel point. "Well, ahem, at least we're all standing," the old dwarf mutters, "Thanks to Dr. Mugambi and Miss Sindarela, at least." He nods his appreciation. "That was... too close, especially since it got us no closer to defeating the cannibals or to finding Captain Kovack." He glares at Gatherine, who is too busy searching through lizard holes to notice. "Мисс Ґетрін! Йди звідти! Хіба ви не викликало досить неприємностей на один день?"

Tol winces, his muscles spasming as the lizard's electric attack catches him, his metal armor providing no protection. Gorra fares somewhat better, but cannot completely avoid the arc of electricity. Recovering himself, Tol squeezes Gorra and the mare bites and kicks at the lizard which stands near Mugambi. Tol drops his lance, unwieldy in close combat, and draws his axe; unfortunately, with Gorra rearing and stamping, he is unable to get close enough to the lizard to strike it.

"Fall back!" he calls, "I'll hold them! Avoid the lightning!"

Assuming charge is possible; probably vs. third lizard?

Tol shoots Gatherine an icy glare as he readies his lance to charge into the fray. "Нам потрібно обговорити значення слова 'уникнути,' юна леді."

Yes, it was my intention to be mounted.

Back at the shocker lizard tracks

Tol continues to argue with Gatherine in Dwarven, his tone like that of a stern parent scolding a wayward child. His gauntleted hand points and gestures in time to his words.

"Чому ваш батько думаю, вам потрібно охоронець? Чому? Озирніться навколо! Хіба це не все пояснення ситуації достатньо для чого вам потрібен охоронець?

Ви можете мріяти про домашніх тварин ящірка шокер все, що хочете, але торага ви не отримаєте один сьогодні. Ми будемо намагатися, щоб уникнути їх, і якщо ми не можемо уникнути їх, ми постараємося їх прогнати, і якщо ми не можемо їх прогнати, ми будемо вбивати їх. Якщо ми не можемо убити їх, ми будемо працювати. Ми не будемо провокувати їх набіги гнізда для яєць чи молодий, ми не будемо намагатися захопити дорослих. Зрозумів?"

After Gatherine fires
"Miss Gatherine! What on Golarion are you--" Tol's exclamation is cut short as he sees the target of Gatherine's shot.

Initiative: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

Tol blinks in surprise a few times, then turns in his saddle to glare at Gatherine. "Miss. Gatherine." His words are short and clipped, and his face turns red as he transitions to Dwarven. "Безпека наших товаришів, і наші плани, щоб уникнути цієї пекельної острові, є більш важливими, ніж ваші дитячі бажання для домашніх тварин! Ви чули, що сказав ельф, один або два з під цих істот достатньо, щоб гарантувати застереження для всіх нас! Вони небезпечні! Скільки крові наших товаришів ви готові пролити для домашніх тварин? Ви також хочете, щоб домашня тварина істота, яка пан наростання вихідної напруги. Сірий? Чи ви забули? Хм!"

The old dwarf looks at Gatherine in surprise, his bushy eyebrows briefly raising to expose his eyes. He quickly settles back into his customary scowl. "Aye, and I as well. What of it? It's as long a swim whether one breathes water or air, and a waste of valuable potions if all it gets us is a few more zombies to risk our lives against. If we can ever get off this rock to a good market, the price of those potions will put us well on our way to paying our passage home." He waves his hands dismissively to the shipwreck. "Let the zombies have their rock."

@Gatherine: I think we have killed five: three when Averin was killed, and two at the ambush.
The old dwarf shakes his head in mixed amazement and admiration. Hmmph. Looks like the lass knows better than I how to recruit birds to a cause.

Climbing nimbly into the saddle, he follows after Gatherine and the others. "I'm not sure attempting a double-ambush in the canyon is a good idea... There are two cliffs, after all. If we deploy a team on each side, and someone in the middle as bait, we're spread too thin. If we don't, it's not much of an ambush. It would be better to stick together and strike through the bush, or around the coast, avoiding the choke-point altogether."

Out by the rock pools, Tol stands, says a few more words to Kekkaw, and turns back to the rest of the group. Gorra follows obediently behind him. When he reaches the rest of the group, his face is as grim as ever, but there is a spark of resolve in his eye, replacing his previous long-suffering air.

At Mugambi's question, he replies, "That's an interesting question. Our Captain Kovack is up to something, or he's a bloody fool, or both. By what we saw from his tracks, and Mr. Cuckoo's observations, he's spent his whole time on this island hauling a crate straight toward the cannibals' camp. I don't reckon we really need to worry about following his tracks at this point. If we head to the camp, he'll be there. As a guest or a main dish, I can't say." He grunts in punctuation.

"I had a talk with Mr. Cuckoo this morning. Living here on the island, I think he's seen more than any sane man... bird... thing can see. He's got dark secrets he won't tell. But he knows the island. He says there's just a couple dozen cannibals. They've set up their camp around an old lighthouse. I say we stop being hunted, and start hunting. If we can eliminate those cannibals, the whole island will be a lot safer, for us and the other castaways with Mr. Jask. We may even be able to get the lighthouse working again, to draw attention from passing ships. It seems like our best strategy, and it probably gets us face to face with Captain Kovack and Miss Ieana too."

He looks around the group. An elvish dancer, a pirate's daughter, a witch doctor, and a runaway dwarf girl. Not the standard infantry regiment, to say the least. And himself, an aging small-time soldier. Be honest, he thinks to himself, The reason you talk about that warg fight so much is because in almost a century of service, it's the most action you've ever seen. Guard duty, delivery jobs, horse training... You're no seasoned warrior yourself. He clears his throat awkwardly and tugs absently at his braided beard. "All we have to do is figure out how to pull it off."

Now recruiting for two level 2 characters in an ongoing Legacy of Fire campaign. Here is the campaign page, where you will find house rules and links to the gameplay and discussion pages.

I am managing party creation differently than normal in two ways.

First, the campaign started with one character, and new characters are added as the game progresses. Outside of roleplaying games, this is a very common trope for heroic fantasy: One hero begins their quest alone, and encounters allies as they go. There are currently two players. The two characters under consideration will be the third and fourth, and will be added relatively close to each other.

Second, each of the spots in the campaign comes with a general character concept and backstory. The exact build and details of the backstory are up to the player, and they have total control over their character once play begins. However, the GM want to make sure that the right character types, both in terms of mechanical party balance and in-character motivation, are present at each point in the story.

If you feel that this constrains you too much, then I wish you luck in finding a campaign that suits you better. There are many to choose from here on the messageboards.

Character Generation

• Premade Character Concepts: Each of the spots in the campaign comes with a general character concept and backstory. The exact build is up to the player, and they have total control over their character once play begins. However, the GM wants to make sure that the right character types, both in terms of mechanical party balance and in-character motivation, are present at each point in the story.
  
• Nonstandard races: This is a very genie-centric campaign. Most of the character concepts can accommodate some kind of genie-touched race (ifrit, oread, suli, sylph, or undine). For the purposes of this campaign, genie-touched races can generally pass as humans, though they can be distinguished by someone who knows what to look for. Some character concepts also allow other nonstandard races. Characters which take powerful nonstandard races (more than 12 RP in the race builder) do not gain a flavor feat (see below) at level one, but do gain flavor feats at every even level.
  
• Traits: All characters get two traits. One will be a LoF campaign trait, which I will assign to you as part of your backstory. The other is at your discretion.
  
• Ability scores: 20 point buy. Alternatively, roll (on the boards) 4d6 for each, keeping the highest 3 dice, and assign rolls to the 6 scores as you like. You may reroll the entire set one time. You may not roll and then decide to do point-buy instead. If you want to apply for two different roles, and want to roll for ability scores, use the same rolls for both roles. (Haha.)
  
• Starting equipment: Standard wealth by level. If you start with an item creation feat, you may use it to create one magic item, which counts as half-price for calculating your starting wealth. You may not spend more than half of your starting wealth on any one item.
  
• HP: Characters receive their full hit die hp at first level, and half-plus-one at later levels.
  
• Source material: I allow material from all Paizo works. Let's leave out Antagonize, though. 3rd party material may be allowed on a case-by-case basis. If something isn't working for party balance and fun, I reserve the right to ask the player to change their build.
  
• Flavor Feats: PCs recieve one bonus feat at level one, and one at each even level. These feats should help make the character more interesting, rather than simply provide a mechanical advantage. Typically, these feats give highly situational bonuses, and typically do not affect combat. Combat applicable feats may be allowed if they are sufficiently situational, non-optimal, and interesting. Players should ask the GM if they have questions about what feats qualify.
  
• Fractional base saves: Multiclass characters will use fractional base saves and attack bonuses. High BAB: 1/level; Med BAB: .75/level; Low BAB: .5/level; Good save: 2 + 0.5/level; Bad save: 0.33/level.

And here are the characters currently up for recruitment:

Recruitment will be open until 10 pm on Monday, August 6, US CDT. (3 am on Tuesday, August 7th, GMT)

Tol checks on Gatherine, finding her happily engaged in packing ammunition, and then takes Gorra outside for some air. He leads the horse out on the beach to where Kekkaw is foraging, away from the rest of the party.

Technically an insult isn't an ad hominem.

It's only an ad hominem when the personal attack is used as the counter argument.

So "Of course a POWERGAMER would say that!" is an ad hominem.

But if I counter all the points of an argument and then add an insult at the end, it's not technically an ad hominem, as it's not part of my argument.

Fair enough, and I certainly didn't mean to say that the ad hominem arguments were all coming from one side. I did get the feeling that there was a sense that baalbamoth's perceived age, or perceived lying about his age, was being used as an argument against his opinions. If I was reading that wrong, then I retract the term.

Totally off topic, but when I saw that Kirth favorited my last post, I suddenly felt like one of the cool kids. Hopefully, the feeling will pass.

I do want to back up baalbamoth on one thing: I think it is okay to enjoy having a non-optimized build. I understand the feeling that you shouldn't have to learn how to optimize to play the game, that you should be able to come up with something on the level of the pregens and enjoy the game without feeling that your buddy with the carefully honed character is stealing your thunder all the time. I agree that earlier editions of the game were more supportive of that playstyle, because the mechanical choices you made during character creation didn't matter that much. The thing that makes the whole 3e family what it is is that making the character is a game in and of itself, and how good you are at that sub-game has a big effect on the rest of the game, and this leads to an inherent quandary about what to do with people who want to play together, but have different levels of skill/interest in character building. It is something that many groups have to deal with, and dealing with it badly probably makes a lot of people enjoy the game less than they otherwise would.

If you want to sum all that up by saying that Pathfinder is "unbalanced," ok. It is a complex system, and not all strategies are equivalent; those who follow effective strategies are rewarded by the system, those who don't are not. Some people call it a bug, some people call it a feature, but in any case, it's there.

I also want to back everyone else up: making powerful characters is not antithetical to roleplaying, and it is certainly not immoral and reprehensible. "My character is awesome at X" is probably the single most common element in a character concept, though to be interesting, there would be more there too. Perhaps even, "but sucks at Y." This is a game about heroes saving the town/country/world. Or maybe just doing amazing things to get loot/revenge/laid. In any case, chances are most of them are pretty awesome at something, or they wouldn't be the heroes. Using the rules to back up that claim of awesomeness is... kind of the point of having the rules in the first place.

I don't care to debate the distinctions between powergamers, minmaxers, optimizers, munchkins, roleplayers, and "normal" people. They are poorly defined, emotionally loaded terms. The issue should not be how to "Control Powergamers in Pathfinder," as the thread title suggests, because controlling people should probably not be your goal as you sit down to have a fun evening with your gaming buddies. The issue is how to have fun with people who have different skill levels and play styles. I think there has actually been a lot of good advice here regarding that, but baalbamoth doesn't want to listen to it, because he wanted a rules fix, along with validation that his fellow player was wrong, and most of the solutions involve an attitude fix instead.

I also have to say, GMing is hard. I do it, but I don't consider myself very good at it, though I like to think I am getting better. It takes practice, experience, and a lot of work; this applies to rules mastery, encounter planning, presenting the setting and NPCs engagingly, and also managing out-of-character group dynamics. Mistakes happen. It seems like one happened to baalbamoth's group. Hopefully, they can learn from it and move on.

The "you can take my optimized characters when you pry them from my cold, dead fingers" attitude rubs me just as wrong as the "it's not a real character unless it has skill focus: uselessness and a 14 in an off ability score" attitude. They both represent inflexibility and an unwillingness to put the fun of your fellow players above the philosophical chip on your shoulder.

And this?

Your typing style marks you as a teenager.

So either you're too lazy to bother typing properly or you're lying about your age and experience.

I agree with almost everything you are saying about Pathfinder, but the ad-hominem troll-baiting isn't helping anything. Even if he is a teenager, lying about his age, so what? (For the record, I don't think he is.) That's not relevant; teenagers can play Pathfinder too, and they can misrepresent themselves on the internet all they want. If you're not going to take them seriously, it's no wonder they would try.

Wow, a lot happened in this thread between when I started writing and when I just hit preview! I should probably stop reading the forums and get to work... Anyway,

There is some asymmetry between social skills and combat abilities, because, most often, it only takes one person with good social abilities to get through most social encounters, while combat encounters typically assume that everyone is contributing. That can lead to Cha being a dump stat, because, in many games, it's easy for some (not all!) of the characters in the party to get by with low Cha. Most of the other stats are important for everyone, to at least some degree. You need Str to carry your gear, Dex for AC and Ref, Con for hp and Fort, Int for skills, and Wis for Will.

your now trying to convince me that CHA is not the most common dump stat. sorry I'm not buying it.

I see lots of different dump stats in my games. We have characters with 5's and 7's in Str, Int, Wis, Cha, and even Con. I don't think anyone has so far taken Dex below 8. Everyone plays their weaknesses as well as their strengths. Nothing moves an adventure along like a character with 7 Wis, 23 Cha.

Speaking of 23 Cha, Charisma is probably the stat I see being raised into the stratosphere the most often; certainly more than Strength. Maybe it's because my games all include sorcerers, bards, and/or oracles.

I have also noticed that the best optimizers in my group, of which I consider myself to be one, tend to avoid classes and roles that do damage; they tend towards buffing, battlefield control, bypassing encounters in the first place, and shouting orders. (Maybe that's because the best optimizers realize that that's a more optimum way to play...)

In answer to the original question, though I think there's nothing here that hasn't been said:

• Ban nonstandard races. That's not a real barrier to true optimizers, because standard races are frequently the best way to go. However, what seems to be bugging you is the ability to get a huge strength and do massive melee damage, combined with a GM/AP combination which rewards that playstyle, and that's one thing adding to the stack.
• Stick to the Core Rulebook. (This also achieves the first point.)
• In one of my games, I give players bonus feats which they can only spend on non-combat, non-synergistic feats, so that they don't have to choose between Skill Focus: Profession: merchant, which they want for their backstory, and whatever feats they would want in order to make their characters effective in the bulk of gameplay. (I am all for making the occasional profession (merchant) roll, but let's face it, it's not going to come up much.)
• Finally, building all characters with the elite array (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8) can also resolve some of the issues you seem to have.

But the real answer is: talk to your fellow players, talk to the GM. Find out what everyone is hoping to achieve and experience, and try to help each other get there. Asking the "powergamer" to tone down is an option. Having the optimizers help build up the other players' characters is an option. Suggesting that the more system-savvy players play supporting roles rather than front-liners is an option. Using the rules/sources suggestions in the preceding paragraph is an option. Finally, if what one person is looking for turns out to be, "Make everyone else superfluous," then suggest they go play a single-player game.

Tol steps forward into the gap between Iolana and Mugambi, axe and shield ready. "Gatherine, stay back!" he cries in his powerful rolling bass, "The walking dead won't come one step closer if I have anything to say about it! Er..." His pronouncement falters as he leans down to take a slash at one of the maimed zombies on the sandy ground before him, "That goes for the crawling dead too!"

Nice catch on Berzac's name, Gatherine.

As the pounding continues on the walls of the crab, Tol says, "Finding the bones and bringing Mr. Jask are fine and good, but I think something a little more, ah... immediate is in order."

Sense Motive:1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

Tol chuckles as he brushes down Gorra. "Just like your father, you are, Miss Gatherine! Always obsessed with those noisy contraptions! We've got more to worry about than a pretty bit of gunmetal!" The old dwarf favors his charge with a rare paternal smile, evidently in a good mood. " But go ahead and shine up your new toy, it seems we're safe for the night, thanks to Mr. Cuckoo. I tell you, it's good to be indoors, even if it is a hollowed out crab." He looks around curiously. "Er... Speaking of which, did Mr. Cuckoo retire for the night already? That was... abrupt, after all that strange talk about the island." He shrugs. "Ah, well, maybe that's normal for talking birds. It's good to know he feels so safe, but I'd rather set watch, myself. I wonder if he'd mind us using his telescope to keep an eye out for torches."

Tol shakes his head in amazement as he leads Gorra toward the crab shell. "Aye, that's right girl. We've fought two kinds of zombies, cannibals, a flying lizard ate our Mr. Grey, we're following some sort of elf dancer we just met, and now a talking bird invited us inside its giant crab. This is what comes from getting on boats." He makes the sign of Torag's hammer and enters.

It's odd... the tracks seem to lead into this giant pot, but all that's in there is a hearty stew...

Glancing up at the cliff, where the smoke is starting to clear, Tol beats a hasty retreat on Gorra to where the rest of the party is gathered. "Let's get under cover before that smoke clears! They can't climb down any faster than we can climb up, so we should get a head start; they're probably faster than us on the ground. If only we had more horses. Gorra can't carry us all." He peers in both directions along the cliff face. "We might as well keep heading south. There's no safety to run back to the other way, and we still need to catch up to Captain Kovack."

edit: "Also, ahem, we should all be armed for a ranged fight. Gatherine, that pistol of your father's is quite an impressive piece of ironwork, and it's fearsome in close quarters, but a bow shoots much straighter, and I know you were taught to use one. Now might be the time." He points at the fallen savage's bow.

I think running is a good idea. But I also think that we could win the fight if we tried, as long as there aren't even more archers coming. Tol's main goal is to protect Gatherine, so he's all for running. But if Gatherine wants to stay and fight, I am perfectly happy with her telling Tol off and getting ready to shoot as soon as the smoke clears, or coming up with more improvised incendiary devices. Which are awesome, by the way.

Hearing Gatherine's shout, the explosion on the cliff face, and Mugambi's warning, Tol turns around to look. Seeing Gatherine all alone, in relatively close proximity to the explosions and savages, he turns Gorra around. With an apologetic glance to Iolana and Syndlara, he says, "Ahem. I believe you ladies can deal with this lout. I must protect Miss Gatherine," and gallops away.

Tol gets a little misty eyed as he rides along. "Oh, aye, I remember that battle against the worgs. It was a glorious day, the sun glinting off the fallen snow like silver, old Torgill's war-dogs baying like thunder, the worgs put to cowardly rout. It will be many a year before the worgs think to come that way again, I can tell you. Aye, a day to remember..." The old dwarf smiles wistfully, but soon becomes stern once more. "But, let it be said, worgs are mighty beasts. We had them outnumbered, and still, more than one of the war-dogs fell in the battle, and Koril Hammerhame was sorely wounded. At the end of the day, there was no silvery new fallen snow, just muddy pink slush. We're not here to stake out and defend a territory, we're just here until we can find a way to leave, and get back to civilized lands. We shouldn't go looking for trouble, lest we find it."

The ruby tuning fork given to the PCs by the captain of the sunset ship in The Jackal's Price is never explained in The End of Eternity. I understand that's because of a lack of communication between the writers of different adventures, and can accept that. But here's a suggestion for how to use it:

In my campaign, all four elemental seeds still exist in Kakishon, and each is responsible for a persistent magical effect related to its element. The Earth Seed, as in the published adventure, is in the lair of Obherak's shaitan on Khandelwal, and it powers the flow of the sandrivers. The fire seed is in the Fireforege on Salenax, where it powers the perpetual eruption of the volcano. The Water Seed is in the lair of Khartosk the dragon turtle, described in the set piece, where it provides a constant flow of water to replace that which is lost in the cataract over the edges of Kakishon. The Air Seed is at the top of the tallest mountain on Aliskiren, where it causes an eternal blizzard that keeps the ice island cold.

The tuning fork, meanwhile, is a focus component that allows the spell plane shift to operate to and from Kakishon, crafted by Nex himself. This provides a way to escape from Kakishon independently of the proteans or Obherak. Before it can be used, however, it must be attuned to the four elemental seeds. Once attuned, it remains so for decades or even centuries, but it has been long since the Sunset Ship traded on the shores of Kakishon, and the tuning fork is now silent.

The PC who is carrying the tuning fork when the party first comes in close proximity to one of the elemental seeds (most likely at the Fireforge) will notice it begin to ring with a pure tone. When each additional seed is encountered, another note is added, and when all four seeds have been encountered, the fork exhibits a slowly pulsing glow.

To learn about the elemental seeds or the tuning fork as its powers, the PCs can use knowledge (arcana), or talk to several knowledgeable NPCs, including Artel Norrin, Dillix Mahad, Obherak, Venema Shodair, and Nalla. Of these, Venema Shodair and Nalla have the most complete knowledge; Artel knows about the fire seed, and may speculate that the ringing of the tuning fork has something to do with it. Obherak likewise knows about the earth seed. Dillix might know something about the other two seeds, and recognized the tuning fork as an artifact that was created by Nex. Any character capable of casting plane shift, including as a spell-like ability, intuitively knows that it can be used as a focus for that spell if they study it for at least a full round once it is attuned to all four seeds.

The locations of three of the seeds are detailed in the adventure and set piece. Venturing to the Air Seed on Aliskiren involves facing bitter cold, high winds, low visibility, and steep, potentially icy slopes. Use the environmental rules for these. In particular, note that flying is not really an option. The seed floats in the air above the peak of the mountain, which is also the nesting site of a thunderbird (Bestiary 2) which will attack the PCs if they come too close.

All four elemental seeds interfere with spells of the teleportation subschool, as described for the fireforge in the adventure. This preserves the difficulty of the environmental hazards on the way to each, and conveniently prevents the use of scry-and-fry on Obherak while he is in his lair.

If folks are interested, I might give this a more thorough write-up.

Tol snorts a little at Gatherine's diatribe, tugs at his beard a little, then shrugs. "Alright, then. Let's be off. I'm eager to leave this place behind me."

"Aye, aye, I feel no remorse for their deaths. I just meant it might be good to... ah... conceal the evidence? In case the rest of the tribe comes by?"

By a strict reading of the rules, no. But catching mundane items (wagons packed with straw, houses, etc.) is something that is generally left up to the GM, whose real world experience can guide him/her.

In real life, there's very little that can light grease (butter, lard, petroleum jelly, etc.) within 6 seconds, and it doesn't normally burn in bulk, only when furnished with a wick, as in a lamp or torch. (As an aside: This is because only the vapors of oils are really flammable, and grease has to be very hot before it starts to evaporate enough to burn. In more technical terms, it has a very high flash point.) Certainly I don't see flint & steel, a tindertwig, or the spark spell igniting grease.

Based on that, I would allow (as my personal GM interpretation) a coating of grease from the spell to increase the damage of being on fire by 1d6 per round, but it doesn't catch from fire effects with a duration of less than 2 rounds, and doesn't continue to burn without another source of fire or fuel.

I would also allow a creative player to start a fire with wet wood if they cast grease on it first, and similar applications.

Tol rolls his eyes while Iolana isn't looking. "Ahem. I'll stay here on the shore to stand guard and... assist Miss Gatherine with the digging. Now... Does anyone have a shovel?"

Little does Tol know, hisexperience swimming in the Tears of Grog fiasco has improved his abilities significantly, and he's now actually a better swimmer than Iolana...

"Isn't that what I said?"

Tol observes the grief of Gatherine and Mugambi with pity, but maintains his self-control. I fear they'll see more death yet, before we are out of this. Averin, Alton, the rest of the sailors... This island is thirsty for blood. He clears his throat once more. "And that there, in the mask, is Doctor Mugambi. He and Miss Zerengo were members of the crew of our ship, the Jenivere, and I was a passenger, and Miss Gatherine was a sto-- was also a passenger. Of sorts." He looks a little sheepishly at Iolana. "It seems that our getting wrecked was not an accident, but a treachery perpetrated by the captain, as part of a plot to abduct the ships owner and, we suppose, to live out his days with her on this," he gestures at the jungle around him, and continues wryly, "island paradise. We were tracking them, in hopes to save Miss Ieana, that's the owner." He pauses as a look of realization comes over his face before he continues, more slowly, "That is... Mr. Grey was tracking them, and leading us. Now..."

Tol exchanges a look of dismay with the rest of the group, and uneasily returns his lance to its cup with a heavy sigh. "You speak ill tidings, Miss... Sindora, was it?" The dwarf stumbles a little over the unfamiliar sounding name. "I fear that was the end of our shipmate Mr. Grey. As I recall, he set out from Cheliax to find fortune and adventure in the Mwangi Expanse. Such was his fortune, and so ends his adventure." At this last, Tol looks meaningfully at Gatherine.

"But I'm forgetting my manners, Miss... Sandella. I am Tol Cherthand, son of Trannik, son of Dorkath, in the service of Sir Torgill Deepheavy, and this is my... That is to say... " His formal speech falters as he gestures to Gatherine, "This is Miss Gatherine Deepheavy, and I am her..." He clears his throat, then finishes more firmly, "Her sworn protector."

"The ring should go to Miss Gatherine. She is young and inexperienced, and I don't want anything to happen to her."

Obviously, Tol wants Gatherine to have it, but she's got the best saves overall (since the most important Will saves are generally vs. spells or spell-like abilities, where she has a +2 bonus). Who has gotten the least loot so far? Tol is stocked with the best potions and magic stones, Mugambi has the mace... Maybe Iolana?

Edit: Oh, right, she got the pearl of power. Whatever. Tol will give it to Gatherine if it's given to him.

As the flier flaps away overhead, Tol hastily drops his lance and shield and retrieves his sling. He loads one of the magic slingstones, spins the sling, and hurls the heavy, intricately carved ball at the retreating winged creature. The projectile makes an almost musical whooshing sound as it flies through the air, and leaves a faint trail of sparks.

I doubt we're going to be able to bring it down anyway, and even if we did, the fall might kill Averin, but can Gatherine get a shot in too? She's right next to Tol, and 30 ft is only one range increment for her gun.

As the stone arcs through the air, Tol says, "I didn't understand what was said by those savages, Miss, but it seemed to me that it was in league with them. Trained, summoned, or something like. It may be taking him back to their village."

Splitting the party? Check. Running into a potential ambush? Check. Abandoning all magical support? Check. Possibility to run into traps, thorns, quicksand, or just trip on vines? Check. Risking total ruin to save one comrade? Check. It's a good thing we're on a windswept isle. Elsewise, where would we throw our caution?

I'll let Iolana and Mugambi go before Tol does anything rash, but I am actually up for a madcap chase through the jungle on horseback. Gorra's not even that much faster than Iolana. First, however...

@DM: How far away is the flyer? Do we still have line of sight? Unless he's really fast, it's probably not more than one or two range increments with Iolana's bow or Tol's sling, right?

Welcome to Smuggler's Shiv. Try not to get eaten; I hear elves are a delicacy, especially the pretty ones. ;-)

Heedless of anything but the danger to Gatherine, Tol wheels Gorra around and charges fiercely toward the remaining native. "I'm coming, Miss Gatherine!" His lance strikes unerringly, and the cannibal is impaled through the chest.

Behold the fury of Tol when Gatherine is in danger!

Tol looks around in the trees. Poison, no doubt, and from hiding. A coward's weapon! He is anxious; his friends are under attack, and he cannot see the enemy to defend them. Torag, give me a target, and I'll skewer the assassin! Just then, Gatherine's shot rings through the air, and the three men appear in the brush beneath the cliff.

Tol wants to charge, but I'm not sure the setup allows it. Are the men more than 10 ft into difficult terrain (The lance has reach)? Is going down the ramp a straight line? If not, can I leap off the cliff? That is a totally epic image, but 15 ft. is pretty high... A deliberate jump allows me to ignore 10 ft on a successful DC 15 Acrobatics (can I substitute Ride as per the Leap task?) Will the remaining 5 ft cause 1d6 nonlethal damage and cause Gorra to fall prone, thus negating the charge?

Tol looks uneasily at the rough rocky slope around the waterfall, slick with spray. "I don't reckon Gorra could get down that very easy." He hefts his axe. "What say we clear a little bigger way through the brush?"

He turns to Mugambi, "And, begging your pardon, Doctor, but there is one way to find out if a snake ate him..." He glances meaningfully at the keen edge of his axe. "Find the snake and slit it open."

"I'm no hunter myself, but I ain't picky about my food, and I'll eat what you catch. I hope we can get off this island before we run out of rations, but waste not, want not. I am more worried about Gorra," he pats the horse on the neck, "I've got enough grain for three days, maybe. Back in Varisia, I'd say she could get by on grass, but there's not much grass in the jungle, and I don't know what of all the vegetation on this island might be ft for her to eat."

"As for where to go... I'm all for chasing after that traitor of a captain, but we also gotta get off this island. Might it be good for at least one of us to climb up yonder bluff, to try to get a better idea of the lay of the land? We might see smoke from a fire, if they made one, or even a village." Now whether we'd want to seek out the village, or avoid it, is another question. I got no desire to end up in a stew pot.

Tol's heavy brows furrow in an expression of consternation and disbelief as Gatherine rushes past him in an attempt to attack the animated corpses through the bars. "Miss Gatherine, no! Be careful!" he calls out, tensed to pull the impetuous dwarf maid to safety if need be.

Tol un-slings his axe from his back and tests the edge. Apparently satisfied, he addresses the group, completely uninterested in Iolana's modesty. "We best stay together. Hopefully, there's nothing living here, except perhaps some poor survivors like ourselves; but you can never be too careful, you know." The dwarf glances around the islet suspiciously. "Tears of Grog? What kind of ship name is that? Like something a drunk pirate would make up," he mutters.

Tol squints at the stretch of water separating the wrecked ship from the shore. It looks like a long way to swim. His gaze turns to Gatherine, who is absorbed in stripping off her armor, clearly excited about the prospect of investigating the ship. I hate to leave Mugambi here alone, but Torag strike me down if I'm let that girl out of my sight on another boat after what happened last time. Well, nothing for it. The grizzled dwarf swings down from his saddle with practiced ease and begins to unbuckle his heavy armor. "Could you give me a hand with this, Doctor?"

His armor carefully stowed in Gorras saddlebags, and wearing only his breeches, he sheathes his axe and affixes it to his back, where it will interfere the least with swimming. He looks around the beach for a suitable sized piece of driftwood to use as a float for the long swim.

You mean like cleaning it all up to run in chronological order, etc.? Sounds awesome.

In my campaign, people get luck points for doing that kind of thing. Or they would, if they ever did it.

Tol sits on the ground near Gorra, appearing quite absorbed in sharpening his axe. He speaks calmly, and quietly, but deliberately. "Ah... Respectfully speaking, Mr. Gelik, but you commissioned us to keep you alive for one day after we get to Eleder, and I'm a dwarf that keeps to my word. If that means tying you up and throwing you over my saddlebags, so be it. I don't fancy hauling water across the bush to bring it to you, all while wondering if you've been eaten up by cannibals and ghouls. I reckon we best stick together for now." He looks up from his work to raise an eyebrow toward the more wilderness-savvy members of the group for confirmation.

Tol snorts and shakes his head. Aye, that sister of hers would put ideas like that in her head. They're a right pair, they are. I hope the little Miss lives to tell the elder Miss about it...

A fair bit to catch up on here...

Tol takes a swig of brandy as Gatherine reads the captain's log book. He snorts. "All told, if we're to be betrayed and shipwrecked, I'd prefer to be a side-effect in a paranoid jilted lover's kidnapping plot than the ritual sacrifice of some necromancer or demon cultist. It seems Captain Kovack is a dangerous maniac, right enough, but like as not he reckons we're all dead, and he ain't thinking of us one way or the other." He gives a nod to Averin. "That gives us an advantage when it comes to thinking about revenge, and maybe rescuing the captive lass."

As the conversation turns to the identity of their rescuer, he weighs in, "Aye, I reckon it was the first mate that saved us. He might easily have avoided eating until after the rest of us were out. Seems he knew the captain was up to something, too. Pity those sea-bugs got to him, he seemed a decent lad."

Finally, after Jask's story, he glances around at the others to see if they seem to be buying it. "Aye, that's a pretty enough tale... If it's true." Sense motive 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8 "At any rate, it won't do any of us any good to be dragging a manacled man around the island. Might as well set him loose so he can be of use."

With the aid of Iolana and Averin, Tol manages to haul himself up onto the deck of the wrecked ship. He dashes across the sloping, shifting deck, calling out, "Gatherine! Where are you!" He finds her as she and Mugambi are gathering up supplies from the hold. "What's wrong? I heard shouting and wailing. Are you hurt?"

After reassuring himself that neither of his companions are injured, he regains his dour composure, and helps to gather up supplies, hefting the sack of grain over his shoulder as though it were a feather pillow. "Miss Gatherine, this ain't a game we're playing here. (Haha.) We're all in real danger. There's dead folk all about us, and if we don't stick together, we stand a good chance of joining them. Don't go running off by yourself like that!"

He is interrupted by Iolana's warning about the storm.

"Aye, that's just what we needed." He shakes his head forebodingly. He helps Mugambi haul the canvas-wrapped bundle across the deck, the freshening wind whipping his beard. "Let's be off this accursed boat and find some shelter."