I am so sorry to hear what you are going though. You certainly do not need to apologize when something like that is going on in your real life.
All I can say is I hope you wife recovers well despite the insurance companies presenting the usual hoops and hardships. I think everyone can understand this sort of thing happens in these games and all I can offer is to keep you and your wife in my thoughts as you work though this stuff.
One bit of advice when I started GMing PbP just over a year ago was that the GM in PbP needs to drive the pace. Generally, and this was from a seasoned GM, the players would respond to the pace set by the GM.
Personally I am a fan of four if the group is balanced for an IRL game. For online, as long as everyone is committed, its great though I seem to end up with five just to make sure things keep moving.
For pacing, I think it is important that everyone really try to post once a day. The only exception being if we are waiting for initiative order in combat. To help with this I will tweak Rast's personality a bit to be more assertive.
"Met? We have not." he smiles what he hopes is warmly but probably is not "Rastillian, Rast really, I have been helping Fahter Zantus and.... well we killed some goblins."
Seeing that tattoo Rast really has no thought on it.
As they get closer to the tannery Rast scrunches his noes a little at the chemical smell and gives a small wave to Larz as he comes back with the water.
Rast considers speaking up when the decision to bring the bear back is made but doesn't find his voice. He looks off into the woods, assuming they could have tracked further goblins but with the others having decided he simply helps drag the bear back. Enjoying the physical effort.
"I... I guess we will continue the search tomorrow then?"
As of 4:30am tomorrow I will not have an actual computer with me. Phone and iPad only so please bot me as needed. I will return to normal activity on the 4th or 5th.
Moved Rast up a little. If it seems it would require Stealth he would wait where he was. Either is good as it will be more then a move to get into things.
Oh I had not planned to move until there was plenty of other noise. If I needed to sneak to get to Kesni I would not have moved at all. (-5 Stealth and all)
A dozen out and eight back. How many did we kill? Kesni says there more dangerous then I think, hrumph.
Lost in thought Rast hangs way back when Kensi moves forward knowing full well he cannot match her skill. It is a conscious choice not to ask any of the questions on his mind.
Best to watch and learn how to work in the woods better.
Rast walks along humming very quietly to himself but stops when they get to the forest. Instead he keeps his eyes peeled and tries to learn from those who are at home in the forest.
"Kesni, I... well... I will admit I would rather have run away from the skeletons as well but I had faith. Father Gil had told me what to do so really, um, well I guess I had training."
He sighs.
"If the goblins somehow made this happen someone needs to deal with them. I... We... It shouldn't be that bad right?"
Rast falls to one knee beside the corpse and offers a short thank you before examining the creatures more closely hoping to find a cause for their sudden activity.
"Desna, thank you for lending your strength in our time of need."
"Hmm, your god did a good job on that. Let the others move forward and I will see if I am so blessed."
Ready action for when they are mostly within 30ft. Even if I get attacked I will wait for as many as possible.
Readied Action:
"Lady Desna, all of us here are travelers," [b] he shrugs and smiles [b] "Even Wyndel who is making us look bad. Grant me the ability to put these abominations to rest." Channel Positive:1d6 ⇒ 5 Not going to lie I expected a 1
Feeling uncomfortable since they stepped in Rast nods when Wyndel puts his fears to words. He simply nods and raises his shield.
"Ok, north first then." (up on the map)
Full Name
Valder Smiggins
Race
Halfling
Classes/Levels
Thief/1
Gender
Male
Size
Small
Age
40
Special Abilities
HP:6/[6], AC 5 | PPD:13 RSW:14 PP:12 BW:16 S:15
Alignment
Neutral
Deity
Brandobaris
Languages
Common, Halfling
Occupation
"Nunya" or if pressed? "Adventurer"
Strength
11
Dexterity
17
Constitution
13
Intelligence
9
Wisdom
10
Charisma
8
About Valder Smiggins
-Background-
Spoiler:
Aaa
Halfling
Spoiler:
+3 Save vs Wands, Staves, Rods, Spells, and Poison
+1 attack bonus when using a sling or thrown weapon.
Opponents suffer -4 to surprise roll when Halfling is not in metal armor and at least 90 feet from any party member that is not an Elf also not wearing metal armor (-2 if a door must be moved).
Infravision up to 60 feet.
Nature Cunning: Halflings can assess information about their natural surroundings. The halfling must concentrate for at least one round before making a check.
• Detect up or down slope: 1–3 on 1d4
• Discern direction: 1–3 on 1d6
Movement Value: 6
Thief
Spoiler:
A thief with a Dexterity score of 16 or more gains a 10% bonus to the experience points he earns.
The allowed weapons are club, dagger, dart, hand crossbow, knife, lasso, short bow, sling, broad sword, long sword, short sword, and staff. A thief can wear leather, studded leather, padded leather, or elven chain armor. When wearing any allowed armor other than leather, the thief's abilities are penalized.
. When attacking someone by surprise and from behind, a thief can improve his chance to successfully hit (+4 modifier for rear attack and negate the target's shield and Dexterity bonuses) and greatly increase the amount of damage his blow causes.
To use this ability, the thief must be behind his victim and the victim must be unaware that the thief intends to attack him. If an enemy sees the thief, hears him approach from a blind side, or is warned by another, he is not caught unaware, and the backstab is handled like a normal attack (although bonuses for a rear attack still apply). Opponents in battle will often notice a thief trying to maneuver behind them—the first rule of fighting is to never turn your back on an enemy! However, someone who isn't expecting to be attacked (a friend or ally, perhaps) can be caught unaware even if he knows the thief is behind him.
The multiplier given in Table 30 applies to the amount of damage before modifiers for Strength or weapon bonuses are added. The weapon's standard damage is multiplied by the value given in Table 30. Then Strength and magical weapon bonuses are added.
Backstabbing does have limitations. First, the damage multiplier applies only to the first attack made by the thief, even if multiple attacks are possible. Once a blow is struck, the initial surprise effect is lost. Second, the thief cannot use it on every creature. The victim must be generally humanoid. Part of the skill comes from knowing just where to strike. A thief could backstab an ogre, but he wouldn't be able to do the same to a beholder. The victim must also have a definable back (which leaves out most slimes, jellies, oozes, and the like). Finally, the thief has to be able to reach a significant target area. To backstab a giant, the thief would have to be standing on a ledge or window balcony. Backstabbing him in the ankle just isn't going to be as effective.
Thieves’ Cant: Thieves have a special language used to communicate with each other. Thieves’ cant isn’t an actual language but disguised words, body language, and misleading statements that can be worked into any language. Thieves’ cant is limited to subjects pertaining to thieves; hideouts, stolen goods, contacts, black marketers, etc. Only thieves speaking the same language can use thieves’ cant to communicate.
