Hello, please check-in with your characters so that we can begin the game as soon as possible. A few notes on how I'll run things:
Combat - Group Initiative
When combat is initiated, I'll roll one initiative roll for the players and one for each group of monsters you are facing. When it is the players' turn, then movement and combat will be done in post order.
This means that there will be no requirement for ret-conning actions due to targets who no longer exist or because of actions which have changed the face of the battlefield. This can also mean that the order of acts first can change from round to round, but I see little problem with this.
DMPCing
I will aim to DMPC only after 24 hours have passed. I know better than anyone that life can through curveballs but I will endeavour to let you guys know if there will be a hold-up in the game from my end.
Speech
Bold with "'s for talking, italics for thoughts and internal monologue. I'm going to borrow from one of the games in which I'm a player and permit you guys to have conversations within spoilers if needs be. For example, if you are having a conversation at a campfire but we need to move things on, you can continue the conversation in spoilers while we progress the main game. This means that a two-player conversation can take place whilst not holding up the pace of the game.
My blade is your tool and my shield your bastion. Osmond checking in.
Wandering minstrel reporting to play upon my lute and inspire ye masters to thine true potential!
We're only waiting for Ratimir then, and we can get this adventure started. It is important to stress that you guys won't have the leeway you sometimes do in higher-powered games. This will be one where tactics and strategy both on and off the battlefield will pay dividends.
Rock on, tactics bard with 8 wis and a sling!
I will preface and say that I do not intend for Kari to be an insufferable twit who doesn't contribute to the outdoorsy efforts. She will ask folk if they would like to teach her how to pitch a tent and what not, she just... has no patience or aptitude for such things. Although, if she sank a rank into the skill for three levels, she'd have a modifier there :)
I will have a more accurate list of Kari's equipment up by the end of the day. Is it assumed we've come for dinner with our full kit?
Nostrus: if you want to have the gate locked to him, and his things piled up in the stable, I'm good with that too.
Ok, this is a newbie question, but how do you guys make the rolls?
the formula for rolling dice is
[1"d"## +/- (mod)] without the quotations around the d.
so 1d20+2 would look like (again, do not put the quotations in for it to work)
[1"d"20+2]
and 1d8-1 would look like
[1"d"8-1]
Thanks! So a skill check would look like this:
Is that correct?
yep. absolutely.
Perform (Strings)
What are the lead guard and the lead wagon driver's names please.
Lead guard is called Marcus, lead wagon driver is Obediah. The other guards are Milton, James and Paul.
Thanks
Sirian, don't read too much into Kari's hurt burt. She's not built to be a face. She's built to be a skulky operative. But we gotta have the adjustment period.
No - fair enough. I'm just hoping that I am reading it correctly.
Eh, mostly the "i'm here to bring order" thing sorta irked her at the moment since she is a fairly big agent of chaos. Its more of a visceral reaction to the implication that she'll be forced to act a certain way to belong. Again, because our characters don't really know each other yet. She just has gut reactions to "order" thinking it's all mighty.
Hmm - should be good roleplaying in that for both of us then :)
Just thought I would say, I'm really enjoying this so far. Thanks for running it, Nostrus. Also, everyone's characters are pretty great, even if I can't completely understand Kari all the time! =P
Thanks for the vote of confidence! I just feel that the APs as run on the forum are too often geared so the characters can't die and I feel that detracts from the overall experience.
Yeah, that's just her playing a dumb country hick. The accent tends to disappear when she's actually passionate about something, like when she snarled at Lebeda, but Oleg rubbed her the wrong way.
It'll go away soon. I think. :P
Well, it is my first PbP game, and I'm really enjoying both the game and the group. :)
I'm with Osmond!
And I like Kari's interesting speech patterns and accent :)
Is it possible to deal nonlethal energy damage from a spell?
Is it possible to deal nonlethal energy damage from a spell?
Not without the Merciful Metamagic feat.
I'll just have to help them stabilize after hitting them, then. ;)
okay, here's my thought. A lone, obviously non combatant girl is not going to miff these bandits too much.
Here is what I am thinking for strategy:
Since we know when these guys are due to arrive, we can have Oleg and Svetlana prepare the "tribute" ahead of time, say in a large pile near the little storeroom at A4, leaving that cart as it currently is to sort of funnel the baddies in and give them less of an opportunity to leave.
So they come in, see Kari strumming away in some state of undress, maybe hearing Svetlana squealing about Oleg's wandering eye inside the house, lending to the illusion that there is trouble at home and that our dear Kari Catsheat is the agent of chaos that has inspired it. These thugs are beckoned closer by her song, at which point ya'll, hanging behind the doors, shove them closed, and Ratimir or... whomever is more effective in combat specifically targets the robbed dude.
Right now we can assume that these guys are cowards, so if we cripple their leadership pretty quick and offer them no alternative they might be persuaded to stand down without prolonging hostilities.
Or, you know, Kari could pull the crazy illusion effect and scare the crud out of them.
And don't worry too much about her being in the thick of combat. She has Vanish, so if it appears as though bad things will happen, she'll pull that and quickly duck out of the way.
Sirian would probably plan this for hours (or tens to hundreds of posts), but *I* think that'll get boring :)
If we're talking out of character, here's a boil down of what he'd suggest.
If we have a lookout or two we'd have a few rounds prep. I'm also assuming closing (or opening) a door is a full round action.
I like Kari's plan. Assuming we follow it, then the bad guys'll walk in and be focussed on her and Svetlana. I'd actually be tempted to have Oleg not there (still a cat-fight :p ) and have Oleg close door #2, and Sirian close door #1.
I suggest Osmond be readied to charge behind Sirian's door, and Ratimir be above the gate.
Ratimir can then shoot the bow guy, or anyone locked outside (if they don't all come in).
Osmond can charge the bow guy - hopefully having been the target of Shield of Faith and maybe Magic Weapon a few rounds before. Ideally he'll be mounted.
If Oleg and Sirian have ranged weapons, they (and Ratimir) can then cover the bandits. Sirian has a sling, and Oleg's stores have a longbow.
Perfect situation the bow guy walks in and gets wiped out in the surprise round. The bandits draw (provoking AoO), are helpless against Osmond, realise they are trapped and covered, and surrender.
Happy with other plans too though :)
If anyone gets injured, Sirian can heal them (he can exempt 4 bandits from healing). Alternatively he can buff Osmond each round, cast a spell, or use his sling. He's okay with a sling, but that does not do much damage. He can also buff one person a round.
Sounds good to me. Just a little worried about Osmond drawing too many attacks. I can buff my AC to 19 and stay on the ground and draw some bandits if necessary. Was thinking about sniping from the wagon in front of the main hall.
That is a reasonable worry. I guess it would be up to Osmond.
It will be easier to get down from a wall than to get up on it.
Remember that if they get into AoO range with you, you'll need to cast defensively.
I'd be happy to take a hit or two on Sirian, but am worried that we could be in trouble if the healer goes down.
The dark brown squares next to the palisade (on the inside) are 10 ft. high? We could have a rope going down, that's a DC 5 climb check. Ratimir stands up there shooting and goes down if he needs to draw attention from Osmond. I think he could withstand one blow. To avoid casting defensively, the good old 5-foot step prior to casting might do the trick. Ratimir will need two rounds prior to the battle to cast mage armor and reduce person on himself.
I think Sirian should try to stay away from melee, we'll probably need the healing as we can't afford to have anyone down - specially Osmond. If Oleg can fight melee, too, that would be great. If we make a kill or two in the surprise round, we give them the chance to surrender, right?
Let's hear what Osmond has to say, now. ;)
Mage armor lasts an hour, so it won't be that hard to get off before combat. Not sure about reduce person, is that minutes or rounds?
Being prone in the back of the wagon would give you +4 to AC, but require you move before shooting. If there's any goombas near, yeah, you'd draw AoOs, but that is assuming that they are coming in armed for boar. Do we really know that these guys come in with bow or whatever drawn, ready to fire down, or is the presence of the weapons on their person enough to scare Oleg and Svetlana?
A good question to ask in character...
Quick note: Mage Armor grants an armor bonus to AC. having that cast on me would not up my AC at all. As for fighting, I'm perfectly fine with rushing the bowman head on. I can have Dimitri guard the door and atttack anyone that tries to go past.
Osmond - not thinking about casting it on you, but on myself, since I don't wear any armor ;).
I see. Well, I would gladly take a Shield of Faith casting.
Shield of Faith and bane seem like good choices for the combat. Let's hear what Sirian has to say about it. Osmond, do you agree with the plan so far?
So, Oleg is off the table. This is what we have:
1. Before Oleg opens the doors, we cast our buff spells.
2. Svetlana is inside. Oleg receives the bandits. Kari is nearby, able to get in line of sight of the bandits to use bardic preformance. Osmond and Dimtri are behind right door (looking from top). Sirian is behind left door. Ratimir is in the wall above Sirian.
3. Kari comes out and uses fascinate. Oleg retreats, Sirian and Osmond close the door.
4. Surprise round. Sirian casts bane. Osmond charges, Ratimir shoots. In case we kill any bandits, Kari abandons the fascinate effect and offers to accept their surrender (diplomacy check, maybe?).
5. If the bandits fight back, the battle is on. Ideally, there'll be three or four standing. Sirian and Kari shoot slings? Sirian should be prepared to reach Osmond with a cure spell since he'll be taking about three attacks (theoretically, his AC will be 19 and enemy attacks will have a -1 penalty from bane, which should help his odds of not getting hit). Dimitri charges too? If Osmond is seriously hit, Ratimir shoots and then goes down trying to draw some of the enemies from Osmond.
Well, after battle starts, you never know, but at least the first 4 steps seem ok. How do you like it? If you feel this is ok, let's move on to gameplay. :)
Sirian's inspire command also provides a good buff to Osmond's AC which stacks with shield of faith. Just saying. ;)
Sounds good to me!
Only thing I would add to that is some embellishments with Svetlana. Because fascinate is a will save DC and Kari's built for support. She would try for a mundane distraction first. If these guys haven't seen a girl in a while, see, she could pull her bodice down somewhat and appear kinda slutty.
To me this appears a more organic and viable solution for a distraction. Fascinate is good, but it breaks as soon as someone engages in combat, and then they'll know that the girly tried to 'spell em and be looking at me.
I'd prefer bless to bane, and might be better off issuing inspiring commands or healing than casting. Otherwise sure :)
Um, are we still good?
Yup, had the flu. Had to update a PFS online game this lunch. Will try and update this game after American Pie tonight.
Not a problem :)
Got family in the hospital right now. I might be a bit slow posting.
Is everything ok?
Yup, I had a long weekend but I'm back on it now!
Oleg is selling cure light wounds potion for half the price (25 gp). Can we pool some gold and buy one to have ready in case Sirian falls and we need to get him to his feet? It would be about 7gp each, but I've got 12gp if money is short.
Kari's got a gold.
Yeah. She's not a sorc who can get away with buying nothing. :(
I appreciate the offer, but I think we just don't have that sort of money.
I believe that was intentional... to drive us to become bandits ourselves!!
Or rely on Kari's perform checks to earn silvers per day from... Oleg and his wife. *sigh* Although I think perform checks are based on a metropolitan area, and not on the one place where traders gather...