Alana: I want to poitn out you have some really good spells you could have used in the last fight. Entangle, and Deep Slumber. Both of which would have made the ogre fight a joke since I sincerely doubt even as 6th level fighters they were past the HD limit of 10. In fac tI think I would ahve taken one of those over a lightning bolt any time. Damage is good, don't ge t me wrong, but an ogre that's asleep is an ogre that's beheaded by Harry and can't do anything about it. As for your fourth level spell? That's a fair question. MAss Enlarge PErson would honestly be most helpful to the group at this moment as it will spare you rounds having to cast it on individuals so you can drop it on multiple people at once. But I can see an argument for Shocking Image as well as a good mirror image substitute. Up to you. Solid fog is an idea too.
I had strongly considered Mass Enlarge Person, and since you think it's best for the group I will take that. The question I have, is since she is level 8 now, she has the opportunity to replace one spell she already has for another of the same level. Should I replace the normal Enlarge Person for something else?
As for the last battle, I had cast Entangle initially, if you go back you can read that but it was ignored. I was also trying to follow through with the detailed plan that Harry laid out, which was basically entangle, enlarge, and lightning bolt. Then, everyone moved in right away and got up close and personal with the Ogres. It's my understanding that had I used Entangle at that point, everyone would have been affected and not just the Ogres. Perhaps in the future I should just do what I think is right?
I think the problem with the caves is that they are 99% likely occupied, which creates an issue even getting through them. The main problem with the caves is also that the Rangers were in cahoots with the Ogres, so the Ogres probably already know about them. They likewise may present problems for the clunky cumbersome characters.
I'm just point blank not interested one iota in fighting through a pile more of those Ogres, which is what that fort entails, caves or no caves. I can't see how the module 'never expected' what we did - you mean to say they never expected any melee to break out in the courtyard or anywhere else, and that whole parties could move invisibly in with no scent, no sounds? Erm no.
We might go back to the fort, but clearly we are way under level for that, and way under equipped. Way way under equipped.
Folks:
Harpwizard and myself will be at GENCON baby!! so while it's not impossible we'll be posting up through Sunday, it's going to be a lot less frequent.
Have fun, I'm jealous!
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I'll try to update tomorrow, birthday weekend!
Fröhliche Geburtstag!
Happy B-Day, fella. (That "fella" has a Kiwi accent on it for emphasis.;)
Happy Birthday!
Happy birthday :)
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Thx alot!
Happy birthday indeed !!!
Feral, you didn't discuss a particular campaign with ZZ?
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Heh, not quite. All she said was to visit the campfire thread and introduce myself.
Well, here I am!
I'm a regular poster in several games and I'm running a few. I'm semi-famous for the Skull and Shackles PBP that I co-DMed/played in that finished the whole AP in four months. I generally prefer to play melee/tank characters but I wouldn't mind a chance to try out a caster of some kind.
Wow that sounds awesome, four months! I'm a fan of quick pacing myself - part of the reason I got into the PFS playstyle. AP's via PbP can get really slow though, around 1 book a year seems to be the norm, I wonder how many finish at that rate?
I reckon 1 book/3-4 months would probably be about the speed I'd aim at running them at.
8,900 posts for six AP volumes = about 1,500 per volume.
It's taken us ~1,850 posts in eight months for book one of Skull and Shackles in the game I PbP with Shifty.
1169 posts in my PbP group that kicked off at the end of April, and I reckon tehy are a little on the slower side :P
I guess its not the AP's that slow things down, its the players post speed, and waiting on them to make decisions. Combat likewise is something that needs to be hit with a cattleprod.
There are a few influences from what I've seen:
1) Posting speed - and also location. A geographically diverse group is less likely to have multiple people on and posting at the same time.
2) Rigidity of plot - if you slavishly follow exactly what is in the AP, you'll take far longer than if you distill out an 'essence' and streamline the encounters, etc.
3) Waffle level - if the group waffles on about what to do, rather than stepping to, then it takes a lot longer. Railroadier plots make things easier.
I'm in a PbP that spent 3,300 posts and 18 months in chapter one of Serpent Skull.
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Heh, it definitely helps to have players that on the ball about motivating each other and advancing the plot. I'm having a bit of a problem with that in the Rise game I'm running. I have one or two players that are super motivated and the rest of all very reactive. It's hard to find a balance that works for both groups (the mover/shakers and the wafflers) while still moving the game along at a good pace.
I applied for your Reign of Winter games Voice. I'm glad to see both of them are moving along nicely. I just recently manged to get into one of my own that looks pretty promising.
I tend to be a railroady player, when I get filled to the gills with dithering and watching people take a week to decide whether or not to crack a door open the worst part of my nature comes to the fore :P
As a GM I try be flex, but as my players have found, combat turns are 24 hours max - miss the deadline, and your actions simply get 'resolved' as seen fit.
I don't try balance it Feral - Movers and Shakers > Others imo :)
If you lose the interest of your movers and shakers you lose your campaign, lose the others and they can be replaced. Took my last recruitment post exactly 3 minutes to get spots filled.
I hadn't heard that ZZ was looking to fill a slot in any of his campaigns, so I can't really say which he might have had in mind.
Sometimes it's just nice to have a low Wisdom to help push things on ;)
Feral - I'm happy you've gotten yourself a Reign of Winter going, I'm still lacking for that and a Wrath of the Righteous to play through as a grunt.
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This is why I enjoy Elghunds simple mindedness in RoW Mark :p He just starts walking at things. /ORC SMASH!
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Having an understanding on when people will be NPCed definitely helped my Skull and Shackles move quickly. There were several times where I knew I had 3/4 players for an hour or two. Rather than wait for the 4th to post, I'd just NPC him/her to keep the other three moving.
This allowed us to finish encounters in a day instead of a week.
majority rules etc also works, try get consensus, but some days action has to happen :)
Both Reign of Winter and Wrath of the Righteous sound interesting, but I am having a tough time keeping up with the few campaigns I am already in which is why I have not even applied to either in quite some time.
Welcome to the campfire Feral.
Trying to figure out if I have been in a campaign with you, or applied to one of yours. Your name is familiar, but I do not see any aliases or campaigns which I recognize.
Ah, found it. The Yuan-Ti campaign. Yeh, I joined and then nobody else posted and it died a few days later.
wow. a whole AP that fast must have been many posts/day.
I think one post/day is decent. I'm in a Jade Regent game that is a tad slower than that and we've still finished 4.5 books in 2 yrs.
I'd be happy with finishing a book every 6 months.
I'm in a PbP that spent 3,300 posts and 18 months in chapter one of Serpent Skull.
I ended up on a slow train for S&S and RoW :(
I think both the GMs are doing a decent job, but players tend to maybe post 1-2 times a week. At least the games haven't died yet, but maybe that'd be a kinder fate. The other players seem fine with the pace, but I'm fairly annoyed.
S&S still in book 1- 1415 posts in 16 months.
RoW only two encounters so far- 326 posts in 6 months. >:(
At least Quillin's getting a run though :P
On the other side of the coin I'm in a PbP that's 2,500 posts and 12 months in... and we're just starting day 4 of game time ;)
The thing is that if they take so long they are pretty unlikely to get anywhere near the finish, which is a bit of a waste. Better to play modules or scenarios where you don't end up wasting so much resource.
Rather than spend a year stuck in an AP, one could finish 3 modules.
You'd hate to finish half an AP, have the thing fizz out and then what are the odds you'd want to go back and sit through half an AP just to get back to where you were? Seems a shame.
At least Quillin's getting a run though :P
On the other side of the coin I'm in a PbP that's 2,500 posts and 12 months in... and we're just starting day 4 of game time ;)
yeah, Quillin is fun. a bit better mannered than another wee pirate I could name though Q's familiar makes up for it.
I must admit that the only AP I'm running took 2 yrs and over 4700 posts to finish book 1- though any actual resemblance to Legacy of Fire is merely coincidental... my games tend to be pretty sand-boxy so hopefully they are entertaining without all the pressure to progress. I think that works as long as folks are cool with expectations.
I hear you, Shifty. I'm glad to see PFS scenarios are getting plenty of PbP love. that seems the most satisfying way to go without the huge multi-year commitment.
Feral- ahem, die Zyren hat Geburtstag. Kommt und singen alles mit... sorry, that's all I remember from middle school. I'm sure he'll be back after recovering from a birthday weekend.
btw- Hope you had a good Birthday, ZZ.
Scenarios seem to work well, if a player ditches you get a rep in a couple of weeks and that player doesn't have to 'catch up' as he's up to speed with the plot already. Similarly, you get to sample a lot of flavours.
I kicked off the PFS PbP groups at the end of April and we are in Scenario 4, so they have been bite sized little parcels of nourishment :)
The new module format looks like it could be quite good for PbP as well:
Dragon's Demand runs from Level 1-6
Warden's of the Reborn Forge Level 12-16
Tears at Bitter Manor Level 5-9
Something that's probably about 18 ish months worth of work on the PbP side of things.
Dragons Demand looks highly tempting.
I've skimmed Dragon's Demand, but it is pretty well done. Has kobolds, dungeons, undead and finishes up with a tilt at a Dragon.
Even better is that it's half presented as a sandbox around a town with 24 different mini-quests to carry out.
Plus it finishes up with a CR 11 challenge for a group of level 6 PCs :)
I like Dragon's Demand. It's got lots of Old School Goodness! Wizards, minions, tombs and the eponymous dragon.
There's been some discussion about the arbitrary experience point padding. It might be a good candidate for fast track level progression or even just auto-leveling at the story points. It would likely move at a very nice clip.
Very tempting indeed!
Totters over to stand next to voodoo and help lean on Shifty :P
Sometimes it's just nice to have a low Wisdom to help push things on ;)
Feral - I'm happy you've gotten yourself a Reign of Winter going, I'm still lacking for that and a Wrath of the Righteous to play through as a grunt.
Tell me we wouldn't still be trying to lie to the damn treant if Shendalyn hadn't straight up rolled initiative.
Totters over to stand next to voodoo and help lean on Shifty :P
LOL. Honestly, I really wasn't fishing.
but hey, if Feral ran it we'd be done in a month ; )