Kalimac has no spells to use in aiding the fording of the river.
Rhost is willing to disbelieve the river ... but otherwise has little special to offer.
Rhost is willing to disbelieve the river ...
I think we can undoubtedly attribute the successful crossing to this.
So, once you reach Iqaliat, you will begin Part II of The Hungry Storm. We're at a bit above 3,500 posts right now, and Part II would undoubtedly take us up past 5,000.
I see three options:
1) Start a new board for Part II and/or Part III of The Hungry Storm, but leave the current one open for all Part I flextime.
2) Start a new board for everything, including ongoing flextime.
3) Stick with the current board.
Anyone have preferences?
I like option (1). Or three.
Says the person who has this long list of posts to reply to....
Now that I've adjusted to the fact that we'll lose the post count and get a simple page count when we hit 5 kiloposts, I'm in favor of using one board per module. So I'd say go with option 3.
Maybe we can just ask to see if the post count can extend before 5K... cause then I'd much prefer 3.
Wanders off to Website Feedback...
...I want rhinos.
I am all for you getting your rhino. As long as you feed them... And water them... And make sure they get their exercise. :)
Since I'm not one of the people who can magically offset consumption, I'm going to leave the choice in their hands.
As a reminder:
1) A horse train (well, rhino train) DOES count as another wagon. You are currently at max wagon capacity. To add a rhino train, you will either need to get rid of one of your current wagons or take the Extra Wagons feat again. (By the time the rhinos are trained, you should be 8th level; however, taking the Extra Wagons feat means not taking the Scavengers feat.)
2) If you choose to take the rhino train and get rid of one of your current wagons, bear in mind that a rhino train does, oddly have a traveler capacity of six. (Because they can ride the rhinos! the game designers were clearly thinking. And they will sleep where, exactly? the GM asks ...) In order for this to make vague sense, if the rhino train is taken it should probably be declared to make and ideal rest spot for those who like curling up among the warmth of the, er, sleeping rhinos, making it logical to move Attatoq, Silmemir, and Skygni there, at least, and possibly a couple more NPCs or PCs who happen to like that sort of thing.
3) A rhino train has 10 hit points, and would increase your traveling distance by 4 miles per day. It would increase consumption by 6, possibly offset somewhat by getting rid of one of the other wagons.
So if I'm doing my math correctly, swapping out a covered wagon for a rhino train would increase our consumption by 4 (or 6 if we don't ditch/eat the horses), decrease our effective cargo space by 2 (well, 3 if we were swapping out an unreinforced wagon -- but we're not), decrease our HP by 20 (10 from the wagon swap and 10 for losing the reinforcement HP), increase our traveling speed by up to 28 miles a week, and look really impressive. Did I miss anything?
Well, we're not obliged to pick up all 6 rhinos. We could keep the 2 horses and add 4 rhinos to fill out a train. The "looking impressive" part would suffer, though, and it's pretty much the main reason for doing this. :P
After the avalanche and the barely avoided threat of things attacking us in the river while fording, I'd be loath to sacrifice any amount of HP and space for a benefit of doubtful usefulness.
or we could just get one rhino for Alaric, so he can have a pet rhino (but i'm not feeding it or taking it on walks) and then we can eat the other rhinos. for they are cute and furry and tasty. and what better combination of traits is there? and then we have rhino fur for warmth and we can ask Buttersnips to make them pretty, and the wolves will have really big bones to nom on, and we can make necklaces out of rhino teeth!
if we end up eating the rhinos, i totally want to make a necklace out of their teeth. Oh... on that subject. Lio is so taking the white bear skull back with her. Unless of course Arasinya has already claimed it.
;)
Or maybe two? Then they will be like an extra spare, like the oxen we have trailing the caravan. :)
Or maybe two? Then they will be like an extra spare, like the oxen we have trailing the caravan. :)
hehe. a spare pet Rhino. :) sure!
You cannot make a horse train using fewer than six rhinos. A horse train is a special thing, not just any six draft animals from wherever, and you cannot mix and match with other animals to make one. (Animals from a horse train can explicitly be split up to pull other wagons, but it also explicitly does not work in the other direction.)
You are welcome to capture up to six rhinos and eat some but not all of them. This would result in much less meat than the regular hunting alternative, but would work. Any surviving rhinos could be trained to pull a regular wagon, like the musk oxen, but they could not thereafter be used as a horse train.
Given the trade-offs, I'm more inclined to go for eating the rhinos. Take the 10d6 worth of provisions off them, and maybe trade some rhino-meat at the next town.
And maybe have Buttersnips mount a rhino head on the lead wagon. The one with the most fearsome horn, of course.
Someone will have to distract Alaric while the rhinos are killed.
I was honestly just thinking that my vegetarian paladin would NOT be doing well in this AP.
I considered this when I gave Mel dietary restrictions. It was one of the reasons that I didn't make her completely vegetarian actually.
Someone will have to distract Alaric while the rhinos are killed.
Mel volunteers to distract the uncleric, cause she doesn't really want to watch the rhino's get killed either. (And for the other obvious reason, too.)
Rhinos are adorable. That's just science.
Rhinos are adorable. That's just science.
Also tasty. Science is awesome that way!
...I am in favor of not eating all the rhinos, but I will go along with the spellcasters, since they're the ones standing between us and starvation.
I will preface this by saying I still think it is up to the spellcasters.
But, I'm still for the idea of a pair of rhinos alive. We can trade them out with the horses pulling the royal wagon. Because when the royal couple are barbarians, their home should be pulled by wooly rhinos.
That would only increase consumption by two. Or less if we trade away the horses.
I'm going to call him Rags and we'll be best friends and we'll solve mysteries together.
Rhinos are adorable. That's just science.Also tasty. Science is awesome that way!
...I am in favor of not eating all the rhinos, but I will go along with the spellcasters, since they're the ones standing between us and starvation.
I do like the idea of having a Rhino or two alive. Lio can throw an extra good berry spell in, per day to help offset consumption, with the understanding that if we are doing something, like fording another river, and require other spells, we'll have to dip into to stores once in a while to make up for it so Lio can prep the appropriate spells.
Lio is also willing to cast Grove of Respite Once a week (it's a 4th lvl spell and I only have one) for an additional 8 goodberry equivalents, if that can help offset consumption from the additional beasties. But, that will be one less high power spell in case of emergency or attack, so I'd really prefer if anyone else could step up and offer up a create food and water, or something similar, if anyone else has spell slots available.
So, I vote keep two Rhinos alive and get them all trained and stuff. Nom on the rest, like the cute fuzzy adorable tasty things they are.
I'm ambivalent about posting a rhino head on the lead wagon. but it would be neat to save the horns of the ones that we eat. Maybe we can get something for them if we sell them, or maybe Buttersnips can be commissioned to do something cool with them.
I'll name the other one Colonel Fuzzlestumps.
I'll name the other one Colonel Fuzzlestumps.
I see you've put a lot of thought into this already.
I'll name the other one Colonel Fuzzlestumps.
Are you sure? He looks more like a Daisy to me.
I can get behind keeping Rags and Colonel Fuzzlestumps, and eating their brethren. I imagine Kalimac will get called on to do the training, unless Alaric wants to do it.
I can get behind keeping Rags and Colonel Fuzzlestumps, and eating their brethren. I imagine Kalimac will get called on to do the training, unless Alaric wants to do it.
Alaric will happily assist the master.
2) If you choose to take the rhino train and get rid of one of your current wagons, bear in mind that a rhino train does, oddly have a traveler capacity of six. (Because they can ride the rhinos! the game designers were clearly thinking. And they will sleep where, exactly? the GM asks ...) In order for this to make vague sense, if the rhino train is taken it should probably be declared to make and ideal rest spot for those who like curling up among the warmth of the, er, sleeping rhinos, making it logical to move Attatoq, Silmemir, and Skygni there, at least, and possibly a couple more NPCs or PCs who happen to like that sort of thing.
Given this "they can ride the rhinos" thing, this just makes me question if the rhinos count as mount-like animals. You know, since cavaliers trains mounts so well. Probably not, but it doesn't hurt to ask.
Sounds like you are going for catching the six, slaughtering four while Alaric isn't looking, and keeping two. I believe just one additional casting of Goodberry will keep Consumption at 0, which would mean Lio's higher-level spell need not be used. And, of course, if you use the rhinos to replace the horses on the Royal Wagon once they are trained, Consumption will drop back down again.
Kalimac, rhinos will not count as mounts initially, but since they are quadrupeds of the appropriate size, if you train them with the general purpose "Riding" package using Handle Animal, they will count as mounts for training purposes thereafter. Training an animal for Riding normally takes three weeks, assuming a successful check. It cannot be done simultaneously with or before the two weeks of training required to domesticate them to the point that they can pull the wagons.
I will be moving on to Part II of this module shortly.
Flex time will NOT reset, and new flextime scenes may still be started. (There's still a lot going on, and I know there were a few things people wanted to do that they had yet to get to.)
Based on what people have said, for now, we will continue using the same board. I will reassess at a later point. This being a "long journey" module, it is likely to be a high post-count one as well, as interactivity-with-NPCs tends to be high on the trip portions of the AP.
Quick note - thanks to the rhinos and various other factors, your net food balance is actually positive by the time you arrive at Iqaliat. Please add one unit of stores to the Caravan.
Fungdark and Fuzzlestumps — yep, I can feel the magic.
I could be convinced to put out a third Create Food and Water, especially if I should turn 8th level soon, but it looks like we might get by without. I'd definitely prefer doing that over Lio having to sacrifice a 4th-level Druid spell.
Sounds like you are going for catching the six, slaughtering four while Alaric isn't looking, and keeping two. I believe just one additional casting of Goodberry will keep Consumption at 0, which would mean Lio's higher-level spell need not be used. And, of course, if you use the rhinos to replace the horses on the Royal Wagon once they are trained, Consumption will drop back down again.
Sounds good :) I will make the changes on my spell list.
I am now convinced that Alaric needs to take some ranks in Ride, and Kalimac will train the rhinos up to combat mounts status. Then Fundark the Magnificent can ride in full armor upon a wooly rhinoceros, looking magnificent indeed.
I am now convinced that Alaric needs to take some ranks in Ride, and Kalimac will train the rhinos up to combat mounts status. Then Fundark the Magnificent can ride in full armor upon a wooly rhinoceros, looking magnificent indeed.
I love this plan. I'm happy to be a part of it.
So, I am expecting a bit of a slowdown starting soon, as people start becoming enmeshed in various holiday trips and activities. This is a reasonably good time for it, as the start of Part II requires some visits by the Exposition Fairy before things really start to get moving. So I figure that'll get doled out for a while, and hopefully by the time people are all back and ready to go again, there will be Stuff Happening and stuff.
Happy Solstice, everyone.
Please subtract money from the Caravan fund to pay those who were not paid in advance for month three of your trip. I believe that comes to 60 gp.
(In fact, given you're starting week 12, might as well go ahead and pay them for month four as well, and make that 120 gp, since Month 4 is going to start during week 13).
I am now convinced that Alaric needs to take some ranks in Ride, and Kalimac will train the rhinos up to combat mounts status. Then Fundark the Magnificent can ride in full armor upon a wooly rhinoceros, looking magnificent indeed.
I love this plan. I'm happy to be a part of it.
Kalimac will have to look for a leather worker who can make the required tack for the rhinos. Cause while Kalimac can soak up the -5 penalty for riding bareback, I'm not sure Alaric wants to try that at first. I wonder if there is someone in Iqaliat who can do that....
The main piece of equipment you are looking for is either saddle, exotic, riding (30 gp each) or saddle, exotic, military (60 gp each). For a rhino, rather than bit and bridle you'd probably want a harness (2 gp each). A village the size of Iqaliat would normally be capable of providing such things, but certain kinds of difficulties (such as Imminent Danger of Dragon Attack) might or might not make commissions and purchases in town more difficult until they are resolved.
I also remember it took a while for people to realize Hrunndalf was a full caster and had a high Diplomacy skill (though not the Sense Motive skill to go with it) after they had filed him in the "Barbarian" drawer. ;)
Thanks for checking in though! :) Don't worry about coming across "snippy". I don't want you guys to think you need to walk on eggshells around me.
The main piece of equipment you are looking for is either saddle, exotic, riding (30 gp each) or saddle, exotic, military (60 gp each). For a rhino, rather than bit and bridle you'd probably want a harness (2 gp each). A village the size of Iqaliat would normally be capable of providing such things, but certain kinds of difficulties (such as Imminent Danger of Dragon Attack) might or might not make commissions and purchases in town more difficult until they are resolved.
Well, once we take care of the immediate difficulties, Kalimac will take Alaric on a shopping trip for wooly rhino riding gear.
Well, once we take care of the immediate difficulties, Kalimac will take Alaric on a shopping trip for wooly rhino riding gear.
And chew toys!
What IS the stinking goosefoot equivalent for rhinos?
Things domesticated rhinos apparently get a kick out of:
- Rhino treats can be hidden in root balls, logs, or frozen inside of a bucket to make a popsicle of sorts. Or treats can be hidden inside of a snowman.
- Browse hangers on trees
- Rootballs from large dead trees planted upside down exposing rootball. Good for sticking browse and hiding other goodies.
- Logs, hung up or loose (for scratching and pushing around).
- Semi-tactile contact with other rhinos on a variable schedule.
- Fruit ice blocks.
- Boomer ball with circular openings to put food inside.
- Bowling ball.
- Hanging tire on a chain.
- Scents (for some reason they prefer peppermint).