My group (3 players, each playing 2 characters- marksman & vitalist (from the psionics rules), barbarian, witch, oracle and a rafter- from the Oathbound rules) are still in the Mouth of Doom. We’re doing everything online with d20Pro. The group started off at 1st level in Zelkor’s Ferry and started off in 1C. I’ve changed out 1B with a Thassilionian laboratory from the Shattered Stars: Shards of Sin adventure path, to establish that portions of Rappan Athuk were constructed by the Runelords.
Currently, 5 sessions in, everyone is 3rd level and we’re about halfway through the lab, I expect them to be 5-6th by the time we finish with 3C. Nobody has died yet, but I'm a notoriously kind storyteller…
Having a blast with it and thanks to the Frog Gods for building out everything with HeroLabs and d20Pro maps, makes online gaming a lot easier!
The group started off at 1st level in Zelkor’s Ferry and started off in 1C. I’ve changed out 1B with a Thassilionian laboratory from the Shattered Stars: Shards of Sin adventure path, to establish that portions of Rappan Athuk were constructed by the Runelords.
Where in golarion did you place it?
I set it 60 miles north of Riddleport with Zelkor's Ferry sitting at split of the Velashu River. Riddleport will serve as a main base of operations (outside of Zelkor's Ferry)- like Bard's Gate did in Rappan Athuk/Slumbering Tsar. My plan is that Rappan Athuk is closer to the Stoval Plateau, while Tsar is actually on the plateau.
I'm a big fan of Riddleport and its flavor. It’s a great place to have your guys take side-trips to break up the dungeon delving- I'm actually planning on running the “Cypermage Dilemma” as a side quest on the next return trip to Riddleport. My guys's expedition to the Mouth of Doom was financed by the Cypermages of Riddleport who are interested in the rumors of the healing fountain on 3C.
4 deaths in 11 session sounds about right. We are at 12 in 8 months with about 24 sessions which is a little high. The Cloister looks challenging enough for a 6th level party, but will have to take a closer look. It might be a good suggestion to send them after the Abandoned Bastion.
There might, just MIGHT, be some more low-level support coming for the dreaded Rappan Athuk soon....and I mean low-level (1st-2nd)
SG
If my group follows the trail of quests I laid out for them they should be level 5 or 6 by the time they hit the Cloister. Looking at the encounters it should remain challenging for them at that level. Of course, delving too deep might get them in over their heads.
As far as the lab, they didn't even know what was down there. They just got spooked when they realized that there might be something down there.
My group is only three sessions in and they haven't even scratched the surface of the dungeon. They have spent all of their time exploring the wilderness so far and since I can't seem to roll a random encounter to save my life, or more accurately end theirs, I haven't been able to make use of the nifty obituaries sheets I made.
From the numbers you've said it seems like RA offers up a 30-40% attrition rate. Which means I should be coming up on a death here soon. Provided my dice cooperate and they don't remain so damn skittish.
The death rate should not be quite that high as long as they have a balanced party and play smart. The first player death was the result of the party being split up and the rogue was killed off by himself. The next two were caused by not being smart enough to realize they bit off more than they could chew with the Iron Cobra until half the party was dead. The party has suffered from having too many light hitters and everyone wanting to play spell casters. They are nice but you need some heavy hitters that can do some real damage.
Don't worry about the dice rolls. Sometimes I can't roll higher than a 5 other times mine get hot like I did with the gugs. You will get your share of 15+ die rolls and low rolls on encounter checks. Sometimes you just have to decide what the randoms are going to be and say the heck with the rolls.
Questions for the guys out there running RA or Slumbering Tsar. When they say, "Roll for a random encounter every 30 minutes" how do you work that out that in game? Roll every 30 estimated minutes of game time, every 30 minutes of real time, roll when ever you think about it? Do you roll more than once a day or limit it to one encounter a day? Just curious.
It is supposed to be every 30 minutes of game time, but it tends to lean more to whenever I think about it. Sometimes you can get too many random encounters and it bogs the game down too much. Often I will roll for one when the party is diddling and not paying much attention to what is going on. You can have more than one a day, it just depends on what other enounters they are having.
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Where in golarion did you place it?
I placed Rappan Athuk in the Mushfens between Sandpoint and Magnimar, giving the party not only Zelikor's Ferry but also Sandpoint and Magnimar as resources. I also used the explanation that the dungeon was created by the Runelords for some unknown purpose before the cult of Orcus moved in in the dark ages that followed the fall of Thassilon.
...stuff about random encounters...
I pretty much just roll when it seems appropriate. It's a total rough guess of the passage of game time but I go for about the time the text recommends.
You will get your share of 15+ die rolls and low rolls on encounter checks.
Of this I have no doubt. It's just frustrating when I talk up the lethality of the adventure and then can't roll a single random encounter. Seriously, the only random encounter they have had was one that I chose to throw at them because I didn't want their slog through the swamp to be uneventful.
Of course, with the exception of a ninja disembowling in a PFS game I was running last weekend my dice have been pretty uncooperative lately.
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It is supposed to be every 30 minutes of game time, but it tends to lean more to whenever I think about it. Sometimes you can get too many random encounters and it bogs the game down too much. Often I will roll for one when the party is diddling and not paying much attention to what is going on. You can have more than one a day, it just depends on what other enounters they are having.
30 minutes really seems more designed for S&W than Pathfinder, since Pathfinder combat tends to get bogged down and generally takes way more than 30 minutes per encounter.
My PC's were starting to get bored with the dungeon crawl (and frankly so was I) so I've stuck in a custom level area where level 5 should be, moved level 5 to level 6. I need to stick 6-6, 6-7, and 6-8 into the old level 5 because that encounter is awesome and I don't want those rooms to go to waste (also it's my only chance at killing a party member right now)
As for deaths, I have only two so far in 5 months of play (1-2 times a week). After one of the PC's blurted out Azirax, The demon summoned and was about to strike someone dead when the Oracle rolled a 36 on diplomacy to make it pause. Discussion ensued and it ended up granting one of the party Summoner a wish. The PC wished for the death of his grandfather (another PC in the party). This was done through telepathic communication, so the party was non the wiser. Once they discovered his dead body though, they turned on the Summoner and Coup de graced him. Other than that incident, there have been a few close calls but that's it.
The biggest issue I have found is the amount of loot they pile on to the party. My party sits between 8-10 and there's about 65k of gold and items on each person. Not bad for the level 10s, but it feels ridiculous as they crush almost any encounter they come across. The fought the purple worm on level 3 and they dex damaged it into the ground. It only got 1 attack off on the Shadow Dancer. An absolute pitiful end to what should have been an epic encounter.
Well, I guess it all balances out as my players are stretched to have 10,000 total at level 6. I had to give half the players extra treasure to get them to that! I guess it depends on what they are able to defeat. The treasure tends to all be in one place on the levels and if they don't find it, they are money poor.
At levels 8-10 they should be able to handle about anything through level 5 except some of the side levels. Zelkor would still be a tough encounter I am sure.
If they are bored with dungeon crawling have them explore the wilderness areas. They are up to CR 11 in some areas. That should be a change of pace. They could even go take on the red dragon on the island if they are up to a challenge. Even the pirate ship might be interesting with them not having sea legs. Might have to bump it up a little. I had fun with the dirty tricks on the party and they ended up having to randsom all of their female members back. Another reason they are somewhat broke.
Er, PCs are expected to have about 62,000 gp worth of items each at 10th level. 65,000 is almost exactly right. xD
If you feel you've been too generous you can always have them run into the red dragon. I'm sure he'll be more then happy to 'convince' a tired party to part with the loot.
Or one of the other bandit gangs could be spiced up a bit.
Also now that I think of it aren't there pirates wandering around the coast...
I just pictured Aragnak stopping adventurers on the road and hustling them out of coin.
As long as he has Sean Connery's voice, that would be awesome
"Shay, there! Give ush yer coinsh..."
I just pictured Aragnak stopping adventurers on the road and hustling them out of coin.As long as he has Sean Connery's voice, that would be awesome
"Shay, there! Give ush yer coinsh..."
Lol, Skeeter! Although Aragnak seems to have been heavily nerfed in the Pathfinder edition losing 5 HD, 80 HP and the very nice feats like snatch, hover, wingover and flyby attack. He went from 275 HP in 3.0 to 292 in 3.5 all the way down to 212 in Pathfinder. It is almost like they stepped dragons down a half a step. They almost look puny.
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Lol, Skeeter! Although Aragnak seems to have been heavily nerfed in the Pathfinder edition losing 5 HD, 80 HP and the very nice feats like snatch, hover, wingover and flyby attack. He went from 275 HP in 3.0 to 292 in 3.5 all the way down to 212 in Pathfinder. It is almost like they stepped dragons down a half a step. They almost look puny.I just pictured Aragnak stopping adventurers on the road and hustling them out of coin.As long as he has Sean Connery's voice, that would be awesome
"Shay, there! Give ush yer coinsh..."
Well, we didnt give him all the add-on templates (advanced, angry, super-dragon, half-fiend, spell-stitched, armor-warping, etc. etc.) that PF monsters need to be equivalent to what they used to be...and dont forget the 12 class levels of oracle-gestalt-gunslinger-summoner!
lol
Well, we didnt give him all the add-on templates (advanced, angry, super-dragon, half-fiend, spell-stitched, armor-warping, etc. etc.) that PF monsters need to be equivalent to what they used to be...and dont forget the 12 class levels of oracle-gestalt-gunslinger-summoner!
lol
Don't get me started on Pathfinder. I mean, I appreciate Paizo supporting the system a step above anything that WOTC has been doing for the last 6 years but the game I have been playing for 33 years has been about going down in a dungeon and fighting dragons. I would prefer if they left my dragons alone! I think I will run the 3.5 version of Aragnak as I don't see a means of editing it in Hero Lab. The rest of it doesn't bother me as much as the feats. Heck, I put Malx at the gate at level 7 the second time I ran RA reloaded! They got around him by teleporting but then didn't map so when they opened the doors from the side and he discovered that they had deceived him, he breathed. All but 2 died out of a party of 8 or 9! I even gave them the maps that the previous party had made so it is not like they shouldn't have known where they were at.
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A quick question about the map book still available from the Frog Gods: I’ve read about a ‘Battlemap Book’ that contains 1” square maps for miniatures of 16 of the locations. However on the Frog God site for sale is something called the ‘Map Book’ – and I don’t need just the maps from the product gathered together. Is the Map Book the Battlemap Book or are these different items? Thanks.
The only map book I am aware of is the Battlemap book. I have not had a chance to actually use it yet as my players have yet to get to any of the areas covered in it. It is a grayscale set of battlemaps to areas in the dungeon. It's only limitation is the format of the book being 8x11 so you need to print it out and cut and paste most of them together. In that it is somewhat old school in this age of full color hard stock battle mat sets of hard stock card laminated card board, but then that would be a lot more expensive.
A note on Aragnak. I was able to add 5 hit die to him in Hero Lab which allowed for 2 of the feats, wingover and hover. The program lists him now at a CR 19, but as it was only hit die, 2 feats and skill points I am going to call it the old CR 15 and call it a day.
A quick question about the map book still available from the Frog Gods: I’ve read about a ‘Battlemap Book’ that contains 1” square maps for miniatures of 16 of the locations. However on the Frog God site for sale is something called the ‘Map Book’ – and I don’t need just the maps from the product gathered together. Is the Map Book the Battlemap Book or are these different items? Thanks.
I believe yes, but want to get an authoritative answer soon.
SG
brvheart, take notice that adding 5HD to a dragon gives him a +5 to BAB and +2 or 3 to all saves. So that might bump the CR a bit.
I took another look at it and you are correct. So much for the simple solutions. Will have to work on it some more. Thanks for the heads uo!
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brvheart, take notice that adding 5HD to a dragon gives him a +5 to BAB and +2 or 3 to all saves. So that might bump the CR a bit.
I agree with TOZ on this one - You can get him alot closer to his 3.5 stats by just adding the Advanced Creature Template (+4 on all stats, +2 on Nat AC). Let me know what you think -
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XP 51,200
CE Huge dragon (fire)
Init +6; Senses dragon senses, smoke vision; Perception +25
Aura fire (5 ft., 1d6 fire), frightful presence (180 ft., DC 23)
DEFENSE
AC 33, touch 10, flat-footed 31 (+23 natural, –2 size, +2 dex)
hp 246 (17d12+136)
Fort +18, Ref +12, Will +17
DR 5/magic; Immune fire, paralysis, sleep; SR 25
Weaknesses vulnerability to cold
OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft., fly 200 ft. (poor)
Melee bite +27 (2d8+18), 2 claws +27 (2d6+12), 2 wings +25
(1d8+6), tail slap +25 (2d6+18)
Space 15 ft.; Reach 10 ft. (15 ft. with bite)
Special Attacks breath weapon (50-ft. cone, DC 26, 12d10 fire), crush
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 17th)
At will—detect magic, pyrotechnics (DC 17), suggestion (DC 18)
Spells Known (CL 7th)
3rd (5/day)—dispel magic, haste
2nd (7/day)—invisibility, resist energy, see invisibility
1st (7/day)—alarm, grease (DC 16), magic missile, shield, true strike
0 (at will)—arcane mark, light, mage hand, mending, message, prestidigitation, read magic
STATISTICS
Str 35, Dex 14, Con 27, Int 20, Wis 21, Cha 20
Base Atk +17; CMB +31; CMD 43 (47 vs. trip)
Feats Cleave, Fly-By Attack, Hover, Improved Initiative, Improved Iron Will, Iron Will, Multi-attack, Power Attack, Wingover
Skills (+34 extra Skill Points): Appraise +25, Bluff +25, Fly +14, Intimidate +25, Knowl. (arcana) +25, Perception +25, Sense Motive +25, Spellcraft +25, Stealth +14
Languages Common, Draconic, Dwarven, Orc
Granted his hit points are a little shy of his 3.5 stats (46 hp), his AC gets a bump by 4, his saves are almost the same (12 on Ref vs. 13). His to-hits for his bite still isn't as good as the RAR version, but full attack to-hits and damage are a bit better on overall to-hit and damage values than the RA reloaded version.
This version also gets an extra 34 skill points - which I didn't allocate since skill point allocation tends to put me to sleep Zzzzzzzz.
I did adjust existing Skills to reflect stat changes, would max out - Perception, Intimidate, Know Arcana, Fly, Spellcraft and Stealth (I think a few are maxed already). If you want to spike the Hp by another 17 points you can sub out the least liked feat on his list with Toughness. Also I changed from the default PF Bestiary to reflect the changes you wanted - dropped the Vital Strike series of feats in favor of greater fly related feats (wingover, fly-by attack and hover) so it would work better with what you wanted (and makes him a terror in the sky).
You can always add enough HD to make it to CR 16 on top of this, of course that would only be 1 or 2 HD (I think) but would spike up all the secondary values (as TOZ mentioned) considerably.
Hope this helps a little.
Dragons can earn class levels, I would suggest throwing a couple of those on. Do it right and you wont even mess with the CR much.
- Gauss
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The main difference between PF and 3.5e regarding dragons is that 3.5e silently inflated the CR of dragons to make them seem like more of a challenge for their CR (when in reality it was just skewing the entire system). Aragnak in 3.5e is thus most likely a higher power monster entirely, regardless of what the book says about his numerical CR.
Try looking at the Monster Creation rules for a guideline at what is to be expected at each CR... both for balancing a slightly more powerful Aragnak but ALSO for looking at what his 3.5e self might be more appropriately rated at!
The main difference between PF and 3.5e regarding dragons is that 3.5e silently inflated the CR of dragons to make them seem like more of a challenge for their CR (when in reality it was just skewing the entire system). Aragnak in 3.5e is thus most likely a higher power monster entirely, regardless of what the book says about his numerical CR.
Hmmm... I thought that was in 3.0, and that was something they fixed as part of 3.5...
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Just look at the d20srd entry for Red Dragons.
A 3.5e Adult Red dragon has a BAB of +22 and Str of 33 (+11), resulting in a to-hit of +31 on his bite and +29 on the others (assuming Multiattack). That's more in the territory of CR 19! 253 hp is CR 16 territory (not too far of a stretch for CR 15 though) but his primary DCs are in the range of CR 19 (breath weapon) and CR 17 (frightful presence). Higher ability DCs then average generally imply a lower than average physical attack... and this dragon definitely ain't lacking there.
Comparing the stats to the Pathfinderised Adult Red clearly shows the CR discrepancy in 3.5e too.
So... personally, if you want Aragnak to be scarier/more like his 3.5e self, I'd just advance him a little to whatever CR you think is appropriate. CR 18 maybe? >:)
These are dragons and red dragons to boot. Not everything is supposed to fall into neat little packages and tables. Dragons have certain drawbacks also that make up for some of that lower CR like being vulernable to cold, their poor flying ability and rather poor saves. Let's not even talk about that miserable touch AC. IMHO, 3.5 put the dragon back in dragon. As for CR what balanced party of 4 14th level characters could not easily take down an adult red in a dungeon setting, its usual lair? The challenge level was supposed to be the judge of the CR not just some tables. with these pathfinderized dragons about all you would need is a 10-12th level party. Hardly a CR 14 IMHO.
I like the advanced template idea. That seems to hold promise.
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Whaaat? O_o I don't understand your problem, brvheart.
I'm just trying to explain why the Pathfinder red dragon is now so much weaker. In reality, it's just 'normalised' with other CR 15 threats rather than being significantly stronger than them (and thus being more close to a CR 17? or so threat) as it was in 3E. Compare it to other CR 15 critters and you'll find it's on par with them.
Giving it the Advanced template (+1 CR), giving him a lot of advantages in his lair with lava etc (+1 CR) and maybe even giving him some extra loot, stats, or unique abilities (+1 CR) would definitely serve to increase his power.
I don't have a problem. Lava? Aragnak doesn't have lava in his lair. Perhaps pathfinder red dragons do? Just the fact of how often a dragon sleeps affects the CR. How many other CR 15 creatures can be caught asleep 70% of the time? I am sorry, but I have to respectfully disagree with your and pathfinders assumptions on the CR. Besides, why do they need to be "normalized" in the first place? It is the same falacy that presumes all classes need to be balanced. In his blog the other day Rob Conley wrote on this at length that unless you are doing competitive play or tournaments this is entirely unnecessary.
Bat in the Attic.
As for CR what balanced party of 4 14th level characters could not easily take down an adult red in a dungeon setting, its usual lair? The challenge level was supposed to be the judge of the CR not just some tables. with these pathfinderized dragons about all you would need is a 10-12th level party. Hardly a CR 14 IMHO.
Brv-agreed.Unless you have a truly VAST underground cavern for the dragon to be in, fighting it in it's lair is the best option, counter-intuitive as that seems.
A dragon, able to fly freely, and use its breath weapon and spells intelligently, should DECIMATE any parties unless they far out-level it. Problem a lot of DMs have is making them just "any other old monster".
They're DRAGONS! Its in the title of the game for goodness sake! Respect the Lizard! My group runs from the thought of dragons, and they have only fought a little one, once. They even won, but it was costly.
SG
Lol, Skeeter! I scare the party just by having Aragnak fly far off in the distance. Nothing strikes more fear than a red dot on the horizon, or should! We played Dragonlance 3.5 Age of Mortals campaign and learned the true fear of dragons that fly. They would do runs across the party just for fun! This is why those feats are so important to their ability to fly and really battle characters.
Lol, Skeeter! I scare the party just by having Aragnak fly far off in the distance. Nothing strikes more fear than a red dot on the horizon, or should! We played Dragonlance 3.5 Age of Mortals campaign and learned the true fear of dragons that fly. They would do runs across the party just for fun! This is why those feats are so important to their ability to fly and really battle characters.
Ive been running my group through a modified Grimmsgate using Pathfinder rules, and a "small" dragon has been seen by the populace. None of the characters have seen it.
Descriptions range from "the size of a horse" to "the size of a storefront!".
When the clever PC asked if anyone saw what color it was, the townsfolk say..."Dark, it hasnt gotten very close to town"
The PCs have no frickin idea what to do...lol
At least they have a pretty good idea it probably isn't a white! I love it though!
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Hi Everyone,
I am just about to start Rappan Athuk this month, and I had one question. Is everyone drawing the maps out to scale? If they are you have to be using some HUGE maps. If my players go to 1-C M.O.D.like I hope they do, I will be drawing that map out, but as I see each square = 10 feet. Now I know that is how they used to do it in old school, but these make for huge rooms!!! I am not truly complaining, just trying to think how I intend on drawing these massive dungeons. They can be a lot to draw. Are DM's drawing the entire dungeon? Or only the important rooms? I just was curious how other DM's have been doing it.
ALthough not with RA on similar mega dungeons we use a pad of graph paper at 10'/square for mapping, but make up any areas on a dry erase mat anytime we need more details (i.e. using minis not theatre of the mind)
Why do you think we have a mondo mat 4'x 8'? In fact we have 2 of them so big maps are not an issue with us. I also use sheets of plexi for easy draw/erase. Since it is RA I strongly advice the players to map on graph paper even if it is not to scale so they have an idea where things are. Once or twice we even did all of level 2 with Dwarven Forge.
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I started a technique where I map based on the number of ranks that each character has in Survival. The number is based on the highest number of ranks for a single character. With 0 ranks I draw no maps and the party runs the risk of getting lost during overland movement. With 1 rank they do not run the risk of getting lost and I draw rough wilderness maps but no dungeon maps. With 3 ranks I draw detailed wilderness maps and rough dungeon maps. 5 ranks gets them detailed wilderness and dungeon maps. With 10 ranks I will draw them a side view map to better understand how the levels fit together.
I thought it would be a neat method of having the characters grow and force them to be a little more cautious of getting lost in the dungeon. They are delving now at level 4 (in Banth's Lab no less) and getting only rough maps. They are being cautious to not get lost because they can't really rely on the maps as much as if they were drawn to scale on a graph paper grid.
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I started reading the new RA sub yesterday and will finish it today.
I doubt that my group will be ready for RA for at least a year and this new material is going to make it possible to start at first or second level. I always thought we would have to start about fourth level.
I am so looking forward to running this.
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Will we be getting level 2C and 3D soon? I would really like to run the Tunnels of Terror as the starting point of a new RA campaign but of course - missing these areas puts that on hold.
BTW, just giving Castle Castle Calaelen a quick look over - so far, so good. IMO this is an excellent low-level environs dungeon.
I also have a second request...would it be possible to include an updated environs map, keying in all the new areas in the final RA sub book?
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A side project I am working on is getting a few localized random encounter tables setup for specific environs - near the Tunnels of Terror, Castle Calaelen, Mouth of Doom, etc - for a more detailed, low level encounters experience near these points of interest.
Wandering around the environs of RA a suicidal (in typical AD&D fashion), so what I'm going to do is create some encounter tables that mesh low level encounters with mid level encounters as the PC progress away from Zelkors Ferry (pretty much East, SE, and NE).
Example
In any case, if people are interested I will post a few mesh encounter tables and supporting stats to take a little bit of the bite out of the insanity which is RA. For me they would also serve to help provide more low to mid level encounters to chew on as my players go from one low level dungeon to another. Keep in mind, none of this prevents a wandering party from being obliterated - the idea is that it will provide transitional encounters that:
A) Get harder as they move away from civilization and scale in difficulty/relevance as they get closer to the site
B) Might provide clues or foreshadowing of encounter type/difficulty if they decides to continue traveling in the direction they are heading in.
If anyone's interested, I'm running an online Rappan Athuk campaign journal here.
Hi Everyone,
I am just about to start Rappan Athuk this month, and I had one question. Is everyone drawing the maps out to scale? If they are you have to be using some HUGE maps. If my players go to 1-C M.O.D.like I hope they do, I will be drawing that map out, but as I see each square = 10 feet. Now I know that is how they used to do it in old school, but these make for huge rooms!!! I am not truly complaining, just trying to think how I intend on drawing these massive dungeons. They can be a lot to draw. Are DM's drawing the entire dungeon? Or only the important rooms? I just was curious how other DM's have been doing it.
Chris, I really think this is where D20Pro really comes in handy. It is pretty awesome for walking your players through the maps. Just wait until you get to Level 10. There is no way you can draw that out. You can use D20Pro at the gaming table too. If you have two computers that would be best (one for the players to see their side and one to run the GM side). I hope this helps.
Rachel,
We spent some time on level 10 in RA Reloaded shortly before this version came out. No, our maps weren't real pretty but they got the general gist of it and no one had enough fire protection to stay on the level so they weren't there long. They got to the bridge though and saw the cavern.
My issue with D20Pro is this: I usually have at least 6 players at the table for RA and few have laptops. From what I understand it is about impossible to run it without each person having a guest account. That gets rather pricey and don't really want to turn this into a MMO. If I could use it to just project what was going on on the 55" TV that is connected to the computer that would be great.
1) The licenses average out to a one-time drop of $10/player (and GM). What's the cheapest monthly investment for pay-to-play MMORPGs? Not even close.
2) If you are playing locally (not over the internet) and just projecting the map, the GM can "own" all the PCs and just move them as the player requests.