PbP Community MTS II - Blood under Absalom GM Discussion Thread [spoilers]

[Shifty]

@TMBTC - Errr, yeah nah that seems odd - have him at least get tagged once more or something before he drops.

@ND - o failures here mate, only learning opportunities.

[GM Hmm]

nightdeath wrote:

Things are finally looking up though I'm saddened to know I failed at one of the primary tenents of being a GM.

Another Monk down. As for the Blur, I'm having them drink the potion on their turn.

You got a monk down!

Stop calling yourself a failure... Nightdeath, what can I do to perk you up? We all have tables where we look at ourselves and proclaim, "I am the worst GM in the WORLD."

I have several friends whom I ping with this particular proclamation whenever something goes grossly wrong for me at a table. They then laugh at me, and point out that EVERYONE has these moments of insecurity.

Nightdeath, you have hung in there. You have stayed the course. You care about your guys, care about the job you are doing, and are learning and growing throughout this entire process. You are going to finish what you started, which is the number one job a GM can ask for.

Hugs,

Hmm

[GM Aerondor]

And a second monk bites the dust. This one was colour sprayed at full. and then had a druid with a shillelagh wail on him while stunned. Ouch.

[GM kuey]

Shifty wrote:

It might be enough to have the Monks (all of them) glare at her for her 'outrageous display' as a warning for what is about to happen if she doesn't move.

Thanks. I think this is a good idea. To make it clear to her that all (not just the one the party is fighting) is offended by her actions, (she's basically got a tail coiled around their master right now) and give her a round to change her action. If not, their attack on her would be justified.

I'm trying to avoid that though. Although than my natural aversion to killing PCs (which I need to work through), she has been repeatedly questioning my calls in the game and I really rather not have to deal with the fallout drama.

[Shifty]

Shifty wrote:

Wave reporting:

Monk defeated/Sucess report link

Current count output

8 = Code white
17 = Code grey
24 = Code black

Code grey is now in effect!

***

@Kuey:
Good cop - Say nothing. Emissary drops her in the floor like a bad habit, her tactics fail, and she realises she sat out the whole encounter like a potato for no reason and poor behaviour went unrewarded.

Bad cop - Monks glare, letting her know she's messed up, give her her next action to get off. If she doesn't then she gets shot at.

Worse cop (the Shifty option) - Glare and blast, no warning.

[nightdeath]

GM Hmm wrote:

nightdeath wrote:

Things are finally looking up though I'm saddened to know I failed at one of the primary tenents of being a GM.

Another Monk down. As for the Blur, I'm having them drink the potion on their turn.

You got a monk down!

Stop calling yourself a failure... Nightdeath, what can I do to perk you up? We all have tables where we look at ourselves and proclaim, "I am the worst GM in the WORLD."

Thanks Hmmm, I haven't being gming much lately and this was well what I've being looking for to get back into the game. Always wonder what I could do better when one of my players admit they aren't having fun. Is it the funky tokens? the lack of sacrifice to the dice bots?

Also is that player really trying that hard to be the first one to touch the Emissary?

[GM Hmm]

Man, I enjoyed posting this description of Code Grey in action.

I am so happy that we're near the end. We all question ourselves from time to time, Nightdeath. Part of the issue is that BuA is a special. It's a pressure cooker AND it's a meat grinder with not much time for plot or RP. The good news is that if you can do this, you can GM practically anything else. When we get to the end, you can find a fun scenario that you can make your own, and that you can find your pace and your center as a GM. It will happen, because you have what it takes.

Hugs,

Hmm

PS Aside to Kuey: I am averse to killing PCs. Totally, completely averse. But if a player is screwing over the entire table, risking their lives and using them for cover so that she can have a moment of glory... Well at very least she deserves to be the target of a few stunning fists.

[Woran]

Kuey, how far are you along with your monk? It might be a funny idea to have their next monk line up, drag her of the emmisairy, dump her in the middle of the group and make the 'come at me' handwave.

[Shifty]

18/24

I wont be able to post until about 5pm my time tomorrow.

I have to be at work at 5am, and then will be working in a 'no comms' environment before being driven back home at 5pm.

Please keep an eye on the counter, and when it hits 24 kills just take a pause... I expect that it will happen tomorrow hence the notice :P

[GM.Kashka]

GM kuey wrote:

I'm trying to avoid that though. Although than my natural aversion to killing PCs (which I need to work through), she has been repeatedly questioning my calls in the game and I really rather not have to deal with the fallout drama.

Death is but a condition. This is not a video game - it is a roleplay game. In combat there are risks - and if the player ignores those risks, they get what they deserve - a solid scorching ray to the back.

I'm not going to maliciously murder players (well... there was that one time.. but he had it coming), but GMs can't just coddle players ... then they find a GM who will not coddle them and they die horrible deaths. Because death is part of the game - no risk - no point in roleplaying a dangerous situation.

I am pretty sure my team is very frustrated.. having dealt only 27 damage in 4 rounds of combat... including the monk falling into the acid pit... But these are well built monks and if the party isn't trying really hard to cooperate and team up - they will continue to struggle. That's part of the game too.

As for displacement - i am running the duration as 4 rounds.

[Magabeus]

One monk down! Next is standing up...

[GM Hmm]

Congratulations, Magabeus! Another Monk bites the dust!

20/24

[The Man Behind the Curtain]

The code grey dropped my monk to 1 HP exactly. It then got smacked with a spiritual weapon. Another down... 21/24?

[The Man Behind the Curtain]

Oh come on... now that was just rude.

Monk stands up. Displacement gets dispelled. Barbarian crits. Next!

22/24?

[N N 959]

GM.Kashka wrote:

I am pretty sure my team is very frustrated.. having dealt only 27 damage in 4 rounds of combat... including the monk falling into the acid pit.

Oh yeah, I have two players each a Scorching Ray from going down and they've only done 32 points....then the monk drank a potion. heh.

Quote:

But these are well built monks and if the party isn't trying really hard to cooperate and team up - they will continue to struggle. That's part of the game too.

Sure, but I think what has contributed to the frustration is that all the other encounters have been a cake walk. With the exception of the Theater, my group trashed all comers in 1 or 2 rounds. So psychologically, this catches them off-guard and has some feeling it is insurmountable. Not to mention, this is the third encounter of the day with no potential end to the amount of monks they might face.

Add to the fact that the monk's AC, at tier 5, is 30 while it's on the move and benefits from Displacement while it peppers the group with as many as 10 scorching rays...I can empathize with player frustration.

Quote:

As for displacement - i am running the duration as 4 rounds.

I decided to have the next monk drink it in the first round. I suppose you could arguably "ready" an action to drink the potion on the current monk's demise, but then you get into the whole can-I-ready-an-action-outside-of-combat debate, which I'll avoid.

[GM.Kashka]

N N 959 wrote:

GM.Kashka wrote:

I am pretty sure my team is very frustrated.. having dealt only 27 damage in 4 rounds of combat... including the monk falling into the acid pit.

Oh yeah, I have two players each a Scorching Ray from going down and they've only done 32 points....then the monk drank a potion. heh.

Over acheivers! Due to a true strike - acid arrow.. my team is up to 33 damage applied!

fighting defensively to put touch AC to 24 pretty brutal to watch. let alone the total defense-abundant steps out of an acid pit.....

those poor alchemists. and the bad dice ugh.

[The Man Behind the Curtain]

N N 959 wrote:

I decided to have the next monk drink it in the first round. I suppose you could arguably "ready" an action to drink the potion on the current monk's demise, but then you get into the whole can-I-ready-an-action-outside-of-combat debate, which I'll avoid.

Yeah, it's always weird dealing with encounters like this where multiple creatures enter the fight later on based on some trigger, all of which have 'before combat' tactics. In this case I've been very lax with the rules and have just been aiming to keep my group on their toes. Since by some stroke of luck, my group is perfectly outfitted to dispel and dispatch these guys I've just been having them all start displaced. I figure if the oracle ends the fight out of spells and out of breath it'll feel pretty epic. But again, I have a very interesting party setup at my table. Two bards, an oracle, a rogue, a barbarian, and a slayer. The first half of the party sets up the field and the second half spikes it. And they have great teamwork to go with it all.

After dispatching 2 monks in a 1 hour period I've been kinda holding off for the moment. If anyone just wants this over with I can go ahead and open up the flood gates to get the last couple kills in, but I'd like to give remaining tables a shot at finishing their current fights.

[N N 959]

Well now that you ask....I have one player who is so frustrated, he's OOC suggesting that the team just wait it out. :)

I think in our case, they would be happy to just survive.

Quote:

Since by some stroke of luck, my group is perfectly outfitted to dispel and dispatch these guys

There's no accounting for party composition and teammwork. Rogues using Delay to set up flanking, fighters waiting for caster buffs, etc, can all be game changers.

Still, I'm surprised your group can get in a hit. I've been running my monk up and down the dais right through AoOs. Since PC's can't charge up or down the stairs, the players cannot reach him with a move action to even land a blow. The only one who has used a potion of Fly, and two Scorching Rays sent that guy into hiding.

No Dispel Magic with my group, but the Displacement has long since worn off. The Witch threw out a couple of hexes, but at +12 on Will...good luck with that.

At lower tier, it's a lot easier to box the monk in and keep up with him. A Ranger with longstrider can stay step for step. At Tier 5-6, the dude can outrun a cat.

[GM Hmm]

I think the majority of the kills so far have been from low tier tables.

At high tiers those monks are nearly unhittable.

Hmm

[The Man Behind the Curtain]

My table is Tier 10-11. They are all flying and hasted so the movement hasn't been an issue. Especially for the flying hasted pouncing barbarian. To top it off for the 2nd monk the party was split across the room so there was nowhere for the monk to run to that wasn't within a barbarian pounce or slayer/rogue tag team move flank stab.

Everyone currently has inspire courage, good hope, haste, and downed a potion of fly.

[N N 959]

Four of the five at my table are melee and only one had a Fly potion, which I'm sure he regrets using.

I ran Sky Key with a bard that had Good Hope and Inspire Courage. Running around with +5/+5 at tier 8 was pretty sick. I'd do it again :)

[GM Zinou]

@Shifty: I have reported monk deaths twice tonight and it's not a mistake. With code grey weakening the monks and some good rolls, they were able to kill two monks in a round :)

[The Man Behind the Curtain]

Time for a montage of monks being knocked out to the song Eye of the Tiger!

[GM Batpony]

Counter is at 24! so we just wait it out?

[GM Hmm]

We call halt!

[N N 959]

Important question for the final act.

Must the entire table roll once before any player can roll again, or can the players submit several rounds of rolls at once?

Also, I assume players don't have to roll in the same exact order every round.

[GM Hmm]

There will be no rolling of D20s. In the PBP adaption, Shifty rolls and picks a random winner.

Hmm

[GM Hmm]

29 / 24

Y'all are a bunch of Over-Achievers!

[Shifty]

Wow - quicker than I thought!

Ok guys, cease fire, apply the safety catch, and place the weapons down...

I have a few posts to write.

[Shifty]

Two dice rolled, a D17 and a D6.
First determines table, second determines the individual, in (character) alphabetical order.

1 Tyranius
2 Nightdeath
3 Hmm
4 Kuey
5 Fuzzfoot
6 Zinou
7 Batpony
8 Skipper
9 Arrowhawk
10 Yours
11 Devil
12 Hiding (Maga)
13 GME (GM Kashka)
14 AMP
15 Aero
16 Trex
17 Ilmakis

Table 1d17 ⇒ 11
Person 1d6 ⇒ 2

I make that - Devil/Davorin

[Shifty]

***OVERSEER POST***

Please see the following post

[GM Aerondor]

Quick question. Game # for reporting purposes? I'm sure it is out there somewhere but I can't recall where.

Edit: Or I could just look at the first post in this forum... D'oh.

[Yours is mined]

I've spent 30 minutes trying to work it out.

How do you report an Event you haven't created?

[Shifty]

It should show up as your event, youll have the report option.

If not, please resend me the email address you use for the boards - I am sure you are registered correctly though :)

[GM kuey]

Would like to thank Shifty for bringing all of us together. And to everyone in the GM community for the support. This is my first time GMing a special and I certainly had a blast!

I'm probably a masochist, but sign me up to GM for the next one! :P

[Shifty]

The next one is back over to the Online VO Crew, you will now be enjoying the dulcet tones of Hmm.

[GM kuey]

I thought I asked this earlier but I can't find my post anymore, so wanted to be sure.

As I GM'ed a tier 1-2 table, does that mean I can only apply the chronicle to a level 1-2 character, or I can apply it to any character from level 1-11?

[Yours is mined]

GM Kuey,

Any PC you like from 1-11, provided they haven't been credited with this event before.

(Like say if you've already played BUA with that PC)

[GM Hmm]

Shifty wrote:

The next one is back over to the Online VO Crew, you will now be enjoying the dulcet tones of Hmm.

Dulcet? Well, I guess this is PbP. My voice can sound like anything you can imagine (especially since most of you have never heard me talk!)

I'm excited to be at the end! It's Easter Egg Time at Hmm's table. I always look forward to seeing my player's final reactions to all they've experienced in an adventure.

So I'm glad that some of you are interested in GMing the next one. As GMs, what helped you? What are processes that we need to keep when we do the 'beast' (AKA Cosmic Captive)?

Hmm

[Davorin Blackridge]

Thank you for making a know-it-all, brown-nosing, already impossible to deal with, go-getter Pathfinder more full of himself!

[nightdeath]

The next one I wish to run would be CORE. This was a real pressure cooker. Thanks to Shifty for getting this together!

[Shifty]

GM Hmm wrote:

Dulcet? Well, I guess this is PbP. My voice can sound like anything you can imagine (especially since most of you have never heard me talk!)

I read all your posts and correspondence with THIS as the soundtrack.

Anyone I don't like, I mentally read with the voice of the Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons.

[GM Hmm]

I sound like George Michael in your head? Okay, I didn't expect THAT! You have no idea how hard I laughed when I saw this. Thank you, Shifty!

Hmm

[N N 959]

Shifty wrote:

Anyone I don't like, I mentally read with the voice of the Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons.

Okay, that's funny.

[The Man Behind the Curtain]

Thank you so much being so responsive throughout this special. It's been great! I'm certainly going to need some time off before I even think of GMing another special. Started up a game of Library of the Lion to change gears a bit.

Also extra thanks to Hmm for the map slideshow!

[GM Aerondor]

I'd like the join the shout out to Shifty.

Firstly for making PBP multi table specials happen outside of gamedays. Then for being game to do it all a second time.

And of course all the support in game.

In terms of what worked and what didn't...

I really liked the online tools for reporting the bits that are actually multi-table so we can coordinate easily.

[Shifty]

Thanks guys:)

Player Boons and Gift Certificates hve all been distributed.

[Shifty]

I have now updated/reported for my Relief GM's etc.

There have been instances of reported items dropping out (this happened to Hmm), please ensure you have recieved your GM credit.

If you have not got the session showing up AND/OR I still owe you a boon or chronicle, please PM me with what I owe you and I will ensure it gets to you.

I pumped out about a lot of documents, so one or two might have gone somewhere funky...!

Other than that, that is it from me until 2018, great work team, I had a blast!

[GM Erich]

Thanks much! Sad I didn't get to see any GM action this time, hope to in the future. Well run ship, Shifty and company.