Uhh Borodin I wouldn't poke the bear, because the last magus in this game who wanted a fight got a first class ticket to the bottom of a swamp lake ;). O.o!
Apparently after slapping the crap out of you!
Apparently after slapping the crap out of you!
Pffft. Mundane details!
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Hello All...
Meowzebub, it's truly awesome to see you on the board here again. I'm really glad you feel that way about the character and the game. I was certainly one to miffed at your absence, if only because you were on some other games and not this one -- something like a "hey our game is cool too what's wrong with our game" kind of reaction. I'm glad to hear it wasn't due to character apathy. My opinion is that Zander is still a very complex and difficult character to play, or at least to play off of other characters in terms of interactions. I suspect that Barcas has all kinds of brilliant (some probably dark and twisted) ideas for Zander's arc story, and I for one am a big fan to see how that progresses.
Well you came back at an interesting time! Sadly, Sigz departed the boards for RL priorities, but we have two new players to give some new momentum to the game AND Downrightamazed is back online with us! So it has a great new feel to it (even if our characters right now are scattered across the land and time itself).
Welcome back!
Hello All...Welcome back!
I'm 100% behind Meowzebub - "this" pbp is the most demanding I've played in.
I appreciate everyone sticking it out, whether new to the story or here since the beginning. I hope that the demanding nature of the PBP (and the length - two and a half years!) is a fair trade for the rewarding story we're all taking part in. There's so much story to tell. I can't wait to continue telling them with you all.
Diplomacy, roll 1 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (10) + 16 = 26
Diplomacy, roll 2 (honeyed tongue) 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (10) + 16 = 26Well. Okay then.
Hehe. Well how only average-awesome was that!
True story on Sunday - my 10-year old daughter is rolling up her first character for the Pathfinder Beginner's Box stuff (she wants to play a sneaky Rogue like her mother hehe). She's rolling a set of six stats, 4d6 method. While she's doing that, she's asking how bad the score values are if she gets under 10, and I'm explaining her that it's not too bad, as long as she doesn't roll a '3' and such.
No lie. The very next roll she rolls FOUR ONES. I've never seen that before and can only manage to say "Really?" Both of us start laughing and I declare that Desna has smiled upon her to take a mulligan and to stop rolling like that EVER AGAIN.
Hehehehe. A buddy of mine, in a game that I GM'd, first rolled a 6-6-6-5 followed immediately by a 1-1-1-1. He kept those rolls, becoming the archetypal dumb fighter.
Unlike the incredibly smart Roy from Order of the Stick!
OK, I just finished my crash course in weddings, wolf packs, and centaurs. And I will restate: You guys are intense.
I will get a post up a summary of Zander chaffing at being left behind, while fully understanding that he is not one for negotiations. And that the Wardens getting a fix on Troll activity is a better use of his time. Got a RL game this evening, so will have it up this weekend and look forward to being back.
Well there's one bit of fun homework to consider - Zander is 6th level! I hear it's all the rage to kill trolls at sixth level these days.
I am working this weekend to try and finish my very last paper for my Master's degree. (Alas, had my contact actually gotten me the information I requested at the beginning of summer in a timely fashion, instead of last Wednesday - two days before the official end of the semester - I would be long-done.) I will try to get an update up tonight while I am working at my extra job.
Hah! If Nikolai wanted to be with Jemini forever, he'd just have to commit suicide now.
Anyone else who wants to raise a point in the centaur negotiations can do so. Doesn't all have to fall on Jemini's capable shoulders. Perhaps even an Aid Another roll?
You also have the future to interact with each other in!
Zander, how do you want me to weave you in? You could interact with Taisper (in the present), or with any NPC of your choice.
That is how I see it too. Seems Taiper and I are holding the fort. I will start a conversation up with him at the lake...getting out of town sounds good.
You also have the future to interact with each other in!
Just remember that if you're in the dark future and alive, you have to be lacking a body part ... which could be awkward depending on ... yeah...
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Go ahead and make a roll in Perform: Pantomime so that you can be understood!
Just to be clear, Jemini and Nikolai do not have linked survival. They have linked afterlives. Killing Nikolai will likely damn both in the future, since Nikolai would have no chance to repent. Killing Jemini would not have much affect.
Jemini and Nikolai should understand the terms that Pharasma dent them back with, but the others might misunderstand.
A few tense minutes pass in front of the keep of the castle as the guard passes along the message. The remainder of the guards remain at attention, not giving their prisoners any sense of complacency. One of them shushes the Cog when his occasional muttering gets too loud, but they are otherwise quiet. Every so often, one of them will look with dread at the front door - as if hoping that it will never open, revealing the horrors inside. Several minutes later, the message-bearing guard returns. "The Dragon Lord gives them leave to enter." He moves aside, letting the group of guards and prisoners enter....
...The guard who showed them in kneels in front of the throne, as do the rest of the guards. His voice echoes through the empty room as he speaks. "I kneel to the Dragon Lord, first and favored son of our Great King, Choral Rogarvia." The other guards echo his words dutifully. The woman does not speak. He turns his head to the prisoners and snaps, "Kneel before the Dragon Lord, Nikolai Rogarvia, and his consort, Jemini Lebeda! You as well, Verik Jarrow, unless your god is planning on giving you your tongue back with which to praise the Dragon Lord!"
Okay, the scene is set for everyone to interact in the future!
"Everyone"?? Even us dead dudes? ; )
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"Everyone"?? Even us dead dudes? ; )
Hehe Akiros, Zander, Berrin and the rest of the Founders that are dead are all sitting on the fireplace mantle as ghosts, making wagers and waiting for Nikolai to die so they can move on into the afterlife - just like the murdered royal brothers in the movie Stardust! Except of course that we're not going for fantasy-adventure-romance-comedy in the DARKEST TIMELINE (dum duh...dummmmmmmmmm!)
Heh, certainly seems not! ;)
Through a series of furious gestures while donning an old brown linen robe and waving a blue-colored stick, Verik's latest charade game illustrates that Elsir just pulled out an Obi-Wan line on Nikolai in his last post...
Now is the time for conversation and not rage. You can't win this conversation with that sword, Nikolai. If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.
Those... those are fighting words. I say call his bluff!
After all these years I still don't understand how Obi-Wan became more powerful.
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FYI, I'm getting ready for a business trip. Internet should be consistent but thats what has been causing my hold up. Once I am actually on my trip however, I will have much more time to post. Barcas, do me a favor and if I *do* happen to go MIA, let the other guys know that it is *not* permanent and likely due to my connection.
Everybody's out and about right now. Several people - Nikolai and Taisper, at least - are heading to GenCon this weekend. Hopefully we will get some movement when everybody's back next week.
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Everybody's out and about right now. Several people - Nikolai and Taisper, at least - are heading to GenCon this weekend. Hopefully we will get some movement when everybody's back next week.
Yeah I'm looking forward to a push forward with some elements of the storylines, but as far as this week goes I say good luck/good fortunes/smooth sailing on the GenCon crew and business trip endeavors!
Wow -- not what I expected with Hargulka by any means. Very interesting twist on trolls and monsters I have to say!
So... what are the specifications for the skill challenge?
I will be gettin' to that, as soon as I finalize them.
That's right. Who wants a centaur army when you could get a centaur & troll army?
I'm fairly certain that you're not going to do well enough to recruit the trolls as well.
I'm fairly certain that you're not going to do well enough to recruit the trolls as well.
Me too.
But great start Jem, putting your own twist on what the Troll and cronies likely expected you to be coming out with. Now you clearly seem the more peace seeking one while TK is all fighty.
The Centaur Summit Skill Challenge!
There will be five "rounds" total. They can be conducted in any order. Each essentially represents trying to convince one of the five tribes. The tribes will not all respond equally to the same input; Diplomacy may work for one tribe, while Intimidate or Bluff might work considerably better with another. Each tribe will have a "right" skill, a "wrong" skill, and a "normal" skill; you will receive a bonus or penalty not to exceed +/-10 (but it might be just +/-2.)
Each PC can take one of three roles in a given round: main negotiator (the Diplomacy/Bluff/Intimidate roller), assistant negotiator (who can add to the main's words with an Aid Another, with an addition +2 at DC 20 and DC 30), and watcher (who can make a DC 15 Sense Motive check to tell success or failure of any current or previous round, or a DC 20 Sense Motive check to learn the "right/wrong/normal" skill breakdown of any tribe).
Making things more complex is that you have to decide on the order of tribes to influence. This can give a stacking +/-2 to the roll, depending on who you have already influenced.
EXAMPLE:
Jemini starts off the round 1 as the main negotiator and rolls a 35 on Diplomacy. (She is not aware, but Diplomacy is the "right" skill for this tribe, Intimidate is the "normal" skill, and Bluff is the "wrong" skill. The bonus or penalty is 4.) Akiros decides to assist and rolls a 21 on Diplomacy, giving them a +4. The total roll, kept secret by me, is 43. Both Verik and Nikolai act as watchers - Nikolai rolls a 12 on his Sense Motive, getting no benefit; Verik rolls a 23 and decides that he wants to know the "right/wrong/normal" breakdown of a different tribe known to be in conflict with the Round 1 tribe. I tell him that Intimidate is right, Bluff is wrong, and Diplomacy is normal; he can pass this info along to the rest of the party. The troll decides to roll Intimidate, getting a 32. He gets aided by the minotaur, who gets a 22 on his roll (+4) and the hag, who gets a 19 (+2). The total roll, kept secret by me, is 38. The two-headed troll rolls a 25 on his Sense Motive and learns that they lost this round. (This loss would be a secret to the party until one of the PCs did a successful Sense Motive - though you'd have your suspicions with such a high roll that you probably won the round.)
Clear as mud, right? Let me know if you have any questions.
And just a reminder: the basic breakdown is that the Rashkala and Magrat tribes are allied; the Ganghash tribe is allied with both the Kolga and Cangarit tribes, who are not allied with one another and actually consider each other enemies.
Ha, ya crystal!
Honestly though, very cool system Barcas. I could easily see something like this being permanently integrated into an official game negotiation system.
Few questions though:
- Is what happened so far considered to be round one already?
- So we will not know until the very end which tribes are siding with which side?
- Can tribes change their minds? Or once won to one side, that's it?
- So even with a sense motive of 20+, only one thing can be known between success/failure or which skill is right?
- What is the relation between Rashkala & Magrat tribes vs the Gang, Kolga and Cang tribes.
- Are all the chieftains considered equal, or is one more equal than the rest?
- Which is the biggest tribe and/or the strongest
And...I think that's it.
Oh! And hey! How come the baddies outnumber us? 5 to 4! Plus, doesn't matter if they have to remove their weapons or not, they carry just as deadly weapons with them! No fair I say, no fair! I mean, I'm not saying we couldn't still take 'em of course, but, you know, there may be a whole lot of [/i]running[/i], first...
Given that we start blind, I'm okay with Jemini's first round going into Diplomacy, and just roll with what we got so far. If we can control it, then I'll also want to start with Korag Kaag's people - we've had some success with them previously with Diplomacy, no reason why that would change now.
My suspicion is that Ganghash is a bluff tribe, to keep both Kolga and Cangarit appeased - while Kolga and Cangarit split Diplomacy and Intimidate between them. Rashkala and Magrat both on Diplomacy.
Regarding Akiros's questions:
1) Jemini has indeed started the first round. As said, I presumed that she chose to select the Rashkala tribe (Korak Kaag's) for the round.
2) You won't know who wins each round unless someone spends an action using Sense Motive. You can probably get a good idea if you know that you have a high score before the modifiers.
3) Once you've finished a round, the results for that tribe are locked in.
4) I suppose a success of Sense Motive of 30 can select twice. (IE Verik rolls a 31 Sense Motive and selects to learn the Magrat's preferences and the results of Round 1.)
5) If you're not allies, you're enemies. Centaurs are pretty polarized.
6) For the purpose of this skill challenge, each tribe leader is equal.
7) The tribes are all roughly similar in size, composition, and strength.
The overall goal is to win a majority of the rounds. Essentially, every tribe whose round you win will ally with you (or at least not ally with the trolls).
The only question I have at this point is to make sure I understand the 'Aid Another' action with the skill checks for each round. As I interpret it, the player has to roll a '10' or higher on the die roll for it to be successful, regardless of the total skill result, or else it doesn't count. If the player does roll a 10+, then the total check result is looked at to determine the potential +2/+4/+6 bonus to the main negotiator's roll. Is that how you see it?
If true, it means that the Assistant Negotiators have 50% pass/fail to benefit the primary negotiator, which is fine but perhaps changes the players' calculations a bit as to whom should be watcher.
The Aid Another result of DC 10 gets a +2 bonus to the total score for the round. DC 20 gets +4, and DC 30 gets +6.
Let's say Jemini already rolled a 35, and Verik rolls the Aid Another. Verik rolls a 22 on his Diplomacy, giving Jemini's roll a +4 bonus for a 39 before the preference and alliance modifiers.
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The Aid Another result of DC 10 gets a +2 bonus to the total score for the round. DC 20 gets +4, and DC 30 gets +6.
Let's say Jemini already rolled a 35, and Verik rolls the Aid Another. Verik rolls a 22 on his Diplomacy, giving Jemini's roll a +4 bonus for a 39 before the preference and alliance modifiers.
Okay but let's say that Verik rolls a '3' on his die roll and gets a total Diplomacy 'Aid Another' score of 14 (roll of 3 + 11). Would you say that I've just given a +2 to Jemini, or does it scratch out because I didn't get a '10'+ on the die roll?
The physical number on the dice does not matter. The final result is all that matters. It's like any other Aid Another check, but with an extra +2 for each 10 points beyond DC 10.