Choie,
There may be a slight misunderstanding.
Gabe took 8hp of damage, then cast a Cure healing 5hp.
So when the DM says Gabe cured himself, it means he cast the spell once.
Gabe may have regained 1hp overnight (I don't know the rules on that), but I'm sure he is still injured.
Although Tom is delighted how well the party have done in following the trail of booted feet (and being wary of an ambush), his imagination does come up with some wild stuff.
'Suppose' he thinks to himself 'that a massive dragon has got magical boots which lay a false trail for unwary victims to follow.'
He shivers ... and decides that's all nonsense!
It is the Troll on short stilts pretending to be goblins and goblin on tall stilts pretending to be troll you need to watch out for as a tracker. Thankfully the trolls walking in goblin boots sink much deeper than any goblin ever could and goblin are far more shallow than any troll would be.Originally posted by glee
Oh great - now Tom will have nightmares!
And watch out for those vermicious knids...!
If it's a Jabberwock, perhaps we will discover a Vorpal Sword!
(That weapon would be needed as well if there is a Bandersnatch about....)
Tom is incredibly tense as his fellow hobbit scouts ahead.
Eli's bravery is to be admired - possibly saving the party from a disastrous ambush.
On these occasions, Tom's imagination runs away from him. He visualises stupidly shouting "Hey, Eli! Have you seen anybody yet?" ... and instead quietly puts his hand over his mouth.
"Jeez, gimme a minute, would ya?" Eli, reading Tom's mind, shouts back as loud as he can. "I'm trying be all stealthy-like, y'know...."
Last edited by Elendil's Heir; 14 Jul 2021 at 11:21 AM.
On a more serious note: provided Eli makes it back safely, Tom will try to find out what Eli overheard.
Tom only knows Common, Elven and Shiretalk, but hopefully another party member can speak another language (with Orc being the firm favourite.)
Okay now I'm confused (as opposed to all the other times I'm confused). Why are we posting in-character stuff in this thread? Well, glee more than EH, who I know was joking.Are we supposed to separate our PCs' actions (game thread) vs. thoughts and feelings (here)? Sorry, it's just that as a noob I have to admit I find it hard to follow.
Choie,
Sorry if I'm confusing you!
The 'Dragon Boots', 'Jabberwock' and 'Hey Eli' posts were all basically jokey - but also gave insights into Tom's character.
Finding out what Eli heard was conditional on our Scout making it back safely.
So if Eli had been discovered and attacked, it would have jarred for Tom to be calmly asking Eli questions.
Therefore I left it to our DM to pick up on Tom's intended action and post in the main thread e.g. 'as Eli returns safely, Tom asks the party to speak any languages they know to see if Eli recognises them...'
Don't worry, it takes very little to confuse me!
To add to the earlier reply, I seem to recall the odd bit of in-character byplay in the "about" threads when Jim's excellent campaign was running. Talk was in character, but the situations weren't necessarily reflecting what went on in the game, and it was strictly for amusement
Librarians rule, Oook
I recall a conversation about pipeweed that spilled from the game thread to the support thread in character and then went into a nice detail lesson about tobacco storage in the days of sail.
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I realized what is missing for this game. We need a character summary. If you make one up I can insert it into the first post of the Game Thread or this thread for you. I am completely failing at keeping track of who is who and what the characters are.
You can find one here.
Librarians rule, Oook
Perfect, Thanks.
I believe that discussion starts at post 1193 here: https://boards.straightdope.com/t/d-...63/439276/1193
Hey folks, I have to admit that life has gotten the better of me and I don't see having the time or focus to play in the near future. I'm moving, starting a new job, and my wife is expecting next month, so I don't think I'll have the focus to post here as regularly as this game deserves. Perhaps the best thing would be to put Arewe on NPC for now and shift her off to other, "off-camera" adventures in Dale and perhaps if my life stabilizes, I'll be able to pop back in.
I wish you all well!
Aw, sorry to hear that, Appleciders! Hope you'll be able to return before too long. All the best to you and your wife; parenthood is quite an adventure in its own right.
Last edited by Elendil's Heir; 22 Jul 2021 at 12:15 PM.
Appleciders,
thanks for playing and for courteously stepping down for now. Do feel free to return when it suits you.
All the best to you and your wife.
Congrats on expecting and holy cow, new baby soon with new job and a move. Holy cow.
It never ceases to amaze me what trivial excuses people will come up with to avoid remaining committed to an online game.
Enjoy the move, the job, the baby... our youngest turns 18 in just over two months and it feels like it's been an eyeblink. You're going to be exhausted but it will be worth it a thousand time over. Concentrate on the important stuff, I will keep Arewe with the group for now until it makes sense in context for her to step aside (or your life may stabilize first).
Many thanks for letting us know, and switching authors here, Urendi Maleldil.
Librarians rule, Oook
To the rest of you, it's nearly work time for me now and I'll be back in maybe twelve hours with an update to the game thread.
Librarians rule, Oook
I'm sorry to see you leave, temporarily or otherwise, Appleciders, but I certainly can't be sorry about the reason! Best of luck to you and your wife, during a tumultuous but hopefully joyful time for your family.
Some game mechanics from what just happened: Eli's Stealth roll was the only one low enough for the ambushers' Perception to beat, so had the bowman in the bushes lasted long enough to act, only Eli could have been targeted. In contrast to some earlier editions of the game system, a sleep spell does not automatically succeed but is resisted by a Will saving throw. These two did badly.
An attack roll that comes up natural 20 (for some weapons, even 19 or 18) carries the possibility of a critical hit, which is what happened with the orc that attacked Bruno. Fortunately for Bruno, even rolling twice for damage for a low-grade orc does not amount to a disabling hit. Were Bruno to roll a successful critical, however, matters would be very different as he would be rolling a much bigger die, and adding a respectable STR bonus (and, by then, the effect of the inspire courage), three times (an unusual property of the greataxe). In fact, three 20s came up in total, the orc's, Eli's sling shot, and Bruno's axe; but in all cases the attacker must reroll their attack to see if an actual critical does result, and only the orc actually managed it.
Meanwhile, Arewe had the ill-fortune to roll a 1 (followed by a reroll that did miss the orc) and hence achieved the opposite effect; here, an inconvenience that would have cost her next round's action by whatever flavour text made sense in story terms.
The sleepers were automatically immobilised by any enemy able to move close enough with the materials in hand to do the necessary, or could have been subjected to a coup de grace - a free automatic max-damage critical hit. But given the declared intent to take prisoners, that's what Eli and Gade did.
Librarians rule, Oook
As always, the combat was most exciting.
Just two minor comments:
- we only wanted one prisoner, so perhaps we could have slain one more opponent in combat?
- Rowena, you do seem to have a Sleep spell to cast!
^Yes that's good to know! I love how bloodthirsty you are, despite playing a humble Hobbit. "Damn, we only needed one orc alive, why the hell didn't we slaughter the other one?!!"
OMG, What Exit?, is he making a pun about a battering ram? That's hilarious (and delightfully unexpected) if so. Or is there actually some spell or whatever that uses a literal male sheep to open doors? A quick google didn't reveal anything but I might not've looked very well.
(If it's a pun, Rowena must react to that, because it's awesome.)
A bit of a pun and I was going to babble about an Oracle Ram but then decided the door opening fit better.
Tom isn't as bloodthirsty as it might seem. Attacking the Orcs waiting in ambush was self-preservation.
But Tom also foresaw the party's dilemma over any captives.
Do we take them back to the farming community for a trial? (Losing time on the trail of the others...)
Do we disarm and release them?
Do we execute them?
I enjoyed reading about the battle but would humbly suggest, in future and if possible, that combat be broken down a bit more into phases, with players being given the chance to say what their characters wish to do next, rather than largely being spectators from first blow to last. Just my two cents' worth. Thanks!
Ooh yes, that would be so helpful! The action was so well written, as all the narrative is of course, and enjoyable to read! Still I'd be curious to see how I might have chosen Rowena's actions once she saw that the "Lullaby" hadn't worked. I suppose "sleep" would've been what I chose anyway, so that might be okay to assume that's what I'd do.
But skipping forward a bit, I wonder if I'd've thought to have her sing the "courage" song... or she might've made a loyal but poor judgment to scrabble around with her bow and arrow, which, given her rudimentary skills and never having killed anyone before, might have resulted in an orc chewing her arm off.
...I mean, yeah, that wouldn't have been a terrific result for the girl, but it'd be useful experience in cause/effect and consequences in general. (Both for me as a newbie player and for Ro as a brand new adventurer.)
Is there a way to stop at certain breaks in the action where each (or at least some) of us has a choice to make? I know it's a possible pacing issue, esp. since some of us are super busy and are fairly slow to post. It must be a drag to have to pause like that. But you could have some known deadline by which we'd need to post any further actions, and woe be unto he (or she) who fails to react in time.
Choie gives the reason why I much prefer the DM to run the combat using the party's plan.
Sometimes it takes a week for everyone to reply.
So if there are a couple of decisions to make in a combat ... it would take 3 weeks to adjudicate!
P.S. I don't want to penalise those of us who lead busy lives...
I remember some of those 3 week combats, they weren't very fun. It is a tough mix.
I think I usually had the initial clash, wait for player feedback and then conclusion of battle, but I might be remember incorrectly.
Indeed. This whole thing ran only two rounds, so I needed some basic intent from all the players and then run according to that. If I'd hit something that looked like it needed fresh input, I'd have given it, but to me it made perfect sense that if fresh attackers appeared on the far side of the gully then they would be shot at or meleed by the trio in the gully, while those on the far side would lend what help they could.
At the moment Rowena cannot begin Inspire Courage at the same time as loosing an arrow, but she could maintain it if she had begun it already. I added the flavour text of preparing to shoot as soon as she was ready, although in game terms loading ammunition into a bow (not sling or crossbow) takes zero time. As far as I knew Rowena meant to follow the lullaby with a sleep anyway, and it made sense that she should cut straight to the chase once it was plain that the ambushers knew something was up. (Their Perception check wasn't that great, but Eli's Stealth check was very bad by his standards. Equally, nothing stop a bard either Performing or spellcasting with a weapon in hand, and I assumed it would be the bow as the sword is probably a last resort when there are others about who might be happier in hand-to-hand.
When you start getting into longer fights, and especially when you have more options, I will certainly ask for more input.
Librarians rule, Oook
Oh that's logical. I'm used to a different style of immersive role-playing (for what little experience I have in RPGs) but of course what's most fun and viable for you and the majority of the players should rule the day.
Meanwhile, sorry for the wall of words with Rowena's posts. I should warn y'all that in lieu of conversation/interaction among the PCs, my girl's gonna have a lot of internal monologues to satisfy my character development fetish. EH and anyone from the STRPG can back me up on how I roll.
(Ha, dice pun not intended but appropriate nonetheless!)
...But if interaction/dialogue isn't what others are into, that's cool and I'll just putter around with Rowena's POV. She can always annoy any NPC that might talk to her.
Tom likes Rowena's thoughtful posts (and so do I!)
Thanks, glee.
She'll certainly have something to say about his request, that's for sure.
Choie,
Apologies - I've muddled up my knowledge with what Tom knows. So Tom should stop referring to any 'spells' you cast as he does not know your abilities.
(Also I did note Rowena was going to clean her shawl - if she moves out of sight, Tom would be slightly concerned and follow her to make sure she is OK.)
No problem, glee, I'm kind of unsure myself what we're supposed to know or assume happens without input vs. what we have to wait for, re: character choices.
Heck, as far as I was concerned, Rowena was still looking for a puddle/water source, because I didn't want to assume anything without Malacandra's telling me that she was successful or not. (What if she'd run into a stray orc? Or found the ram, drinking placidly unharmed after all this agita?) And I don't know whether Tom actually spoke to Rowena or if he just "checked," which to me sounds like he peeked at her and left. And finally also, I didn't show her returning, because I hadn't gotten confirmation of the first two points. I gave up and just had her appear now, because obviously we were moving forward, but it feels like I skipped a lot.
Basically--and this Q is just for Malacandra--do you prefer us to just do as we like and assume we'll be successful except for in battles? Normally (well, in my other RPG) I generally wait for the GM (or other player) to respond to my actions or dialogue, especially when our characters are in new and unknown surroundings and there could be some dangers or obstacles that my PC might come across.
Like, I'll write something like, "Nia opens up a hatch, hoping to find the air breathable before venturing outside" and will wait for our GM to confirm that "The atmosphere is similar to that on the shuttle and she ventures out on the rocky planet" (or "Nia chokes the instant her lungs discover toxic gasses make up the atmosphere," whatever the case). Or even in less dangerous circumstances I'll still defer in certain circumstances, e.g., "Nia gets up from her station at the Helm and, unless the Captain has further orders, leaves the Bridge." I'd be waiting for the GM to respond with something like "Captain Singh just nods and lets Nia continue on her way" before assuming my character can continue. Basically when I write something like "If she's successful..." or "Assuming she finds ____,," it means I'm waiting for the GM to confirm or block the action.
Is that too granular for your preferred GM style, Malacandra? It's great either way, I just wanna get up to speed.
No problem, choie -- if all you want to do is have Ro wash her shawl and write some internal monologue about how she is processing current events then that can be taken as read, and you can rejoin when ready. On the other hand if she was testing the strength of a rope bridge before crossing then you'd need to wait for a reply.
And, as you say, had something of moment occurred when Ro wandered off, you would find out quite soon
Librarians rule, Oook
Ah thanks, good sir. That's very helpful to know!
I'd like to keep track of the treasure we've found. So far I think we have:
- two Potions of Healing (I assume d8, correct?) ... one bought; the other recovered from the Snaga
- one unidentified Potion (= Snaga-2)
Have I missed anything?
P.S. For the party's benefit, Tom can cast Detect Magic and also use Spellcraft to eventually Identify basic items.
I don't remember anyone finding the 50 gold for the potion Briagha offered for sale - did I miss something?
Pathfinder CLW is d8 + caster level, but the level add caps at +5. Potions and wands are almost always made at caster level 1 as making them any higher costs a multiplier equal to the required level, for only a flat increase.
Librarians rule, Oook
We had two offers to pay (perhaps we could get refunds from the rest of the party for Eli and Tom?!):
(Briagha) A day's worth of cram for the whole party will cost 1 gp in game terms, though actual gold is rarely seen hereabouts and most in-game references will actually stand for an appropriately-sized silver coin. You don't need to pay too much attention to this. The keg of ale she is offering holds a full gallon and is priced at 2 gp. The meat is free, but would benefit from being cooked and eaten within a day or two. Also Briagha is able to offer a small crystal flask containing a healing elixir that she took in trade "a while back", but she says it is worth 50 gp
(Eli) Eli will dig into his bag and pay his fair share for the provisions.
(Tom) Like Eli, he is happy to pay his share.
Sorry, by "provisions" I understood food and drink - did you two have the fifty between you?
Librarians rule, Oook
Tom has 45 gold - though he's still hoping the other party members will chip in their share!
Bruno is a poor rural man, only 8gp to his name.
Pay what you can afford - also you're a front-rank Fighter who needs the healing potion more than most!
I don't mind assuming that a whip-round was organised. You needed about a gold apiece to have basic grub for the possible few days this job could take, or else you're living off the Survival skills of the party members that have it and generally taking longer into the bargain. The joys of being low level; very, very soon mere basic necessities will be unimportant trivia. Still, that feast back at the Dragonfall is starting to feel like a long time ago.
(Arewe is flat broke, in no mood to complain "blimey, roast mutton again!" at the evening stop-over, and in no condition to chip in for any healing potions. This bow she is toting is definitely her "pearl of great price")
Anyway, figure out who chipped in what, reduce your account accordingly, and we'll call it good.
Librarians rule, Oook
Interesting! Never heard the phrase "whip-round" before. On this side of the pond, we might say "let's pass the hat" (in which to collect loose change for some good purpose): https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/whip-round.html
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