It is my understanding that there was going to be a short back and forth between Akane and Artrus and then he would be introduced to the party in that same thread.

For my efforts, I am mechanically ready to go. I've also read the entirety of the party's adventure thus far. It's nice that the memory alterations have been able to clean up vacant characters in an efficient way.

In order:

Aran: You should post in the Hunt thread, that's the new adventure. Unless you have something to add to the old adventure, of course, but that should be a short closing remark.

Dakash: Your first magic item (well, second, considering you have a cantrip thingy) will be crafted by Zhorr during downtime. You will have some time before leaving for your mission, so you will be able to talk to him and figure out what can be made.

Kamea: For information, the current thread will encompass the entire adventure, including the capture of Terk and the return of the heroes. It was rather convenient for me that I could clean up loose ends at the same time... But if your story is going to include a reality warp, may as well take advantage of it for practical purposes :P

---

I shall point out that the plant zombies in the last adventure had a significant amount of loot (you may remember I specifically pointed out the presence of some surprisingly shiny items), and defeating Lilly (as opposed to running out the clock) would also have netted you she stash of magic items that she'd accumulated (in her "nest").

The world is rigged in the heroes' favor, as fantasy worlds are wont to be, and there are many ways to win, some easier than others. However, taking the path of least resistance will inevitably lead to the least amount of loot (I am still open to suggestions on how to avoid turning combat into a horribly painful grind, mind).

Bottom line: Zhorr will make sure that you are properly equipped, since WBL is an integral part of your EPL. However, at level 3 the mandatory equipment is rater limited, as yu can see in the automatic bonus progression table:

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamema...c-bonus-progression/
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:56, Thu 26 July 2018.

As it was mentioned before that my descriptive skills are not always up to the task, I asked for some help.

You might have noticed a new character, THE SANCTIFIED NOBLE.

Rest assured that I picked the name for reason entirely unrelated to BRIAN BLESSED, and having absolutely nothing to do with LARGE HAMs. Nope, nothing of the sort.

Thank you for your help, TSN.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:53, Thu 26 July 2018.

Out of curiosity since I wasn't here the last game, what specifically was it that caused the game to bog down so badly during combat last time around?

I know for my own games when I ran PbP I had every player post their actions at the same time and then resolved a whole combat round in one go.  Initiative still played a part in when actions went off.  Sure it meant that you didn't necessarily get to react to actions taken by someone the initiative count before yours, but that (usually) didn't make a difference.  If there was something that might change someones actions, then I'd resolve part of the combat and give players a day or so to respond if they wanted to change their actions before moving combat along.

I'll try to think back to some other things that I did that helped with combat as far as helping with visualizing who was where in the fight as well.  I used to use really crude scribbled maps for many combats using a variety of programs (that I'll have to see if any still are viable).

My impression is that posting the actions for the next round somehow went from a challenge to one's ingenuity to a mere chore. The interest in the fight somehow petered out, for causes I am not entirely clear on.

Which of course makes it that much harder to figure out how to fix it.

To be honest, I was mostly frustrated with the spell resistance. I had other options to take against the Nixie, but I zoned out. Even so, it's rough when you have a party of 4 spellcaster and a creature with that high SR.

Hopefully Artrus and I can help fix that.

As I said, that was supposed to be a challenge to one's ingenuity, and not a particularly difficult challenge at that.

First of all, Bog nixies are CR3 monsters, and they have a SR of 12, which is actually lower than average for a creature of that CR: as a general rule a creature's spell resistance should equal a monster's CR + 11 (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG...monsterCreation.html).

Second of all, near the middle of the adventure you had all been given the specific tools required to deal with the nixie - specifically,a way to bypass its DR. She had 13 hit points: a good whack with the right weapon and a couple of crossbow bolts would have dealt with her in two turns.

I'm not saying the fight was especially well-designed, but it wasn't as much of a hard counter as it seemed, with a bit of lateral thinking, or even just an appropriate dose of desperation.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:12, Fri 27 July 2018.

Actually, I thought color spraying the entire bunch of Stirges was inspired. Cleared the field to let us concentrate on Lilli.

Absolutely, taking down half the threats in a single action is always a great way to start a fight :)

The shock shield was also a very effective choice and it really cut them down to size. Reckless as heck, mind, since it put Aran smack in the middle of a bunch of CON-sucking monsters... But very much in character for our resident hothead ;)

The stirges were a tricky bit: the big one was sensitive to music, which prevented Lilly from using one or her most dangerous abilities, so on in a way they were making your fight easier than it could have been. Lilly was ready to unleash her siren song on you the moment the big stirge went down, so dealing with her first was a good idea as well.

Fun fact: I have to go back and check which ones of you gained the Grand Prize, a horrible set of illnesses courtesy of the creatures of the marsh. I'm fairly sure Aran got something nasty, I just have to figure out what :P
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:47, Sat 28 July 2018.

Yeah, pretty sure Aran did catch something.

As for the Shock-shield, the choice was based on an incorrect understanding of the rules. I had a SLA burning hands to use that may have not put me so much in danger.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:00, Sat 28 July 2018.

Ah, so it sounds like it wasn't as much anything about the medium of PbP itself as much as just the combat itself feeling a little awkward for some players.  I can speak from experience that SR can definitely be a frustrating thing to deal with at times, but that's why I usually tried to keep at least one attack option outside of spells on my casters given that occasionally there's a need to poke something with a dagger lol.

But now that we have a couple beaters to add into the mix, then combats like that which come up shouldn't feel quite as frustrating as there will be at least options available aside from attacking with spells that may end up bumping into SR.  Also, something to remember anytime you run into SR foes... that's when buffing spells can become primo as they can make it easier to take down SR having enemies without needing to cast the spell directly on the enemy.  It's all about finding ways to work around it.

HELLO, FRIENDS. I AM THE SANCTIFIED NOBLE. I AM HERE AS WRITING ASSISTANT TO MY DEAR MYSTERIOUS ANCIENT WIZARD, OR MY-AARD^vark FOR SHORT. MY PRIMARY GOAL IS FLAVOUR, WORLDBUILDING, AND CONTINUITY. I DO NOT KNOW THE PLOT NOR ANY POSSIBLE MONSTER THAT MAY OR MAY NOT TRY AND GNAW AT LEONIA'S ANKLE WHEN SHE FALLS ASLEEP ON HER WATCH SHIFT ON THAT ONE ISLAND.

PLEASE DIRECT ALL IMPORTANT QUESTIONS AT THE WIZARD UNLESS YOU ARE ASKING ABOUT HOW SUPPLE OR NOT SUPPLE THAT ONE COUCH IS. I AM USING CAPSLOCK TO CEMENT THE FACT THAT I AM HAMMING NO NOT HAM THAT BLASTED STUFF BEEFING UP THE GAME WORLD BUT MOSTLY MY OOC POSTS. HERE, I WILL BE MORE CLEAVER THAN CLEVER.

MY WORK WILL BE AS SUBTLE AS THE B IN 'SUBTLE.' I CANNOT CLARIFY INFORMATION YOU ARE TOLD VIA DIALOGUE. I AM NOT THE GM. PLEASE IGNORE ME UNLESS YOU ARE THANKING ME BUT DO THAT LATER BECAUSE MY WORK BEGINS ONLY NOW, NOT BEFORE. I AM NOT HERE NOR BRIAN BLESSED.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:36, Sun 29 July 2018.

Did somebody order A LARGE HAM?!

Hey everybody... You may have picked up some minor differences in style between myself and TSN.

I believe his quiet, subdued performance will help make the game more subtly nuanced. :P

Thank you for your help TSN, it's much appreciated.

Next scene will be the debriefing with Zhorr and Lia, featuring the introduction of our newest party member Kamea, followed by breakfast on the next morning.

Everybody is assumed to have taken some time to relax, take a bath, and generally make themselves feel better before the debriefing.

I went back and checked the rolls (which took longer than I had expected because I'm silly and I didn't actually record the effect in the IC thread) and it would seem that nobody got some horrible disease from the marsh. Lucky you.

TSN has the tag 'player'...I'd expect he would be somewhat different than you, MAW.

Also, Yay! for no diseases, although my level 3 picks kinda helped me out with that, I think. Wonder if any of them help me remember things more clearly with our recent failed mission?

Level 3? Since when?

I made a level two character. I powerfully do not care about level differences as long as it doesn't get me killed.

I'm excited to play!

MAW, in the last thread you mentioned that Aran's cantrips were now a finite resource, I'm taking it because cantrips are lost. Normally I get unlimited 0th level spells a day. With your change, how many level 0 spell slots do I have now? And also, is this a strictly story effect or is this a house ruling you just used the plot to add?

Your characters are currently using the 3.x rules for cantrips. It's a plot effect, and it only applies to your characters (though NPCs don't generally have multiple-use cantrips anyway, unless they have a proper PC class), which is something Zhorr will remark on, as soon as I have time to post the appropriate scene.

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/sorcererWizard.htm

You have 6 cantrips per day, cast spontaneously from your 5 known cantrips.

At the end of each adventure you level up. You will get all your new spells during the upcoming downtime, though you get the slots as soon as you rest.

Aran, before breakfast there will be a debriefing with Zhorr about what happened. Since you spent already one night resting during the trip back, I would suggest you edit your post as remembering how you spent that night trying out your cantrips (and figuring out how many of them you can cast).

After the debriefing, and the introduction of Kamea, we will move to the next morning and the breakfast.

Oh, goodness... I'm way too easily amused :P

(Fraternal twins of different fathers are a real thing, by the way, in case you're wondering... Though it requires some rather specific circumstances. It's just that, thinking about how shapeshifting works in Pathfinder, I found that it would be a lot easier for Kitsunes, so Kamea and Akane ended up being half-twins.)
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:27, Mon 30 July 2018.

Thrilled.

If nobody has anything to add, I'll move on to the debriefing.