Standard OOC thread me mateys.

Well now ain't you a mangy bunch of scallywags!

Well, not yet I ain't.

Rafe is a fighter (specifically a one-hand/dirty tricks build) intending to "grow into" the role of pirate.

We'll see how things go.

Well then nice to meet you Rafe.  I am a Rogue Scoundrel.  So, I have many different skills.  I may multiclass into Sorcerer but haven't decided yet.  I haven't picked all my feats for that reason.  One thing I can do for the both of us though is making fools flat-footed for 2 rounds.  You should like that.

I was planning on adding more yesterday but it turned out I had a bunch of birthday parties to attend. Apparently I am now attending birthday parties despite assurances from my family that we were still in quarantine...

..../siiiiighhhh

Be safe man.  Them ball pits can be treacherous.

Welp my weekend of carefully getting this game up and running is shot to hell. See you all monday!

Sounds good, it is Monday for me ;)  I live in Germany.

Kalia Tyrnddare, the Dragon Mistress, is here to show you all how it's done mateys!

Alright everyone has been added. You will notice that we have 8 players to start with but don't worry.

First of all as this is a custom game we are not bound to narrow dungeons and fixed encounters. I can easily adjust things up and down appropriately.

Second I have had a lot of success in adding a few extra players early on and then if natural attrition takes off a few people the party is still robust. My interpretation of a "0-level funnel".

Finally the overall goal is to have you guys run a ship so the more players there are, the fewer NPCs I have to run to fill in the various roles on a ship.

Me Zug Zug Bob! Zug Zug Swim good like whale! No like then Zug Zug smash!

I think you and my dragon, Drakar, will get along just fine Zug Zug. He's a nice pretty red fella.

Well met, all!

Hello from your friendly-ish Ulfen raider turning pirate. So I'm going either fighter or cleric depending on the answer to the following question.


I have a question for our ranger and barbarian. What fighting style will you two be using. Archery, two handed weapons, two weapon fighting, sword and shield?

Rafe already mentioned being a one weapon dirty trick guy.

Well since I am a full orc, not just a half-breed, I'm anticipating my strength score being, "Lol." So smacking things around with a greatclub until a really big sword comes my way seems appropriate.

I am Vander Wargrider, ranger, archer, medic, and the person who goes on the back of my wolf Shaka.

Nobody else gets to ride Shaka! She don't like it!

Also...most of you are way too big...
This message was last edited by the player at 00:20, Tue 26 Jan 2021.

While you are getting up to speed consider the answer to the following:

Are you crew or are you just a passenger? Both options are fine and you all dont have to have the same answer. Some can be passengers, some can be crew.

I will work on a crew list and other passenger list. The big difference this makes is what parts of the ship you can access and where you will be sleeping for the night. Most crew have hammocks on a lower deck. Passengers get their own rooms or share with others in their group. Officers might have their own room or share it with their junior assistant.

If you are crew consider the following positions: deck hands are your bread and butter generalist, riggers man the sails and climb the ropes (you will want good athletics checks) and finally junior officers are apprenticed to a senior one. The surgeon has someone to bring the tools and mop the blood, the gunnery officer has an apprentice to help maintain equipment and do inventory of the armory etc.

As a passenger consider what kind of passage did you book (and how). Are you a VIP being invited to captain’s dinners or did you pay bottom barrel prices and are crammed into a cabin like cordwood with barely any space for your gear?

Dont fret too much on it, this is not a long term decision past the prologue ;)

Considering Kalia's background as written, and her Background trait (Aspiring Free Captain) I took, she's likely crew, and possibly climbing the ranks. lol
This message was last edited by the player at 01:04, Tue 26 Jan 2021.

Zug Zug is crew! He's a deck hand all too happy to do the grunt work, and to be the guy who does heavy lifting (like moving the barrels of water, the whale fat, or going overboard to get the crew that go flying in a storm.

In reply to Dungeon Master (msg # 17):

Vander is the ship's surgeon, as he knows battle medicine when he was a medic among his goblin tribe. Most of the time he is making sure Shaka the wolf gets used to shipboard life. Which means lots of treats and fur brushing.

Oivind could be a Rigger with his background and skills it would work pretty good.

Xao may have signed on for a short term, a work for passage sort of deal. She could be a rigger. She doesn't mop blood up, just spreads it around.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:32, Tue 26 Jan 2021.

There is no "work for passage". You don't have to worry about the cost of passage though, that can be hand waved away. If you're worried about it then she can just have a hammock in the bowels of the ship.

---

Right now here is the overall breakdown of available "spot"

4 VIP passenger slots
5 "low" passenger slots (you sleep next to the crew and only have a hammock to call your own)
10 Rigger slots
35 Crew slots
4 Midshipmen Slots (these are generic junior officers. Experienced crew who have earned responsibility and can generally be put in charge of teams of crew to complete tasks. The lowest ranking "officers" on the shps.
4 Junior Mate slots (apprentices to the Bosun, Apothecary, Helmsman and Gunnery Master)
5 Stewards (gophers basically but because you get to be "in the room" as the officers make decisions it's the path to higher office. The highest ranked "junior officers" although it is very situationally dependent.
10 Senior Officer Positions as follows: Cook, Purser (ship's accountant, pays crew etc.), Ship's Wizard (uses spell slots to fire cannons or fix the ship), Apothecary (healer/cleric), Carpenter (fixes ship), Gunnery Master (maintains weapons, organizes crew during combat), Bosun (every day maintenance and operation), Helsman (navigates & sets course), Second and First Mate (they run the day-to-day of the ship. First Mate during the day, Second mate during the night).

In general senior officers are higher level characters but if you want to be horribly underqualified for a job, be my guest but I expect an interesting story behind how what should be a junior officer is suddenly put into a senior position on the boat.

All in all this puts the overall crew size at about 77. A ship this size would probably normally have 2-3 times that but I am fudging things a lot because A) I don't want to come up with that many NPCs) and B) I figure that magic does a TON at reducing crew sizes. Between magical spells and equipment it brings crew complements down by a factor of 3-4.

Also, and I cannot stress this enough, do not get attached and enamored with any particular position on the ship because whatever job you have you probably won't have by the end of the prologue <insert ominous music>

In reply to Dungeon Master (msg # 24):

Dun, dun, duuuuuun!

I'm sure I could come up with a good story of why she'd be in a senior position, after all I had to come up with one on why she has a red dragon Eidolon, and how she got from Hyonin to here in the first place.

"Drakar, please eat the First Mate." :) lol After all she is an Aspiring Free Captain, no one says how she has to get there. ;)

As a side note, I find it good that it interesting that it only takes Lore Sailing, Intimidation, or Diplomacy to sail a ship.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:10, Tue 26 Jan 2021.

Athletics is probably a good one to have if you're doing any physical labor. Each of the officers probably has a specific knowledge or craft skill.

Apothecary = Medicine, Lore (Surgery), Lore (Herbalism), Lore(Alchemy)
Helsman = Lore (Astronomy), Lore (Weather), Lore (Ocean), Lore (Shackles), Lore (Vidrian)
Carpenter = Craft, Lore (Engineering)
Purser = Lore (Accounting), Lore (Business) or Lore (Bureauocracy)
Gunnery = Lore (Engineering), Lore (Siege Weapons), Lore (Smithy)
Bosun: Lore (Labor)
First/Second Mate: Lore (Pirates), Lore (Merchantile)
Crew: Lore (Sailing), Lore (Rope), Lore (Games)
Cook: Lore (Cooking), Lore (Butchery), Lore (Baking), Lore (Fishing)

Granted with a lot of these lores there is a lot of overlap. You don't necessarily need to  have every single one but certain checks would be easier or harder to make with one versus the other.

For example if you see a pirate flag you could try to use Lore (Merchantile) to perhaps recognize the ship instead of that particular pirate, or Lore (Shackles) in hopes they happen to be a known Free Captain of that area.

Well that being the case Oivind would likely be a low passenger.

Xao would make a good Barrelman. She has a great perception, so the crowsnest is a natural spot for her. It would fit her personality as well. Wind in her hair looking for something new.

Welcome to all the new players!

So, I was contemplating on adding Bard Archetype later, but since we have a summoner and a sorcerer I think I will stick to the shadows and enjoy easy pickings.  I went with Scoundrel and will be looking for one of the higher-ranking positions *cough* First Mate *cough*.

For now, I am going to be a VIP for this part of our adventure together.  The Apothecary gave me a special invite, he is an old friend who just got me out of a huge jam.

@Xao - there is no "barrelman" position. You would be a rigger and part of your assignment would be going up there but there is too much work to do on a ship this size to just leave someone up top all the time as a full time job.

Also I forgot to mention, an alternative position could be a stowaway or prisoner. Both of those are viable options depending on your background. Or perhaps you were rescued from a shipwreck en route?

Again just throwing ideas out there.

In reply to Dungeon Master (msg # 27):

Well, While I am good in medicine I don't have any of those lores. So I will most likely be a low passenger.

Rafe would be interested in applying for a Midshipman position.

If he can't make that, he'd probably be one of the riggers.

Rigger it is!

Noted. Just missing placement for Kalia and Nenelethas.

Kalia has the skills to be one of the Mates (1st or 2nd), albeit low. Barring that, she could be one of their (or the Captains) stewards. With the Aspiring Free Captain background it seems fitting for any one of those positions.

You don't have to have every skill to take a position, or even be very highly positioned. I was just illustrating that there was more to running a boat than Intimidation and Sailling.

You are perfectly free to grab any available job. You are allowed to be bad and/or underqualified for the position you have :D

All you humans are missing out:

http://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=952

Be from Bloodcove and you can get a swim speed!

That’s cool! I should be getting a swim speed at some level in the future :)

I will be a paying passenger. A purveyor of fine artifacts has paid my way on board to get me out of town before her husband finds out about our extracurricular activities.

WTH, make her the First Mates steward.

One last piece of consideration is that at some point in this game, you (collectively speaking) will be given a ship and a crew and everyone will turn to you guys and say "what do we do now?" and the answer had better be "let's go be f***ing pirates!"

This isn't a hero game. This isn't a "let's go do nice things for nice people" game. This is a f***ing "shoot holes in that ship, board them and take their stuff before fleeing the sea cops" game.

THAT BEING SAID there is still room for good in here. You can decide to take your share and Robin hood it up by using the stolen booty to buy orphanages and schools for homeless veteran orphans. You can decide to only take "half" the stuff you find. Or a 1/3rd or something. You can even decide that you're only going to prey on big merchant consortiums or rip off other pirates (although note that is playing the game on super hard mode) but at the end of the day you will be killing people to steal their gold.

If that doesn't gel with your character now is the time to treat them like an etch-a-sketch, give them a good shake and rewrite their motivations/personality/backstory or whatever to get them to the point where they will gleefully swing aboard someone else's ship with a knife in each hand (and one in the teeth for good measure) and add lots of holes to anyone standing between them and the giant chest bursting with gold.

In reply to Dungeon Master (msg # 41):

LOL! That's why she's here! To be a Free Captain! The one and only Dragon Mistress of the High Sea's!
This message was last edited by the player at 02:12, Wed 27 Jan 2021.

Oivind wants to experience the year long raiding season.

I was going to go for Captain as well but since I didn't know about the aspiring free captain feat.  So since I missed that I will settle for first mate.  I am going to look into taking that human feat.

I was hoping to wear high heels, skip and jump. I like to press wild flowers.


Wait... That's a different skit. Killing for gold? Sounds good.

Nenelethas wasn't planning on being a captain, but then again, who was :)

Kidding, Nenelethas will eventually make a better helmsman or the ship's "mage"

It's not a feat, it's a background. One that fit my background that I wrote in my rtj very well so I was happy I found it.

Yea I meant background, sorry.

It's ok pearl if kalia messes up we can toss her overboard and you can have your chance.

Genius :)

We may have to deal with her dragon too...

Depends on how quickly we get the sharks on her.

Also I'm not saying mutiny is going to happen I'm just saying it's always a possibility.

And all the other goodies I can summon too. Hehe

In reply to Nenelethas (msg # 50):

Dibs! Dibs on the dragon! I'm sure I can feed it something small and chewey with bones!

Now where did that goblin go...

Game hasn't even started and we are already planning to mutiny on the PC captain.

Mutiny? Naw. Zug Zug doesn't even know what that is. He just wants to feed a small creature to an even bigger creature so he can see what happens. Where else is an orc going to see a dragon eat something?

It turns out that orcs were the first race to understand evolution, but their understanding is limited to "eat things, get bigger, eat bigger things"

Hahahaha!

I need a drinking buddy whose down?

Zug Zug! Zug Zug drink... like orc!

Seems legit!

That's one two more makes it a party.

All jesting aside, Zug Zug is pretty friendly. For an orc. He's just... well, lets say inexperienced so he has an orc way of communicating.

"Zug Zug make funny! Zug Zug say hooman have squishy face! Zug Zug say hooman is puny like wimpy elf! Ha!"

I was looking for a resistance to run feat but I couldn't find it. I guess I'll have to join the drinking team.

Zug Zug say gwirl is pretty like baby warthog!

In reply to Xao Fang (msg # 64):

Glad to have you.

I think Zug Zug needs a pet. Something completely inappropriate for a pirate ship while simultaneously harmless AND too stupid to learn any tricks. Like a chicken. Or maybe a giant ant. I dunno. Thoughts?

A chicken works. Or a goat. The ship's cow is definitely getting butchered so that would be a bad thing to take as a pet.

I had been thinking of having a pet like a ferret or cat or something. So we need anything to have that? I figured they could feed themselves on ship rats and not involved in fighting so they a a comfort and to point rather than game mechanic.

If you want to buy one, be my guest. I'd call it 2sp
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:36, Wed 27 Jan 2021.

Oh great, now I want one :). I'd prefer something that was a good swimmer like an otter or something like that. Maybe I'll find one I can buy later on in the game :)

Cat's can swim well, if they have to. Most don't like to. I had a cat that loved water and would jump into a pool for fun on sunny days and habitually joined me in the shower. Granted this was the same cat that played fetch with paper balls and elastic bands so it is questionable whether or not she knew she was a cat, but...

Fair, I've never seen a house cat in the water, but I am sure I've seen some bigger cats swimming :)

I will hold off on a pet for now :).

Guys, if all of you are gonna have pets, please keep an eye on them. My animal companion is a wolf, and while I cant keep track of Shaka all the time, she is well behaved.

But if the chicken starts walking back and forth in front of her...well, nature is gonna take its course sooner or later.

No pet for me. I have enough to handle with just myself.

PM me if you intend to buy a pet just so I have it in my notes.

Also I do not intend to do much with pets on my own so if you want it, it is up to you to bring it into the story.

Pssh.. I have Zug zug and Vander to keep as pets.

In reply to Oivind (msg # 77):

How many Vander vittles do I get?

Depends on how well trained you are.

In reply to Oivind (msg # 79):

*does backflip*

No pet for me either, I have enough with my eidolon. lol

In reply to Vander Wargrider (msg # 80):

All the vittles I can buy for 2 gold.

Speak of gold, for (reasons) I will be setting up a thread specifically to track gold transactions. As part of that I will be telling you how much gold you start with based on my calculations. It tends to be best not to argue, just go with it as it is usually in your favor anyway. Feel free to ask questions and I can show you my math but once that is set we will use that thread for tracking GP. It's nice, all your income and outcome are recorded like a bank statement and there is never any question about how much gold you have or if you did or didn't buy something.

In reply to Dungeon Master (msg # 83):

Its still a 10 conversion rate, right?

That is 1 gp=10 silver, 1 sliver=10 cp.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:47, Thu 28 Jan 2021.

Correct. As a general rule everything is about 1/10th the cost it was in 1e. They kinda sort of dropped a zero on every price to make gold pieces more valuable however they also took the time and rebalanced stuff.

Alright so almost everyone at least has the basics for a sheet and almost everyone has their NPC relationships PMd to them so I plan to start monday but it might end up being tuesday by the time I can sit down and write things up so enjoy the weekend and expect to get your game on next week!

A turtle. Zug Zug has a turtle. I thought long and hard on a name. I almost went with Ninja. But seeing as how Zug Zug has most likely never even heard of the word, let alone know what a ninja is, I chose the name Fish. Yes. He named his turtle Fish.

In reply to Dungeon Master (msg # 83):

So the gold you are giving us to start. Will it be part of our 15 gold we got to by gear? Does it override it or add to what we had left?

You start with 15gp as usual but because so far, in my experience, most players don't calculate their remaining gold properly I use my own notes instead. Usually this means players start with a little extra because often they misread an entry of sp to gp and subtract too much.

I don't like quibbling over a few silver pieces and especially if you have a ton of gear I might just say "this is how much you start with" rather than trying to figure out which of the two dozen purchases you made were miscalculated.

To be clear, I am not "giving" you anything, I am just "telling" you how much you have left over after buying your equipment :D
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:34, Thu 28 Jan 2021.

Hahaha! Thank you for keeping us honest.

I now know why the first ship Zug Zug was on sank! It had nothing at all to do with shoddy construction or being overloaded with crap!

When will we start the prologue?

Patience there Pretty. *Slides a tin cup of rum over* Anything worth doing is worth waiting for.

*starts pouring into multiple tin cups for the drinking crew*

Sorry laddies. Work has been crazy. I had to burn the midnight oil to keep up but things looking good for tomorrow start!

Pearl takes up the tin cup with a nod and takes what seems like a long swill of the rum.  In reality, she didn't but wet her lips.

Don't need to be stingy. This is the OOC here I have Nott's flask! *Starts filling all the cups to the brim.*

Mmmmm. Me drink!

For anyone who wants to get in the mood, it's basically going to be the aquatic version of this scene from Mad Max:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_kSs3w9pEI

HELL TO THE YEAAA!!!

If you have 15 minutes I linked two videos in the IMPORTANT INFO thread that details the mechanisms behind piracy 'as a business": branding and accounting.

I found it fascinating and helpful for getting into the mindset of things. Once you guys formally enter the pirate life I'll apply those lessons to the Pathfinder setting to tweak things for added realism.

Those videos are very well done. Have any of you watched Black Sails? There is a bit of the precarious nature of being in charge of a bunch of pirates in that show :)

Would we know what kinds of arms the other ships might have? I ask because I am worried the dragon will be a sitting duck.

By the time the ships are close enough for me to use it, we'll be the target and not the dragon. An Eidolon can only be 100' from the summoner. :)

Oh. Huh. That’s an interesting proposal. I think if they get that close we are probably in trouble but that could be a good back up plan should the worst happen. We could maybe trick them though. Drop our sails and let them close and then have the dragon swoop in and burn their sails. But we’d be pretty exposed at that point.

It's a plan, and one that would have to work without a issue. MEaning the minute their sail's went up, we'd have to get our's back up as fast as possible. But that's also why she's more proposing it as a last ditch effort then anything.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:27, Fri 05 Feb 2021.

It could work. It would be much better if we did it to a single ship.

You would know that most ships employ at least moderately powerful wizards because lighting fire to enemy sails is really strong and being able to douse your own sails from the same effect.

Also most ships have armories full of crossbows to mass fire so while it would be effective, a flying eidolon would also come under fire from hundreds of shots.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:53, Fri 05 Feb 2021.

That was what I was worried about :( The crossbows and ballista.

Don't forget the magic cannons that channel spells into massive destructive force!

Nenelethas, how do you pronounce your name?

Nen-ay-lay-thus. He’ll go by Nen though.

I am way behind! I have had a hectic week! Im trying to catch up now.

That's why Kalia gave it as a last ditch idea. Take into account that at 100' we're in range for all that stuff to be firing at the ship too and we've long been in ship to ship combat. By then an Eidolon will have been the last of their concerns until the last moment.

In reply to Kalia Tyrnddare (msg # 113):

If that's the case, by making my target my prey, i can ignore the second range increment with my short bow.

Ah, I see now. I hope we don't get in that situation but that could be a nice last ditch effort in preventing our demise.

Does Sorina seem like the kind of captain that would allow her cargo to be handed over to save the lives of the ship?

I love the whole idea of waiting until the right moment to fly the pirate flag!

The anticipation is killing me!!

I'm playing Zug Zug as oblivious to the real danger. He's just happy to be there.

Yeah as a passenger Oivind is just kind of waiting, but as a viking he wants to board the the enemy ships. I'm also not sure what to do.

Just as an FYI Fridays - Sundays tend to be bad days for me to post so don't expect a lot of movement on weekends from this game (or any of my games, really).

Thanks for letting us know!

This is really fun so far!

So some of you have asked me what other crew are doing and you don't have time to go around and take a survey so if you care, you can PM me and ask me for one person to glance at to take direction from.

I see some of you are trying to make dice rolls. Let me clarify things:

1. The game hasn't started yet. This is the giant cutscene that sets up the start of the game
   
   
2. You have a lot of control over small details on how the game starts but this section is very much on rails. What is going to happen is going to happen however things like who survives rests on your actions.
   
   
3. The obstacles you are facing (the Eye of Abendego and three pirate ships) are not something you can overcome. By all means your characters would try but I want to set expectations for you the player. On the one side you're outnumbered probably 5:1 and on the other side you have a 200+ mile across hurricane.
   
   
4. For those who think sailing into the Eye isn't suicidal, at its weakest it would sheer the deck clean of all sails. At its strongest it would be disintegrate the ship, ripping it to pieces and sending those pieces scattering. Some scholars believe it is actually a portal to another realm, a hole that connects to such places as the Elemental Plane of Air or even Rovagug's demiplane.

I rolled attack dice, was that ok?

nope :) nor were two rolls I made.  Only words are needed now.  As the GM said, chose one of three options.  I chose #3.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:58, Tue 09 Feb 2021.

Oh, sorry, I missed that, and wasted a natural 20 in the process :)

I just want to get everyone in the right frame of mind so you don't get frustrated. This is just to set the scene before the game begins proper.

I am also doing it this way so I don't have to dump 20 pages of backstory on you guys in one dump, instead parsing it out into consumable chunks and allowing you to react.

I love it! I feel bad that I rolled when I didn't need to :)

I must say the RNG was very much in favor of keeping people alive. I expected to kill twice as many NPCs. I do enjoy the stories that developed. For example it wasn't planned at all that both the helsman and his steward would die but seeing the dice result made an instant story develop!

Alright so Zug and Nenelethas are protecting the captain.

Pearl and Vander are heading to a rowboat to flee.

Just waiting on a few more people to make a choice before proceeding with the next update.

It would amuse me greatly if Fatty Ass somehow managed to survive. He sucks so badly he can't even go overboard and die correctly. :D

I am more amused that Shon "Everlasting" due to being an elf who has survived dozens of disasters gets offed in the first few seconds of combat.

Kinda hoping the Halfling eats it. Ratline must survive. He's the only one that likes me!

I definitely thought about drenching the mage for fun but then decided I didn't want magic retribution.

Yeah now that a clear victor has been chosen between the captain and her brother I figured Oivind would decide to protect her unless he's convinced otherwise.

I will admit that our DM and I have a history that goes back at least a decade or so. We've knocked heads a few times. We've strongly disagreed and have completely misunderstood each other from time to time.

But one thing I have never done was say he doesn't know his stuff. Of the... hundreds of GMs I've dealt with over the 20 or so years on rpol, he's in the top 3, and is one of a very small handful I seek advice from when I'm shaky on something.

For me, I'm... explosive. I have a strong preference for larger posts with details, and I like things to flow as though I were watching a John Wick movie. My attention span wanders, especially when I have to play being punked out. Its better for me to know those things in advance. Because I can't just sit down and conjure up a good post, I prefer having some idea what I am supposed to be doing. Everything y'all see from me is done on my phone. I haven't been home since a day or two after Christmas. I had the DM pretty much make my sheet for me and let me fill in the blanks with a handful of appropriate options.

Edit: SPEAR! SPEAR! SPEAR!

https://youtu.be/AdMUDKGfNIg
This message was last edited by the player at 17:26, Fri 12 Feb 2021.

That's quite impressive. I post about 50-50 from my phone and laptop and I sometimes find myself being lazy with phone posts...

While I am both humbled and appreciative of this praise it also makes me a little sad because while I will proudly say that I put in the work, I mostly just run canned adventures so the bar is just having a GM who can post for a year consistently.

On the one hand that is an impressive feat, but also something that anyone can do if they just put in the time and effort.

I guess that is how everything works. Anyway glad you all are enjoying how things are working. I would estimate maaaybe another week before the game kicks off proper.

The thing about that is don't sell yourself short: People like me who never use adventure paths would never know it was one if you didn't say so. There is also the simple fact that DMs can be very dry, linear, and so unimaginative that they can run an AP to the letter and still make it suck.

Now maybe some of y'all have different experiences than I do. But generally speaking, I take pride in the fact that I am an awesome GM. I have a high player retention rate and I don't even have to advertise for games and people show up. By contrast, look at that guy Rez. Every week he bumps his ads for players in all of his games as well as GMs wanted. I don't know the guy and can't say what is going on for certain. However, the fact he's been doing it for years on the same ads and games tells me 2 things. He has trouble finding players and no GMs want to deal with him.

So the bar isn't that low. :)

Can'd? They may start off that way but the moment you convert them from one system to another they start to take on your own little twists and feel. That shifts them somewhat from can'd, to can'd with a twist. And in my opinion that's what makes you a pretty good GM. That's why I'm in so many of your games. lol What is it I'm in now, 5 of your games? Of how many you run? I'd not join that many games of a single GM if I thought they were anything short of decent. Hell, for a person like me to be in more than one game a person runs should be a compliment because like I told you before, I am very picky. They gotta vibe with me.

Still you are mostly right. Anyone can run a can'd adventure, but not anyone can run them and make them pop, or update them from the old system to the new and keep them popping. So yeah, you're good in my book.

To echo that, I know I would play in any of your games that you would have me in!

This AP is wonky at first and you have made it engaging in a fresh and fun way.

Zug Zug I wish I knew what games you were GMing.  If you are that good I want a piece.  Heck, perhaps I am already in and don't know it LOL.

Anyways, to echo your thought on Rez.  I joined a game of his and he is not an agreeable GM at all.  He has a strange way to do things and that is all I will say.

As for Praguepride, this is my second game with him and I love being in them, even if the dice don't go our way sometimes (they know what I mean).

I myself GM and for the most part I have no issues with retention, but as with all things, life happens.  But, as Nen said the beginning of this path is a rough one if played by the book.

I'm currently hosting a Ravenloft game that is very full. I have a V5 canon, Revised Rules game under construction. I've not touched it in a bit since I have several books at home just waiting on me to get there and pick them up.

That is the nice way to say things about Rez. I recently applied to his Star Wars game ad with a character concept of Dooku's Dark Side apprentice prior to his death at the hands of Anakin. The character was trained in secret, but Palpatine knew anyway, and so when he issued Order 66, he sent a squad after this character too. The character, now desperate, fled into hiding and sought out light side force users (the other players) for protection and a greater understanding of the Force.

Everything fell apart with, "Dooku didn't have an Apprentice he trained in secret and even if I allowed that I don't see why that individual would turn to the other players. It sounds like an NPC." I was like, "Uh...ok."

It struck me as peculiar. It was exactly what he was looking for. But I digress.

I built a game for Rez once. All I will say is he decided to not only quit the game but delete his character sheet and description on the way out in an attempt to prevent me from replacing his character.

I think Rez was one of the first GMs I ever tried to play with. I had no clue what I was doing and he had this grand scheme for what turned out to be an old pre gen adventure and the only other players were his GM NPCs. He berated me for some dumb reasons I can’t even remember and then I think I told him I was frustrated and he booted me and deleted my character. If I hadn’t found other games with better GMs in the week or so that this lasted i likely would never have come back to rpol.

So see Prague? Sticking around isn't everything. You could be like that guy. But you're not. People like you. :D

Language groups should be active. Make sure you have access to the right ones. I freely admit sometimes it feels like I am in a fevered dream when I am trying to assign languages and they end up all messed up :D

I actually don't know how to use language groups. I've never bothered to learn them. :/

But!

There it is. Zug Zug speaks just fine...in his own language.

Reply -> Insert Private Line -> The Language Group -> Pick a language

[Language unknown: Set i lowit fi ughareect ngho neeve ec somfo aiat p]

[Language unknown: Plha nc naver a larardove ich ll adour comartare ncwa p]
(That is what it looks like when you can't read it)
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:25, Tue 16 Feb 2021.

How do you set it up as a GM?

In reply to Zug Zug Bob (msg # 149):

Gm menu.

Edit private groups.

Add language names and click which players know what at the bottom.

All of mine are right save for that I need access to Orcish as well.

FYI these are the kinds of waves you're facing so keep that in mind as you read the update:

So nobody in their right mind is actually thinking the dinky life rafts are a good idea?

hahahaha! the life rafts are going to be torn apart, like our boat :) No wonder they are teleporting on board. Maybe we should have helped the mutineers...

I mean at this point its a "pick your death" situation. A rowboat is just as likely to survive as being captured on a ship full of pirates.

Hmmm had I known the waves were luke that I probably wouldnt have left the ship.  Ah well, least I can swim really well.

That's not true! Pirates can always use good fighters who are crazy (read: dumb) enough to attack another ship in the middle of a bad ass storm. They need to replace their numbers.

Judging by the numbers they just threw at you, they're doing just fine on crew size. It doesn't seem very likely they're in a "recruiting mood" at the moment.

Yeah but I'm equal to 2 of them! That makes me valuable. Hopefully...

:D

These last two posts from the DM have been amazing. I'm looking forward to what's next!

As an FYI I hope nobody feels regret over any decisions. I cannot stress enough the chaos that was occurring. I think it was perfectly natural for a group to try and take a boat to flee which is why a bunch of NPCs tried to join them. The whole thing went down in a span of a couple of minutes so just chalk it up to panic, the "flight" response kicking in to get you away from murderous pirates and crazy killer crew.

Also I have a ton of paperwork I'm going through so I have another big update planned for today but it will take awhile to mark down all the survivors.

No regrets here! Now I can say I was a life-sized pincushion :)

Yeah. Why would I be mad or regret anything? This is the prologue.

So combine that picture imagery of the waves with this one:



And that just about sets the mood :D

Oh what a day...what a lovely day!

I am loving how you have revamped this adventure path so far :)

Alright...well that turned a little dark but finally ready to kick it back to you guys.

Note: Xao Fang still isn't with the rest of you.

Just to clarify, former passengers (Oivind, Nenelethas etc.) are being treated the same as crew. The pirates aren't going to bother trying to differentiate who was working for who.

As the captain put it "you're all trespassing on my ship now".

You said we could try to sneak a post in. :/

In reply to Dungeon Master (msg # 168):

Thanks for clarifying that :)

Just to be clear, is everyone who was on the rowboat on the ship now? My wolf Shaka as well?
This message was last edited by the player at 00:52, Thu 18 Feb 2021.

Yeah. I only kill players through their own actions, not via cutscenes :D

Vander, the GM told us that passengers and crew were now the same :)

The goal is to pretend to be dumb enough to be underestimated. :/

EDIT: Also, nah, I really don't want to serve under that captain either. I'm playing along because it's necessary, but that piece of trash needs to go in an epically anti-climactic bitch way. :P
This message was last edited by the player at 22:22, Thu 18 Feb 2021.

In reply to Zug Zug Bob (msg # 174):

I'll hold him while you give him the worst cherry belly then we'll give a swirly in the eye of abendego

I was thinking we feed him to the wolf.

That won't be good for shaka's digestion and we don't need to have him with the runs while on a ship.

If you enjoyed the opening I figured I would share that I was heavily inspired by Return of the Obra Dinn. It's a game available on Steam about being an investigator in the 1800s playing detective trying to figure out who was killed (and how) on a ghost ship.

It's a really interesting story and requires real detective work. No hand holding or big glowing arrows saying "HERE IS THE CLUE YOU NEED".

It has gotten amazing reviews for good reason and for those sharp eyed lads you'll notice that is where I got the cool map for the Sorina's Revenge Wormwood.

I have seen that game. My Steam library is huge though. I don't have a lot of time to play the 1200 or so games I do have. I only recently completed Farcry 5 and Vampyr.

I know how you feel Zug Zug, being a Humble Choice member I have a massive steam library now.

So I have a question, we still in prologue, or this now game?

Why does that question sound like, “if I say no am I going to die?” :)

Because that's what it is?

He just wants you to know you still have a free will to choose. It just your choices are limited to join, or die.

Yes. That’s your choice. Join now to kill him later or die now.

Yes, not joining them means you find a new game ;)

I would like to get to know the quarter master

Not me. I'm still feeding that twit to the sharks first chance I get!

Crew listing is up for the new pirate crew. PM me your own social choice for the week.

Prologue is going to be extended a teensy bit longer. At least we're starting to get die rolls into play.

Updated info sent!

M-O-O-N! That spells Zug Zug!

Updated information

I am still waiting on PMs from most of you. Also please do not post your answers in threads. If I ask you to PM them, please PM them so I do not miss them and can keep them organized for later reference.

As far as I know, I did everything you asked didn't I?

I need PMs from Xao and Kalia at this point.

Sorry, that is my mistake. I posted a private line instead of a private message. I have corrected this.

@Xao: no worries.

---

Map has been posted. For clarification I have marked obvious exits to aid in exploration planning. Exits are summarized as follows:

A - Appears to lead to a small storage area.
B - Appears to lead to some kind of officer's quarters.
C - Appears to lead to the captain's quarters.

(Unmarked) - D - A rusted iron grate. It looks down into the cargo hold but it is too dark to see much and there is some kind of drapes or curtains set up that obscures even darkvision.

---

On ships like this, the stair cases below deck are usually covered to prevent rain from leaking below deck and are usually paired so there is likey a staircase behind A/B and C.

I hope everyone understands why I am asking for all these choices to be made. I can't promise that all of them will always pay off but many of them will, I hope.

Did I get my axe back?

Everyone has their equipment back. If I intended to remove it I wouldn't have had you buy it in the first place.

I realize I forgot to explicitly mention it but you've all earned your way into Grok's ledgers so you're all considered full crew. You can't go into the officer's quarters but otherwise you're free to go about the ship and free to carry whatever you want.

When you do pick a direction please specify via the letter references so I know what to prepare next.

Wow, the Aid another action is really hard

It's part of rebalancing skill checks in general. You have to be able to actually help in order to help.

For lower skilled people they're more likely to just get in the way (makes sense to me) and for lower DC skill checks they're not really necessary (also makes sense to me).

That being said when you start hitting very high skill checks hitting a DC 20 is going to be a lot easier than DC 30 or higher and every bonus helps!

Is it too late to stop the fire? I am not saying I want to, I am just saying it read like Pearl lit it and then everyone tried to stop her.

I don't see C or D on the map. Am I to assume that the big grated area right next to where we all are is the grates you are referencing to go below decks?

By looking at the ship can I 1) tell how many decks she has, and 2) guestimate the approximate size of what her crew should be, and 3) determine what type or how much cargo she could carry?

Since you opened up a door, I readjusted the lettering.

A is the storage area.
B looks to be captains quarters.
C is the big grate going down that nobody can get through.

Overall the ship looks to have 3 decks. It is much smaller than the Sorina's Revenge. It is hard to guess a crew size because they can vary so wildly. More than a rowboat, less than the Sorina's Revenge is all you can figure. Maybe a couple dozen? But thanks to magic and different races you could probably crew this ship with a half dozen or as many as fifty or sixty crammed into the hold.

We can't get through the grate below deck or we can't see through it because of curtains and the like?

How...did I get involved in combat on the steps or below deck when I went to neither? I was explicitly not going to go single file down a flight of steps because it's an absolutely terrible idea. I was pretty vocal about still wanting to go through the grate because it gave us the most amount of room and light.

I'm confused. :/

You weren't on the steps. You were all in the room above the steps helping to unclog it from debris.

I posted earlier that it could cause structural damage if you chop out the grate:





edit: To help clarify, the vermin didn't attack immediately. It takes about half an hour to clear out all the debris from the stairs and the group was working for a good 10 minutes before a collapse in the debris triggered the swarm which is why everyone's guard was "down" so to speak.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:05, Fri 12 Mar 2021.

Maybe I misunderstood. I got the structural damage. I interpreted that to mean if we let the grate fall through. That was why I suggested strong people hang onto it to keep it from falling.

So okay. What exactly should I be doing now? It is my first 2e rodeo.

I think you should be killing things :)

Zug Zug Smash!

I just want to ask since I too am new to 2e.  If you move through a threatened area of an enemy they get an AoO still right?

The reason I ask is cause both Kalia and Zug Zug moved through threatened areas.

I did? I didn't see anything on the map...

You didn't see the centipedes in O15 and Q16?  They are outlined in red squares.

Oh. Crud. Nope I didn't. I took a quick glance from my phone, saw we were all clustered up, decided I'm not about that life, and moved to the nearest thing to provide some cover. :/

Im not used to looking at maps and looking for the "thing" on top of us like that. Oh well.

I don't think every creature has an AoO, that's a special kind of reaction, right?

Okay quick primer on 2e, especially for those of you new to it.

1) Attack of Opportunities are no longer a guarantee. They're a feature typically given to very "martial" oriented classes/monsters like warriors/fighters/barbarians. AoOs are something to keep in mind but in general unless your opponent is highly trained or has quick reflexes you're probably safe to move out of combat with them.

2) Your turn is made up of 3 actions. Typically everything you want to do is going to be 1 action so you get three picks. Attacking is one action, moving your full move speed is one action, taking a "Step" which is the 2e version of a 5' step (thus avoiding AoOs) is an action. Interacting with the environment or your stored equipment like drawing a potion or a sword etc., one action. It makes things super easy because when in doubt, it's probably a single action.

3) If you attack multiple times, you suffer penalties. It doesn't matter if you attack with different weapons although different weapons have different properties but in general it is -0/-5/-10 to your attack rolls. I've listed out the successive attacks in the combat tracker.

This can be altered by your weapon. For example Zug Zug uses a greatclub that has Backswing that gives a bonus if you miss on your previous attack. Other weapons are Agile that makes it -0/-4/-8. Check your weapons for their properties on the Archives just in case I forget.

4) Some classes/abilities gives you new "actions" to take in combat. I should call these out in your combat tracker.

Otherwise things are pretty similar to 1e. The multiple actions and steep attack penalties means that especially at low levels it makes sense to do things other than stand and swing. Here is a list of common actions you can take in combat

OOC: At this point once your poison reaches stage 2 it is 1d8 poison damage if you want to roll and resolve it yourself. Centipede swarms are pretty awful because of the high DC saves.

Is that just once more time?

16:20, Today: Pearl McCalister rolled 2 using 1d8 with rolls of 2.

@Pearl: Keep rolling until I tell you to stop or you pass your fort save :P

In reply to Dungeon Master (msg # 218):

hehe too easy!!

Yes. But a giant DESERT centipede on a boat in the OCEAN makes no sense. :P

Also, hawks, owls, eagles, and the occasional road runner or coyote eat them.  I think even praying mantis eat them. The best thing about them is that the centipede eats the scorpions. Every year some knucklehead gets stung by a scorpion and ends up in the hospital, but I don't think I've ever heard of the centipede doing it. Usually we just stomp on them. They're big enough to see and not really cammod up.

Do I have to keep making healing checks in order to give out the +2 bonus?

No I factored in your +2 to all their poison saves. It did not matter as neither Pearl nor Kalia could get a roll above 10...

To speed things along I've simulated the next 4 rounds to run out the poison clock.

I can do a single target heal to give Kalia 1d8+8 HP back, but that leaves me with a single 1st level spell left for the day. Can anyone else help her?

In reply to Nenelethas (msg # 223):

Dont waste it. I can treat wounds once every hour.

Too late, I took care of her for the time being. I'm sure we will need the treat wounds in less than an hour anyway. :)

Pearl is down to 4 HP too, so you need to treat them both :)

poke poke

Sorry for not posting over the weekend, as well as erratically, guys the last couple weeks. We were hit with a heavy workload and my normal workweek of 4 days a week had 2 extra days added the last couple weeks. I volunteered one, and was mandated the other. All I wanted to do is just come home and sleep. LOL! Now things are back to normal with the new hires so I am back on my normal schedule. Yay me!
This message was last edited by the player at 20:50, Mon 22 Mar 2021.

Can I try to treat wounds on Kalia or is someone else doing it?

Go for it.

In reply to Dungeon Master (msg # 230):

I assume this is no good.

17:29, Today: Vander Wargrider rolled 13 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 8.  Medicine check.

What did I find while poking around and looking for other possible nests while everyone else was getting medicated?

That depends on where you're going. Map has been updated.

Pearl, Shaka was providing you with flanking, so you should have gotten your sneak attack.

Cool I edited that she stays in place then and she hit twice ;) thanks!

In reply to Pearl McCalister (msg # 235):

Dont thank me, thank Shaka! She takes treats of almost any kind...

:P

This might be the al-key-haul talking but I think now's about the time I murder a couple of you to show that this is serious business! Weeeeeeeee!

I guess maybe I should have let someone else move the spider webs :(

I fumbled on the attack for the first swing. Does that halt the rest?

Nope. In general a regular attack doesn't have a critical failure option. You just miss with your first attack.

Some special attacks or some specific abilities might modify that but otherwise business as usual.

Hunter's Edge: Precision. 1st hit on prey does +1d8 precision damage. Wolf also gets same bonus.

As the spiders take precision damage, Shaka should do the full 17.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:47, Mon 29 Mar 2021.

Ah, I didn't realize that transferred. I'll adjust accordingly.

Did we lose Rafe?

Yep. I usually start a game with a couple extra people and then just let them drop off until we level out around 5-6. It happens and by this point I just expect to lose about 1/3rd of the game in the first couple of months.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:44, Thu 01 Apr 2021.

In reply to Dungeon Master (msg # 244):

Should I try to heal Rafe now that his player is gone, or is he gonna be an NPC?

That is up to you. He will survive as long as he can but if he goes down then he gets a gruesome death.

Not to sound callous but is there any equipment that our departed comrade was carrying that would be of use to any of us?

We lost Oivind too? We are running low on the frontline fighter front.

I wasn’t sure about healing Rafe as that takes away 1 of my last 2 level 1 spells for the day. I can but we might need that to help us

I think as a group we need to start being a little more careful and scouting ahead. That wolf should be sniffing out the danger and giving us some kind of warning. We should also avoid clustering up so we can all be rushed or surrounded. We haven't been able to flank or charge (to my knowledge). We're two encounters in, and our casters are down spells. Our healers are using up their heals. I've avoided using rage on purpose. I'm already easy enough to hit.

Also.

Just as a plot notice... We've found absolutely nothing to give us a reason to keep searching, taking risks, etc. We haven't found a single thing worth even a copper piece in value. Why are we continuing instead of returning with nothing and saying there was nothing but vermin?

After an hour, including the 10 mins of failed healing check, I can heal Rafe another 9 HP.

OOC:
11:45, Today: Vander Wargrider rolled 9 using 2d8 with rolls of 4,5.  Healing.

11:44, Today: Vander Wargrider rolled 22 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 17.  Treat wounds an hour later.

Vander: How many times can you heal? Do you have a healing kit or something with a certain amount of uses?

Sorry if I'm being redundant! I'm trying to learn as I go. :)

In reply to Zug Zug Bob (msg # 252):

Healing kits I don't think have uses. They are not like healing potions. The problem there is I can only try once, and then have to wait an hour to try again.

I agree with most of what you are saying Zug Zug but I also want to explore this ship and see what we can find and am willing to spring a few traps to do so.

If Zander’s Wolf can lead the way, by all means, let’s do that. I don’t want us stuck in place because we are trying to be perfect and even if I used all my spells I could still be ok in a fight I just can’t bail you out if you get killed.

With that being said I think healing Rafe even if he is an NPC is the way to go since we as characters don't know that!!!  If anything he will be a meat shield for other surprise attacks against us.

This. ^

This poison is kicking our ass. Is your heal good enough Vander that you could maybe concoct us some anti-venom? If there was a way to buff me against the poison I could take a couple of these low damage hits. And my damage output is enough to splatter most anything I connect with.

I only have a 50% chance at healing. My crafting is worse. On the plus side if we take it slow, I should be able to heal people over time.

Crap.

Can we/you at least try? Maybe our DM will like the attempt at a creative solution! :D

In reply to Zug Zug Bob (msg # 258):

Does anyone have a better crafting than +3?

Would it be crafting or survival?

In reply to Zug Zug Bob (msg # 260):

I think you need a feat to use nature as medicine.

Oh. Because I have survival, I'm an orc, a barbarian, and I'm (iirc) a rainforest background. It just seemed to me like maybe I could help with a "primitive" antivenom medicine. But I dunno.

FYI Pathfinder 2e is pretty generous about healing between combat but the flipside is it is much more brutal in combat. It is easier to get criticals and easy enough for monsters to take 2 or 3 swings a turn basically fishing for crits.

From my experience "lower difficulty" encounters are more difficult while "higher difficulty" encounters are a bit more manageable. You don't get into the "save or suck" stuff and because you can't get negative HP it is easier to bounce back from a big crit HOWEVER even low level enemies land hits and they do decent damage. Don't expect to 1-shot enemies turn 1 and emerge from encounters unscathed WITH the caveat that because of how critical level is to pretty much everything when you get high enough level you can just carve down low level enemies like wheat.

Uh, translate into I'm a retard lingo please? :P

You hit and get hit more often but you get some free heals between encounters.

Also I am not trying to steer you one way or another but lying to the captain and saying you didn't find anything is an option.

Lying to the captain would be saying we did find something. So far we found nothing of value, so it isn't a lie. :D

I am open to further exploring but I understand the impulse to stop.

Yo Pearl, why did you bother stopping me and making a diplomacy check if you're just going to not have time to actually talk, and then point out we have nothing but time since the return to the ship is a ways off?

See. I got the ancestry Barbarian trait. Those piles of bones are like graves. One of the things Im not allowed to do is mess with that stuff. I just tried explaining that IC. I had originally, several posts ago investigated them. I had forgotten about it until the DM pointed them out again. Between the combat with the spiders, the discussion of anti-venom, who to heal, how, etc.

That said, I direct this to the DM... what kind of workaround can I do here? This is like a make or break this game and Pathfinder 2e situation for me. I already hate 2e. I didn't sign up to play a pirate game where my only options so far have been an unwinnable fight that leads to being a cook and "investigating" a derelict ship filled with venomous vermin that have been kicking our collective asses without so much as a hint of anything of value we can use on the master ship, let alone improves our own gear.

I'm not trying to be the ass, dude. Typically I love your stuff. Give me something to work with here, please.

I get your reluctance here Zug Zug, I would just trust the GM to not to have this be the standard approach to all of our encounters. I am sure there are ships full of other pirates for us to pillage and islands of adventure for us to explore in our future.

To your previous point, we also aren't operating optimally, we should have Pearl and/or Zander leading the exploration with you and any other meat shields directly behind them and leave me and Kalia near the back so we can use our spells more effectively.

I feel so out of place. Like a beached whale. Its frustrating. I don't know when to make skill checks. I don't know which ones to make. The things I know to be certain from previous rules don't apply. Its a big Grrr.

Somehow I've been left out of Nenelethas' plans.

GM, is there enough room under the doors for a spider to fit through?

Sorry Xao, you should be in the back with the rest of the casters :)

The intent is to scout this room without drawing attacks.

That is a good question, how the spiders are navigating the ship and the answer is that the walls/floor/ceiling are full of holes. They're not going through normal doors but instead climbing through the walls.

Even though they are medium size, a lot of that is their long legs, their actual bodies are about small dog/large cat size, give or take.

The main issue you're going to face is that the webbing makes it difficult to even see very far ahead. The spiders have termorsense because of their webs which is how they can navigate. Even with darkvision there are curtains of webs blocking view.

---

The purpose of this introductory adventure/floating dungeon was two fold. The first was to give time to let the drifters fall off. Mission accomplished. The second was to put you through some controlled combat so you have a chance to see the system in play and get to know your character and the others.

If you're struggling based on the mechanics, just shoot me a PM and I can make some tactical suggestions. When it comes to skills a lot of skill checks I roll automatically behind the scenes. Some of you have already gotten private information when a skill check is passed.

---

As for an overall check I would say your characters would know you've explored most of the ship based on its overall size. You would guess about two more rooms plus the cargo hold below. It feels unlikely that there are that many more large vermin on board given the size of the ship and the amount you've killed already.

What about scent? Pest Form gives me scent, which I don't really think fits a spider but that's the RAW. I would think tremor sense would be more realistic but they probably didn't want to write everything up.

Actually spiders have very strong sense of smell so Scent does make sense.

So can I smell anything in this room? I went under door A.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:13, Thu 08 Apr 2021.

1. Do I recognize anything about the orcs?
2. Does it look like anyone was specifically fed to the vermin / spiders as a sort of sacrifice?
3. If it looks like there was a fight of some sort between the crew and the orcs, where are the weapons?
4. How long does the most recent looking cocoon thing look to have been dead or made?

I'm having serious Arachnophobia flashbacks right now. :)

I thought I was the only one to have seen that movie. :P

*Stomp* *Squish* Bad. I'm bad...

...a web would indicate an arachnoid presence.

The one thing that has always boggled my mind about that movie is where did the daughter hanging out in the bathtub to avoid the spiders get the straw she was using to breathe? It isn't like people just have straws laying around in the bathroom.

Also. The old man bitten on the toe because the spider was in his shoe... shouldn't that spider's name be squishy?

Don't question kids with straws.

I don't know if that spider should have squished or not, but I do know that I shake out all my footwear because of it!

LoL!

One of the very first movies I remember seeing (at least bits and pieces) was Dawn of the Dead. As a semi driver there are 2 things I always do. I always make sure whatever bags I am carrying are within reach so I don't have to go back. I also always get in and out as fast as I can after making sure there is nobody (especially zombies) along the side. :P

Back to Arachniphobia. While nobody got bit by a spider, I don't check coffee cups with my index finger or eat cereal out of the box. :P

I can one up you guys. I played THE VIDEO GAME for aracnophobia!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFUBkpK0i2A

(make sure you play with your speakers on low volume, early dos sound effects are awful)



Oh hey, your knowledge in orc lore specifically applies! I'll post the answers here:

Yay! I'm able to be useful in the puzzle solving aspect! This makes me happy. Seriously. I hate it when my only contribution is to hit things. I enjoy pyzzles and lores more than I get credit for. :D

Congratz, ZZ!

Also, giving I am following Xao, how much do I hear? Also...is Xao in tiny form and moved through an opening only a tiny sized creature could? I would be steering clear of any webs in order to keep the other spiders from being alerted. If I could not manage that, I would stop following Xao rather than ruin her scouting effort.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:26, Sun 11 Apr 2021.

Pest form makes me tiny, yes.

Can I drag the bracelet back with me as a spider or will it not fit through with me?

Sure, it's a bracelet. It might be a struggle but you can manage it.

This! ^

FYI there are still two areas unexplored. The first is a door past the next room to the north. The second is the "bone" room to the south.

After what Xao said about below deck and the water muck, I say bone door.

Same.

Agree

Do I need to make some type of searching, investigating, or perception roll? Also. How does "bone door" open? Inwards or outwards? Is it flimsy like the rest of the ship or pretty sturdy? Basically, if I wanted, could I put my shoulder into it, bust it off the hinges, and use it like a bulldozer / tower shield against anything that could be on the other side?

I'm game for whatever the group decides!

All you have to do is say "I'm searching X" and I'll handle the rolls. I tend to make the passive checks in secret because it's no fun to explore and roll a '1' in a room only for the next person to come along and say "Oh...I'll search too..."

The door opens inwards and looks flimsy as the rest. Yes you can absolutely bust down the door and use it as cover. In general interacting with the environment in a quick manner costs an action.

I would count the door as an improvised tower shield. It will provide +1 AC and have half the normal hardness and HP if you have the Shield Block ability.

In 2e to get the benefit of a shield bonus you must spend an action the "Raise Shield" action. That readies your shield and gets it in position to help block attacks.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:34, Fri 16 Apr 2021.

This would look sweet if it worked! Is there any way I can kick in the door as part of my entrance, and then make an intimidate check to cause some kind of fear, panic even? I'd be okay with stunned or demoralized ready to surrender!

Big, mean, raging orc just kicks in your door. It could happen!

Lol. Is it 1, 2, 3, and then go, or is it go on 3?

Duck-dwee Da Da Da duck-dwee-dow
Doo-da-loot

Sooner or later one of you is going to laugh! You can't all be the Undertaker. :D

I am just wondering if you have all waited for Xao to return or not?

I thought in your last post you said you were coming back. :D

I said I would return below in ten minutes.

Pearl is waiting.

Right. 10 minutes isnt very long. I figure by the time Zug Zug got done applying Wapaint, doing his searching and listening 10 minutes should be about up. :D

Make sure you are happy with your positioning...

Is that the mast between me and the door?

Is this the bone door? I would be pressed right up against it.

How much time has passed? Can I make another healing check on someone?

To recap, you charged through the "bone door" into someone's bedroom. With more bones. There is another door with chanting behind it.

@Vander - Not enough time has passed for another check.

To clarify is that the initiative order?

Another clarification, we waited until I could refill my focus pool.

I believe we waited for that.

Good call, I'll correct that in your tracker. My mistake.

So the chart in the Initiative order?

Nope, I don't do initiative anymore. I mean it kind of is just to illustrate that the monsters go first but it is party/group order. Y'all go, I go etc.

Another good question cuz I always seem to be at the bottom despite Improved Initiative. :P

I do have a tactical question for us though. Is it easier to hit this orc's shield and bust it on purpose with some sundering than to just hit his AC? And would busting his shield improve our odds of kicking his ass up around his ears? Or is it not worth?

Breaking his shield is always worth a good cinematic round at the very least

That is kind of what I was thinking, but if it doesn't lower his AC enough to make hitting him easier on the rest of us or if targeting his shield is too high of an AC to hit, it might be better to just try and whack him. Even with +7 I still need to roll a 17 or higher...

If you feel you can hit his shield and sunder it then do it because that would also reduce his overall AC by one because the only item that is still useable once it has the broken condition is armor. :)

https://2e.aonprd.com/Conditions.aspx?ID=2

However, if you do not feel you can sunder his shield, don't try.

Keep in mind that because of the Shield Block reaction, you can break shields as a natural part of striking them.

You hit them, they get a Shield Block reaction, the shield reduces the damage by its hardness and then any remaining damage goes to person AND shield.

So say you have a typical steel shield (5 hardness 20 HP).

I deal 12 damage in a swing, they block it. 5 damage is ignored (due to hardness) and then the remaining 7 damage hits the person AND the shield (so shield is now at 13 HP).

Shields are GREAT at blocking low damage hits as anything < 5 damage just plinks off the shield. After that though they tend to get broken and crumpled real fast. AMAZING for defending against goblins, you're probably only getting one or two uses against an ogre.

---

RE: Initiative - I don't track individual initiative as stated in the [IMPORTANT INFO] thread. You're last because I do things alphabetically.

Never ceases to amaze me. Every time I don't play a Fighter I get my ass kicked. When I do play Fighters, I either end up fighting giant chicken things, tiny vipers with ninja class levels, Zombies, goblins, or equally annoying kobolds where I spend 90% of the time running through a funhouse of traps. *Facepalm* :P

Okay Dice... Know Your Role!

EDIT: Of course they don't.

So. Is the odds to hit better with just using one swing? Is hitting the shield the same AC as trying to hit the half orc? I'm unsure about the numbers. It's my thoughts that hitting the shield should be significantly easier than hitting the half-orc because he's intentionally raising it and putting it in the way. I ask because looking at the numbers, with the multi-swings it's literally not possible to hit him without rolling a natural critical. It seems to me that there has to be a simple, effective way to either drop his AC so he can be hit, or to make some kind of attack that can actually connect. Keep in mind I know nothing of PF2e and I'm known to toss out the books and rule in favor of common sense even in PF1e.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:31, Fri 23 Apr 2021.

1) There is no Sunder anymore. You cannot target an  item with an attack per se. Instead you can attempt a Disarm to knock it around a little bit. As you need a critical to actually remove it it helps to coordinate so you have a bunch of people trying to wrest an item from the opponents hand.

2) He has a very high AC for your level. Usually you would face things that are sitting around the ~16-18 range but as this is the "dungeon boss" who had ample time to prepare he is buffed to the gills. One thing to do would be to flank him, that would help lower it. Disarming his shield, while difficult, would also help.

Here is a list of Basic actions:
https://2e.aonprd.com/Actions.aspx

Here is a list of Attack options:
https://2e.aonprd.com/Traits.aspx?ID=15

So you can read how Trip, Grapple etc. works.

Okay, I'm not sure what to make of this.

The first one is a list of basic actions you can take, the second one are all "attack" actions. Open the second link and it lists out all the combat maneuvers, basically and you can click  on them to find out how to perform them and what their effect will be.

They have absolutely nerfed disarm and sundering. Disarm was too powerful and almost nobody used Sundering because it was either mean (for NPCs to break all the player's equipment) or counter productive (yay, we broke all the good loot!).

That reminds me of a story I read where the GM got pissed off because the party was just crushing an encounter of his so he had a mummy forgo all of its attacks to just dump magic loot into an incinerator. Potions and scrolls galore....

Here is where they WOULD be located but right now the site is kind of sort of down:

https://www.demonac.com/excerpts

Hey folks, I am about to move across the country from BC to New Brunswick. It is about a week of travel with an unknown reception on the other end as NB has put in some odd Covid  quarantine rules. They are changing constantly. If I am able to stay at the new home I bought, I should be back up around the 3rd. If not... It may be as much as two more weeks of me being incommunicado. I apologize for any extra delay.

GM, please NPC me while I am gone. Xao will do her best to flank and be a general thorn in the opponent's side.
In your other game. Please try not to kill me, but if it happens... Go out with the style that character deserves!

Good Hits Y'all! Hopefully I'll be left standing long enough that after 9 friggen swings I can actually connect with something! It eats donkey doo doo being the "real" warrior in the group and failing miserably at my 1 job! I have 1 job! Hit things! :P

In reply to Zug Zug Bob (msg # 328):

Hitting things is not your job.

GETTING hit so the squishy casters don't is your job.

:P

The nice thing about Drakar is I can make him hit even harder and better by investing my magic weapons. And add to that with how Summoner's are redone in 2e with the right choice of feats they can fall into a nice niche of fighter/mage.

Imagine, a dragon and a fiesty red head elf fighting side by side in fluid motion. Or better, Kalia riding Drakar like Vandar rides Shaka. Mwahahahaha

I am saving my powerful spells for the big spider and to heal us in an emergency, but the cantrips are ok :)

I thought for surely we'd have encountered a big spider (or other vermin) creature. That we haven't kinda makes me think its underwater.

@Vander: Oh. Well. Uh... Can't I just hit things? :D

Kalia: But is it a -hot- redhead elf that likes fire?

Sadly, we have a shortage of meat shields.

So hitting is secondary, like healing others is secondary for me.

But the key to a good defense is a super good offense!

Also!

YAY! I FINALLY DID IT! :D

In reply to Zug Zug Bob (msg # 334):

Congratz!

And what was that you said about Goblins?

Hehehe

:P
This message was last edited by the player at 21:56, Tue 27 Apr 2021.

Yes, yes she is. :) lol

Vander: Zug Zug said nothing about goblins. It was the Shaman that was a stupid, ugly, overgrown excuse for a wannabe goblin.

Kalia: Does that mean you can eat Ghost Peppers?

In reply to Zug Zug Bob (msg # 337):

All kinds of peppers. :)

Even the Orc Reaper or the Draconic Scorpion? :D

RL I was once nicknamed the Ghost Buster at a job site because I could eat ghost peppers whole and no-sell them hard. Not so much anymore. I don't usually go hotter than an habanero. I like a flavor, not OMG ACID REFLUX. I love Mexican and Indian food. I'm completely okay with spice. Because I live out in Arizona and am all the time in Southern Cali or New Mexico I am spoiled with my Mexican food too. I gotta have the good stuff. :D

The Burmese I used to work with used to give me raw peppers all the time and dare me to eat them thinking I wouldn't. I'd do it with no issues. I love hot peppers. They were always amazed at how the 'white American mutt' could always take the hit and keep on going as if nothing happened.

My and my cat will sit here and eat a block of pepperjack or habenero cheese together like it's nothing. When Wendy's does their ghost pepper special I always ask for extra sauce. My GERD be damned! lol

My old boss would no sell Carolina Reapers. It was pretty surreal when others would try them thinking "they're not that hot" and would just be dying for quarter of an hour.

We brought some reaper hot sauce to us at a sushi place and they mixed it in with the wasabi and smothered it all over everything. I, being a smartass, said that the wasabi would cut the heat of the reaper. They just slid the bowl over so I tried just the tiniest speck of it.

They were all rolling as I was shouting "TWO KINDS OF HEAT! TWO KINDS OF HEAT" because the wasabi hits up front in the nasal area while the reaper burned your throat.

That was a wild ride.


It was basically this clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7a8qyJ5W74
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:03, Wed 28 Apr 2021.

You ever watch the show Hot Ones? The guests got to answer questions while eating progressively hotter wings? Gordon Ramsey acted like he was gonna die. Scarlet Johansson took them like a champ and asked for a beer. Shai Le Beoff or however his name was spelled was like, "I'm Cajun. What? The Undertaker ate them all without a drink and made fun of Stone Cold for being a wimp. Jessica Alba confessed that she a) has a potty mouth and b) may have been hanging out with Snoop Dogg who may have rolled a blunt that might have ended up in her hands that she couldn't remember if she smoked or not.

Basically everyone gets candid real fast because its impossible to keep their guard up. Its good times.

I could be on that show. They don't make something so hot I can't eat it. Its whether or not I want too. Habanero cheese sounds boss.

Habanero cheese is amazing. I love it. So is chipotle cheese. If you like cheese, and you like hot peppers, I say try either or both.

Both are easily found at Walmart or most groceries.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:40, Thu 29 Apr 2021.

Typically I go with Muenster or Swiss. Occasionally I get a block of Monterey Jack.

Check out the Hot Ones with Chili Klaus.

To be faiiiir most guests power through to the end. It is rare, especially out of the earlier seasons, that you get someone who throws in the towel. Early on you had wimps like DJ Khalid who claimed they didn't know what they were getting into but later on you see Tenacious D or Key and Peele and although they are dying they finish it.

Hot Ones is great for three reasons.

1) You get to see celebs squirm in pain which is fun & different

2) As Zug Zug mentioned when they are in that much pain their facades slip. It is interesting how some people like Shaq kind of slip that they're not nearly as nice as they pretend to be meanwhile I thought Shia LeBouf was a poser but he muscled through them

3) Sean Evans (host) asks REALLY good questions. Once you start binge watching them he surprises so many celebrities thinking this was just a puff piece with some really good questions. They're not hard hitting but Sean does deep research so he can usually fish some good stories or thoughts out of the guest even as they're chugging down milk.

(Secret 4th reason) You can see Bobby Lee poop himself. I know it is childish but the look on everyone's face is priceless.

My recommendations if you're looking to get into it
Gordan Ramsay - if you want to watch him just die and curse nonstop
Alton Brown - he ranks the sauces and is all around great to listen to
Key & Peele - they are hysterical but are also in so much pain it is amazing
Undertaker & Stone Cold are really fun to watch if you're a wrestling fan
Shia LeBeouf - really unexpected at how even keel he was
Eric Andre - another comedian, another hilarious
Kristen Bell - just fun to watch
Paul Rudd - same as Kristen Bell.
Tenacious D - again another comedy duo
DJ Khalid - if you want to watch someone bitch out and try to play it cool and pretend like they didn't wuss out. It is cringe fun like an early episode of the office.

Finally watch the Chili Klaus episode if you want to watch two men try to kill themselves with peppers. Sean is going tomato red while Chili Klaus is snapping his fingers and holding his ears in pain.


edit: Bobby Lee also has one of the greatest lines ever:

<before eating the wings>
Sean: "So this one is Blair's Megadeath Sauce w/ Liquid Rage"
Bobby Lee: "What's liquid rage?"
<after first bite>
Sean: "So..."
Bobby Lee: "SHUT UP!"

I guess he figured out what liquid rage is :D
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:11, Thu 29 Apr 2021.

FYI I will leave it up to the group if you want to end the dungeon here. With that box you can definitely just chill back on the top deck and wait for pick up.

I vote for completionist achievement.

The Shaman's stuff... the club, armor, and shield... what actually are they? Like a large shield, regular club and some kind of plate?

You can see them all on the picture I posted earlier.

Club is wood.

Armor is some kind of giant insect shell.

Shield is wood.

I dont recall seeing pictures earlier. I know a club is wood. I meant is it a regular club or a 2 handed greatclub?

I don't want to end it here, we aren't done.

1-handed club.

In reply to Dungeon Master (msg # 351):

I would like to retract my action of stabbing him in the back, in case he rises from the dead and is still upset about it.

"IT WAS ZUG ZUG! NOT ME!!!"

:P

In reply to Vander Wargrider (msg # 352):

I wouldn't worry about him rising, he's being eaten right now. :)

I want to get clarification on something.  So we returned to the deck with the stuff we had just gotten and returned below deck to find the water rising through the floorboards.  So we are below deck again right? Just want to make sure cause the others either decided to stay up top or misread what you were saying.

Yeah. We'll call it 3 decks:

Deck 3 = Top of the deck.
Deck 2 = Middle deck
Deck 1 = the partially flooded cargo hold.

You explored and fought your way through Deck 2 and found a few boxes of treasure after killing the shaman. The ship starts to tremble but you haul the boxes up to the top deck (deck 3) and when you go back down the stairs you notice the water is rising pretty fast.

When Xao checked it out earlier she would estimate that it was about waist high so the water has risen about a foot or so in the past 5 minutes.

I didn't misread anything. Kalia when she got below to find the water rising pretty much said the task was done. I forgot to type that she went back up on deck though, which is my bad. I apologize for that.

Is there at least a dingy or something that will float on the upper decks?

Did my extended search uncover anything new? When you originally mentioned what was found, you specified it was a quick search. I was going for something more in depth. Would have checked the other two rooms.

You didn't find anything else in the room with the dead shaman. Where else are you searching?

Okay group, big decision time.

Do you want the pirate vessel to come back? You're at a fork and I'm happy taking you either way.

The bedroom. The door I kicked in, and then ran through to kick in the second door. That was the one I was specifically going for.

To answer your question, I'm not sure what you mean by fork because I only see one option. We're on a sinking piece of junk that has less than zero supplies. We might get a raft out of it, but that won't hold up long in the ocean.

Am I missing something somewhere?

In reply to Dungeon Master (msg # 359):

I am good with leaving the pirates. I would like to put them down at some point however...and save the hostages.

How are we going to leave them? Where are we going to go? Down with a sinking ship? Make a mad escape on a tiny raft in the middle of the ocean with no supplies? They could pretty eadily find us if they wanted, or cared, if you consider the magic they threw at us in the prelude.

I'm not picking, complaining, or fussing. Just explain the idea to me so I understand whats up. :D

So no one wants to go back into the hold to get other supplies?

In reply to Pearl McCalister (msg # 364):

I think the raft takes priority, as it wont matter how many goodies you find there if they will drag you down to a watery death. Granted I would like those goodies, but not at any cost.

So...anyone got better than a +3 repair skill?

That wasn't the question. The question is do you, the players, want to go back to the pirates or take a different route. Please don't bother speculating the how in-game and just focus on the question asked.

I would like to gather our old crew and see if we can get a ship of our own. Now, that being said, if that means going back to the pirates so be it. But if that means getting on the raft, and going to one of the other ships where one of the other teams was set off then so be that. I am speculating this may have been planned.

That being said, you also never said what Drakar and I see from him being high up and I sharing his senses.

Also, how far away did the pirates drop off the other groups at their ships?
This message was last edited by the player at 22:27, Sun 09 May 2021.

I am all for leaving the other pirates. I also would like to get more loot from the hold.

I have a vendetta against the captain, and very specifically, his first mate, and don't want them to escape. I would like to have a ship, preferably the one we started with, and a crew that's recognizable. So it makes sense to rescue the others. If that mean going back to the pirates, I'm with Kalia. If it means getting on the raft, I'm with Vander and will do what I can to try and help him out.

As Vander pointed out, I'd love to continue looting and give a very thorough search, but not at the risk of being trapped underwater or without an escape.

Look at me being all agreeable and picking the best ideas. :P

Barbarian prerogative in the OOC!

Okay, let's fashion some sort of raft big enough for us.  I would think that any enemy on the ship would be coming to us in short fashion or drown themselves.  So, while those that build the raft the others can be ready to fight anything that comes up from below.

Once the raft is built and the water having risen significantly I can go down below and search as long as I have a light source that doesn't mind getting wet.

Would a source of Dark Vision be enough? Swimming is perhaps my best skill, and I intentionally avoided a load that would hit me with an ACP.

My Dark Vision doesn't really help you see though. Hrm. :/

I have Light as a cantrip.

How long does the cantrip last?

I am trying hard not to get frustrated but the reason why this game is grinding to a halt is because people aren't directly answering the question.

I am asking you, the player, whether you want to go back to the ship or not.

The answer should only be a simple "yes" or "no". As soon as you start talking about rafts or other crews or this that and the other you've lost focus. All I am looking for is a 'yes' or a 'no' from the group majority.

Here is the tally so far:

Leave the pirates: Vander, Xao
Return to the pirates: Kalia, Pearl

If your name isn't on that list, I need a yes or a no from you or the game doesn't move forward.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:30, Mon 10 May 2021.