Is it too late to try and make the figure believe I did fall asleep?

That might require some editing...

It isn't, you can roll a bluff check if you would like.

Untrained but charisma is my best attribute

Ill wait till we see if the stranger fell for Constantines buff. Garland is pretty much readying an action to cast touch of mercy on Keanala so she does nonlethal

I went with the assumption SGC called out the location allowing Darcon to move forward...should I edit?

Constantine's bluff does work, but you can still cast sleep on the figure in the mist. You're also welcome to edit your post up until I get the GM post at noon-ish.

I'll still cast it then, since if it works it will allow us to take the victim alive for questioning. We can assume Darcon waited until the figure came into sight and then cast the spell, or however you want to play it, since I am not sure how it will react to SGC's bluff.

GM post is up. Constantine got off his bluff, Darcon got off his spell (although Gibs resisted), and now we're into combat proper.

Looks like a hit to me....

I am waiting to see what effect if any the merciful smite has on this man....

Your merciful smite definitely affects him.

Quick question: Can Darcon determine the location of the Conjuration (CL8) in the mists?

You detect that the mist itself is magical in nature. In fact it is veeeery similar to what you would detect if someone cast obscuring mist

A couple of things in the interest of speeding up this combat: remember that if you get skipped you get two standard actions the following round. I also haven't been rolling AoOs for you, when an AoO is prompted you should take it on your following turn.

This time I'll let you take them retroactively, so Constantine gets two actions this round and Constantine, Garland, and Keanala each get an AoO.

I will wait on the AoO until someone else gets to post.....or skip it

Congratulations, combat is over and you've defeated the monument vandal!

Let's do a little book keeping and admin.

First, a head count. Who is present, active, and still able to participate in the game? We may be paring down a few characters and possibly adding some more.

There's one definite change to our house rules and one potential change to our house rules.

The skipped turn rule is amended as follows: If you miss a turn in combat you still get two standard actions the following turn. Now, if you miss two turns in combat I will take over and NPC your character for that round.

There's another house rule that we could add with an eye to speeding up combat, which tends drag a little bit in PbP games like this: Tension. Tension starts at 0 and goes up by 2 each round. You add the tension value to all attack rolls. So round one you attack as normal, round two all attacks are at +2, round three all attacks are at +4, etc.

It means that eventually everyone, monsters and heroes, will be hitting their attacks pretty much every time. It increases the stakes and makes the decision to power through or retreat from a bad situation more weighty, and it means that fights will end sooner, one way or another.

Because this is a pretty significant change to the basic rules of Pathfinder we won't implement it unless everyone's on board with it.

Well, just to give my opinion: The Tension rule can make things wonky. I totally get why you propose this, and the fact it applies to both PC and Enemies helps even things out but it will still cause some problems such as defensive spells not being useful (why should Darcon waste a round casting Shield or Mage Armor, or two rounds using both when they will be nullified in another round anyway by the cascading Attack Bonuses); spells that don't use attack bonuses will be nerfed, tactical decisions like Flanking, certain Feats and class abilities will likewise be nerfed.

I thing adding in more players who post regularly, especially during combat, should mitigate the need for the cascading attack bonuses. Furthermore since you are adapting this adventure for PbP you can weed out the needless 'filler' combat, and just give us key encounters for advancing the story (xp awards for these can be increased to make up for the lesser number of encounters)

We have had multiple combats in this game and this is the only one where it dragged on, but that was due in part to the fact that not everyone was posting every round in conjunction with the fact that we were trying to take him alive (Darcon didn't use a damage dealing spell and his class ability for this reason both of which would have ended the combat earlier)
This message was last edited by the player at 17:56, Tue 21 May 2019.

I agree non lethal combat should drag a bit as people are trying not to kill the combatant: which is one reason those spells like dominate person suck so bad.  I usually substitute confusion instead of full on NPCing a PC.

The Tension rule is intriguing, but I think that I agree with Darcon that it would really change the way that defensive spells are used.

Am I the only one who thinks the warden murdered his wife with a razor and wrote her name in blood somewhere...

Alternate theory is that it is professional jealosy as the barbers were replaced by cosmotologists; matriarchy verus patriarchy; matricide versus patricide....

Some excellent points, looks like we'll table the tension system.

We have four active players, some regular posters and some intermittent posters, and we're close enough to the end of book one that I'd rather hold off on adding new players for a short while. We'll keep going as-is for now.

well Im still here. I dont plan on going anywhere and I agree that the tension idea, while intriguing doesnt sound like it would fit well into this particular game.

Ok suggesting three things simultaneously
1. Safety/security of prisoner
2.  Security of the scene
3. A trip to the man’s house

Are all three deputies with us?  SCG will use/order them to assist

I've updated the Chapter 1 thread and added a thread for Constantine's investigation.

Anyone accompanying Garland to assist with the exorcism should post in Chapter 1, link to a message in this game.

Anyone accompanying Constantine to investigate the square, the town, and Gibs' shack should post in Chapter 1.4, link to a message in this game.

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Edited: Constantine, the deputies are not with you. Without Sheriff Caeler to marshal them they are too afraid to venture out at night. If you try to round them up you can attempt a Diplomacy check to convince them to adhere to their duty and back you up.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:10, Thu 23 May 2019.

Since the threads are re-converging we'll move things back into the Chapter 1 thread.

Constantine I'll factor this into your results, but now that you've provided Gibs with concrete evidence of his crimes you'll get +4 to diplomacy checks to get him to cooperate with you.