Use this thread to post your Out Of Character comments, complaints, gripes, jokes and whatnot! Keep it clean and be respectful of your fellow gamers. And try to have fun anyway.
This message was last updated by the GM at 01:27, Mon 28 Sept 2020.

 So what "world' are we using? just asking because it makes running up backstory easier. Or I can write it for say Greyhawk or FR and you translate it to the world we are using.

  Also to my fellow players Hello.

I've set it in the Forgotten Realms.

I suppose just saying it starts off in the Earthspur Mountains isn't enough to clue everyone in that it's the FR.

I missed that part of the post. *Facepalm*

I've adjusted the post anyway.

Hello! Still putting together my character in between Real Life stuff. New rules to figure out as well.

 Are skill ranks more powerful in pathfinder than in D&D3.5 or something? Because it doesn't seem like you get a whole lot of them.

You get fewer Skill Points in Pathfinder, but that's compensated for by giving you a +3 training bonus to any Class Skill that you have at least one rank in.

On the character sheet under skills, where it lists CLS in the heading, that's where you'd convert the +0 to +3 if it's Class Skill and you put one rank in it.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 8):

Oh so it basically equals out. Missed that modifier.

Hello, everyone. Barely enough time at the moment to just do a post (this one), so still trying to squeeze in character generation.

Tyrol is an Alchemist/Rogue, but since there's another Rogue, I can always change that to something else. Bard (explosions make such lovely sounds!), Cleric, Monk or Ranger seem like they'd fit. So would a Wizard, as they were the original 'Alchemist'.

In reply to Tyrol Halverschlagen (msg # 10):

Nothing wrong with multiple rogues. Kinda concerned that the only heals we have are mine at the moment. Not terribly concerned at the moment, but concerned none the less.

Hello all,

Newbie in the group.  I see there is A LOT of Sorcerer/Sorceress in the party

Added a few more players/characters to the game now, so we've got a pretty good mix now.

I don't require PCs to fit into preset rules. I've run a game of wizards once and another game of rogues. I adapt the game to what people want to play.


Oops. Forgot to mention, since making characters for this game can be a bit convoluted, complex and lengthy, please put a post up here letting me know what you think your sheet is done. Thanks.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:48, Thu 01 Oct 2020.

Hello all! Thank you for having me!

Aniyu is going to be an Arctic Druid/Winter Witch coming down from the primal tundras. He is supposed to be a sort of primal version of 'noble blood', and has an obligation towards serving creation.

I will be playing a druid wizard, but I don't have a cool theme like Aniyu. At least not yet.

Howdy partners!

I'll be playing a sort of Gunfu Style Cowgirl. I feel her personality but have yet to find the best way to express it. They'll be heavy doses of pistols and punching though.

Greetings to those assembled by our common tattoos and images. I too have answered the call. I do hope your prejudices do not prevent us from working together...though I often do travel disguised...
This message was last edited by the player at 00:29, Fri 02 Oct 2020.

Can I ask what the plan is for the group? This feels like a lot of players for one big party.

   Weird question of the day. Linguistics works as a decipher script/ detect forgeries/and learn a new language at each rank? Correct?

Yes, I did get a few more players that I was expecting, though it's only 10.

I was willing to accept that many characters in case there is some attrition.

Depending on how things progress, I do have plans to split the characters into 2 or 3 smaller groups at some point, if necessary.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 20):

 Other than gear mine is ready to go.

I'm just working on my spells and description and I'm done!

In reply to Aniyu (msg # 22):

Forgot spells dang it. Ok gear and spells.

In reply to Lucien Soulban (msg # 23):

Looking at Lucien....

A Sorcerer forgetting about Spells....  SMH  :)

Is everyone else having as much FUN as I am making up a character? I didn't realize this was going to be a 5-day project. I've already gone through half a bottle of Tylenol! (It was a little bottle.)

Magic Items and gear is all I have left. Some of the former is semi-figured out already.

I changed him from an Alchemist/Rogue (since we had several other rogues) to an Alchemist/Cleric with the Healing and Alchemy Domains. He's not quite as dedicated to being a Cleric as some others might be (not optimal stats).

What Tyrol said!

Shall we aim for a start on Sunday?

Done....

Just need to do those Mundane items.

How do we add this if we don't wear armor?

Armor Attunement can be added to normal clothing it says that.
Weapon Attunement can be added to a natural attack like  monk's unarmed attack since it says it can be affected by spells or effects that affect wielded weapons. Note that the option is really if you read the rules either two weapons at +1 each or 1 weapon at +2, a monk would need to use the +1/+1 I think since you'd need to magic both fist....but maybe DM weigh in on that .
This message was last edited by the player at 00:25, Sat 03 Oct 2020.

That darn Mage Armor thing is what I'm worried about.

Yes I plan to use Mage Armor as well. I assume that when the spell is active that it will supercede our Armor Enhancement, however it also means that if we attune our clothes we have at least some armor up in case of surprise attacks or traps.

Has anyone taken to Prestige Classes yet?

I haven't but I rarely multiclass in pathfinder. I kinda like the capstone abilities and you can't get those if you multiclass (assuming we make to 20th :) )

I'm going Winter Witch -- but it's pretty much 'keep being Witch, except -1 Caster Level' then add a bunch of ice stuff. Most of which I won't use since there will likely be very little ice and snow to melt near this active volcano!

In reply to Aniyu (msg # 34):

Aniyu, are you Human or Elf?

Oh, I'm going Human. I was being wishy washy about race when I applied. I thought I could have fun taking advantage of the lack of racially based bonus and try something new, but alas -- Gestalt is too Feat hungry to stray from human.

GMSM, will need to change that in the Cast of Characters I see.  LOL

So only two Elves..

Would anyone like to have a joining background?

Traveling companion.

I think it would be good to have travrling companions.

I've been a mercenary and traveled in Vaasa, Daamara, Impiltur, The Vast, Thesk, Chessenta, Aglarond, and Mulhorand. I've also been to the underdark near the southern Earthspurs along the eastern slope.

I thus could have met a variety of people. I would be disguised though as a human. I speak a lot of languages.

I specialize in transmutation magic, I do not use evocation or necromancy....or at least I haven't to date.

 Lucien is a paladin/sorcerer yes. I forget spells because I'm focusing more on the paladin section of the build. Paladins don't get a great cross section of spells. Neither do sorcerers, but pathfinder adds a few things to make up for that. My healing abilities are varied and usable several times a day so baring death between the Alchemist and myself we should be good i think.

  Debating on weapon at the moment. Do I use a bastard sword or a greatword? Armor is all but assured to be plate. No shield mainly because I don't want to. Although I might have it and a long sword as a backup. Hmm.....

Greetings everyone ;)  I am going Bard/Oracle and was wondering how many of you are using ranged as a primary attack?

In reply to Vogh Kath (msg # 41):

I use my spells for Range attacks.

I use my fist mostly....so until I figure out how to be Mr Fantastic I'll have to be up close :)

In reply to Vogh Kath (msg # 41):

Between spells and innate abilities I can do both. I don't expect to do much ranged but I can do it.

Or Kurat could be M. F. Enterprise's Captain Marvel who could detach his hands, arms, etc. Maybe there's a gauntlet that lets him do a Flying Fist.

As a Gunslinger/Sorcerer, pretty much all he does is attack from range!

Still hammering out details for my character. Hope to finish it today... just in time!

I am planning on being more of a support character than a combatant. Summon Nature's Ally will likely be my main go-to in battle.

Aniyu will be a hybrid. He's a total caster, but he has a strong incentive (+4 to DC) to casting Touch spells -- his Wild Shape hopefully letting him remain some advantage when he goes into melee.

Well I'm done.  Sheet is complete but I haven't statted my familiar so let me know if you want that done.

Yes, if you have a familiar and you intend on using it, then stats will be needed, but probably not right away.

In reply to Vogh Kath (msg # 41):

Any hints on which Mystery you have?

Lore here.

Can you explain what languages will be relevant for us? Aniyu gets Common + 15 others. I'm also open to saying he's got "All of them" since I think Pathfinder only has 18 (including Common?)

This is the FR so each country/region also has it's own language, I took a lot of those, as a Mercenary I do not speak elemental, outsider languages....not very useful for a mercenary of my level :)

In reply to Kurat (msg # 52):

If we use the actual list of Fr Languages there are like 72 plus languages.

I was looking over everyone's character sheet earlier, and saw that a lot of characters have a lot of languages!

I don't know yet what languages will be relevant since much of it will depend on what the characters do and where they go, though it seems probable that Ignan would be useful.


I was wondering if anyone was building their character with the volcano in mind. Having put up the 'scenario', it wasn't really sensible to say 'no, don't do that'. Then again, it's not like you could expect to wind up at the bottom of ocean, but you never know!

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 54):

My languages were preliminary at best. However I did put some thought into it.

The fact that the game will start around to volcano is partially why I pitched a Winter Witch/Arctic Druid; I'm excited for that dichotomy.

Aniyu is 99% done. I need to actually write out my familiar stat block and buy mundane equipment -- which isn't going to be much anyway. I'll have it done during the morning tomorrow!

I mostly just have spell selection remaining (but there is a lot of it for a druid/wizard), as well as finalizing my items list. Unfortunately I didn't have as much free time to work on my sheet today as I was expecting.

Done with mine.

Looking forward in starting tomorrow...

One of the things I do in my other games is that I let players keep some of their Language slots open until such a time as they might need to know a particular language. It saves me having to come up with a reason for them to speak that language. Takes the burden off me and puts the option on them.

I basically built my languages on the local area and what languages he would normally encounter perhaps in mercenary work.

I figure some of mine will be useful, Giant for instance if their are Fire Giants near the volcano and Undercommon if we have to go into the Underdark.

I speak almost all if not all the human languages you might encounter in the area.

The whole "assign them as you need them" works perfect for me!

I intended for Aniyu's Linguistics/languages to sort of be a "Tongue of Sun and Moon" thing w/ a Druid palette-swap. He understands the universal language of all creatures, or some gibberish like that.

In reply to Chess ala'riina Nasadra (msg # 50):

I went with Life.  I almost went Lore but since I am a Bard I figured it would be too much overlap.  I also thought about Battle.

Are we allowed to start posting IG or do we have to wait till you confirm our sheet is done ?

In reply to Chess ala'riina Nasadra (msg # 63):

Looks like sheet

Not sure what you mean by that.  Sorry.

In reply to Chess ala'riina Nasadra (msg # 65):

You asked if you could post or did we need to wait for your sheet to be approved. I said looks like the sheet.

Hey everyone, I told Fearless LeaderTM I'd be out yesterday, so I'm looking forward still to getting down with you.

The posting already looks excellent!

In reply to Lucien Soulban (msg # 66):

Kurat posted and his character sheet is not done, that is why I asked.

link to a message in this game
This message was last edited by the player at 16:50, Sun 04 Oct 2020.

My sheets been done for 2 days...
I assume if he didn't want us to post he would have not given us an ability yo do so

Hey kindly folks, I had some questions about the CS, and was hoping some of you more familiar with Gestalt could help me in lieu of the GM using less time on my questions and more on the GMing :)

For Gestalt, does a character have the capability of having two favored classes? Even moreso, could one side benefit from additional skill points while the other side adds to a favored class bonus?

For Gunslingers, what is the tech level of Firearms?

You only get 1 Favored Class not one for each side.

Firearms dunno :)

In reply to Kurat (msg # 71):

Thx buddy!

Off the top of my head, I don't know what the categories for weapons are, but the one that just includes Pistols.  You can't start the game with an ion cannon.

Character sheets don't have to be 100% done to start posting. I just need to know the core abilities of a character.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 73):

fair enough

Also I believe sheet is complete.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:43, Mon 05 Oct 2020.

I hope everyone's not getting ahead of themselves.

I didn't see in the GM Post that we had arrived at the Citadel, only started that way.....

Yes I see that we don't even know where it is, but I think he would have said something after the first few posts..?

My bad! Between the Game Info, the RTJ Info, my first post, and Tyrol's first post (prompted by me), I just thought I'd covered that.

The Green Star Citadel is in The Vast, in the southern foothills of the Earthspur Mountains, just north of the River Vesper.

Kurat is that question something of your character or did you miss something Jarvis was saying?

Yes I saw what he said ..... but he seems to imply we are the wonders then asks us to search for them.....

In reply to Kurat (msg # 79):

Yes and no. He implies the Wonders exist separate from us. And we are part of the Cycle.

Oh, come on! He's a hobgoblin! Not everyone understands my brilliant writing!

Besides, the only stupid questions are the ones you don't ask.

Hey everyone, I just want to say Ki'nae is kind of an ass. I'm not intending to take out any frustration on anyone, nor am I trying to have a character just be a jerk to everyone else. I also am never going to try and railroad the story or make this game about Ki'nae and her angsty emo too-old-for-this-teeny-crap attitude.

She is an anti-villain, and I'm hoping that throughout this story she will go through some growth with each interaction with you.

All that being said, if you as a player take any offense to how my interactions are engaged, please let me know. I promise I will never tell you to suck it up or to stop being sensitive. This is already becoming something pretty cool. Keep the good times rolling :)

 Expect a mostly verbal beat down at some point from someone in character. Most likely Lucien. It won't be personal towards you, but it will be a growth chance for Ki'nae. Personally I like the character from what I have seen so far.

  And Lucien is the hero type from the word go so he will try to "change" you. Just saying he is a paladin.

I can 100% dig that.

Aniyu is going to be pretty quiet for this scene unless somebody specifically responds to him. The sheer number of characters active in this scene, and the size of the posts, is making things really hectic.

If the game doesn't plan to split into smaller groups, let me know -- I'll likely excuse myself.

What time of the day is it?  That might aid in our decision about leaving now or later.

I for one don't need to go now but I could if needed.

In reply to Vogh Kath (msg # 86):

I'm assuming mid-afternoon, but that's just me.

If we do end up splitting the party in half (or more), then here is what we seem to have so far. I just went with my gut instinct and clues that were given IC, so my accuracy is probably not that great. Let me know of any changes that should be made.

---

Group Leaving Soon
Vashon - Human     - Gunslinger/Sorcerer
Hsang  - Human     - Samurai/Unchained Rogue

Group Leaving Tomorrow
Lucien - Human     - Paladin/Celestial Sorcerer
Tyrol  - Gnome     - Alchemist/Cleric
Chess  - Drow      - Sorceress/Oracle
Ki'nae - Ifrit     - Steelfist Commando/Mysterious Stranger

Either
Ozrus  - Elf       - Druid/Wizard
Aniyu  - Human     - Arctic Druid/Winter Witch

Unknown
David  - Human     - Fighter/Unchained Rogue
Kurat  - Hobgoblin - Monk/Wizard
Vogh   - Human     - Bard/Oracle
Mort   - Kitsune   - Alchemist/Draconic Druid
This message was last edited by the player at 04:25, Wed 07 Oct 2020.

Nice little write up, Ozrus! That was super helpful. If you want you can edit accordingly for Ki'nae.

Thanks! Updated.

If Vashon and Hsang intend to leave today Lucien is going as well.

 How far is Mt. Doom from the Citadel? Over 100 miles or under?
This message was last edited by the player at 04:30, Wed 07 Oct 2020.

Mort as a character is effectively the monkey king retold

Since no one actually knows where the new volcano is, no one can say how far away it is. However, it is in the Earthspur Mountains, and you are already in them as well, in the middle, to be precise, so most probably within 100 miles even if the volcano is at one extreme end or the other.

Oh. I had been assuming we could see the volcano (or at least its smoke plume) from the monastery. Oops.

In reply to Trickster (msg # 92):

Mort even has a King Lucien...play on words.

 Also would 5 minutes straight up give me a line of sight on the mountain
This message was last edited by the player at 04:53, Wed 07 Oct 2020.

You can see the smoke plume, which will give you a direction, but doesn't tell you how far away it is.

Since you are on the southern side of the mountain range and the volcano is somewhere to the north, five minutes straight up will let Lucien actually see the volcano. From there, he can estimate that it's about 60 miles away as the crow flies, which would be straight over the mountains.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 96):

Fair enough. Will post that in character.

Can we slow a tad on the posting?  I like the enthusiasm but when someone posts multiple times before someone else can respond to what is going on it gets a little upsetting.

Here is an updated version of the party lists. Still based on my observations and intuition.

---

Group Leaving Soon
Vashon - Human     - Gunslinger/Sorcerer
Aniyu  - Human     - Arctic Druid/Winter Witch
Lucien - Human     - Paladin/Celestial Sorcerer

Group Leaving Tomorrow
Tyrol  - Gnome     - Alchemist/Cleric
Chess  - Drow      - Sorceress/Oracle
Ki'nae - Ifrit     - Steelfist Commando/Mysterious Stranger
Hsang  - Human     - Samurai/Unchained Rogue
Vogh   - Human     - Bard/Oracle
Kurat  - Hobgoblin - Monk/Wizard
Ozrus  - Elf       - Druid/Wizard

Unknown
David  - Human     - Fighter/Unchained Rogue
Mort   - Kitsune   - Alchemist/Draconic Druid

I am also feeling a bit overwhelmed by the sheer number of posts. I think it is probably because there are so many people, and hope it will get better as we split up.

GM, will there be three groups, or only two?

I think  we may need to split the groups by intent as much as when they leave.

Right now a bunch of people are going to the Volcano, Kurat, Tyrol and Hsang are examining the gathering hall pictures for clues and Chess and Vogh are talking to the current Oracle.

So we have three groups by intent there.

I'd split us into those three groups for right now.

In that case, here is a new list version:

---

Mt. Doom Reconnaissance Group
Vashon - Human     - Gunslinger/Sorcerer
Aniyu  - Human     - Arctic Druid/Winter Witch
Lucien - Human     - Paladin/Celestial Sorcerer

Oracle Interrogation/Archives Group
Chess  - Drow      - Sorceress/Oracle
Vogh   - Human     - Bard/Oracle
Ki'nae - Ifrit     - Steelfist Commando/Mysterious Stranger

Wall Examination Group
Tyrol  - Gnome     - Alchemist/Cleric
Hsang  - Human     - Samurai/Unchained Rogue
Kurat  - Hobgoblin - Monk/Wizard
Ozrus  - Elf       - Druid/Wizard

Unknown
David  - Human     - Fighter/Unchained Rogue
Mort   - Kitsune   - Alchemist/Draconic Druid

Already discussed the posting 'problem' with a player.

The number of people is most of the cause for the rapid posting, but I'm also trying to get the game underway and not drive players away with a SLOW posting rate.

We seem to be underway, and as Ozrus posted, in three groups. So, that should slow things down a bit.

They're not bad groups.  I think they cover all the core roles apart from trapmonkey for all groups.

I do want to examine the wall more with Tyrol. I think it might give us more clues and help. I think it's important to at least try and decipher as much from them before we do anything else as possible.

Oh and the extreme posting is why so long between my first IC post and my next when I wanted to examine the wall more and in truth I had not read all of the posts between the two it was just to much (this has to do with some diminished mental ability, I have a much harder time processing information than previously since my near death last year).
This message was last edited by the player at 20:07, Wed 07 Oct 2020.

In reply to Hsang Li Tsung (msg # 104):

They definitely aren't the most optimized groups. Ki'nae has absolutely no skills that could help with either examination or reading. But it's definitelt more of an incharacter decision.

Also, there's no way I'm going to be able to post several times a day. I actually like to invest in a certain level of development per post. If this is going to stay at a multiple post per day rate in order to stay caught up, I may have to bow out. Even broken down into smaller groups, ive got things to do in RL that doesn't afford me a multiple time of day check in just to stay abreast.

Wow. That's rough, Kurat. Glad you getting better. Some of us keep getting worse. I mean, older!

Nice to know, Ki'nae and Kurat, about your posting. I'll try to tame it down a bit. You two are both too good players to lose for a silly little thing like posting.

The normal complaint, to the point where some GMs put a warning in their game rules, is about one-line posts, like "Biff follows the others." And that's it. That barely qualifies as a post! Sometimes, of course, that's all you can manage.

Ki'nae, your posts border on the novella! Not trying to discourage you, and I realize you are trying to catch up a lot, so I'll try to keep postings down to a more manageable level.

I also find it a bit odd because I've never been in a game where posting was this fast and furious, not even when there was one with a lot of characters. It would seem that this game attracted the creme de la creme of RPoL! So I hope you all stick around.

That being said, I know that RL can intrude on everyone's posting, often when you least expect it (GM raises hand), so don't feel bad if you have to miss a day or two... or three or four.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:30, Wed 07 Oct 2020.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 107):

Also we are all still in the excited phase. I fully expect things to slow down soon.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 107):

No discouragement taken; I write em like I like to read em. But for the sake of my own ego and the well-being of all involved, I'll tone it down for now.

And Lucien that is true. As is the way with games here.

GM thanks for the understanding. I'm not special, and if that's the pace that it's running at then no sweat off my crack. The upside is it's great to see so many involved.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:46, Wed 07 Oct 2020.

Life caught up with me for a sec,  I'll finish the sheet later tonight.

In the spirit of respecting these requests to slow down posting -- Can David and Mort confirm whether or not they'd like to join us in the volcano investigation? When possible, RL comes first, of course.

I see them both undecided, and I'm happy to wait for those who aren't as available to write as I am. I don't want to wait if nobody plans on joining us though, you know?

Feel free

Trickster just got to the citadel. He wont be going to the volcano. Wouldnt even if he knew you went. It ruins the  book to turn to the last page!

Hey for my own wondering is the Wonders Investigation Picture that Ki'nae looking at different than the ones Hsang Tyrol and Co. are investigating? I originally thought it was the sma epicture/painting, hence the horrible liguistica check.

I imagine Ki'nae would try to find what she could before moving on to help Vogh n Chess.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:51, Thu 08 Oct 2020.

I believe you mentioned Tyrol in your post, so that's the picture I thought you looking at.

Cool cool I can dig that.

Bash not in 1: Catastrophe Strikes!  ? If not I can make another post.

Bash is in 1: Catastrophe Strikes! when Trickster arrives. Technically, she's still there, but made a post as well in the Wonders Investigation.

There are now three groups:

Group 1 has gone to the volcano (Mt. Doom Reconnaissance).

Group 2 is trying to find out about the Wonders (Wonders Investigation).

Group 3 has gone to read/study Esmeralda's journals in the west tower library (1: Catastrophe Strikes!)

Aye boss. Also...



This message was last edited by the player at 19:35, Fri 09 Oct 2020.

The number of kungfu films I am watching for Trick is getting mind-numbing. XD

hi hi, I have most of one half of my level 10 gestalt already. A sort of underground chemist with awesome doppleganger science... and guns... and fists... with a dash of magic >.>
you know, all that good stuff.

as I look at the other half, and as I look at the current cast, maybe we could communicate a little. what do you guys feel is needed?

As a note, for the gestalt, I'm probably going to go for some ju ju mystery magic... every loves voodoo charms, and zombies. but I can get this and still accomplish a few other needs if there are any.

Interesting, well as far as needs go we don't even have an idea of if we are going to break off into groups so one groups need may vary from another's right now.  Best would be to just build what you want to play.

Well, look at it this way:

There are...

2 Alchemists
2 Gunslingers
2 Druids
2 Oracles
3 Sorcerers
3 Wizards
1 Witch
1 Samurai
1 Fighter
1 Bard
1 Paladin
1 Cleric
1 Unchained Rogue
1 Monk

Not really sure how a Witch equates to Sorcerer or Wizard. Samurai, Fighter, Paladin and Monk are all combat fighters, so the two areas the group could be short on is Thief (but there's a Bard) and a Cleric (but there's a Paladin). So you could say 1.5 Rogues and 1.5 Clerics.

But, as Vogh said, you can play whatever you want. They also don't have a butcher, a baker or a candlestick maker, so if any of those float your boat...

Just about everything cept the kitchen sink XD

That would be awesome! A gestalt Candlestick Maker/Kitchen Sink!

Also known as a half oger Gormand. I have a friend who plays one. XD

Were Ozrus's Spellcraft checks sufficient in the Wonders Investigation thread?

Also, the Butcher/Baker combo could make an interesting character too. A skilled chef who goes adventuring to find exotic ingredients for their world-renowned recipes!

something roguely? got it.

@GM: I'm not sure if this matters on the information given, but Aniyu does have Endure Elements constantly on, so he can get as close as possible without taking Environmental Damage. With this in mind, am I able to get within 60' while flying?

Endure Elements doesn't do what you think it does. Not only is the upper limit 140 degrees, but it doesn't stop you from taking fire damage. Magma is about 1,300 degrees--way beyond what the spell can handle. Just getting close to it causes severe fire/burn damage.

Flying 60 feet above it would be tolerable if the air currents were in your favor. It wouldn't affect the roles, since I was already going with you flying close enough to see the creatures.

I think I'm of an inclination that any intensity of heat above Endure Elements becomes an Environmental Concern (ie: heat above 140 degrees would cause fire damage per round). Are you suggesting there is a range of heat that doesn't cause damage but is not covered by Endure Elements?

Otherwise, If you tell me I'll take 5 Fire Damage per Round if I'm within X feet of the magma -- I can work with that info too (not with Endure Elements, but probably Fire Elemental Wild Shape).

I suspect Endure Elements' temperature range was meant to cover the range found on Earth, which are all natural temperatures. Hottest temperature recorded on Earth was 134 degrees in Death Valley in 1931, so Endure Elements covers that. But, we're talking about a fantasy world where magic is real, so there can be places where the temperature might exceed the 140 mark.

What Endure Elements is meant to do is to protect you from the collateral issues of high heat or extreme cold--thirst, dehydration, searing your lungs from the hot air, etc. Once you enter an area where the temperature would be higher than that, the protect doesn't end but it's not going to be all encompassing any more.


Lava flows can get as hot as 1,600 degrees while magma can reach 2,100 degrees.
So, yes, getting within 30 feet of the magma will cause damage. How much depends on other factors: angle of exposure, air flow, the reflectiveness of what you are wearing, toxic fumes, and the actual temperature. The damage rises exponentially as you get closer. Within 30 feet, 4 points of fire damage per round; within 20 feet, 16 points of damage per round and 2nd degree burns on exposed skin; within 10 feet, 64 points of damage per round; within 5 feet, 250 points of fire damage per round.

On the other hand if you can scoop it up with a bucket we can power a forge for a long time.

I simply believed the intent of the spell was enough that a person didn't have to worry about mundane discomfort in regards to the natural world. I totally agree that it does not cover anything that becomes damage. If you say this volcano is beyond the scope of Endure Elements -- I'm totally fine with that. I was never arguing that, I was just making sure you remembered my defenses before giving me a description. For the record -- Aniyu also doesn't breathe.

You're the GM -- so happy to go with whatever. Your risk assessment of lava/magma is much higher than the standard Pathfinder Environmental Damage system. Again -- your call, but typically touching magma/lava deals 2d6 per round. Your current numbers suggest any commoner that gets within 20' of lava is immediately burned to cinders (16 hp likely being enough to insta-kill a level 1 character).

Either way, in Fire Elemental form, Aniyu has Fire Resistance 20, so he can be just beyond 20' of the lava without issue. As noted, he also doesn't breathe.

I really don't mean to whine about this. It is unfortunate that I made a character all about being 'in tune with the elements/nature' and the first encounter is 'Oh no, you're not THAT in tune, you can't even go NEAR this natural phenomena'. It was just a little disappointing, and I wanted to understand so I could adjust the character to mechanically fit the idea I had.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:35, Sat 17 Oct 2020.

Does the Tongues spell work with written languages? Or only spoken languages? Ozrus has one casting available, but I wasn't sure it would be useful.

https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/t/tongues/

I thought another spell covered writings. https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic...omprehend-languages/

The spell Tongues is poorly worded in the first place, but I meant Comprehend Languages and wrote Tongues instead. Oops. Tyrol has both.

@GM: How is timing going to be handled in this game? For example, the Mt Doom Investigation thread has probably only taken about 5 minutes of time (if even). The other threads are spending hours working on reading. How are we going to get on the same timeline in order to reconvene?

Those going through the journals were taking hours to do so, and those investigating the paintings are probably on the same schedule. It was taking longer to decipher the writing than just what it took to read my post.

Two of them have now flown off. It will probably be 12 hours or more before they return.

In the Mt. Doom recon, more time goes by than what a single line post indicates. Teleporting there was instantaneous, but after that, several minutes (at least) were spent on observing what you saw. Each of you would have spent time studying the various aspects of the landscape and then the creatures.

If those at Mt. Doom return sooner, then you'll have to wait for the others to finish what they are doing.

@Mount Doom Investigation Thread: I got more information from the GM in PMs, so I did an Edit on my previous post instead of replying to myself. Just noting here so people see the changes!

After extended conversations with the GM, I will be stepping out of this game.

I don't join Level 10 Gestalt Mythic games to have the GM say "Uh, it just doesn't work" over and over again to everything I try. I don't join Level 10 Gestalt Mythic games for CR 3 creatures to be untouchable.

The story as to why I can't possibly succeed on one of these tasks keeps changing -- from 'you failed because they're immune/resistant (a +20 to the DC seems like immune with more steps to me) because of reasons' to 'I don't like the rules as written, as far as I understand them' to 'actually, you did succeed, you just didn't get the thing you wanted' to 'the situation doesn't allow a check' -- which seems like a GM who just doesn't want me to succeed.

Please feel free to do whatever you'd like with Aniyu.

You're jumping the gun mate. Been with this DM near on a decade. Good luck and safe travels but a DM whom story is king, well that is rare and worth.

I've had over a dozen PMs with the GM on these topics. I feel confident I am not jumping the gun. Perhaps it's personal then? Another reason I should step out.

Enjoy yourself either way! There isn't one way to play games, and I'm not suggesting people shouldn't have fun with the GM. Personally, I believe The GM's story should not be king -- the PC's stories should be king. I want a GM who is excited for my clever ideas, not invalidating my abilities because they threaten his story.

To each their own, but I join role-playing games to make the story, not be told a story.

I will be following suit with Aniyu as well, and will be leaving the game. I don't not feel as though the GMs style and my own play style necessarily mesh in the best way for this game, nor do I feel as though the number of people and the way it is handled is best conducive to great storytelling.

Good gaming to all of you, and happy role- and rolling.

Take care to both of you. Happy Gaming

I'm staying though. I didn't like the players taking my mirror but I'll just not loan them anything in the future.....

In reply to Aniyu (msg # 143):
Announcing you are leaving, and smearing the gm, promoting a leave party... is gauche. You dont know what the gm is going through, though you do know 2020 is shit, but you want to make more drama?

This gm has been one of the most patient and understanding of all the ones i've ever been with, and he has always offered to work with me.

I too am staying, take your smear drama elsewhere please.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:36, Wed 21 Oct 2020.

Haha, why does everyone keep assuming Ozrus took the mirror with him? :-P I mean, if you want him to have taken it for story flavor reasons, sure, perhaps he forgot to give it back. But otherwise I see no reason he wouldn't have given it back after borrowing it. I even mentioned he should have left it behind in my last post.

All in all though, I will let you guys decide if it is still there or not. Just know that if he did take it, it was accidental. It would kind of be funny if Ozrus was an accidental kleptomaniac.

  It's rare when I jump ship at all. More than a little interested as to how this is going to go. That being said Mt. Doom Recon will need some sort of update on how this is going to play out since we lost 1/3rd of the team.

That is too bad for those players leaving.  I am not going anywhere.

In reply to Lucien Soulban (msg # 148):

once I stop fooling around in char creation (I have a problem >_< sorry), I can probably join the mt doom team and fill the gaps left by those who left.

For the moment, those two characters are still around as NPCs.

For the record, I'm sorry those two players left, but in Bash's case, she was probably right. Her playing style didn't seem to be mesh with my GMing style. Most of the time, I had no idea what she was even saying!

Since this thread is in Group 0, both of them can still read the posts. They are both welcome back if they change their mind at some point.

In my own defense regarding Aniyu, I can only tell you how it went from my point of view.

Aniyu made an Intimidate check against the mephit, plus he cast a few spells and such. It wasn't that the Intimidation didn't work, it just didn't produce the results that Aniyu wanted or was expecting from the RAW. In all fairness, it may be that I didn't fully understand what he was trying to accomplish, or he may have not written his post well enough to convey that.

In any case, he then wanted to know why it didn't work. I thought that was a perfectly reasonable request, so I tried to explain it to him in a PM. First of all, the mephit was an extraplanar creature--it didn't think or react the same way a mortal 'human' from the Prime Material Plane did. Second, it was already being intimidated long term by something else. Third, it was a fire creature--there's nothing more intimidating than fire so it wasn't going to be intimidate easily.

That was my thinking, at any rate. He wasn't happy with that answer because it wasn't in the rules. Nowhere did it say there could be be conditional modifiers or extenuating circumstances. He felt that the Hit Dice of the creature was enough to allow for all of that.

When he wasn't happy/satisfied with my answer, I tried explaining it in a different way. He still couldn't accept it. So I tried yet a third time. Still wouldn't see it. So, I didn't keep changing the rules--I just tried to explain the situation to him differently. But, since none of them let him do what he was trying to do, it suddenly had to be 'personal'. Of course, it wasn't.

I have no idea how he could come up with that thought, since I don't know him personally, I've never played in any game with him that I know of, and I don't believe he's been in any of my other games that I GM (though 200+ players across 10 years is a bit hard to remember).

Anyway, while his post was a bit hurtful and annoying, I have no hard feelings against him. He's perfectly welcome back at any time.

Thanks for the kind words from Trickster and Hardcore Jimmy.

I'm pretty sure there are things in the rules for that sort of thing. Circumstantial bonuses and penalties, for one. It's like trying to stealth in bright light... or while running... you get a -20.

charsima skills often have modifiers for social conflicts depending on circumstances.

Intimidate even lists a few modifiers, showing there are things that modify the situation and roll.

In reply to Hardcore Jimmy (msg # 152):

There are. And in several places it also notes the GM has the right to push certain modifiers beyond reach. Golden rule at the end of the day. GM says this is it this is it.

  So yeah need a little input or is this puppy doa.

Nope. Not dead. Just been having a crappy week.

Overdid errands on Thursday which result in me being under the weather Friday, plus someone forgot pay the internet bill. Was having server problems with RPoL on Saturday. Don't have phone service any more as my network upgrades to 5G but I can't afford to get a new phone right now.

Anyway, you get the picture.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 155):

it's been pretty active actually, over 50 posts in less than a week if I kept count correctly.

Sorry to hear GM, but yeah weekend was rough on RPOL I had to give up saturday myself

So that I am not mistaken, Vogh and Chess are heading to where the wonders are.  Which means we can post when the GM says we arrive?

In reply to Vogh Kath (msg # 158):

Just gotta point out the further you guys all get the longer it will take for us all to get any kind of info together and actually figure out what we need to do and when and how.

   I tend not to read threads I'm not in so I don't know what I shouldn't know. Maybe just me on that. Point is if you guys leave for a week before the Mt. Doom investigation even gets back you might miss the something you need to know. Like the peak that the Wonders were hid in exploded and the parts are scattered to the four winds. Not that is the case.

I haven't read any of the other threads so have no idea what is happening.  Chess and I are returning to the main chamber with the paintings now after a few hours of going through the journals.

When I get properly established, I'll end up being a means of communication for any splintering groups.

In reply to Hardcore Jimmy (msg # 161):

Yeah but it is the time variation. That worries me more. It's just a point I thought worth bringing up.

I have been reading all of the threads, and this is my interpretation of an overall summary.

Everyone showed up at the temple around the same time (except Jimmy), and they were explained the situation. We need to collect the wonders to stop the apocalypse. The volcano is a sign that it has probably begun.

One small group went to go scout out the lava and discovered that there are a bunch of fire creatures around it. And that something is emerging from the lava. It wasn't visible yesterday, but is starting to become visible now.

Everyone else stayed back at the monastery to do research. One group went and read books that gave clues about Esmerelda's life and plans for the wonders. The other group worked on deciphering all of the hidden texts hidden in the images of the twelve wonders. Roughly 9 have been deciphered at this point. There is also a lot of overlapping names and locations mentioned in the journals and wonder descriptions. Additionally, it seems each wonder has been hidden in a different compass direction. Which may be why the main room is designed the way it is:



Eventually, after about 8 of the twelve wonders were translated, Ozrus and Hsang flew out to one of the known places a Wonder was hidden in order to scope out the area. The armor wonder, hidden in Kaballah Kabar's tomb, likely near the destroyed town of Torbel. They have not found the tomb they are looking for yet, but they seem to be on the right track. It may be wise to assume they won't return until the next day, considering how much time has already gone by.

In reply to Ozrus Wither (msg # 163):

Yes except the Mt. Doom group is several hours behind the rest of the groups. And we were told we had to wait to "catch up". Which is where I am going with that. Because I literally don't know what else we can learn at this point at the "volcano" "magical magma upwelling" or whatever else you want to call it. We need to do research on a few things to learn more.

Then perhaps you should return and announce what you have found?

I know the gm said fire burns and if we went too close to the magma that even resistance wouldnt save you for long....

but did he mention anything about if you had immunity to fire damage? like, full immunity?

Endure Elements wouldn't protect you I believe that's what he wrote.

Fire Resistance would protect you up to a point, but keep in mind being near the lava does 2d6 fire per round, being immersed in it deals 20d6 per round.

You take half that for 1d3 rounds after removing yourself from exposure.

Being Immune to Fire makes you immune to Lava :).

However if you immerse yourself in Lava even if you are immune to fire, you can drown.....

Drowning in lava XD thats funny.

I think the GM gave other numbers, like 36 damage a round at 10 feet or something like that?
and touching it was 100 something? it's only a few posts above but im too lazy to reference it directly.

anyways, ya, if immune is immune then cool. if you'd all like, I can probably get some magical magma transported somewhere. My 'mount' is immune to fire.

If one turns into a Fire Elemental, wouldn't they be able to breath and move through the lava?

Real fire elementals are immune to fire, but turning into one via a spell or wild shape only gives fire resistance. So summoning would be better than transforming for those purposes.

Here are the numbers given for the magic lava lake's damage:

In reply to Vogh Kath (msg # 165):

Even so the time delay will take place.

 I don't think even immune will help. I think there is more to it than that.

Maybe you could ask Aniyu the now-NPC to test that for you. He should be able to spontaneously cast Summon Nature's Ally to conjure a small fire elemental with a second level spell slot. Is there any more you guys could find out about the caves the creatures are hanging around? Would it make sense to make a good map of the lava lake area?

Also, even if you return, I don't think it would break the game to say you have been hanging around for a while. Maybe reading some of the other books or studying maps? Then everyone could be all caught up again if our GM agrees.

I think part of the confusion comes from how long it takes to decipher a script. I wrote it up in a single post, but didn't give any indication how long it takes for each one. It could easily have taken up to an hour to decipher a script.

Since this did not involve combat, timing wasn't critical. You took however long was necessary to get it right. There was probably some heated discussion over a few words here and there.

In other words, the posts made it sound like it was happening faster than it actually was.

Same applies for the volcano scouts. Getting there was quick, but after that, you spent time studying the creatures, surveying the landscape, etc. It didn't all happen instantly even if the posts gave that impression.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 173):

Which is kinda my point. We are somewhere about 3 to 6 hours behind the folks back at the Monastery if I had to guess. But from the sounds of it might be longer.

As I said, because it's not combat, time isn't critical, so I've been using a bit of hand-wavium with the time.

There were 75 journals, each of which took about an hour to read. Even if they had split them up, that would have taken 37 hours to read. I didn't really ask just how many volumes Chess and Vogh were going to go through, so I'm looking at about 8 hours.

If each script deciphering took 30-40 minutes, Kurat, Ozrus and Tyrol would take about 8 hours to get through ALL of them.

Likewise, the recon team might have identified each creature in 2 minutes of study, but might have then spent 20 minutes studying what each one was doing to try and figure out just WHAT they were doing. This would have been doubly true for the creature in the magma.

GM, feel I should point out that the celestial shield was already translated earlier. So you may wish to edit your most recent post in the Wonders thread.

Edit: Same with Tyrol in the Catastrophe thread.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:17, Fri 30 Oct 2020.

Oops.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 177):

poke

Screeeeeee

I didn't need the potion I used that hour earlier to fill my empty slots with comprehend languages...

So, for fun, I recently calculated how much time/money it would cost a wizard to learn every single wizard spell. I'm not sure who here might be interested in this info, but it seemed like some of you here might be. I used this list for my numbers: https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic...-sorcerer-and-wizard

The short version: You can copy every spell once from another wizard's spellbooks for as little as 179,260 gp. It would take at least 2.33 years (working 8 every hours a day) to do so.

---

Here are how many spells there are of each level:

0:  30
1: 173
2: 243
3: 223
4: 193
5: 160
6: 121
7: 100
8:  66
9:  57

Total = 1366 spells
Number of Spell Pages = 5397
The cost to borrow all the spells from other wizards is 141760 gp.
The cost of materials to transcribe the spells would cast 283,520 gp. However, this cost can be negated if you obtain 6 Blessed Books. They cost 12,500 gp each, but only half that if you make them yourself. So at that point, all you would need is 6763 available hours to study and copy down each spell!

Of course, some of these amounts can be further reduced if you subtract the spells you learn for free, etc. But this should still give fledgling wizards a rough idea of what it takes to learn nearly every spell in the world possible.

arent there things that shorten that time? like things that make it so you can craft faster. since copying spells uses similar rules, wouldnt those things also work?

I know that if you have Rogue's Edge in spellcraft it halves the time needed to copy spells. There may be others as well.

the monastery and the citadel are different locations, right?

No, they are the same place. The Citadel is generally used to refer to the central tower of the entire building, while the monastery parts are the two wings.

so, should i post in the wanders investigation for monestary/citadel stuff? since thats now the active thread for them?

Yes.

GM, are Ozrus and Hsang finding anything in their search of the crypt? Any traps or magic to be wary of before opening the sarcophagus?

I figured I would post all of the translated Wonders here for easy reference.

---

Armor

When it came to crafting magical armor, there was no one more skilled at crafting it than Mistrallena and that is why I went to her when I realized that some kind of armor would be needed. Her armors were legendary even before I met her, though few people new that it was she who had crafted them. After explaining to her my sketchy vision, she crafted Steelheart. After the villagers of Torbel made a tomb for the Warlord Kaballah Kabar upon his death, I thought that would be an excellent place to hide Mistrallena’s Armor.

---

Shield

Not even the Dwarves would dare cast and craft a magical item from celebur, yet that is precisely what Torgon the Red did for me. Not at my request, but because it was necessary. Only celebur could hold the magics that would be needed. It took him 55 days to create Bastion. How long will it take you to find it at the Misty Waterfall?

---

Sword

As I was contemplating what would be needed to stop the Great Destruction, I was unexpectedly contacted by Kotokazei. The wizard offered to craft a magical sword that he wound up calling Frostfire. Did he, too, have some sort of vision of the destruction to come? Or did word leak out that I would need these things? When Teljin the Ranger found the ruins of Kraal Kagarraak, that seemed like the perfect place to hide the sword.

---

Ring

One would not expect a mistress of the sword to craft a magical ring, let alone one so powerful, and that is precisely why, I, Esmeralda, have requested such from my friend and mage Ravenmane. Seek Shadora and ye shall find it at The Rock.

---

Wand

Of all the Wonders that we created—me and the other wizards, this is my favorite. Thendara Winterhawk and I had such fun crafting the Wand we called Winterchill out of Blue Ice itself. She did most of the crafting; I only helped a little bit, but, oh, what fun we had! At one point, I felt there were too many places to hide it to keep it safe until the day, but, one by one, I was able to see which places would still be here when the time came. And so, I placed Winterchill in the Field of Dreams.

---

Staff

If Mysterion could only be crafted in the purple flame, who better to craft it than the Wizard of the Purple Flame himself. To hide it away and keep it safe until the Time, this ten-metal staff was secreted in the Spire of the Moon.

---

Medallion

What man hath wrought, only the gods may sunder. So sayeth I, Thermavox the Great, for I have made out of green star metal a wondrous medallion to augment the sight of the wearer. I have named it Rimegar’s Eye after my grandfather who had even greater vision than I. Seek it at the Golden Lion.

---

Cloak

I met Wildwind Silverheart in the Golden Lion one day, and after a bout of mutual lamenting and considerable drinking, I told her about my vision. To my great surprise, she offered to craft a magical cloak when I didn’t even know I needed one! She called it Ironwind. As it was the last Wonder that I needed, I struggled to find a place to hide it from the passing of years. I finally decided on the Old North Road.

---

Hat

At the request of the Green Star Oracle, the eccentric Wizard Ronk did craft and create a hat of disguise and trickery made from the essence of doppleganger and mimic ichor. When finished to his satisfaction, he bestowed upon the hat the name Fadeaway. It has been placed in Deridor’s Tower for safekeeping until the time when it shall be needed.

---

Boots

The Dark Wizard Zama Kindu was paid 100,000 gold crowns to fashion magical boots. I do not know if it was worth it or if the boots which he named Stiefel are worth the cost. In either case, they are now Green Star boots fashioned from leather and leaves and feathers and orichalcum. I thought it appropriate that they be hidden for safe-keeping in his own Tomb where he could watch over them and glory in his own creation.

---

Gloves

Once I settled on a pair of gloves for one of the Wonders, prompted by a vision, of course, it made sense to get the Arch-Mage Turambar to craft them. He was considered the best at crafting magical gloves, but I fear the price he asked—a vision—may have been too high. Still, he made a pair of green naga hide gloves that he named Shockaree. I’ve chosen to hide them in the Ice Cave of Parnouth.

---

Bracers

Meta Tox would only make bracers for me if I got her three exotic items. That seemed like a small price to pay for a such a big request. How little did I know then! One animal, vegetable and mineral later, she crafted a pair of Bracers that she named Armstrong. Seven years later, she wanted them back, so I had to hide them somewhere else—the Lost Remson Mine.

Do you guys have this stuff written down? like, could a char just walk up and read this info?

The intent was always to write it down, and Tyrol did some of it, but I don't think anyone specifically said they were writing it down. So, unless the GM says otherwise, I'd say it was all written down on one or two sheets, just like Ozrus posted.

Ozrus wrote down all of the ones he translated and left them with the group. The one written in Druidic was not an exact translation, but all of the same information would still be present.

since there are several players, and not just 4 or 6, I dont want to end up posting in conversation too often and cause anyone to feel left out.

I'm going to post right now, but moving forward is there any kind of posting order we should try to adhere to? a daily delay or something to allow others a chance to post? or..... ?

No, not that I'm aware of or can think of. Organized chaos seems to be the order of the day. It should sort itself out soon.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 194):

ok

In reply to Hardcore Jimmy (msg # 195):

Corner of a round room. C'mon that's funny.

Sorry to have popped out. November is a baaaaddd month. Gearing back up.

In reply to Trickster (msg # 197):

We are heading into what I call the doldrums. December is a worse month than November.

When I started out here on RPoL, that was certainly the case. Some games even put a moritorium on posting during that time (no requirement for posting was maintained, but you could if you wanted to).

Since then, it seems to have fluctuated year by year. Some years were bad, some were normal. I suppose it depends on the game, the GM, and the players.

And, of course, there's always the vagaries of RL. I don't foresee any problems for me (other than my usual ones), but that's usually when they jump up and bite you.

I don't foresee any problems for me either, but as you implied, things can always crop up. Pretty much all of the other games I am involved in seemed to have slowed down considerably though. Which is unfortunate, but not unexpected.

Did Vashon disappear from our sight?

No. You could see Vashon all the way through the passage. At the other end, he does momentarily move out of sight, but you can still see the crypt at the other end after he opened that door.

Probably a bit too late, but I've moved all the posts for the Crypt of Kaballah Kabar into a separate thread. I didn't do it originally because I didn't think it'd be that much detail or take that long. And when I realized it, I though it was too late.

I was under the impression that you could change the Subject line of a thread with no extra results, so maybe that's something that's changed or something only the GM can do. When Vashon did it at my suggestion, it spun that post out into a separate thread!

While I could have just copied it to the other thread and then deleted it, I decided to put all the Crypt posts into it. Only took about 3 hours.

On the plus side, it now gives me a format for putting up threads for the rest of the Wonders.

Aniyu who were you talking to about it not being chaotic?  Hope not me cause I didn't say that in character.

In reply to Vogh Kath (msg # 204):

The room basically. Remember Lucien is not just a paladin but a paladin of the God of duty. So the moment we all went off in 20 different directions it becomes complete chaos to him. And the point of no leader is correct and the reason why is also correct. Can't argue with any of what was said. That being said before to much longer we are gonna have to get to know each other and find a leader or two.

Oops. My bad, sort of. Lucien did say it was chaotic, and that seemed to reflect what was going on in the room. So, maybe Aniyu just picked up on Vogh's body language or facial expressions. As a Neutral Druid, he would be more sensitive to the extremes of chaos, lawful, good and evil.

In reply to Lucien Soulban (msg # 205):

I disagree

In reply to Hardcore Jimmy (msg # 207):

 With what?

In reply to Hardcore Jimmy (msg # 207):

sorry, I have a bad habit of being chaotic neutral and probably didnt need to post that I disagree. I was referring to whether it could be argued or not as well as that we need a leader.

I just wrote a lot from the mindset of my char so please forgive me as this reply will probably sound like how the character sounds.

I know traditional dnd games tend to have someone take up a 'leadership' role for some sense of cohesion. this can be as simple as someone who is the designated tie breaker in group voting or the person who is to be blindly listened to when bickering starts so as to promote constant forward motion

I've never liked the tradition, even if I understand it, and often disagree with the notion of needing it. this is largely a knee jerk more than anything at this point.

I'm sorry for being so quick to react with contrary.

If it does come down to deciding in-game leadership, I just ask that we dont actually make it hierarchal in nature. none of that domineering type stuff, that is. I'm ex-military and hate seeing absolution, authoritarianism, or such like things. Strong difference is fine but just nothing like 'do what I say or suffer' kind of things. please. I also have had bad luck with people in dnd games just taking on those roles even if no one gave them that, not the gm or the group, so I will also recognize I'm probably over-sensitive to it and will try to overcompensate for this by ignoring more than I feel I should... if it happens.
I know thats kind of session zero talk and I joined a little late so I do understand if some of all this session zero like talk annoys someone.

And now I'm starting to ramble...

and apologizing a lot...

XD I'm going to just stop writing this post now.

In reply to Hardcore Jimmy (msg # 209):

Never apologize for taking a stance unless it is just to argue. Dude I get it, but Lucian won't. This is partially what OOC is for. Explaining stances on subject x. With 12 of us I expect the leader role to rotate at any given time. Lucian is completely useless right now. Like a rock might be better. Bit of stretch but you get my point. Now doing investigation on the items themselves he might prove a bit more useful but I wouldn't count on it. I built him to tank and tank hard. But also to mobile.

  I purposefully avoided talk about leaders and what not because I prefer organic leadership roles. You listen because this person makes more sense than the other guy. First among equals ala The Companions from Skyrim.

  We do need some level of organization and not just in leadership. We are all trying to go in separate directions and in the long run it is going to cause something for someone sooner rather than later. Paladin is a natural leader role more times than not because of the way they perceive things. Lucian is a guy where Duty and Honor mean something. If in character you were to voice that opinion he would respect that. Paladins are capable of respecting others choices and dealing with that.
  Point being don't say sorry for having an option. If you feel the need to say sorry how about for not speaking up sooner? I nor Lucian are unfair or unreasonable. Unfortunately in real life I am more Paladin than I ever was a ranger. Maybe a bladesinger? Your entitled to your opinion, but that goes hand in hand with respecting others as well. Fair enough.

  Also I really had to do the whole bit. To much fun there for me. Bruce is one of my favorite actors. And Evil Dead 1 and 2 were hilarious.

Okay, so I'm dating myself here, but like the Sixties' rock group Manfred Mann. One of the members really was named Manfred Mann, but when the press interviewed them, they each took turns being Manfred Mann.

In most situations, I think Ozrus will opt to NOT take on a leadership role unless it is thrust upon him. He is more of a "go with the flow" kind of guy. As long as his group's leader is semi-competent and isn't giving obviously disastrous guidance, he will be happy to assist with their overall plan as best as he can. He'll still offer his own insights and suggestions, but won't be mad if his ideas are not adopted into the overarching plan.

Basically, Ozrus will be a good helper, but not a great leader.

Been sick sorry

Not a problem. Had a bit of that myself yesterday.

I've been sick over a week but am doing better which group or thread do I need to post in?

Lucien, as a fellow player I would ask that you respond to ic posts, in the ic sections, with ic posts. that purely ooc reply, in the ic space, to kurat's ic statement kind of bothers me.

but, as emphasized in the start of this post, this is just a fellow player asking.

In reply to Hardcore Jimmy (msg # 216):

As a fellow player my response is this. I will think about it. And that is fair. Seeing as Lucien was already gone at that point it didn't make sense to post IC.

sounds like your char made some bad choices, well... I had to at least try to ask.

i've had an apathy spell, and been struggling with some rimworld troubleshooting, so i havent been here to post. Will try to post tomorrow.

een sick for the past week. Nothing serious, just a seasonal cold where my whole body aches, I take the usual meds, and then all I feel like doing is laying around in bed all day. It's still hanging on which is why I'm posting this.

Thanks for the update! All my games have been pretty slow this time of year, so it hasn't been much of an issue for me anyway. Hope you feel better soon!

I hope you get well, I have other friends that have the COVID here on rpol and hope they are able to get well as well. Make sure you get tested if you haven't. One friend was hospitalized about 2 weeks before Christmas.

ok guys, holidays are almost over, just new years coming up. I'm hungover right now but will try to post tomorrow

I hope everyone had a wonderful holidays.  Let's get back to posting!!!

I hope things start up again soon, hope the DM is okay

Did the game die?

I'm hoping not, but it seems like it. Especially for the thread I am in...

In reply to Ozrus Wither (msg # 227):

GM is at least logging in. hasn't posted in a little bit, but that isn't that long of a time yet.

Maybe I'm back... the year has started out with a crash-and-burn! As the expression goes, it's gone to heck in a handbasket. Just heck (a minor hell), not the full-blown Hell. The year's still young, though!

I understand mate, hope things smooth out for you.

I should still be waiting before I make more attacks, right? At least until after the golem attacks again? Just double checking. I don't want to be waiting to make a move if others are waiting on me.

Very nice post there Vogh

Hope he woke up on his good side of the crypt LOL

Thanks :) figured I would toss him some charm ;)

I’m twirling my hair as I wait

Which thread are you in?

 I’m still in the Wonders Investigation

Nothing posted since 24 jan?  That sucks.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:51, Sat 20 Feb 2021.

hat does not suck

Darn typing with the phone sucks sometimes if you don't pay attention to the auto correct.

In reply to Vogh Kath (msg # 239):

Hahaha

Tell me about it.

I was mostly teasing, seeing as I'm working on the hat. I thought it was funny to say.

Vashon, Tyrol, or Hsang, I will let one of you three do the honors of destroying our spikey foe.

It looks like Vashon hasn't logged in for over a month and Hsang was moved to NPC status, so I think Tyrol and I might need a bit of GM assistance to get one of those two to help finish off our spikestone golem foe.

Is the golem in Crypt of Kaballah Kabar defeated now? Does anything happen when it is destroyed? Is Ozrus free to search the room again for the armor they have been searching for?

Sorry for the delay. I've been having computer problems. I ran out of memory. My computer, not me personally (though I'm working on it!). Apparently I've fallen victim to something called 'bloatware', which I hadn't even heard the term before. Piles and piles of apps that get dumped on my computer by other apps. Don't know when they got there, how they got there or why they got there, but it's eaten up my 213GB of hard drive memory. Which meant I couldn't open any files or a lot of apps. Contacted Microsoft support to 'resolve' the issue, but other than pointing out that I've got 138GB of 'Other', they couldn't/wouldn't tell me what all the crap was or what I could get rid of that wouldn't screw up my computer.

Finally went through and deleted a few apps that I did recognize, such as Skype, which I haven't used in about 10 years now and can't foresee using again any time soon. Also deleted Twitter which I don't use. Deleted XBox apps; again, never used and never will.

That freed up a whopping 2GB. It's at least enough to let me do things again... until it fills up with more bloatware.

I used to think it was own files that were eating up the memory, but then realized that the thousands of files in total barely filled 2GB. Of course, my music is 27GB....

Anyway, even after deleting 75% of my files (copied it all to an external hard drive left over from my last computer), it barely made a dent.

Yikes! That sounds terrible. Hopefully all your computer troubles end up being easy to fix once you figure out what is actually happening. I wish you the best of luck!

In reply to Ozrus Wither (msg # 246):

Easiest way to get rid of bloatware is delete you internet browser back to factory. Should deal with a ton of it. Likely extensions on said internet browser that got downloaded with things like Adobe acrobat or similar programs.

If anyone with a spellbook wants to learn Identify, Ozrus can share it with you. He has it in his book. Just ask. Unfortunately he did not prepare it today, and he already used his extra arcane bond spell for the day.

What others have we retrieved I will update.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:51, Mon 17 May 2021.

We also have the armor.

I'd take the tongues, could be useful.

It's yours. I will note it in my last post.

the main congregated Ic space is a little convoluted. I've been a little occupied by a cyber security class but it would have helped if they were separated from the main group.

 And we are on the way back with the sword.

I will mark it off a bit later.

Anyone wanting to join me to get the ring?

I would be happy to join. But Ozrus is planning to wait until morning before trying for another wonder. (He's not super ambitious.) If you wanted to wait, he'll go with you. If not, that's fine too. Don't feel obligated.

Does anyone happen to have a spellbook containing the spell Secret Page that Ozrus could learn? Or does the monastery posses that scroll? I have just enough pages left in my first spellbook to learn it (I do have an empty spare though). And once I do, I could craft a Blessed Book so that I won't have to worry about book space or spell-copying supplies for a long time.

Granted, it would take 12 days to craft the item that we may not have. He definitely wouldn't be able to start crafting it immediately, but it would still be nice to be ready to do so in the future.

Did some spring cleaning last weekend. Ran across a box of some ten-year old papers mixed in with some gaming materials. And then there was this sheet...

DIVERT YOUR COURSE

This is the actual radio conversation of a U.S. naval ship with Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland in October 1995. Radio conversation released by the Chief of Naval Operations, 10-10-95.


CANADIANS: Please divert your course 15 degrees to the south to avoid a collision.

AMERICANS: Recommend you divert your course 15 degrees to the north to avoid a collision.

CANADIANS: Negative. You will have to divert your course 15 degrees to the south to avoid a collision.

AMERICANS: This the captain of the U.S. Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course.

CANADIANS: No, I say again, you divert YOUR course.

AMERICANS: This the Aircraft Carrier U.S.S. Lincoln, the second largest ship in the United States Atlantic Fleet. We are accompanied by three Destroyers, three Cruisers, and numerous support vessels. I DEMAND that you change your course 15 degrees north. I say again, that’s one-five degrees north, or counter-measures will be undertaken to ensure the safety of this ship.

CANADIANS: This is a lighthouse. Your call.

 Should we post in Wonders that we are back with the sword?

It was already mentioned that your group returned with the sword.

In reply to Ozrus Wither (msg # 261):

Didn't see that

Does all that return tell about their encounter?

Ozrus would share all he knew.

My general rule is that if information is posted so that all can read, then it is something that was shared 'off camera', so to speak. Especially on RPoL, trying to role-play through that would just take way too long and use up unnecessary memory on the server. Remember, there's over 5,000 games and close to 10 million posts.

If you play your character as being secretive, that's okay, too. Just make sure you posts are in a PM and request that my replies are, too.

Is it possible to get a thread for The Rock so we can retrieve the Artifact?

Is lucien an npc? I think I recall Aniyu currently is an NPC

Yes, Aniyu is an NPC, but Lucien isn't.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 268):

Nope just confused as heck.

Chess ala'riina and Vashon have gone through a portal to The Rock to retrieve the ring "Shadora".


Vogh and Tyrol have gone through another portal to the Inn of the Golden Lion to retrieve the medallion "Rimigar's Eye".


Aniyu had gone through a third portal to the Spire of the Moon to retrieve the staff "Mysterion". So far, though, no one has gone with him.


Back at the monastery, Cassandra and Trickster are attempting to analyze the magic powers of the items that have been so far retrieved: the armor, the sword, the hat, and the cloak.


Ozrus is studying his spells.


Hardcore Jimmy, Hsiang, Bash, Kurat and Lucien are just waiting for the others to return.

Admittedly, I have been regretting that decision OOC. I didn't realize at the time I would be taking myself out of the action for quite so long. Oops. Oh well. I still think it made sense IC though.

It was only because no one else wanted to wait. Apparently, no one else had needed to regain their spells, either.

Sometimes, it just happens like that.

Yeah. I definitely don't blame anyone but myself. I am patient though. Ozrus will see action again eventually.

In reply to Ozrus Wither (msg # 273):

Well to be fair I don't get that option gotta wait a day and sleep on it.

Just as a heads up I will be on vacation starting 14 Aug till the 20th.  I will not be posting at all.

In reply to Vogh Kath (msg # 275):

Take me with you.

Are the two of you back from vacation?

umm, gm, why did you post as me?

When was the last time you posted or was on?

I posted for you, Hardcore, because it'd been awhile since you checked the board, and I wasn't sure you were still around. Not posting was holding things up.

You can edit the post to suit your own preferences.

im on frequent enough to notice the gm posted for me... clearly.

And what do you mean im holding things up? I was just asked if I could turn into a freaking shovel but I already addressed the elemental issue and took the lead through a lightning storm.

And I have apathy issues, so its hard trying to post something, anything, saying yet again I cant cast the spell im being asked to cast. Like, I've started writing a post three times now. And I came as back up, not to lead, I already got an artifact. this isnt even me being mad, im just flabbergasted. like, not at lucien, but just in general I guess? and how about how long we sat waiting for lucien (again, not knocking on lucien).

I dunno, just bothers me that I ask if you posted for me and your response is im holding things back so you just did it.

you also didnt look at my log activity or youd see ive been on, you could have also asked.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:00, Mon 08 Nov 2021.

Apologies then.

I was pretty sure I'd checked the log and hadn't seen that you'd checked the board for a few days. I could've gotten it wrong. And it had been almost a month since you last posted.

Also, keep in mind that the others don't know what you are capable of. Some rangers cast spells, so that's why they asked.

Anyway, I understand apathy, though in my case it's more about lack of energy.

Can we not post what everything is until those that are back from their mission tells the party what they found!!!

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 282):

I cast spells, but even a druid cant turn into a shovel... or someone else into a shovel.

Just looked, thats a level 8 wizard only (so arcane) spell (meaning a level 17 wizard?)

Probably, the better thing for my char to do is ignore all the question and use his advanced dungeoneering, trap, and magic knowledge to find a hidden compartment in this dungeonscape to locate the most likely place for the artifact and try to discover it. if its buried, my familiar can turn into a mole and root around... and maybe even grab it.

done and done. Which is what I was trying to write out, but... again... apathy problems.

Hello been away for a while, I'm getting back into RPOL so LS sent me a line on this one.

GM, any word on if Cassandra and I have any luck on our search of the field? Or, as I suspect, are they going to come up empty-handed?

happy veterans day, from this veteran to you.

Apologies for the delay.

Had an unexpected out of town house guest visiting last week--an old gaming buddy from up North that I haven't seen in nearly 20 years. Spent the weekend recovering and am slowly getting caught up on everything.

Hope we don’t see any embarrassing pictures online of your wild weekend lol

Nope. There was nobody around when we were dancing naked in the fountain. In any case, it wasn't a pretty sight.

Ozrus, which item are you going for in the mines?

The bracers, I believe.

So sorry for the delay.  I didn't even notice that thread was there.

No problem. My own posting has gotten far too sporadic.

I've been under the weather for the past two weeks with insufficient mental energy to post, and then Thursday morning the AC went out so I've been melting in 90-degree heat for the past 4 days. Tech finally got here yesterday and the AC was working fine when he left, but now it's out again! Aaargh!

Sorry Tyrol,

Will post later tonight..

I was wondering why my thread was standing still.

Did Ozrus find anything in the lead bars, GM?

GM?

Sorry. Fell down the rabbit hole again!

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 300):

What was down there?  Did you find anything good.  :)

FYI, I plan on waiting for Hsang's response before posting again in the bracers thread.

Nope. Still looking for the pill that'll make me larger...

Is anyone in the main chamber cause we just finished getting the boots?

I’ll be posting later today that we are leaving the cave and returning

Are there currently only six active PCs? How will that affect things once we collect all of the wonders?

I'm working on that.


So apparently it was my turn to get Covid, although a weaker strain. Culminated Monday night when I fell getting out of bed because I got dizzy and my legs were so weak they couldn't support me. After friends helped me get into a chair, called an ambulance to take me to the hospital for evaluation and testing. Everything else was clear but the test came back positive for Covid. Put some fluids in me, gave me a few prescriptions for me cough, and sent me home.

According to the doctor, I have had it for a few days, so Monday was the worst of it. Getting better, but I still feel like crap and a bit unsteady on my feet.

At least this explains why I've been feeling so crappy for awhile now.

Sorry to hear that. COVID is no fun. One of my kids caught it over the weekend too. And my whole household caught it back around January. It sucks. Get well soon!

Get better and get plenty of rest.  that was my best cure.

Probably should apologize for not posting an update here, but brain's been too tired to even think of doing that.

Getting better. Just slow.

How are things with you lately?

I'd like to say I seem to be getting better... slowly.

Slight cough still, tired and weak still, a bit unsteady on my feet so getting around is slow going. Not sleeping well, which doesn't help.

Went shopping for groceries the last two Fridays, but spent way too much time in the store, which apparently was overdoing it as it wiped me out for three days afterwards.

I also keep thinking I'm going to get back to my games any day now... I've now thought that for the past two weeks... and have only made a small dent.

Damn. I was just starting to get caught up...

As you may have heard, Southwest Florida where I  live got clobbered by Hurricane Ian. Once again, we've lost power. With Irma, we lost it for 10 days. It could be longer this time as a couple of substations got trashed and there's almost a million people without power now across the six counties.

Currently using my friend's hot spot from his phone, but there's still the problem of charging up my computer and his cell phone.

So, not sure how much I'll be able to post before we get power back. No gas stations are operable because their pumps are electrical and they don't have power either. Most stores were closed today, but a few restaurants managed to open to feed the people that can't cook at home now.

Lots of trees down, and some damage to houses and yards. Six houses on our block lost their back porches. Our fence barely survived, but it's leaning because the ground got so soaked. Lost a few solar panels. But other than that, made it through without any damage to the house (except the back porch (the lanai) is 50% gone) and we're all intact--people, cats and dogs.

Yea! Power's back as of Friday afternoon. Internet came back late Friday night. We thought it'd take long because we're at the tail end of a line and the telephone pole and transformer at the other end of the block were both lying on the ground because the pole had snapped in half!

Spent yesterday cleaning up, picking up the pieces, putting things back in place, and making sure nothing got burnt out. We'd unplugged the TVs and shut off the AC at the circuit box, so we seem to be okay.

Our two house cats keep wanting to go out on the back porch like they used to, but it's half gone, so that's not going to be an option for awhile.

Anyway, expect to get caught up on my games today.

Welcome back and glad that things are not as bad.  Just be careful about the back porch.  Don't want anyone or house cats falling

Alas, still picking up the pieces from Hurricane Ian. Estimates for property damage go as high as $258 billion! You can drive up and down the streets and about 1 out of every 20 houses have a blue tarp on the roof!

Our insurance assessor has been so busy that she can't get to us until the 6th! Doesn't look like insurance his going to cover much of our losses due to the deductible, though I suppose it depends on what the final cost estimates are. None of the individual items are going to run higher than the deductible, but together they might. Still, we'll never cover that deductible on our own anyway.


Apparently I'm also still picking up the mental pieces from having CoVid. Oddly and sadly, it may also stem from my gall bladder surgery back in 2017 that completely disrupted my biorhythms. Haven't been able to regain it.


Excuses aside, this is sort of a roll call. I'm willing to keep running the game (everyone rolls their eyes!) with only 3 players. Not sure how many are left here. Not even sure why those that aren't left. I suppose some of it may be my own lack of posting. Some, it seems, wanted to jump right into the Mythic part, but without knowing how people were going to post, I felt I needed to work them into it a little bit.

Anyways, so here's a couple of questions:

1. Who is still here and wanting to play?

2. Should I continue the game or is it time to delete it?

3. If I continue with only 3-4 players, run the others as NPCs or give all the Wonders to those that are still here?

4. Should I try to recruit new players?

I'm here and I would like to continue to discover the whole plot of the game.  Its very intriguing.

I would say to wait to see how many wish to continue before recruiting more.

I am still here and willing to continue. I would rather not have a ton of NPC player characters though if the game continues. In my opinion it would be more fun if all of the active green stars are PCs. Maybe the others can defend home base? Or maybe they all get taken out by a strike from the enemy? If all the inactive-player green stars go after the last wonder, they could fall into a trap or something and leave the rest of us to continue on without them. Just a potential idea.

As long as there are three of us, I would prefer not to recruit more. And if it is just Chess and I, it would probably be best to end the game here. Even good things come to an end sometimes.

Still here, too!

I don't mind one or two NPCs since many GMs often use them to move the plot/story/scene along.

Kind of on the fence about recruiting new players. If the original players couldn't/didn't want to hang around, that's their loss. I think the number of Wonders was generated because there was supposed to be that much interest.

Sending the NPCs off on their own subplot/adventure seems like a good idea, too!

I am here as well and would like to continue as well.  I like the idea of having some NPC's and perhaps they went off to do something or stay here to defend the monastery or something while we go do whatever.

Bleh. Still recovering from the COVID aftermath (I think... hope?)--still tired all the time. I manage one or two tasks before it wipes me out... whether that's chores, errands, or posts.

I honestly haven't abandoned any of my games--I just can't focus enough to put up a coherent post.

And then there's the usual problems on top of that... all the normal aches and pains. I'm not senile yet. I don't have Alzeimer's. Knock on wood. So that's a good thing.

Need to see a doctor. Had a scheduled doctor's appointment for a day after the hurricane hit. Did some damage to the VA clinic, so it was shut down for two weeks or so; now they are even further backlogged, so haven't rescheduled the appointment.

It may be one of those Catch-22 situations--I'm tired because I don't exercise (I've been told that running at the mouth and jumping to conclusions don't count) and I don't exercise because I'm tired.

Bleh.

So sorry to hear about that.

Might need a full body check up and also check your Iron level.

That's a good point. I used to think other people who claimed they were tired might have an iron deficiency. Don't know why I didn't think of that this time.

Merry Christmas!

M E R R Y   C H R I S T M A S

H A P P Y   H O L I D A Y S

Merry Christmas to all!!

So here's what's been happening...

I've been 'ill' for about three months now, starting with getting COVID back in the beginning of October. Wasn't too bad and I got over it in a few days, but it left me with the typical aftermath symptom of being tired ALL THE TIME. I was slowly getting over it, and even had a few hours of energy every day.

I had a doctor's appointment scheduled for mid-October but then Hurricane Ian hit. The VA clinic took some damage and was closed for two weeks. I finally got the appointment rescheduled for Jan. 13.

December 1st, I had a minor chest pain on my right side. It felt like just a minor muscle strain but at my age and with my medical history, I felt it was prudent to check. Called the VA clinic to see about a walk-in visit the next day and the nurse I talked to went into panic mode with the 'chest pain' words, and told me to go to the ER. So, on Friday, December 2nd, that's what I did. More panic mode.

Spent 4 days being poked and prodded, inspected, detected, and injected and stuff, only to be told my heart was fine. More exactly, they couldn't find any cause for the chest pain... the obvious cause seemed to elude them.

Here's where it started going to hell. Getting out of the hospital, I had an extreme loss of appetite, shortness of breath, and NO ENERGY. Didn't have any of that when I went in!

Not only was I not hungry, but nothing tasted appealing any more. Could barely eat my favorite foods, and then only 2-3 bites. On top of that, I ran out of one of my diabetes medicines. Not eating and drinking much, I also wasn't taking my meds as regularly as I had been.

This went on for the next three weeks, so things probably grew gradually worse without me quite realizing it.

December 31st, I managed to pull a back muscle, and while the pain meds I took didn't do squat, I at least knew it'd go away in a few days. It did. And then I got hives!

Jan. 6 I went to the VA clinic to get bloodwork done for my doctor's appointment. No sooner did I get home than the doctor called to tell me my blood sugar level was 903! I needed to go to the ER pronto! That's where I've been for the past week. :-(

I still didn't feel all that bad (weak and no energy), but I definitely had some serious health issues. Turned out I had ketoacidosis and some kidney issues. After a few days treatment, the keto was gone, kidneys were all better, and my blood sugar was back to normal. Now I had to survive the 'recovery'. As long as I was stuck in that hospital bed, though, I knew I wasn't going to get better. So now I'm home.

Have a nurse helping me, and physical therapy should start tomorrow. And now I have to play tag with a doctor's appointment again...

Anyway, the reason I'm telling you all this is in case you, family or a friend should find yourself in a similar situation, you'll have a heads-up/warning about what's might be happening.


Now it's just recovery and rehab.

OMG

I'm sorry to hear about all your misfortune but its good to know that your doing well now and able to detect what was causing your body pain.

RECOVER ..... That is the most important thing right now.  Get yourself back to a better you and come back then.

That sounds really rough. I hope you get well soon!

Still here. As it turns out, seven days in a hospital bed really did a number on me, no doubt helped along by my age. Still tired most of the time, energy/stamina comes and goes. There are times when I get out of the recliner and only manage to take three steps before I have to sit down again. Other times, I can get up and zip around the house with the walker with no problem. So it seems like it's going to take me twice as long to recover as I was hoping/expecting it to.

Hoping to get back to my games in another day or two.

More health issues. Been in hospital for past 11 days. Transitioning to rehab soon. Will update when I can.

So while I was stuck in the hospital bed for two weeks, I wrote and rewrote this post in my head several times. Don't remember any of it now, so here's the newest version.

THE NEVER-ENDING STORY...

The Missing Chapter: when I was discharged from the hospital back in January, I was sent home with a Foley catheter, which was more of an annoyance and handicap for my home rehab at the time. Managed to get an appointment with the VA  urologist two weeks later. He thought I should never have been sent home with it, but it was time to get it removed. Took a week of scheduling shuffles but finally went home without it on the following Thursday.

That Friday night when getting ready for bed, I lost my balance while setting something on the floor and fell over on my back onto the concrete floor. My housemate helped me get up and everything seemed fine once I was back out in the recliner. Nope. Come Saturday, I was in excruciating pain across all the muscles in my chest and back. Doan's, Aleve, Tylenol didn't help at all. Monday added a heating pad... better. Wednesday, switched to BenGay... better, but still couldn't sleep, so Thursday went back to the VA for some stronger pain meds.

That doctor saw the previous records and thought I might be having a pulmonary embolism and immediately did an ambulance transfer to the ER. 6 hours later the ER doctor decided that wasn't the case and sent me home with vicadin. Didn't do anything but pharmacy was closed so had to wait till the next day to get more.

After that, everything was fine for a few hours. Mid-afternoon, I suddenly couldn't move my legs!

EMT/PD shortly had me back in the ER. MRI of head and neck revealed a tumor in my C2 vertebra. Had spinal surgery next morning! Being the weekend, it took 4 days to get the pathology back which identified it as prostate cancer. Caught it early and getting chemo, and now in rehab to walk again.

Other than that, I'm in great health (for my age)! Probably 4-6 weeks in rehab before I go home.

That sounds like a terrible time overall. Sorry you had to go through that. It sounds like you are at least on the way to recovery now though, so that is good!

If nothing noteworthy will happen after (or during) my most recent in-character post, let me know and I can make another post in the Wonders Investigation thread.

Apologies for no update but really didn't think there was one.

Still paraplegic trying to recover mobility at a poor rehab facility with bad nursing and half-horrible food until...

Developed a sore on my butt from laying in bed 24/7 that didn't get treated properly and turned gangrene, so now I'm back in the hospital with surgery scheduled for Tuesday.

Recovery to go home was still about a month away. Don't yet know how this new problem will affect that.

Low energy levels at rehab have left me with a one-track mind--just have trouble shifting gears between game systems right now.

My OCD stubbornness is still keeping me from pulling the plug on my games. I really have fun running games and it really bums me out that I can't keep them going right now for all of you. For those of you who are still sticking around waiting for the game to restart, I sincerely apologize for the delay. For those of you who have moved on, no hard feelings here--I completely understand.

Anyway, Happy Easter to everyone!

Happy Easter to you a d thank you for the update.  What a terrible ride you have been on.  I am sure you are ready for it to end..

Happy Easter! Hopefully your recovery goes better than planned. Take as much time as you need though. I expect I will still be here when your recovery is complete.

Take your time.

So sad to hear about your misfortune. Look for that rainbow on the other side

Can't sleep, can't focus to post... turn. More of the same. Turn. Repeat.

STAGE MINUS ONE--SPINAL SURGERY: Hell, I don't even remember half of it. This would have been the spinal surgery to remove the tumor and put me on my back for two weeks. DONE. SUCCESS!

STAGE ZERO--REHAB ERROR: Weeks at rehab facility where inadequate and improper nursing care turned an ordinary bedsore into a far more serious gangrene wound... one that now needed surgery to fix. DONE? WAS THAT A SUCCESS OR FAILURE?

STAGE ONE--BACKSIDE SURGERY: Operation on my tailbone went off without a hitch apparently. Just left with a major wound on my tailbone. Couldn't/can't put pressure on the wound while it heals, thus laying on my side and having to get turned to the other side every two hours, necessitating having to learn to type on my laptop upside down and sideways with one finger. Remember, this is at the BETTER recovery/rehab facility rather than at home, so options are still limited. Did I mention the I-V dangling from my arm that also gets in the way? DONE. SUCCESS.

STAGE TWO--STAPLES/SUTURES REMOVAL: Staples and stitches still need to come out. Don't have a timeline for that yet but presumably soon.
___STAGE 2.1: First half of the staples were taken out Tuesday. On schedule, standard routine. DONE. SUCCESS.
___STAGE 2.2: Second half of staples were removed Friday. Again, right on schedule with no complications. DONE. SUCCESS.
___STAGE 2.3: Sutures are currently supposed to come out on Monday, though that probably depends on how the final healing has progressed, since not everyone will heal the same way. PENDING.

STAGE THREE--WOUND REHAB: sitting protocols start as soon as sutures come out (?). Start getting used to sitting up  again... in 15-minute intervals. No details yet on frequency or duration. Will kind of depend on how well I do, but further complicated by not  having any control of my leg muscles. Requires moving to a normal bed rather than this deluxe air bubbling mattress that's meant to stimulate skin/muscle do I don't get more bedsores.

STAGE FOUR--HOME REHAB: As soon as I can stand up on my own two legs, I should be able to go home for final rehab. Regain mobility. At this point, there's no telling how well the wound rehab and the paralysis rehab will work together. The therapist seemed to think they could make them work together in synergy, but I didn't get a whole lot of enthusiasm from him. I suppose it could be uncharted territory for him.


ON THE BRIGHT SIDE: I now qualify for Frequent Surgery Miles. I've had four surgeries so the fifth one is free! Oddly, I started with the Big One (double bypass heart surgery 15 years ago) and that went easier than these.

Still not sure if there's a light at  the end of the tunnel yet--if there is, hope it's the Battery Low indicator and not the Westbound #9 train!

___STAGE 2.3: Sutures came out on Monday right on schedule, but the final healing is still in progress for several weeks/months. DONE. SUCCESS.

STAGE THREE--WOUND REHAB: sitting up for continued wound rehab protocols start as soon as sutures came out, about a week ago now. Start getting used to sitting up  again... in 15-minute intervals twice a day. Moved to a standard air mattress bed. Frequency and duration will kind of depend on how well I do, but further complicated by not having any control over my leg muscles and not enough feeling below the waist. Communication/responsibility issue has only produced one session--should have been six by now! PENDING???

___STAGE 3.5--RESUME PREVIOUS REHAB: In a week or two or three depending on how quickly I improve here, I get transferred to yet another Rehab facility for continued wound recovery... takes a long time... as well as mobility rehab.

___Stage 3.7--TRANSFER TO NEW REHAB: So the Wound Recovery has done well enough that I'm getting transferred to a different rehab facility for the Sitting/Mobility rehab. Don't know why there's a difference other than where I'm at is more medical than therapeutic so they need to make room for a new patient.

THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL: Different tunnel, different light. I suppose it's a step in the right direction, but we'll have to see how it goes.

Can you see me at the End of the Tunnel?

HA-HA-HA!

Thanks I needed that! Some days are good, some days are bad. Today was more on the bad side.