Out-of-character posts can be made here: Questions, chit chat, and other such back-channel discussion.

(I'm checking in on folks' character sheets now and expect to kick off first thing next week, if not sooner.)

Hello, all. I'll be the party Nomad. I'm done with most everything but filling in a few numbers here and there.

Greetings. Scholar here, bit of a charity case I'm afraid. It'll pay off before too long I hope.

Farm boy turned soldier. Big, Violent. But with a heart if gold.

 City slum dweller from Tarantia. Join the Royal army, good pay, decent food, soft beds.See exotic places, meet interesting people, and kill them. Except  for the last part, the rest proves that recruiters are the kingdoms most accomplished  liars. .

 I am looking forward to rping with you all.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:18, Mon 22 June 2020.

hi guys, still not totally sure what to play, and for that I apologise - got very little sleep this past weekend, so I'm hoping after I knock out classwork today I can get him done (I was also following gcx over the weekend, and they managed to raise 6 million dollars for St Jude)

Just finished I hope!

I'll be a barbarian from the Himelian mountains.

My wife and I are headed back up north over the next few days. I am unlikely to post until next week some time.

We'll keep a chair open for you. Safe travels!

OK, everyone. I think we're good enough to get going. A couple of players need to tidy up their character sheets, but we're ready enough to play.

I added a level bonus language to your character sheets for first level. So if you'd already done that yourself (the GM usually does, not the player), please adjust to allow for the language I added.

Thank you for your patience as we gathered and got the party organized! I like the set of characters you've made -- well done.

In the Party Roster thread, there are several items that can use your input:

(a) What time zone are you in? Helps us set expectations for response time, etc.
(b) At some point you'll want to establish a default marching order so we don't have to do that all the time.
(c) Same thing for watch order. I tend to like to set defaults, and then handle adjustments as needed vs. do it anew every time.

B and C can happen when we first need them, but feel free to PM me your time zone at some point so I can edit that post.

 Hey GM, I assume a pole arm is next to useless in the Forest, or am I wrong?

The shaft is about six feet long, but the bill originated when a hedging tool was attached to a pole -- so it does have some acquaintance with vegetation. I'll spend some more time with the books, but off the top of my head, mechanically, at most I'd maybe give it -1 in dense forest, but it is a piercing weapon as much as it is a slashing weapon, so you might even be able to avoid even that. Now, would it impede your movement? In really dense forest or foliage, perhaps, but not generally in wooded areas. I'll read some more and see if that point of view changes.

Still here guys, I will post tonight or early morning.

So we'll head back along the King's road to back track the caravan route?

Sounds like the obvious thing to do. It does occur to me on the other hand that if you wanted to draw a response from the fort you might hit a caravan and wait for them to come down the road to investigate. So any alternative other than charge down the road looking for evidence would be preferable to falling into an ambush.

Its probably the real reason the Baron is sending us. He can send his own men into an ambush, or dispatch a larger force and leave the fort weakened. Better to send a scouting party with only the cost of a promise of a carrot.

I'm still here but my class has been killing me - I will post tomorrow morning

Didn't Fan-Hee just ride off into the distance with someone else's horse?

Fanny simply walked past her usual turn to go home. She is in town hoping to find any of you. Feel free to bump into her anywhere you like during preparations.

We'll certainly move down the road with caution!

And I'm sure we can 'bump' into Fan-Hee in some respectable fashion... :)

Can the riders simply dismount and lead the horses? Generally speaking you can lead a horse anywhere a human can walk.

To a point, that might be possible. I would amend your statement to "Generally speaking you can lead a horse anywhere a human can walk a horse." Large riding animals can't move as freely through a wooded area as a human can -- unless it's a marked trail, perhaps. You're tracking someone or something through a forest, not following an animal trail.

With horses, your speed will be halved at least. I'll let you know when it becomes more challenging with the animals in tow.

I'll be out of town from Thursday to Monday without internet. sorry for being away, class has killed me, but today is the last day.

In the underbrush assuming these creatures are wolves would we have a chance to take a shot with a bow as they rush us?  If not then Abdur will ready his weapon to strike if charged.

Not seeing the enemy yet, readying an action that's triggered by another action is totally a reasonable action.

 Whatever they are,I don't think they are the local welome wagon.

OK, so Darakyn has Leather armor DR +4 and a shield DR +4 -- does this give him a total of DR +8 since he readied his shield for the attack?

By the book, the DR score of any armor he is wearing at the time is deducted from the damage. So you can sink eight.

Can we fire our bows as the wolves burst from the undergrowth?

Yes, those who readied an attack can resolve that attack.

What would the damage of my bow be?

You can access the handbook here: https://thetrove.net/Books/Con...antean%20Edition.pdf

Bow damage depends on the bow, and based on your character sheet, I'd say 1d10.

Sorry, I rolled my actions, but I guess I forgot to post them. Thanks for figuring it out for me.

I liked my bow damage roll better than the GM's... :)


18:25, Today: Abdur Rahman rolled 10 using 1d10.  Bow damage.

No worries...

Question though... would my bow have a strength rating?  I have a +3

Four wolves left?

Four of six remaining, so two down, one by Darakyn, and one by Abdur.

In reply to Manann (msg # 37):

 Sorry, I missed.

In reply to Epeus (msg # 38):

Darn dice!

How do things like stabilizing someone dying work?

The dying character, every round, rolls d% to see if they stabilize. Target number is 10%. Stabilizing means you stop dying and hold fast at the HP you're at. Failing means you lost a hit point and check again next round. At -10, the character is dead.

Other characters can also stabilize a dying character with a DC 15 Heal check. That stops the hit point loss and need to stabilize further. Other healing has other effects depending on the amount of healing. And there are guidelines for recovery otherwise.

In reply to Manann (msg # 41):

We'll have to kill these darn wolves quickly!!!

In reply to Abdur Rahman (msg # 42):

Let's do it

Sucks when your healer is the one down.

Totally. My POV: Every character should roll to try to at least stabilize. Heal doesn't require skill levels.

All the more rolls we can manage!

What does it take to break the battle madness?  I can get a post in quickly but wanted to see if I go off frothing at the mouth!  :)

You can end it prematurely voluntarily. So you turn it on and off -- you don't need to wait for it to end.

We might want to look up on how helping each other could help. I just switched to a new comp and haven't transferred my books yet.

Aid Another might prove helpful. A roll of 10+ results in +2 to someone's skill check.

We've got Fan-Hee stabilized.

I guess that's largely the end our first expedition as she'll be down and out for a few days at least.

Is that party consensus, then? Return to the fort? Do you plan to all stay at the fort while Fan-Hee heals up, or return down one comrade? Let me know what you're thinking.

Not knowing the game system deeply it seems like it may be days before Fan-Hee heals.  Is that accurate?

If we take her back and continue the adventure it leaves her out of things unless there is faster healing.

You'll have to go back to the fort to find out if there's faster healing there, but based on Fan-Hee's rolls, she'll become conscious but disabled and reach 0 HP in 18 hours (if back at the fort resting), and it'll then take two days of natural healing for her to be back to max HP. So roughly three days without other options.

This game is also really light in healing magic, even though there are spells for hire. So even before you're back at the fort, at the edge of civilization, I think it's reasonable to say that there is not magical or faster healing available.

(This game is relatively brutal. As this encounter demonstrates, there isn't really any care given to encounter balancing... that is by design and explicit in the text! "Allow the players to make their own decisions as to which foes they think they are capable of dealing with and which to avoid. ... There is no absolute way ... to gauge the exact difficulty faced by a party.")
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:24, Sat 22 Aug 2020.

I'll look into it a bit later but I'm wondering what tactical options are available as far as tanking or blocking for other members of the party? Doesn't seem marching order did anything to prevent a wolf from attacking each one of us. I vaguely recollect from other D20 games something about attacks of opportunity, so its not easy to just walk past or through enemies to get to vulnerable members. Not easy to use such mechanics without a battle map.

I'll be out for a few days on vacation.

Just a thought... if we head back to heal Fan-Hee likely we miss the entire encounter and investigation.  It seems are only choice if we want to continue with this adventure is to ditch Fan-Hee.  I can't imagine the baron being patient with us sitting around while she heals.

I'm looking for options but I just don't see them.

This was a tricky spot because it wasn't like you were in a hallway. The wolves basically attacked from both sides approaching from the woods... the party was making quite a bit of noise with the horse in the forest, moving slower than normal, etc. The party's perception rolls, though, at least avoided a surprise attack so you could ready actions.

Once engaged, the wolves never moved out of melee, so no opportunity attacks would have come into play. You're right, though, that RPOL is more theater of the mind than the tactical map of Roll20.

But the main thing here is that Conan D20 encounters aren't balanced for the party. They are what they are, and sometimes the best choice is to cut and run or avoid a fight -- which might have been challenging in this situation. So be warned: Some encounters might be above your pay grade.

The Hyborian Age has fewer safe points of light than D&D's Nentir Vale. I will be sure, though, to not play against the party. That's not fun for you, and it's not fun for me. I will be fair despite the threat level.

If Fan-Hee would like, whip up another character so you don't miss out on play while Fan-Hee heals. You can meet up with the group at the fort when they make a detour there and then continue on your way. You can always rejoin as Fan-Hee in almost three days. (Game days, not real days.)
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:49, Wed 26 Aug 2020.

FYI: Fan-Hee's rolling up a new character to play while she heals up. Please stand by. We'll begin anew soon.

In reply to Manann (msg # 57):

I appreciate the balanced assessment of the game and the encounters.  We'll certainly be more willing to run away if we can and it makes sense!  I can see we're not in the typical pathfinder game... :)

I've been adjusting to classes snce those started monday, will get caught up asap

Ok, done with the replacement. Meet Abbot. You know... the guy who scolds Fan-Hee all the time and is no fun at all.

In reply to Abbot (msg # 60):

Excellent!

So what is the plan? In hindsight it seems trying to follow native tracks through their home jungle to be a recipe for disaster on many levels. How else might we go about retrieving the payroll?

I have a couple of thoughts towards that ends.

Picts cant really have any need or use for the payroll. It is useless to use in trade among themselves or with other tribes. So this leaves two possibilities I can think of. They got it for someone else, or they are using it for bait because they know we the outsiders want it.

I think we lack a lot of other choices than following the track of the Picts.

Temperature check: Collective disinterest in continuing?

I'm up for it but not sure if anyone else still is.  Getting our asses handed to us so badly in the first encounter and essentially losing Fan Hee I think set us all back.

Still here but the pace of the game is killing me.

Perhaps we should just move along? We spent the day taking Fan-Hee back, we picked up another mystic fellow along the way, and now we're back following the same tracks, just a day later.

I agree that the wolf attack was much more dangerous than I would have imagined for another game system. Would my character know if this seemed normal or were the wolves frenzied somehow?

Consider a Knowledge (Nature) check, if trained...

No joy on that skill... still odd behavior by the wolves!

I've just been obnoxiously busy, will post tomorrow most likely

Busy as well!

I'll get caught up today, just have one exam left that's due by the 12, the one yesterday was absolutely brain melting (operating systems)

In reply to Jehungir (msg # 72):

Good luck!

In reply to Abdur Rahman (msg # 73):

thanks, did pretty okay on it

I had a busy week but will get back to posting tomorrow.

Life intervened for me, too! Apologies for the absence.

In reply to Manann (msg # 76):

No worries, welcome back!

Making the annual trek south in search of second summer. Probably be offline until late next week. Please run Darkyn Chard as an NPC until I return. Thanks.

Thanks for the heads up! Safe travels.

Pulse check on Abbot and Epeus? Darakyn's currently an NPC, but I want to defer to players.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:41, Fri 20 Nov 2020.

21:57, Today: Abdur Rahman rolled 10 using 1d20+3.  Initiative.

I had a laptop melt down but am back and ready to continue if we want to do so.

Sweet! Happy holidays, everyone. May 2021 bring only the best and brightest.

Silly dice. Don't forget you have Fate points!

Looks like we're down to just you two paying attention -- I appreciate that. If you'd like, we can open this back up seeking more players... or we can call it a day.

It's a game too brutal for two player characters.

Looks like Darakyn is about to be out for the count anyway.

Thinking ahead, you could go back to the stronghold to tend your wounds, and return to the trail with new players... If interest were there.

This is will be the second 'start over' after losing a prior character.  I like the genre and the story and would like to continue just not sure how.

I'm going to end the game. I'm sure I'll run future games here -- and have enjoyed this! Thank you very much for participating. I'd game with all of you again in a hot minute.

Thanks for the story. It's a lot of work keeping a thread going over many weeks.

It was fun and I appreciate the effort Manann.  I'd enjoy another game of any sort if you decide to run another.