Iwo's advice certainly would be to kill them both.

@Urvan:  I assume you mean this bushwhack feat:  https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats...ts/bushwhack-combat/ and not this one https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats...ral-feats/bushwhack/.

I'm not really sure how this helps you, though.  If you only had one to contend with, then pinning would be a fine choice, but if all you do is pin one of them, then you have to stay with the pinned one and the other will be able to get away.  I think that your options, assuming you do want to try to take both of them out, are

1. Wait until they separate, then get one and then the other individually.  This has a risk that they are joined by yet another person, maybe tell that person, etc.  The bushwhack ability would be great for this approach, however.

2. Dive in and try to down one of them quickly, then get to the other before he escapes.  (Or maybe the other will attack you!)  If you make a pretty easy acrobatics roll (DC 12) then I'll let you do a standard attack in the surprise round and then you can hope to win initiative.  With a standard (surprise) attack and a full round attack, you should be able to do a fair bit of damage.  If you miss the acrobatics roll, you'll still have the hope of winning initiative and getting in a full round attack before either of them get to do anything.

I would suggest that you position Boreas more precisely than just 'guard the exterior.'  There's only one door into this house, so perhaps put him in front of it.  You won't need another stealth roll -- you know where they are, now, so you can avoid being noticed easily enough.

Also, don't forget to trigger your adrenaline rush.

Hmmm.  It doesn't seem that you ever selected any Masterwork items.  I had said that as the level up, you could each choose two masterwork items, one of which can be a weapon.  You could take the weapons your father had, if you like, as your weapon.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:38, Sat 14 Jan 2023.

Correct, and great catch on the equipment. He will definitely take those!

So going with. Guard command with Boreas at the front door, with a "diving" surprise attack through the window.

07:00, Today: Urvan Kron rolled 14 using 1d20+7.  Acrobatics Check DC12.

And yes, the plan is to trigger the adrenaline rush the first round of combat for maximum impact.

Well, now it's Scarlet who's been gone for a week.  To be fair, her steady pace is slower, including some 1-week breaks.

I'm a little bit regretting putting all these stories in the same thread, since they are not overlapping much.  I do plan to have them come together in the end, but we'll probably go a while before that happens.  Would people find it easier if I separate the stories until that happens?

@Urvan, I went ahead and posted that you did the basic setup, but feel free to counter that if you want a different approach.

Your roll above stands, so you'll have one standard action worth of surprise round, then roll initiative.  You can attack whichever one you like; the reaction of the other one will somewhat depend on the success and mode of your attack, so I can't decide that until I see it.

However, I just realized that there's no reason for me not to roll initiative now.  If you beat theirs, then you can go ahead with your second round, too.

13:25, Today: Zag rolled 21,3 using d20+1,d20.  Initiative for Gratham, other priest.
Nat 10!

So if you beat 21 you get your surprise round plus another full round before they act.  Otherwise, you'll go after Gratham.  As I said, I have to see how your surprise round goes before I will know his action.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:28, Sun 15 Jan 2023.

Wow.  And, of course, you max'ed out damage.  I think, though, that you used the Stunning Fist too soon, since it is only supposed to last until your action in the next round.  (Checks SRD:  Oh, you have another, anyway.)

Ricka was questioning whether or not she had accidentally made a mistake in calculating her skills, because she is a real skills monster.  After checking, I agreed that she had done it correctly.  Of course, she's in huge trouble if she ever gets in a fight, which I pointed out.  I said "Wait until you see Urvan in a fight."  Yeah.  This is what it looks like.

... did Ricka's post get missed in there somewhere?

Oh, sorry.  I thought I was waiting for you.  I'll put up a post in a bit.

BTW, if anyone has detected a slight disparity in the seriousness and danger level between Ricka's and Scarlet's respective missions, just trust me that one is being oversold and the other is being undersold.

In reply to Zag (msg # 154):

no prob, I kind of snuck into the middle of the whole intense Urvan chase scene there  :)

My very old experience earning my black sash in Kung Fu (some 30 years ago) is showing here.  A cat's paw is a hand shape where you just bend the ends of your fingers, but the first knuckle stays flat with the back of your hand.  It's a devastating attack to the throat.  My point is that this isn't a separate weapon, just your hand.

In reply to Zag (msg # 151):

Yes it's a bit confusing to have everything happen in the sam thread, but since I'm mad busy these days I can hardly complain :) I'll take whatever you dish.

I agree.  I'll make separate threads later today.  We may rejoin the stories once we get deeper into the games and I expect there to be more interaction.

BTW, I changed Animal Companion ability to say that the effective druid level is simply one less than your character level.  I realized that it was the only ability that changed depending on how long you've had the ability.  It made a situation where two character might have the same set of abilities but taken in a different order, and they would not have the same overall benefits from them.  So I removed the qualification based on when you took the ability and made so that the effective druid level is one less than your character level.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:45, Tue 17 Jan 2023.

I have become frustrated with how unwieldy the NPCs thread has become.  I'm playing in another game in which the GM has made good use of the Game Wiki, a feature that I had never bothered to try out, and it is perfect for the NPCs.  They are all moved over there and the existing thread will no longer be extended.

little bit swamped this weekend & tonight, sorry!  :)  Back to posting maybe at work overnight, or definitely by tomorrow afternoon.

I've been sick these last days, nothing serious but it really knocked me down. This comes on the tail end of a longish absence, so my apologies, Zag. Will get back into the groove asap.

I've decided just to accept this game as it comes, and not stress over it.  It has been very weird how everyone has come and gone, but it's all fine.  I love the fact that my initial concept -- the low magic world -- has made people focus more on role-playing and less on character stats/feats/race/etc.  All the characters are interesting and fun, all in very different ways.  So I'm happy for people to come and go as their real life allows.

Well, that brought everything to a screeching halt.

Apologies, life is getting the best of me lately. I know it's not my brightest post, but better keep the ball rolling than wait for the tardy muses.

@Scarlet:  I was talking to my son, who is running this game right now:  link to another game

The interesting aspect of that game is that it includes these interactions that act as social combats.  It is where the players are looking to gain influence from some NPCs, and it includes figuring out which NPC are most influenced by which skills and then applying them, using the best skills within the party.

Anyway, I was telling him about this game, where we have three apprentice spies with very different skills, you being the charisma rogue.  I already have Ricka in a scenario where all her burglar rogue skills are going to make a big difference, and Urvan just had a fight.  It was meant to be tougher than it turned out so I'll find another one for him, but that's easy to work up.

Anyway, I wanted to put together a scenario for you where social skills are what really matter.  He suggested I create something sort of in between what Kingmaker does and an actual combat, where the important skills are social ones and the 'hit points' and 'defense' will be based on your WIS, INT, and CHA similar to how fighting is based on STR, DEX, and CON.

There will be some social setting (or multiple, if we like the approach) in which you and the little bitch Jeannette are each trying to influence someone or multiple ones and competing to do it while curtailing the other's influence.  You can use diplomacy to influence, intimidation to block her attempts, bluff to do either, etc.  Perception will help to identify what is likely to work; Sense motive will be important to know what is working and what isn't.

Anyway, if you're interested, let me know and I will figure something out.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:00, Sun 05 Feb 2023.

That sounds very intriguing! We could give it a shot and see how it plays?

Ok.  We'll try it out now.  I fully expect you to win this one, since the scenario ends pretty quickly if you lose.

--- Note added after writing all this:  This was very clean and simple in my mind, but it still took a fair bit to write it up.

Goal:  To get at least three of the adults to be 'friendly' towards you and still be 'alive,' i.e. you still have social hit points left.  That will get you to a point where you are welcome hanging out in the group.

Your starting social hit points is your Wisdom.  They are completely recovered after one of these encounters is over.

Each round will be a few minutes of talking, chatting, whatever.

Every round you make two rolls:  one for Information, one for Influence or Attack.

1. Information:  You use either Perception or Sense Motive.  It must be directed at a single individual, which could be one of the adults you're trying to influence or one of your opponents.  (In this case there is only one.)  The DC for the roll depends on which individual you are targeting.  If the roll is successful, then you will learn something about the person.

1a.  A successful Perception roll will tell you what sort of action is likely to be successful against this person, i.e. what skill to use to influence them and will put you at +2 on the next roll (assuming you use that action).  If you succeed by more than 5, you'll be at +4 on the next roll.

1b.  A successful Sense Motive roll will tell you the person's current attitude towards you and whether they changed since the last time.  (Someone might take more than one successful action to change from, say, hostile to unfriendly, so even though they are still hostile, this might tell you that they are less hostile than they were.)  It will also tell you a skill that might be effective against them, but does not confer any bonus.

2. Influence or Attack:  You use one skill and target one person.

2a.  Influence:  Different people will have different DC's per skill used against them, ranging from 10 to 25, so you'll want to use the right skill.  For example, your perception roll might tell you that the target particularly likes music, so using Perform (Sing) would likely influence them.  If your perception roll failed, then you can always resort to using Diplomacy or Bluff for influence or Intimidate or Bluff for attack, or just use again something you know works, but you won't have the bonus anymore.

2b.  Attack:  Your other option is to attack your opponent using either Intimidation or Bluff (or maybe other skills?).  This has the benefit of reversing your opponent's success from the previous round and giving your opponent one hit point.  It is not my intent that you win by destroying your opponent, but possibly an opponent will use this approach against you.

IMPORTANT:  When you use a skill, your effective skill level in that skill drops by 1d6+1, and all other skills that have already been reduced go up by 1, up to their normal value.  This is to prevent you from just using Bluff over and over.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:28, Mon 06 Feb 2023.

BTW, feel free to give feedback on the rules if you have any.  I just made them up and haven't playtested them or anything.

My son looked them over and pointed out that I don't have the equivalent of AC, which would be the DC of the attack.  He suggested that it makes more sense for INT to be the "hit points" and WIS to be the AC.  He also suggested that something there should scale with level, but I disagree if the attack is only going to do one point of damage.

Anyway, you're up.  I realize that there is an inherent delay in this process, where you have to roll your observation portion and then, if it is successful, you'll want to wait to find out what you learn before acting.  All the DCs are between 12 and 20, depending on whom you're observing, so at least you can continue if you know you've failed.

@Scarlet:  You reacted too quickly; I was still editing.  Feel free to edit completely, now that I have added all the parameters.  I'm still working out how the mechanics really work in practical terms, and I realized that I hadn't really given you the equivalent of a combat map and clear identification of opponents and allies.  Now it should be clearer.

Jeannette is your opponent, so there is no point in targetting her except as an attack to reverse her last action and to deliver a 'hit point.'
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:49, Thu 09 Feb 2023.

Ooooh, I see. For once I was being flattering and non-confrontational, with the only NPC I am *bound* to duel. Thanks for the clarification, I have deleted my post entirely because yes, it made no sense in context now, not the dialog and not the roll either.

This really is just practice for the system.  You'd really have to try to lose.  She's going to be crushed under the weight of the d6+1 drop on skills fairly quickly, because she just doesn't have as many as you have to work with and they aren't as high to start with.  So feel free to mess around and just try out the mechanics.