You all meet in a clearing in the middle of the woods where, someday, maybe, a tavern might be built...
This message was last updated by the GM at 17:47, Fri 03 Mar 2023.

Ahoy all!

I am Kovann, a beardless, dwarven monk, proving that not all dwarves are bearded and in thick metal armour.

I look forward to adventuring with you all :)

Finnick Glimmerdust reporting in!

Finn will be a gnomish illusionist.  A bit older than most, Finn is starting a second career as an adventurer after having spent a number of years as a teacher.

I look forward to gaming with you guys.

Greetings everyone!

Your standard run-of-the-mill human wizard here; diviner to be specific. Hopefully here to give some good suggestions and added support. Combined with Finnick, I think there may be some interesting magic shennanigans possible too!


Though it seems (at present) Kojik is the tallest of the group so far.. don't like being a target like that! Hehe.

Hi, everyone!

I'll be playing an elf historian with some rogue skills.

Hey everyone!

I'll be joining as Gill, a water genasi cleric (life domain), a friendly dockworker turned adventurer.

Gill is a tall guy, so there's that :)

Are you going with Rogue?

EDIT: I'm planning to have six PC's at start. I've got a couple of RTJ's with questions pending. If I don't get some answers I'll move to my alternates.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:46, Thu 09 Mar 2023.

One thing I need to decide on for Kovann (either immediately if we start at 3, or for when we get there), is what subclass for my monk.

I picture him swinging with a battleaxe, making the most of the dedicated weapon feature to hit harder than just his hands, but still using his body for things like Flurry of Blows.

I want to make sure I'm useful, but also interesting.

Perhaps Way of the Long Death, as I see it as going well with how dwarves are seens as being very hardy and take a lot to knock them down, so getting temp HP would help with some tanking potential (as that feels absent so far).

Greetings!  Late to the party, but I’ll be first in line for the fights.

And that's everyone!

I'll give the last couple of folks a chance to weigh in on the "Dials" and then we're off.

Much appreciated!

In reply to System (msg # 7):

I was going to start with rogue, but I'd like to muulticlass with bard. I wasn't sure which the party needed more.  Now that we have Ayanna, we have two melee fighters, but We only have one person with healing.  I could go right to bard.

In reply to Glinsael (msg # 12):

I think either could work! Especially if you're looking to multiclass between them. Just depends on which role you think would be fun to start with.

Let me know your final decision.

As I'm building Kovann, I thought it would be useful to share proficiencies, so we know if we're doubling up, or have any gaps.

More than one person having various skills isn't bad, as we won't have a single point of failure.
But some skills with nobody knowing, could get bad!

Skills:

• Acrobatics
• Insight
• Perception (Expertise in this)
• Performance
• Stealth

Tools:

• Disguise kit
• Flute
• Glassblower's tools
• Herbalism kit
• Smith's tools
• Thieves' tools

I'm swapping out racial armour proficiency for two tools, and I am taking Skill Expert as my level 1 feat.

Finn will be a courtier wizard (illusionist).

Skills: Arcana, Deception (expertise), History, Insight, and Persuasion.

The deception was gained from the feat, skill expert.

Kojik will be a diviner as time goes of course, currently planned:


Skills: Arcana, History, Insight, Nature, Persuasion.

A little cross-over with Finnick, but to be expected for wizards.

Tools: Potionmaking Kit.

Gill will probably have:

• Athletics
• Insight
• Medicine
• Survival (not sure about this one yet)
• Carpenter's tools
• Vehicles (water)

Quick note: I'm allowing the casters to start with their Familiars if they wish. So anyone without a Familiar is welcome to start play with an item worth about 10gp if they wish.

Second, I received a request for the stat array to not have a dump stat (the 8). I allowed them to just change the 8 to a 10, or take 10, 10, 10 instead of 12, 10, 8.

Now.

The thing is that I actually don't really have strong feelings about starting attributes. Especially for 5E, high attributes are fun for players and don't really post a serious balance issue for me. Even if you had all 18's the game wouldn't significantly change.

And, in the meta-game analysis, higher starting attributes really just means more Feats later. And Feats are fun.

So, long story short, I gave you all an array, but you can mess with it if you feel you need to.

The last few games I've DM'd, I've let players just choose their own attributes.

In reply to System (msg # 13):

Sorry for my indecisiveness. When I switched classes I tried to fill too many roles at once and it got muddled.  I'm going to go with bard. Final answer.

Looking at my background, I was going to go with sage, but I'd like to swap religion for arcanna in the skills.

Leaving the knowledge stuff to you guys.  Simple soldier here.

Animal Handling
Athletics
Intimidation
Perception
Survival

That's totally fine. No reason you can't be a library nerd sage instead of a temple nerd sage.

Opening post will be up tomorrow, everyone. My evening class ran long and I couldn't quite squeeze it in tonight.

Hope you don't mind me using the same color, Kojik. I tried some other colors, but blue seems easiest on the eyes :)

In reply to Gill Makiri (msg # 23):

Don't mind in the least!

Are we going to use Language groups?
This message was last edited by the player at 23:43, Wed 15 Mar 2023.

In reply to Ayanna Bhunnel (msg # 25):

I'm always a little wary of them, actually. In my experience, restricting information rarely makes a story better. And I don't like it when two PC's talk to each other in a language some or all of the other's don't know.

If people like them, I'll set them up.
This message was last updated by the GM at 00:09, Thu 16 Mar 2023.

Speeaking of languages, I'm trying to pick languages that old books would have been written in. I think elf and dwarf would be common, both ancient races with an interest in keeping their history and lore.  I think celestial could be used for sacred texts. I'm not sure what to take for my last. Is there an ancient human language?

Also, my skilll list is history, investigation, perception, persuasion, religion, and stealth.

In reply to Glinsael (msg # 27):

Draconic is a classic choice. There isn't an official 'ancient human.' Giants are sometimes portrayed as having vast kingdoms and realms in ages past.

I don't want to say too much because spoilers.

In reply to System (msg # 28):

Thanks. I'll go with Draconic. A language that's known to have historical significance makes more sense for her.

Unrelated, I want to have a longbow instead of a crossbow for my weapon. It feels more elf like.

In reply to Glinsael (msg # 29):

Yeah that's fine.

I'd also prefer not to use language groups too much. We can have our characters act like we don't understand something, but as player I'd like to know! :)

Kojik: are you sending your familiar out to scout?

Yep! I'll send him up to fly up and circle outward to see if he can spot anything for us. Have him fly high enough to avoid any fire if there IS anyone of course, but not so high he can't see anything. Safety first. ;)

Great, thank you. Figured I'd save us an update cycle.

Most recent post is edited.

This made me grin.  :)

I am older (by a month or two) than the module ... and I'm in my forties.

Ha! Spoilers for Star Wars, the old guy dies!

To fair, though, the original module doesn't actually have a lot to say about the past of the Borderlands. As originally presented, the Keep is a new settlement and there's no sense that there's any history in the area. Module B1 gives you a bit about (spoilers for module B1) Rogahn and Zelligar, but only a bit.

What I was really trying to do was avoid saying outright "such and such a language will be useful."

Mental note: Glad I had the foresight to pick up Comprehend Languages... :D

Question about the map?  What are we supposed to see?  I see a spreadsheet with A1 filled in with terrain.  I see giant wolf tokens that stay in the same place as I scroll around the map.

Oh right. You don't need to scroll. Set at 50% size, the tokens should all be in the right place.

You can move your own tokens and it will update for everyone, it just takes a bit of fiddling when they're that small.

I can see the map now, I can't move my figure.

Try now.

I think I'm missing something. Where can I find the map?

Im Msg 16 of the main thread, after the OOC line there is a link to the map, titled "Battle of the Lonely Road!"

Map!

https://docs.google.com/spread...Dpk/edit?usp=sharing

https://www.owlbear.rodeo/game/mfsPa48LJ
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:06, Mon 20 Mar 2023.

Ah thanks, hadn't realized there was a link in the post!

The googledocs method usually works really well for this purpose, but it's not working well this time.

I'll look around for some alternate solutions.

Quick note, new link for the map:

https://www.owlbear.rodeo/game/mfsPa48LJ

(the link in the IC thread is updated)

The password is 'truemane'

Let me know if you have any troubles.

Round update on the way.

I'm getting an "unable to find owner for asset" error in the owblear rodeo map. It's completely blank for me.

Jesus. Clearly not a perfect solution.

That site is new to me. I'll figure this out.

I'll update the IC thread today, no matter what happens with the map. Push come to shove we can go theatre of the mind.

I tried on my phone.  Got tools on the sides, but no map, no icons.  I saw the same error flash that Gill mentioned.

The one real downside of Owlbear Rodeo is that it hosts custom assets on your local machine. I do my role-play writing from three separate computers, so it takes some fiddling to work it out so that I don't turn off the wrong computer at the wrong time.

And then this morning I did a full clean and sweep of the hosting computer for unrelated reasons, forgetting that this would happen.

No worries :)  there's no rush. A map is nice bonus, but without it we can still play!

Still gives "Unable to find owner for asset".

Also, I know initiative isn't important, however I appear to be missing from the list ;)

In reply to Kovann (msg # 53):

You've transcended the list. Those monk meditations worked. ;)

Added you to the list! Sorry about that!

I'm going to go say some bad words at the map.

BRB.

Still the same I'm afraid.

Finnick already took his action in this first round (and will drop to 0hp on the wolf init).

(Also can’t see a map.  ‘Unable to find owner for asset’)

The first round was kinda our 'pre-action' round. A freebie from spotting the wolves before they reached us. So Finnick should still be able to do 1 action before the wolf makes it to him. And if the wolf dies before its turn... ;)

Alright, until I get this sorted, see the map for Group 0. It's the current round.

Ah. I see now that System was talking about  round 2 actions and is letting me know that before Finn drops to 0hp on init count 6, he will get an action on init count 7.

Sort of weird posting it out of order but you did mention this new way of summing up the action in a round was going to take some getting used to.

I don’t suppose dodge can be a legal action?  Now that I know he’ll be dropped if he does nothing in other words.

I'm half considering that Kojik may opt to focus on the wolf charging Finnick vs the Alpha Wolf. More immediate danger, plus it'll be coming in both their directions. Might be able to actually down it before it reaches Finnick. :D


IF the dice cooperate...

This one had a weird start with the wolves at the edge of the clearing and running forward late in the round.

It'll even out as we go along.

Finnick: let me know if you want to Dodge or double hit the wolf with Kojik.

Between dodging and Kojik, Finnick may be saved (praise the cooperative dice). :D

Quick response to this. I know she's squishy, the only reason she was up front was to make the range for Faerie Fire based on the initial map set up.

Kovann, the Bless might bump up your unarmed attack enough to make it a hit ;)

I forgot about bless.  I don’t think it affects my opposed Athletics check.

If its an 'attack or saving throw', Bless would count! I'd imagine even an opposed check/attack is considered an attack. Maybe? Hehe.

By strict reading, no. It gives you a bonus specifically on an "attack roll" (not when making an attack) And for a Shove, it says "Instead of making an Attack roll, you make a Strength (Athletics) check."

But I would allow it. It makes sense and it's more fun.

Didn't matter this time, though, as the spear thrust took the big guy down.

So now we have one scared, angry wolf left right in front of Glinsael, and the horses are on the run.

Someone added a wagon to the scene at one point, so the horse took off with that attached.

So there's goods all on the ground and around too as well.

Oops! I posted in the wrong thread.  While I'm here though, Ayanna has bardic inspiration for 10 minutes which could come in handy for recapturing the horses.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:28, Thu 23 Mar 2023.

Might I suggest a slight variation of the initiative/posting order? It's one I've used in the past with great success.

In short, it's a form of group-initiative without losing individual initiative rolls, by using the monsters/NPC turn as the round-break-point. The players rolling a higher initiative than the monsters go first, then all monsters/NPCs, then all players, all monsters/NPCs, players, etc. This way, we're also acting on the current situation, and not backtracking hypothetical situations (like Finnick knowing he'd go down if attacked).


For example (last fight):

First round (those player with initiative higher than monsters/NPCs can post first, players can post in any order, only using initiative if needed)
18 - Kevann
17 - Gill
11 - Glinsael
8* - Kojik
7 - Finnick
6 - ALL monsters / NPCs  <- GM post, first round summary and ALL monster/NPC actions

Second round (all players can post in any order, only using initiative if needed)
4 - Ayanna   <- players with lower initiative than the monsters now join as well (and technically have the highest initiative in the group from now on, if it is needed)
18 - Kevann
17 - Gill
11 - Glinsael
8* - Kojik
7 - Finnick
6 - ALL monsters / NPCs  <- GM post, second round summary and ALL monster/NPC actions

Third round (all players can post in any order, only using initiative if needed)
4 - Ayanna
18 - Kevann
17 - Gill
11 - Glinsael
8* - Kojik
7 - Finnick
6 - ALL monsters / NPCs  <- GM post, third round summary and ALL monster/NPC actions

In reply to Gill Makiri (msg # 70):

That’s the format I’m used to.  I think most games here end up falling into this kind of format.

Ha!  I made a similar (although not as succinctly worded) suggestion via PM.

This is how I do it as well.

All good thoughts, thank you (you too via PM, Finnick).

I've done group initiative before (although I've never done this exact variation). It is certainly the easiest way to do in on PbP. But I've found it made combat feel.... flat. Bland, almost.

But it's been a while since I've tried it (and like the man says, I was younger then).

And I like this particular tweak on it, which I haven't tried before.

Let's give it a whirl next combat and see how it goes.

Thanks, everyone.

Sorry, Gill and Kevann for posting before you had a chance. I just had some time this morning and wanted to set the part of the scene while I had the chance.

Quite alright - I've had the time to read, but not make an IC post. Jumping ahead won't impact how I react (once I get round to posting tonight).

Awesome!  A chance to die before the prologue ends…. I did ask for something different in a game.  Whelp, got to stick with how the character would react.

In reply to Ayanna Bhunnel (msg # 76):

There are some things worse than death... just saying! ;)

It's important to establish the tone early. You're way out in the wilds and there's weird stuff everywhere.

That said, I'm not going to be killing anyone in the Prologue unless they really bring it on themselves. None of the encounters here will be above your paygrade. I'll save that stuff for when the 'real' game starts.

You all just happened to wander into something with some possible long-term impact. So I want to be specific about how it goes down.

Ayanna: in the interests of maintaining momentum, I'm going to assume you either didn't fire the crossbow, or fired and missed. Just to avoid a second story beat before moving on.

That’s fine.  I figured he was gone down a slope or something first since we couldn’t see the river yet.

Yep. I figured if you wanted to wing him you'd have made the Attack roll.

Good catch, let's go with Rakas.

Thank you!

Edited.

I’m assuming no short rest has occurred yet since I didn’t see it confirmed.  I know there are a few powers that will reset and I think a couple characters were hoping to use hd to heal.

No Short Rest has happened yet.

Nice post GM! Loving the Rakas pov! :)

This is Barrad right now...

https://youtu.be/2WxdfwbicNk

Quick reminder that, if you have Inspiration, you can give it to another party member for doing something interesting or fun or in character. The rules say that you can't get Inspiration if you already have it, but I don't mind if someone banks two. Or even three. So long as we aren't hoarding them. We want them to move around and get used often.

Sort of the like Destiny Pool in the FFG Star Wars games, if you're familiar.

I believe Ayanna still has a bardic inspiration that I gave her during the wolf fight which could be useful during the athletics check.

In reply to Glinsael (msg # 89):

Both of those things are true!

Quick note: if Gill is nearby, and there's no real time constraint, I think it's reasonable to just assume he give you a Guidance (Gill can confirm).

In scene: you've got about 30 - 45 minutes of light left.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:54, Mon 27 Mar 2023.

Quick clarification, just in case: this prologue is to find and secure the Keep for when the Duke's eventual arrival. She's not at the Keep now, waiting for you.

I just realized I mentioned it, but didn't state it directly in the IC thread.

Who needs an uninterrupted long rest to recharge any abilities?
Would being on watch impact that?
If so, they may want to be at the start/end to get the rest they need.

Standing watch does not interrupt a Long Rest. You can stand 2 hours of watch and be fine.

In fact, by the rules you can perform up to an hour of strenuous activity (casting spells, walking, fighting) without interrupting it.

I'm not sure about the fighting part. I think we'll have to decide that case-by-case.

One thing I did want to talk about: in 5E, the rules say that if you have a campfire lit, that prevents random encounters throughout the night. Which is a rule I like most of the time, but for this game, I want the wilderness to always feel dangerous.

So I'm going to play it like this:
-if you don't light a fire, you reduce (or eliminate) the chances of an encounter with 'people' monsters (bandits, orcs, etc) but increase the chances of an encounter with 'animal' monsters (dire wolves, owlbears, etc).
-If you do light a fire, it's the opposite.
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:45, Fri 31 Mar 2023.

Who wants to flip the coin? Fire or no fire? :D

In reply to Kojik Virsk (msg # 95):

Ayanna has already suggested cold rations and no fire. She's worried about kobolds being around.

Which is a reasonable concern.

Quick Note: it's late in the month, so the moon is waning crescent.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:49, Wed 29 Mar 2023.

During Finnick’s watch he can cast a minor illusion over a small fire.

Something opaque, like a 5’ cube iron crate or something.  We could benefit from the heat but not have to risk the light.

No kidding.  Although I like the idea of being able to bump the type of encounter toward our preference.  In this case, being close to the keep and the sighting of tracks right here, I would still vote no fire.  It’s kind of a gamble either way.


I had to look up how 5e handles this.  Evidently the version has made some changes.  I like this idea better as it allows spell casters to sit in on any watch.


I don’t need to make all the decisions.  I do have a character that is use to command and will toss things like this out to move the game along.  If you have a great idea that goes against something Ayanna said, bring it up!  This is one reason I didn’t want to dump intelligence or wisdom.  I want her to realize when the smart people have good ideas we should go with those.

Finnick, I love the idea to have heat but hide the light.  I’m worried about duration.  Will it last 8hrs?

No.  Only when he is on watch. Needs to be babysat and/or recast as needed.

I like the idea of keeping dark. Animals would only see a large group of medium creatures. Even predators wouldn't rush in on such a group which would give watch people time to rouse the rest. We can keep light spells in reserve for if they get too nosy. My trance keeps me semi alert during the first four hours, and I'm up for the rest, so I can back up the watch in case animals get too close pretty easily.  With humanoids, it's harder to guess their motivations.

Won't be able to write a full post right now. But just wanted to say that the plans for the camp sound good: the no fire and the watch order.

If Glinsael also wants to join Gill on his watch, she's welcome to :)

Okay. A word of caution on what's happening next.

I know the temptation here (standing on a quiet road, castle full of bad guys up ahead, no real time pressure) is to sit down and discuss a detailed tactical assault. But, as per my whole momentum thing, I'd rather we not do that.

So, some thoughts to assist:

1. I'll assume Kojik sends Grover to reconnoiter. So once we get underway, I'll just info dump you anything that can be reasonably seen from above. I'll post a map of the Keep as well, since Grover could reasonably communicate its over structure to the party.

2. You'll see there's a front door (main entrance with a portcullis and all that) and a couple of less obvious entrances around the sides. No obvious guards anywhere, although Grover makes it clear that there's certainly something(s) in there.

So you can basically do one of a couple of things:
-go up to the front door and announce yourself/openly invade
-try to sneak in one of the side entrances
-split the party and do both

Because we won't take of time for planning, I will extend you a lot of grace when it comes to the outcome of whatever you do. I'm not generally much for traps and sneaky ambushes anyway (not least because that sort of thing encourages a 'poke every 5ft square with a 10ft pole' style of play that, clearly, isn't going to work here at all).

So: quick vote? Frontal assault? Sneaky back door? Both?

EDIT: If you check the Game Map for Group 0, you'll see the map of the Ruined Keep.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:20, Fri 31 Mar 2023.

I vote for sneaky.

I'd vote for a brash sneaky maybe? Have Grover scout out details as we approach, once close enough we hobble the wagon (leaving the non-combatants behind in cover), then approach via the side/back entrances and go in 'guns blazing'. Not so much a sneaky, 2mph crawl through the castle to take over as quietly as possible, but going in with surprise on our side and taking down anyone in the way. At least in terms of the most expeditious assault possible.

If we weren't playing for time, I'd definitely go the very slow/sneaky route to take down those in the castle as quietly as possible to avoid an alarm being raised. But for the sake of moving things along, I don't mind a little more generous approach as it were. :)

Gill is walking around in heavy armor, so not the sneakiest here. I'm happy to go the brash sneaky approach. Or even to split the party to spice it up (nothing bad ever comes from that right).

I'm indifferent.

I'm with Gill here.  Disad on the sneak so Ayanna wouldn't be helping a ton there.  I like the idea of letting the others sneak in the side and Gill & Ayanna (maybe one more if they wanted to stay) wait to storm the front once the alarm is sounded.  Only because it is different option that we rarely do.

The downside I see with this is, it could play two weeks out with the sneaky group before they are discovered.  That leaves half the party sitting chatting at best or not posting at all.

If everyone can still post, I like the split option.  Hit them from two points of entry.  I'd send Kovann and Glinsael in sneak group and Ayanna and Gill in armored group.  That keeps a melee fighter and a healer in each group.  Let Finnick and Kojik decide where to go.

Otherwise, I'm fine with a sneak option.  Keeps us together.  Ayanna and Gill probably bring up the rear to minimize their penalty to stealth.

Ok, sneaky isn't going to work. I think we should go by Kojik's plan. We can have Grover do recon for the best point of entry, then have the melee fighters lead the charge with range support from the bard and wizards.

Leeeeeroyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Jeeeeeeennnnnnnnnnkinnnnnnnnnsssssss!!!!!

That's the plan now, right?

In reply to Kovann (msg # 109):

Only if one of you tankier types ACTUALLY run in while screaming that. Make it into another language's battle cry 'in honor of the ancient ancestor of that name'.. ;)

A paladin would be accurate, and a barbarian shouting would be on brand.

Sadly, we have neither of those things, but a screaming almost naked, unshaved dwarf would likely be terrifying!!

Busier Monday than I thought. Update tomorrow for sure.

Are we splitting the party? Can I be moved back? I'm not a front line fighter.

Apologies for the radio silence, gang.

I had a interview Monday for a promotion at work and need to clear the calendar to do some interview prep.  All day Tuesday was spent waiting on the results of the interview board, and I didn't have the bandwidth to relax and enjoy PbP.

I got the promotion though!  Will be able to jump back into this one after work today [Wednesday]

Congrats, Finnick!


And Glinsael, yeah, looks like we're splitting the party for a pincer attack. I'm similarly minded though: keep me on the back lines. :)

For sure. Assume Kovann is in front and you're 10ft or so behind him.

At least you can see over me Glin ;)

Congrats Finnick! :)



Let's see if this we will enjoy or regret this split. At least it will be entertaining!

(did Gill just get a nat 20 on his initiative roll? haha)

In reply to Gill Makiri (msg # 118):

He did! Quick on the draw, that Gill.

In reply to Finnick Glmmerdust (msg # 114):

Congratulations on the promotion!

Just in the interests of moving along (especially since it's a long weekend and I frequently can't manage a post on weekends): I skipped you Finnick, but you can go with everyone else.

No worries, posting now.

Can the left group see the three rats in the middle?

In reply to Ayanna Bhunnel (msg # 123):

Good question. Wondering that myself. :)

Not from their present position, but they will once they're about where the Kobold is.

Ahh, so if I'm seeing it right: the front door group can move forward as their move action to be in the doorway (or a little beyond), see the rats (and maybe the kobold there on the south side) and then do their attack action? Time to herd some rats! ;)

Yeah. Exactly. I wanted it on the map because I assumed you guys were headed that way.

As an aside, for the front gate group; Kojik will likely let Ayanna move up first and follow after, so holding his action for her to go first. He wouldn't want to be the first one through the door after all. :)

Well, no matter what happens now, I got to reference Helluva Boss.

If only I had that Blessing beforehand. ;)

In reply to Glinsael (msg # 129):

I don't know that reference. The quote sounded like the guy from Office Space. What's Helluva Boss?

Glin & Finnick - Thoughts on what to do next?
Deal with the large rats outside, or head further in, and try to regroup with the others?

Hehe, I will make the Reaction part of Kojik's next turn, but love the hit (?) there. He would definitely utilize Shield as a Reaction to the attack to block it. So weak at his level, even a pebble is dangerous! :D

In reply to Kojik Virsk (msg # 133):

Lol! I checked to make sure you had it prepared. If there was ever a good time for a shield, this is it.

In reply to System (msg # 131):

Helluva Boss is a show on You Tube. The reference is a one off bit.

To Kovann: The rats seem to be running away, so lets get the kobolds first

To System: It looks like there's rubble in the middle of the large central room. Does that represent cover or rough terrain?

It's difficult terrain.

In reply to Kovann (msg # 132):

I would say go in.  If the outside rats scattered due to lack of being wrangled, they would be less of a problem.

[Finnick is definitely following Kovann though]

Sorry, everyone. Crazy work week. Update coming tomorrow evening.

No worries! Take it easy :)

If that gnoll isn't down, it will certainly be pissed off!

Looks like we are waiting on Finnick and Glinsael.

I'll update today, and they can catch up when they can.

Sorry, everyone, my day got away from me. I'll try to update tomorrow morning. And if not, then tomorrow afternoon for sure.

Excepting that single about-to-flee kobold, we're out of initiative.

To make sure I don't post the wrong thing, since we're now out of initiative, would I be correct in writing about us trying to group up, playing Marco Polo with the other half of the group, as we begin to explore the keep?

Yes. That would totally be fine

If anyone wants to do anything while Gill and Glin Good Cop/Worse Cop the kobold, let me know.

I'm here.  Apologies for the lack of posting, gang.

I was out of the country last week and had very little free time for PbP.

All good. We're interrogating a voluble kobold and discussing the impending invasion of the (possibly) rat and ghost infested basement.

This is the vibe I get of Kovann looking at Ayanna and Kojik at the thought of needing torches to see.

https://i.redd.it/pyafu9f76b341.jpg

If I put it directly here, the image is MASSIVE!

Sorry, everyone, last couple of days were busier than expected. Update coming today.

You're not the only one with bad dice rolls this fight, GM. So far two of my three rolls have been a 1 haha...

Crazy right?

Just a parade of 3's and 5's all across the board.

Meanwhile I am very happy with the attack and damage rolls I am getting :D

Hopefully we got the 1s out of the system before I start making death saves.

<snip>
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:34, Wed 10 May 2023.

Wrong thread Ayanna ;)

Amended!

Note to self:  Never post before coffee.

I was going to mention this before, but forgot.

For crits, I like to do max damage plus a damage roll, rather than rolling twice. Gives them a little more oomph.

Is that cool for everyone?

Given the pitiful rolls poor Kojik got on his most recent crit.. I'm fine with that! :D

Quick heads-up: I have a very busy today and tomorrow (and about half a crazy Friday). If I don't get an update done by the weekend, I'll commit to updating on the weekend.

But we've got some good momentum going here, so I'm going to try and keep up.

NVM. Found a minute. :)
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:09, Wed 10 May 2023.

Thanks, Gill!

Wow.  I guess my character wanted to try out the crit rule.  You can have your luck back now Kovann.

Holy crap, Ayanna! That's the end of that guy. Wow. Double critical. Nice work!

The imp was set to flee once it was clear you guys were going to win the fight. And with just the one Gnoll left, I'm going to end the combat now. I'll get a wrap-up and re-set later today (hopefully, I've still got a busy day ahead).

Also, I'm going to make a thread for spells prepared, consumables, inventory, and anything else worth tracking or recording.

Should we voluntold one person to manage the party's inventory? Or do we want to 'claim' each thing you find as you find it?
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:57, Thu 11 May 2023.

Not just double crit, but also max damage rolls on both!


I can keep track of the general list of items we found as a group. And perhaps from that list, anyone can claim things as their own?

What I'll do is make a Googledoc anyone can edit. If Gill doesn't mind taking point on tracking stuff for now, we can revise the process later.

I'm always the party inventory guy when I'm a player in RL. So I know it's good to figure this stuff out early.

Also, now that she's stable and we're out of combat, I'm fine if Glinsael wakes up now rather than 1d4 hours from now.

So, Glin, once they move you do a bedroll and tend to your poison and wounds, feel free to come to.

Hey everyone. Finnick has had to withdraw from the game due to some RL factors. He'll fade into the background for the rest of this bit and then once we jump forward into the 'real game' he'll wander off to greener pastures.

I might go looking for fifth player. Or stick with four. I haven't decided. If anyone has
 any strong opinions, feel free to let me know.

That's it! We now return you to your regularly scheduled kobold dungeon.

EDIT:

Also, I made the party spreadsheet. It's linked here:

Party Inventory

It's also linked in the opening post of the Inventory Thread.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:09, Sun 14 May 2023.

That is unfortunate about Finnick. RL will always win, and I've been in that situation where I had to leave games (and all of RPOL) before.

Now, what's the plan? Rest? Explore? Loot the bodies? Plant a flag and claim it as ours?

I'm thinking a short rest, and loot the room, then look for trouble after.

I tried to post this last night, but Comcast decided to die on me.


I, too, think a rest would be best at this point. That would help replenish both health and spells for everyone. We can take the time to secure the area we have, loot/remove the bodies of the fallen and plan for the next stage. Is there only one level beneath the Keep or more? We'd have to look for additional ways 'deeper' if we opt for that route, but if there are nastier things further down, best we're tackling them at full strength.

In reply to Gill Makiri (msg # 166):

I know!  I had to check to see if I had accidentally checked some box that ignored the roll and just indicated max.

Thanks for handling inventory.  I think that is a better way.

In reply to System (msg # 168):

I had a friend apply but didn't make the cut.  I can see if he is still available or you can reach out to other applicants and check with them.

In reply to Ayanna Bhunnel (msg # 173):

We have five players with a decent mix of abilities, so I think we're okay.

Feel free to DM me your friend's username and I'll give their RTJ a second look.

In the Current Game:
Are we doing a Long Rest? Or scouting first? Is anyone doing anything in the meantime?

Think Kojik will call his owl down and send it scouting around on this floor to see what can be spotted: if there are any surprises lingering or others hiding around. If Finnick is still "here", his little buddy could do the same, meanwhile the group can begin their rest. And if nothing is found, maybe stretch it into a short (or long) rest?

Sure those with wounds will need tending in the meantime at the least, gathering/looting of the bodies for those in better shape and anything else someone thinks of?

Okay. Let's call it a Short Rest, and I'll narrate some scouting and we'll go from there.

Hey, everyone. We seem to have stalled a bit. These kinds of unstructured decision-points tend to cause this.

So, to move things along:

I'll assume you search the rooms. If anyone wants to search anything specific, let me know and give me an Investigation roll to go with it.

Top Room:
-5 leather pouches with 10gp each
-1 good quality lockbox. The gnoll had the key on his person. Inside is 100sp and 50gp, a finely made dagger with an onyx set in the hilt (worth about 50gp) and a small, well-made silk pouch with a Wizard's mark on the outside
-Inside the silk pouch are: two Bloodstone gems (50gp each), and one black pearl (100gp).
-1 Healing Potion

Bottom Room:
-3 Healing Potions
-1 Druidic Spellcasting Focus (+1 to Spell Attacks and DC's)

Big Room:
-There are a bunch of weapons scattered around the throne. Some lying near the open area (indicating they'd been used recently in this room) and some on the floor behind, covered by the green mould, and some hanging from the wall, also covered in mould.
-There is one Healing Potion stuffed into the cushions of the throne.
-Along the north wall are shelves of provisions, including two barrels of very fine brandy (Gill recognizes the Distillery's mark).

EDIT: It is probably about noon at this point, in-game.
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:54, Thu 18 May 2023.

Some nice finds!

We have looted the place, had a light rest, what do folks want to do now?

How injured are we? If we want to continue, we should heal up first

We have 5 healing potions, and no healing spells.

Glinsael has 3 hp.

Also, Glinsael is looking for a better finesse weapon than a dagger. Are there any shortswords, or rapiers in the weapons we found?

Gonna answer that in the IC.

Sorry for my lag.  Dealing with identity theft.  If my posts get out of character, it wasn’t me.

And what makes it a human weapon, hey Ayanna :P

Granted, once I hit level 2 and and use a battleaxe as a monk weapon, I won't be needing the spear (once I get my hands on said axe!)

This scene is brought to you by the vivid memory of seven year-old me watching Return of the Jedi in the theatre, and seeing this guy burst into tears after Luke finished off the Rancor.
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 18:04, Fri 26 May 2023.

Are we at a stand-off, waiting to see what the kobold and rats do?

Be persuaded to leave?
To stay here? (mmmm, rat burgers!)
To fight us to protect their young?

The kobold is standing fast, defending its pets(?). It has an action Readied to attack anyone who comes close, but is not advancing.

The question is what do you guys want to do? Make him leave? Let him stay? Kill him (and presumably all the rats too)?

I’d rather they leave.  If you are a GM where creatures can have a wide variety of alignments and this kobold is Lawful Good (I like his defend his pet’s attitude), I’d keep him on as an ally.  Rat scouts for the fort would be unique.

I think it comes down to what Glin can negotiate.

That's why I had Kojik suggest possibly recruiting him. He's obviously a bit less "self-oriented" compared to some of the others. He's trying to defend his pets. And he's not outright attacking either, just defending. So he cares more about them than any other agenda, which suggests he might have some morals. Maybe!

If he can be convinced, having an ally that provides rat scouts to keep the fort safe (sure they could go pretty far to scout too), that'd give some good advanced warning of any attacks. And ultimately we can let the Lord decide whether or not to keep them on or not. Figure it's worth a shot, to maintain a 'good' disposition. :)

Kobold ally.  It’s different.  I like the idea.  I’m used to kobolds being the bad guy, period.  Let’s see what the GM does with it.

I generally try to make it so every creature you meet is doing something for a reason. It might be something bad, and it might be for a stupid reason, but I don't usually have monsters attacking the PC's just because that's their job in the narrative. Kobold is a playable race, after all.

Which is all to say, this guy being a kobold is maybe indicative of his future behaviour (kobolds being, as a rule, cowardly and rapacious and untrustworthy) but it's not conclusive. So you can feel free to approach this the same as you would approach, say,  someone from a town or country where everyone has a reputation for cowardice and untrustworthiness.

Your individual character can feel however they want about kobolds. But in the meta-narrative sense, every kobold (orc, gnoll, you meet isn't necessarily going to roll initiative and attack.

Does that make sense?
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:33, Wed 24 May 2023.

Sounds good.  I’d rather not fight.  Let’s see what Glin can negotiate.  Stay and work with us, leave peacefully, maybe come up with another option?

We can safely assume that anything anyone says is translated for the kobold, and vice versa. So if anyone wants to talk to it now, you're welcome to do so.

Gill is (at first glance, could be convinced otherwise) not so keen on keeping rats in the basement of our keep. I, as the player, think it'd be pretty cool to have this kobold and his pack of rats join our noble cause!

As it seems like the 'ghost' doesn't leave that room, what do we want to do?

Our main goal was to reclaim the fort, yes?

I think that's right?

Reclaim the Keep and hold it in preparation for the Lord to arrive. So if the ghost remains in that room and doesn't leave, as long as its not 'in the way', we could likely avoid it. Wait for more to arrive to offer backup before trying it. Though depending on the terms of 'claiming the keep', dealing with the Ghost may be required.

My intent was that this is be a Prologue of sorts. So as soon as you've 'cleared' the Keep, I'll fade to black and time skip ahead to after the Duke has arrived and the community has been established (which is the traditional start of Keep on the Borderlands).

Would clearing the keep be once we deal with the ghost, in one way or another?

Yes. And "deal with" can include "pretty much leave it alone" if you wanted.

It's not one of those things where, because I put it on the map, that means you have to fight it.

It's why I made sure to not use the words "fight", as I know ghosts sometimes have the lore of unfinished business, and if that is the reason it exists, we could always help finish their business.

Exactly. You got it.

And/or it might be something for later. And/or not for you at all.

Etc.

Etc.

I don't know what to say/do with Kovann, so I'm saying this just to show I'm still about :)

It's a reasonable place to hit a pause.

I'll move things forward tonight or tomorrow.

Okay, I've opened the first thread of the actual game. We made it!

Few things:

1. I left the ghost out of the new thread, and haven't closed the prologue thread. If anyone wants to interact with it more, please feel free to do so. Otherwise, we can assume it's still down there in the basement as the game progresses.

2. Do you guys want to level up to 3rd right now? Or do one mission at 2nd and then go to third? I'm happy either way.

3. From here on, the game is a little loose and sandboxy. I won't be deliberately getting you into lethal situations, but it's very possible you might wander into something above your paygrade by accident. So keep an eye on things and don't be afraid to bail if you feel the need.

4. I'm going to post a couple threads for people in the keep, and a mission tracker, and some  bare-bones downtime rules. Probably tomorrow. But feel free to get started talking in the main thread now, if you like.

Questions about anything else? Lay it on me.

Thanks for sticking with it this long. It's not every PbP game makes it through one whole adventure.

I'd like to level up to third now. More things kick in, and if we need to justify things which have happened to get us there, great. But I want to feel more impactful for what comes along.

Related to do, do we get any gear/magic items to help us out?

I like the idea of skipping right to 3rd. I think the game picks up around that point.

Regarding the ghost, Glinsael was writing down her story when we left off. We could play it out,or fast forward.  She also saw the books behind the ghost, so she'll probably spend time down there studying if the ghost is amicable.

I wouldn't mind bumping up as well. Sort of goes with the 'learn in the field' activities that the group has had to endure thus far and likely even off-screen in the time it took to get the Keep to the point its at now. Plus that'll give us all a little firmer footing for the hardships to come as it were. Hehe.

Okay. Let's all level up to 3rd.

The Duke, grateful for your work with the keep, and to allow you properly outfit yourself for the next phase, pays you 200 gp each.

Guessing we aren't having them by default then? [EDIT Or am I thinking of Optional class feature? And you mean getting something from say, another subclass?]
This message was last edited by the player at 21:31, Sun 11 June 2023.

In reply to Kovann (msg # 207):

I was actually thinking a feature from a different subclass. But I'm open to discussion.

It's mainly if you meant Optional class feature, as that would scupper my plans with my build!

Whereas taking a feature from a different subclass would be fun - And as it would cost the same as feat that ISN'T thematically linked to class, race or background, that seems fair to me!

Hey, sorry for my absence. It's been a busy few weeks here. I hope to catch up tomorrow!

Everyone can have 12 Downtime Points to represent the time spent between the clearing of the Keep and the start of the game.

You are welcome to use them all for the self-improvements listed in the downtime thread. Or if you wish, you can spend them assisting with the moving and set up of the Keep.

I'll list some projects in the Project Planning thread. Just let me know what you want to do here in the OOC.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:06, Tue 13 June 2023.

Are the projects listed costs then?
Exploring the keep/countryside, helping caravans, etc., are what Downtime Points can spent on, rather than missions to earn more of them?

The monk part of Kovann likes the idea of doing some sort of small monastery.
The dwarf part of Kovann likes the idea of some sort of forge or smithy.
The gladiator part of Kovann likes the idea of a fighting pit!

1. Find and secure the quarry across the river, to help rebuild the buildings and walls.
2. Find and defeat the bandits raiding caravans in the area.
3. Cleanse the forest of evil to allow access to lumber.
4. Clear out the "Caves of Chaos" and re-open the silver mine.
5. Discover the lost location of the stronghold of Quasqueton.
6. Solve the mystery of the vanished villages in the great borderlands vallies.

My thought is to start with 1 & 3.  This Keep looks pretty damaged and that sounds necessary to facilitate repairs.

What do others think?

The raiding caravans are my concern - We could have the best keep, but if we can't have goods coming in and out, we may starve, as well as struggle to get new people to come here.

In reply to Kovann (msg # 212):

Sorry, I wasn't clear. Downtime points are what happens between adventures. So you go and slay some monsters, then hang out in the Keep for a few weeks. Or maybe you get snowed in for a month. During that month when you're not 'adventuring' you get 4 Downtime Points to put toward whatever project you like.

The Missions are like classic adventures.

1, 2 and 3 seem the most urgent ones to secure the Keep and get it in proper order. Which one goes first though is a bigger question!



And as a side question: in terms of us leveling up, any particular specifics there? Roll for HP (or a set amount), etc? Just wanna make sure if there are any particular adjustments in that regards before considering the boosts.

Let's do Average HP. Unless anyone has a strong preference for a different method.

I'll add that to the Chargen thread.

Average works for me, and is my preference!

My sheet is updated, I don't think I have missed anything?

With the 200 gold we got, I have bought a 10gp battleaxe. Is there anything else that would be useful to buy?

Healing potions might not be a bad idea. Magical inks and whatnot for Kojik. Anything you might need and/or would miss if you couldn't get it. Once we're firmly 'in the Keep' merchandise may be minimal/restricted and/or expensive.

This is Glinsael's priority of missions from most urgent to least

2. Find and defeat the bandits raiding caravans in the area.

Safety of the area is the most important

3. Cleanse the forest of evil to allow access to lumber.

With lumber we can begin repairs to the keep even the walls can be temporarily reinforced with wooden stockades until permanent stone wall can be built.

6. Solve the mystery of the vanished villages in the great borderlands vallies.

Did someone say mystery?  Also, the villagers may need our help

5. Discover the lost location of the stronghold of Quasqueton.

Yes please! I mean, finding the lost stronghold could help strengthen the Dukes claim on the territory.

1. Find and secure the quarry across the river, to help rebuild the buildings and walls.

We'll need to reinforce the defenses.

4. Clear out the "Caves of Chaos" and re-open the silver mine.

Silver mines will help boost the economy.

In reply to System (msg # 219):

I settled on making sure I have kits/tools for all the proficiencies I have, as well as a Healer's Kit as it is cheap and no reason not for everyone to have one.
105gp on that stuff is fine, right?

Re: Magical inks and whatnots, I thought 5e doesn't have a gold cost for magical stuff?

"Adding a spell to your spellbook" takes 50gp and 2 hours per level of the spell. The 50gp is said to be special inks and/or components used up in experimenting.

Stocking up on kits and such is totally fine.

Just wanted to confirm the fate of the spear. In the IC thread, Kovann mentioned giving it to the Duke. But then I think Ayanna also wanted it.

I can't remember if I mentioned this or not: but the spear was given to Duke Bryssel the person, not to the realm. So it was his personal property. And Glinsael's reasearch confirmed he had no heirs. So it's legally and ethically yours, if you want to keep it.

I'm cool either way, just wanted to confirm where it went.

EDIT: and the choice of first mission seems to be between Quarry and Bandits.

Ayanna - Quarry
Kovann - Bandits
Glinsael - Bandits
Kojik - Quarry or Bandits (or cleanse the forest)
Gill - no clear preference stated

What do we think?
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:23, Thu 15 June 2023.

We can start with bandits.  Caravans sounds good.

I’d still like to use the spear.  In the name of the realm of course ;)

I'm good with bandits too. Safer trade means more goods available (eventually).

In reply to Ayanna Bhunnel (msg # 224):

Sounds good! I'll assume that, at some point or another, someone uses Detect Magic near enough to notice that it's magical. And I'll also assume that, after that, Kojik casts Identify on it.

SPEAR OF THE FORGELORD
This spear was crafted by the Eldersmiths of Stonehollow and given to the High Duke of Almiraj. It contains an ember of the Great Forge of Stonehollow, heart and symbol of their community, said to have burned continuously for over 5000 years.
Requires Attunement

• +1 to attack and damage rolls
• Allows the wielder to cast the Light Cantrip (making the tip glow red).
• When Light is active, the Spear does Fire damage instead of Piercing damage.

If it comes to her attention, the Duke supports Ayanna keeping it. She has heard of it and is delighted that it has been found. While she regrets that it will not longer be in her family's possession, she admits that she would rather see it out in the world defending the realm, rather than remain in the Keep.

EDIT: Could everyone give me a final(ish) rundown on how you're spending your Downtime? Here or via PM is fine. Just in case there are story implications for anything. Feel free to ask questions if anything doesn't make sense.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:21, Thu 15 June 2023.

Hey everyone. Gill has some RL craziness going on and has asked to take a step back from the game. So Gill (the character) will now longer participating in adventures, and will instead be hanging about the Keep doing things and being cool. And when things ease up for Gill (the plater), he's invited to PM me and we'll add him back in right away.

I'll get the next/first mission set up today or tomorrow.

EDIT: Downtime thread is updated and complete. If anyone has any questions about their downtime results, ask OC, and tuck them into your responses.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:54, Thu 22 June 2023.

Hey all. Working on my sheet. You should be meeting up with him shortly. Glad to be part of the game.

Welcome!  I’m sure a healer will be my best friend.  Spear/Shield Fighter here.

Everyone welcome Danryn, our new Cleric player! We'll get him on-board the next mission.

Welcome aboard Danryn!

Welcome to the fun! :)


edit: And 500 posts!
This message was last edited by the player at 12:00, Sat 24 June 2023.

Hi, Danryn! Welcome to the game!

Sorry, again, everyone. I'm taking a couple of night classes and the next two or three weeks I have a lot of homework. Setting up the next mission is next on my list.

Kinda good to hear boss. It's kinds crazy here too and my sheet is taking longer than I planned.

All good. If you're good to roll narrative-wise, we can get you in on the story, and then just make sure the sheet is done before we start making a lot of dice rolls.

OK. I'll put Diablo 4 on the back burner tomorrow morning and work on the sheet, lol.

Tonight is a write off.

Diablo 4 is definitely addictive. Heh.

yes it is.

I'm having fun with naming my characters as well. For diablo 3 all my characters were named from Mexican food like Guacamaya (Witch Doctor), Boleo (Barbarian) and Palomita (Monk).

For D4 I wanted them associated to my gamer tag, Tontuelo.

Rogue        Tontuligan
Sorcerer     Tongerer
Necromancer  Tonimatrix
Druid        Tontryside
Barbarian    TonBoy (female character)

I find having a fun name make a huge difference in my enjoyment.

If any of you want to send a friend request feel free.

tontuelo#1880
This message was last edited by the player at 21:43, Tue 27 June 2023.

Hehe, had a thought on 'how to cross the river', but waiting to give others a chance to post first. ;)

Let’s get some momentum back.  Post your ideas!

Bear with me for one more day, everyone. I haven't forgotten about you. Just had a very full weekend. I'm hoping to do a full update tomorrow.

I don't have anything to add in game, so don't wait on me if you have ideas.

Fair! Next bit is all me.

And we're off! Thanks for hanging with me through that delay. I hope that won't happen again next time we wrap up an adventure.

Would there be any reason not to take this?
I feel like Kovann wouldn't, as he is more of a wandering soul, and how it might distract from his monk-ness/training.

There's no gotcha here. It is more or less what it sounds like. Becoming a Magistrate will grant some benefits, but may also come with some drawbacks. Some of those benefits and drawbacks may be mechanical, some may be purely narrative.

This bit with the ghost has the makings of a great warlock pact. I hadn't thought of warlocking, but I might take a couple levels in the future after seeing how it turns out.

In reply to Glinsael (msg # 248):

That's a really good idea. Let me know if that's something you're interested in and we can talk about.

Elbereth is already joining Ayanna as part of her (Ayanna's) Echo Knight subclass.

But there's lots else we can do with Elbereth, if you like.

I need to think about how Kovann will react to Ghor and his animosity to him, being treated as a failure of a dwarf.

I do appreciate playing on that aspect of his character (no beard) :)

I will seize on any source of emotional conflict. I love that stuff.

For me, a way I often approach this sort of thing is to decide what's Kovann's normal state? Back where he's from, how do other dwarves seen the beardless thing? And so then, when he left home, how was the reaction different (or the same)?

Once you know how what 'usually' happens, it might be easier to decide how he feels about it.

Hey everyone. I'm out of town this week and might not be able to post too often. I'll keep up as best I can.

Have fun being out of town!

Sorry again for that extended set of delays. I'm still on vacation this week, but it's a staycation week, so I'll be keeping a posting schedule.

Sorry for my delay.  Several meetings during my job hunt the last two days.

Updated "Who's Who in the Borderlands" in the Setting Sticky.

Kovann, I gave you Advantage on that Intimidation check and managed to roll even worse. Luckily he's sort of pre-scared of dwarves.

Kovann is obviously too nice of a guy to be intimidating!

he is more of a performer anyway. Embellish moves in gladiatorial combat, like in pro-wrestling.

I'll be out of town for the next week. I'll try to post when I can.

Okay, Glin, have fun. We'll all be here when you get back.

I'm going to cap this scene and move on. If anyone wants to do anything before leaving the Keep (check the library for information about the Black Chronicle, requisition gear, go see that farmer guy the Duke mentioned, etc), let me know and we can do a sidebar.

good to go boss

Yep, think good to go here too. Figure once we get close I'll have an aerial survey done of course for us, but other than that, ready to hit the trail as it were. :)

Wanting to add I'm happy to progress, so it doesn't seem like I'm absent/avoiding the game.

I'm looking forward t punching stuff!!

Unfortunately, I don't have much gaming time right now, so I think interviewing the farmer would slow things down.

I think the Black Chronicle can keep until after this adventure.

Let's move on to the bandits.

Specific Questions for this pause:
-Are you heading straight for Waystone Sward?
-Are you going along the road, or along the river's edge?

The six hours' walk to the Sward is along the road. It's probably more like a whole day if you walk along the river.

Wow, that was a roller-coaster of rolls for that opening round. Natural 20 for the bad guys' Stealth check and then also a nat 20 for Ayanna's Perception. Plus a nat 20 and a nat 1 for initiative.

Okay, both for Danryn, and as a reminder for everyone, how we're handling initiative:

-We're doing initiative by Sides (you, then them), but in order to make individual initiative matter, for the first round only, you can attack with Advantage on anyone with a lower count than you.

-No required order. Post whenever you can. The Count is just there in case it's needed.

Since Glinsael is away this week, I'll have her Dodge any round I don't get an update and she'll only get targeted in the case of random rolls (if then).

Let me know if you have any questions.

hahaha...just my luck. Even when I don't roll my initiative sucks.

Ayanna, would you like Kovann to join you and fight the spiders you're engaged with, or go after the other side to hold them up?

I was wondering if I should worry about that side.  I figure she wouldn’t have time to even make that kind of plan this round.  I’ll leave that to you.

Oh man, Danryn, the dice roller really doesn't like you.

Fear not, Danryn, I still have a good Divine Portent hanging in the wings to use on our patrol. Of course, I hate to use it so early.. so the dice win out for the moment. ;)

Oh! AC for the spiders is 14. So you can add the hit/miss narration to your posts if you like.

:)

Thanks - And apologies for not posting in round 1, and having me act accordingly System!

I'm not sure what the expectations are for posting in combat but I like to wait my turn. This was I react accordingly in character. If you want me to just post and you set it in order let me know boss and I will.

We're doing initiative by sides. The count is just for reference in case it's needed. I would recommend posting when you can rather than waiting. Just to make it easier to move forward.

@Kojik, it didn't make a difference this time, but remember if you're using a ranged attack within 5ft of an enemy it's at Disadvantage.

Heh, yeah, I figured with a failure on the first roll, Disadvantage was already accomplished. :D

18 more damage into Spider #1.  Is that a kill before Danryn posts?  That would free him up to move to assist others.

Yup. Good note. Spider #1 is dead.

I would move my two attacks to support Kovann

Danryn, you can do that this turn if you want.  Ayanna had a higher Init so you are free move on your turn.

That;s what I mean. This turn.

Testing a new version of the mapping site I was using.

If anyone has a moment, could you click this and see what happens?

https://www.owlbear.rodeo/room...fLTfMaS/TheHolyPeril

The sight says I need approval.

I got asked to join the room, and give a name (prefilled with Mage), and now says:

Looks like I have the situation in hand ;)

Go lay some divine smackdown on the spider Glin and Kojik are fighting.

Kovann's first attack killed Spider #3, so I'll apply his second attack to Spider #4.

I weren't sure if it would or not, so I assumed not rather than so.

I'll quickly edit.

All good! Part of the on-going process of managing PbP combat.

I guess I could start including HP totals, too.

I don't want to give up tension in exchange for momentum.

What do you guys think?

If it would end up where someone kills/defeats an enemy, it would be apparent and those lower on initiative would move onto another target.

Open information for me is good, especially with PbP combat, as it keeps things flowing faster, and we would eventually be able to work things out anyway.

Maybe instead of goody guys/ bad guys separation change it to top 1/2 bottom 1/2 in initiative order. This way slow movers have a better clue as to what's going on by the time they act.

just 2 cents...I'm fine with whatever is chosen.

plus Danryn would continue to attack. I don't generally heal during combat or if people still have hit dice to use. Unless of course it's critical and no short rest is possible. Spell conservation is mighty important.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:02, Wed 30 Aug 2023.

The point of doing it by sides is so that there's no need to worry about what order things happen. All the spiders go. Then you go. And we can assume that everything the part does happens roughly in the order you post.

Next time I won't post the initiative order. I think that might have confused things.

Sorry to all of you..it seems I missed an entire round there in the confusion. My bad. I'll be more careful moving forward.

All good. It happens. I could have nudged you, but I had the time to move us forward and took it.

So, for next combat, we'll do it the same way as this time.

1. Everyone rolls for individual initiative (generally I'll roll for everyone, unless it's clear combat is about it happen).
2. Whichever side rolls the highest number (good guys or bad guys), that side goes first.
3. For the first round only, anyone on the winning side can attack with Advantage against anyone with a lower initiative than themselves (and/or force a Save at Disadvantage, whichever makes sense). This is just to maintain the benefit of high initiative.
4. Within a given side, post in any order, and assume all actions happen in the order they are posted.

I think that'll give us the most sensible flow of activity without needing people to post in order.

Does that make sense?

The poison lasts one hour. So I think unless it's treated, you would have to make the Nature/Survival, etc checks at Disadvantage.

Or... not to complicate things... but if you wanted to make just one single roll, I'd allow that one to go ahead normally. To simulate basically resting for an hour, then having an hour to help look.

Or you could "Help" with no negative impact.

(all of this assuming you're staying to investigate, if you're all heading out then you're fine, since your movement is unaffected)

In reply to System (msg # 295):

sounds good to me.

I'm in favor of a short rest.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:09, Wed 30 Aug 2023.

I was going to ask, are we stopping for a rest (recharging ki for me, and heal rolls would likely go down well), but Danryn beat me to it.

You can take a Short Rest while investigating the area. That's no problem.

I wasn't clear about the roles: the first three are "nested" rolls. Just make one Nature and/or Animal Handling, and you can know everything up to the highest number you roll.

And then there's just one Survival/Investigation.

Everyone, I have a very busy and exhausting period coming up at work, from now until the end of September. I'm enjoying the forward motion we've got going on now, and I don't want to lose it, so I'll do my best to keep it up.

And I'll try to keep you all in the loop as to how I'm doing and what the update schedule looks like.

Appreciate you being upfront with this System, much appreciated :)

Thank you. My next week is insane as well.

Okay: two hours have been spent having a Short Rest and investigating the area. It's been noted that this was seemingly once frequented by humanoids with horses (same kinds of tracks you've been seeing along the riverbank so far). And seemingly the spiders moved in recently, and then the humanoids stopped coming.

You've also found three entrances to (presumably) the spiders' burrow. And they've dragged several large, heavy somethings into their burrow at various points.

Glinsael thinks it's possible/likely there's a female in the burrow nursing an egg sac.

Questions:
1. Are we going in the burrow?
2. Which entrance?
3. In what order?

And I know I mentioned this, but I don't know if it got lost in the shuffle, but the Duke is expecting a caravan is on the way to the Keep, arriving any day now, and the caravan contains, among other things, food for the Keep for the winter and Danryn's father figure.

Let me know what's next!

so just for information sake. The little sub-text I post indicating my spells and hit point and..well whatever requires remembering is saved in my scratch pad. This was it's always handy and in case of long period of role play I don't need to type it out or go back and copy past it over and over.

I've been doing this for a very long time and I hope no one finds it too cumbersome when I do post it.

I think it's fine. I'm in favour of whatever anyone needs to do to make things easier.

In reply to Danryn Storanson (msg # 304):

That's a great idea!

I'm going to be unavailable from tomorrow morning until Sunday evening, as I'll be camping & LARPing, with minimal phone signal or power.

Survive without me ;)

I'm back folks :)

Looks like you all survived, though sadly the same can't be said about the caravan :(

I'm trying to get a mental picture of the area. Are the rocky outcroppings large enough to use for hiding behind? or is it more like rocky ground? Does this count as difficult terrain? Is this why we can't get a clearer view of the caravan from our position?

Also, welcome back, Kovann! I hope you had a good time.

Physical description of landscape is not one of my strengths. Let me see:

You're currently at the river's edge, at the bottom of a slope. The hill up to the road is wide and even, but still an elevation. The plume of smoke is also a bit to the west. So you can't see the area well.

No real difficult terrain anywhere. Especially once you're on the Road.

I'll get the next post up soon as possible.

Thanks for the description. It sounds like the area is fairly open and clear to see up close, but there are limits to the distance that we can see.  Please let me know if there is cover when we get closer to the caravan.

Bit of an info dump. Please feel free to ask questions you might have.

I Just realized I didn't have all the information I wanted in my post. I wanted to add a quote to set his actions and comments into context.

it has been updated.

Posted a basic layout in the IC thread.

The road is off the bottom of the map.

Kojik and Glinsael, you've got potentially one action (possible one each) before the archer bolts off the right edge of the maps and things get more complicated.

Oh! Also, quick clarification I should have made before:

When I post multiple spoilers with a single Skill with multiple DC's, consider the results 'nested.' Which is to say, you can make one roll, and the result gets you all the information up to what you rolled.

If there's every an exception to that, I'll let you know.

In reply to System (msg # 314):

Thanks for the information. I'm going to rewrite my last post to correct it.

sorry it took me a few days to reply. I'm on the organization committee of an ultra marathon here and the event was yesterday. I did 23 hrs on site yesterday after a few heavy days of last minute preparations. I'm done...just done right now.... but it was amazing.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:18, Mon 02 Oct 2023.

Sorry for being quiet folks - a mixture of illness and busy settling into a new job (might be a connection there...) has not left me with much energy.

Will aim to catch up today!

I have a reply but I'll hold it until the others have a chance to post. If there's no other interaction by the weekend then Danryn will go ahead and reply.

But being he is a testosterone hyped orc with the narrow world view of a cleric he will certainly make the situation worse.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:33, Wed 04 Oct 2023.

No such thing as a worse situation. Just trading one kind of drama for another.

I wasn't expecting things to go down this way. It's a fun scene.

Sorry for being absent. Life reared it's head. All good now. I'll have a post up in the morning

Given my rolls on the dice roller lately, I'll let someone else make that roll.  I've got a +4 to Athletics.  If no one can beat mine, I'll give it a shot.

+4 athletics beats Glinsael

Haha, yeah, definitely go for it. Kojik will be nearby to lend aid in the 'assist' column, but as for the actual dexterous actions.. Ayanna is likely better for it than he! :)

-1 to Athletics here!

Kovann is an acrobat (+7), not so much an athlete...

Good morning, everyone. I'd like to end the current scene and move on to the next one, but before I do that, I would like to know what you'd all like the next scene to be, and how you'd like to exit this one.

What I'd like to is skip over any further interrogation of the archer and rather than play that stuff out post-by-post, question/answer-question/answer, I'd like to just move forward and then give you a method to 'flashback' later if you think of something you should have asked or wanted to do or say.

(I'll go over what this looks like after we decide what's next)

The Question:
How do you want to handle the river crossing? I think you have enough information now to figure the rest out without too much trouble, but do you want me to just Montage past it and pick up the action on the other side? Or is it still fun for you to poke around and work out the specifics in real time? I'm fine either way, I just don't want to either skip something you're enjoying or insist you play out something you'd be happier skipping.

Let me know if any of that doesn't make sense, and let me know what you'd like.

I would be in favor of a fade tp black and picking the scene up as we approach the camp.

My new job has been ugly this past month with after hours training.  I haven’t been too in touch with the game.  I’m fine for a montage and jump to the next scene.  It would be easier on me.

Same; I'm good with a little monologue to speed things along. Was out for training last week here, so very slow/infrequent ability to check on things, but back home now so should be good to move along. :)

I will never complain about story progression, when it moves us all together :)

Moving to the next scene works for me.

Hey, everyone.

A close family member passed away this morning. It was not unexpected, but still sudden.

I don't want this game to be over, but I'll need to step back from it for the near future. At least until the New Year.

As soon as things calm down and even out a bit, we can re-assess and see what we can do.

Sorry to hear it - Take all the time you need <3

I'm very sorry for your loss.

Take all the time you need.

Completely understandable; take what time is needed!