OOC Discussion

Out of character discussion. Also any hints for a fledgling DM would be most appreciated as well.

Posting Times:

I don't have access to this site from work (and hate trying to post using my phone) so during the week I'll be unable to post until about 5:30-6:00 US eastern time.

That's very good to know; thanks. I'm on Pacific Time, myself.

I think having an option to show which time zone you're in would be a good profile feature on GP. Knowing one's time zone does help to set expectations.

First post is up. One of the things that really intrigue me about PbP is the ability to send private notes to individual PCs and leaving others in the dark. I will be making extensive use of the "notes" functionality for this purpose.

Text conventions that I use:

"Speaking" - I find the bold makes it easier to see what is being said.
"Thinking" - Private thoughts a PC or NPC may be having.
OOC Content - For a quick question or whatever in an in game post.

Please feel free to use whatever convention works best for you - just wanted to let you all know what you'll be seeing when I'm posting.

Bold, italics, blue: got it.

I just gotta say I love how everyone is playing his character!

Merlin is playing Cyriel so comically annoying! "It doesn't even save any syllables!"

Jabes is playing Valrakas wonderfully charismatic and brash. "Being serious is thirsty work!"

Naatkinson is playing Vex as a great foil for both, in addition to the physical comedy of a gnome in a man-sized world. "Where would we find a chicken costume, anyway?"

This game is starting off strong; I'm going to have to step up.

I'm really enjoying the interplay between the characters, it makes me sad that this is a one-shot with no continuation.

I'm really happy that I have such strong players for my first go at this. You guys are making this a lot of fun for me!! :-)

Naatkinson has got this Disadvantage thing down! Like a boss! :-D

Vex has to make up for his terrible stats somehow!

I feel bad that all of the rolls are happening when nothing is going on (or is there?). Of course that's the way it always seems to work, isn't it.

Pg 147 phb
Thrown. If a weapon has the thrown property, you can throw the weapon to make a ranged attack. If the weapon is a melee weapon, you use the same ability modifier for that attack roll and damage roll that you would use for a melee attack with the weapon. For example, if you throw a handaxe, you use your Strength, but if you throw a dagger, you can use either your Strength or your Dexterity, since the dagger has the finesse property.

You're right - I stand corrected! I don't know how I misread that. I'll amend my character sheet, too.

He found that I was doing this in another game we're playing on here. Never would have caught it if he hadn't pointed it out.

I'm a bit of a rules encyclopedia lol

It's all well-intentioned though :)

Well-appreciated as well!

Sorry, crazy all-day/night at work.. Will post 8hrs from now.

Naatkinson: thank you again!

Jabes.plays.RPG: Man, you have a business to run! We get it, and appreciate all the time that you spend on the site already.

Which (if any) of the optional Combat Options from the DMG are you implementing, Szemely?
*Climb Onto bigger Creature
*Disarm
*Mark
*Overrun
*Shove Aside
*Tumble
*Hitting Cover
*Cleaving Through Creatures
*Injuries
*Massive Damage

None. Second time DMing a 5E game so I'm going to keep things simple. :-)

I'll have a story post up in about an hour or so...

No worries. Just checking :-)

Wow - I'm going to have to read my DMG more closely! I'm imagining "Shadow of the Colossus" scenarios now!

P 271 of the DMG :)

I can't tell you how much I am enjoying playing this character. :)
Totally the most ridiculous character I have ever played.

No use letting good goblins corpses go to waste. :-)

How much longer to I have on that exhaustion?

There's a specific location I have in mind where it will wear off. Not too much longer.

When I ran the game originally I had anyone that failed three swim rolls in a row suffer HP damage instead. The exhaustion seemed more reasonable this time around.

I do appreciate the exhaustion in place of HP damage lol
Not that I really mind, the disadvantage is causing some fun for me

That's one thing that I tried to get across to the people that I was running this with IRL. Don't look at a bad situation as something bad, look at as an opportunity to have something cool happen that wouldn't have happened otherwise. Not sure they bought it though. :-)

Psshhh, that's the point of these games. It's not to win all the time with no trouble, it's to have cool stuff happen!

I think they'll get there as we continue to play. RPGs are still a bit of a foreign concept to them as they're used to boardgames and strict sequences of play and the like. We're firing up the start of a campaign on the 15th (did a character creation session last week) so we'll see how it goes. :-)

Good luck, and enjoy teaching the newbies!

Err...Valrakas doesn't wear any armor. Nor clothes, except for trousers. He is a bare-torsoed pirate minotaur barabarian :-) Cyriel can put the glow on Valrakas' harpoon, I guess.

Sounds saucy. OK then big guy, Cyriel will touch your harpoon.

LOL!

Wow, going to have to rename this game "The Pict Problem: After Dark!" :-)

Horns and Harpoons, Fifth Edition.

Haha, sorry gang, I know it's reckless and will probably land us in a spot of trouble, but that's how things are around Valrakas :-D

Ok, I missed the part about the tunnels being only 3ft high. Obviously only Vex can get in there without going on all fours (a risky proposition for sure). I doubt Valrakas could or would anyhow.

How does the main tunnel look?

Yeah, I'm hoping that the last turn is into a larger tunnel, or else Vex is going to go fishing for us (running down passages and then letting things chase him back into the tight squeeze so we can fight them...except only one of us could fight in this narrow passage, so if we're forced to do that, we should probably go back to the saddle room with Cyriel.

I really hope I don't have to play bait!

You can assume that "BRAK DA GUH!" is goblin for "Blow me!" or any other saying along those lines. :-)

So I'm having a hard time picturing what happened. Here's what I thought happened:
We were all in the saddle room ("You are here" on the map). Vex went south into that narrow, 2.5' wide corridor (the "main" corridor). At the first torch, he looked around the corner and wolves started growling.
Vex ducked back so the wolves couldn't see him.
Erevior walked south into that corridor, coming up behind Vex.
Valrakas squeezed south into that corridor, behind Erevior.
A goblin came into the main corridor, saw the party, and ran south, past the first two side passages, and ducked into the third side passage.
The goblin yells about leaving his doggies alone.
Valrakas bull rushes south along the narrow main corridor, pushing Erevior and Vex in front of him.
They pass the first side passage, which contains a cage with wolves. They rile up, and the goblin yells to calm them.
They pass the second side passage, the wolves there start to rile up, and the goblin peeks back around the corner of the third side passage, making an insulting (but unintended) racial slur at Vex.
Vex passes the goblin to continue to the end of the corridor, where it turns east.
Somehow, Valrakas passes Erevior in the narrow corridor to follow Vex?
Somehow, Valrakas passes Vex in the narrow corridor to look around the corner?
Valrakas sees a door around the corner.
Valrakas walks back north to the third passage, threatens the goblin, who slinks away after calling an insult.
Cyriel comes south down the narrow corridor to join the others.
Is that correct?
I don't actually know where we are, relative to each other anymore. It's a bit like Heisenberg's cat: I know we're all in the north-south corridor somewhere, but more than that, I can't say.
I probably missed some secret and awesome stuff involving stealth and acrobatics. No matter, I guess.

Sorry for the confusion, let's see if I can straighten things up a bit...

Initially you were all in the saddle room. Vex went to peek into the first tunnel and wolves started making noise. He slid back a bit and Erevior and Valrakas came up behind him.

Goblin comes in from the south, gets hit with radiance, and darts into the third tunnel.

Valrakas says he's going to charge goblin pushing everyone along with him.

I remind him that the tunnels that the goblin side stepped into are just 3' tall (In essence canceling his charge. Valrakas then changes to searching the main tunnel). I should have been more clear that Valrakas running down the hall was canceled. When he changed to searching I just assumed he was walking behind Vex as Vex was checking into the tunnel (had squeezed by Erevior).

So, I have Valrakas at the end of the hallway, Vex peering into the third tunnel, Erevior and Cereal at the northern end of the tunnel.

Sound about right?

Yeah, I'm back with the Froot Loops. Thanks for the clarification.

No, that does not sound right at all!!! Who's Cereal?

Btw, I was confused too, thanks for the clarification.

I've seen on another thread that there may be an issue with the 'notes' feature. I was wondering if Naatkinson saw the one where Vex was called a "No beard dwarf". Not that it would have changed the outcome or anything, I just want to make sure if the feature is working here or not.

Note to Naatkinson
The second tunnel is much like the first, two wolves behind a locked metal gate. They appear to be well taken care of and have what appears to be a fresh bedding of hay lining their 'den'. As you look down the third tunnel there is yet another gate. The goblin has locked himself in with his 'doggies' and is petting them to calm them down. He appears to be unarmed.

I can see the notes. I think that I actually mentioned the no beard dwarf thing in one of my posts.

You did mention that, but the no beard thing wasn't actually part of the note, so I just wanted to make sure everyone is seeing what I think they were. Thanks!

This could be amusing. Sleep isn't restricted to hostile targets, it starts with the lowest hp creature in the area (which is probably Cyriel), so he could potentially put himself (or us) to sleep.

I don't think anyone (other than Cyriel[*]) has lower HP than the goblins, who've been dropping with 4 HP of damage. But he probably knows well enough to center it 11' away from himself. So they'll drop first, but that leaves 20 HP of sleep: Vex will drop (at around 10 HP) if he's in range, or Erevior (at 12 HP), but there won't be enough left to drop Valrakas, a barbarian with at least 12 (probably more like 11 current) HP.

* - Not knowing how to pronounce it, we were joking that it rhymes with "Cereal" or "Surreal"

I am in Costa Rica this week, so lagging a lot. I don't have any of my books. I didn't realize sleep affects the caster. I guess elven resistance to sleep is old D&D. Anyway he had to do something drastic cos he's on one hp.

I pronounce Cyriel in my head like Cereal, or Cyril with an e, so I'll let you off.

Sleep can affect the caster, but can't actually affect elves, I had forgotten that.

Totally forgot about that - I'll have to remember to keep checking your sheets!

So, no books with me. How long would we have to rest for Vex to get his cures back. Cyriel is on one hit point, so I'm feeling a little vulnerable.

8 hours would get all your HP back, 1 hour would allow you to spend your hit die to regain HP. I need 8 hours to regain spells

Aha! I forgot about the hit dice roll. Is everyone ok with waiting an hour? I'll do what the group wants.

That's what Vex was hinting at ;)

An hour is fine. Eight might be OK, too, depending on what the pirate finds.

"By the Light of My Harpoon: the Valrakas Story" in bookstores now. Get your copy today!

When's the book signing?

Eight would be best so I can get spells back

I'm good with 8 too. Just wanting you to know I'm still here but have nothing to contribute right now. Zzzzzzzzz.

We planning on short or long rest?

As a player I would prefer 8hrs to recharge the casters' abilities as well as the 1 rage slot I burned. But my PC? He's impatient by nature and us anxious to continue hehe!

Casters are way more fun to play at higher level lol
Two spells per day sucks, though cantrips take away some of the sting :)

Long rest then?

Yes, long rest. Cyriel needs to regenerate spells.

Sounds good to me. I need spells too, I'm the only healer!

Done and done!

Going to give Merlin another day before moving him along with the group. Doesn't look like he's been on for day or so.

Sorry, been a crazy work week.

Glad to know it wasn't something more dire!

I'm laughing out loud at this chain of bad rolls.

"Awww," the goblin children say, reassured by the solid presence of the big cow man rather than intimidated, "He's so soft and fuzzy!"

Hahaha! Yes, I imagined the exact same thing! :-D

http://www.madadventurers.com/angry-rants-cool-it-with-the-dice/

I was thinking that while Valrakas was exploring on his own, but I didn't feel like the minotaur would think to check the cave-ins for secret doors or illusions. Then again, having a knack for these things could be one way to interpret the Labyrinthine Recall racial feature.

What a wasted perception check!

I can't believe we all forgot about the key... lol

Well I didn't haha! But I did miss the part where they said the door was locked! :-P

Also, I think I handled the goblin being knocked prone thing correctly. Seems like it's just half movement to pop back up - doesn't seem like much of a penalty really...[/quote]

Yeah, it only takes half a move to pop back up. Prone is useful when allies get a melee attack before the hostile's turn. Though of course there'll sometimes be situations where just denying them half a move is an advantage in itself.

Erevior wanted to make sure that this Super Invincible Goblin doesn't get away, and that he has the chance of fighting it.

Yup, knockdown usually means that foe is forced to fight you even if they pop back up. Good strategy! :-)

I assume you're all going back the same way that you came in?

That would be my guess

Actually, Valrakas found another exit tunnel. If it seems to him like a shorter route (he would know) then he'll lead them that way.

The route that Valrakas found is indeed shorter it just hasn't been investigated yet. Unless I hear differently I'll move the party in that direction tonight.

That isn't logical to Cyriel. I'll post something.

Sorry for the silence...been incredibly busy...will post later today. Valrakas will wanna rush the opposition but the others will probably want to secure the kid first.

Beautiful rolls, Merlin!

Yes! Hurray for Sleep! :-)

Whoah! Really? We based Valrakas harpoon on the javelin, so I should be using Str for attack rolls then! So that makes Valrakas' latest attack result 11, not 9 (if it makes a difference).

Let me know if this was cheating haha! If I must, I'll change my action to a single 60' movement + thrown dagger or something (instead of a Dash).

Val needs to roll initiative. Roll high, my friend. ;-)

Oops. You're right! Added an init roll to my post. Thanks for the reminder! :-)

I have the harpoon missing, but still glowing and while it did miss, it's close enough to illuminate the target.

And yes, Merlin, Cyriel should be 90' away. I was thinking the range on the sleep spell was 60', not 90'

DM... You said, "One more action for each of you", then we didn't get an action. #justsayin

Cyriel's Magic Missile, Vex's crossbow shot, Val's charge, and Erevior's javelin throw. And you each rolled initiative as well.

#whatamimissing
#thisisnottwitter
#whydoikeepdoingthis
#STOP

I guess I'm missing acknowledgement of my action. For example Val and Vex were acknowledged by DM but my magic missile wasn't. So I'm immensely upset about that because I like that spell and it's my last one. #stilljustsayin #intothedarkness

#illbolditnexttime
#goddamnimstillhashtagging

#ishouldlearntoread #cheers

#cyrieltrippedoverarootandbrokehisneck
#sorrynotsorry

Ok, enough of all that. :-)

Ah, the life of a goblin. Blissful sleep on the cold, hard ground, interrupted by man slapping you awake and screaming "GET THEM!!!"

...and no grace to say "Hey, I just need a couple of minutes to wake up, boss..." No coffee, nothing. Just get in there and die like a Go Bo.

Goblins are just like a race of evil fodder for stronger creatures it would seem. Could be worse, I suppose, they could be Kobolds...

Normally I wouldn't have put so many friendly 'bad' guys in a scenario but I didn't want the newbies (to both D&D and RPGs) that I originally made this for to think that killing everything in sight was the way to play.

So how does that cater for the oldies who kill everything in sight? My weekly group spends an hour planning an intricate stealth operation then walks through the front door and kills everything... Every time!!

Well, Valrakas hasn't killed the gobo twins yet hahaha! Yeah, oldie here too. Back in the day it was murder hobo heaven LOL! I like what you've done, Szem! Reminds me of Drizzt and Nojheim.

I like it; I've always had sympathy for the opposition in the game. But then, I'm usually the DM, so I sort of have to...

I first played when I was about 11 or 12 and at the time that's all my friends and I did. Enter a room, kill everything, loot, repeat. :-)

Loved it at the time - wouldn't appeal much to me now. The newbs did a pretty good job with it. It was actually kind of funny to see how timid they were with their characters ("I don't like the looks of this, let's go back") and how they were more interested in grappling the goblins so they could question them than outright killing them.

Glad ya like it. It's run a lot smoother than I thought it might going into this (mostly from my lack of experience running things).

Note that Valrakas DID move this turn; he did a dash (double move) to try to get close to the man for next round...

That was last turn which ended with the human smacking the goblin awake. Valrakas is the top of the order (and 10' away after his dash) after initiative rolls (and Cyriel and Vex already have their actions picked out for the current turn).

At least that's how I have it in my mind. Am I the only one?

You asking me? I can't read.

I keep track by looking at who has posted after the DM. So on that basis you are correct DM.

No, you're absolutely right. I was confusing the second round with this third round.

I'll have something posted in the main thread tomorrow. A bit beat after tonight's festivities...

Added "Or ye can hold on t'me while I swim" to Valrakas' dialogue. With that option would I be making swim checks at disadvantage? Obviously not the best idea.

To cross the river without getting hit with an exhaustion penalty you need one successful athletics check out of three tries. Carrying Brynn across will result in a disadvantage to each of those rolls but the worst case scenario is you'll turn up on the other bank exhausted (which may or may not mean anything at this point in the game).

Well, I think that about wraps this one shot up. I loved how it played completely different from when I ran it with my newbie friends face to face and quite liked running a game in this format. Definitely some advantages to the play by forum format!

Thanks for playing, everyone. You've all made my first experience running a game here a very pleasant one!

Was a good game, look forward to you running another!

I really enjoyed it too! I wish this wasn't a one shot! Hehe!

Oh!! Well do we level up ? Haha. Actually I quite liked Cyriel as a character. Fun playing with you all.

I'm most likely going to be setting up something else here before the end of the month. I'll let ya all know before setting it up officially. As for this one I'm going to officially retire the game in the next couple of days just to clear it from my list. The forum should still stick around although I don't think anyone will have permission to post to it anymore.

One of the more fun games I've played here on GP. Thank you!