General OoC discussion

Got table talk? Let's hear it!

Or, uh, read it. You know.

Out of sheer boredom I am going to roll stats here where it doesn't matter! Just to prove that GP dice hate me for rolling characters!

Edit: 16, 13, 9, 14, 14, 10

Edit: SEE? I told you so! Show Keleth, here is my proof that it hates me

Sorry, felt the need to vent :P

Hey, this is a Dungeon Busters adventure in a classic module. Chances are fair that you'll get to roll more sets of average-to-horrible stats before the adventure is over. But that's why humans are so popular, right?

So true, I will likely die more than once in this thing. And I have found that your stats really don't have as big an effect as you'd think once the game actually starts moving along, it just looks bad at first.

I ran a small (probably too-small) party of newbie roleplayers through this module recently...maybe "through" this is too generous a term, as they didn't get to see much of it at all. The entire party succumbed to a trap in the first encounter, were captured, and then died in a long, exciting and fun escape attempt. I know AD&D tournament modules were brutal (Tomb of Horrors, etc), but I don't think any of were expecting that level of difficulty.

That said, it was mostly on them. The PCs acted very rashly and over-confidently in the game, seeking combat at every opportunity, even when grossly outnumbered. That, combined with unlucky enemy attack rolls (several crits) and the fact that they avoided all interaction with NPCs and went straight into the lion's den as their first action, pretty much meant that they were doomed.

I look forward to being mashed. Thanks for letting me in on this one - love the classic module feel

But, but, that's how play I most times! Just ask Biscuitfiend! Hahaha j/k :-D

I have nothing to say. Lol!

Who you gonna call? D Busters! :-D

So as you all are putting the finishing touches on your characters, you can start in the game thread with activities/interactions in Hochoch. Cecily has led you to expect that Hochoch will suffice as a base of resources until you can find/create a new source for supplies/class training elsewhere. But since not all of you (?) are familiar with Hochoch, you'll probably want to scout out those places here.

Once I've got my background basically formed, I'll chime in -- but I don't want to presuppose (or not suppose) relationships without hammering a bit more. Otherwise, aye aye, cap'n!

You said this could continue on to further modules, right? If so, what are you going to do for people playing UA classes that only go to level 5?

Personally I plan on multiclassing into a martial class. Fighter or ranger most likely. Although I could go Wizard maybe

Just to be completely clear (and perhaps unnecessarily explicit), I do not intend to rush anyone; I just wanted to make it clear that people can start role-playing in Hochoch on the game thread when ready. I'm great with working on character relationships - I love this sort of thing and how characters mesh with one another.

Either we'll make our own rules for further leveling, or the question will be moot due to character death. Let's cross that bridge when we come to it.

With character relationships, I do sometimes find it fun to sort that out as you play. So, I think, I'm going to go on the working assumption that Sara knows three other characters, one of them well. As we play, banter, jousts and conversations will reveal those connections. I mention this, because this works best when other players know - and occasionally decide for themselves that 'they know Sara'.

EDIT: Posted, and my post is also an example of what I mean

Question about NPCs and portraits:

A cool feature on Gamer's Plane is the ability to upload character portraits, which allows one to post in character and the forum thread shows the picture of the character, so that people reading it have a visual clue as to which character(s) have been active.
What's really cool is that GMs can do this: make an NPC, upload a picture for the NPC, add the NPC to the game, and then post in character as the NPC.

That's a great tool for us DMs to use...except it may be a bit overwhelming in cases where there are a LOT of NPCs. As players, it may result in confusion in distinguishing PC posts and NPC ones (as the visual clue is a major mechanism for distinguishing PCs from NPCs). Since we are in Hochoch right now, and Hochoch is the home base and training location for all of the PCs, it is rife with NPCs: Devane, Tap, Soraya, Fantikaflar, Goom, as well as class trainers for each of you and a half dozen others. I could post separately as each of these characters when they appear, but I could also just post as me, and just include a picture of the character in the post when they are speaking.

Which would you prefer, if you even have a preference? From your perspective - the one I'm interested in - it's just a presentation difference.

Whatever is easiest for the DM honestly, either way works for me

Sometimes it is easier to look back and visually associate an NPC's words with their avatar. Ideally the avatars are distinct enough that we won't confuse one for another, and if that's the case then I think I prefer it when NPCs are posting in-character.

Both work fine for me, though I certainly prefer the in-character NPC posts as I find it more immersive. :-)

I much prefer seeing the avatars, but agree that means more work.it could be something you do for reoccurring NPCs or important ones. If we just meet a turnip farmer and move on, he doesn't need a character sheet, but the class trainers make sense. Of course the downside is that an avatar then signifies an important NPC that maybe you don't want us to know is important. So in the end do what is easier for you.

I'll put in a counter-vote that I find the NPC thing a little confusing sometimes -- since I expect to see NPCs run through the GM portrait. But I don't care enough to have a strong opinion. :)

I don't have a strong opinion. If you want to put the effort in, go for it.

In my games I use NPC portraits only for NPCs that travel with the party (as it helps remind everyone periodically that they do have a 'follower' or 'guide' NPC in the group to be aware of and interact with).

I think what I'll do is a combination: I'll put the picture in the post when you first meet them (as I've already done). If, in the course of adventuring, you meet the NPC again, then I'll make a sheet and post as the character.

I should have added to what I said above that though I like post-as-NPC, I like in-post images even more! The avatars are sometimes too small to see and even if the character sheet is in the library it doesn't show the portrait anyway.

Personally I always try to make my first post in any game thread an introduction post with a PC portrait. My co-players will probably know my PC's background from character creation but anyone reading along will know nothing.

So yeah, awesome call, Spaceseeker! :-)

So, as we get closer to getting equipped and heading off on the expedition, I wonder how you each feel about side quests.

There are some mini-dungeons and side encounters that I have; I can easily provide hooks to them in this adventure, to provide opportunities for faster adventuring and/or easier XP. But I don't want to do so without checking in with you all first: how do you feel about additional quest material being added?

There's two reasons I like the idea:
1) they're fun, and
2) I've run several parties through this adventure, and none of them have completed it yet. I feel like anything that can help get to level 2 faster greatly improves chances of survival.

But I presented this as "module N1," not "N1 and a variety of other stuff." What do you think?

I'm up for anything. Honestly, not having read any of these modules (and forcing myself not to peek), it will all feel like one big campaign.

I'm totally fine with side quests, they're a fun diversion that give a sense of progression and accomplishment outside the main story

Yeah I'm up for anything! :-)

I'm fine with deviation from the module. I wouldn't even know it wasn't part of the core story if you didn't say anything.

Ibid!

Likewise. I'm happy with whatever.

OK, another logistics question: it's been more than a week since Biscuitfiend has posted on the site (that I've seen). I've been running his character, Morgran, as a particularly passive NPC.

Should I continue to run the one healer (not to discount our paladin) as an NPC until he returns (which might be a while, or could be never), or should I phase out the character and invite another player to join the game?

Biscuitfiend hasn't given direction or notice about vacation or anything that I've seen - have any of you read anything about it?
If I knew with certainty that he was coming back, I'd run Morgran as an NPC in the meantime without hesitation. But if he's not coming back, or if his absence will be extended...how long should I wait before I give another player a slot in the game?

His avatar hasn't got the "ZZZ" icon, although I can't recall if that's caused by a week w/o logging in or a week without posting.

In any case, I too have noticed his absence (I'm in one of his games, and he's in one of mine!). My approach has been to wait until a player goes "ZZZ" and then to recruit a replacement (and, if that player returns, I will just run a slightly bigger game and be more lax about temporary absences. In fact, I usually recruit 1 more player than I actually desire for a PbF game on the expectation that one player, on average, will be absent for a given arbitrary interval).

Maybe we could temporarily have him passed out on the floor.

Too much ale? Sure, that works.

Fascinating! I'd never noticed the "ZZZ" icon; I'd only seen people profiles that show a person as "Inactive," which shows up after a month of not logging in (I believe). I learn something new every day!

I think I may probe to see if there are still people interested in playing in a D&D5 game; I know Szemely expressed interest. I'll check with him first, before I open it up to the wider user base.

"Inactive" and "ZZZ" are the same - the "ZZZ" turns up beside the users avatar (but not in their profile, so you have to look at forum posts to see it). I think it might be 2 weeks... there's a thread about the feature in the news somewhere.

It might be worth it just to have an extra character floating around (as I said, I find it useful to have +1 character so that if someone drifts we don't have to stall).

Man, I'm so glad I as a player don't have a monk's vow of teetotalism. My dice will be the death of my liver at this rate.

Here's the post about the sleep ('zzz') icon.

My apologies - I'll be back in a day or two. GP kinda got forgotten about

I'm glad to hear from you!

Sorry for the silence...been incredily busy...will post later today. Thacogygax is just following along wherever most of the group has gone. (The mill, I think?)

Sorry that it's taking me so long to respond; I'm drawing a map and have been out of town this weekend, so it'll be a little while before I can scan what I've drawn. Later tonight, pacific time.

Not able to view the map you posted, it's broke

Try again; I had to teach myself all over again how to embed Google images (the sharing link never works).

You know, you can click Edit, switch your "voice" back to your character, and Save. ;-)

Not if I'm a DM editing a player's note I can't. CancerMan can, of course (and at the moment, that's the best solution), but he shouldn't have to; I'm the one who created the problem with my edit.

It's a known issue reported over a month ago; I'd just forgotten it.

That said, it's kind of an edge case, and I can avoid it by just posting new messages, rather than piggybacking on others'.

Oh, I totally misread that! I thought that was CancerMan sending you a (not secret) note! My bad!

Ah, that is poor grammar from me. From now on, I'll write it as "Note from DM." Better?

No, no, that was all me, haha!

Hey Everyone! Newbie here. I'll be joining you guys in the adventure, though I'm not exactly sure how...

Welcome, Couchlord! Looking forward to Durren joining the group! :-)

Well wait for the Dm to give the go ahead, but if you want to have Durren show up right now it would make sense, maybe you were just delayed catching up to the group.

Welcome!

Note from DM: I'm going to try editing the subject lines of the two different threads: the party at the mill and the wanderer in the woods. Let me know how that reads for you all; I'd rather not do separate threads.

OK, tell me what I can do to help!

Sounds good to me!

Just a quick note: I'm basically not spending too much time on what Durren does until he meets the group. I'm trying to get through it ASAP and join you guys; so spaceseeker you'll only be doing two threads for about three more posts max if I join the others right away. Right now, the Kobold is watching you people attack the mill; I'm thinking I take him out and then I watch you, then join you at some point.

Oh, but the kobold is not at the mill. Let's see what happens!

Are you saying he isn't, or are you saying that in recognition of the fact? I tried to stick to the map.

If I understand correctly:

In the room where Ogbar and Xana entered, there are, among other things, "a trio of men wrestling."

In the room where Klak and Quest entered, there are, among other things, "four grim men: two are running to get behind the table on the right, while the other two flip their table on the left over, making a bit of cover for themselves."

And for now Sara, Thacogyygax and Aanbo, who are all outside, are unaware of what's going on inside. Did we see them enter, at least? Obviously Sara saw the others enter, but did Thacogygax and Aanbo?

I apologize that I wasn't more clear. I'll amend the post to explicitly include you all, as you can hear Quest's challenge and see them enter.

Ha! I thought we were at the northern mill, too!

I figured a double move would be it for me this round. Let me know if there's any sort of check I should be making to assess the situation.

I think you've already role-played yourself to deduce what's going to happen; an Insight check at this point would just add a chance that you changed your mind.

Err...whose turn is it at the mill?

At the moment? Thacogygax and Aanbo's.

Is it to late to declare the use of my reaction to use Intellect Fortress? This would impose disadvantage on Thug 4 and if he still manages to hit me he takes an equal amount(2) psychic damage. I should leave standing orders to do this on the first attack against Quest each round. If it is to late, I can accept that and will be more explicit with my actions in the future.

No, that's fine, we can retroactively say you were concentrating on Intellect fortress this round, since you did not spend any psi points and concentration on additional damage with your mind thrust. My read of the discipline, though, is that he would take half your level rounded up in damage, which is 1. Do you have a bonus to damage that would apply that I'm forgetting?

I heartily welcome standing orders for characters that apply to different situations. If you wish to default to concentrating on Intellect Fortress each round unless you say you're concentrating on something else, that works. I'll prompt you to make a save to maintain concentration for this round, if you are hit.

Xana's standing orders are to distract and confuse the enemy whenever possible in order to save her own hide. When all else fails, run!

Nope...I read it wrong, or was confusing it with some other ability...it is half level. So yeah...standing orders are concentration on Intellect Fortress, applying the ability to the first attack in the round.

Durren's standing order is to try to cleave through enemies when (1) he is fighting multiple enemies or (2) he is fighting a powerful enemy.

Ugh. Klak rolls a 1, Moradin's Beard!

What was the target number for the strength save against Arms of Hadar?

It's whatever your spellcasting DC is, which I figure is based on charisma like any other warlock. That'd make it 12. But the half damage was enough to kill everything except the man anyway.

Yikes. Ok. Poor doggie :(

This round, before I act, I'm waiting to see resolution on Quest's latest Mind Thrust attacks to see if both Thug 4 & 5 have had their brains melted. Is there enough space in here to catapult those barrels if needed?

Both Quest's Intellect Fortress and Thacogygax's Frostbite impose disadvantage so foolsmask and I definitely need to keep track of each other's actions. Anybody else got any disadvantage abilities?

Also, I misunderstood the building's architecture. I thought that interior wall between the two rooms had a connecting door in it. That's where I thought Sara and I were hehe. So apparently that is not a door but a window, and it is further into the room than the melee. So I think we're good where we are. :-D

Barrels are more than 5 lbs, so you couldn't catapult them, right?
I didn't think either of you ever entered the building; was I mistaken?

There IS an interior door connecting the two rooms: it's between the two stairways and it's closed.

In my head I did enter the room, but only because I misunderstood the layout inside. So I'm good with where we are now.

You're right about the barrels. Too heavy. I guess I'm spamming Frostbite. That is, IF there are still foes standing (it looks to me like Klak and Quest have already taken out their opposition). Yes, Thacogygax is ahead on the initiative order, but he's always going to be a little gunshy.

Spamming? No, that's how cantrips work in D&D5! They're basically one of the few call-backs to D&D4, referencing the At-Will Powers. You're expected to use your cantrips constantly.

Yeah, that's what I meant. :-) I guess I'll just keep using it. Do I have a target left on the ground floor though? Other than Ogbar's opponent?

Oh shit. I have one last failed death save before I'm dead dead. :(

What happens to a readied action if the trigger doesn't occur? If the round is about to end can I jump in with a different action? How does that work? Unless I'm mistaken, the PHB doesn't address this.

Yikes! Gotta say, though, that I like how you're roleplaying it.
The trap door is open; it took a character's full turn to haul it open. There's just a square hole in the ceiling, maybe 6' square.

If a trigger doesn't occur then you don't do anything that round. And a ready action only allows you to use an action, not a bonus action or a move. This is RAW, mileage may vary based on DM.

What's left downstairs with me, anything to kill? or just Durren, who tried to get in way of a very angry barbarian

Oh. Well must/may I change my move then, Spaceseeker?

Sure! I'm happy to consider the trigger as "when/if they attack," regardless of the trap door's open status, or you can just choose to do an action without a trigger; I haven't processed your move yet.

The only people you can see who you don't know personally are:
- the groaning guy on the ground by Aanbo
- the human warrior in the strange antiquated studded leather armor, who was just yelling in various languages
- the four guys with bows above you, half seen through the trapdoor opening in the ceiling

Well I would let it stand but I want all of the thunder going upstairs and not down where the PC's are. If Thacogygax can't do the 10ft lay-up to the trapdoor (a bonus move) then I'm having him head for the stairs instead.

I read it that the bonus action is triggered by casting a spell. So strictly speaking, you'd probably cast Thunderwave upwards, smashing anyone upstairs up and away from you, then float up to survey the results. Perhaps whirling like a Kung Fu fighter in a Wuxia film. If that appeals, go right ahead.

Ok, I'll let the post stand then. Thanks!

That is to say: you don't HAVE to fly up to only hit the people upstairs - Thunderwave is a cube that you can cast in any direction; you are not necessarily in the area of effect (just adjacent to it), and as the tallest of the party (by a LOT), no one on the first floor will be affected if you cast it upwards.

Note that, as far as you the player knows, there is no opponent left in initiative order who has not gone yet.

So, are you:
- doing the Thunderwave now, on your initiative, and then floating up to observe, then floating down again
- doing the Thunderwave now, on your initiative, and then floating up to land upstairs
- doing the Thunderwave now, on your initiative, and then seeking cover downstairs
- reserving Thunderwave as a triggered action, to go off if an enemy appears and attacks you before the end of this round?

The last. Thanks!

Only added a snippet of dialogue to the post.

Oh, BTW spaceseeker, I've decided that durren looks almost exactly like the guy in his picture. That is what my armor is like - does that affect my AC at all? I'm also going to make a few minor changes to my stats/characteristics to fit better with his I'm playing him; I'm going to run those by u asap.

FYI: that's appears to be what they'd call "banded mail" in AD&D. Since that doesn't exist in D&D5, it would be scale mail (medium armor, AC 14, max 2 for DEX mod, DISADV on Stealth checks).

As my original plan was to do a medicine check on Xana, but she's been healed, I'm now waiting to see what Durren does before acting (just informing you about the reason for my delay, as I'm usually keen to post early!)

This is, thankfully, the one time I can actually wait. I have to decide whether I'll check on Xana or rush upstairs with the barbarian (which might be suicide since I'm down to 4 HP).

OK, my modifier for DEX is 2; I have proficiency in stealth, does that make any difference? But yes, I think I'll keep the heavier armor as opposed to the studded leather

Candi, I'll get on that ASAP.

It doesn't eliminate the disadvantage, no, but it means that you won't be losing any DEX bonus to AC (as your bonus is +2), and your proficiency bonus (+2 now, more at higher levels) is added to your DEX bonus when doing stealth checks. So, attempting to be stealthy, Durren would roll 1d20+4 twice, and take the lower result.

As you can see from the example, you can still be stealthy with disadvantage. Target numbers are often secret, but for tasks you're likely to engage in at first level they're usually 15 or less.

Aanbo has been hit for 3 before that, so it's a total of 10. He should be at 1 HP: even more reason to wait!
(edit: that was wrong. My memory played tricks on me.)

Sorry about that wait, folks! I realized this morning that I only had a sketch of the remaining floors, and I want to post a map as Ogbar runs up there. I'll have it for tomorrow, or possibly later tonight.

I'm eagerly anticipating the results of Ogbar's attack :)

Ah, my bad. I thought that first attack was a miss!

No, MY bad. What was I thinking? You're right - and my original post in the game was right - he did miss with that first attack. Ugh. Very sorry about that!

Aanbo is, as you calculated, at 4 HP.

Yay! I'm still alive! Assuming that we're following the PHB guidelines of always rounding down?

Edit: I should still be up even if we round up! I'm so gonna die here in this mill, but Ogbar doesn't surrender!

Was Thunderwave my Round 4 action? I thought it was my Round 3.

Round 1: Dash
Round 2: Frotbite
Round 3: Thunderwave

Or did I miss Round 3 because of readying?

Then, if we wanna use the same roll, it would be 21, based on Con modifier

No, you're forgetting that you used your cantrip twice.

Round one: Dash

Round two: Frostbite

Round three: Frostbite again (and Shield)

Round four: Readied action: thunderwave

Right. I generally allow comic-book-like speech logic: you can speak a fair amount on your turn, independent of your official actions. Sometimes I will ask for a conversation-based check to take an action, but in this case, I think Ogbar is not looking for an immediate response so much as the archer not making an attack action on his turn in initiative. Ogbar is also being assisted in this by Sara's shot and Durren's fresh appearance (for all the archer knows, he's come through all the fighting completely unscathed, which either means he's that good, or that Ogbar has done all fo the fighting. Either way, that's potentially terrifying).

Oh right! Duh!

How wide is this staircase? Would it be possible for Thacogygax to breathe lightning past Klak (or Klak & Ogbar)?

Is it wide enough to swing a longsword unhindered?

Lightning is, officially, a 5' wide beam. The stairs are narrow enough to only allow one person at a time (unless that person is S size, in which case they have that Nimble ability to walk through others' space). This means that, mechanically, rules-as-written, you could not do this past Ogbar and Klak. But you could move alongsize them, ending in front of them, and breathe lightning on these yahoos. But they're actually in pretty bad trouble already, it seems.

Yes. But at the moment, Ogbar and Klak are in the way. You can squeeze past them as an ally to get in front, at which point you'd be able to swing your sword no problem.

But so far, no one in the larger group has said anything about Dungeon Busters, and Durren hasn't either, so they have no sense of common cause, despite Durren's efforts at peace-keeping so far. So they might not treat you as an ally.

If you want to roll that check on Sara this turn (turn five) rather than take a different action, you might recognize her as being from Dungeon Busters, which might then become a topic of conversation...

I don't know if you guys saw it before I got the chance to delete it, but I posted out of turn by mistake. Was just drafting a move for next round and clicked "Post" by mistake :-) It's gone now.

Hahaha that cracked me up! :-D

I think she actually intimidated the wrong person. My character doesn't know this, but my guess is that the girl, Shalla or whatever her name was, was the one who said that. xD

Role-playing!

We are currently still proceeding in initiative order, yes?

Yes, I'm continuing initiative for round 7, assuming that the party may wish to confront the guy in the attic. But all apparent enemies have surrendered on the ground floor and second story. No PC is down in the basement.

I've been reading up on the Mystic because I'm in awe of Quest. The text on Mind Thrust says you must perceive the target but not necessarily have to see him. :-)

Tell me about it. Where are our Hollywood writers when we need them?

Apparently we're in a comedy?

I just thought of that, too. I could see Sara's bad roll occurring in Pirates of the Caribbean.

Oh great, give the GM ideas for how this can go wrong... next thing I'll be rolling through the village, trying to stay atop the mill wheel :P

Just a note about the verisimilitude of people jumping out of windows: stress can make one choose poorly. Jumping out of windows often does seem like a viable option to people in distress, and I don't need to look as far as the people leaping out of high rise buildings in the world trade center plane crashes to find examples. While I was at university, our dorm had a fire in the middle of the night. My room mate and I got dressed in a hurry and left out the stairway that wasn't on fire, but there were other students who lost it and leaped from their windows, breaking their legs and spines, while others ran through the burning stairway and were hospitalized and horribly scarred.

The only reason I was as (relatively) calm about it is that I had already been through a house fire at that point, and knew in retrospect (from personal experience) that panic does not help as much as measured action.

But my guess for this thug is that he'd never really been threatened for his life before.

Plus, we have a half-dragon! :-D

Sorry for the long wait, everyone!

From where Thacogygax is standing on the dock does he hear any of the goings on upstairs? The arrival of the mob, for instance?

Why, that sounds like a perception check, Jabes!

Instead of creating a new post I added a perception roll to my last post.

I'm sorry if the open-endedness of my last post is holding things up! I meant that to fade into a cut to the inn with everyone there including Thaco.

I have a (minor) question for the players: do you prefer to continue the action in the same game thread, or do you prefer to have separate threads for each "section" of a game? I don't have a strong preference, and I thought some or all of you might...

I think if there's a clear-cut distinction between this phase and the next, then a separate thread might be fine. As it stands now, I'm not sure where the group is going to go after convening at the Inn; presumably we'll discuss that in-thread, and when we decide what to do, we can also see if a new thread is in order.

Personally, I have no preference. Thanks to GP's unread-post feature, I can easily follow along wherever the action takes us.

I like separate threads. Like chapters in a book.

Hey Everyone! So my internet is fritzy, so I may leave for day long periods. If I'm gone and my action is needed, just do what you think my character would do. I'll try to be here as much as possible.

OK, thanks for letting us know!

Everyone: at this point, there's a few things that I can suggest as next courses of action. PCs can:

* continue role-playing through the celebration. Xana is fleecing Klak of coin, after all.
* attempt to ferret out clues relating to Black (though here's a freebie: each PC has already got the sense from the townsfolk that they've been actively hunting for Black for some time, and have come up with nothing concrete, so they're on quick alert status to respond to any threats, and expect to only get leads indirectly, through seemingly unrelated activity)
* seek out and find class trainers so you'll know where they are later. Note: I was going to introduce each class trainer during this party, but then I realized that not everyone is necessarily going to train in the same class they started in, so I'll let you drive seeking out which class trainers you want to meet. So far, we have seen Cormac (fighter trainer), Diana (cleric trainer), Tuan Vo (monk trainer), Njall (paladin trainer), and Mironund (mystic trainer).
* work on setting up the Dungeon Busters office
* investigate the rumors you've heard about Orlane (which brought you to Hochoch in the first place)

I'm sure you have other ideas.

Klak, a dwarf of action, except when he's not, will hearken to the idea of looking into this Orlane place,

Sara is also keen to pursue the rumour they came to investigate in the first place, especially as Black appears to be an enigma. If he's a genuine problem, his influence will resurface. With respect to trainers, as my class is only 5 levels deep, I'll be following it until its stopping point (so I'll eventually need to find the ranger trainer, although that will be some time from now as we're still 220ish XP short of a level; so I haven't prioritized doing so).

I'm going to be absolutely slammed over the weekend working on an epic Star Wars - The Force Awakens birthday cake. Won't be able to post, sorry!

Sorry for the long delay, everyone. I will endeavor to resume my practice of daily posting.

Hard time of year to be regular. No worries.

Yeah, no worries! Enjoy the holidays, everyone! :-)

Jabes- where's that cake at? :-p

The cake turned out great, but I haven't had time to post photos. In the meantime do check out our photo album - it's chock full of geekiness! :-)

Your user avatar is a CAKE?? Wow, that's really great.

Those cakes are incredible!

Thanks, guys! :-) Here's a little sneak peek at the Poe Dameron X-Wing cake topper.

Awesome!!

Mechanically, yes, but in play the training will look a lot different than going to the Swordmaster to learn another fighter level.

I don't even have to roleplay Thacogygax as awkward - the dice are doing it for me! :-D Is someone going to tell him his tail is sticking out? Haha!

An aside: I'm trying to write this farmer exactly how people in Austria talked when I was there, touring Wien and Salzburg. Coming from the United States, this use of hyperbolic honorifics for everyday people like me seemed ridiculous, and provoked suspicion that the people were being sarcastic. "Most Grand Lord? Who, me??!" Nope, not sarcastic; it's just part of the culture.

Hi all, I'm away until Saturday at Center Parcs. See you shortly!

Quest, Morgran, and Aanbo can each try Perception and Medicine checks, in addition to the investigation that Aanbo has undertaken.

I hope you don't mind. I've added the Perception and Medicine rolls to my original post.

Yes, that's good, CancerMan.
I laughed out loud at this. Great interplay between characters!

I tried to ad lib a little what a 0 perception roll means. Needless to say, Klak has no clue what may or may not be coming.

Folks, I'm going to run Morgran as an NPC for a bit, until Biscuitfiend returns. He's the only healer, and will be needed even more soon.

Damn, all my 1s and 2s are popping up now. Boooo.

Hex:
Don't forget to choose an ability. I suggest CON. ;-)

Poor Klak...

CON is as good as any.

What uses a Con Check? I'm trying to think, but I don't think there is much

Yeah, I'm not sure which saving throw is most useful at this moment. WIS?

Depends on what people are planning to do. I might be planning to cut and run.

It doesn't affect saving throws, just ability checks such as skills or strength checks to force a door open, etc.

Oh wait I can't read! In that case I'm going with INT.

I didn't realize Hex doesn't affect saves. Oh well.

Yeah this is going bad real fast. Thaco is thinking of running, too. Same as the owlbear, he also thinks there's a dragon about (nobody let him in on Xana's trick).

Ogbar's too bloodthirsty to run away lol, I may be rolling a new character along with Klak

Xana will tell the others of your brave sacrifices.

I appreciate that! :)

Alas, my beloved Olga will never know what happened to her lost love!

FYI: Thaco unhitched the 'horses' (by whcih I assume he meant 'oxen' but they all look the same to Thaco ;) ); so the oxen should be free to bolt.

From my calculations, we've done 34 damage to it already (5 from Sara, 15 from Ogbar, and 14 from Thaco). We might not all die (Though I'm expecting the beast to turn on Ogbar and slay him now)

It's reacting to the illusory dragon roar. Perhaps all it needs is an illusory dragon to chase. ;-)

Just waiting for my turn. Circling, angry dragon is on the prowl!

I get the feeling that Ogbar is going to get himself killed, but he will not let an enemy escape!

Travelling Monday - Friday this week. Please play unconscious Klak accordingly. Upon revival he will begin to consider how best to defeat owlbears at the next opportunity.

I'm really torn. Ogbar is only missing 4 HP, so I'm not convinced that I want to spend my Hit Die on that, but I might die in the next combat if I don't... Ahh, screw it, I'll do it

Splitting the party always works out well!

I know, right? :-D

It worked out well before, with the owlbear. Plus, the alternative option is to A) convince the farmer he's nuts, or B) bring Davek back to possibly a trap. Seems like splitting is the way to go.

Aanbo, Earthfeeler. Sensing and perceiving all the things.

What I'm seeing is that splitting the party is not so bad when the party is the size of two normal parties as this one is.

Really, whether or not party splitting is bad ultimately depends on the adventure/GM. It's probably also easier for you to manage us as two groups of 4/5 than one group of 9 (especially in PbF format where you don't need to actively split attention as you would in a face to face game).

I don't mind party splitting in a PbP game. It sucks most of the time in a face-to-face game, but this is a good format for party-splitting.

Party splitting makes sense here the way the story has unfolded. I was just kidding with my comment. That old superstition, y'know? :-D

Klak isn't sure he'd agree that the split worked out so well. ;)

Sheesh, something wrong with goats? :)

Well, even if there wasn't, Xana's ability is prejudiced: she can only speak to size S or smaller critters. Which means the goats are too aloof.

Oh geez, for some reason I read "crow" as "cow."

I am loving Xana's barnyard antics! And now it looks like Klak may have made a furry friend as well! :-D

I just wanted an excuse to have a chat with a chicken.

It may seem a bit out of character for Ogbar to advise a stealthy strike but he hates and fears magical tricksters such as Jonbon and doesn't want to get ensnared by his foul magics. He prefers a fair fight against a worthy opponent, but he feels like wizards "cheat".

Note: I've been trying to keep the three groups (!) somewhat linked chronologically, but at this point I'm willing to diverge, as I don't want to start throwing encounters at the group heading back to Hochoch just for the sake of maintaining this synchronicity. Would you players prefer if I kept that in the same thread, or would you be willing for me to start the group arriving at Hochoch in the thread for the next sequence (1.3)?

Either way is fine for me. :-)

As the split will take some time to reconcile, a separate thread may be best.

Is anyone in the group that's gone back to town one of the character's that had gone to the townhouse? Because if not, the hunting party made a tactical error sending only the people who have only a vague idea of what's wrong / going on to bring the boy back to town...

True. Aanbo did say that he suspected a ruined building in the woods is likely the source of Devek's condition, but unfortunately that's all he knew, and there's no hard proof aside from the bruise on the lad's hand.

When I think back on it, though, nobody really had an idea of what's afflicting the boy.

I'm really frightened of what we might find under the tarp.

Wow, rolling a 1 and a 20 in the same post? Impressive!

I know, I was pleasantly surprised lol

does one get healing benefits from a short rest?

This is the first rest Klak has had since he was treated with a healer's kit by Elista. Even though that post was long ago, in Klak's life it was pretty recent and still applies: yes, he gets to use his hit dice for the short rest. In addition to that healing, he gets any other benefits of a short rest as usual.

Err....sorry, what material?

Aanbo's got the brick (house). He's mighty mighty.

Aha! You caught me using synonyms again! I've incorporated that into Diana's response.
You all ran here from the path from the Jarl homestead in a matter of several minutes. It's not far. The rest of the party (the asynchronous group - Sara, Thacodydax, Klak and Morgran) is still a few hours away from Hochoch at this point. For you all, it'd take you a bit more than an hour to turn the wagon around and trundle it back to the farm.

Going to step out of the game for now to save space on my forum list. Please re-invite me if it gets started back up.

I'm stepping out of this one as well. Not just to save space on the list, however, but also because I need to prune my obligations and so if it did start again I'd have to step down anyway.

It's beenfun!

Also stepping out to tidy up my game list. If it starts up again, please let me know -- Klak would welcome the opportunity to continue his adventures.

Me to: I'm clicking "Leave Game" now but if there should ever be a continuation of this story, Thacogygax and I would very much like to be part of it. Cheers!

We're back baby!

And better than ever!

Why hello, everyone! It's been a whileeeee

Hey folks. Thanks for having me. I’ll have a character submitted soon.

Hi friends, great to be playing with you!

Excited to be here and meet the group!

Welcome, new folks!

And apologies to the old crew, as I may be a bit rusty!

Hello players, old and new! Looking forward to gaming with you all.

The game is resuming in this thread.

I think the thread is still locked.

Whoa - that was completely accidental! It should be open now.

I was very late with today's post - late enough that it's tomorrow for some of you. So to try to make up for it, I made an extra long post this time.

Tomorrow I should post closer to midday.

No worries, spaceseeker! Enjoying the game and everyone's characters :)

Yes, same, very immersive, really enjoying it.

Another late posting, so tonight it's TWO long posts.

Just realized I misread the part on the stone piece... for RP purposes maybe Xana just looks over Aanbo's shoulder while he's studying it and comes to her own conclusions- haha

I've been off the site for a long time, and am only slowly coming to grips with all the new features of the site.
When I started this game, the custom dice rules feature wasn't available. Now that it is, I've finally updated the game to make them available.

FYI, what this means is that, when you "Add new roll: Basic," you can include the text "DC##" (for a skill check) or "AC##" (for an attack roll) in the "Reason" field, and the roll's result in your post will include a little graphic to indicate whether the roll was a success (a green checkmark) or not (a red X). It's not a big thing, but I like it, mostly because it adds a visual dynamic to the in-game rolls.

So, if Morgran was talking to a farmer, trying to persuade him to sell Dungeon Busters some land, and he knew it was a DC 15 check, he'd type
"Persuasion check DC15" in the Reason field, and "1d20+4" in the roll field. The result is shown below: a failure. Note that he rolled a *1*, which is underlined and highlit in red. It's not relevant to a skill check, but if it had been an attack, it would be a critical failure, and the red/underline makes it easy (and somewhat melodramatic) to see.

Just letting you know that this little feature is available in this game, too.

I've known about the feature, but I can never remember the syntax.

Nifty :) I haven't really used this feature yet, but it looks pretty cool. Thanks for all the energy you're putting into this game, spaceseeker!

Might take me a bit to remember to use that feature, but seems cool!

I've not known about this. I'll give it a go.

Just to be clear: a game has to be set up/edited to use these dice rules, or any other special rules. I only just edited the game code to allow this particular optional feature; this DC and AC checking now work in this game, but the extra functionality may not necessarily appear in any others you're playing. It all depends on what the GM has set up.

There's some interesting stuff that's been developed since we last had combat in this game regarding game maps...I may try that, rather than the more primitive "inserting letters to represent combatants" that I used in the past. We'll see.

As a DM, I got pretty exhausted by the On The Fly Battle Map stuff and other new features, to be honest. It sure can look pretty, though.

Let us know if you need any help!

It's not help I want at this point; rather what I'd like is a sense of what the group prefers. We're about to move into the Forest Ruin, which has a map to explore. As players, what is your preference for how maps are presented in a GP D&D 5e game, if you have a preference?

I can easily continue with the hand-drawn maps as simple images (as I have done in the past), I can use the maps with On the Fly Battle Maps, I can use the maps with roll20, or I can try something else that you prefer. My goal is to have the exploration and encounters also be a fun, lightweight, and hopefully immersive experience for you, the players. What would realize that best, for you?

I feel like what your doing is fine (I love your drawings btw). Whatever the majority wants is ok with me, personally I’d like to have everything centralized to this site though.

I'm fine with all of the above. I do like the hand-drawn stuff quite a bit - evokes that being there at the tabletop feeling for me - but only if it is less work. If you find the new tools are fun and efficient, I'm into it.

I agree with Len about centralizing things on GP. I'm perfectly fine with hand-drawn maps, Excel spreadsheets, or fancier apps like OtFBM. If anything, I'd prefer whatever makes your job easier.

I also think you should do whatever works best for you, and we'll roll with it.

DMing is work. Fun work, but still work. I favor whatever makes the work easier for you.

I'm trying to get one substantive game update posted each day. I didn't expect that opening the gate would be a big delay, and I don't consider my clarifying who could be making the Athletics check I asked for yesterday a substantive post. But I also understand that not everyone can post once a day (life happens!), which is why I tried to make it clear that, if they wished, the small PCs could fit through the opening just as Devek did, as a hint that the adventure isn't being blocked by this one roll.

That's all to explain why I haven't posted a real update today: I'm waiting for player input/actions before I do. But I have my next post mostly ready to go (with variations based on how the roll goes, and where people end up so that I can update and post the map), and I guess I'm just eager to continue. I will be posting soon, regardless of moves...but I've got an engagement tonight, in just a few minutes, so at this point I probably won't post my next update until just after midnight (~4 hours). So you have that long to declare what you'll be doing next and/or do any rolls.

Enjoying our game thusly, friends. Great interactions and scenes, and the pace is perfect.

Sorry for my mishap yesterday on Attack roll. I have a good tutorial now, for propagating those rolls from my character below the Rolls section, and will be doing those rolls correctly going forward. Sorry for my learning curve.

Spaceseeker, do you mind people rolling pre-emptively, or do you prefer us to wait until you ask for a roll?

I like it: it can really speed up the pace of the narrative, and if a roll isn't necessary, I would just move on anyway.

But here's a question for everyone: if a different skill applies, I'm inclined to use the roll (plus the appropriate skill modifiers) as is, rather than asking for a new roll. Is that acceptable to everyone?

I can honestly say that's why I usually don't roll preemptively... my idea of what fits the situation may not always mesh with the DM. (Although sometimes I do it anyway, because I'm quite sure only one roll would fit. And sometimes I'm still wrong. Lol)

That said, I'm perfectly fine with rolling what I think fits, and you can swap out modifiers as you see fit.

I’m fine with using the roll as is and just changing the modifier to the appropriate one.

Same. Whatever makes things easier and keep the momentum going. Better to leave an OOC note that we changed the skill modifier (if applicable) and post results, rather than wait for the back-and-forth to get a new roll which might take a few days.

Using the roll works for me!

Yes, that is fine.

Yep, totally fine with that. Also fine with you discarding the roll entirely if you didn't want one.

Works for me!

Another question, this time about measurements. The past couple of weeks, I've been experimenting with describing measurements - particularly distance measurements - in terms that your PCs might recognize: the height of a character, a certain number of paces, so many hand's breadths, etc. I was preparing to add some entries to the world book about measurements and how they compare to real-world metric and Imperial measurements, but then I realized: this kind of thing might not be as fun for you players as it is for me.

So I ask: would you like me to return to the standard D&D measurements of distance, volume, etc (feet, yards, miles, gallons, etc) rather than analogs that might exist in a fantasy world with a different history to our own?

Yes = normal, real-world measurements
No = new, different measurements

Either way works fine for me :)

I don't have a preference :)

I'm good with more creative units of measure. If I'm truly unsure, and it affects something in game, I'll just post an ooc question asking for clarification.

Immerse us in your world!

I’m also enjoying the different perspective this has brought.

Whew...everybody inside really loves the number 6, huh?

How many people are inside? Was it 3? 😈

Well, technically only 2 are inside so far: Aanbo and Ogbar. But both they and Albertus (looking through the open door) rolled 6s on their checks.

Ominous!

I'll start working on my next character. 🤣

I forgot to say it earlier, but this was hilarious :D

LOL

Just a gentle reminder that some of you may have inspiration, and you might keep in mind when you want to use it.

No particular reason; I just haven't mentioned it in a while.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas, my friends!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

A late Merry Christmas to you all!

Aesthetics question: do you players have a preference between my posting the maps hidden as a "spoiler" that can be revealed/hidden by clicking a button, or just as an image in the thread?

I like it in the spoiler dropdown, so I can read through the whole post without looking at it if I choose. Then I go back and look when I have all the other details.

Same, spoiler is great.

I also prefer the spoiler tag

I like the use of spoilers for maps. Keeps things organized.

Spoilers are good

I am leaving for vacation tomorrow and I will be gone until January 18th. My ability to post may be inhibited until then. The games in which I'm a player will take priority in order to not slow them down.

Thanks for letting us know; have a great trip!

Heh; I just realized that I included in my description of the short rest a call to declare how many hit dice you will use...of course at first level, you each have only one hit die at maximum, so the option is really more "Do I spend my hit die now or not?"

I won't spend mine yet... Xana is feeling super confident, all will be well!

I want to make sure I'm reading this correctly: it seems like Albertus, Theran, and Aanbo are making their way upstairs while the trap is resetting, but the others are staying downstairs?

Albertus is heading up, yes.

Aanbo intends to head upstairs, and will try to avoid the tenth step.

Theran is headed up, yes.

OK, now everyone except for Xana has explicitly said they're going up the stairs. @Moofsalot I'm going to assume that Xana is going up, too. Let me know if that's not what you wanted.

She's following!

Sorry for not posting yesterday; our whole family has been sick and taking care of my recovery and everyone else has cut down on the normal amount of time that I spend on the computer.

Praying for good health!

Hope you feel better soon!

I should have mentioned earlier, but I am on vacation this weekend so may be a bit slower to respond through Tuesday.

Get feeling better! Family is always the priority, so take care of you and yours. Don't worry about us.

I realized that I haven't updated the "Maps and Other Resources" thread since I started the game up again. It now has maps of what you've explored of the three floors of the Forest Ruin, for easier reference. You can find that thread here.

I think you’re doing great, and I feel like anything you’ve experienced a,ong those lines is just a problem inherent in PbP, sometimes it’s just hard to absorb and remember all the narrative and tactical data. And sometimes folks can miss updating their sheets (I very recently had to go back thru several pages of posts to update some of Al’s resources). It’s just one of those things, I guess.

I agree with WhiteDwarf.

I don't think it's a GM issue... I would posit it's more likely a player issue. It can be surprisingly easy to read something wrong or miss something and not realize it.

Or forget. I usually try to reread some posts so I'm in the right frame of mind to post IC...but I'd be a liar if I said I didn't sometimes trust my own memory because I don't have the time to reread things (unless I want to leave everyone hanging till the next day or whatever).

I agree with WhiteDwarf that this is just the pain of pbp. Dungeon crawls are especially tough for this, because minor details are important, and there is a lot of information to convey (for the DM) and consume (for the players). I've never seen it done without some rough edges, so that is to be expected.

For the record, I am really enjoying the game and think you're doing a great job in the DM's chair!

One thing people do nowadays is run a discord chat for OOC questions. It provides a "live" element for above-the-table discussions. Often it is quicker to pop into discord for a player to ask a question or for a DM to give a reminder to a player. This might seem like extra work to check two places, but I find it smooths things out so much that it's worth it.

I agree. Nothing you've done wrong. PbP is tough in that way. The passage of time and the lack of verbal clues can sometimes muddy the waters. As Len said, dungeon crawls are especially susceptible to that. You're doing fine :)

Just FYI: I'm going to be at DunDraCon 47 on and off all weekend, so my posting may be sporadic after the turn five post for the next few days.

Safe travels, and have fun!

FYI I’ll be on vacation starting Wed. 2/21 but will try to keep up with posts when not passed out from jetlag.

Have fun, folks!

FYI: some of you may know already from other games, but JoshuaMabry has made the hard decision to step away from Gamers Plane, due to new work and life commitments. Coincidentally, the party's rogue, Joseph, is unconscious but stable at 0 HP.

There's a couple of questions this raises: the short-term and the longer-term.

In the short term: if you as the party want to revive Joseph, Albertus can use an application of his healer's kit and Joseph will roll his hit die (if he hasn't already today) and I will run him as an NPC as you explore the rest of the Ruins for information that could help revive Devek (and maybe treasure, though the party has been pretty content to let the treasure go so far). If you don't revive Joseph, you'll have an all-player party, but no rogue. Which is OK.

In the longer term: Do you want to continue as a 6 PC party, or should I open the game up to new PCs when the party has returned to Hochoch and resolved the Jarls' problem? 6 PCs is plenty for now, but probably the minimum for surviving later parts of this classic AD&D adventure. I certainly would want to get more PCs if the number ever drops below 6. We don't have to answer this question right away, of course, but I wanted to start you thinking about whether you will want to invite more people when we get to that point.

I'd prefer Joseph being played as an NPC until we return to Hochoch or other reasonable spot to part ways. Otherwise, I was going to play Aanbo as carrying Joseph the whole time, or creating a litter to transport him. So if Albertus is fine with spending a use of his healer's kit to revive Joseph, I will forego my own HD recovery.

Keeping him around as an NPC is probably for the best.

I expended a use for Josephus, keep with your own recovery too, I just added a use for his, plenty left on the kit, all good.

Aanbo is currently at 12/19 HP, having gained some due to leveling up, so I think he's fine for now. He also already spent his 1 HD when we rested after a battle with the priests on the second floor.

Congratulations! Completely understandable.

I have given this some thought and I've decided that I'm going to bow out of this game. I have a lot going on and 5e really isn't my thing anymore, so I think this is my best choice for games to drop. It was fun playing with you all!

Thanks for the memories, Naatkinson! It's been a fun several years!

Like the other PCs whose players have bowed out, Ogbar will continue as an NPC back in Hochoch after the party resolves the crisis with Devek.

Sorry for the spotty participation lately, I've been having some health troubles for the last week and a half. Sick kids, sick wife, and sick me. Hoping for recovery soon, thanks for your patience.

It's been great playing with you again Naat! Best of luck!

"Also, we've been trying to reach you about your wagon's extended warranty."

Realized I wasn't sure of day/month/year, so if it's relevant I can edit that bit of the letter... but I'm ok with using placeholders. While I appreciate lore and storytelling as much as any of us, it's less important that today is a particular day... and more important that the day was included in the letter so the man has an idea of when we were there should it ever become relevant to our story.

It's a wonderful letter; I love the idea that Theran documents things this way.

Yeah, that was amazing MaJunior!