OOC

you know what it's for....

Thank you, Sir!

Out of cats?

yep. this is more of a "dog person" kinda forum....

I’m in the wrong place then! :-)

displacer beasts are cool.....

especially ones drawn by DAT

DAT did some great stuff in those old AD&D books. Absolutely loved the artwork in those when I got them back in the day.

I spent HUNDREDS of hours as a kid trying to draw like him. I always imagined that one day I'd have a cool van, with a DAT lizard man airbrushed on the side, but by the time I could afford a van, the 70's were over.....

That would have been a sweet ride. At least 12 year old me would have thought so. :-)

Mos def, lol. Early '80's me would have agreed

Clarice has a familiar (a cat named Zsa). I’d would think that at this point she would have Zsa temporarily dismissed, ready to be called upon when needed.

If you’d rather her have to cast Find Familiar before making any use of her familiar, that’s cool, just wanted to check before I start bringing Zsa into the game.

I think it's related to the power of the familiar. If it's a key part of your action strategy, I think it should cost something to use. If it's more for flavour and storytelling, I grant unlimited uses.

a few other "house" rules.

-I use the "cleave" rule, if an attack finishes a foe any remaining damage will be applied to another foe within 5 feet. Like an arrow passing right through someone and hitting the person behind them.

-I use the "block" rule, for initiative. If you haven't seen it:
1. roll initiative
2. all PC's who beat the bad guys roll to act (in any order)
3. all bad guys to act
4. all PC's to act (in any order)
5. repeat 3 and 4
I find it really helps speed combat up in PBP, no one has to wait for another player, they can just act when they have the chance.

that's all I can think of at the moment...

Waiting on my character to be accepted :p

oh shit....my mistake

..... DONE

It's cool. I would've changed the poster afterwrds anyways. Now then, the bard shall make his fashionably late entrance.

Ah ok, I was wondering how my whip ended up killing two kobolds lol.

the second one only had 1HP left....

don't let this game put pressure on you.

Here's how I handle timing:

when the story is flowing, I just let it go. If one person is missing that day, I don't worry too much about it, I let the group make group decisions.

when it's your turn to act, I generally give 24 hours, and then I'll make up a reason that fit the story, that you didn't act.

if you know you're going to be away for any time, just let us know.

So. You may or may not know, I have a traech and normally it isn't a big deal, but I picked up a cold or maybe pneumonia somewhere this week. Not Covid. My oxygen dropped from my normal 95% into the 70s. This means I am back on my ventilator for at least 12 hours a day for the next 4 days or so. It really saps all my energy. So, for the next few days, feel free to roll for me and move me along as needed.
See you next week.

You have my word, no matter what happens, Linston will be in good shape when you're ready.

Sorry to hear that, Machiabelly. Hope you’re feeling better soon!

Gnome down, GNOME DOWN!!! :-)

Sorry for lack of posting. Aside from holidays, I've just been in a mental funk. I'll try to post a bit later.

no worries, the holidays are tough.

If it's not a cranky old man shaking his first and yelling at us about how the crossbow bolt is now his I'll be disappointed. :-)

OK, the holidays are over, I'm not sure if Ty is till with us, but I'm moving forward.

Just a heads up. I'll be taking a short camping trip 25-28 January. So I won't be posting those days.

I'll remind you when we're closer.

so all National Parks in Canada have closed, and my trip is cancelled. No interruptions.

Sorry to hear you’ll be missing out.

c'est la vie. the woods are safe, but I think the parks are having staffing issues.

Well... So much for Clarice. :-) Should I roll up someone else?

I hate to see a character die in level 1. We're just supposed to figure out who we are in level 1. Clarice is great, and her story arc looks strong. Let's just stick with standard death rolls.

Fair enough. I’ve edited Clarice’s last post to reflect the change!

I still have spare the dieing and healing word.

Clarice still has one potion of healing left as well.

all right. this ambush is supposed to test your mettle. If your friends enter the mill, you should be strong enough to handle this fight.

@Skallagrimm - You’re not waiting for any actions from Clarice at this time, correct?

no.... I've been waiting for Damaceus

but we can move forward

No need to rush, just checking.

Yeah, sorry about that. Work's had me worn and with little time to do anything else...
I'll try to post tomorrow.

just in case you don't have the DMG:

Instant Death

Massive Damage can kill you instantly. When damage reduces you to 0 Hit Points and there is damage remaining, you die if the remaining damage equals or exceeds your hit point maximum.

For example, a Cleric with a maximum of 12 Hit Points currently has 6 Hit Points. If she takes 18 damage from an Attack, she is reduced to 0 Hit Points, but 12 damage remains. Because the remaining damage equals her hit point maximum, the Cleric dies.

Falling Unconscious

If damage reduces you to 0 Hit Points and fails to kill you, you fall Unconscious (see Conditions ). This unconsciousness ends if you regain any Hit Points.

Death Saving Throws

Whenever you start Your Turn with 0 Hit Points, you must make a Special saving throw, called a death saving throw, to determine whether you creep closer to death or hang onto life. Unlike other Saving Throws, this one isn’t tied to any ability score. You are in the hands of fate now, aided only by Spells and features that improve your chances of succeeding on a saving throw.

Roll a d20: If the roll is 10 or higher, you succeed. Otherwise, you fail. A success or failure has no Effect by itself. On your third success, you become stable (see below). On your third failure, you die. The successes and failures don’t need to be consecutive; keep track of both until you collect three of a kind. The number of both is reset to zero when you regain any Hit Points or become stable.

Rolling 1 or 20: When you make a death saving throw and roll a 1 on The D20, it counts as two failures. If you roll a 20 on The D20, you regain 1 hit point.

Damage at 0 Hit Points: If you take any damage while you have 0 Hit Points, you suffer a death saving throw failure. If the damage is from a critical hit, you suffer two failures instead. If the damage equals or exceeds your hit point maximum, you suffer Instant Death.

Stabilizing a Creature

The best way to save a creature with 0 Hit Points is to heal it. If Healing is unavailable, the creature can at least be stabilized so that it isn’t killed by a failed death saving throw.

You can use your action to administer first aid to an Unconscious creature and attempt to stabilize it, which requires a successful DC 10 Wisdom (Medicine) check.

A stable creature doesn’t make Death Saving Throws, even though it has 0 Hit Points, but it does remain Unconscious. The creature stops being stable, and must start making Death Saving Throws again, if it takes any damage. A stable creature that isn’t healed regains 1 hit point after 1d4 hours.

so Grim isn't dead

he has failed one of his death save rolls

and his friends have time to try to stabilize him

My oxygen has taken a drop again, so I will be spending more hours on my cpap and oxygen mask. When I am on them I can't wear my glasses, so I can't post. Everything is done on my phone, and that is too small for no glasses.
TL:DR I will be posting less. If you are ever waiting on me, feel free to act in my place.

don't worry about a thing.... I'm not in any rush, and I don't think the others are either

If it's OK Clarice would like to find her familiar by casting the spell as a ritual during her down time.

absolutely

you guys "finished up" around 1am. And the next chapter starts at dawn. You don't have to leave right away, but elapsed time will make following the trail more difficult

Linston will long rest to get those sweet sweet spells back.

Still 1st level then? (Wanted to make sure I didn’t miss an announcement in one of the posts).

oohhh you're right, I bet this is a milestone


YES!!

LEVEL 2

Cool! I’ll get Clarice leveled later tonight.

I will level Grim once I get home from work. I most likely will be using the average for the hp increase and I dont think there is much to do afterwards

Why not...

hey everyone.

I have a chance to go on a fly-in camping trip next week. I say chance, because we're just coming out of lock-down here, and my friend the pilot hasn't gotten any clear ideas of the rules yet.

The plan is to leave either 06-JUN or 09-JUN and return 11-JUN. So, I've taken the week off work, and I may just suddenly get the word to go, or I may just sit at home and twiddle my thumbs.

I'll let everyone know as soon as I hear anything.

My Trip is a GO!!

Back in a week

Have a good time!

Might have Clarice try something a little bit on the bold side to try and get those prisoners by the guard tower free.

Works for me.

Level 3? I never went to level 2

I noticed that after the owl bear attack, but all can be repaired now

Hit points up by the average, spells added, and channel divinity added.

A couple of level 2 spells for Clarice and 5 whole more hit points. Still squishy. :-)

Average hp for me because dnd beyond rolled a big fat 1, and Elceran is now a way of the shadow monk. Who's ready to be sneaky? Cause I can do that for all of us ;)

I had a Way of the Shadow monk a while back. She multi-classed into rogue and ended up with a +10 Stealth. Use a little Pass Without Trace and it was like she was invisible. All kinds of mayhem with that. :-)

Is there some kind of rest that happens when we leveled up to 3? Like is our hp automatically at max or do we still have our hp at what we had at lv 2? Also for those who gained spell slots, are they full or empty?

you don't get automatic restoration for levelling up,

but you do have the opportunity for a long or a short rest here before entering the camp

If the group agrees I'd like to take a long rest.

Clarice would be good with a long rest.

I'm alright with long

Works for me.

just as a note to everyone,

I'll be on a camping trip 12-18 SEP and won't be able to post.

I'm off on my trip early tomorrow, see you in a week!

Have a good time!

Sorry, looks like I have to drop this game. Currently in the process of preparing to be laid off and starting my own business. It's putting a toll on my mind and I'm not able to keep up with posting regularly :(

Sorry to see you go. I wish you the best!

Real life comes first. Best of luck to you!!

so sorry to hear....but good luck with your business!

should we invite another player? anyone have any suggestions?

I might have a player in mind. He's new to the site and hasn't posted yet, but I know him IRL. Give me a day or 2 to reach him and see if he wants to play. It's 11:30pm for me atm so he's probably asleep.

good enough for me. I'll send him an invite anytime.

His GP name is lmrawson. He just made an account.

I have just heard some very terrible news. Machiabelli (Linston to us) has passed away suddenly last night. We have played in several games together, and I knew he was ill, but this is a terrible shock. Please take a moment to remember Linston Greenstrider, Machiabelli.

I have just heard some very terrible news. Machiabelly (Linston to us) has passed away suddenly last night. We have played in several games together, and I knew he was ill, but this is a terrible shock. Please take a moment to remember Linston Greenstrider, Machiabelly.

I just saw the news in another forum and took me by surprise. From all of my interactions with him he seemed like a really good dude - I’ll miss seeing him on here.

Oh wow. So sudden. I don't even know what to say.

none of us do.

I don't think Machi would want us to quit any games, but I completely understand how anyone might feel. Let's just take it slow, and see how it goes.

Online relationships are often very meaningful, and the loss of an online friend can still be profound. I didn’t know him, but sorry to have lost him! My condolences to you all...

Hey, everyone. Hope you all are doing well, or at least hanging in there (all things considered). Just checking in. Are we taking a bit of a needed pause?

Holiday season may be sporadic.

Nature of the beast when it comes to PbP sometimes. It’s the reason I play in multiple games. :-)

sorry guys it's all on me

I didn't think it would be difficult to move on without Linston, but Machi was my friend and I know I'm handling this poorly.

And I don't want to stop, I just need to figure out how to go.

I know you don’t want to stop, but if you need to no one here would blame you.

thank you

Hey, Skallagrimm.

I feel like things are all on me too often, so I would hope that this fondness that we have for RPGs would be a source of enjoyment instead of a responsibility that burdens you. My check in was certainly not meant to add any pressure, I'm sorry if it did. Let us know whatever you need...

no no, not at all.

I needed a kick in the butt. I was 100% certain I wasn't going to let the game end, but moving it along was quite a bit harder than I expected. Thank you all for your patience, let's have some fun.

Merry Christmas, friends!

And a belated one right back at ya! :-)

hey guys, sorry for my disappearance.

I had a bit of an accident that required emergency surgery. Then, of course, I caught covid in the hospital. Not the lightweight omicron on the streets, but the real nasty, deep in the bowels of the surgery ward kind. So, not the best holiday.....

Stuck in an isolation ward, with no access to any communications is the shiftiest part of the pandemic. I've been in hospital many times before (I'm kind of accident prone) but usually friends bring food etc. etc. Now, my wife couldn't even visit. An orderly would phone her every three or four days to tell her I was alive, and to let me croak weakly into the phone a bit. That's it.

I'm home now, but I'm not sure what the next week or so will look like trying to put my life back together. I do have a trip planned in february, but who knows if I'll be up to it or not.

I'll do my best to catch up.

They didn't even give you your own phone?

Rough way to spend the holiday. Sorry to hear that! Take your time getting back into things, Clarice will be ready to go when needed...

not any more, the room has a smart TV now, but I couldn't even lift up the remote, let alone figure it out

I'm no lawyer, but I'm pretty sure taking your belongings against your will is called stealing.

who took what?

I arrived in an ambulance with most of my clothes cut off. My bike is in a police lock up somewhere (apparently) and I have no idea what happened to my back pack.....

who do I sue?

Sue all the peoples.... except us. I would imagine whomever picked you up has your stuff? No idea tbh.

hey guys,

I don't know if it's a good idea, but I've decided to go on my trip anyway. You only live once and all that. So, I'm here today, and all day tomorrow. Then gone sunday the 30th to saturday the 6th with no ability to communicate.

Absence

I was good playing with you in this, and other, games. Hope to see you back at the virtual table again sometime.

I think that leaves two of us?? Recruit some folks, or just wrap this up?

I'm going to drop from this one to free up space for some other games. Thanks for running the game, @Skallagrimm, Clarice and I had a good time!

I'm just seeing all of this now, sorry! (I only had alerts set for the actual game). Skallagrimm, hope you're on the mend by now. Not sure what that means for the game. My semester ends next month, so I'll be getting pretty busy until May...

Hey guys,

I'm home. Things haven't been going so well, but I won't bore you with the details. Right now, I'm going to bed, but I'll read through stuff here and try to post tomorrow.

thank you all. I really don't want to end this or any of my games, but I don't know yet how my schedule will look moving forward. My number one priority has to be getting back to work.

So, let's pause this game for now. I'm not sure if there are one or two people left. But I'll send a message out at the beginning of May, and if anyone wants to continue, I'm in.