Crystal Cave Adventure (OOC)

Out of character chatter about Crystal Cave Adventure can go here to avoid cluttering up the Roleplay thread.This is for longer questions and answers related to that Roleplay, general rules questions not answered in the Help! thread can go in General.

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No, and no.

At least, for for the first one, I think 'no'. It does sorta depend on what you mean by 'like this'. What sort of mining did you do? You may have uncounted caves filled with crystals, and may have some clue about what such things might be worth on the open market, but all the rest is completely alien to you.

Are there any broken crystals around where we are? Maybe we broke some when getting inside, or because of the explosion earlier?

I think I misread the post where it was said that Asha's axe was glowing. I thought she also knew it.
Was it ok for me to assume that Albert noticed at some point?

She did not see it. You all did but no one mentioned it each time, so she missed it.

'Someone' established that the glow is not visible in the crystal light, so it may be too late... for now. :)

Only an idiot would do such a thing :P

Hey all, just graduated today and have family in town for the weekend. So things are a bit busy but I’ll get a meaningful reply by the end of the weekend.

Congratulations!! 🥳

Congratulations and thanks for letting us know.

We will work around your character in the meantime.

Asha's opinion is not the opinion of the GM. Break them if you want.
Though I am also not saying that that is a good idea either. :)

We'll see what happens :)
So far, it looks like more people want to not break them.

And so far the ones underfoot have not accidentally broken to preserve that option. If the group's decision is to avoid breaking crystals we will try to make that possible.

Congratulations Bitbam! Enjoy your weekend celebrations!

Honestly, TheGenerator I am fine with crystals breaking. I just thought it was a good moment for Deoring to act fresh faced and in awe of the surroundings.

:D I mean IC people. Hehe.
If the others don't want to break it, Albert isn't going to be a jerk about it. But I have a feeling they're going to break at some point anyway. 😅

Iron mining. To clarify the "like this", I was talking about the glowing crystals and if they are something known to exist in the circles of people that go under the earth, or if it is something very rare or odd.


Thank you for the congratulations everyone!

Indeed very rare and odd.

I trust my answer was sufficient? Else keep asking questions. :)

Logically, Orset would want to not wander off too far and stay within sight of the others, but I could also see him getting caught up and confused with the light and crystals playing tricks on his senses. I can leave the results up to you -- DoF maybe?

Does talk of victuals not bring him back? If we are making camp, then do want to separate him? Let's not leave up to fate what we don't want to deal with.

Yes, hearing that before getting too far would bring him back. :)

How would Orset's supplies be at this point? Is it up to me or is there a narrative bit before I started playing that would inform that?

You can each decide, we will live with the consequences as we play.

This also decides how much we, the players, care about such things.
The caravan guards took enough food from the caravan for 'a few days', but they picked up some new characters, and it has been about that long, so you may or may not still have a bit of food, but the water situation was established as being precarious (water is heavy and people never want to carry enough) and you are only now noticing that you are all thirsty or may have drunk more than you planned without a refill since you came down here.

If you have water you are probably thirsty, if you are not thirsty you probably drank all your water, of you are not thirsty and have water you carried a lot --tell us why-- and may be tired.

Feel free to roll dice for any of these two or three axis if you don't want to decide.

Albert: Healing is risky, roll for it.

All you need is a little faith ;)
Added my roll (13)

Ai Caramba!

What extra benefit do we want to take for the 12+? A simple exrta die on the heal roll? I don't think removing the 'curse' can happen from that, but we could take a step towards it.

I think that would fit.

Alternatively, could the heal make all weapons glow brighter to convince Asha?

A bit out of scope for what was going on.

There will be chances to convince her later when weapons are relevant again.

I figured as much, but thought I'd ask ;)
Let's go with the extra die

An extra die doubles the dice Roald rolls. So a good option in this case.

@Airshark: If you are happy with that, describe it and roll it and describe it. You can use `2d6h1` in the dice roller code.

If you get less than 2, you can decide to keep the current 2 due to Albert's expert ministrations meaning 'it can't get worse'.

Out of curiosity: what does the h stand for in 2d6h1 ?

"Roll 2 d6, take the highest 1". I think you can also use L for lowest.

Edit: found the documentation here.

Tx!

Sure, why not? Go for it.

And no signs of any life at all, no moss, no mushrooms, nothing.

Albert doesn't have any torches, but to the other players:

Most people will be running low on torches. Some were throwing them around rather liberally and they don't last forever (I think I was generous and said about half an hour?), so maybe those that brought only have 2 or 3 at best? Unless you brought multiple bundles.

Deoring started with one set of four torches, but agreed he would only have a couple left.

I am not overly interested in counting and tracking such things. I figure we treat them as narrative and only worry about running out when it is germane to the story?

The players can decide what they want to do and we can arrange to do it. The NPCs have no real opinion (nor say).

You are all tired and could definitely sleep. Sleeping will mean you are sharp and aware, not sleeping may mean you miss obvious things and make mistakes, or react subliminally due to tiredness.

Time taken to sleep will probably leave you more hungry and thirsty, though. And I don't promise there will be any water down here.

Sleeping without a good meal may or may not remove Roald's performance issues, or may just change how much it comes up in the fiction.

What do you want to do?

Aww, poor deoring.

I think I'd go for a 'short rest' to use D&D terms and find a better place, hopefully with water, further down the cave.
But I'm happy to follow the majority vote :)

@Airshark: How hard does Roald fight the sleep? Everyone else is sleeping in no time, do you constantly wake them or go with the flow?

Maybe we can just use the fate die to see if Roald falls asleep?

Yes. The invigorating effect of Albert's healing is wearing off. If it's ok for you I'll roll for it.

But I'm not sure what to roll

Until we see the fiction we can't know. :)

How do you try to stay awake? If you just power through, maybe you roll +CON, if you rely on willpower or personal discipline maybe +WIS or +CHA?

Do you go around kicking the others awake every time you hear them snoring? Probably no roll needed (or maybe +DEX to dodge their hurled invectives:).

Or do you just follow the trend set by the other players and assume the Athletics-sapping fatigue is too much and accept your fate?

@Airshark: Are you rolling? Or have you nodded off as well?

Oh man. I guess I was asleep when I read your post above. Sorry.

Rolling 6s is not supposed to affect you in real life!! :)

Good thing I'm not a wizard, can't even cast dice the right way.

Well, fiddlesticks 😫

Ooof. I’m stumped. Any ideas, anyone?

We should ask our selves: ''what would Jesus Asha do?''

Close your eyes and let Raynor guide you 😇

Did I over-complicate things again? :(

Maybe just explore a bit? You are looking for Asha, water, the big bad, and at this cave. So there is plenty to look for.

Start with that and I will give you something more to react to.

Pretty much.

Neither did I till just now. It is new information that your character may have picked up on subconsciously.
She definitely does believe!
It did not take much to get her to believe though, just a slight light-show and some dusting of dusty bones.

Deoring would have noticed that she very quickly glomed onto Alycine during the fight with the bandits (even if TrailHead was not sufficiently present to know that, and even though that PC does not exist anymore and possibly never did in this reality:) before believing in Albert and his deity.
It was always out of sight, on her belt. So she could not see it.
As is Raynor in your last thoughts, so the comparison might come to mind. It would be gauche to mention it, or even to think on it more. Put it out of your mind. /nothing to see here.

I learned a new word today :D

I have to admit, I was also a bit confused by the post to Deoring, but didn't mention anything as it's not my character :)

And now I can not comment on that lack of prior knowledge... because now you know what such a comment would be. :)
Sorry. I don't much like telling players what their characters think or feel, so I was a bit fixated on the 'While not wanting to be disparaging...' part and probably flubbed the rest. :(

Any advice on a better way to have relayed this new information? Maybe an OOC explanation that it is new?

Hmmm, tough question. I think it would have been clearer as an OOC mention like;Edit: no need to apologize :)

Agreed. Pretend I said that. :)

Is it okay for me to narrate Albert finding a new tunnel branch?

Go for it.

So is the Tavern Trickster part of this group? Or must some blanks be filled?

Are we assuming you were part of the party all along? That makes it simple to get you into the game without delays. We don't need to go into detail of your time so far, we can just assume you are in the same condition as the rest.

Feel free to ask questions if any of the previous events come up and you don't know why things are the way they are or why the other characters care.
I am not sure what you mean. But there are still things that need to be done in the Character Creation thread and on the sheet.

We don't have to fill in all the blanks, but we currently know very little about your character, making it hard to integrate them. The mechanics on this game are very light, so we rely on the fiction to drive things.

Do you mean the reflection of Albert or is there some unknown man there?

<joke>If there's a man in the mirror, I'd like to talk to him and ask him to change his ways. My message could not be any clearer.</joke>

Upon closer inspection, it is just Albert.

Rialto has noticed his illusions, tricks becoming something to magicks. No doubt keeping it under wraps. Though from an RP perspective it would be cool to play those powers emerging.

Yes. You would need to roll for the discovery/investigation (probably +WIS?) and the Awareness Skill would flavour that outcome and prevent an outright failure.

Assume the others fall quiet and narrate what you do (if you are doing anything specific), and add the roll.

Perhaps Raynor provides aid in the form of sound waves as well as light!

Ha, maybe. I can not think of an advanced benefit here and now, but we can remember the 14 and bring it back later if it becomes appropriate.

Sounds good.

Any objections?

@Valdus: What's going on with Rialto the Trickster [WoDu] I find myself as surprised and confused as he appears to be?

Lol I thought I would mix the low HP and that he just appears, to role-play it out.

You got the GM creds for this, you can handle it!

Sure, presumably Albert tried to heal him last night and it did not work (that is what the numbers tell us:). So the injuries make sense.
Though, remember that he does not 'just appear' from an in-fiction perspective. He was with the party the whole time.
We do need to know what you are trying to do, though, what sort of responses you are waning from the other players, how much you want to detract from the current events.

The current events are about an NPC, so they are very secondary to what the PCs are doing, so don't worry about derailing that if you want to put your character front and center.

I realize the time and effort we have both played in the creation of Rialto. I am sorry, perhaps my gameplay is too casual ( I no longer have the mind I once had to crunch with the best of them) but I respectfully withdraw.

No worries.

Deleting the out of place post from the RP:

'Is it possible?' You tell me.

How would you do that? What sort of thing would it reveal?

I was thinking Albert puts his hand on her shoulder and tries to connect with Raynor to sense any distress

That is a bit nebulous to warrant a Move and dice. For that, you can just RP it and I will tell you the truth (as per the 'say what honesty requires' rule).

Gonna wait a bit and see what the others are doing before responding to Albert.

Sounds good :)

Ah, whoops.

[ref]
I meant "you don't feel any connection between Asha's soul and Raynor" not that Albert is cut off.

If you want to make that be a thing that is true, I can easily make it fit into the story.

Ah 😁 I'll make an edit in a minute

Cool.

Trailhead, Albert is going to want to talk to Deoring in private about Asha. But I'll wait for you to have a chance to react to the current situation first :)

Okay - I was waiting to see if Deoring heard or saw anything in the crystals. Does he, VagueGM?

Whoops, sorry. Missed that. Respond now.

By all means spout some lore, but this game has no dice to back you up in that. Tell us what you think you read and we will work that into the story as best we can.

Alright, but I might need some help from the oracle

106!! Oracle explodes. :)

lol! :D

I hope what I wrote is alright. Let me know if any of it should be changed.

Good stuff, we will have to remember to give you a 'writers credit'. :)

The Oracle works in mysterious ways.

That is per the definition: "a response or message given by an oracle, especially an ambiguous one."

And, yes, an 'oracle' includes 'oracle' in the definition...

Trailhead,
Is this an OOC question? (cause I'm assuming that she has been, yes :) )
Or is it just Deoring's thoughts?

Valid question. I am assuming OOC tags are OOC and not something the character is thinking yet.

pay no attention to the dice below the curtain.

Not Deoring’s thoughts, my thoughts.

@vagueGM, Asha picked up a bone outside the temple thinking it was a club.
However, for the test it wasn't relevant, as you stated 😁

So Asha at least still acts like Asha. Odd. Not sure what to do with that now. I'll wait for the others to chime in.

Ah, right, yes. That takes me back. She was such an innocent thing back then.

@vagueGM, is Asha's comment about there being no water something we shouldn't ignore?

Asha's behavior and the loss of connection to Raynor has made her suspicious. So Albert doesn't really trust her fully. It's a bit of an annoying situation and it'll take some time and investigation to get that trust back. Unfortunately, we really need water urgently and for all we know she'd be leading us away from water.

I think your characters are quite right to ignore it.
You really need water, so not looking for water would be foolish.
You have all been down here a long as she has, right? So there is no reasonable way that she should have access to definite knowledge about this fact.

Alright :) just wanted to check

A useful technique in PbP is to use phrases like: "During the previous conversation", or "while they were talking about ...", "Roald mentioned the possibility that ... delusional ... dehydrated", or some such.

We can assume that Roald said that, or you can play out saying it if you want the other to respond.

Possibly? But if we want to have everyone put their backs into it, it will open... eventually.

Yeah, let's have a roll to see how well it goes. Everyone should narrate what they are doing before we resolve it. Anyone who wants to can roll.
Yes. I will add a bit of missed detail in a followup post in the RP, but I figure it is a trapdoor at ceiling height, so not many stairs before it hits the barrier, and Albert can reach it with his staff while standing on the floor.

I went back and forth a few times about whether there are also stairs going down here. I am thinking not, but if we want, we can have some. I don't know if we want to have another level.

Better than motorboat, I suppose.

😂

Oops, I posted in the RP thread before I read over here. I will post a follow up over there and add a roll.

With Airshark's comment I couldn't help but think of this video. :P

There is no real need to make a note of that. Most PbP sites don't even support 'posting as the character' and it is usually pretty clear that the player posting in a RP thread was doing so 'in character', especially when they use the character name in the post, as you did.

If you go back and change who it was posted as, I don't think the software even marks that as a edit. It is just a cleanup to make the thread look pretty and be a little easier to read (so thanks for doing it).
I had he same problem with Asha and he captain. Initially 'the captain stepped up to help' and then 'Ahsa stepped on to a step to reach'... and I had to go back and change most of those steps to other words, like 'moves' and 'stairs'... What a messy language. :)

I see nothing wrong with it... But then I am innuendo-blind. :)

Can confirm this. If you only change the "post as", it does not add an edit date & time.

Thanks. It has been a long time since I used a character sheet and that feature.

I just realised that I somehow ended up being a player in a game and have to make sheets again, and will have to start remembering to use that dropdown. :)

Two is a quorum. Prepare to replace your 'thirst' problem with a 'wet' problem. :)

VagueGM and The Generator, thanks for the GP tips.

TheGenerator, I see what you did there. Nicely done with the "I guess that’s the next step." LOL

I don't know what you are talking about. ;D

Wait.... I just did a forum search and vague started using "Ahsa" after Asha got 'lost' in the crystal caves. So it's not just a typo. How devious!!!! Also, it's her name backwards.

Kinda cool. It's the first time I realized you can give subtle clues to players that you couldn't do in an at-the-table game.

I didn't even realize that, lol! :D

The characters have access to all sorts of extra senses that the players don't, the players have access to metaknowledge like this to hint and suggest things they might want their characters to look into.

The players picked up on some of these, so I did not feel the need to bump up the intensity, but something has changed with her, though it is subtle/hidden enough that it could be missed, but looking back the characters will go: "how could we have missed that?".

Wow I totally missed the Asha to Ahsa switch. At least the name spelling part. I knew something was going on.

Interesting choice of words. :)

Hmm, I'm a bit confused.
If I got it right we're back at the stairs with the bell at the top, right? But afaik, that route was blocked when we entered. Is the blocking wall gone now?

That's right.
There was a lot of water blocking the stairs down, but you guys unplugged that and came up that way.
Was there a 'blocking wall'? I have not gone back and checked. Didn't you enter via the roof and window (where you currently are) because you ran from the room below?

You did not find the way from the room below to the stairs, but I don't recall much looking, and the way from the stairs is easier to find as the inside of a stairwell is smaller and more constrained than a large room that might have 'hidden' stairs behind some wall.

Aside from the water and the stone figures attitude, nothing significant has changed up here.

Does that help?

I mean this
The way to the window we entered from was blocked. We had no way of getting out.

Indeed. That trap seems to have reset itself when it was forgotten about. Probably a time delay?

Hehe, alright :)

When you say 'minutes' do you mean 'moments'? 'Asha' will not wait, so how long do you take?

The captain will follow Asha and try to keep her safe if you guys don't.
Neither do I. :)

You tell us what is involved, and what Deoring should do (mechanically) and we can see. I can see pretty clear options for outcomes.

Bear in mind that there is water just outside. I don't know how Raynor would feel about this. You tell can us.

I guess it would only take about a minute. Albert will let Asha go on ahead. He doesn't know that the way out is no longer blocked and probably won't hear her talk about the gargoyle, either cause of the distance or because by then he's already praying.

I think Deoring needs to decide what he should do other than what Albert asked :) There is no "correct way" of praying as far as he's concerned. As long as it's genuine.

We established that Albert has been tasked with cleansing the temple, so I think Raynor would want to keep him close to where this cleansing needs to be done. Heading out for water would probably not fit his plans. That's my guess at least :)
I also think that Albert lacks the desire to leave. He'd probably need some convincing.

OK, so she has gone on ahead by this time.
Are you still down in the crystal room? Someone can come back and inform you of events if it comes to it.
Indeed. They can decide if they rushed off after the girls or were still close enough to hear the request.

Roald can be placed when Airshark gets back. We can assume they did the logical thing to get where we find them.
That can turn out to be true. Maybe a roll for the Miracle will provide answers to this. And you are both asking Raynor for a Miracle and establishing Miracles in the fiction, so it is a big deal.

If you are rewarded with clean water, then you can assume you are not 'meant' to leave, if you instead ruin a waterskin it could mean you are being silly and Raynor does not mind if you step out for a few minutes to resupply. Middling results are always harder to draw conclusions from, we shall see.
I don't know how 'convincing' it will be, but you are definitely going to be presented with a dilemma about staying.

Yes, Albert didn't go through the plug yet and I believe Deoring was following him. So he's close.

Can I have TrailHead roll the fate die? :) I think Deoring has earned the right to roll it. I guess a middle results will give Albert diarrhea when he drinks the nasty water.

OK.
Though, that may have been predicated on Albert going up, so it may not be true anymore if he stays behind. It's up to TrailHead.
Sure.
Could do. If asking for answers is more the intent than asking for water, then middling results could be unclear answers leading to intestinal distress from unclearn water.

Before rolling the Die of Fate, we need to know we are rolling for, what does a 1 mean, what does a 6 mean. Define the question before asking the Oracle.

Albert just wants drinkable water. He's not confused about his task. So the question is; Does Raynor provide when his followers are in need?

Yeah, but Albert does not know about Dice of Fate, so this is about the players and what it means to us.

There is water just outside, so there is more going on than just getting water, it feeds into what Albert will end up believing and will affect the upcoming decision about 'Asha' (I can tell you for free that she is not going to want to come back down here, and your characters will know that is likely).
This also establishes a bit of a precedent about Miracles. This is close to sewer water, with slime and dead bodies in it. If you can trivially cleanse such things, that has huge impact on the world. I am not saying 'no' I am just saying it is significant.

Hmm, I'm actually not sure then. Maybe it just shows how valuable Albert and Deoring are to Raynor's cause?

I'm also fine with it just not working at all, if we want to keep the whole miracle stuff out of the game. :) I just thought it would be a nice bit of RP, as it would also get Deoring more involved.

Of course. PCs are special. :)
I have no objections to it working, I am just saying it is a big roll with far reaching consequences, not just a fluffy bit of RP.

Albert's choice to stay behind after some ran off has split the party, and I would hate for him to get nothing and then find the NPCs above got killed by gargoyles as the price for that nothing.

I’m good either way with the miracle working or not working. As long as it is clear to the PCs if it works or not. Deoring’s not going to drink disgusting water. If it is miraculously clear looking and no longer smells bad, he will drink it. Otherwise not. He may be fresh faced but not totally naive. His father is a miller - he knows that if you add dirty water to good flour you’ll make a bad tasting loaf of bread.

OK.

@TrailHead, do you want to roll the Die of Fate as suggested above?

The drinkability of the water will be obvious enough to the PCs, even if it does take Albert giving himself diarrhoea before he is convinced. :)

Yes, that would be slightly annoying :P

I see that TrailHead didn't roll the die. If you feel like speeding things up, feel free to roll it, vagueGM.

I am in no rush.

I did some more thinking about the whole miracle thing.
First off, I hope I'm not making things too difficult :) If so, that was not my intention.

The way I was seeing it was not as much a miracle, but more like the D&D spell "Purify Food & Drink". Since we're in a world where magic is shunned, maybe divine spells are not a thing, though. Or divine spells are miracles?

No, its fine. It is not difficult, just complicated.
That is a DnD problem. Outside of DnD that exact act is one of the most common examples of a miracle. Healing and feeding are the big ones.

DnD trivialising those and makes all sorts of playstyles/gamestyles impossible. How can one run a 'survival' game when first level spells like Goodberry can completely feed, water, and sustain ten people for a whole day (in addition to the healing benefits), and those Purify spells can make tons of anything that can be considered 'food' safe. At least with Purify, it first has to be 'food or water' --so something you would already consider drinking but was maybe a bit risky-- and it does not say it makes it any less unpleasant.
Pretty much. We probably have miracles and spirit manipulation, people like miracles.

The fact that you need to roll for it each time takes this away from the DnD system of 'guaranteed 10 fed people per day' to 'this might work if my god wills it' type miracle territory. And will need an unlikely result (maybe 5 or 6 if you want to roll the Die of Fate, 10 or 12 if you want to roll +STAT?) to work.

Unanswered petitions for miracles possibly comes with irritated gods as the downside. Getting sick from drinking the water was already happening, and is a consequence of drinking the water, not of the failed miracle.

Someone should roll this so we can see how it turns out.

Hehe, I'm not sure if that's better.
Yes, I agree it should not become a trivial thing. And, of course, one water skin of nasty tasting (though drinkable) water will not last the 5 of us very long. Not to mention it being pointless since we found a way out. (Which Albert doesn't know yet).

We could also steer away from a miracle and solve it with guidance (as Raynor has shown to do before)? Instead of giving us water, Raynor could just give Albert and Deoring a mental nudge. Something like:
Bad result: They are reminded of the task at hand. Get to work!
Mid result: Nothing happens -> maybe Albert drinks the water?
Good result: Raynor somehow lets them know it's ok to go and resupply.

Would something like that be a better/easier fit?

I did suggest that, yes. The outcome of the roll could be more about what Raynor feels about the request and the could tell Albert whether leaving (and coming back?) is a problem. But I am also loath to have gods weigh in on such issues, so it would only be Albert's interpretation of Raynor's will.

We should know what we are rolling for before we roll. I feel I now have enough from this discussion to make a judgement, though.

It was a good suggestion. Let's do it happen that way, then. :)
Hang on, those 2 sentences contradict each other *thinking face*. Do you need more specifications, or is it clear enough from the discussion so far?

If possible, I'd still like to involve Deoring, though. Since the party is in this together, I like the thought of not only Albert getting signs.

Not really. We could use more information, but I will make do. :)
Do you want to both roll? Then we will combine (aggregate not average) both rolls into the outcome.

Sure, that works. Are we rolling fate or +wis?

No idea, you tell me. In this case I could see argument for either, it might be a Move, but also might not quite fit the mold, since the characters might not have much control.

If we are rolling with a stat (which could also be +CHA if you are tying to convince your god to help) then you have a bit more control (choice of stat, and that being added to the dice) and better/more defined outcomes, but one of those outcomes is a defined negative, whereas there does not have to be negative outcome on the Die of Fate (it is not a Move, and does not follow those rules), but you have no way of adjusting the odds.

I'll go for the fate die. Going to add it to my last post

Well, I rolled a 1. So... Fun ensured!
Should have let TrailHead roll this alone :p

:)

Let's see if they can pull this out of the sewer.

Sorry I have been offline for a bit. My spouse's work schedule is upside down this week, involving getting up at 12:30 AM to work from 2:00 AM and it's disrupted my schedule as well. Let me jump over and roll the die of fate. (Crossing fingers.)

Yeah, sorry again about the delay. I hope my roll of 6 makes up for it?

Urgh. That does not sound like fun at all. :)
Hope it settles.
At least we agreed we weren't going to average them, else that would be a boring result. :)

That's alright :) Life happens.
I don't mind waiting on your input.

@vagueGM; I like that the weapon lights faded away. That's a good result :)

Thanks. It worked for me as an indicator and answer. Raynor blessed your weapons when you showed faith and were pursuing victory, now that you are distracted and pursuing victuals he is less interested (and the fighting was happening elsewhere).

You may be able to recapture the blessing by recommitting to Raynor's goals, and you could also learn to control it as a Special Ability (Similar to 'Bless') if we get to level up.

Yep. That was deliberate language to leave it open for you guys to fit in. Especially for our absent Roald.

If you want Deoring to help Albert instead, we can have you called over there to understudy clericing.

Added my roll. It's a 6... Maybe Raynor is unhappy with Albert right now?
Getting Asha some help might be a good enough reason for Albert to leave the temple, though. So perhaps it's a good result.. in a way.

All 6s are 'good' results. They drive the story forward.

If it feels strange to be told we 'feel better' (ease inner turmoil) [ref], remember that this is the result of a 6-. If it were a 'dragon' and a 'fear effect' we would think it fine, why not so with 'cute girl' and a 'reassurance'?

What’s in the area (corridor?) we are in? Is there anything we could use as a shield?

Answered in the RP to set the scene more clearly.

You are in the temple, by the door you originally came in from.

Got some long car rides ahead of me, so count me back in!

Is this the stairway that leads to the tower with the bell? Maybe we can surprise attack the gargoyles (?) From above?

I don't see any fish in that picture! Where's the fish?! :)
Yes. The same stairway. Though you are now in the temple building itself. The stairway, the window, and the bell are all available if you want to use them for anything.
Maybe, with (or as) a distraction distraction? The NPCs first tried getting out through the window you all came in through [ref], and were attacked up there, so the gargoyles are aware of that route.

@Airshark: Was Roal with them when that happened? Do you want to add (or need me to add) some extra --and possibly useful-- detail to that encounter? Maybe something Roald noticed that the others --who were below-- would not be aware of?

Roald was tending to his wet clothes, so he didn't run ahead with Asha.
Wouldn't be fair to say otherwise now. 😉

I was thinking of sounding the bell once more as a diversion, but that could also be a very bad idea.

A distraction would give the npc's a chance to escape to the woods (were there woods?) But than there is still a party stuck in the Temple. So that is only half a solution, though it might save Asha.

Not at all unfair. I deliberately left that option open since you were away. It will not change anything, you could have been guarding the door while the captain ran to get the rest, and you could have been backing the captain up in everything we saw.

If you went with, you would know that the window was not a safe exit, but the captain will inform you all of the risk if you suggest going that way, so not a big deal either way. Asha can not make it out via the window and the climb in her condition.
No comment... :)
Yes. And they are not far from the building.
If the gargoyles were disinclined to chase you into the woods (there are all sorts of hints about separation that suggest that is the case, and Roald may be the one to Decipher them) then getting 'Asha' out to 'safety' would make things much simpler. The rest could then try to fight their way past?

The easiest way out is probably the front door, especially if Asha can't walk on her own. A distraction might be a good idea though

Makes sense. Make it happen?

Deoring is hale and hearty and can take a blow. Would he volunteer to draw the gargoyles away or should the captain suggest it? She would probably join the distraction if it were her idea, and will happily do so if asked.

Sounds like a good plan. Let’s do it!

OK. Whoever is doing the distraction, show us how and do it. It will need a roll, based on what is being done.

Deoring has volunteered to draw the gargoyles away so Asha can be carried to safety. Are the others ready for him to act?

I don’t want to send him out there if the Captain, Roald and Albert aren’t yet ready to go.

Looks like everybody wants to be the hero today :)
Go for it Deoring!

Roald will stay behind with whomever creates the distraction just in case things go south.

Nope definitely still 'cursed' which is why I mentioned the 'athleticism' that your character might be accustomed to using. Roald does not really know about the mechanics and the 'curse'.

You will still need to get a good nights rest and a proper meal before you can try to shrug off the deficit.
You planning on letting the others know that you not going to run with them? Or will that be a surprise to them (possibly causing them to stumble and look back or wait for you at a bad time?

It will be a surprise.
Roald didn't want the discussion to go on any longer. Though he will probably yell something like ''go go'' or ''now'' when the opportunity for an escape arises

Now is that time. Yell it! :)

Maybe give us a roll (+DEX seems right for 'parrying'?) to see how well you fair.

Done. I rolled a 7. Whew!

Did you just introduce another gargoyle into the fight? So be it. :)
That seems appropriate.

What is your objective? To get to the woods, or just to avoid the claw wile helping Deoring?

The roll is to dodge the claw.

Getting to the woods will require another roll I guess, probably CON?
I'm counting on the gargoyles to defend the Temple rather than pursue and attack.
Fingers crossed.

Actually, you did 😉, though I didn't anticipate it to get down so quickly. My intention was to be on the run before it would hit us. But so be it.
Poor Roald, this isn't looking good.

Did I? I merely meant to suggest that there might be more. You confirmed it. :)
Then you shoulda rolled better, shouldn't you have? :)
It is not the first time you have been down like this. You are tough and can get by... Maybe with a little help from your friends?

What are you trying to do? Presumably you are not wanting to just 'attack'? Are you trying to break free?

If getting free if what you seek, then go ahead and describe it with your 10.

Breaking free is the main goal. I don't know what good a sword is against these stone monsters. Maybe the blow gives me enough wiggling room to get out from underneath and make a run for it.

That would have been my advice, because...
... stone beats sword, most of the time.
Or Raynor answers your payer? Your call.

Read this after my last post. But it's ok.
Gonna wait for trailhead to continue now.

Perhaps Deoring will end up helping Roald - the opposite of what I expected would happen.

Unexpected is good. :)

Is Deoring attempting to keep the stone-cold baddies off Roald? If you so you can roll to 'protect' both of you, if not then you will be better able to keep yourself from harm, but Roald will need to make his own roll.

I don't see much active defence in your post, are you just toughing it out as you jog along? If so, maybe roll +CON?

Do I need to roll something to get to the forest?

The others have kept the heat off of your expedition, so, so long as they can continue to keep the gargoyles at bay, you will make it, no rolls needed.

Toughing it out. Deoring is young and impressionable. Roald said "Let’s get out of here. Follow me!" So Deoring turned to head towards him. He didn’t want to stick around with the gargoyles any longer than he needed to.

I want to do a roll to see if Albert knows any way to defeat or distract gargoyles. Is it OK to use a yes/no oracle roll for that?

Hmm... How would he know this? Build it in the fiction and we can see.

Is now the time to be worrying about that, though? You already know how to distract them (briefly) and are focused on getting away rather than defeat. If you are coming back, you could try do research in the meantime so you don't need to worry about them next time.
It would be more like a 'Very Unlikely' oracle rather than a yes/no oracle, but possibly, based on the fiction you concoct to back it up.

Oh, I didn't mean 50/50. I just meant a yes/no question. 'Very unlikely' seems like the way to go indeed ;)
Well, that's kinda why I figured I needed the oracle. It seems a bit silly to go "Albert thinks back to all the books he ever read and all the things anyone ever told him that could possibly relate to gargoyles" :P
It would be more like: "Suddenly, from the back of his mind, seeing the gargoyle flying sparks a memory". I assume that would be something to add after a roll, instead of before.

The only other thing I can come up with for Albert to do is run faster, and he's not particularly athletic.

Nope. Fiction First, then roll. If you think it is something that Albert may have rattling around in the sparks of his memory, then show us that, the roll will say how useful the memory is.

It would probably an INT or WIS roll (Spout Lore or Discern Realities, style) rather than an oracle, and come with all the risks of any other 6-.
He is above average STR and DEX. He may end up out of breath at the end, of course.

I added some fiction. I think INT would be the stat to use. Let me know if it's descriptive enough to create a roll.

The outcome is based on the fiction, so there is enough there to get some hints, but probably not a lot more unless you score a 12+.

The dice have spoken, and they say "Hell no!" :P

Double 1 he11 no!. :)

Hehe :D

Albert 20 posts ago: "I think I should be the distraction that gets you all out."
Somehow, he ended up being the only one not distracting the bad guys.

Medics are important when you have injured comrades. We don't sacrifice them.

I feel your pain. I fear I let Deoring disengage too soon.

If you had rolled better it would/could have been perfect timing. :)

C'est la vie.

Looks like this might be the last of the fresh faced adventurers.

Didn't roll because not sure if you wanted me to roll for con

What is our intent? To 'defend' the other characters or to defend ourselves? (best way to defend yourselves would be to move, so I assume you want to buy Albert time?)

Trying to draw the attention away from other people sounds like a +CHA, not so? You are not actually 'defending' them so much as 'distracting' but I don't see the gargoyle heading for the captain seeing any reason to come back to people who are not fleeing (they are trying to stop you from leaving, after all) so maybe +CON will result in the captain seeing your bravery and being heartened?
Why, oh why is it so hard to get adventurers to run away. So many TPKs could be prevented by just running away.

You are almost out, one more roll could have gotten you away... still can if you fly unlike fools.

I triiiiieeed 😭. but it is SO ... HARD...

😉

VagueGM, what do you suggest I roll for this?

What are you trying to do? There are elements in there of attacking, but also elements of trying to get the attention back on yourself. What you roll depends on what your goal is.

Attacking would be the normal attack stats (STR or DEX?). But you know that your weapons are not likely to be very effective.

Surviving the return attack could be +CON or +DEX (depending on how you are doing it).

Getting the attention away from your companions and back on yourself sounds like +CHA. But a very easy (almost too easy to need a roll) +WIS might tell you that, since their apparent goal is to prevent people from leaving (they did not attack before, for some reason), the chances of getting them to give up on everyone else is slim.

If you want to roll +WIS you may learn something, there may be something (important? who can say) that you can pick up from their reaction to your attempt, but you will leave yourself vulnerable.

@TheGenerator: It sounds like Albert is straining a bit. Maybe roll +STR to see if you can get to the woods?

Looks like I REALLY angered the gods by leaving this temple

Or by trying to remortgage your life dedication to a god you were already dedicated to? :)

Well he's not making himself very popular right now :P

Who? Your god of conquest? No, I suppose not. :)

Absolutely. If you want to make it to the forest (and discover it is safe) a 12 will get you there.

Depending on how(/what) Deoring does, Albert may be in need of help. Maybe the 12 gets you there fast enough to turn and see their need and help them in some way?

If you are willing to risk your own skin, then the 12 could also allow you to notice earlier and help Albert get 'Asha' to to safety, but you would both be subject to harm from your respective gargoyles (1d6). Deoring may be able to mitigate this, decide before you know if it is safe.

The problem is that we deliberately ran in a different direction than Asha to lure the gargoyles away. So I don't think that's an option.

Fair enough.

I thought that, maybe, 'forest' was close enough to the same direction.

Go ahead and narrate yourself getting to the forest's edge and the gargoyle chasing you getting pulled up short (like a dog on a leash?). Maybe now that you know they won't/can't come in, you can circle round and be there to help the others 'next round'?

I don't know what a gargoyle would do once you get away, but I don't see it tracking you on the other side, it probably goes back to help its buddies with those still in its demesne.

They did not stop you from coming in, so it probably won't try to prevent you from coming back to help. I am not sure the characters have enough information to know this, but you could discover this if you try.

I'm in the forest, they're in the woods. 😂

Oh yeah. Physical smartphone keyboard kicks ass!

Glad to hear it...

Posted from my phone... Sans keyboard.

Sorry, I thought what I wrote was clear, "He swings his glowing sword with all he's got." Deoring was attacking the gargoyle near him, giving up on chasing the one going after the Captain, Albert and Asha/Ahsa, as he didn't want the one near him to notice them. I know it's not likely to happen, but Deoring hopes it will attract the attention of the other gargoyle. In any case, he'll try to keep the one near him from noticing or at least getting to the others.

So I will roll +STR.

Remember when vague said we just need 1 good roll each? 😫

Of course, I actually meant 'one good roll each', but at least we did get one very good one. :)

So, if Albert keeps running the way he is right now, the gargoyle will definitely attack him, right?
I'm trying to come up with a way to stop that from happening. He might just have to take the hit.

It will try to, but you still have a chance to do something (and possibly make a roll) to avoid getting hit or to save your patient. Roald may be able to help too. Depending on how things go you may have one, two, or three gargoyles upon you soon.

You sure? That is possibly, but you will very likely get hit doing that, and I am not sure it will buy them much time, focused as the gargoyles are.

It might be possible to help get her to the safety of the trees, especially now that you know they will completely stop the gargoyles. Maybe you can take her from Albert and allow him to get there as well, or maybe you help him carry.

If you want stand as a barrier you can do that. Sounds like a +CON roll? Remember that you only have 3 HP, and they do 1d6, but you do have 2 armour with your Toughness, so it will take a 5 to kill you.

(why won't people run away?!):

I thought because they are that close to Albert, that it would be the only way to get them to safety. There is also the captain and Deoring being under attack. Maybe the creatures will retreat when Asha is in safety, but Roald doesn't know that for sure.

On the other hand, he DID notice that the gargoyles weren't able to get into the forest...

I'm gonna stay with what I wrote, giving Albert and Asha a chance to escape, while in the mean time being close to the captain to provide aid if needed. If it turns out badly, so be it.

Changing the fiction always feels a bit like cheating :-/

A bit, but changing after finding out that we thought one thing was the only way, and discovering that there are others is definitely not cheating.

If you are willing to take the risk you might be able to give Albert the time he needs to get to safety. We assume the characters are not incompetent, so what they do is relatively 'reasonable'.
Maybe shouting out that they can not enter the forest will spur him on a bit faster?
Yes, the captain is in need of help.
I can't argue with that. :)

I don’t think Deoring saw that the gargoyles could not enter the forest. He was too busy fighting the one gargoyle. But maybe he’ll see that now that he’s running in the direction of the group at the edge of the clearing.

Maybe, or Roald can tell everyone. You all did hope that the woods would be safe, so it is fair to act as though you assume they are, that was sorta the basics of this plan.

What do you (the player) want to do next? You are running after the gargoyle, why? To try stop it from getting to the others? To slow it and buy them time?

Fair enough.
To slow it and buy them time. That was Deoring's whole motivation from the start, to try to distract and occupy the gargoyles for long enough for the others to escape. And then hopefully, escape himself, although that seems much less likely now.

Cool. How do you do that? The one that knocked the captain down is closer than the one you were by, do you --somehow-- drive them together and try to get them to tangle with each other, or run and tackle that one before it can get to your friends, or something else (those were just 'off the top of my head' 'ideas')? Those --or similar-- might be +CON?

Maybe a +STR roll to see how well you do?

Roald's roll will determine any damage you take. I will wait for that before resolving both, and Deoring's roll may become relevant if you don't make it out this 'round'.

DOOOM!

More doom.

My idea was. Maybe if Asha got to Safety, the gargoyles would lose interest in the other members of the party, so they can escape.
So Roald taking the blow might give them the chance.

A blow it is....

Not really, it seems. :)

Man, Albert I hope you have Armour, else we are going to have to work out what happens when you reach 0 HP. (But that will have to wait till after my meeting.)

I don't, but I do have 6HP. So, if you roll a 6, it's your own fault! :D

I didn't realize you had already rolled a 6... Whoops, this'll be fun :D@Airshark: Lol :)

Hey! Don't be blaming me! You rolled a 6 first! Everyone was doing it.
I meant to be more clear, but was rushing off and hoped not to have this delay at a time like this. Of course, I really should just have added a new post.
I generally treat this sort of HP as Hit Points, so going down to 0 means "you have zero capability to take any more hits". Negative means you are outright dead.

By that measure it always feels weird to hit zero and not make it significant, so I sometimes play it that you are 'out' and healing can bring you back. Often there is a roll to see how it goes (probably +CON in this game), but it depends on the situation at hand.

@TheGenerator:

As Albert's "Last Heroic Act", what do you think he would do (feeling his life flow from him)? Would he try to stumble himself and his patient over the 'line'? Would he try to throw 'Asha' over the line? Would he try to pass her off to someone else? Would he just lie down and die? What?

Can I have Albert collapse into a bush just at the edge of the trees? Getting Asha to relative safety, but Albert still hanging out of the shrubs from the waist down. Passed out.

That sounds like a combination between the first two suggestions. You could roll for it. What do you think +STR or +CON?

Since it seems like you are more intent on getting 'Asha' out, that can be the minimal success outcome on a 7-9, while a 10+ could get you both just outside.

Or you can try to do it more gently and have the 7-9 be 'get her over the line without hurting her much', the 10+ be 'without any further hurt' and the only a 12+ would get you out as well.

Either way, you are out of the action afterwards. That sound good?

So.... Of the 10d6 I rolled last, I rolled 8 1's.
Is that a record?

Wow. I repeat: "DOOOMED", apparently.

We are all doomed apparently.

Sorry my posts have been a bit sporadic lately. My department at work has a big annual deadline this Friday that we’ve been working on and it’s cutting into my free time. I’ve tried to keep up here and in the Traveller game, but logging in today I was appalled to realize it had been three days since my last posts. Yikes. My apologies. I hope to get back on a regular posting schedule after this week.

Yup!
No worries, as long as you come back :D
Good luck with the deadline!

It happens, no worries. Don't stress about it, games are supposed to be fun, and should not add to your workload when times are busy.

As you see, we can still manage to keep things moving, having some separation between the characters helps a lot to insulate us from other's delays.

Running could use either DEX or STR, whichever fits the specific fiction better.

Since you are hardpressed to post, maybe toss them all, and we can interpret them as you suggested above as they other players play out the scene.

What would Deoring's main focus be? Getting himself out? Getting the captain out (how chivalrous)? Getting both out (no one left behind (also known as "if one dies we all die"))?

I dig that interpretation of the -1 damage. :)
They were more or less ignoring the rest of you. But since the ritual started they are now turning their attention back, so that won't be the case going forward.
Nice! Finally a success!
No kidding, with how much the dice hate us. :)
One roll will do.
It will depend on what your main intent is. When the gargoyle --now chasing you-- swings at you two, are you trying to pull 'Asha' or trying to protect her? If pulling her behind you, they will strike at her body, if you are protecting her, they will strike at you to try to stop you. The ritual gargoyle will rejoin the fight, so it will be 1d6+1 (better than 2d6:) and who knows what the blue light will do when you enter it (actually I do, but that answer comes much later:).

If you take the blow a Partial Success will get 'Asha' over the line, at least. Deoring may have to get you over the line.

I'm sorry, I don"t recall the part of the -1 damage. Also wondering if you are being sarcastic or not ;-)
Sarcasm, definetely sarcasm
Actually, I was hoping to get us both over the line.

The best thing (logically) would be to protect Asha, since that is the whole goal of this action. BUT, I don't see roald doing all these evasive moves AND also place himself between Asha and the looming gargoyle. my intent was to grab her under her armpits and drag her to the treeline, or by her hands so it is possible to walk forward. In both cases she is first in line to get hit.
sorry...
It's like reverse dominoes!!!! Who will pick up Deoring though...

It rolled a 1 on damage, you have -1 from your Armour and -1 from Tough, so you received 'less than zero' damage from the encounter.
Nope. Not at all.
Nope. An 8 is a Success, so you succeed in what you are doing. An 8 is a Partial Success, though, so you also pay a price.

The logical 'price' is for the gargoyles to keep doing what they are trying to do (in a way it is a Partial Success for them too:) so damage to you, or whatever it takes to prevent 'Asha' getting away.

• Do you see a different consequence that you would prefer? I am open to it.
Sure, and if you survive the hit from the gargoyles you could do that.
That was what it looked like, just wanted to confirm, and there is still time to change that fiction.

If she 'takes the hit' I will roll the die of fate to see how it goes (and don't worry I do know that low is 'bad').
Maybe a gargoyle? :)

You guys were thinking 0 HP would keep me from posting in the RP thread, right? HA! Think again!

Asha takes the hit.

There is also the matter of the blue light. Maybe the consequences will reveal themselves in time.

OK. Let's see what the Die of Fate has to say. Hopefully we don't get middle-of-the-road results (we want it to say something).

Yes, as mentioned in my post above, I do know that the 3 is a 'bad' outcome. While it might not clear yet, why, that is what you got. But it may take time before we see why. :)

@TheGenerator: I assume you want us to try to save Albert?

The gargoyles don't seem to be paying you any attention, but who knows what if that will change if someone tries to remove your body from their demesne.

Even if they can get into the woods, you are not out of the woods yet. They will have first aid your wounds, and then you will have to make roll to see if you get any HP back on you own (rest and a meal (broth for you) would be required) or if you also need medical attention.

@TrailHead: Things may be resolved before you need to make those roles we spoke about. Take a look at the new situation when you get back, and tell us (OOC) what you want to do next. Then we can work things out, possibly eliding Deoring's actions.

not necessarily. Either Albert gets saved and I'll add a narrative for that, or "walks into the light" and dies.

I'm fine either way :)
If a future roll causes Albert to die. So be it.

I just wanted to add some flavor to the story instead of waiting for a week or more ;)

So, we’ve established that Deoring has been motivated to try to impress the Captain. He’s intimidated by her but respects her leadership and authority. He feels like he keeps messing up and falling short of her expectations. I’d like him to try to get her to safety, especially because as they walk they’ll see Roald getting Asha into the woods.

He will, however, feel pulled to go to Albert’s aid instead, when they get close enough to see that he is knocked out and vulnerable to the gargoyles. Albert is the one, after all, who helped him during the fight with the giant centipede and showed him the light of Raynor. It may depend on how well the Captain can walk on her own and if the gargoyles attack them.

And Deoring may also feel compelled to aid Roald, if need be. There’s a lot of us who need to get to the safety of the woods.

We can assume things are happening simultaneously, and that around the time you get there, Roald will be safe enough, staring down the gargoyles. Your gargoyle will join the other two glaring angrily at your group.
What might impress her the most could be if you get her to safety and then brave the gargoyles and go back for Albert. Albert is lying fairly close to the 'safe zone', but the gargoyles are standing imposingly between it and him.

If you intimidate them and stride in like you own the place, that will impress her.

If you 'show leadership potential' and organise your companion to help (don't tell him I said anything, but Albert is not exactly 'light':), that might impress her.

All that, in whatever bits you use or don't use, sounds like +CHA, since your aim is to impress?
Let's say she could walk, but would prefer not to till her leg is seen to.
They seem to lose interest in you guys as soon as 'Asha' is out of their reach. But your roll might decide what they do if you try to go back in. It is possible they have forgotten about Albert and that may change when you draw attention to him, but they didn't seem to care about him. Not that you can be all that sure what happened from where you were, so it will take some guts to face them.

Well Deoring is a try-hard, but maybe not quite leadership material. At least, not yet. If he gets lucky enough to grow up a little, maybe. And I'm still holding out hope that he and Roald can somehow save Albert.

I am loath to make Albert pay for Deoring's miss --not in this case, though I am often a fan of 'making others pay'-- so we shall keep this consequence 'social', and maybe tick the clock on her leaving the group.

9
I'm happy with that. Let's find out if they all come after me.

Maybe a low +CHA roll will lure them towards me :-D

Is that a racial slur? :)

If it helps the plan: Yes!

Did someone say we’re DOOOOMED?

A mainly narrative dooming, this time. Feel free to play it up as much or as little as you want in to coming weeks.

If this is a new thing, then it might be a sign that you are getting older, but if you want it could also be an old or existing injury.

With these things it is really hard tell exactly where the pain originates from, so feel free to make it any part of your body.

• Where are you planning on taking your injured patient?

The town your PCs started from is more than a days ride away, and you don't have any horses. There was talk of a village, is that a known place that you can relatively reliably make you way to, or do you need to go searching (i.e. do we play out the search or jump you to there)?

If a village: What trouble are they facing that you need to fix for them? You are welcome to look at something like the Ironsworn Settlement Trouble Oracle or any other to give you inspiration, or just say the first things that come to your minds. I will work these ideas into the reality.

This is an out of character thing. Don't worry, here, about what your characters know or expect. It is about what we (the players) want to do next.

My idea was to go to the bandit camp where Albert joined the group. There might be medical supplies there.

Very unlikely. More likely to be bandits there. We can do that if you want, though.

But then what? None of you are 'healers', so do you hope the bandits will help? Wherever you go, there will be a problem you need to solve in order for them to be able to help. You will need to do that first before you can just come back here --price for bad rolls, and all. What that next quest is is open to player input.

But, and this is a secret, if you can get Ahsa sufficient treatment, once you have dealt with the 'payment quest', and on top of whatever reward that gives, there will also be a surprise reward equivalent to 1 Level (1000 silver), and some information to help with the temple.

Oh, I see. I thought it was abandoned last time we were there.
Hmm, injured as we all are, it'll be tough to travel a long distance. Maybe somebody knows a druid in the area?

Hope you don't mind me throwing in some of Albert's mind's fabrications (or are they? ;) ). I thought it would be fun to add :)
Feel free to add to them if you feel like it.

Pretty much abandoned and empty, so you are unlikely to find anything much there. But we can reinvigorate that location if you want (we don't know why the bandits did not return).
It will be a hard journey. But we can arrange for you to end up wherever we --the players-- decide we want to be. A village is quite feasible close enough to make arrangements (you all could make stretchers, or go fetch villagers to bring help (if so, think about whether you want to let the temple be known to them)).

We should decide what the next chapter will be, then we will just make it happen.
Could be. The characters don't need to 'know' about whatever we seek, they can 'discover' it 'by chance'.
They were excellent. I did not respond since I don't want to make them canon, but...
They could well be more than fabrications. Just because they are happening inside Albert's head does not mean they are not real.

I really don’t know where to take Asha or who might be able to help Albert. I didn’t join the game and story until the characters were already in the temple. I skimmed through some of the previous posts when I joined but don’t have a good mental picture of the places outside of the temple or the people to be found there.

I’m going to have to follow Airshark’s and The Generator’s leads on this.

None of us know anything more about the world. We can just make something up and turn that real.

If no one has any ideas I can just create a village close enough for you to get to after a rest.

---

What sort of problem are they having that the PCs need to solve for them? In other words, what do the players feel like facing next?

Maybe something boring and simple like the displaced bandits? Maybe something complex and consequential like --I don't know-- a rogue wizard, doing experiments? Just as two examples.

Whatever it is, you can also say how much time you want to spend on it (roughly; like: "quick", "epic", "whatever", "we'll see"). You can --possibly, if you want-- get back here to the temple afterwards, or find you need to spend more time (leveling up and researching) and leave it for much later. It is up to the players, the world will shape itself around what we feel like.

The first question is: Do we want to go back to the temple? (probably without Asha and the Captain)
All of us has a vision of something we desired deep down in the temple, right? So we do have a good reason to go there.
I really like this idea.
If we could find someone with knowledge of the temple or some books about it, that might make it a lot easier and faster.

If we want to get back to the temple ASAP, we can do something like this:

What if, while leaving, we stumble upon another group of people (some settlement or camp) who are also looking for the temple? They could have medical supplies, knowledge about the temple and some people willing to join us on our way back to the temple. Since we've been there, we would be useful to them as well.

If we want there to be an extra problem that we can solve, we can do that too.

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I'm not sure what to do with Albert. I see 3 ways it can go:
1. He dies (this is something the dice will decide)
2. He lives and still worships Raynor
3. He lives and now hates Raynor

I think option 3 could be interesting, but also annoying. Because Roald and Deoring have hopped onto the Raynor band wagon now. So if Albert stops believing, that might cause internal struggles.

Does anyone have a preference between 2 or 3? I'm willing to pick the one that fits best in our story.
However, if we don't (intend to) go back to the temple and Albert still worships Raynor, that might be an issue. Albert would be forsaking his promise to Raynor.

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@vagueGM: Do you have plans for us concerning 'Ahsa'?
From what I've gathered IC, I think the entity in the crystals either corrupted her or is hijacking her body in some way. That's why the gargoyles attacked her, right? Trying to keep 'it' inside the temple. (Though, Albert has no idea about this)
Should we turn our focus to that story?

I don't know that that is the first question. You need to go away and lick your wounds, so it could be a question we deal with later. Though We can decide now, if we want.
Possibly, we can see when the time comes. 'Asha' in adamant about not wanting to go back. The captain really needs to get back to the caravan, but could be persuaded to stick around a bit longer.
I am not sure we really engaged with that.

Remind what we each had (if we had anything)?

Albert had something about his aunt, but it is unclear to me how that actually is a thing 'down there'. (see below)
The captain will have a revelation that she has been noodling over since the first morning, but has not grasped yet, that may lead to far-away-lands and people who could 'help'.

I keep thinking around the idea of Albert's aunt actually knowing something. What are the chances --unbeknownst to Albert-- that she is/was an adventurer, and that she went down there and needs you to find her? The latter seems like a stretch, but is easy enough to shove into the story. It may be more likely that she is a researcher and there will be information in her letters --maybe some that have not been delivered yet-- that sheds some light. If you are interested in this line, then the captain's clue could lead to that.
That is a question. Let me know if we want to focus on tying up this loose end quickly and getting it out of the way, or if we would rather let it fester and become a bigger thing, or if we just want to rest up and come back after a little research. We can do any of them.
Seems a bit incongruous and convenient. But we can make that happen if we really want.

You can always get some money and hire some hirelings to fill this roll if you want to have the PCs as the driving force organising this rather than being helpers tagging along on someone else's quest. Raynor would probably like that, it is very conquesty.

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You have made it out 'alive'. Unless you want him to die --or want to leave it to chance-- Albert can not take another hit (no Hit Points), but he should heal by the normal rules.

Unless you want him to die, he will survive.
It might be. But 'conquest' sometimes take tactics and time and multiple attempts. Raynor is not a god of 'fighting', right?. So does he object to your retreating and coming back better equipped to conquer? Only you can say.
It could be.

It also does not need to be permanent. Maybe you lose your faith for a while and your companions eventually talk you back round to it? At which point you renew your vow and come back to the temple with a vengeance?

That which is lost can be found.

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vague plans. It all depends on what happens next, and what the players are interested in. Anything I have to reveal will take a little time. Possibly about as much time as your next adventure takes, and might possibly be the reason you get a bonus 1000sp.

If the players don't grab that hook this storyline can fade, (and possibly coming back later?).
That is how I interpret things as well. :)
Me neither... not enough to act upon it this instant in the current scene, so we will have to see.