OOC chat

Thank you for the invitation. I have submitted a character. I have to head out to a family event now, so I will provide fuller backstory this evening/tomorrow. Thank you!!

A question regarding Character Creation: Can we use the Custom Origins from Tasha's Guide?
Letting us select custom +2 / +1 ability score modifiers instead of taking the normal Racial ability score modifiers.

Character is coming along fast. :)

I saw in the recruitment thread that both me and Cancerman were considering wizards, does that pose any issues for anyone? I am happy to look at some other classes, I can see that a Cleric hasn't been claimed. So I'm very happy to switch to a cleric instead whilst maintaining my character's backstory.

Yes I will allow that.

I want everyone to play something.They are excited about and the two wizards have different specialties. But if you are not married to the wizard class just the background and want to switch to claric that is fine.

In that case, I'll conspire with @cancerman to make sure we have different wizards! Do you have an Arcan Tradition in mind- I was thinking the Order of Scribes

I like Abjuration or Divination, so that should provide enough differences. Honestly, I didn't catch that SHMKehoe was looking at wizard and I just tossed in a concept.

What kind of tone will this game have? Something dramatic or serious, or are we diving into wacky hijinks?

If to avoid a lot of overrun in spells. (Minor Illusion, Vicious Mockery) & (Detect Magic, Healing Word, Heroism, Sleep)

I actually like to leave room for all of the above if that is what the story unfolds at the moment. I like role play and so I alow that for my players. Be joking, and fun when the moment arises and serious when that comes up to.

Glad to see all the interesting ideas starting up. I am so much slower getting a character together than you guys :)

I'll be playing a druid class, but he will be Circle of Moon, so if you are thinking healer, more likely he will lick his jaws while waiting for a snack to soon become available.

Might be some interesting discussions with the bard eventually.

I don't want to be too meta with @Cancerman regarding our spell selections at level 1. but I have to ask. Will we be allowed to share spells between us as Wizards? (given the 50 gold cost per spell level is currently far beyond us it won't be something to worry about for a while anyway- so no need to decide now) This also assumes that Cancerman's wizard would even be willing to share.

I've already picked my Level 1 spells and I'm very unlikely to change them at this point.

I would say that yes if you were both willing to share with each other and have the gold or supplies to spend you could share spells that you know and the other does not.

@Arrcher101, as part of my characters training, both martial and entertaining, he has learned how to use a cloak as a makeshift buckler, which is an honest-to-goodness known rapier technique dating back to the 1600s at least. First, would you allow it in game giving him the same +1 that wielding the the parrying dagger (or another rapier for that matter) would give him anyway? He'd lose an attack unless you allow something like improvised blinding by snapping at an opponents eyes (like a towel at the beach). If you do, how much would a cloak cost? Robes a 1gp. Cloaks are usually cheaper, but this isn't simply a cheap cape. Thanks.

For one gold piece, I will allow you a cloak that you can use as a Butler but you will not be able to do anything other than an unarmed strike with that hand if you are close enough.

Fair; thank you. I've been watching too many fencing videos on YouTube. Character research, yeah, thats it 😜😜😜

I just realized that perhaps the cloak could be considered an improvised weapon, in which case, it's still a melee weapon so the +1 makes sense. But a cloak should not cause d4 damage the way a dagger (or a dead goblin for that matter) would, so 1d1+str as an unarmed attack makes absolute sense. No change; just thinking out loud. Thanks!

When everyone has there characters done please put a introduction for them in this thread PC’s in Game... Please Include your pic i will use it for your tokens.

@Avraham I watched some of the videos and I think there would be a saving throw, dex, to use the capes +1 AC against some attacks. Just by the way it’s used I think it would be needed against some of the bigger/more forceful weapons (great axe, maul, morning star, ex) and some spell attacks too.

whatever works for you. The plan is to use it as one of my routines when entertaining, but it can make for some Cyrano de Bergerac-esqe scenes, perhaps. You’re the boss, I’m just trying to bend the rules in your world 🤓

@GeneCortess Just to let you know, I'm also taking Detect Magic, which makes sense for my character's backstory so IF you wanted to swap it out for something else, I do have it covered, but no pressure.
I'm also taking Minor Illusion, but I can imagine some good uses there if one of us makes a sound and one of us makes an image!

A little overrun happens. I think both spells are useful.

My thoughts exactly :)

Minor Illusion plus Silent Image (which is what I took) make for happy shenanigans.

@Arrcher101, if it is OK with you, when I post in cabin font, that is an indication that I am trying to whisper, or at least taking deliberate steps so as not be heard/noticed outside my immediate are.

That sounds fine

Quick count - 3 nobles, 2 criminals, and 1 peasant.

What fun could be had.

Alex technically isn’t noble now. Thanks to great grandpappy’s "investments". Not that he doesn’t dream about righting past wrongs and all,
😀

The road to Phandalin is now open for posting. Let the game begin!

How many oxen do we have pulling the cart? Originally I got the impression of one, but seems we might have a couple.

This didn't come with starting equipment, but could Tatiana spend 4 of her starting gold on a set of traveler's clothes and a tent?

Yes

Draft Marching Order

For starters, Raven driving the wagon with Tatiana and Ammos in the back. Rudy and the anonymox (anonymous ox, ba-dum-tis) pulling the wagon (which is 10x15), Surge and Alex walking in front and Decklan walking in back. This is a rough draft so please feel free to opine as to how it should be. Eventually, I'll try and upload the character portraits for the tokens. The wagon is actually a scaled pit trap. Go figure :)

Take 2:

I have no objections!

Little internet research to confirm :) Oxen are usually driven by walking beside them, not with bit and reigns like horses. So Raven will be left of Rudy (4B) on the ground to guide them from there. Everyone else is fine there they are although Surge could flip to the right side since Raven will be on the left.

Guess I need to name the other oxen :)

Take 3



Surge specifically wanted next to the wagon. But Alex on the front left covers that side a bit better. @GeneCortess, are you fine with the left side of the wagon? What about you, @MaJunior, are you OK with Decklan being rear guard or would you like something else. @DrifterDwarf, meet Rudy's first cousin, Steve :P.

Decklan would not care in the slightest where he was.

Steve it is then :)

This seems to be accepted:

Sounds good. Since we don't have/need a driver, Tatiana can be on the bench. Maybe Ammos would sit there, too?

Raven is leading the wagon walking next to Rudy and Steve (see here) so there is no need for a wagon driver in the Wagon. The Grifstone twins are sitting in the back. Tatiana to protect her…delicate…sensibilities from the riffraff around the wagon :P and Ammos being the supportive brother. :D

Are we now in a combat situation and acting in initiative? Or is this establishing initiative in case combat breaks out?

I know that it's just how the dice roll, but my god- it feels like GamersPlane drags the average dice roll down xD

It does. I consistantly roll well below average.

You just haven't learned to pay it homage. Oh, MIGHTY DICE LORD.

The dice gods have always hated me as a player, PbP is nothing new. Now when I used to DM, then the dice loved me a little too much to the detriment of the players >:)

Hi Arrcher101, just doublechecking if you took into account Surge's Rage when you applied the damage against him?

CancerMan. Surge's rage is SHIFTING. Not Barbarian Rage. He did get 4 HP temp which just got wasted.

Thanks for the clarification!

I will be unavailable between Wednesday afternoon, October 2, and Saturday Night October 5. @Arrcher101, if necessary to move the story along during that period, please play my character as best you think I would. Thank you.

Hello. I will be out for a couple more sets of 2.5 days and then I should be good for a while. I will be offline from the afternoon of Wednesday October 16 to Saturday night October 19 and once again a week later from Wednesday afternoon October 23 until Saturday night October 26. If necessary, during that time, I trust @Arrcher101 to run Alex as an NPC to keep the story going. Please be as over-the-top as you wish 😉 Thank you.

Will do thanks for letting me know!

Did the formatting change in the game thread for anyone else? Suddenly everything from Avraham's post here got wonky.

Yeah. I think it has to do with the picture effect in the bsckground?

This OOC thread looks fine to me, and it has the background picture. Other GP threads also appear normal. It's just the game thread. Maybe something in the post itself has weird code, perhaps in the note?

It all looks a bit weird to me, but you could be right.

Are you using a phone or computer? (Just asking because I'm using my phone to post. Might account for the difference?)

I'm on a computer, desktop.

Same. Something in the formatting broke the normal page code. I've seen it happen a couple times before. Once we have enough posts to move to another page it should hopefully be fine.

Could try editing the post which started it to make it simpler, no fancy stuff, but only if the page renders the edit right.

Desktop Computer and same problem.

Was fine for me on both desktop and phone, but I did have a double post; since removed.

Is it looking better now that some things got deleted and changed? If it's not i'm going to go ahead and make a new thread.

Before, I have used images in post and found it was difficult for phone users. And I stopped using them. So, it isn't a surprise that there would be difficulties with them. The images that I created did not interfere with desktop user, I believe.

Welcome to the fun of code.

The thread looks fine now. I guess whatever was in that double-post did something weird. I recall in the past there was an issue with embedding certain things in notes, but I don't remember the specific details.

Travelling tomorrow so probably won't be able to post again until Friday morning.

I'm open to either.

I'm okay with either option.

Also, I apologize if I am the cause for GeneCortess's departure. I sincerely hope my portrayal of a headstrong noble that thinks she's too big for her britches doesn't rub people the wrong way. I also apologize if the disagreement between resting and moving forward was too over-the-top..

I would be very surprised if that was the issue, it wasn't abrasive at all.
As for additional characters, I'm all for it! It seems like a cave with prisoners might be a good place to find someone.

I'm fine with adding another player. I think the portrayal of Tatiana was fine.


Travelling today, so no more posts from Raven until late today or tomorrow.

I doubt you were. He and I had an IC debate that turned into an IRL debate, because instead of taking the whole thing as a learning experience when he was shown he was wrong he chose to double down and ultimately left that game.

So he was probably getting away from me. And even if it was in reaponse to your character, I'm the one who put him in his little mood so it still falls on me. 🤷‍♂️

Sorry to hear that. I think having a sixth player is preferable, but we can continue with five.

On that note, @CancerMan,@SHMKehoe, are you ok with how Alex has been thinking about the two of you? If it’s ok, I may continue to bristle in character against my perception of Tatiana’s superiority complex, Cancerman. As for Ammos, somehow, Alex thinks he is just a large version of a cute pet lizard. That’s Alex’s superiority/condescension that he will have to work on and certainly try not to vocalize, SHMKehoe. But that snout is SO boopable! 😝

Oh, I'm totally for it. I expect there to be some character development as the adventure continues.

I agree with cancerman, totally fair game

Thanks!

As mentioned above, I'm logging off until Saturday night. @Arrcher101, if necessary, please play Alex as you see fit—with as much panache and derring-do as possible, of course! 😁

Enjoy! I'm sure Alex will swoop in to save the day!

I have invited GreyWord to join us. We will get his character rolled up and I will introduce him to the story when appropriate. Welcome GreyWord!

Welcome to the game. Been fun so far :)

Cool! I'm enjoying playing with him in another game (Beyond the Secret of the Black Crag). I'm sure he'll be fantastic here too!

Thanks.
I have a confession to make. While I never experienced LMoP as a player it was the book I was learning to DM when purchased my starters kit quite some time ago.
I choose to play dumb PC to avoid using my meta knowledge. Never take his suggestions on course of action seriously. He will be choosing the worst :)

@CancerMan, I literally burst out laughing at your last post. That was SOOOOOOO how I envisioned Tatiana responding. Kudos!!!

Yeah, I figured someone wouldn't actually say those colors aloud, but it tickled me to think that Alex and Snooty would have that kind of dynamic that I just rolled with the meta.

Sometimes it's the best thing you can do.

@SHMKehoe you ready to move into the cave?

@GreyWord If you would put a post in the characters in game thread with your pic that’d be great. I use it in my notes/maps. =)

Realized I lost my original pic somehow, changed to new one both my PC avatar and added it to the thread

I'm gonna go ahead and move us ahead npcing Ammos where he is in the picture.We'll see if SHMKehoe comes back soon.

If it helps this is where my PC went:

@SHMKehoe has been absent for 15 days now. @Arrcher101, do you think you will continue to run snouty as an NPC, or should we be advertising for another victim, cough, cough, sputter, player?

@Avraham not sure, Ammos is Tatianas brother so it feels harder to just disappear him. What do you guys think we should do? I'm happy to keep running him. It's really up to you guys in terms of how you would like me to continue, your opinions matter.

Thoughts...

My thoughts are that if SHMKehoe has truly disappeared, we NPC Ammos until we reach Phandalin (assuming we all don't die in the process). Maybe Gundren or someone else needs Ammos to take care of business in Neverwinter, or maybe something happens to the Grifstone family that requires Ammos to return to Waterdeep.

Tatiana would choose to remain with the party. If the Rockseekers are the reason for Ammos to travel, Tatiana would stay in order to fulfill the contract. If it's the Grifstones that demand their return, Tatiana would refuse just to be away from them; no doubt alienating .

We can recruit another player, as well. I'm sure there will be convenient moments to introduce a new person, regardless if we're still inside the cave or not.

That sounds like a reasonable plan to me.

This is my opinion an mine alone: player rotation is inevitable in long pbp game. It would be better if we are ready for transition regardless of the scene we are in. I would prefer DM prioritize smooth gaming over perfect story flow. This is extreme example but I would rather have a divine intervention or a portal opening in front of a party, sucking old PC in and dropping new one out than wait a few months (real life) for the perfect moment to to the switch.

P.S. My gut feeling - with the game peace we have we will spend in this cave the rest of this year and a month or two of the next.

I agree with CancerMan Climbing 20 feet costs 40 feet of movement and would require you to succeed on an Atheltics check, DC more than 11 as I failed with 11. You would need to dash instead of shoot and even then it looks like I4 is best you could have reached. I would argue DM made the obviously better move for your PC instead.