OOC Thread

Although we havent heard from everyone, looks like the majority wants to investigate the 'sinkhole' or dried-up hot spring in conjunction with the weird grub that attacked Pageflap. I'll set this in motion tomorrow unless anyone has any objections.

Reminder that we have now had a long rest, so HP, spell slots, and most other resources are reset to max again. Clerics can prepare a new set of spells if they wish to make changes.

Sounds good!

Just to confirm, the vertical tunnel is just a deep hole right? No ladders or anything? about how wide is the hole?

Correct G3rmanicus. It is approximately 5 feet wide.

Anybody confused or uncertain on how to proceed? Please feel free to ask a question.

Normally I'd ask for the party to give me a 'marching order' for the order of how you proceed into a place like we have here where order might matter. It wasn't necessary currently, but it would be a good idea to work out what is your party's standard 'marching order' for single file (who goes first, second, third, forth, fifth, and sixth (last) ) and double file (front, middle, back ranks). That way if there is a trap or encounter, we know where everyone is and how they will be affect. You can strategize based on your character's strengths and weaknesses as well as take into account your character's personalities.

Also, the standard marching order isn't set in stone - maybe in a trap-laden dungeon, the rogue would go first and in a goblin-infested cave the fighter would go first. But, by setting up a default, we can save the time it would take for everyone to post their positions and move the action forward most of the time.

So, discuss (as players, out of character) where your character would be in a theoretical single file and double file line if you were forced to travel through tight passages that way.

I would think as far as up front for dungeon things, Barendd would be well suited, he has +3 perception and proficiency in thieves tools which lets you add your proficiency bonus to any ability checks you make to disarm traps or open locks. Plus the high con can't hurt.

Definitely, Starrbeardo. Barendd is a great frontline character for multiple situations.

I think Barendd and Raishe have the highest Perception (both +3). If Barendd is in the front, it might be a good idea for Raishe to be right behind him so he can cast Guidance, giving Barendd an extra d4 he can add to his perception checks (Raishe has to be able to touch Barendd to give him Guidance). Although a case can be made that we might want another warrior up front. Kit and Pageflap are the squishiest, so right in the middle would be the best place for them.

Question for Len: How much does Kit's Dancing Lights cut through the steam? The only give off dim light, but he can spread them out in a line in front of Barendd, spaced no more than 20 feet apart (there are four of them). He would have to re-cast the spell every minute.

Question 2 for Len: Kit is a Wild Magic sorceror, though he has yet to cast a 1st level spell in actual game time (it's only been as part of the narration so far). Do you have any criteria for when he rolls for a Wild Magic Surge?

The 20-foot sight range in the steam fog already takes into account dancing lights. If you project them out further into the mist, you might create some vague shadows of what lies ahead, but you wouldn't be able to distinguish a stalagmite from a goblin.

For the Wild Magic Surge feature, I never say no to a player who wants to roll that d20 for the chance at a wild magic surge, and I haven't met any players of Wild Magic Sorcerers who ever pass up the opportunity. If that's you, then go for it. If that's not you, then we should collaborate on an appropriate frequency.

The most reliable way to get surges is from Tides of Chaos. I usually pull the trigger on Tides as soon as possible, both to make that delicious Wild Surge happen and to give you your Tides feature back. So, if you like Surges, then use your Tides feature as often as possible. If you don't want Surges, be very sparing with your use of Tides, or don't cast spells after using it at any rate! This way, the agency is still in your hands.

We'll have to talk a bit about help actions as well. I want to tighten up how we use it. In Lunitar's game, we are pretty guilty of using it as an improved guidance cantrip that anyone can cast. We've trivialized more than a few skill checks in that game, and at least in my case there were times where the described assistance was pretty flimsy.

The link article sums up how I intend to adjudicate the help action in this game. Anybody is welcome to state their character is 'helping' another character and describe that assistance, and to save time the helped character's player is welcome to roll with advantage. You can even say you're helping after the roll was made to retroactively add advantage, such is PbP. However, I may rule that help as described was not sufficient to warrant advantage, and use only the first d20 roll to determine the success or failure of the check if you've already rolled it.

As the linked article describes, helping a character with a dangerous task opens a up the helper to the same dangers, or it may require a skill check to perform the helping action.

Generally in combat I'll be happy to let the help action stand, although a bit of role play as to how you're helping is still required.

I've only ever played a Draconic sorcerer (and only briefly, at that), so, yeah, I'm ready to roll those bones after every spell! Bring on those surges!

I'm with you on the skill checks. I'm happy to abuse the heck out of the help action if the DM allows it, even though I'm a much stricter DM in my own game. What the second player is doing has to make sense. And I sometimes get even stricter than that. Depending on how specialized the skill involved is, I'll typically only allow someone to help if they're proficient. Calming a panicky horse, for example. If the second person trying to help doesn't have a lot of experience with horses and isn't proficient in Animal Handling, their help is certainly not going to double the first person's chances of calming that beast.

Well everyone, we've been playing for about half a month now! Congrats on surviving this far. I think it is a good time to take stock of how the game is going.

First off, how is this matching your expectations of what D&D is like in a play-by-post medium? If not, how does it differ from what you expected?

Second, what are you enjoying about the game? What are you not enjoying? What do you want to see more of? How do you like the character you've designed so far?

Be honest. I can't tune the game to the group's interests and preferences if you aren't being honest about what works and does not work for you.

Third, I wanted to remind everyone that we committed to a 1 post per day schedule during the week, and a 'post what you can' schedule on the weekend. Thank you to the players who have been honouring that, or at least giving the group a heads up when you know things are busy. This week has been pretty bad for some players. What's up?

I like it so far. I don't have any input on anything to change.

Work has been pretty busy for me, which is when I usually have time to post. I’ll make sure to keep posting though, I’m having a lot of fun with this. Combat is awesome :D my favorite part!

I wasn't very sure what to expect from a play by post D&D session, but I'm liking it so far! A bit slower than I was expecting on some parts while faster in some others. The fighting's over faster than expected, but that may be due to me playing 4e before, I heard that was longer than other versions.

I like the freedom of the game, there's a lot of plot hooks laying around. The slow pace is something I'm getting used to, hate the waiting sometimes but it would be a lot harder to play without it so I really don't have many complaints. I'm liking Pageflap too! The lack of a voice worried me at first, and while I have trouble thinking of how he expresses himself sometimes I'm satisfied with what I come up with.

And Black Friday's been a bit rough on me so far, so I'm very likely not gonna be able to post at all tomorrow.

I have to say, I hate the waiting too. A game is only as good as the group. If everyone is posting once per day, at least something interesting usually happens for the players daily. If somebody is not participating, then they are making the game worse. Hopefully we can get everybody back on track and make some progress.

If a particular player is regularly having trouble keeping up with the game's pace (especially not communicating their absences in advance), this game probably is not right for them. I understand, life happens. But if players need to take time away from the game to deal with life, then do so. I'll ask them to leave the game, and hope that they can find a game that better fits their busy lives.

Consider this a warning for Ramen (haven't posted in game for 3 days), TheDaykinator (haven't posted in game for 6 days) and G3rmanicus (spotty posting in game over the last several days).

Im so sorry everyone! Ive been in the process of switching ISP's for the past week, unfortunately that process took much longer than I expected. To make matters worse the day after I was disconnected by my old ISP, I dropped my phone in a lake while fishing. At long last, Ive gotten my internet activated by my new company and am catching up on everything Ive been missing out on this past week.

Welcome back Daykinator. Sorry to hear about your internet woes.