OOC Discussion

Piggybacking off Hypco's suggestion and borrowing from Robert Asprin, I'll put forth "The Philanthropic Heroes Union Local Eighty-Six," aka The PHULES.

Rhymes with fools or rhymes with fuels?

In other words, heck yes on the revamp of TFF! Looks like the train is already moving but I'd still like to iterate what the others have already said; take your time. This past year has been a wild ride of no time for me and from the small exposure of GP, a good amount of others as well. Find your mindspace, make it right, and when you're ready I'll be right there beside you; albeit maybe a bit slow. You're an amazing DM and if you need some time to find your roots again, the wait is negligible.

I'm sort of inclined of The PHULES (granted it rhymes with fools and not fuels; never can be too sure with Ybus). I can imagine it now after saving a village from some evil detriment, the likes of which no sane people would dare to oppose, the village elder approaches the group of warriors 'What is it they call you.' He asks in a grateful tone. Ybus, sitting atop Baracus' shoulders, blurts out "THE PHULES!" The group turns and departs into the sunset, leaving the village elder and populace stunned. The village elder nods, whispering under his breath, a smile towards the unlikely group of misfits 'yes, they are; yes, they are.'

Also, who brought the damn onions to this reunion?
Amazing welcome back post, Len! I like to imagine all the edits on it was you making the 'Witness!' bigger and bigger until it broke out of the post box.

Haha, that's exactly what I was doing! Except on mobile it fits just right, haven't seen it on my computer yet.

Fellas, those were all good posts.
Dang. Foray is the WRITERS' CLUB of GP, with DM Jabes as the Grand Master of the Chapter.

Yeah, mad props to everybody! I'll move us forward soon. I promise it'll be big - like when Goliath wrecked K.I.T.T. in Season 5.

By the way, The PHULES is now totally canon!

I like The PHULES (fools) because (Ybus thinks) we want to be philanthropic, at least as far as helping people if not with cash. We want to be heroes, we look out for each other, and by extension other heroes like Aishwarya, Valrakas, and the turtles, just like a union. We're totally local in that wherever we are, we're there! And I like 86 because it's US slang for ejection or rejection of something, which is pretty much our team's backstory.

I'll try not to drop "I pitty the Phules" all the time, but it will be hard.

I'm on wholeheartedly on board.

Fellas, sorry I’m slow. Pinned down at work. Will catch up tonight.

No worries, J! I've got a pretty busy weekend coming up myself, so no rush!

Some questions for Ybus' turn:

Does the Holy Boon remain in effect, or is it a one-time use like Holy Inspiration? This is for Healing Light.

Does the well count as "the ground" for the purposes of casting Create Bonfire?

"Ground that you can see" so no, not in the bottom of the well. I will let you cast it on the lip, creating a ring of fire.

The Holy Boon from Rydler's magic item is a one-off thing.

Jabes, can you give me a reminder about some of the room features and layout? I'm floundering a bit.

At one point I remember there were some sort of giant cells like pots, draining cultists or slave captives. Maybe they are powering the portal or even Aplu himself?
I want to consider doing a charge and shield bashing those, but wondering if it is feasible (on spacing, distance, sizing, toughness, etc.). Also would take any intangibles that you would have about things that might be more clear to Urban than to me - is there a suspicion that these things are powering the Dark Force lurking in the portal? Is there anything known about the victims inside - are they chained in there like captives, or are they willingly submitting to it like psychos?

Also, DM Jabes, since Barracus has Aplu Grappled, could he and Urban work together, lift that fatass up, and toss him down the well (that I think has a Gibbering Mouther)?

I know I'm pelting you with the 20-Questions assault. Urban has been out of the Action for a while, so I just want him to plug back in with good ECONOMY!

There are still power cell jars. Many of them were smashed when Aplu knocked Baracus into them, but many still line the walls of both the "mezzanines" north and south of the main hall, as well as the first room on this level. It's clear that the batteries were powering the portal, but it's less clear whether the cultists submitted to this willingly, or if they were forced, and by whom. It IS clear that Aplu is enraged by all this, and is punishing his worshippers for it. Urban would be empathic enough to note the guilt mixed in with the fear on the cultust's faces when they laid eyes on Aplu.

"What dark power could have suborned this cult and modified this temple to suit their own purpose?" I wrote here. The Dark Force is a mystery, but it did seem to care a lot about what was going on with the portals.

One detail you would have noticed is that one of the now smashed jars was bigger than the rest. It was big enough to contain Aplu. Urban's glimpse of the other portal locations showed him that a jar in the sewers was meant for the Golden Child. It was in that one chamber to the north that you didn't explore.

Baracus grabbed that motherfucker Aplu and shoved his head into the portal rings. The two of you could totally drag his ass to the well and throw him into it!

Whew! Sorry, that was a lot. I hope it clarified some things. To be honest I was struggling to get some of that across through narration, so I'm glad for the questions.

Ooooooh ... interesting. I actually didn't get that either. Now that I read back, it is obvious, but at the time I assumed it was a rhetorical question and that Aplu had come to town and modified this temple to suit his purposes. So, Aplu was in the big jar and this Dark Force was syphoning his energy to open the portal? Now I feel bad for the Rat God! Baracus has plausible reasons for wanting to keep wrestling with him though.

As for the dragging Aplu and throwing him into the well plan, Baracus has a speed of 40ft, so he could drag Aplu 20 feet per round, or 40 feet if he dashed. Probably not going to dash though or he'll lose his rage (unless he gets hit first). How far away is the well from Baracus's current location?

Those were good clues Jabes. Clues are always so tricky in DMing. Players never seem to get your intricate ideas, and you feel like you're hitting them over the head with the clue bat, but the players often don't mind more obvious clues. Doesn't make anyone feel less smart or patronized too or anything.

Another clue: Nothing about Sardo Numspa suggested he was going of the Rat Cult, but those wererats who helped him were definitely worshippers of Aplu. Or they used to be. Who was it that Numsie prayed to with his dying breath?

I forgot that I wrote this:

You become aware of a new presence, an evil that chills your blood. A malevolence that feeds on energy siphoned through the portals. It blocks your path back to your friends.

Some stuff used to be hidden in secret notes for Urban when he was beyond the portal, that I later opened up. You'll find the post here.

Would've been so badass if Urban had knocked Aplu's ass prone! Alas, it is not to be.
You guys ready for this? XD
Where are you moving to, Ybus?