Handouts for RB's VTRPG

[cheese]

I'm here, I'm here!

Not that I ever make a difference.

 

[Jennywocky]

you are a morale booster.

 

[redbaron]

I'm actually not sure what I'd do without cheese routinely contemplating whether or not to eat decaying *insert monster here* heads.

 

[Jennywocky]

We don't need bottles. We have goblin skulls.

 

[Melkor]

I don't know how this works or if I'd even have time for it, but I am vaguely curious.

Plus it looks like your party could do with some of this:

 

[Cognisant]

Rolled a 1 on my +16 Reflex save.

Can there be a new rule called "Take 2" for situations where ANYTHING but a one is fine?

 

[Jennywocky]

Not sure what to tell you. RB can make a house rule however he sees fit; but this is a pretty basic rule of the game and it can benefit you as well as hurt you. (you can make an "impossible " save on a 20; a monster boss of much higher level will still fail on a 1. it Goes Both ways and gives you a shot when you wouldn't really have one otherwise.)

Anyway, no one died. You're still alive and unharmed. Just plan better with lava crossings. The safety line would have helped.

I don't know how this works or if I'd even have time for it, but I am vaguely curious.

Plus it looks like your party could do with some of this:

Oh, we already have a lot of that.

 

[Cognisant]

Yeah not serious about it, just damn I had bad luck that session.

Trying to cross the bridge was admittedly stupid.

 

[Jennywocky]

Yeah not serious about it, just damn I had bad luck that session.

Trying to cross the bridge was admittedly stupid.

Don't worry about it; no long-term harm. We were all considering trying it, but only the rogue and Blimbo The Floating Mage really had an easy shot at it. (Rogues are sick at Acrobatics rolls. Even when my rogue was only 6-7th level, she was able to run through the middle of melee combat and not get hit by any AoOs, it usually wasn't even close. And she once did that amazing "bounce from stone to stone" over a lava field herself, without falling in, but had to come back eventually due to the heat factor since the rest of the party was stuck.)

I didn't realize the map would hook together at the bottom.

So I guess the lesson is to investigate the map more clearly before doing really risky stuff.

 

[Melkor]

Oh, we already have a lot of that.

Oh tsh. I bet you bunch of goodingtons would make me cringe with your moral sensitivities.

Welllll I understand that things are underway, but I'd like to register my interest for potential future renditions as a somewhat physically inept but deliciously cunning/charming Dark Lordddddd.

 

[Jennywocky]

Oh tsh. I bet you bunch of goodingtons would make me cringe with your moral sensitivities.

Well, if you rape puppies, sure.
(I have to draw a line somewhere.)

The rest of us are probably less innocent than you think, although probably not on whatever level you're imagining as "Depravity."

 

[Melkor]

Well, if you rape puppies, sure.
(I have to draw a line somewhere.)

The rest of us are probably less innocent than you think, although probably not on whatever level you're imagining as "Depravity."

Hahah, I shall take your word for it, and someday look forward to seeing you in action.

 

[redbaron]

Thanks everyone for an enjoyable first session back. It was a little bit bumpy and I think everyone was a little bit rusty on certain things (including my DM'ing). I tried to throw a few new looks at the way encounters were designed and the environments the party traverses through.

Obviously some worked and some didn't, so I'll change it up a bit next session. Feel free to give feedback if you like.

 

[Jennywocky]

Stronger monsters (= moah buku goodies!), less lava.

 

[Absurdity]

Thanks everyone for an enjoyable first session back. It was a little bit bumpy and I think everyone was a little bit rusty on certain things (including my DM'ing). I tried to throw a few new looks at the way encounters were designed and the environments the party traverses through.

Obviously some worked and some didn't, so I'll change it up a bit next session. Feel free to give feedback if you like.

It was fun

I'm sure it's a huge time investment on your part to prepare, and I am extremely grateful for it (and I'm sure everyone else is as well).

I've done a little DM-ing myself in a different d20 RPG system (loosely based on D&D, but in the Star Wars universe lol), and I know there can be a real tension between allowing your players freedom to explore and crafting really intricate campaigns. I think if you wanted to strengthen this current campaign, you might want to do one or all of the following:

• Recurring villain(s)
• Fewer combat encounters, with more difficult and clever opponents that work together, flank, heal, retreat, etc.
• Puzzles, mysteries, side-quests that involve character back stories

Of course this is coming from the guy who's only actually made it to like 3 of these things


I really enjoy the banter though

 

[redbaron]

Recurring villain(s)

I thought I had that?

At least the cult plotting against you is the same and you're slowly learning more information about it - creeping ever closer to uncovering its true nature (actually I think the fact that you've only been to like 25% of the sessions probably means you don't get the story updates).

I've been thinking of sending out a short, maybe 250 word handout explaining current story and the catalyst for the events about to unfold just before each session. So people can read that and then just ask questions about it if they want. That way there's sort of a paper trail of continuity from session to session.

Fewer combat encounters, with more difficult and clever opponents that work together, flank, heal, retreat, etc.

Have to admit that this session was probably the worst for combat so far. I totally underestimated the party's strength at this point of the campaign. So yeah, I definitely intend to have both stronger and smarter opponents.

The idea will be to have less encounters, but more significant to the plot. Which means instead of killing 5 mobs of trash enemies in one session and then a meaningful fight next session, you might just have 2 meaningful fights in one session and then I can throw in a mystery or something as planned.

Puzzles, mysteries, side-quests that involve character back stories.

Admittedly the weakest part of the campaign. I find it really difficult to do this stuff in a setting that's entirely online.

Stronger monsters (= moah buku goodies!), less lava.

The party actually skipped past 2 hidden treasures in just the last session. Completely steamrolled ahead and neglected to even check out whole areas of the map with perception checks, engineering checks or anything.

On average the party misses about one piece of loot/treasure per session. Usually stuff that's either quite powerful and/or valuable for aesthetic reasons. Also you guys didn't specifically go out of your way to loot anything last session, I just kind of retroactively allowed for it so as not to deprive you of goodies. So yeah while I sympathize that I threw a lot of trash mobs at you this game, you have to remember you're fighting Kobolds - they're sneaky little twerps who hide stuff everywhere.

Thanks for the ideas guys. It makes planning the next session much easier. Hopefully it'll be much more fun and free-flowing!

 

[Cognisant]

On average the party misses about one piece of loot/treasure per session. Usually stuff that's either quite powerful and/or valuable for aesthetic reasons.

Now you know what's going to happen next session don't you?

Personally I don't mind steamrolling enemies as long as they're not taking too long to manage, like the archers firing in volleys that worked great, but I would prefer to see enemies we've fought before so we can gauge how much our characters have grown, otherwise you get the Oblivion problem of everything leveling up with the players which negates any feeling of progress.

You could swarm us with Drakes in a few levels, throw a few orcs in heavy armor at us now and when you think we're starting to get too confident you can pull a Tucker's Kobolds on us.

Now regarding the story I think it would work better if NPCs were to give monologues (like the magnus giving us our debriefing about what's happening, why, where we're going and what we should do when we get there) and then address a specific party member (the leader or whoever is most relevant to the problem at hand or knows the NPC best) because Skype really doesn't work for party wide discussions.

People could butt in when they need to or the speaker could defer to another party member, for example: "Greg why is the orphanage on fire?", "Ah good question, Rake tell him why the orphanage is on fire", "Well y'know kids these days, incorrigible little bastards, not a stray fireball or anything like that" *rolls for bluff*.

 

[Jennywocky]

I've been thinking of sending out a short, maybe 250 word handout explaining current story and the catalyst for the events about to unfold just before each session. So people can read that and then just ask questions about it if they want. That way there's sort of a paper trail of continuity from session to session.

That would be good, especially with Absurdity having missed a number of episodes. The game also has taken place over a large amount of real time, with a two month lull in there, so I don't remember everything anymore.

The idea will be to have less encounters, but more significant to the plot. Which means instead of killing 5 mobs of trash enemies in one session and then a meaningful fight next session, you might just have 2 meaningful fights in one session and then I can throw in a mystery or something as planned.

That's fine. I don't mind having an occasionally "wipe the board w/o breaking a sweat" fight, it can be fun to just remind ourselves that we've gotten better and to feel powerful once in awhile. Plus, it was our first session back, so it was a refresher for most people and a chance for Cog to break in Ariel. But we didn't really have to do much strategy, and I don't want to get sloppy.

The party actually skipped past 2 hidden treasures in just the last session. Completely steamrolled ahead and neglected to even check out whole areas of the map with perception checks, engineering checks or anything.

We checked a few things and weren't aware there were other places to legitimately look. If we have an idea of what the valid options are, we'll explore them. (Like, do you really want us saying, "Okay, we take down the bridge across the lava so we can inspect the inside of the posts?" Should we be going through the town looking for knotholes in every building for a secret treasure map, when you're just rolling your eyes having expected to spend 10 seconds with us just walking down the street and instead we waste 30 minutes on a fools errand?) We noticed very little that was worth investigating further, although I did insist on going down the spike pit... which ended up with not much payoff.


It's kind of like we need to be aware of what level of investigation you are prepared for, and then we can tailor accordingly. Or maybe if we do investigate more, you'll tailor on-the-fly to us?

... So yeah while I sympathize that I threw a lot of trash mobs at you this game, you have to remember you're fighting Kobolds - they're sneaky little twerps who hide stuff everywhere.

"Oh, look, we FINALLY found the kobolds' stash -- bits of brightly colored string, a dead bird, and a few cracked eggshells worth 45 cp. Good job guys.... and Greg, sorry about that poison dart trap that got triggered so that we could swipe these goodies."

Now you know what's going to happen next session don't you?

Yup, now we're gonna be spending our four-hour sessions w/ one hour of off-topic joking, 1-2 hours searching for treasure that doesn't exist, and one hour actually playing. Lol.

 

[Jennywocky]

So what type of schedule are we planning, game-wise?

I'm only open this weekend on my Friday night and Saturday morning/afternoon. I'm out the rest of the weekend.

 

[Cognisant]

I'm here, I'm here!

Not that I ever make a difference.

You're the healer, believe me when something big comes our way and we're all half dead and dying you'll make the most difference, although if being the heal bot isn't to your liking maybe RB will let you make another character and your current one can become a more literal heal-bot.

 

[Jennywocky]

I love the thought of healing wounds by smearing Cheese all over them.
(Hopefully it's a soft cheese.)

 

[Hadoblado]

Skype group chat is up. Be there or be spared.

 

[Jennywocky]

I'm still awake.

I'm sure it's the clams.

 

[Jennywocky]

Hey Absurdity: Did you keep that Sword of the Planes and are you using it? Just curious.

Note this one also changes shape, so you can use it as whatever weapon (including a dagger) you'd like:

Spoiler

Sword of the Planes

Aura strong evocation; CL 15th; Weight 4 lbs.; Price 22,315 gp

DESCRIPTION
This longsword has an enhancement bonus of +1 on the Material Plane, but on any elemental planes its enhancement bonus increases to +2. The +2 enhancement bonus also applies whenever the weapon is used against creatures native to the elemental planes. It operates as a +3 longsword on the Astral Plane and the Ethereal Plane, or when used against opponents native to either of those planes. On any other plane, or against any outsider, it functions as a +4 longsword.

CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS
Craft Magic Arms and Armor, plane shift; Cost 11,315 gp

 

[Absurdity]

I assume the party still has it, but I'm not currently using it.

 

[Jennywocky]

I assume the party still has it, but I'm not currently using it.

Well, basically we kept it, then.

But it's kind of up for grabs. It's only a +1 on the material plane but since the game world suggests we'll be plane traveling a lot (and the bonuses grow), I guess it would make sense for you or I to use it.

As much as I like the idea of it, currently I already have a +1 and stick with my wakizashis since they are my specialty. On rare occasions if I need to do bashing, I guess I could use it to shift the item form to Bashing weapon, or perhaps it would make a great Bracing weapon for a round if we think someone will charge us (and then we can change its shape into something else as combat starts). Etc. Stuff like that.

Do you think you have more a need for the versatility of it? Or do you have any feats like Improved Trip or Reach or whatever else that you think a shifting weapon could help out with?

 

[Cognisant]

Judging by last session Absurdity is our go-to DPS guy and on the material plane it wouldn't be any better than my masterwork rapier so it'd be wasted on Rake.

Maybe give it to Cheese/Edam, does he have a masterwork weapon?
Even if Edam doesn't have the attack bonus to be a strong melee fighter he's still the heal/tank so better the circumstantially powerful weapon be in his hands than with someone who could potentially end up on the floor bleeding out and if need be he can throw it to whoever can make the most use of it at the time.

I suppose Rake could trip with it, since he can't be tripped himself, but still not really worth it since I'll be using water blast to that effect anyway.

 

[Jennywocky]

The versatility might be more userful to Cheese overall since he sometimes uses a reach weapon (spear) and other times will use a hammer/mace (?).

But half the time he's only casting spells or channeling. So it would be going on unused.

 

[redbaron]

It's a +4 weapon against outsiders regardless of what plane you're on as well.

 

[Jennywocky]

Are we going to have a bunch of outsiders showing up?

In that case, it's back to the fighter or the rogue again. Cacia can use it as an off-hand and be getting two attacks with it a round if she full-attacks. (She'll have two primary + two off-hand attacks = 4 attacks per round, at level 6... although with some minuses.)

 

[redbaron]

Hey it can take the shape of a Wakizashi, you just need to pass the appropriate checks. And yeah in the context of the campaign outsiders won't be uncommom going forward. The party has started to draw the ire of various entities.

 

[Jennywocky]

Hey it can take the shape of a Wakizashi, you just need to pass the appropriate checks.

Checks?

I thought the chex were in the male:

 

[redbaron]

The Czechs are in Eastern Europe.

 

[Jennywocky]

 

[Hadoblado]

I think that Greg should get it. He's the most likely to role a 20 on the charge, which means, inproficiency aside (cos obviously 20 hits lol), when I charge while mounted on a broom with a lance of the planes, I'll be doing quad damage with a +4 weapon. Foolproof.

 

[redbaron]

Infallible logic.

 

[Absurdity]

I think Cheese could have better use for it as a pole vault.

 

[Jennywocky]

I think that Greg should get it. He's the most likely to role a 20 on the charge, which means, inproficiency aside (cos obviously 20 hits lol), when I charge while mounted on a broom with a lance of the planes, I'll be doing quad damage with a +4 weapon. Foolproof.

At the very least, they will think you're some real badass if you are wielding a Sword of the Planes and run away in terror.

Fatness aside.

I think Cheese could have better use for it as a pole vault.

What? Has Cheese been holding out on us again??

 

[Cognisant]

Anyone can get an acrobatics bonus from having a pole.
We all ought to be carrying collapsible 10ft poles, for circumstances.

 

[redbaron]

Update.

Okay so I talked about Action Points (AP) earlier in the thread but a +1 bonus is probably a bit too stingy. From now on, APs will confer a +10 bonus to one roll with no chance of failure on a roll of natural 1 (eh Cog?). Each character has been awarded one AP and has a total of one (any previous APs are rescinded).

The bonus can be applied to any roll. An attack, saving throw, concentration check, dispel attempt or whatever. It's probably more accurately known as a Hero Point, since you get to do hero stuff when you use it and are more likely to succeed. Use wisely (or don't).

Not sure how regularly I'll give them out or for what. Exceedingly good roleplay or even creative use of the point (pass or fail) could net you a bonus point.

 

[Hadoblado]

Will acting outside of character/alignment bring penalties?

 

[redbaron]

Not necessarily related to action points, but generally yes. Although it really depends on how it's done.

 

[redbaron]

Sorry PC just froze. Restarting it now. Have a break until 12:15 or something.

 

[Jennywocky]

loser. I can't believe you left me alone there with absurdity. americans suck.

 

[redbaron]

Loot obtained from the last session. Full costs are next to them - they sell for half of full cost.

COIN
7075, 2807gp, 3560gp, 3155gp - 16597 total / 3320 each in total

GEMS
hydrophane (white, when soaked in water absorbs water and becomes transparent or iridescent) (50 gp)
moonstone (blue) (85 gp)
tourmaline (changes by light) (90 gp)
white opal (1,310gp)

POTION
potion of hide from undead (50 gp)
potion of spider climb (300 gp)

SCROLL
arcane (375 gp)
Tongues (l3, cl5)
arcane (300 gp)
Minor Image (l2, cl3)
Bull's Strength (l2, cl3)
divine (50 gp)
Cure Light Wounds (l1, cl1)
2x Invisibility to Undead (l1, cl1)
divine (200 gp)
Detect Good (l1, cl1)
Invisibility to Undead (l1, cl1)
divine (75 gp)
Inflict Light Wounds (l1, cl1)
Detect Law (l1, cl1) (scribed 2 times)

WAND
Charm Animal (l1, cl1) (10 charges) (150 gp)
Hold Person (l2, cl3) (40 charges) (3,600 gp) / Went to Greg or Edam?

ARMOR
Large Steel Shield +1 (1,170gp)

WEAPON
Short sword +2 (8,315 gp) / Went to Klaus

WONDROUS ITEM
bracers of armor (+1) (1,000 gp)
cloak of elvenkind (2,000 gp) / Went to Klaus

~

I'll leave it up to you guys to distribute stuff. Obviously works best if scrolls/wands go to the casters who can use them but ultimately up to you guys. Let me know if you're selling the gems; though you won't get the gold from them until you're back in civilization.

 

[Jennywocky]

Pretty much nothing there is of use to the fighters.

The bracers pretty much have to go to Greg... but I don't think they stack with his mage armor. Well, I don't know what the Rake uses.

I would recommend for mage scrolls that wizards enscribe what they can into their spellbooks if they don't yet know those spells. If you already know the spells, then use them whenever. The single-cast divine stuff can just be used when needed. Hopefully Cheese can carry a lot of the scrolls, it offers more versatility in combat situations.

Sell the shield and gems (and the bracers if no one can use them).

 

[Hadoblado]

That wand of hold person is hella good. Probably better on Edam.

Sell the bracers, I don't need them. Wait can Rake use them?

What does 'divine' and 'arcane' signify on the scroll list? I will learn all the spells I can.

 

[redbaron]

Divine/arcane refer to spell school - although I think that's more of an outdated D&D mechanic where there wasn't much overlap between Wizards/Clerics. You'll probably have to just look up the spell name to see which PF classes can cast what, since lots of them have the same spells but they're just of different levels for different classes.

Hold person is indeed very good. Probably worth giving to Edam.

 

[Jennywocky]

That wand of hold person is hella good. Probably better on Edam.

Yeah, seriously. With 40 charges? That might even be better than the Sword of the Planes; those are definitely the best two items we've found, I think.

 

[Cognisant]

Sell the bracers, I don't need them. Wait can Rake use them?

Nah he uses mage armor too.
So what happened?

Sorry I wasn't able to make it, I wasn't well, nothing serious.