OOC Discussion and Table Talk II

[Norjax]

Enjoy your trip!

[Zhym]

With Inferno out for two months and AleBelly out for a couple of weeks, what do the rest of you want to do? We could continue on with me running both characters as NPCs until they get back, or we could go on a break—either a short one until AleBelly gets back, or a longer one.

I'm happy to do either. Any thoughts?

[GreyWolfVT]

It doesn't matter overly much to me a short break is fine by me, or if you want to NPC them that works too.

[Rex]

I am fine however you want to do it.

[Norjax]

A break would be fine.

[Zhym]

So that's one "let's take a break" and two "eh, whatever" so far.

If we do take a break, I'd like to get feedback from y'all on what you think is working, what isn't, and how we can tweak the game to make it more fun for everyone. From my perspective, I think the game may have lost some flavor since the opening—it's morphed into a bit more of a dungeon crawl. It's a dungeon full of demons, sure, but a dungeon nonetheless. I have some ideas on how to deal with that, but I'd like to hear from you all on whether, in business-speak, the game is "meeting your expectations" and continuing to improve through total quality and all that.

[ravenn4544]

For me, it is all good. I look forward to it. I've never played a character of this level before so it's definitely a learning experience on what the characters in the party is capable of. Combat moves quick when it happens and expected lulls when figuring out next steps. Balancing the sense of urgency to rescue our friend with the practical need to recover spells/healing will be a challenge (i figure if we can't recover spells from time to time it's a suicide mission . I'm good with keepin' on!

[Urson]

If you want to take a break, that's fine with me. I know NPC'ing characters is a pain in the ass, and I don't blame you if you don't want an extended session of that. Personally, we can break or drive on, IDC.

As far as the game itself, I'm with Ravenn. I agree it's a dungeon crawl, but it seems that's how it was written- and I don't mind, anyway.

I'm not cheap, but I am easy.

[Scott308]

While it may have morphed into something we didn't expect, it is how it was written, and I'm not saying I don't like it. Actually, it did a pretty good job of misdirecting us, putting us into a demon-filled dungeon crawl, which is something we were not expecting at all. Last time I ever borrow a vehicle from Emerikol! I vote take a break, at least until AleBelly is back. We can revisit at that point to determine if we continue the hiatus while Inferno is out or not, but I feel having to NPC two characters for that length of time will put a lot more on your shoulders, and does provide the opportunity for you to do something that the player would not have wanted their character to do.

[Zhym]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm not that worried about NPC'ing the Unseen Servant—he mostly stays passive then kicks ass when combat comes around. And fortunately, neither character is a spell caster. I generally find fighter-types to be easier to NPC than casters. The biggest risk in Inferno going away is that he won't be able to remind me of all those monk superpowers I keep forgetting.

Another factor to keep in mind is that the game moves pretty slowly as it is. I aim for two updates a week but once a week is more common lately. It might take a couple of weeks just to get Xale's pack back! Okay, it might not be that slow.

I think what I'll do is continue on as I have time to post updates. If we reach a point where either AleBelly or Inferno is needed for a decision, we can think about what to do then.

[Zhym]

FWIW, it's still morning. Here's what you've done today:

• Briefly explored the room to the side of the big room
• Two-round battle with the BDM (really, it's just embarrassing how quickly you beat that thing down)
• Four-round battle with the demon apes
• Retrieved Xale's pack

Including movement and exploration, that's about an hour and a half worth of actions. Maybe two. Spells are recovered each day, not rest cycle. Is your plan to cool your heels in the bunk room for the next 20 hours or so?

[Norjax]

I assumed, as a player, that the below deck dungeon crawl was part of the adventure since we can’t move past the sterncastle above deck.

If we have to travel below deck to reach the main deck and forecastle, we should press forward and avoid the side passages.

Perhaps the side passages are there to wear us down and delay our progress?

[ravenn4544]

Two-round battle with the BDM (really, it's just embarrassing how quickly you beat that thing down)

That was a lot faster than I thought, but it probably was a lucky die roll between that and things going very much the other way . If we had to go toe-to-toe, I think it would have been very different. We'll take it where we can get it!

[Norjax]

The ledges are 35' high. Khogeki can fly. How will everyone else get up there?

Rool can climb walls too, and we have plenty of rope.

[Zhym]

OOC: Zhym, did I interpret the capabilities of these boots correctly?

Yes. The boots allow jumping forward by 30', which is enough to cross the 20' gap between sides:

Boots of Striding and Springing: The wearer of these magical boats has a base movement rate of 12”. regardless of size or weight. This speed can be maintained tirelessly for up to 12 hours per day, but thereafter the boots no longer function for 12 hours—assume they "recharge" for that period. In addition to the striding factor, these boots also have a springing factor. While “normal” paces for the individual wearing this type of footgear are 3’ long, the boots also enable forward jumps of up to 30’, backward leaps of 9’,and vertical springs of 15’. If circumstances permit the use of such movement in combat, the wearer can effectively strike and spring away when he or she has the initiative during a melee round. However, such activity has a degree of danger, and there is a base 20% chance that the wearer of the boots will stumble and be stunned on the following round; adjust the 20% chance downwards by 3% for each point of dexterity above 12 of the wearer, i.e. 17% at 13 dexterity, 14% at 14, 11% at 15, 8% at 16, 5% at 17, and but 2% at 18 dexterity. In any event, the wearer increases armor class value by +1 due to the quickness of movement these boots imbue, so armor class2 becomes 1, armor class 1 becomes 0, etc.

Note that the AC bonus doesn't apply here because of the -2 effect.

[Norjax]

Thank you, sir.

[Zhym]

So far, I think we have one suggestion to open the rusted iron door but no actions. A stated action would help me move things along.

[ravenn4544]

That ring is quite an item. Might be good for a mage character with the boost in AC and hps? Not sure if the reduction in movement is that bad of a compromise really.

Of course, water has already turned out to be against us and that ring wouldn't help very well in that situation .

[Zhym]

Not speaking as the DM, that seems like a perfect ring for a tank with middling dexterity (so that the dexterity penalty doesn't cut into the AC bonus). Tanner's stats with the ring are pretty gaudy.

That would be a fun ring to combine that with a ring of water breathing.

[Urson]

If you folks decide on a party member who can benefit more from the ring than Tanner, let me know. I don't mind surrendering it for the common good.