Oh mi! I an OOC thread. I almost missed the whole sub forum! O_O!
Oh and I might make a few more posts to figure out the die roller.
Finally, I have a suggestion for combat. Everyone declare what they do at the same time, and then the GM figures everything out at the end. Instead of a week for one round, you can get a round a turn done. Maybe?
As far as combat goes, I agree, that works most of the time. Everyone declares stuff like Withdrawals and Spells, then initiative and, based on that, what everyone else will do. Gets 1 round done per day or so. Sometimes it can't be done that way if there is crucial timing involved. Regardless, I'll try and be generous when interpreting this kind of stuff.
Bobloblah, to recruit and outfit a 0 level, normal man as a henchman, how should I go about that? Is there a starting market class and handle it with die rolls now, or wait and do it all in character?
Added: Specifically, what I'm after is to hire a light infantry/spearman to fight from the second rank and pay him hench wages to go down into murder-holes alongside me. So if I can recruit a mercenary as a hench that's even better, but I'm willing to pay to equip if needed. But I'm not thinking of just a porter or torchbearer at this point.
And I guess more generally, how much roleplaying are you looking to do in town, versus equipping and heading straight out into the hexes?
If you have the money yourself up front, I'm willing to resolve it with a few die rolls (recruitment cost, reaction rolls, etc.) before we begin. Otherwise, we handle it in the (yet to be created) IC Thread in the week or two until we really get going.
I don't mind doing a little roleplaying in town initially, but it's not the focus. The domain you all hail from is a safe, boring place for low level adventurers.
I'm happy to resolve it with die rolls. (I'm working with 45 gold pieces.)
Hengist buys drinks for mercenaries, gamblers and impressionable local farm youth. If I can find a mercenary with his own equipment willing to strike out with me I'll offer a 30 gold signing bonus. If that's not on offer, I'll offer to give arms and armor as a light infantryman to anyone willing to fight alongside me and guard my back.
I'll start by offering 15% of my own share of treasure and a 12 gp monthly wage, but if I get a "try again" result I may come up, if only so I'm not seen being stingy in public.
Is there going to be a basic description of deities, lands, peoples, etc for us to make characters with?
I have my character's mechanics done but he needs a name, bio, and flag design. (I have a flag. My horse carries it strapped to the saddle upright, lance-holder style.)
The answer to your questions is, "Yes, absolutely!" Our start date may actually be dependant on you, but in the mean time I'm putting together the campaign material. I finished the hex map today, and I'm now doing a little integration and conversion work on the material I'll be using. Once I've got that in a slightly more finished state, I'll be posting an information thread with a brief history, a couple lines on each of the places your Characters know, as well as the major deities.
<p>Is there going to be a basic description of deities, lands, peoples, etc for us to make characters with?</p>
<p>I have my character's mechanics done but he needs a name, bio, and flag design. (I have a flag. My horse carries it strapped to the saddle upright, lance-holder style.)</p>
In one of the groups I play in the DM leaves the gods somewhat amorphous and undefined. For some reason (actually, I think it was the Fellowship of the Bling thread over on rpg.net) we started playing clerics of Gygax, or Arneson, or Moldvay or whatever, with twenty-sided holy symbols and whatnot.
question before chosing proficencies: i have the idea of taking naturalims+alchemy to prepare poison... will the party wait a week or two from time to time so i can collect/process plants for poison?
Speaking only for myself, but I would consider it very weird if we never had downtime.
People will want to hire henchman and mercenaries, recover from mortal wounds, engage in trade, and at higher levels minister to congregations, perform spell research, build magic items, and so on.
No, I understand hand waving time. I meant, if an adventure takes longer in real time to resolve, I wondered if it would be frustrating waiting for your downtime to finally arrive in the first place. But I don't know, if I'm borrowing trouble I retract it. I really am in favor of downtime activities, I like that aspect of play.
Bobloblah, I'm assuming you would like control over the threads that get added here. If not, I can go ahead and do it. I would like to propose that we add a thread called something along the lines of "Standard Operating Procedures". We can use that to keep track of active players and any standard practices we want to incorporate. I find the following are useful to establish in advance:
1)Marching orders (both overland and dungeon); include who is carrying light sources.
2)Watch orders. I'm not sure how you want to run it, but I think the typical assumption (in B/X, at least) is that spellcasters should have first/last watches to regain spells. Also, do we camp with fire or without.
3)What do do at closed doors. I'm typically in favor of something like: "thief moves forward to listen and check for traps. If nothing is heard or seen, the adventurers line up with a crossbowmen facing the door, fighters pressed against the wall on either side and a spellcaster prepared to cast over the bowman's shoulder. One of the fighters against the wall thrusts the door open." Or something to that effect.
I further propose that, if the SOP thread is approved, we limit discussion to OOC, only transferring decisions to the SOP thread once a majority opinion is reached.
How does the above sound?
Oh! regarding marching order, are adventurers with reach weapons (spears and polearms) able to attack from the second rank?
<p>I had every intention of creating an SOP thread.</p>
<p>Pole arms and spears, per ACKS RAW, can attack from the second rank.</p>
<p>Speaking of which, I will probably use a very minor House Rule or two, so I'll post a thread about that, too.</p>
Quoting the above just as an example. Not sure what I'm doing wrong -- and watch it not work now -- but when I use the quote button I get the formatting text, as above, but it doesn't translate back into the kind of quote balloon I'm used to on other forums. Is there a better way to quote?
Pole arms and spears, per ACKS RAW, can attack from the second rank.
Speaking of which, I will probably use a very minor House Rule or two, so I'll post a thread about that, too.
Quoting the above just as an example. Not sure what I'm doing wrong -- and watch it not work now -- but when I use the quote button I get the formatting text, as above, but it doesn't translate back into the kind of quote balloon I'm used to on other forums. Is there a better way to quote?
So...it's a bit of a mess still in the text box, BUT, as long as one is using the Filtered HTML text format (which should be default for everyone now) we'll get this style of quoting for new quotes going forward.
Pole arms and spears, per ACKS RAW, can attack from the second rank.
Speaking of which, I will probably use a very minor House Rule or two, so I'll post a thread about that, too.
Quoting the above just as an example. Not sure what I'm doing wrong -- and watch it not work now -- but when I use the quote button I get the formatting text, as above, but it doesn't translate back into the kind of quote balloon I'm used to on other forums. Is there a better way to quote?
So...it's a bit of a mess still in the text box, BUT, as long as one is using the Filtered HTML text format (which should be default for everyone now) we'll get this style of quoting for new quotes going forward.
Alright, I'm going to go ahead and propose a marching order. I'm assuming the following:
1)We can fit 2 wide in a ten foot wide corridor
2)Spears and pole arms can attack from the second rank (confirmed by Judge)
3)Spellcasters can cast spells with one hand (allowing them to hold a light source in the other hand.
Feel free to offer alternatives to the below marching order. Asterisk represents light source
The front line was largely determined by AC, and the ability to spam Turns if needed. Putting Kerrick in the rear allows us to turn any undead coming from behind. I'm not sure if a magic-user in the second rank has line of sight in melee or not (to cast spells). If not, it might make more sense to move Kerrick to the second rank, putting Gwydion and Kaul in the third rank with Masov bringing up the rear.
I have no specific objection to acting as rear guard in case we get attacked from behind (although admittedly I'm used to giving that job to clerics, our clerics have the best ACs), but it feels like I should mention that paladins can't turn undead.
My expectation, being first level, is that we'd want to rotate front line, second line, and rear guard duties as HP declines anyway; we have limited ability to recover from injuries.
I still hope to start with a spear carrier, which would add a second rank combatat. In any event Hengist can carry a torch if he throws it down in melee. I'd more or less expected to be first rank as a fighter but can handle second rank and rotate in, or start first and rotate back when wounded.
Again, I assumed that the ability to cast at opponents in melee (especially if the enchanter gets Sleep) outweighs the benefits of having another spear in the second rank. However! Once melee is joined and any spells are cast we can always rotate Kerrick and Gywdion, to bring that extra spear to bear.
I'll put her in the second rank if needed, but she (in addition to Miska the Cleric) has the best AC out of everyone, a +1 to damage and a nasty 6+ attack throw. The other two melee types have worse AC, the paladin has only one additional hp, and both of them have worse attack throws. Plus, she's going to be wicked impossible to surprise or get the drop on.
Again, if you'd like I can totally re-arrange it so that she's in the second rank, but it seems like from a logistical viewpoint she should be a front-ranker.
I'd really prefer Aria to be in the second rank at least until 2nd level. A character with 6hp can be killed in one hit by a 1HD monster, while a character with 7hp or 8hp cannot. She can move forward when the front rank gets hurt.
Again, I assumed that the ability to cast at opponents in melee (especially if the enchanter gets Sleep) outweighs the benefits of having another spear in the second rank. However! Once melee is joined and any spells are cast we can always rotate Kerrick and Gywdion, to bring that extra spear to bear.
Again, I assumed that the ability to cast at opponents in melee (especially if the enchanter gets Sleep) outweighs the benefits of having another spear in the second rank. However! Once melee is joined and any spells are cast we can always rotate Kerrick and Gywdion, to bring that extra spear to bear.
That's a stronger front, but a weak rearguard if someone comes up behind us. I'd swap ranks four and five entirely if Kaul is willing, but at the least switch Masov and Andrew.
If there's no bar on mingling starting funds I'll take you up on that, thank you. Spending some more myself, I show Dagmar in chain, AC 4, carrying a spear, and now a sling as well. Better armor will still be a priority for Hengist and Dagmar both if we live to see a treasure haul.
Bobloblah, shall I track Dagmar in the character thread or do you want her behind the scenes?
I'll track Dagmar and other Henchmen initially, at least until they're solid members of the party.
Starting funds can't actually be "pooled," but the purchase can be made now, in-game. Castle Blackmarsh is a large town of a little more than 6,000 people, but is a trade hub, and the preeminent settlement in the region.
Allow me to clarify: before starting, any and all purchases were possible, but only by each Character with their own starting gold. Now that we've begun, you can all combine your funds, if you wish, but any purchases will be subject to Market Class availability, or any other limits derived in-game.
I follow the principle but am now confused by the upshot. Can I get Dagmar to chain armor after hiring and before departure, or are we at leather and hoping to find a shield for sale?
I follow the principle but am now confused by the upshot. Can I get Dagmar to chain armor after hiring and before departure, or are we at leather and hoping to find a shield for sale?
I'll track Dagmar and other Henchmen initially, at least until they're solid members of the party.
Starting funds can't actually be "pooled," but the purchase can be made now, in-game. Castle Blackmarsh is a large town of a little more than 6,000 people, but is a trade hub, and the preeminent settlement in the region.
I believe this is the relevant post. The question is, can you afford to buy chain? Assuming this is a Class IV market there should be one suit available.
Correct. If you have the money now (or can cajole the party into chipping in), we can assume you bought a suit of chain armour before leaving Castle Blackmarsh.
The difference before play began? You could buy anything, ignoring Market Class and availability, but could only use your Character's money.
Oh mi! I an OOC thread. I almost missed the whole sub forum! O_O!
Oh and I might make a few more posts to figure out the die roller.
Finally, I have a suggestion for combat. Everyone declare what they do at the same time, and then the GM figures everything out at the end. Instead of a week for one round, you can get a round a turn done. Maybe?
As far as combat goes, I agree, that works most of the time. Everyone declares stuff like Withdrawals and Spells, then initiative and, based on that, what everyone else will do. Gets 1 round done per day or so. Sometimes it can't be done that way if there is crucial timing involved. Regardless, I'll try and be generous when interpreting this kind of stuff.
There's a thread discussing the dice roller here: http://www.autarch.co/forums/play-post/adventurer-conqueror-king/test-di...
You can also post test rolls there.
Bobloblah, to recruit and outfit a 0 level, normal man as a henchman, how should I go about that? Is there a starting market class and handle it with die rolls now, or wait and do it all in character?
Added: Specifically, what I'm after is to hire a light infantry/spearman to fight from the second rank and pay him hench wages to go down into murder-holes alongside me. So if I can recruit a mercenary as a hench that's even better, but I'm willing to pay to equip if needed. But I'm not thinking of just a porter or torchbearer at this point.
And I guess more generally, how much roleplaying are you looking to do in town, versus equipping and heading straight out into the hexes?
If you have the money yourself up front, I'm willing to resolve it with a few die rolls (recruitment cost, reaction rolls, etc.) before we begin. Otherwise, we handle it in the (yet to be created) IC Thread in the week or two until we really get going.
I don't mind doing a little roleplaying in town initially, but it's not the focus. The domain you all hail from is a safe, boring place for low level adventurers.
I'm happy to resolve it with die rolls. (I'm working with 45 gold pieces.)
Hengist buys drinks for mercenaries, gamblers and impressionable local farm youth. If I can find a mercenary with his own equipment willing to strike out with me I'll offer a 30 gold signing bonus. If that's not on offer, I'll offer to give arms and armor as a light infantryman to anyone willing to fight alongside me and guard my back.
I'll start by offering 15% of my own share of treasure and a 12 gp monthly wage, but if I get a "try again" result I may come up, if only so I'm not seen being stingy in public.
Is there going to be a basic description of deities, lands, peoples, etc for us to make characters with?
I have my character's mechanics done but he needs a name, bio, and flag design. (I have a flag. My horse carries it strapped to the saddle upright, lance-holder style.)
Of course he does.
The answer to your questions is, "Yes, absolutely!" Our start date may actually be dependant on you, but in the mean time I'm putting together the campaign material. I finished the hex map today, and I'm now doing a little integration and conversion work on the material I'll be using. Once I've got that in a slightly more finished state, I'll be posting an information thread with a brief history, a couple lines on each of the places your Characters know, as well as the major deities.
I'm going with a cleric of Moldvay, I think.
I'm not entirely certain I know what this means...
In one of the groups I play in the DM leaves the gods somewhat amorphous and undefined. For some reason (actually, I think it was the Fellowship of the Bling thread over on rpg.net) we started playing clerics of Gygax, or Arneson, or Moldvay or whatever, with twenty-sided holy symbols and whatnot.
That's actually pretty funny. In this case, there will be a handful of defined gods.
question before chosing proficencies: i have the idea of taking naturalims+alchemy to prepare poison... will the party wait a week or two from time to time so i can collect/process plants for poison?
Speaking only for myself, but I would consider it very weird if we never had downtime.
People will want to hire henchman and mercenaries, recover from mortal wounds, engage in trade, and at higher levels minister to congregations, perform spell research, build magic items, and so on.
I'm all for down time.
Only thing I don't know is how often it'll come around at the pace of play in a play by post. ?
It's no different that IRL. You just handwave the passage of a week or two, narrating what happens during the downtime.
What he said.
No, I understand hand waving time. I meant, if an adventure takes longer in real time to resolve, I wondered if it would be frustrating waiting for your downtime to finally arrive in the first place. But I don't know, if I'm borrowing trouble I retract it. I really am in favor of downtime activities, I like that aspect of play.
Bobloblah, I'm assuming you would like control over the threads that get added here. If not, I can go ahead and do it. I would like to propose that we add a thread called something along the lines of "Standard Operating Procedures". We can use that to keep track of active players and any standard practices we want to incorporate. I find the following are useful to establish in advance:
1)Marching orders (both overland and dungeon); include who is carrying light sources.
2)Watch orders. I'm not sure how you want to run it, but I think the typical assumption (in B/X, at least) is that spellcasters should have first/last watches to regain spells. Also, do we camp with fire or without.
3)What do do at closed doors. I'm typically in favor of something like: "thief moves forward to listen and check for traps. If nothing is heard or seen, the adventurers line up with a crossbowmen facing the door, fighters pressed against the wall on either side and a spellcaster prepared to cast over the bowman's shoulder. One of the fighters against the wall thrusts the door open." Or something to that effect.
I further propose that, if the SOP thread is approved, we limit discussion to OOC, only transferring decisions to the SOP thread once a majority opinion is reached.
How does the above sound?
Oh! regarding marching order, are adventurers with reach weapons (spears and polearms) able to attack from the second rank?
I had every intention of creating an SOP thread.
Pole arms and spears, per ACKS RAW, can attack from the second rank.
Speaking of which, I will probably use a very minor House Rule or two, so I'll post a thread about that, too.
Quoting the above just as an example. Not sure what I'm doing wrong -- and watch it not work now -- but when I use the quote button I get the formatting text, as above, but it doesn't translate back into the kind of quote balloon I'm used to on other forums. Is there a better way to quote?
The Quote feature is a mess for various reasons, it's on my continually morphing list of things to figure out.
So...it's a bit of a mess still in the text box, BUT, as long as one is using the Filtered HTML text format (which should be default for everyone now) we'll get this style of quoting for new quotes going forward.
which also manages to nest, suprisingly enough.
FWIW, it may be better to have a whole subforum for this, since I expect the subjects may vary wildly.
(this may have already been mentioned, I'm just excited to quote)
Alright, I'm going to go ahead and propose a marching order. I'm assuming the following:
1)We can fit 2 wide in a ten foot wide corridor
2)Spears and pole arms can attack from the second rank (confirmed by Judge)
3)Spellcasters can cast spells with one hand (allowing them to hold a light source in the other hand.
Feel free to offer alternatives to the below marching order. Asterisk represents light source
Miska (Cleric) | Aria (Bladedancer)
Hengist (Fighter) | Gwydion (Elven Enchanter)*
Kaul (Thief)* | Masov (Bard)
Kerrick (Paladin)
The front line was largely determined by AC, and the ability to spam Turns if needed. Putting Kerrick in the rear allows us to turn any undead coming from behind. I'm not sure if a magic-user in the second rank has line of sight in melee or not (to cast spells). If not, it might make more sense to move Kerrick to the second rank, putting Gwydion and Kaul in the third rank with Masov bringing up the rear.
Thoughts?
Masov is able to use a spear, if it helps organize more efficiently, or allows me to hold a torch if Kaul is required to be ahead for traps.
I have no specific objection to acting as rear guard in case we get attacked from behind (although admittedly I'm used to giving that job to clerics, our clerics have the best ACs), but it feels like I should mention that paladins can't turn undead.
My expectation, being first level, is that we'd want to rotate front line, second line, and rear guard duties as HP declines anyway; we have limited ability to recover from injuries.
Spellcasters need both hands free for spellcasting.
Depends on the circumstances, but I'd generally say yes.
I still hope to start with a spear carrier, which would add a second rank combatat. In any event Hengist can carry a torch if he throws it down in melee. I'd more or less expected to be first rank as a fighter but can handle second rank and rotate in, or start first and rotate back when wounded.
Don't forget me! Andrew should be somewhere. Probably with the paly in the back. Andrews the healer at level one.
P.S. sorry about being late to the finish line on char sheets.
and dont forget my wardog.
by the way i could use a spear and a torch in the left hand to provide light from the second rank.
How's this for take two:
Miska (Cleric) | Aria (Bladedancer)
Hengist (Fighter) | Gwydion (Elven Enchanter)
Kaul (Thief)* and wardog | Masov (Bard) *
Kerrick (Paladin) | Andrew (witch)
Again, I assumed that the ability to cast at opponents in melee (especially if the enchanter gets Sleep) outweighs the benefits of having another spear in the second rank. However! Once melee is joined and any spells are cast we can always rotate Kerrick and Gywdion, to bring that extra spear to bear.
Aria is definitely a second-rank fighter. She uses a pole arm and has leather armor!
I'll put her in the second rank if needed, but she (in addition to Miska the Cleric) has the best AC out of everyone, a +1 to damage and a nasty 6+ attack throw. The other two melee types have worse AC, the paladin has only one additional hp, and both of them have worse attack throws. Plus, she's going to be wicked impossible to surprise or get the drop on.
Again, if you'd like I can totally re-arrange it so that she's in the second rank, but it seems like from a logistical viewpoint she should be a front-ranker.
I'd really prefer Aria to be in the second rank at least until 2nd level. A character with 6hp can be killed in one hit by a 1HD monster, while a character with 7hp or 8hp cannot. She can move forward when the front rank gets hurt.
Alright, take 3:
Miska (Cleric) | Hengist (Fighter)
Aria (Bladedancer) | Gwydion (Elven Enchanter)
Kaul (Thief)* and wardog | Masov (Bard) *
Kerrick (Paladin) | Andrew (witch)
Does this work for everyone?
Take four:
Miska (Cleric) | Hengist (Fighter)
Aria (Bladedancer) | Kerrick (Paladin)
Gwydion (Elven Enchanter)*
Kaul (Thief)* and wardog | Masov (Bard) *
Dagmar (henchman) | Andrew (witch)
That's a stronger front, but a weak rearguard if someone comes up behind us. I'd swap ranks four and five entirely if Kaul is willing, but at the least switch Masov and Andrew.
having only 4 hp i dont like my chances in close combat. but i offer my dog to take the rearguard.
Sure. I'm just imagining Lamech feels the same way about his 4 hp healer, and I'm guessing 4's the upper bound on my henchwoman's starting hits.
Something like this?
Miska (Cleric) | Hengist (Fighter)
Aria (Bladedancer) | Kerrick (Paladin)
Gwydion (Elven Enchanter) | Andrew (Witch)
Kaul (Thief) | Dagmar (henchman)
Wardog | Masov (Bard)
toatally agree about keeping Andrew out of danger, but Dagmar could use more armor than me. i give my 12 gp for an armour upgrade for dagmar.
If there's no bar on mingling starting funds I'll take you up on that, thank you. Spending some more myself, I show Dagmar in chain, AC 4, carrying a spear, and now a sling as well. Better armor will still be a priority for Hengist and Dagmar both if we live to see a treasure haul.
Bobloblah, shall I track Dagmar in the character thread or do you want her behind the scenes?
il give you 10 gp
to keep some silver for expenses
I'll track Dagmar and other Henchmen initially, at least until they're solid members of the party.
Starting funds can't actually be "pooled," but the purchase can be made now, in-game. Castle Blackmarsh is a large town of a little more than 6,000 people, but is a trade hub, and the preeminent settlement in the region.
ok, then seeing dagmar so poorly equiped ill offer 10 gp to improve the meatshield´s shieldiness.
Allow me to clarify: before starting, any and all purchases were possible, but only by each Character with their own starting gold. Now that we've begun, you can all combine your funds, if you wish, but any purchases will be subject to Market Class availability, or any other limits derived in-game.
I follow the principle but am now confused by the upshot. Can I get Dagmar to chain armor after hiring and before departure, or are we at leather and hoping to find a shield for sale?
I believe this is the relevant post. The question is, can you afford to buy chain? Assuming this is a Class IV market there should be one suit available.
Correct. If you have the money now (or can cajole the party into chipping in), we can assume you bought a suit of chain armour before leaving Castle Blackmarsh.
The difference before play began? You could buy anything, ignoring Market Class and availability, but could only use your Character's money.
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