Barrow of the Forgotten King - GM Turn Post 3

Begin Round 2 of combat. Starting postitions for Turn 3 are displayed on the Combat Map.

The initiative order is:

20 – Thurstan’s Wolf
19 – Banjo
19 – Wolf 1 (F11)
17 - Clint
16 – Worg
13 – Wolf 2 (J9)
10 - Blunderbuss
9 – Thurstan
7 - Jean
1 – Torvald

Please submit your turn instructions using the Player Action Response - Turn Post Template.

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Map Key:

Blue stars are the warrior and priest statues.
White ribbons are tombstones.
Green is grass.
Brown is the gravel path.
Gray is the mausoleum.
White rectangles are doors.

Barrow of the Forgotten King – Turn Results 2

Thurstan’s wolf moved to the wolf on the right, attacking with its bite dealing 4 damage. Banjo stepped to the right and cast a sleep spell at the wolf on the left. The animal made its saving throw and the spell had no effect. The wolf moved up and attempted to bite Blunderbuss. It missed the barbarian. Clint stepped to the left to get a clearer shot with his longbow but still missed the wolf on Blunderbuss. The other wolf shape moved forward and revealed itself to be a worg. The monster attacked Torvald, successfully biting the Paladin for 7 damage and knocking him to the ground. The remaining wolf snapped back at Thurstan’s wolf, hitting for 7 damage. Blunderbuss worked up a rage and power attacked the wolf which had attacked him but he too missed. Thurstan moved to attack the wolf engaged with his wolf. The cleric hit with his trident for 6 damage. Jean took a 5-foot step to aid Blunderbuss. The ranger attacked with his twin handaxes, missing once but scoring a critical hit with the other to deal 8 damage. Torvald bravely regained his feet avoiding the mighty jaws of the worg. The Paladin power attacked with his longsword, landing a blow for 10 damage.

See the combat map for current positions.

Barrow of the Forgotten King - GM Turn Post 2

You follow Mia through the hills north of town before you reach the cemetery.

Ivy winds its way up the iron bars of the cemetery gate. No rust discolors the black metal, and flowers blossom near the wall. Beyond the wall, you see a gravel walkway that weaves its way up through the groomed grass and white tombstones. A few statues rise up along the hillside, their gray features gleaming in the sun.

"That's not good," says Mia. "The gate is open."

With a worried look upon her face, the captain continues, "This is where we part ways. May the spirits protect and watch over you! Return to Kingsholm once you have news."

You enter through the gates. The graveyard appears old but lovingly cared for. Fresh gravel covers the path and flowers, not weeds, grow beside the tombstones. A narrow path winds its way up the hill toward a large structure flanked by ancient, life-sized statues of a warrior and a priest. As you approach the mausoleum, Jean notices that the gravel has been stirred up, as if someone began to run here. There are tracks made by two booted figures. One set is slightly smaller than the other.

As you get closer to the building, you see that two humanoids lie sprawled on the mausoleum's steps. Dark liquid seeps from under the bodies, and beyond them, the doors to the mausoleum are ajar.

As you focus on the bodies, you perceive movement at the feet of the statues. Two pairs of feral eyes gleam out at you from behind the graven images. Wolves! Another, darker wolf-shape roams farther away, among the nearby gravestones.

Neither side is surprised. Roll initiative and prepare for combat.

See the combat map for starting positions. Please submit your responses using the Player Action Response - Turn Post Template.

Barrow of the Forgotten King – Turn Results 1

Ian Turbrand turns to Torvald. "No, the Yurlings are not dwarves, they are human. Desiree, Morgan and Tyra went to prepare Gunar, Morgan's father," explains the innkeeper. "The Yurlings own a large farm on the prairie south of town. They are well liked by everyone. Ask anyone and they will tell you. Bandits or grave robbers! Spirits project us! I do not imagine that they would have brought anything that would merit that sort of foul attention. I would not say that the family was particularly wealthy, but being prominent citizens, they have the right to be interred in the mausoleum."

Ian continues, "Almost all of my ancestors have been laid to rest in the mausoleum ..."

While the innkeeper waxes on, Clint starts to work the common room looking for additional information. The elf slides up to a bookish half-elf eating her lunch at the bar. He smoothly engages her in conversation. Her name is Kethra Tims and she is a scholar. She came to Kingsholm to study the interesting statue to the north of town. The giant statue is in the image of an unnamed, great king. No one seems to know who the king is or why there is a statue of him in these hills. She believes the statue to be older than the graveyard and both clearly predate the founding of Kingsholm by many years.

"If you are anxious to head out, the graveyard in just a ways north of town," begins Mia as she addresses Thurstan and Banjo. "I am worried for Dornal and Zeera. They are capable but I fear not as seasoned as the lot of you. May the protective spirits watch over them. With those two missing, we are a bit short-handed. Besides myself and those two, there are only six others to keep the peace."

"I will accompany you and show you the way. The mausoleum is kept locked but I have a key as do all the sentinels and many prominent citizens such as Ian and the Yurlings." With these words, Mia starts toward the door motioning the group to follow.

Torvald, Thurstan and Banjo follow the captain immediately. Clint slips out of the inn, quietly behind the others. Jean and Blunderbuss shrug, finish their ale and then follow the others.

Please try to have turn posts submitted by 10:00 PM

Please try to have turn posts submitted by 10:00 PM tonight. Based on what they contain, I will need a bit of time to complete the results and post the next turn.

Turn 2 posts will be due by 10:00 PM on Monday.

Need a standard marching order on record for the party

I need to have a standing marching order on record for normal combat situations.

Please provide a list for outdoor - singlefile, outdoor - doublefile, indoor - singlefile and indoor doublefile. If there are more situation than that that you would like to have a pre-defined marching order, please provide.

I need to have something by tonight as it will be required for Turn 2.

Barrow of the Forgotten King - GM Turn Post 1

The adventure starts as the group finds itself settling down for a mid-day meal and some refreshment at the Coronet and Cabbage Inn in the small town of Kingsholm. The group is new to town having traveled north from Cheliax through the newly opened trade route through the Bloodsworn Vale.

Kingsholm is a sleepy little town located in the southeastern section of Varasia in the foothills of the Mindspin Mountains north of Korvosa. The town benefits from trade with near-by dwarf clans and halfling gypsies. The town has a population of just over 1,700, comprised of 75% human, 11% dwarf, 7% halfling, 4% gnome and 3% other. Items costing 500 GP or less can be purchased easily within town. Kingsholm appears to be like any other town in the area with the exception of the graveyard. Build on and in the near-by hills, the graveyard has existed for centuries and likely predates the town.

As the food and drinks arrive, a commotion arises from the back room. From the back three people enter the common room, a human male, a human female and a male dwarf. The characters recognize the human male as the owner of the inn, Ian Turbrand. The woman is dressed in the uniform of the town guard and the dwarf is dressed well and gives the appearance of wealth. The innkeeper walks directly to the group's table.

"Are you mercenaries?" the big man asks. He glares at you with dark eyes as if challenging you to deny it. "Are you adventurers? We need brave and capable folk, right now, and we're willing to pay!" Without waiting for your answer, he continues. "Mia says we have trouble up in the old graveyard," indicating the woman in uniform. She looks uncomfortable, and you sense fear from all the onlookers. "We need your help, and we need it now!"

The woman is introduced as Captain Mia Desarna, leader of the town guard called sentinels. The dwarf is introduced as Gran Stoutbrace, a local merchant.

The immediate details presented to the group include the following:

• Three locals went up to the graveyard the day before last to prepare a recently deceased member of the family for inturnment within the mausoleum. The family, a mother, father and daughter, have not returned. When they were reported missing, two sentinels went to investigate.


• The guards that were sent were a dwarf man named Dornal and a human woman named Zeera. They have not returned either. Mia is reluctant to send anymore sentinels to investigate.


• There has been no trouble reported regarding the graveyard for as long as townsfolks can remember.

Ian Turbrand, on behalf of Kingsholm, offers each member of the group 50 GP to investigate the disappearances.

What do you do? Do you accept the mission? Do you have questions for the locals?

Please provide 10 rolls rather than the normal 5 rolls for Saving Thows/Skills.

(This is not a combat situation and can be resolved through a combination of Action Responses and Questions.)

And then there were six ...

I now have six characters and we are ready to begin.


I have updated the web site at http://sites.google.com/site/zombiehomepage/Home/zombie-s-d-d-pathfinder-page/pathfinder-play-by-blog. I posted the characters and the rules for play.


Please make sure to accept the invites to join the blog and the Obsidian Portal so that you can receive all of the game information and post items without any issues.

I will be posting the first turn shortly.

New campaign tool

I am looking at a free tool to use in addition to the resources that I have already set up. It can be found at http://www.obsidianportal.com/.

Take a look and tell me what you think.

It has some additional features on a subscription basis but I thought that I would try out the free version first.

Clicking the image below will take you to the page that I set up.

Still Holding at Three ...

I still only have three characters for the Play-By-Blog. If you are interested in playing, I need to have some indication that you are interested and a date when you can have a Pathfinder Beta character completed. If you are not interested or not able to play, that is ok, I just need to know.

I would like to get started soon, hopefully by next week. Potentially there are a few other folks that are interested in playing. Steve and Corey have expressed some interest. I have told them to check out the blog and the web site but I have not yet officially opened it up to them as I am limiting the maximum number of characters to 6.

If there are no other takers, I will need to get an additional character from each of the players that have signed on. We currently have a Cleric, a Paladin and a Sorcerer.

New Web Page Created

I have created a new web page to support the Play-By-Blog game. It can be found at http://sites.google.com/site/zombiehomepage/Home/zombie-s-d-d-pathfinder-page/pathfinder-play-by-blog.

I have included the rules for play and basic information about the game. I will do more as time goes on.

Thurstan Howl is a cleric of Gozreh - Deity of Nature, Weather, and the Sea. Growing up a young lad, Thurstans father prepared him as a warrior, for the coming war. The war never came, and Thurstan's thoughts turned towards helping man & beast alike, so he turned to the church, where he could help the helpless, and defend the defenceless. He is presently looking for a cause.

Two character so far ...

I have received first draft copies of characters and avatars from Dave and Randy. They are a Socrcerer and Paladin respectively.

Dave

Randy

Bruce, Paul and Matt have also expressed an interest in playing. Brian has been silent so far.

The adventure calls for 4-6 chracters of 2nd level. I am ready to start once I have all of the characters and avatars in hand.

Bonjerus Valerae

Since Randy has filled the meatsheild spot, I will play Bonjerus Valerae; the Chelaxian sorcerer from a hoytie-toytie Chelaxian wizarding family (but you can call him... BANJO!). He was never very good with his studies but he managed a pretty good shot with a longbow so his brothers left him alone. At an early age Banjo realized he didnt fit in too well in Chelaxian society or even his own home, so he ran away at age 15.

He wasnt missed. Or at least, his father didnt send a bounty hunter to haul him back home.

Banjo's spells are Acid Splash, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Light, Mage Armor, and Sleep.

You will need characters if we want to play

You will all need to figure out what characters that you would like to play. You should also pick out an avatar (image) for your character that I can use for the combat map. If you do not care, I can pick one for you. I will come up with a legend for the map and monster avatars. The e-tools program had a lot of art work to pick from.

I have invited five people to play to start. Bruce, Dave, Paul, Matt and Brian (computer savy, gaminging freaks that you are). If we do not get enough players, we can double up with characters or we can invite additional players. I will leave that up to you to decide. I think five or six characters would be perfect.

Characters should be 1st level to start. Please use the point buy chart and starting hit points as found on my web page, http://sites.google.com/site/zombiehomepage/Home/zombie-s-d-d-pathfinder-page. There is also links to other resources like character sheets and where to download the beta rules. Be reasonable with your starting equipment. I will need copies of your characters. If you want to create a bio, that would be cool and can lead to interesting story/character development. I will post the sheets to my web site. I should be able to link to them from the blog. Once everyone has characters, we can get started.

I have an adventure in mind. I will dig it out and review it this weekend to see if it will meet our purposes. If so, it is one of three connected adventures that should keep us busy for a while. If not, I will come up with something else.

My goal is to process turns three times a week. That will require that everyone submit their turn responses before we can resolve an open turn. I will need any standing orders like marching orders and SOP for opening door in advance so that I can establish the Combat Map when needed. I will need spell lists at the end of any rest period. I will track damage, healing and spell/item/charge use. I will also track treasure/item distribution.

If a submitted turn response becomes invalid or needs to be modified, I will use my best guess. If time allows, I will ask for the player's input. I will do my best to keep in the spirit of your request.

As always, I am open to suggestions and feedback. I want to make this fun and not lame.

Example Adventure – Turn Results #1

Flars charges into the room and attacks the ogre, tumbling past the monster’s reach and striking a critical blow. He deals 51 damage! Shalelu steps forward and fires two arrows at a goblin dealing 18 damage. Vincenzio steps into the room and attacks a goblin. He deals 27 damage and kills it. The ogre swings his club at Vincenzio and misses. Zantus steps forward into the room and casts Magic Missile at the Orge. He deals 4 damage and kills it. One goblin steps forward and attacks Shalelu. It hits for 3 points of damage. The remaining goblin attacks Flars but misses.

Initiative Order for next turn:

17 – Flars
15 - Shalelu
15 - Vincenzio
9 - Zantus
7 – Goblins

See the combat map for current positions.

(This is an example of a Turn Result)

Added a Dice Roller

It is on the top Right Column and it will remain there.

It is simple but it will work in a pinch assuming that your dice are not available when you are posting.

I also added an example of a Combat Map. I figure the placement would work well.

I also added comments to act as examples of of Player Turn Responses. I will post an example Turn Results and a Revised Combat Map.

What do you think? Will this work?

Example Adventure - GM Turn Post # 1

The party continues down the corridor until it opens in a 25’ x 25’ room. A corridor exits to the southeast of the room. This room appears to be the lair of three goblins and an ogre. Neither side is surprised. Roll initiative and prepare for combat.


See the combat map for starting positions.

(This is an example of a GM Turn Post)

A few more thoughts

Here are some ideas I had about organizing play.

GM Adventure Turn Post – Description of what the characters see and experience and instructions to the players. Naming convention [Name of Adventure – GM Turn Post #]

GM Turn Question - Comment to GM Adventure Turn Post asking one or more players a question.

Player Turn Response – Comment to GM Adventure Turn Post stating what action the character will perform.

Response Format:
Character Name – GM Turn Post #

Action – (Describe what the character wants to do. Multiple actions may be appropriate.)

* Attack – (designate target and describe attack made)
* Move – (list squares moved through and method of travel)
* Cast a Spell – (select spell and designate target)
* Use Ability – (select an ability and desired result)
* Use Item – (select an item and desired result)
* Use Skill – (select a skill and desired result)
* Search – (describe what and where you are searching)
* Talk to X – (Determine who you wish to address and describe what you say.)

Initiative Roll – (list die roll when a combat begins or is likely to begin)

Attack Roll (s) – (list dice rolls and modifiers applied)

Rolls to be used as Saving Throws and/or skill checks – (include 5 rolls)

Player Turn Question - Comment to GM Adventure Turn Post asking the GM a question.

Combat Map – Numbered and lettered grid showing battlefield. This would include all known characters, opponents, terrain, hazards and spells in effect. This would be updated at the beginning of each Adventure Turn where combat is happening or likely to happen.

General GM or Player Questions unrelated to a turn should be posted as a new thread.

I had an idea ...

It was recently brought to my attention that Paul would like to start gaming with us again but there is the fact that he lives in Chicago that is causing some issues. There were suggestions of adding him as a player using webcams at existing games but the idea seemed to be too cumbersome to me.

After putting some thought into it, I think that we could run a successful, play-by-blog game. I have not worked out all of the logistic yet but it seems like it should work. It would not be quite the same as being there but let's face it, neither would the webcam.

I would propose that I could run (at least to get things started). I would suggest 1st level Pathfinder Beta characters. I can devote a section of my web site to materials for the game. We can store chracters, maps, etc. there. Turns would be posted to the blog on a schedule of say every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The GM would make the initial post. Players would respond with their official decisions as comments to that post during that day or the next. Side conversations, trash talk and BS could be performed in other posts. Things that require votes can be handled as polls.

We will need to work out the rules of how to play. I will draft something and get it out shortly.

What do you guys think? Any takers?