Chapter 4 / Interlude 1: Discussion

[Jeff]

Use this thread to discuss anything going in Chapter 4.

[Ken]

Okay, Worm's latest post is creeping me out a bit. Nicely done, Jeff!

[Jeff]

Heh, thanks, Ken.

So, Joe, to your questions:

Any of Streko's 4E skills come into play here that he can add to the conversation?

Okay, do any of Streko's 3E provide useful information?

This is a little too general. It's like saying, at any encounter, "DM, can you look at my character sheet and find something that would help me?" Now, if any passive skills would have helped, I would have seen to it already. But as far as coming up with something, that you've got to be a bit more creative on, you know?

[Josh]

Just FYI, Grafth has not been asking anyone to open the lead box or the book, but merely to find out if the map of the building they are trying to infiltrate was kept separate and available? I couldn't find the reference to the last time it was examined, so I thought I'd see if the keeper knew.

So are we assuming, then that it's been tucked back in the book and the box?

[Jeff]

Josh, it was last pulled out here. Since there was no talk of it being relocated, I will assume yes, it went back into the book.

[Jeff]

I dig the new Grafth avatar, Josh! The many faces of Grafth.

[Josh]

Thanks! I did it to keep up my newly minted doodle blog... like so:

[Marcy]

Is Grafth wearing...a trenchcoat? I'm scared!

[Ken]

Tell me about it: I'm picturing an arcane mix of Sherlock Holmes, Sid Vicious, and Wilford Brimley! Now that's scary!

[Jeff]

Yeah, actually. Grafth does have a coat, not a cloak. And that black "tie" is flat piece of black iron. So at a glance he looks like a 20s detective with crazy hair, but he's not really.

[Darren]

Oh, see....every time the flat piece of iron was mentioned, I imagined it as a horizontal bar for some reason. That explains the picture.

[Josh]

Wow, would a horizontal bar be awkward! Unless it was tiny, I suppose

[Jeff]

Darren asked:

Can Kal ready an action to cast Magic Missle on the drooling man if he makes a threatening move towards anyone?

Technically, readying an action is a combat action, so you really can't do it unless combat starts.

[Jeff]

So: pacing.

Lately, I've been trying to wait and post (both in and out of combat) only after I've heard from everybody. When I do, the game goes fine but quite slowly because some of you only seem to post once every few days. When I don't, those of you who don't post very often then seem to have a hard time catching up.

So, it's that old issue again. What to do? Any recommendations? Is this game moving at breakneck speed or like molasses? I suspect it's different for each of you.

[Ken]

It's at a fine pace for me. I like seeing a new DM post every day, but I can deal if it occasionally gets stretched out to a second day.

My two quatloos: As a player, I know it can be harder to judge time in non-combat situations, like we're in now. If you feel your character can't do anything to assist in the current search/analysis/wrapup, there's less motivation to post. But it's helpful to everyone else if you say something, even if you essentially post the RPG equivalent of "present."

[Joe]

I agree with Ken.

[Darren]

Yeah, I'll third that. I think at least one DM post per day is a good standard. The rest should kind of flow naturally from there, but as Ken says, at least a "present" post from other players is helpful, so we know you're at least still out there.

[Darren]

Did we ever get XP for our last fight?

[Jeff]

Yes. Did you not see this?

[Darren]

Thanks. I couldn't remember, and you used to post them in the character threads, and I didn't see it there, so I wasn't sure.

[Jeff]

Would Charis know enough about how magic works to even realize Belarin is bluffing?

Probably not, Marcy. You're right, Charis won't necessarily know herself. But whether there's any truth to what he's saying or absolutely none, we can assume that Charis can sense that he is attempting to sway the imp somehow. That supporting his claim in some way may help the concept be more consistant. As to the truth of it...she'll have to ask him sometime.

[Darren]

Figured I'd move the "Where are we going?" conversation over here. Okay, so I was suggesting we go in those directions based on where Goran and Grafth last were. Am I remembering their previous positions correctly?

[Ken]

Yeah, I was thinking along those lines, too: Belarin, Torhak, and Streko head back west (where I think Grafth had been) while the others go east then south. Belarin will want to check that the grate in the other room is still sealed.

Was there even a set of northern doors in the "empty" room to the east? I don't recall, and the updated layout doesn't show the northern half of the room.

Whatever Joe says Streko intended, that's fine with me.

[Jeff]

Nope, no obvious door in the north end of the big room to the east. Just a door to the south, now open.

What I'm trying to avoid by just deciding for you which way the group is going is a protest like, "But I didn't agree to have So-and-So go that direction, and now you had me fall into a hidden spiked pit and die."

It's the usual leaderless problem.

[mike]

Ken's interpretation works for me. Assume Torhak heads back west after lugging around the desk.

I wouldn't really classify this as a "leaderless" problem. I would consider this a problem with play-by-post. If we were all sitting around the same table face-to-face, we could be going "wait ... did you mean we go east, or west?" and have the confusion clarified in under ten seconds.

Online, resolution takes a little longer.

[Jeff]

True enough, Mike. I'd just say, "Err....what do you mean?" and then we'd move on.

So...should we be voting on this?

[Jeff]

Okay, I'm going with what I think is the concensus: Belarin, Torhak, and Streko go west just outside the library doors, while Kal, Charis and Tangat go east.

[Ken]

I like Charis' suggestion, but I'm confused: Which key is she referring to? The key that was just found is the one that opened up the shadow box door. Is there another key that I've forgotten about?

[Darren]

When we were in the locked room, the gargoyle said that there was an entrance to downstairs (we think) in the bookcase, and we confirmed that it would be opened by placing the right book (or "key) onto the bookshelf. We THINK the right book is the one we're carrying around in the lead box. Kal's hesitation to use the "key", therefore, is due to the fact that removing the book from the lead box would allow the scrying spell that was placed on it to become active again.

[Ken]

Ah, got it! Thanks.