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Book-keeping Notes, Session 97 (2/24/16):
– We left off at 9am on the 1st of Jourilden with Axel trapped in the Botanical Research area and the rest of the party in Power & Engineering. The party has been adventuring just 18 turns (3 hours).
– Waiting for a Sign: Finkleworm
– Contemplating the Fickle Nature of Friendship: Axel
– Jealous of Axel’s +1 Strength: Thorfus
#exploration-bookkeeping
Book-keeping Notes, Session 96 (2/17/16):
– We left off at 7:18pm on the 29th of Faurilden with the party split between the Pathogen Research and Power & Engineering facilities. The party has been adventuring 86 turns (14 hours and 10 minutes). – – The group will need to rest imminently to avoid penalties.
– Damaged Weapons: Thorfus’s Bow (-2) – Still Charging ahead: Finkleworm
– Justified in their Paranoia: Slag Piles Formerly Known as Monkeys
– Barely Standing: Thorfus, Chuq, and Edan
– Hanging On by a Re-Roll: Axel
– Feeling a bit Under the Weather: Edan and Thorfus
#exploration-bookkeeping
Here is the time tracker I created and used last night – the one that will be posted later today on my blog is slightly updated.
Book-keeping Notes, Session 95 (2/10/16):
– We left off at 3:55pm on the 29th of Faurilden with the party split between the Pathogen Research and Power & Engineering facilities. The party has been adventuring 59.5 turns (9 hours and 55 minutes).
– Damaged Weapons: Chuq’s Spear (-1), Thorfus’s Bow (-1), Probability Sword (-1) – Charging ahead with New Purpose: Finkleworm
– Looking around and Wondering who is Next: The Remaining Monkeys
– Feeling Pretty Pleased with Themselves: Thorfus, Axel, and Chuq
#exploration-bookkeeping
Book-keeping Notes, Session 94 (2/3/16):
– We left off at 10:10am on the 29th of Faurilden with the party uses a mechanical monkey to begin exploration of the Pathogen Research Facility. The party has been adventuring 25 turns (4 hours and 10 minutes).
– Still Idling somewhere Underground: Finkleworm
– Day-dreaming about aerial assault platforms: Edan & Kalgunn
– Off to an exciting new life: The Uncooperative Monkey
– Wondering if you can sort diseased flesh: The Monkey Scout
#exploration-bookkeeping
Follow Me, And Die!, it looks like your mapping challenge to Dyson Logos made it into his printed cartographic review!
I know it’s been said in the comments already, but I figured I would wish John a proper happy 40th birthday. A man so dedicated he was still posting today even, and without whom, we wouldn’t have had over 90 sessions of awesome D&D. What an absolute champ!
Downtime Activities for Party, Between Session 93 and 94
Axel
Axel can send word through Xenilum’Khel’s messengers to procure large chests for the cart. A large chest is 2 cubic feet, which translates to 30 slots of carrying capacity. With locks and reinforcements, these would cost 20GP each. Assuming Finklemur has a medium-sized cart (I don’t see any indication of the size on his sheet), you can fit two chests fully loaded on the cart before it breaks. Meanwhile, feed for the ox would be 1SP/day.
Sturloc will be happy to take Axel up on his offer to send the money to Em. He will explain that Talon felt especially protective of the girl, and, with his death, Sturloc feels its his responsibility now.
Idony can produce three more healing potions during the week if she hires Aribert Pouchemaker to hunt the ingredients down the mountain. It will cost 450GP/potion.
Chuq
Chuq can spend the remainder of the 21st studying the last few blueprints for automata that are with the party. His plan to reach the Chief Engineer’s room was sound and he encounters no one either on the way to Lupaa or between her chambers and the Power & Engineering facility. Studying the Bioforge cube Chuq gives him a +2 for the purposes of determining stuns/instant kills against the studied races/creatures normally eligible for such attacks when using an unarmed strike. Chuq can also attempt stun/kill strikes against the remaining creatures (i.e., those outside the usual size restrictions) but without any bonus. He can accomplish this for all the listed cubes/races within the seven days of downtime.
Edan
Edan finishes studying the remaining automata schematics on the 21st of Faurilden and then accompanies Chuq down to the Power & Engineering facility. While there, Kalgunn the Elder will suggest a trade: in exchange for stories about the history of the world since the fall of the ancient dwarves, he will teach Edan how to construct automata — with the caveat that the primary engines of these creations cannot be fabricated without special facilities. We can discuss Edan’s response to that offer and another suggestion (involving Thorfus’s viewing mask and its signal network) at the next session.
Quick Poll for Players
I’ve been reconsidering the use of fancy virtual tabletop maps with dynamic lighting and all those other dynamic Roll20 features. There’s a definite trade-off using them:
Pros of VTT Map Use
– Players are much more aware of exactly where their characters are and there is less negotiation about exact distances/positioning
– Players will not make basic mapping mistakes because they misunderstood the DM’s spatial descriptions
– “Opening” a door and being face-to-face suddenly with tokens representing enemies is a good way of evoking in players some of the same feelings their characters would have in that situation.
Cons
– Technical issues caused by slow connections or the little bugs in the dynamic lighting system are not uncommon
– Using VTT maps creates a lot of token busywork when there are PCs, hirelings, etc. to move around during exploration (partly defeating the first benefit listed above when we just hand-wave token positioning because fiddling with them is a headache)
– The crutch of having a map right there on-screen (even if it is missing indications of finer details) probably has an adverse effect on room descriptions (both in terms of how I deliver them and the players’ attention)
Some of you were in the campaign before we made the switch and have experience with both approaches (pure theater of the mind vs. VTT map); others have joined afterwards. I’m interested in the perspectives and opinions of both groups about a possible reversion.
Book-keeping Notes, Session 93 (1/27/15):
– We concluded the session in the early afternoon of the 21st of Faurilden with the party safely back at the ruined estate (this time with Ryker in tow). Since the party is waiting for Pons to train and the return of the messengers sent to Midmark, we will summarize the next week at the beginning of next session and skip to the 29th of Faurilden (it’s almost Jourilden!)
– Still Idling somewhere Underground: Finkleworm
– Ready to accept his Oscar: Ryker
– Mystified at how long the odor of his grandson’s socks have lasted in the chest: Kalgunn the Elder
– Resting in Pieces: Desric Threehorn
– Doing his best Steamboat Willy impression: Alaine Grell
#exploration-bookkeeping