ooc Cult of Cinders OOC

[ifreedman]

@Abberdaggus

1. I assume the rest of us hear Cirmaran, but what do we see? Can we see the Bilokos?

2. Do you want us to roll initiative? (Or feel free to do it yourself)

 

Other Party members

3. Would it make sense for Cirmaran to Ready or Hold? If one of us can get him a rope (ex retrieve, move, interact and hand it to him...) then he could use an action to tie them together, right

4. Or do we want to go to him

5. Also, can't help but notice the bilokos are clustered together... fireball... so tempting!

[Abberdaggus]

1 hour ago, ifreedman said:

@Abberdaggus

1. I assume the rest of us hear Cirmaran, but what do we see? Can we see the Bilokos?

2. Do you want us to roll initiative? (Or feel free to do it yourself)

...

Yes, you hear Cirmaran and see him dive for some cover, still holding the rope, but you don't have a visual on the dragon pillar or the bilokos.

I haven't rolled initiative in this encounter, since everything happened in response to Cirmarans actions. Since you respond to Cirmarans calling, you can take your turn immediately following Cirmaran (and before the bad guys). No need for init in this case.

[Daryk]

And you don't need to toss Cirmaran the whole rope... in fact, it would be better if you just tossed him one end... :)

[Lycar]

I'll let Samrod make a WIS check...

Edit: Uhm, nope.

Edit2: Someone made an action cheat sheet for PF2.

 

Edited April 6 by Lycar (see edit history)

[Daryk]

That's a pretty handy set of sheets! :)

[Daryk]

So... what do I need to do to tie the ropes together and bring the end of the combined length back to the group? Interact, then move? Move while interacting?

[Lycar]

Interact (Cirmaran is a sailor, he will that one knot to connect two ropes, the name of which eludes me right now), then throw the rope...

... then get blasted by the pillar.

[Daryk]

So no roll, then?

[Abberdaggus]

For better or for worse, mechanically the game is designed such that all characters (PCs as well as enemies) take turns sequentially, even if actions are assumed to happen more or less simultaneously. Since the rest of the group responds to Cirmarans call, this means that Samrods toss of the rope happens after Cirmarans turn, so whatever Cirmaran decides to do with the rope, it will not happen until next turn. I don't think that is too unfair - after all, a round is just supposed to be 6 seconds and there are limits to how much we can expect actions to be coordinated in the span of just six seconds. So, as I see it, round 3 goes like this:

1. Cirmaran is top of the round - he flies away from the dragon pillar (action 1), rope in hand but stops 50 ft away as the rope doesn't extend any further. He calls back to his friends for more rope (free action) moves behind the nearest tree (action 2) and takes cover behind it (action 3 - for greater cover).
2. Samrod fetches rope from his inventory (action 1), strides forward (action 2) and tosses the rope to Cirmaran (action 3) (generally a die roll could be warrented, but I think in this case Cirmaran is very close and expecting the toss, so it should be something even I could manage IRL)
3. Any other actions from friends
4. Enemies turn

Then round 4 starting with Cirmaran again.

10 hours ago, Daryk said:

So... what do I need to do to tie the ropes together and bring the end of the combined length back to the group? Interact, then move? Move while interacting?

Generally, every little thing you do is an action - when in doubt, assume its a separate action (2 seconds in not a long time!). Tying a rope would be an interact action by itself - then another action to move or throw back or whatever. Tying a rope generally does not require a dice roll - and as Lycar notes you could argue that ropeworking should be second nature for a sailor like Cirmaran, so I'd say no roll is needed.

While we are on this topic, how do you guys feel about attaching a die roll to some of these more routine actions? E.g. the "tossing the rope" and the "tying the ropes together" actions? Personally I love rolling dice and see how the results influence the turn of events. I listen a lot to the "critical roll" podcast - they are absolutely hillarious. And I've noticed that the GM almost always calls for a die roll whenever the crew takes actions - not to indicate that something is difficult (you get the impression that he usually attaches a low DC to the roll), but to build the story around the chaos that the dice bring to the table. It often evolves into amusing situations and occasionally turns the game in unexected directions. I'd be inclined to ask for rolls even to mundane tasks (especially during encounters where things are often more chaotic), but set a low DC, just to let that occasional natural 1 (and natural 20) add a bit of spice. But I'll tone it down if you find it tedious and annoying to see your well-laid plans screwed up by a few unlucky roll of the dice.

 

Edited April 7 by Abberdaggus (see edit history)

[Daryk]

Cirmaran is planning on a double sheet bend knot, a simple but strong one. If a roll has to be made, I think it would be Lore(Sailing)...

[Lycar]

Well, Samrod has to toss the rope up to Cirmaran, seeing that he is flying 10' off the ground. Tossing it could be a ranged attack roll, but at this distance... Maybe catching it is a Reflex save?

But yeah, bad rolls just suck up Hero points. Which, if this was tabletop, are supposed to be handed out roughly every hour of play or so. Perhaps in PbP this would be once per (mayor) scene?

 

[Abberdaggus]

How about we do it like this: Whenever you take an action, consider yourself if you feel a die roll would be appropriate, and make the roll you think fits best. I love the idea of mobilising lore skills for something like this (they are not often used). I will set the DC accordingly - very low for most mundane tasks that would be automatically succesful under normal circumstances. Occasionally, I might ask for a roll as well - especially if it is an action involving other characters/enemies (like the pulling a sack over its head) or if it is a non-routine task.

20 hours ago, Lycar said:

Tossing it could be a ranged attack roll, but at this distance... Maybe catching it is a Reflex save?

PF2e seems to be built on the principle of only one roll per action - so it might be one or the other, but no need for both.

20 hours ago, Lycar said:

But yeah, bad rolls just suck up Hero points.

Well, you don't have to hero point every bad roll. Sometime you just have to face the consequences and save your hero points for when they are really bad. 😉

20 hours ago, Lycar said:

Perhaps in PbP this would be once per (mayor) scene?

That is pretty much my rule of thumb. I may skip them for low-threat encounters - and sometimes I forget. But then I have you to remind me!

 

[Lycar]

@Abberdaggus Well, Failing Forward is a thing.  And I can heartily recommend Disco Elysium. So by all means, let us roll those dice. And maybe give us one of those sweet sweet hero points if we manage to take out the pillar without killing everything? 🙃

@Daryk Say... Is Cirmaran more like the yellow guy or the blue guy?

Edited April 8 by Lycar (see edit history)

[Daryk]

Blue guy... DEFINITELY blue... :D

[Daryk]

And this is why I'm opposed to rolls for simple actions... :p