OOC I

[rremedio]

I think there should be always at least two of us watching and one of them should be always one of the four more battle capable.

I'm having a hard time thinking on a good ambush strategy. Having the group split between the hilltop and the groove sounds good to me, even if the distance might be bigger than I would like in case of emergency.

[thirdkingdom]

Okay, here's some food for thought. The grove is large enough to conceal the party but not the mounts/wagon (whether with or without the party, it's just not big enough to hide all the mounts.

If you guys wait outdoors I will be rolling for random encounters twice per day, once at night and once during the day. If you wait in the dungeon I will be rolling for random encounters every two turns! It is much safer outside although admittedly there is a wider variety of creatures to encounter outdoors.

[Bouv]

Tratlin is fine taking the first watch of the night.

As for the ambush, I think we should do it outside. How far off the trail is the old hut?

Maybe have one of the thieves keep watch in the hut during the day and then following behind Elwyn's men when they come and trigger something to help keep them from running away and have something attacking from behind? Could our archers find a good tree to sit in in order to rain arrows down upon them too?

[Luis]

Sorry, couldn't post for a while. Thanks for the help Frobozz.

Where do you guys want me in the marching order?

Are we still getting a few hired hands to take care of the horses?

How's the situation with XP? If me and Jake were a point shy of lvl3 I'd wager we're there now

I picked up a mare (along with bags), some armor, pellets and some food for the horse. I figured it was covered under costs of living but Saul wants to Castanha (Portuguese for brown) well fed. Everything under the mirror in my inventory is new.

BTW, I didn't realize we had a new party member, I though it was just a random NPC I was hoping to embarrass Saul with, guess I embarrassed the both of us.

EDIT: Mind if I make a suggestion? What if we start dividing our treasure by number of party members+1 from now on? That way we could use the extra money for common purchases or as a safeguard in case we lose the stone and have to buy another way of resurrecting a character.

[frobozz]

TK - What is the approximate distance (in feet) from the hut to the closest point on the trail that Elwyn's men would be passing?

Mind if I make a suggestion? What if we start dividing our treasure by number of party members+1 from now on? That way we could use the extra money for common purchases or as a safeguard in case we lose the stone and have to buy another way of resurrecting a character.

I somewhat like this idea as it might make easier the purchase of major group expenses (like spyglasses, potions, or other magical aids that the group needs as a whole), but I can also see it making the math a little trickier sometimes. I'd have to maintain an entry on the Treasure List for "Group Treasure" or something like that, which might be more trouble than its worth, but I certainly wouldn't mind doing it if the majority likes the idea.

[riftstone]

Perhaps we can get a charter from Threshold or the Duchy (a la Forgotten Realms - original) to show we are an adventuring company, or a troupe of some sort. Then we can have a "bank account" for the party.

[thirdkingdom]

Perhaps we can get a charter from Threshold or the Duchy (a la Forgotten Realms - original) to show we are an adventuring company, or a troupe of some sort. Then we can have a "bank account" for the party.

You can do that through the Moneylender's Guild.

@frobozz. I'm not sure if I didn't mention it in either of the earlier IC posts (i.e when you first saw the hut and when you investigated it.). I don't have time to go back and look, so I'm going to say a bow shot or less from the trail.

@everyone. I think it would be easier if someone proposed a night watch schedule as opposed to individuals calling out what shifts they would like. Remember, we are working on the assumption that everyone needs eight hours of sleep. There are nine of you.

@Spellcasters. One of the things I am going to try and do with the calendar thread I've started is track the amount of time you guys spend trying to learn new spells. I know Drudsa is going to try and learn Charm Person from someone; not sure about the rest of you. FYI, and I will add this at some point to the houserules, it will cost 75 gp/spell level to "learn" (i.e. copy it into your spellbook) a spell. This cost is for fancy inks, quills, practice materials, etc.

[frobozz]

Perhaps we can get a charter from Threshold or the Duchy (a la Forgotten Realms - original) to show we are an adventuring company, or a troupe of some sort. Then we can have a "bank account" for the party.

I like that idea... even if it is just done through the Moneychangers Guild. Maybe we could (after adventuring together for a while) come up with a name for our adventuring company. It would be a good way to get ourselves some name recognition in Threshold and beyond!

Re: The Marching Order
Did anyone have any other suggestions on the Marching Order I posted? Finglas mentioned moving Marodin to the front row, but unless Sulldawga or someone else suggests the same, I will keep him listed as rear guard.

Re: Night Watch
Again, just so that we have something written down and ready to use, here is my suggestion. Feel free to comment.

(4) 2-hour shifts. 1 elf per shift. In alpha order by elf name:

1) Bregalad (AC2, HP6) / Grey Jake (AC6, HP8 )
2) Lanny (AC2, HP6) / Saul (AC6, HP7)
3) Meagnor (AC6, HP7) / Marodin (AC1, HP11)
4) Tratiln (AC6, HP7) / Thordin (AC2, HP17)

Beauty sleep for Drudsa.

Thoughts?

[zebediah]

Mind if I make a suggestion? What if we start dividing our treasure by number of party members+1 from now on? That way we could use the extra money for common purchases or as a safeguard in case we lose the stone and have to buy another way of resurrecting a character.

I somewhat like this idea as it might make easier the purchase of major group expenses (like spyglasses, potions, or other magical aids that the group needs as a whole), but I can also see it making the math a little trickier sometimes. I'd have to maintain an entry on the Treasure List for "Group Treasure" or something like that, which might be more trouble than its worth, but I certainly wouldn't mind doing it if the majority likes the idea.

Honestly, I think that doesn't add much value at the stage we're in. Just look at the cash we have now, each of us would be able to pay on its own for the items we bought as group resources just a short while ago. If treasure keeps coming at this pace (as usual for sandbox, old school or whatever we may call it) most of the normal group expenses will be trivial to the characters.

Also, no one seems to be stingy so far. If one of the character needs to be raised or healed I doubt that the group (or at least most of the characters) wouldn't be willing to contribute.

Of course, if most of you guys think that's important I will not oppose it.

[rremedio]

I'm fine with the watch order.

I'm ok with leaving Marrodin at the end of the marching order, but I agree that Thordin should have a partner at the front row.

@tk: when do we need to pay for the new spell? Meagnor will study Sleep, but he's really short on gold. May I assume he's going to need the stuff at the end of his learning?

@Luis: the horse salesman thing was funny.

EDIT: about the shared account idea: I think it's a good one.

[frobozz]

As an alternative for the watch order, we could simply do (9) 1-hour shifts, where everyone contributes 1 hour. I think that as long as spellcasters get a total of 8 hours of sleep, they should be fine for memorizing spells the next morning. In the interest of simplicity, here is a watch order in alphabetical order:

1. Bregalad
2. Drudsa
3. Grey Jake
4. Lanny
5. Marodin
6. Meagnor
7. Saul
8. Thordin
9. Tratiln

The night watchman's main task will simply be to wake everyone up in the event of possible trouble.

Thoughts?

[rremedio]

Did the other spellcasters cast any spells "today"? The rules say that if a memorized spell wasn't used it doesn't need to be memorized again.

[riftstone]

I like that idea... even if it is just done through the Moneychangers Guild. Maybe we could (after adventuring together for a while) come up with a name for our adventuring company. It would be a good way to get ourselves some name recognition in Threshold and beyond!

Thordin's Minions has a nice ring to it.

[Bouv]

Tratlin is fine with the sleep and marching order. While he does want more spells in his book, Tratiln will give priority for the others to copy each other's books first.

[thirdkingdom]

Tratlin is fine with the sleep and marching order. While he does want more spells in his book, Tratiln will give priority for the others to copy each other's books first.

I'm going to say that a reasonable number of PCs can study a single spellbook at the same time, a la high school study sessions.

I've always read it (not necessarily in this edition) that magic-users need 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. But yes, if no one cast spells today there is no need to re-memorize.

@rremedio. I'm going to say that you can study without payment, but must pay the required amount before you learn the spell.

[frobozz]

@TK: Maybe we could, by default, use the 1-person night watch system when the watchman is basically stationed with the rest of the party, and the 2-person night watch system when the watchmen are stationed some distance away from the rest of the party.

[rremedio]

Just to let you guys know: I picked Vitality Surge as the extra Elf-only spell for my book.

[thirdkingdom]

Just to let you guys know: I picked Vitality Surge as the extra Elf-only spell for my book.

Vitality Surge is not an elf-only spell.

[rremedio]

Just to let you guys know: I picked Vitality Surge as the extra Elf-only spell for my book.

Vitality Surge is not an elf-only spell.

Sorry, I thought we were using the whole list as Elf only spells. Does this mean that I cannot pick it or that Drudsa will be able to learn it from my book?

[thirdkingdom]

I don't have much time, and have to leave to take wife and the kids to the airport at 3:30. The elf-only spells on the wiki are designated as such (i.e. they are labelled "elf" instead of "elf/magic-user"). Also as per the information given on the wiki page, elves rarely, if ever, teach these spells to non-elves.