Expedition planning and discussions

[Rex]

He may be the only survivor!

[OGRE MAGE]

by the way, what timezone are you in? I'm in Central Europe time, so 6-8 hours away from Canada/NA etcetera. seems like a lot of action happens as I sleep [/ooc]

You didn't miss much, since you were sleeping in-game as well.

Not sure who you were asking, but I am in CST. (or is it DST?) I am so confused.

[OGRE MAGE]

He may be the only survivor!

That seemed a little close, and it aint over yet.

[Spearmint]

Playing after the midnight hours and a beer seems to be my usual routine, though that affects my concentration and train of though just a tad..

It is British Summer Time here. (GMT+1).

[Rex]

I am in Eastern USA time here, but I work second shift so usually play late at night and again when I get up for a short bit.

[redwarrior]

I'm Pacific time (UTC-8). As long as I continue to work from home, I basically just need to remember to switch computers and check-in. (Doing that much more often as I get into the rhythm of this game. )

[Spearmint]

Sounds great! SM, what do you think about opening a "Return to Barrow Mounds loot" thread? Or simply "Loot" where each party can have a post which is continously updated?

I can keep it updated (but need help to get the initial list correct).

I would encourage players to keep track within the group if what the discover, so appointing a team, mapmaker, accountant, etc is fine.

Normally I would close and expedition thread with a summary of treasure rewards and xp earned.
How a group decide to share out treasure is an in-character group decision. I normally re-read the thread to toothcomb each page and note what folks collect but it may be also that certain discoveries are revealed in personal threads so you either trust each other or shake each other down.

As Sven discovered from the Squires expedition, sometimes items need more investigation to discover values and properties they hold.

[OGRE MAGE]

Ya, and it’s REALLY expensive.

I like the idea of a treasure/kill sheet. It keeps the DM honest too. I can try to keep one up unless someone else wants to. I hate to heap all the book work on one player.

[sastaz]

Okay OM, you do the loot list, I do the mapping!

[Spearmint]

Leap pit.
Leap (18/32) [3d6]=15

auto passes any check

Yes I forgot Orgoth's super strength. He is described as only 5'10 so not sure if he could stretch himself physically across an 8'ft gap, but in theory he could be used in lieu of a plank to cross.

[Rex]

I listed him as 5'10" as that is the tallest height possible for a Half-Orc listed on the DMs Guide page 238 Height and Weight Table. I ignored the weight as it maxed at 190 lbs.

[OGRE MAGE]

It's not as pretty as the map, but I added everything I could come up with. Let me know if you see anything missing or incorrect.

Interesting areas yet to explore
Primate Hangman's Tree: (mangrove, cranes, giant bees, beetles, cactus, hanging monkeys, etc.) viewtopic.php?p=558179#p558179

Lizardman (Ngenga) note in dwarven about some stolen eggs: viewtopic.php?p=558723#p558723

Unentered mound excavation (5) with the Grave of Rufus, butcher, baker, excavator. died, April 1st 1066 (Pat Doggrel n' the Boyz"):viewtopic.php?p=559148#p559148

Arnaud's Pit Trap might still hold something interesting down below?: viewtopic.php?p=559714#p559714

Barrowmaze Cultist Activity:viewtopic.php?p=559714#p559714 viewtopic.php?p=559998#p559998

Scattering of coins behind a portcullis (III): viewtopic.php?p=560334#p560334

Falcon headed statue crypt guarded by metal snakes: viewtopic.php?p=560644#p560644

Strange graffiti: viewtopic.php?p=561071#p561071


Monsters Vanquished
5 lizard men on patrol: viewtopic.php?p=558278#p558278
12 Barrow Mound Skeletons: viewtopic.php?p=559065#p559065
Penelope the ghoul: viewtopic.php?p=559747#p559747
Pit Bloodvein?: viewtopic.php?p=559998#p559998
2- Masked Maze Gnomes: viewtopic.php?p=562045#p562045
Ochre Jelly?: viewtopic.php?p=562116#p562116
7-Exploding Warrior Skeletons: viewtopic.php?p=563702#p563702 4 dead/3 turned viewtopic.php?p=563952#p563952
3 Ghouls in the mound on our return topside.

Treasure
Penelope's trinkets?: viewtopic.php?p=559747#p559747
Candlelight of Arnaud

25sp
Harmonica
2 magic sling stones: viewtopic.php?p=561997#p561997

Ossithrax Tapestry: Weird things:viewtopic.php?p=562739#p562739
Bag of Teeth
Game Pieces: viewtopic.php?p=562678#p562678

Fire Beetle Glands: viewtopic.php?p=564031#p564031

400gp
Large tome
Potion-Water Breathing?
P-Speed?
P-Invisibility?
4-Spell Scrolls
Thick gold bracelets, (1-Chronex Watch?)
Bandolier/Boomerangs?
White Leather Trenchcoat
Bone framed Infravision glasses
Goatskin of Healing Loam? (Cinders' Oinkment)
Artisan laboratory equipment, several jars of desiccated compounds for potion making: viewtopic.php?p=564312#p564312 (Tomb of Jerome, 'Alchemist major, practitioner of creative arts')

Left behind: antique 'Gucci' jade pedestal

Did we ever let Gerdal have a look around in the treasure crypt? Or has that ship sailed?

[sastaz]

Did we ever let Gerdal have a look around in the treasure crypt? Or has that ship sailed?
Did we take the book from the pedestal?

I think Gerdal started looking but then SM sorta fast forwarded and just noted that we brought along a few glass canisters? Something like that.

As for the book I think it is still there?

[Spearmint]

Did we take the book from the pedestal?

You can take the book. But the green marble, antique 'Gucci' Pedestal was left behind.

[Rex]

Great job on the list OM!

[OGRE MAGE]

Thanks!

List has been updated.

[OGRE MAGE]

This might be a good time for some group discussion on the future of the party.

Is this band of 4 PC’s content to stay together as a group? Or do some of you have the desire to try other things? We could hang on to Amos and hire another duo from the merc market to round out the next trip.

Or do we want to try recruiting other PC’s back in town? If we add another player, we would have to keep in mind the current pace of the game. I don’t think someone who can only post once or twice a week would fit in with our full tilt style.

Any thoughts?

[Rex]

I am for keeping the group together. We could use another cleric, but I agree on trying to keep the pace up.

[redwarrior]

I'm also in favor of keeping the group together. I'm really liking the pace of play, now that I'm adapted to checking in! And I agree, we could definitely use a healer.

[sastaz]

I'm for keeping the group intact and I agree that any new PC would sort of have to be at least informed of the pacing. Four or Five PCs is not that important in my opinion. The "drop" from four to three is much bigger. With four (or five) players, there's always dialogue dynamics and discussions even though a single player at a time can do "low key" answers like "my PC agrees with the group".

Game balance/strategic wise, what do we have? Orgoth is a fighter who can sort of tank for us (sorry, will be using MMORPG terms here ) Then we have two magic users who go down real quick with a limited supply of spells, which can be considered crowd control, maybe damage dealers. And then Isvand seems to be a fighter as well, as he has 12 hp? Isvand and Orgoth, do you both have CON of 16+ or are you even a 2nd level PC Isvand? Maybe thief/figher multiclass? I'm only asking to see what we have need for. I think at least one cleric is a must have in this particular megadungeon, being super undead-heavy. Question is, do we need a thief? To go back to my MMORPG terminology, I think the only thing we're really missing is an off-tank, if Orgoth go down, or if we have to fight att two fronts. This was painfully clear when the ghoul chewed past Orgoth. Anything that passes him will do short work of the rest of us. Unless, as I said, Isvand is going for sort of heavy armor instead of nimble chaingun bowman