Mummy's Mask (OOC)

[Gwynfrid]

Nothing to see here.

(1d100)[4]
(1d2)[1]

[JWallyR]

Rerolling damage dice due to player failure. Neither attack was a confirmed crit, so...

Attack2: (1d10+9)[16]
AoO: (1d10+9)[15]

[Gwynfrid]

Pff, crit with tiny damage and the save vs poison passed...

(1d20+11)[31] damage (1d4-1)[3] min 1.

[Untarr]

(1d20)[7]
(1d20)[2](1d20)[3](1d20)[10](1d20)[7](1d20)[7]

[Gwynfrid]

As DarkOne announced in the hangout that he'll have to take an extended break at a more or less near point in the future, I'd like to discuss our options. I'll do it here rather than in the hangout since it's a more long-term topic. I see 3 options:
1) Vershab gets benched, like Calathon. In that case we would need to bring in another character to pick up the slack in the arcane department.
2) Vershab gets played by one of the remaining players while DarkOne is away.
3) Vershab becomes a DMPC as long as DarkOne is away.

What would your preference be?

[DarkOne-Rob]

I would loath burdening anyone with a complex PC like an Arcanist to handle in addition to their own or as a DMPC. If someone wants that, however, I will be glad to let them handle Vershab in the meanwhile.

Until I know my schedule better, I do plan to continue playing until I no longer can. At the very least, FarmerBink will know I have gone to OCS before I do and can keep everyone informed.

[JWallyR]

I can safely say that I don't care to play another person's PC. Of course, I would prefer to preserve the possibility of Vershab returning at some point when Rob's schedule allows. If Marty is interested, maybe Calathon could step back in? Does that address any of the gaps left by the departure of an arcanist?

[Gwynfrid]

Calathon is welcome anytime, independent of Vershab being there or not.

On my side I don't mind managing an arcanist on top of DM duties. Of course his RP would be more subdued, but I'm not worried about handling the mechanics. If anything, it would let me understand the class better, which would be nice.

Of course there's no rush to decide. But I'd like it to be agreed on and set up before it has to happen.

[Farmerbink]

My vote is definitely against picking him up as a personal responsibility. I've got my hands full enough, as it is.

I'd be equally happy trying to introduce someone else or having you DMPC, depending primarily on your own preference. I think in general I like including more different people, but that doesn't always prove effective or valuable, so I'll be happy to let your preference bear the most weight.

[Gwynfrid]

Well, when DarkOne departs, the default short-term option will be DMPC. But if you guys can think of another player who would go well with the group (ie with the same dynamic as we have running right now), then I'll be happy to introduce another arcane caster and quietly bench Vershab soon afterwards.

This means we could potentially have a group of 6 at a later point, when Vershab and potentially Calathon come back. This will be fine, as long as the new arcane guy is different enough from them both. With the whealth of options avaialble in PF, that shouldn't be difficult.

[JWallyR]

Replacements for botched rolls in IC thread:
(1d20+7)[9]
(1d20+7)[19]

[Farmerbink]

Nothing to see here.

I assume still at -4?

(1d20+4)[13]

Freaking. Ugh.

[Untarr]

(1d20+7)[9]

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

[Untarr]

(1d20+7)[17]

What are you doing? Stay away from there!

[Farmerbink]

(1d20+4)[15] will save (still at -4??)

[Gwynfrid]

Menedes's Perception including Stonecunning (1d20+12)[13] - ah. Well, that happens.

[Gwynfrid]

More rolls

(1d20+10)[24]
(1d20+9)[10]
(1d20+9)[22]

[Gwynfrid]

Knowledge(Arcana) for Vershab (1d20+11)[12] - well... nope.

[Gwynfrid]

Critical confirmation (1d20+11)[14] extra damage (1d6+5)[6]

[Gwynfrid]

Critical confirmation (1d20+11)[19] extra damage (1d6+5)[7]

[DarkOne-Rob]

Knowledge (Religion) (1d20+14)[25] to determine how to pass the statue without it killing us all.

[Gwynfrid]

Vershab knows that the statue is a type of construct called a graven guardian. This one is designed as a statue of the god, Nethys. Many temples will have such guardians built, in order to keep trespassers out of areas not intended for the public. Graven guardians are very strong, being enhanced by magic to make them faster (a Haste effect), made of hard stone. with self-repair magic which means all the damage inflicted to it will be fixed within a few minutes. Such a construct is mindless, so it can only have very simple instructions, for example "destroy all intruders to this room".

Naturally, authorized people should be able to pass unharmed. This being a temple, one can reasonably expect that priests of Nethys would be allowed into the inner sanctum.

[Gwynfrid]

Some retroactive healing for Menedes, with the correct die.

(1d8+1)[7]
(1d8+1)[5] it's up to you, but I would stop after 2 charges.
(1d8+1)[7]

[JWallyR]

I think we'll gladly stop at just 1 shy of topped-off. Just my 2 cents, though.

[Gwynfrid]

Perception (1d20+9)[18]

[DarkOne-Rob]

Just a reminder - I will be AFK for essentially three months starting this coming Sunday morning. Officer Candidate School is essentially Basic Training for Commissioned Officers, and they don't give us time to play forum campaigns.

If the preference is to "bot" my PC, I totally understand. Alternatively, feel free to write him out as necessary.

[Gwynfrid]

All right, I'd like to take your opinion, as well as the group's, on the best course of action among the following options over the next 3 months:

1) I bot Vershab until you're back.
2) Vershab is benched for whatever reason (like in Calathon's case)
3) Another player runs Vershab (any volunteers?)

My take: I can live with either option, with a preference for #1 or #3. I think #2 could work as well, but I think the group might suffer from the loss of arcane capability, and maybe even more importantly, Vershab's breadth of knowledge.

[Farmerbink]

As much as I like my bro, I'm not invested in his character or confident in my ability to run him. Unless Untarr volunteers, which I somewhat doubt, I don't think #3 is likely to work.

If #2 happens, I think we should recruit a replacement, with the expectation that the party may well swell back to 5 characters, in a few months.

If #1, uh... Sorry for the extra work, mang... :-/

[DarkOne-Rob]

All right, I'd like to take your opinion, as well as the group's, on the best course of action among the following options over the next 3 months:

1) I bot Vershab until you're back.
2) Vershab is benched for whatever reason (like in Calathon's case)
3) Another player runs Vershab (any volunteers?)

My take: I can live with either option, with a preference for #1 or #3. I think #2 could work as well, but I think the group might suffer from the loss of arcane capability, and maybe even more importantly, Vershab's breadth of knowledge.

Until I know more about the amount of time I will have in the future, I don't want to force everyone to carry dead weight. If everyone is fine doing that (either botting or having someone else run Vershab) I will be thrilled, but I don't feel that he is "mine" in the sense that I should choose this. Should something (unfortunate?) happen to him, it won't prevent me from playing a PC like him in the future, so do what seems best to everyone, IMO.

[Gwynfrid]

Actually, I just remembered that I had asked the exact same question 2 months ago already. The consensus seems to be that botting (aka "DMPC") doesn't receive any objections, so I'll do that, from Sunday onward. Whenever you're back, you can pick the character up at any time.