@Saintofawe did mention they are/were occupied recently so we'll continue with their wishes of keeping their character behind @Painted's, and prepared for combat.
@Archsage has been AFK for 5 days, we'll give them some more time before determining what to do with their character.
If our numbers do drop below 4, what's the consensus on recruiting other players? do you want to stick with this group despite the low numbers, or would you prefer to keep the player count between 4-6 by recruiting new players?
If numbers get too low I'd advise to reopen recruitment, because, well, playing with added adversities for the characters as we are doing (with the use of the stress rule) is interesting, but adds challenge...
Adding even more challenge by short-manning the quest it could lead to our defeat - and as much fun as we could have while trying, our defeat would still be the end of our fun together.
Every haunted trap has an emanation, which might be as subtle as a drop in temperature or as overt as an object moving of its own accord. A haunted trap's emanation occurs before the trap takes effect. A character notices the emanation if their passive Wisdom (Perception) score equals or exceeds 10 + the trap's Haunt Bonus. A character who notices the haunted trap has until the start of their next turn to react, which might include fleeing to avoid the trap or attempting to disarm it
A little bit of Meta, but it was an easy copy and paste, Lol.
That being said, only @Svetlana has the ability (at the start of her next turn) to react as her passive perception was the only one to meet the trap score.
OK; I'll think about what she can do (probably just open a way out, because... how else to stop a multitude of objects from animating?). But It's not her turn yet, I suppose. Anyway, how many items are moving? Not just the shovel, since you used the plural... Are they 1-2? Or 5-6? Or 10? (Asking because 1-2 might be blocked somehow, while 10 definitely not...)
OK; I'll think about what she can do (probably just open a way out, because... how else to stop a multitude of objects from animating?). But It's not her turn yet, I suppose. Anyway, how many items are moving? Not just the shovel, since you used the plural... Are they 1-2? Or 5-6? Or 10? (Asking because 1-2 might be blocked somehow, while 10 definitely not...)
You can absolutely post your action, as you’re the only one who can make one prior to the trap. And we’ll say upward of 10+
@Svetlana go ahead and roll an improvised ranged weapon attack for throwing a ground object at the window.
Since you described your action as attempting to break the glass whether the characters move toward the door or not, I'll go ahead with the trap results in IC, just roll that attack first thing.
@Everyone in the room, please wait for your next moves until I resolve Svetlana's attack roll.
We are not in combat but in this scenario the order of events may be important. Thanks friends!
The characters are supposed to move towards the opening, in the glass, not the door, but ok, rolling IC
Thanks for the clarification! Please include a damage roll in there as well! Also, I didn’t really understand what you meant to say here in IC (“but hey... I'm teally risking not to hit... a big unmoving wall?” I might be having a brain dead moment but can you clarify? Lol
@everyone that’s a fair note to make as attacks start to happen in our game : if you ever are rolling to attack, include the potential damage roll in your post as well. That way we have all the information we need without extra posts, and if something doesn’t hit, we can just ignore the damage roll all-together.
Oh, there is a typo, it should have been "but hey... I'm really risking not to hit... a big unmoving wall?" And it was just intended as an expression of my surprise... Considering that the wall was large and still, I expected to hit it automatically. Also because... if I think about it... what AC should it reasonably have? I mean... look for example at the Gelatinous Cube... It has AC 6. One of its faces is 10' x 10' (while the wall is bigger than that) and, even if slow, the cube can move (while the wall can not). So the wall should have an even worse AC, I guess. What AC did you assign to it? 4? 2? I would have expected the shot to land automatically. But obviously it's the DM who decides, so in the meantime, fine, I did the Attack roll.
And usually yes, together with the Attack roll I also do the Damage roll, it's just that you surprised me again... The wall is made of glass... So I expected it to shatter as soon as it was hit, without the need of a damage roll. This is why I didn't add it. But, once again, ok, it's the DM who decides, so if this glass wall actually has the ability to resist the impact of a blunt object thrown at it without breaking, well, I'll add the damage roll straight away and we shall see if the damage done sufficies.
One request @DM, though, while I'm at it... When you have a moment, could you better describe how the 'trap' worked? Because I have a hard time visualizing what happened... The initial description is very evocative, with the objects starting to move, the door closing...
But then you only posted attacks and damage...
What is it that did the attack? The objects, right? But there were 10+ of them, you told... while there were just 3 attacks rolled... (And, mind me, I'm fine with that! I'm not asking you for another 7 attacks against us - but I want to be able to imagine the scene well). What happened? Did the objects form three 'creatures' or three 'swarms' and attack us? Or just 3 attacked while the other object are still moving, as if preparing to join the fray? And did they attack as if, for example, an invisible warrior was maneuvering them - approaching us and then striking a blow? Or as if they were launched by a telekinetic force (a poltergeist-like effect)? And after they attacked... are they continuing to rage, trying to tear us apart? Or did they stop?
If you just could describe that scene a little in more detail (perhaps with a new IC post) I would like it.
Considering that the wall was large and still, I expected to hit it automatically. Also because... if I think about it... what AC should it reasonably have? I mean... look for example at the Gelatinous Cube... It has AC 6. One of its faces is 10' x 10' (while the wall is bigger than that) and, even if slow, the cube can move (while the wall can not). So the wall should have an even worse AC, I guess. What AC did you assign to it? 4? 2? I would have expected the shot to land automatically. But obviously it's the DM who decides, so in the meantime, fine, I did the Attack roll.
One request @DM, though, while I'm at it... When you have a moment, could you better describe how the 'trap' worked? Because I have a hard time visualizing what happened... The initial description is very evocative, with the objects starting to move, the door closing...
What is it that did the attack? The objects, right? But there were 10+ of them, you told... while there were just 3 attacks rolled.... What happened? Did the objects form three 'creatures' or three 'swarms' and attack us? Or just 3 attacked while the other object are still moving, as if preparing to join the fray? And did they attack as if, for example, an invisible warrior was maneuvering them - approaching us and then striking a blow? Or as if they were launched by a telekinetic force? And after they attacked... are they continuing to rage, trying to tear us apart? Or did they stop? If you just could describe that scene a little in more detail I would like it.
I'll try to respond in order:
1. Armor classes are assigned to creatures and objects as a way to determine and understand the fortitude of the creature or object. Having a high armor class does not directly correlate to the speed of a creature or an object, and it also does not correlate directly to its toughness either. in a scenario where an environmental effect, trap, or creature fails to meet a Player Character's armor class, it doesn't directly mean that the effect, trap, or creature missed the player character. It also doesn't directly mean that the effect, trap, or creature simply wasn't strong enough to do damage to the player character through their armor. this applies for player characters attempting damage to objects and creatures as well.
Some practical examples of High AC monsters: Animated armor (AC 18, DEX mod 0)- This monster has a great armor class but has a zero modifier for dexterity, and only 25ft of movement. he is slower than average so not beating his armor class probably means that you just weren't strong enough to do damage to him on your particular attack. Phoenix (AC 18, DEX mod 8)- this monster has incredible dexterity making it very fast, but not much in terms of natural armor. if you don't beat this characters AC, chances are its because your attack missed.
Some practical examples of objects and their AC determined by the Dungeon Masters Guide Pg.247:
So, despite objects not being able to move, their toughness is still determined by an armor class. When interacting with objects in game, you can assume if you make an attack on anything that the dungeon master may ask you to make an attack and damage roll. Keep in mind that although the DMG does provide a rough outline for assigning armor classes to objects, every object, and circumstance is different. knowing the stats of a particular object you're trying to interact with may reveal subsequent information such as the condition(s) applied to the object to fit your game, and would be considered spoilers, metagaming, and not permitted.
2. From the Van Richtens Guide to Ravenloft Pg. 196: Like other traps, haunted traps represent threats leveled toward trespassers. They originate in an area spontaneously, often resulting from overwhelming negative emotions, tragedy, or evil. Just as some terrible fates might cause a tormented individual to rise as an undead creature, so might supernatural evil and violent emotions manifest more generally as one or more haunted traps. To concisely answer how the trap worked: There was a trigger (walking into the room), there was an indicator that could be seen with a 10 (+2 trap bonus) passive perception (tools floating in the air), and there was the trap effect that acted as an attack on those who were subject to the traps trigger. That is how all haunted traps should work consistently in this game, and all games that are played with these rules as written.
3. I asked everyone to hold off on responding until the window attack was resolved because in order of sequence, it was:
Walking into the room
Trap Trigger
Svetlana perceived the trap
Svetlana attacked the window
Trap effect resolved and damage dealt
In my previous OOC post, I asked for the attack roll, asked for a pause until we get the attack resolved, and mentioned that in the mean-time, (since Svetlana's attack was inconsequential to the trap's attack and damage rolls) I would post the trap results. however, like I said, although we are not in combat, the order of events may be important to how everything plays out. So, I was waiting on the attack to be resolved before understanding its implications for the upcoming progression.
Now that I have your rolls: I can go ahead and explain what happens with your attack on the glass, what happens with the floating objects and how the trap dealt the damage that it dealt, and what the scenario looks like going forward.
Additionally, I did accidentally say "improvised ranged attack" Which is not a form of attack. the DMG classifies your intentions as an "Improvised thrown attack", and that's my mistake. however the rules regarding an improvised thrown attack is that the damage will be a 1d4+ STR modifier. I see you included your DEX modifier (understandably, if we were under the assumption that it was a ranged attack and not a thrown attack). your rolls were pretty nice, so well keep them unless you prefer to re-roll. however adding your STR instead of DEX will reduce your hit to 10, and your damage to 4.
I hope this answers all of your questions and serves as a good resource to everyone else if they are interested in some of the mechanics and stats we are using. My intention is to play transparently, and really create a consistent, honest, and fun environment for you guys to have a good time. If you have any more questions or comments on this topic though, please shoot me a private message. if there is any content that the other players would benefit from, I'll happily make a post on it in OOC.
Oh, sorry, let's just apply the STR modifier instead of the DEX modifier, no need to reroll (since the error was not in the roll but in the modifier), let's just apply to correct modifier. Yes, I assumed DEX was the relevant one, that's why I applied that. OK, let's go on.
Hey friends, just wanted to touch base with you all. tonight is game night for my in person group, so you'll most likely hear an update post from me tomorrow. Thanks for your patience, and it will give a little extra time for those who haven't posted, or those who would like to edit anything!
I wasn't really able to recruit successfully for extra players in this adventure, and @Saintofawe and @Hayley have both voiced their need to step away from the adventure as well, so please go read the final IC post which will conclude our adventure for now. Thank you all for participating with me, and I hope to either pick this up again sometime, continue with your characters into a new adventure, or play with each of you in something entirely new in the future! I'm currently DMing a home-brew west-marches PBP, and if anyone would like to hop in that just shoot me a message. Otherwise, I hope you all keep in touch and get an opportunity to play with me in other content soon!
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Just a check in, how's everyone doing?
@Saintofawe did mention they are/were occupied recently so we'll continue with their wishes of keeping their character behind @Painted's, and prepared for combat.
@Archsage has been AFK for 5 days, we'll give them some more time before determining what to do with their character.
If our numbers do drop below 4, what's the consensus on recruiting other players? do you want to stick with this group despite the low numbers, or would you prefer to keep the player count between 4-6 by recruiting new players?
If numbers get too low I'd advise to reopen recruitment, because, well, playing with added adversities for the characters as we are doing (with the use of the stress rule) is interesting, but adds challenge...
Adding even more challenge by short-manning the quest it could lead to our defeat - and as much fun as we could have while trying, our defeat would still be the end of our fun together.
So, my advice is reopen recruitment, if needed.
Very well said. I agree!
Noted, thank you!
Haunted trap rules:
Every haunted trap has an emanation, which might be as subtle as a drop in temperature or as overt as an object moving of its own accord. A haunted trap's emanation occurs before the trap takes effect. A character notices the emanation if their passive Wisdom (Perception) score equals or exceeds 10 + the trap's Haunt Bonus. A character who notices the haunted trap has until the start of their next turn to react, which might include fleeing to avoid the trap or attempting to disarm it
A little bit of Meta, but it was an easy copy and paste, Lol.
That being said, only @Svetlana has the ability (at the start of her next turn) to react as her passive perception was the only one to meet the trap score.
OK; I'll think about what she can do (probably just open a way out, because... how else to stop a multitude of objects from animating?). But It's not her turn yet, I suppose. Anyway, how many items are moving? Not just the shovel, since you used the plural... Are they 1-2? Or 5-6? Or 10? (Asking because 1-2 might be blocked somehow, while 10 definitely not...)
You can absolutely post your action, as you’re the only one who can make one prior to the trap. And we’ll say upward of 10+
@Svetlana go ahead and roll an improvised ranged weapon attack for throwing a ground object at the window.
Since you described your action as attempting to break the glass whether the characters move toward the door or not, I'll go ahead with the trap results in IC, just roll that attack first thing.
@Everyone in the room, please wait for your next moves until I resolve Svetlana's attack roll.
We are not in combat but in this scenario the order of events may be important. Thanks friends!
The characters are supposed to move towards the opening, in the glass, not the door, but ok, rolling IC
Thanks for the clarification! Please include a damage roll in there as well! Also, I didn’t really understand what you meant to say here in IC (“but hey... I'm teally risking not to hit... a big unmoving wall?” I might be having a brain dead moment but can you clarify? Lol
@everyone that’s a fair note to make as attacks start to happen in our game : if you ever are rolling to attack, include the potential damage roll in your post as well. That way we have all the information we need without extra posts, and if something doesn’t hit, we can just ignore the damage roll all-together.
Oh, there is a typo, it should have been "but hey... I'm really risking not to hit... a big unmoving wall?" And it was just intended as an expression of my surprise... Considering that the wall was large and still, I expected to hit it automatically. Also because... if I think about it... what AC should it reasonably have? I mean... look for example at the Gelatinous Cube... It has AC 6. One of its faces is 10' x 10' (while the wall is bigger than that) and, even if slow, the cube can move (while the wall can not). So the wall should have an even worse AC, I guess. What AC did you assign to it? 4? 2? I would have expected the shot to land automatically. But obviously it's the DM who decides, so in the meantime, fine, I did the Attack roll.
And usually yes, together with the Attack roll I also do the Damage roll, it's just that you surprised me again... The wall is made of glass... So I expected it to shatter as soon as it was hit, without the need of a damage roll. This is why I didn't add it. But, once again, ok, it's the DM who decides, so if this glass wall actually has the ability to resist the impact of a blunt object thrown at it without breaking, well, I'll add the damage roll straight away and we shall see if the damage done sufficies.
One request @DM, though, while I'm at it... When you have a moment, could you better describe how the 'trap' worked? Because I have a hard time visualizing what happened... The initial description is very evocative, with the objects starting to move, the door closing...
But then you only posted attacks and damage...
What is it that did the attack? The objects, right? But there were 10+ of them, you told... while there were just 3 attacks rolled... (And, mind me, I'm fine with that! I'm not asking you for another 7 attacks against us - but I want to be able to imagine the scene well). What happened? Did the objects form three 'creatures' or three 'swarms' and attack us? Or just 3 attacked while the other object are still moving, as if preparing to join the fray? And did they attack as if, for example, an invisible warrior was maneuvering them - approaching us and then striking a blow? Or as if they were launched by a telekinetic force (a poltergeist-like effect)? And after they attacked... are they continuing to rage, trying to tear us apart? Or did they stop?
If you just could describe that scene a little in more detail (perhaps with a new IC post) I would like it.
I'll try to respond in order:
1. Armor classes are assigned to creatures and objects as a way to determine and understand the fortitude of the creature or object. Having a high armor class does not directly correlate to the speed of a creature or an object, and it also does not correlate directly to its toughness either. in a scenario where an environmental effect, trap, or creature fails to meet a Player Character's armor class, it doesn't directly mean that the effect, trap, or creature missed the player character. It also doesn't directly mean that the effect, trap, or creature simply wasn't strong enough to do damage to the player character through their armor. this applies for player characters attempting damage to objects and creatures as well.
Some practical examples of High AC monsters:
Animated armor (AC 18, DEX mod 0)- This monster has a great armor class but has a zero modifier for dexterity, and only 25ft of movement. he is slower than average so not beating his armor class probably means that you just weren't strong enough to do damage to him on your particular attack.
Phoenix (AC 18, DEX mod 8)- this monster has incredible dexterity making it very fast, but not much in terms of natural armor. if you don't beat this characters AC, chances are its because your attack missed.
Some practical examples of objects and their AC determined by the Dungeon Masters Guide Pg.247:
Cloth, paper, rope: AC11
Crystal, glass, ice: AC13
Iron, steel: AC19
Adamantine: AC23
So, despite objects not being able to move, their toughness is still determined by an armor class.
When interacting with objects in game, you can assume if you make an attack on anything that the dungeon master may ask you to make an attack and damage roll. Keep in mind that although the DMG does provide a rough outline for assigning armor classes to objects, every object, and circumstance is different. knowing the stats of a particular object you're trying to interact with may reveal subsequent information such as the condition(s) applied to the object to fit your game, and would be considered spoilers, metagaming, and not permitted.
2. From the Van Richtens Guide to Ravenloft Pg. 196:
Like other traps, haunted traps represent threats leveled toward trespassers. They originate in an area spontaneously, often resulting from overwhelming negative emotions, tragedy, or evil. Just as some terrible fates might cause a tormented individual to rise as an undead creature, so might supernatural evil and violent emotions manifest more generally as one or more haunted traps.
To concisely answer how the trap worked: There was a trigger (walking into the room), there was an indicator that could be seen with a 10 (+2 trap bonus) passive perception (tools floating in the air), and there was the trap effect that acted as an attack on those who were subject to the traps trigger. That is how all haunted traps should work consistently in this game, and all games that are played with these rules as written.
3. I asked everyone to hold off on responding until the window attack was resolved because in order of sequence, it was:
In my previous OOC post, I asked for the attack roll, asked for a pause until we get the attack resolved, and mentioned that in the mean-time, (since Svetlana's attack was inconsequential to the trap's attack and damage rolls) I would post the trap results. however, like I said, although we are not in combat, the order of events may be important to how everything plays out. So, I was waiting on the attack to be resolved before understanding its implications for the upcoming progression.
Now that I have your rolls:
I can go ahead and explain what happens with your attack on the glass, what happens with the floating objects and how the trap dealt the damage that it dealt, and what the scenario looks like going forward.
Additionally, I did accidentally say "improvised ranged attack" Which is not a form of attack. the DMG classifies your intentions as an "Improvised thrown attack", and that's my mistake. however the rules regarding an improvised thrown attack is that the damage will be a 1d4+ STR modifier. I see you included your DEX modifier (understandably, if we were under the assumption that it was a ranged attack and not a thrown attack). your rolls were pretty nice, so well keep them unless you prefer to re-roll. however adding your STR instead of DEX will reduce your hit to 10, and your damage to 4.
I hope this answers all of your questions and serves as a good resource to everyone else if they are interested in some of the mechanics and stats we are using. My intention is to play transparently, and really create a consistent, honest, and fun environment for you guys to have a good time.
If you have any more questions or comments on this topic though, please shoot me a private message. if there is any content that the other players would benefit from, I'll happily make a post on it in OOC.
@Svetlana, @Rufus, @Rhykal can take a turn with their next Constitution save roll!
Oh, sorry, let's just apply the STR modifier instead of the DEX modifier, no need to reroll (since the error was not in the roll but in the modifier), let's just apply to correct modifier. Yes, I assumed DEX was the relevant one, that's why I applied that. OK, let's go on.
@Rufus yes you can take a turn. Sorry!
Hey friends, just wanted to touch base with you all. tonight is game night for my in person group, so you'll most likely hear an update post from me tomorrow. Thanks for your patience, and it will give a little extra time for those who haven't posted, or those who would like to edit anything!
Neat, what are you playing?
We’re playing through the legendary edition of curse of Strahd!
Cool! I am playing through that as a player in an in-person game, too. We're only level 3.
We have made it to Vallaki and are navigating the conflict between the Burgomaster and Lady Wachter. Not sure who we'll throw in for...
Hey friends.
I wasn't really able to recruit successfully for extra players in this adventure, and @Saintofawe and @Hayley have both voiced their need to step away from the adventure as well, so please go read the final IC post which will conclude our adventure for now. Thank you all for participating with me, and I hope to either pick this up again sometime, continue with your characters into a new adventure, or play with each of you in something entirely new in the future! I'm currently DMing a home-brew west-marches PBP, and if anyone would like to hop in that just shoot me a message. Otherwise, I hope you all keep in touch and get an opportunity to play with me in other content soon!