Zombies and Crooks (DM:Mal Malenkirk Judge: Covaithe )

The Fisherman's Alley market had sprung illegally in the most convenient location; it was officially a public square dedicated to Arek Steelsheath, one of the Five, the heroic swordmistress. A magnifient statue, 20 feet high, still reminded everyone of the place's original purpose. But the location was ideally located near to the docks and on a well travelled street toward the heart of the city and so soon vendors and peddlers were squatting the square. No effort to clear the square had ever been successful and soon the authorities just gave up. Now it was a sprawling affair with stands and tent everywhere and a thick crowd that made navigating the area difficult at best.

It was bordered by worn out apartment buildings that rented cheap due to the persistent odour of fish driving down the value. This was a problem that Harann, a somewhat well known elderly retired adventurer, had used to his advantage. The sophisticated and cunning half-orc barbarian had bought for cheap a location near the market and had opened a restaurant without kitchens! His waiters had arrangements with the nearby vendors. He even mitigated the odour problem with the use of a curious enchanted statue of a sea gull that acted on the mind of people to convince them they were smelling and hearing the sea. His ancient partners had thought he was crazy to claim it as part of his loot instead of an enchanted weapon, but now he enjoyed a much more prosperous retirement then they did. He had named his establishment, logically enough, the Raging Sea Gull.

[sblock]
Okay, why are you in Fisherman’s alley? Obviously I spent so much time describing the Sea Gull because it is a good option. We likely have a few of the PCs who are simply enjoying one of the more unusual restaurant in the city, and one serving damn fine sea food to boot.

Of course, most of you are almost broke and it’s a lot cheaper to buy the same food from the stands without paying extra for the service and ambiance. Some of you are probably just wandering in the market for that reason.

Speaking of almost broke; surely at least one of you could simply be living in an apartment nearby and be home. They are dirt cheap and nobody really lives in the Hanging Man Tavern, no matter how it may seem at time!

If none of these reasons appeal to you (You aren’t broke and you don’t eat fish), you can simply be passing through. The market is near a busy street.

Do not all choose the same option, I want you scattered accross the map at the beginning.

Maximum of 3 in the Sea Gull, 2 living in the appartments, 2 shopping in the market and 2 passing through (Yeah, that's more than 6, I know, I don't want to completely dictate distribution either)

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1 Montroya (EvolutionKB) Deva Invoker 1
2 Matlal Atzintli (Ecce) Human Barbarian 1
3 Tor (powerofbaka), longtooth shifter ranger
4 Mesa (Stringbean2142) Razorclaw Shifter Druid (Unaligned)
5 Jarel-karn (Velmont) , Genasi Swordmage
6 Andrec (Tomolak), Warlord 1

You can start posting IC to describe what your PC is doing.


[/sblock]

Mesa makes his way throught the busy street, weaving in and out of the crowd. He'd found that the best way to move through a crowd has to treat the people in it as mobile trees in the forest. Big trees, he thinks, looking at the sheer size of one passing half-orc. Finding the building his brother Thorn had told him about, he goes inside.

Now, what was that woman's name? The name has completely passed outside his mind, so he instead simply yells, "Hello? Is anyone here? I was told you had rooms for rent."

[sblock=OOC]It's not living in an apartment, but this would still qualify under the "in an apartment building," right? If not, let me know and I'll move back into the street prior to the attack/explosion/whatever.

Also, while I'm unaligned there's three really good reasons Mesa will see this through to the end. Well, two, with a potential third if you want to throw it in. First, he's curious about the world outside his little family, so if it's a bit of a mystery what's happening, he'll go along just to find out. Second, he's a druid, and sees things like undead and abberrations as unnatural and therefore worth destroying. Third, he dotes on children. If a child is hurt, or even threatened, by what happens, he'll do what he can to protect them. But for that, you'd need to introduce a child. If you want to, I'll play it up, but I think even without the other two he'll be properly motivated to go through with the adventure.[/sblock]

[sblock=Mesa stat block]Mesa- Male Razorclaw Shifter Druid 1
Passive Perception: 19, Passive Insight: 19
AC:16, Fort:12, Reflex:14, Will:15 -- Speed:7
HP:26/26, Bloodied:13, Surge Value:6, Surges left:9/9
Action Points: 1, Second Wind: not used
Powers
Wild Shape, Grasping Claws, Storm Spike, Chill Wind
Razorclaw Shifting, Cull the Herd
Fires of Life
[/sblock]

Matlal went down the street after Montroya, probably slowing the Deva down a bit as he eyed the fish for something he might recognize. Not particularly satisfied, he finally came upon The Raging Seagull. If any establishment would be able to sate his hunger, it'd probably be here. " 'Eya Mont'oya, I gonna stop 'ere, ja can go in wit' I or keep tryin' ta find somet'ing else. Bet I be seein' ja soon eidda way." (Foreshadowing?!?!) He heads inside and finds himself seated at a table, pondering his order.

To Matlal the restaurant seemed to smell like an overpriced ocean breeze scented candle, how soothing.

Aimlessly exploring the area Tor finds himself entering the Fisherman's alley market. The crowd seem to press in on him as he attempts to move through the market and he almost decides to forget this place until his eye catches the 20 ft tall statue and he moves forward to admire it.

As he finds himself closer to the statue he admires it with a smile. Pondering the kinds of deeds he would need to accomplish to get one of him made.

"Yes go ahead," Montroya says to Matlal. "I'll go to my apartment, I've got some food there."

The streets were crowded, and still a bit different than what he was used to. Montroya had spent much time in nature, and the throngs of people here in the city made him uneasy.

New in the city, he was still able to find a cheap place to live. It was an apartment, full of fleas...and worse, but it was a roof over his head even if it leaked. The woman he rented from didn't come around much(no surprise), and he wasn't surprised to see a new customer waiting for her to show up. It was the shifter from the tavern. "Hello, I am Montroya. The owner isn't around much, but I can tell her she has somebody that wants to talk to her."

[SBLOCK=OOC to Mal]I would like to join. My main problem at the moment is both character are under approval as I just retired Trevor.

I have Feyr, a Bladeling Invoker from Surtyr. He could easily be there to buy some food, after all, he is from a coastal region and fish would be among his everyday food.

Invoker: L4WC:Feyr (Velmont - ENWiki)

I have Jarel-karn, a Genasi Swordmage. He could be there for various of reason. His role seems more appropriate as there is already 2 controller, but there is one major bogus. I have chosen some Arcane Power powers and AP will become avalaible only in a few days, so I'm not sure how judges would see that to see an unapproved character entering a game with unavailable powers in his list. Maybe I could just not use them until they are apporved, or switch them to avaliable powers.

Swordmage: L4WC:Jarel-karn (Velmont - ENWiki)

Tell me who you would prefer to see. Personally, I don't mind.[/SBLOCK]

Mesa turns as the deva enters. "I'd appreciate ye doing that." He pauses, his head cocking sideways like a house cat invetigating a curious new animal. He had never actually seen a deva before today, first in the tavern and now here. From what little he knew of them, he knew they were rare.

"Ye were in the tavern, no? I remember seeing ye there when I first came in. My name's Mesa. Ye live here? It seems..." He glances around, a grin playing acrossed his face. "Well, I honestly seen wolves' dens more inviting, but I'm told it's cheap, and for me cheap is good. How do ye find it?" Mesa tries to casually lean up against the wall, but he was used to open forests, not the narrow corridors here. He could feel his back want to bunch up at the lack of personal space he had in Daunton. Get used to it, he thought, ye've a year at least before going home.

Edit: Apparently, I can't spell. Sorry about that, I've fixed what I found.

[sblock=Velmont]The defender is much better, obviously. Do whatever you have to do to make him workable, ditch the non-legal powers and retrain them later if necessary. There is already an invoker and you would steal each other's thunder. Litterally.

I have also received a PM from a player of a warlord so it looks like this group might be balanced, after all![/sblock]

[sblock=OOC]
Location:

Mesa and Montroya are in the same Appartment blocks (Pretty clever, that, Evo...)

Matlal is eating at the Raging Sea Gull

Tor is gawking at the pretty statue like a tourirst

When we have located the last two members of our group, people can start screaming.
[/sblock]

[sblock=Rules]While we are waiting, I'll say a few words on how I run fights.

1 - I roll all initiatives. Waiting two days before everyone has had the chance to roll theirs is a waste of time.

2 - I roll a single initiative for my bad guys and play them all in the same turn. It loses some of the tabletop experience but it plays a lot faster than individual initiative.

3 - If you haven't posted your PC's action in two days, I usually run your PC at some point late in the third day of inactivity. Warn me in advance if you don't believe you can post for more than two days.

And the biggest...

4 - I don't care in what initiative order you post; your action takes place at exactly the moment you post and as long as you only act once per round, it's all good.

The initiative in practice is only relevant once; the very first round.

Let's say initiative is:

Mesa 22
Matlal 17
BAD GUYS 16
Tor 12
Montroya 9
Andrec 8
Jarel Karn 5

That means Mesa and Matlal get to act before the BGs. I don't care in what order! If Matlal log in the thread before Mesa, don't wait, act first!

Once they have both acted, I play all of the Bad Guys.

Then everyone act, in whatever order.

It is possible that Mesa and Matlal will log on the thread before Tor, Montroya, Andrec and Jarel Karn have all acted. It doesn't matter, they can act! Once all 6 of PCs have acted (and acted only once, of course!), I run bad guys and then it's once more your turn. That simple.

I repeat; your actions take place when you post. Should you want to delay, then simply wait for the others to post.

It is very common when you play that way for a player to log last in a turn and then be the first to log back after I have updated the fight and played the BGs. This leads to a PC acting almost back to back. It matters little; in the end he still has acted only once in either round.

This saves a lot of time especially because most players can't log on the thread thrice a day to see if it's their turn yet. If you log on at any time after I have run the BGs turn you are free to post without waiting for your buddies to act in order.

Two frequent rules issues arise from this practice:

1 - What about effects that last 'until the end of PC's X turn'?

Often a leader will grant a bonus to someone else 'until the end of the leader's turn'. This will usually be interpreted as 'Until the end of the target's turn' instead. Good old common sense. The target doesn't lose the bonus if the leader act before him and doesn't gain TWO turns of using the bonus if he manages to act twice before the leader acts again.

2 - What about PCs who purposefully delay taking their turn in order to give a chance to their allies to grant them a free save?

Ongoing damage and others conditions effect occurs at the beggining of your turn. If you know someone might grant you a free save (leaders can often do that) before you act, it may save you damage or avoid a stun effect to purposefully delay taking your turn, giving a chance for the other PCs to help you... That's cool. I don't mind. It just increases the value of team work which is a good thing.

Everything else, I play by ear.

---

Playing that way, I once completed a fight in 4 days. Don't believe me? Check out this thread.

Of course, I think we were all on crack that week. We didn't maintain that insane rate of post for every fight! If you just post about once every two days we should be able to complete 3 rounds a week and still be flying faster than 90% of PbP games.
[/sblock]

[SBLOCK=OOC]I'll switch my two powers tomorrow morning.[/SBLOCK]