Also, quick question: We're involved with a merc company. Is there a rank structure? Among us here, who is in charge?

Ah, heck, why not roll some more dice

Nature: 9

Yes, the war had left the government resource-starved and fragile and the emperor dying without a clear successor or even two or three successors to choose from led to the collapse of the imperial government.

There are a number of ways that someone can become the new emperor, but they all involve being able to consolidate enough power that one can declare oneself the emperor without anyone being able to meaningfully dissent. It's a big King of the Hill game.



The company is the four of you. Your structure is up to you all.

I just remembered! We have to determine how we want to approach natural 1s and 20s. The only standard rule on them is that a natural 20 on an attack roll is a critical hit.

I prefer natural 20s on ability checks to not be automatic successes and natural 1s on attack and ability checks to trigger a saving throw. On failure, the roll becomes a fumble, aka critical failure. What do you people think?

I'm okay with that. Personally I've never liked the 'auto 20 = auto success' house-rule.

Meh, I don't care much either way about crits and fumbles.

As for company structure, we are small enough that it probably makes sense for us not to have a formal command structure. It is hard to hold a leadership role when there is no chance for distance between you and your followers. Maybe we have an informal voting system in place when we have disagreements though, and a tiebreaker method in place?

re: Crit Fumbles

How is the DC for the save determined? In general, I am not a huge fan of crit fumbles, but I have no problem playing with them.

re: Voting

I'm cool with that. Tiebreaker based on chance, perhaps? My character is walking around with dice, if I'm not mistaken.

Actually, thinking about it, it would not be a save but a reroll of the attack or ability check. I am thinking this:

• If a creature rolls a natural 1 on an attack roll or an ability check, that creature rerolls that attack or ability check, aiming to hit the same AC or DC.
• If the reroll is successful, there is no fumble. The creature may still succeed on the original roll (such as if the natural 1 is modified enough to hit the AC or DC).
• If the reroll fails or is a natural 1, there is a fumble, meaning a negative effect as determined by the DM.

So, you can get randomly screwed by a natural 1, but the easier the original roll was, the easier it is to avoid a fumble.

The other thing I am interested in is a 'variant' from the DMG, where if a player fails an attack roll or ability check by ~1, the DM may bump it up so that the AC/DC is hit, but with a minor setback. Like, your sword swing manages to hit but you lose your balance and your movement is halved for a turn. This won't always apply but if people are open to it, I'll use it from time to time.

I really should have remembered to ask all this before starting.

Okay, gettin' all of the bad rolls out of the way at the beginning. Not a problem... *sigh*

DS: It's my intention that Sai is moving ahead, down the steps, trying to stay ahead of the lantern's light, being all stealthy and stuff.

got it

Huzzah! I was right! They are hopping vampires. Brilliant.

Question for the party: are we the kind of mercenary company that is good and trustworthy, or backstabbing our own contractors is not out of the realm of possibilities?

Well I for one am all about the honour system so when I give my word I tend to mean it - especially if the contract in question was given to fellow religious types.

Of course that said if our contract was given in bad faith or our contractors tried to betray us I wouldn't be opposed to running them through. Pretty sure word of honour doesn't count when given to dishonourable men.

Regarding the chest: You all have bags, presumably, to carry the money. You can abandon the chest at any time by taking a few minutes to distribute the money amongst yourselves. You can also just put your chest in one of your bags or strap it to a bag.

The statue can also be stowed in a bag.

Okay, can I get a party order here? Who is in front? Everyone is now at the top of the steps leading down from the hall you're in, by the corpses.

I will be in front of the party of three with my lantern, no weapon drawn. I believe we have a scout ahead though.

Cool, that's what I thought. And is Wu Hon Yin or Chen Wu pulling up in back?

I'll bring up the rear.

I am scouting 30` ahead of the party.