Absalom Abberations - A Pathfinder Society Tale

Game Master Brian Minhinnick

Cladissa studies the man without expression. Once he concludes his story, she goes to the pile of belongings and picks up the ring. With a word and gesture, she brings up her ability to see magical auras and studies the ring.

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (13) + 22 = 35

She turns back to regard him. "Hestram hired you? No third-party, no go-between?"

She turns her head to regard Argor's new familiar. "You've recorded that confession, haven't you? We don't need him any more."

Though the room had been warming up, she felt ice flowing through her veins. Keel was one of the Ten, but also a slaver. She didn't mourn for him in the least. His assassin, now, was here in front of her. An assassin who, if she let him go, would no doubt kill again.

"A job. Mr. Soth, your work is murder. How could we in good conscience let you return to your work?"

Argor saw a strong aura of transmutation and conjuration on the ring before with his arcane sight. That being said...

The ring appears to have lost any magic it once held. It is now a simple band of iron, with a single twist in it and tiny infernal script running around it. The infernal describes the pact between Soth and Xerazrix in simplified terms.

She turns back to regard him. "Hestram hired you? No third-party, no go-between?"

She turns her head to regard Argor's new familiar. "You've recorded that confession, haven't you? We don't need him any more."

Though the room had been warming up, she felt ice flowing through her veins. Keel was one of the Ten, but also a slaver. She didn't mourn for him in the least. His assassin, now, was here in front of her. An assassin who, if she let him go, would no doubt kill again.

"A job. Mr. Soth, your work is murder. How could we in good conscience let you return to your work?"

"Yeah, like I said, a big Ulfen man who called himself Hestram. No go betweens. I found out he was a Pathfinder with a little asking around after we met. Seemed a bit strange for a Society type to be hiring out against his own, but who am I to question?"

"I mean, what do you want me to say, lady? Yeah, I kill for money. So what? You kill for a Society of artifact collectors whenever the person whose artifact you want fights back. It's not like people hire Daggermark assassins to take out babies and innocent civilians. If someone who can afford one of us wants to kill you, there's a damned good chance you have it coming. Like Sir Slaves-A-Lot you're standing in there. Half the blades in the guild are former halfling slaves from this gods forsaken kingdom. If he didn't need to be dustmans, I dunno who does."

"I should also point out that as a high ranking member of the Daggermark Assassins Guild, if you should choose to dust me here there is a good chance that sticks a 'kill me' sign on your backs for the rest of your lives." Soth grins. "Hells, you all did me a solid with that devil. I'd even be willing to swear that I'll never take out contract on another Pathfinder again if you let me go. Or turn me over to the authorities if you must be so high and mighty. But whack me now, naked and tied up, and you just turn yourself into a hypocrite."

Cladissa's eyes narrow. "You possess a great many misconceptions about me and my work. But I'm not going to debate with you."

She thinks to the others, ::I've half a mind to turn him to stone so he won't make mischief while we decide what to do with him. Any thoughts on that?::

::I am afraid my geas will not allow me to take part in this, as the laws of the land here, my own morality, and the laws of Abadar would become too conflicted. I will trust in your decision, darling.::

Argor moves to examine the secret chamber, ”Thrassk, would you join me?”

"Yesss," Thrassk says, pausing to smack the assasin lightly upside the back of his head as he passes Soth. "Assssshole...." he mutters.

A secret door behind Keel’s bed leads to a small treasure chamber. Hanging on the wall is a finely done portrait of a fair-haired Taldan woman in a crushed velvet dress, a braid of her hair resting on the frame. A gold ring with Kyalla’s name inscribed along the inside hangs from the wall on a thin silver chain.

Argor sees a strong (nearly overwhelming) aura of Conjuration on the painting.

Volyanni sees the portrait and gasps. "That's Kyalla! Forget this stupid assassin, he doesn't matter. We have to go to the Expanse and make sure Kyalla is okay. Please, I'm begging you. I've already failed her once..." She starts to cry.

Sounding defeated she goes on to herself, "Hestram is already two steps ahead of us. Oh Kyalla...what has he done to you?"

”I believe the painting is the portal. But let us make sure there is nothing else here we could put to use,” Argor says as he quickly scams the room. He collects the band, adding ”I am certain she would want the wedding band returned, if nothing else.”

K. Religion: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (4) + 21 = 25
Perception: 1d20 + 26 ⇒ (16) + 26 = 42

Argor's confidence in her and his term of affection cause a jolt to run through Cladissa and she snaps her head in his direction. She blinks, then through sheer force of will refocuses back to Soth.

She glares at him while furiously working on the prisoner dilemma. Turning him in to the Chelaxian authorities was both the simplest, and the most complex, since it put Soth out of her control and into a very uncertain fate. Furthermore, it would signal the very fact that Keel was dead, and for the sake of the slaves of the household and beyond, it might be wise to keep up the ruse that he still lived.

Since killing him outright was not an option to her, it left either taking him at his word that he would no longer take contracts on Pathfinders -- something that could save lives, but there was no protection for non-Pathfinders -- or turning him to stone while she sorted out her options.

Volyanni's distress from the other room breaks into her contemplation. She nods in the naga's direction. "Did you or any of your brethren take any additional contracts from Hestram? Speak quickly."

"I didn't. I'd have to put out feelers to see if anyone else had, but I haven't heard any rumors to that effect. I kind of doubt it, we're very expensive...Most Pathfinders are too pedestrian to be worth hiring one of us, when a couple of lesser blades would do," Soth replies.

Cladissa frowns, thinking. Why would Hestram go to the expense, then, for this Decemvirate?

She pinches her brow as the mysteries and puzzles mounted. She looks up after a moment. "Rysus Soth of Daggermark. You have slain a Pathfinder and a noble of high station here in Cheliax. You know if I were to turn you in to the authorities for his murder, the Chelish government would not be kind in its punishment.

"I've considered your offer. If you swear to never take on a contract upon a Pathfinder, a citizen of Absalom, or a citizen of Galt, either personally or by proxy, I will release you from our custody. Refuse this offer, and you will face whatever Cheliax calls justice."

"Spider Lady, I swear to never take out contract on a Pathfinder, a citizen of Absalom or Galt again, in thanks for your mercy and the killing of Xerazrix," Soth says, no hint of mockery in his voice. He looks Cladissa in the eye and bows his head to her.

She leans in, violet eyes leaking energy. "A wise decision. Now get out of my sight." She extends her arachnoid limbs to effect the most unnerving experience she could manage in releasing him from her webbing.

She watches steadily as he leaves, then steps inside the secret room, trembling in fervent hope she made the correct decision.

Soth grabs his stuff and waves goodbye as he quickly leaves the manor before anyone can change their minds.

Volyanni restrains herself from further outbursts, but as soon as he is gone, she says, "Let's go through the portal and make sure Kyalla is okay!"

Cladissa forces away her anxiety over Soth and focused on the portal. "Let's go. Gianluca, would you lead the way?"

Unless it matters what order we go through, I don't think we should waste any time trying to figure that out.

The beast who is Grommesson watches his icons work through the new information absorbing the experience through the bottleneck of a brute. When Cladissa asks Gianluca to lead the way, the beast moves toward the painting to try to go first.

Did I see healing go around after the last fight? Need 31 HP

Volyanni offered. We should all get to full before going through.

Gianluca sees Grommesson's eagerness to lead the way and steps in behind him. "Careful, my friend. I'll be right behind you."

Feel free to roll CLW on yourself until full. Adrenia could be doing that in the background. Will use charges off of my CLW Wand first. So throw as many as you need and I’ll deduct it once you are done.

CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9

6. Now, he has a reason to buy a CLW

Cladissa jumps through, taking her broom in hand. Cole flies through right along with her.

CLW: 7d8 + 7 ⇒ (5, 6, 1, 3, 7, 5, 2) + 7 = 36

7 charges for me.

Passing through the portal proves to be as easy as stepping through a doorway. Upon stepping from the portal — a framed portrait much like the one they entered in Cheliax — their lungs fill with foul smelling smoke. As their eyes grow accustomed to the thick air, the Pathfinders find themselves in a smoke-filled wicker hut, looking out a doorway at a cyclopean monolith in the shape of an upraised six-fingered hand several dozen yards away.

The painting is of Eddington Keel, and has been slashed to ribbons. This structure shows clear signs of struggle and ransacking: the contents of several chests have been emptied onto the bed and the floor, and a mirror on a small dressing table has been shattered. Rudimentary scrawls and handprints in blood and mud cover the interior south wall.

Charges thus far deducted.

Argor is about to call out to slow Cladissa’s advance, but is forced to just chase after her through the painting. ”The portal is the painting! Everyone advance quickly! Someone grab some of Keel’s remains!”

”Odd markings. And ominous...” Argor says before hovering outside and looking for further clues. He also looks back to the painting to see if it radiates magic as the other had.

Linguistics: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (15) + 17 = 32

"That really doesn't sound good."

Through the acrid smoke, Cladissa tests the scent of the strewn belongings within the hut and commits it to memory.

Then she checks the blood to determine how long it's been since it was smeared on the walls.
Heal: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (9) + 14 = 23

Cladissa - The blood is a few days old at least.

The hut is too small for the whole group to fit inside. Some of the Pathfinders are forced to move out into the camp as others come through the portal. Thrassk stops to scoop up some of Keel before crossing over.

****

I changed over the Roll20 map.

This must have been Kyalla's camp. The wicker huts all have thatched vine roofs and packed earth floors; their windows and doors are covered by tanned hides hanging loose from the tops of their frames. Acrid smoke fills the air in the entire camp making it difficult to see it all at once. A seven foot diameter wicker wreath stands at an angle behind Kyalla’s hut, mere feet from a large lake. While it once stood perpendicular to the ground, it has been knocked askew.

M1

The hut you came in, described above.

M2-5

These small structures were more heavily damaged by fire than Kyalla’s hut was, though recent strong rain has extinguished the flames. Each contains a few dead humanoid bodies that the group easily identify as Pathfinders by their gear. The hut marked M5 on the map also contains the body of a cultist of Angazhan, like those the group fought in the Maze under Condira's control - Hestram's former minions.

M6

The southern wall of this hut is gone, destroyed in the attack. The interior of the hut is soggy from the recent downpour. A shelf containing waterlogged books stands against the north wall; most of the books themselves were knocked into the mud in the fracas. A table in the center of the building has been upended and now rests on its side, its contents strewn across the floor.

The cultists have stripped the huts and the dead of treasure, and any remaining valuable items in the camp have been damaged beyond salvaging by fire.

M7

There is a huge statue in the center of the camp. The Monkey’s Paw rises sixty feet into the air and replicates the forearm and hand of a six-fingered simian creature. The tip of each finger features the visage of a different species of ape formed from the exaggerated folds of each fingerprint. Their eyes seem to stare at the Pathfinders, following them as they move about. The shape of a symbol-engraved bracer surrounds the base of the statue, climbing from the ground to the base of the giant hand’s wrist.

****

Volyanni slithers out into the mud and ash taking in the camp's destruction. She keeps repeating, "No, no, no, no, no..." going to each Pathfinder's corpse and calling them by name. She flits about in horror until she ends up just standing in the center of the camp, in the shadow of the statue. She stares down at her hands and weeps inconsolably.

K. Arcana: 1d20 + 29 ⇒ (11) + 29 = 40
Perception 1: 1d20 + 26 ⇒ (1) + 26 = 27
Perception 2: 1d20 + 26 ⇒ (10) + 26 = 36
Linguistics: 1d20 + 29 ⇒ (15) + 29 = 44

Wreath

”Hmmm, we will need to find the means to deactivate this to return to the Lodge...”

M6

”Cladissa...” Argor mutters to her as he hands her the field notes, ”She was here.”

M7

”Hmmmm, Abyssal and I believe Polyglot, blended into its own language. Intriguing.”

DC 15 Perception: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (11) + 14 = 25
DC 20 Perception: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (20) + 14 = 34
DC 35 Perception: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (8) + 14 = 22

The beast wanders around the devastation of the camp looking for threats.

Gianluca goes to Volyanni and puts a hand on her back. "I'm terribly sorry. I wish we had been able to get here sooner.

"Do you see signs of Kyalla here? Or sign of her absence? If there's a chance she's still alive we must make haste."

As the group looks around, Gianluca exclaims, "Hey! Isn't this some sort of door, hidden in these runes?"

Perception DC20: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (10) + 22 = 32
Perception DC35: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (14) + 22 = 36

Volyanni slithers out into the mud and ash taking in the camp's destruction. She keeps repeating, "No, no, no, no, no..." going to each Pathfinder's corpse and calling them by name. She flits about in horror until she ends up just standing in the center of the camp, in the shadow of the statue. She stares down at her hands and weeps inconsolably.

That's an amazing talent for a naga. Or is she so grief-stricken that she's seeing things?

Perception: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (15) + 17 = 32

Cladissa notes the way the Pathfinders died. "Spear wounds, mostly. Though some were ripped apart by something of great strength. Likely by that giant ape or something similar," she says softly.

Cladissa skims quickly through the journal. Color drains from her face and she finds her mouth going suddenly dry. But then she looks up with a faint glimmer of hope. "It just said she was part of the research team. So maybe...?"

Volyanni's grief catches her attention. "Hey, I know this is hard, but did you see Kyalla's body? If not, maybe there's some hope. And we've already killed a lot of the cultists and their giant beast. So let's see about tracking the rest of them down."

She checks the area for tracks to see where the attackers would have gone. Survival: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (4) + 12 = 16

Guess I accidentally deleted it, but I failed the third perception check in my initial post.

Argor re-examines the statue, then arches an eyebrow at Gianluca. ”Good eye.”

Linguistics: 1d20 + 29 ⇒ (17) + 29 = 46

Looking it over, he mutters to himself, ”A rune puzzle lock. Interesting. Give me a moment...” as he begins working the riddle out in his head, making sure to stand a few feet away from the statue just in case of wards or traps.

Gianluca goes to Volyanni and puts a hand on her back. "I'm terribly sorry. I wish we had been able to get here sooner.

"Do you see signs of Kyalla here? Or sign of her absence? If there's a chance she's still alive we must make haste."

"Yes...you're right. Kyalla's not here, she might still be alive. I'm sorry for losing control of myself. It's just so awful..."

That's an amazing talent for a naga. Or is she so grief-stricken that she's seeing things?

Maybe I'm being dense, but I honestly don't know what you mean. What talent?

Volyanni's grief catches her attention. "Hey, I know this is hard, but did you see Kyalla's body? If not, maybe there's some hope. And we've already killed a lot of the cultists and their giant beast. So let's see about tracking the rest of them down."

Kyalla nods at Cladissa. "Yes, we must not lose hope."

Argor works out the rune puzzle in his head, and then presses the tiles in the correct order to open the door. A gust of stale air escapes from the long sealed chamber as the door sinks into the wall and slides to the side, revealing a low stone altar against the small room’s back wall. A rose stone gorilla idol with yellow jade tusks and garnet-red eyes sits atop the altar amid a pile of small gems and ancient gold coins.

Argor immediately notices a moderate aura of enchantment surrounding the idol.

Perception: 1d20 + 26 ⇒ (10) + 26 = 36

”It appears to be an altar of monetary offerings. The idol itself radiates some modicum of magic. Whether it belongs to the Arcane trap enchanting it or not I cannot differentiate at this time,” Argor says bluntly. ”I could summon something to acquire it for us, once this is all over with, should we prove ineffective at breaking the wards.”

Does it appear a Dispel Magic could remove the trap?

It would work if you rolled high enough.

Volyanni comes up and takes a look. "Vile thing," she says before using her magic to try to dispel whatever the trap is.

Caster level check: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26

Argor sees the aura of enchantment flicker and wink out. Now there is no magic in the hidden room.

DM Jelani wrote:

Volyanni slithers out into the mud and ash taking in the camp's destruction. She keeps repeating, "No, no, no, no, no..." going to each Pathfinder's corpse and calling them by name. She flits about in horror until she ends up just standing in the center of the camp, in the shadow of the statue. She stares down at her hands and weeps inconsolably.

She's a naga. A naga. Sorry, I'm being cheeky. ;-P

"Well done," Cladissa says, not really specifying if she's speaking to Argor or Volyanni. She continues with the group to further explore.

Any signs that the cultists are further inside?

There is no further inside.

The Monkey’s Paw’s secret sanctuary is barely ten feet square and is apparently dedicated to a long-lost sect of Angazhan worship based on transforming humans into apes.

Cladissa's above survival role wasn't good enough.

"Their tracks might be hidden in this messss. Perhapsss we ssshould take the time to sssearch sssystematically around the camp for tracesss of the cultistsss."

K. Geography: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (13) + 22 = 35

”Kyalla’s notes indicate a cave system used by cultists nearby. I should be able to get us there thanks to her records. But indeed, search for more clues and a true trail to confirm, first.”

Survival: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (6) + 12 = 18 I'm pretty sure I'm allowed to retry.
Survival: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (6) + 12 = 18
Survival: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (17) + 12 = 29

Making sense of the impressions in the mud eludes Cladissa for a bit. She mutters, "Drat!" and, "Confound it!" softly as she encounters dead ends.

Finally, after a couple minutes searching, she finds a set of tracks that goes off into the jungle.

"Nice work!

"Shall we see if those tracks lead off to that cave system?"

Voylanni says, "You all go ahead, I'm going to stay here in case anyone comes to the camp. I need some time to come to terms with all this..."

After a short hike through the jungle, following the cultists' trail, the group comes to the area where the caves should be. The trail ends, becoming too muddled by frequent traffic to follow.

Perception: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (3) + 15 = 18

Perception: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (11) + 17 = 28

Cladissa points and thinks to the others, ::There, behind those vines. I think I'll climb up and come at them from the side::

::Sounds good. I'll be ready to move in on your signal::

It's a small entrance it looks like (about 10' across). Hard to see where it goes with the vines and height difference. So, the plan is for Cladissa to climb up alone?

Argor can fly along with her. Or invisibility sphere us again.

I'm ready to lead us into the next module as soon as you guys are. I'm thinking I'll generally put 1d4 weeks of downtime between each scenario.

In this case 1d4 ⇒ 1 week. So go ahead and RP until you are content, and post a week's worth of in character actions/purchases.

I don't need to know every time your character went to the bathroom or Singh's Shawarma, but a montage from each of you would be nice. Don't forget that a few people might recognize you on the street now. Especially in the Foreign Quarter or the Puddles. As your fame increases, you guys will turn into local celebrities.

Ah! Also before I forget, having a climb speed does not let you automatically climb. That is a common misconception about the rules that I thought I'd bring up since a couple of you took the climb evolution and many people aren't clear on the climb rules.

A creature with a climb speed has a +8 racial bonus on all Climb checks. The creature must make a Climb check to climb any wall or slope with a DC higher than 0, but it can always choose to take 10, even if rushed or threatened while climbing. If a creature with a climb speed chooses an accelerated climb (see above), it moves at double its climb speed (or at its land speed, whichever is slower) and makes a single Climb check at a –5 penalty. Such a creature retains its Dexterity bonus to Armor Class (if any) while climbing, and opponents get no special bonus to their attacks against it. It cannot, however, use the run action while climbing.

The rest of the climb rules are here

That is strange considering the eidolon gets a climb speed equal to its base speed. So it can do an accelerated climb at a -5 in order to go at its land speed (since the land speed will always be slower), which is the same as the climb speed. Basically, there is no way to speed up a climb.

That doesn't sound right to me.

But you were right, I did have a misconception about the climb rules.

me too. thanks for the rules illumination.

I'm going to switch the evolution, because it's not what I thought or very useful until Hrim gets his climb skill up.

Also, I suppose the question needs be asked:

Were we given this manor to set up in, and do we even have the right to improve it. Cause if we spent a lot of coin on it to improve it then the Pathfinders are like, "Hey, we like what you've done with the place. The Masters have decided we want to live here, so GTFO."

If that happened, Argor would burn Absalom to the ground. He'd purchase a scroll of Create Greater Demiplane and Permanency, make it timeless, then go and study until he was able to, but by Nethys he'd do it. lol

That is strange considering the eidolon gets a climb speed equal to its base speed. So it can do an accelerated climb at a -5 in order to go at its land speed (since the land speed will always be slower), which is the same as the climb speed. Basically, there is no way to speed up a climb.

That doesn't sound right to me.

But you were right, I did have a misconception about the climb rules.

No, having a climb speed supersedes the 1/4 or 1/2 speed thing. With a successful check you can move your climb speed. Since you have no ranks Cladissa, your bonus is +8. By taking 10 you'll be able to climb trees and ropes and stuff like that, but not walls. However if you roll well you could potentially climb a 30' wall with one move action.

Also, I suppose the question needs be asked:

Were we given this manor to set up in, and do we even have the right to improve it. Cause if we spent a lot of coin on it to improve it then the Pathfinders are like, "Hey, we like what you've done with the place. The Masters have decided we want to live here, so GTFO."

If that happened, Argor would burn Absalom to the ground. He'd purchase a scroll of Create Greater Demiplane and Permanency, make it timeless, then go and study until he was able to, but by Nethys he'd do it. lol

It's owned by the Society. They've essentially rented it to you without charging rent. So anything you buy is still yours, but any improvements you made to the property itself would technically not be. However OOCly (sinc you haven't asked IC yet), the Society would be willing to sell you guys the property for it's going market value. They would also accept monthly "rent" payments as installments towards purchasing the property.

PS:The Decemvirate's cribs are already so pimp that this place could barely be improved to the level of their servants' latrines. ;)

Well, what IS the going market value? :-P

It's somewhere between a mansion and noble's villa in the downtime rules, and it's in a fairly prime area of real estate. So, 6,500 GP.

And how hard would it be to have this place rezoned so that we could establish a guild-hall here, and perhaps sell various magical knick-knacks (reagents, odd potion/scroll here and there, sagely advice, rent use of a library, etc. etc. to represent the "income" generated by downtime rules if we go that route...)?

I will say this research is what Argor is looking into during his remaining time off, as well as looking into other potential properties that might work and are for sale.

Getting it rezoned would take you spending 4 prestige points to get the Palm Greaser title.

Palm Greaser (Title , 4 PP): In any settlement of at least 5,000 inhabitants, you may locate a corrupt official. If you're imprisoned or fined for crimes committed in the settlement's jurisdiction, you may take advantage of this contact. You pay no fines and escape sentencing if you can make a Diplomacy check (DC 15 for petty crimes, 20 for serious crimes, or 25 for capital crimes). You can use this ability once per game session. You may select this title once for each settlement in your Sphere of Influence; each time you select it, choose one settlement where you may use the award.

Once you've located a corrupt official, give me a diplomacy check to determine how much of a bribe he will demand for the rezoning.

Other properties are the same as listed in the downtime rules plus anywhere from 10-25% depending on location.

Not quite enough Prestige for me to do that yet, so perhaps after the next module. At any rate, aside from discussing how/what to invest in, which can be done in the Discussion thread, Argor is ready to roll.

As far as what Tier, I am willing to go with whatever Grommuk is comfortable with trying, as he is, thus far, our front-line.

Hrimnagel is ready to go, as well as RP with Cladissa and Gromm about Argor's machinations.

I like how EVERYTHING Argor does is assumed to have vile intent behind it, despite the fact that he is Lawful Neutral.

AKA: I am playing Argor's @$$hole side perfectly.

Relax. Hrimnagel nor I have assumed any vile intent behind anything Argor has done. Hrim is only reacting to Argor's attempt to control what he and the team does, meaning Argor's actions as an a$$hole.

cheers

Yeah, so far this has been fun. I'm not quite ready to jump into the next scenario yet, though, since I'm hoping to do a bit more rp with everyone. Work is keeping me busy, and long posts are a pain on the smartphone.

I'm fine w/ more RP as well. Just making sure it is out there that I AM ready should Jelani feel the need to move on.

And Hrim, I'm not mad in any regard, I just think it's funny/fun to have someone so adamantly against Argor's manipulations. If everyone just rolled over to his whims, it would be kinda boring.

I am willing to give a day or two more to RP, but I do strongly prefer to keep things moving. If posting begins to lag I will move things forward.

If we were to purchase another property, would we have to come up with the entire funding up front, or could we do payments?

You might be able to get a loan with a down payment, but then there would be interest.

*waves hand in front of Jelani's face*
"There is no need for interest."

Glad you picked up on the fact that Argor didn't mention what he thought the serum was working on in his case, Cladissa. Hehehe

Grommuk isn't enterprising enough to think of stuff like that on his own, but I'll drop tidbits here in discussion thread that he might be won over to as we go along. He could care less about a wait staff, though having people to buy groceries, cook for, and feed him on a regular basis would be exceedingly awesome in Grom-grom's books.

There will likely need to be heavy modifications made to the structure in the distant future, though; probably on the order of creating a cellar big enough to house a gargantuan creature.

As far as anything pertaining to the arcane (labs, libraries, etc.) he could care less about that crap. Starting up a gladiatorial college, arena, or brawler's guild on the other hand? Maybe! I'm not familiar enough with the Downtime rules to really coax out many details right now, and it's not immediately relevant I suppose. Something I'll consider for the future.

Jelani, while perusing the equipment for stuff to buy, I came across this: softpaw boots. I didn't make the change to my feet just for this (I'm still planning on going with a lamia shape when the points allow and decided to make some cosmetic changes now), but considering I've just made it so normal footwear won't fit anymore, I was wondering if you'd allow these to be available for purchase.

1) How much would we have to pay per month to essentially "rent-to-own" the manor?

2) What rooms are included in the current manor?

3) How much would we have to pay to "complete" the rooms we have? We already have the structure built, so I assume to stock the rooms it wouldn't be the full room price, but if the place is in serious disrepair I could understand full price.

Also kinda wrote myself into a corner by scribing scrolls on days one and two. So if anybody wants to talk to Argor your gonna have to come drag him out of his scribing or we will have to move to day 3. Lol

I'm going to be playing up Grommuk's evolutions as muscle density instead of having him sprout a carapace or the like. I totally could have gone the Colossus route too, but I don't want to dip my toes into too many marvel strong-guy pools (even Strong Guy!).

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of Grommuk starting some kind of SAFEHAVEN FOR MONSTROUS HUMANOIDS. In practice, it would probably just be a mercenary & brawler guild exclusive to races typically scorned by others.

Back to relevant things, I'll look over things and see if there's any gear I want for Grommuk. I doubt there's much to interest me at the moment. As mentioned, no need for weapons and his armor's about as good as it gets for the moment. I really need to remember that my Intimidate is on steroids for future encounters.

Jelani, while perusing the equipment for stuff to buy, I came across this: softpaw boots. I didn't make the change to my feet just for this (I'm still planning on going with a lamia shape when the points allow and decided to make some cosmetic changes now), but considering I've just made it so normal footwear won't fit anymore, I was wondering if you'd allow these to be available for purchase.

Absolutely.

1) How much would we have to pay per month to essentially "rent-to-own" the manor?

2) What rooms are included in the current manor?

3) How much would we have to pay to "complete" the rooms we have? We already have the structure built, so I assume to stock the rooms it wouldn't be the full room price, but if the place is in serious disrepair I could understand full price.

1) There's no set amount since they're willing to let you live there for free in perpetuity. If you want to do that, I expect an RP post about Argor going back to the Grand Lodge and setting it up with some clerks or something.

2) Five bedrooms plus this post details the rest. It's a villa, in Absalom a manor is a specific larger thing. At least according to the Guide to Absalom book.

3) The rooms are all completed, and in perfectly good repair. It's just like dusty and lacking a lot of furnishings. Like if your grandma died in 1970 then some people cleaned the house thoroughly, sold everything of value and boarded it up for fourty years with no one using it. Then they reopened it, fixed any structural problems and viola!

Also kinda wrote myself into a corner by scribing scrolls on days one and two. So if anybody wants to talk to Argor your gonna have to come drag him out of his scribing or we will have to move to day 3. Lol

Scribing a scroll only takes two hours, stuff can happen around scroll scribing. Just no major outings for Argor until day three. It definitely took at least a day for Hrim to find small sized masterwork Tian armor. I'm leaving the week's timeline kind of nebulous for now in normal montage fashion. Just don't go over what could reasonably get done in a week or I'll step in.

Hmmm, well then...lemme get to posting something...

I'm going to be playing up Grommuk's evolutions as muscle density instead of having him sprout a carapace or the like. I totally could have gone the Colossus route too, but I don't want to dip my toes into too many marvel strong-guy pools (even Strong Guy!).

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of Grommuk starting some kind of SAFEHAVEN FOR MONSTROUS HUMANOIDS. In practice, it would probably just be a mercenary & brawler guild exclusive to races typically scorned by others.

Back to relevant things, I'll look over things and see if there's any gear I want for Grommuk. I doubt there's much to interest me at the moment. As mentioned, no need for weapons and his armor's about as good as it gets for the moment. I really need to remember that my Intimidate is on steroids for future encounters.

That guild's reputation will be stellar, I'm sure :P

Grommuk totally needs a Battle Mask.

Speaking of intimidate, is everyone cool with me making a house rule that essentially gives a version of intimidating prowess to everyone as a virtual feat? Except you can only add whichever ability modifier is higher, not both (unless you actually spend the feat, then you can add both).

I typically house rule intimidate as Strength or Charisma (player's choice upon creation, locked into that choice from there on out). So, I'm all for it.

Grommuk actually has a battle mask already, which fittingly enough strongly resembles the avatar thumbnail. As to the guild, it'd probably just end up being a poorly controlled alpha male hierarchy with a penchant for pit fighting circuits. Beating down people for money, too. Y'know, everyone's dream job.

Fine with that.

Not fine with my diplomacy roll.

That's sad that a Cha 10 is the highest Charisma in the party. :)

True party face material. We live up to our "Aberration" namesakes, don't we? Lol

I was going to protest when Jelani calls us freaks, but I should just shrug and nod.

It is kinda hurtful...lol

Well, you know, I'm like an hard-ass dad or something. I want you guys to succeed, but I'm not going to be nice to you :P

Freaks is just shorter than aberrations. If you want to give yourselves a legitimate team name, I will use that instead.

I think that is right Jelani, for teams that aren't actively "working" for you. Like if I had hired them to work an Inn, they'd actually "earn" their wages. But since they are being hired to work privately, I have to cover their wages.

For teams not beholden to you (like guards working for a guild you've established) it might be better to just use the general goods and services guidelines. Hiring on a cook would be 3sp per day by standard rules. A footman is 5sp per day.

I'm not sure the downtime rules are necessarily geared towards addressing that kind of arrangement. They seem to be more oriented towards building factions and organizations rather than personal help.

Goods and Services—Hirelings

I'll leave it to Jelani to set a price. I've deducted 12 platinum from my funds, if the price he sets is less I will amend my sheet.

So far, we have a three way split on the servants and groceries, which came to 220 gp.

So that'd be 73 gp, 3 sp, 3 cp each.

If Hrim throws in, it's an even 55 gp each. Will wait on him to deduct the official amount from my coin. Though I'm 99.99% positive he is a firm no on it.

Okay, thanks Grommuk, that's what I was looking for. We'll only use the team rules once there is an organization running to support them. Those rules don't really work for what we're doing here.

cook 3 SP/Day
two maids 1 SP/Day
groundskeeper 1 SP/Day
live-in butler 1 GP/Day

90 SP+30 SP+30 SP+30 GP=9+3+3+9= 24 GP/Month

120/24= 5 months.

You've hired them all for five months. I'll let you decide what race, sex and age of butler you hire.

The maids are female human commoners. The cook is a fat halfling guy. The groundskeeper is an older human man. I'll introduce them in gameplay after I know who the butler is.

Race: 1d7 ⇒ 4 Half-Elf
Sex: 1d2 ⇒ 2 Female
Age: 1d6 + 20 ⇒ (6) + 20 = 26

Half-Elf Female 26 years old.

Okay, thanks Grommuk, that's what I was looking for. We'll only use the team rules once there is an organization running to support them. Those rules don't really work for what we're doing here.

cook 3 SP/Day
two maids 1 SP/Day
groundskeeper 1 SP/Day
live-in butler 1 GP/Day

90 SP+30 SP+30 SP+30 GP=9+3+3+9= 24 GP/Month

120/24= 5 months.

You've hired them all for five months. I'll let you decide what race, sex and age of butler you hire.

The maids are female human commoners. The cook is a fat halfling guy. The groundskeeper is an older human man. I'll introduce them in gameplay after I know who the butler is.

Does that include food or just service?

Just service. Food is seperate. Though 100 GP of food is probably plenty to start with.

100 lbs. of flour - 2 GP
100 lbs. of cheese - 2 GP
50 lbs. of potatoes - 1 GP
5 lbs. of salt - 25 GP
5 lbs. of sugar - 2.5 SP
20 chickens - 4 SP
Total:30.65 GP of the 100 GP

That's just some bare basics. Food is cheap.

Foods and Spices