Template bonuses are wonderful things. o wo~ I'll try to avoid abusing it, though.
I gotta agree about template and racial bonuses. (Mihara said, basking in her +19 disguise check.)
Scarcely the worst abilities to have when trying to take over and rebuild a city. XD If nothing else, I'll be trying to make sure merchants and the like aren't cheating us.
Or we could just do it the nice way...
Nigrum: *Puts an arm around the merchant's shoulders* See the funny lady in the cloak? She's not evil, but as far as you and I are concerned, she's immortal... and this city means a lot to her, so she's not going to forget people who try to take advantage of us and make the situation worse. So you could negotiate hard and risk pissing off a curse-happy lich witch who can see right through all of your lies, or you could do the smart thing and negotiate fairly with us. We plan to make this place great, so there'll be plenty of profit - and a lot less risk - if you do this the smart way. We're actually very generous to people who help us out. Whaddaya say, shall we be friends? =D
Merchant: o wo;;; Yes, please.
Ok Nigrum would never do that. He would glare at the man and say "You were trying to cheat us?" and with his intimidate mod that merchant would be more afraid of him then he ever would be of Azri, no offense just saying. Being a corpse does not make you scary by default, even if you can wiggle your fingers and make stuff happen. It takes work to be scary, hard work. Proper atmosphere helps too and capes. xD
But yeah his skills are not overly impressive outside his intimidate which will be jumping now and again sense it's tied to his strength. Throw in the right magical items and bad guys will start crying bully.
Btw DM does Nigrum get the xtabay clipping or warriors yet? Don't forget his mount Alerdene, she is coming right?
Mihara does indeed get that sending.
Nigrum will probably get his xtabay clipping with the second load of supplies. As for warriors...if you can recruit some.
And Alerdene can go with, yes.
Where would I recruit them? Any sort of checks?
Wahoo. Now here's hoping Mihara's sibs can rustle up a reply eventually. :P
Once you guys have gone a bit further into the plot cool stuff like minion armies and return messages shall happen.
Note to self - make sure the undead army(s) are composed of intelligent undead, ideally any I can make not-evil. To reinforce their popularity amongst the citizens, they will all be required to speak in upper-class British accents.
"I say, good chap, would you be so kind as to hand me my head? Be terrible lose it before a battle, eh?"
(I may or may not be kidding about that - depends on what the rules for minion army creation are. XD At the very least, though, Azri would probably demand - and enforce - a high degree of discipline amongst anyone she raised. Up to and including mages fulfilling their duty to the city.)
...note to self - work out how to make minion armies not game breaking.
Jon: Close quarters and mythic threats are the typical ways. Make minion armies useful for fending off other minion armies mostly.
Yeah, I was mostly joking. Having them be vaporized and having penalties for loosing them does sort things out most of the time.
I was more concerned about non-combat stuff and how that might work.
I had two ideas for things Azri might be involved in.
Since her goal for Khalharum is to promote it as a center of magical learning, her plan - which the rest of the team may or may not agree with - is to have military service considered a civic duty of magic-users in return for the benefits they receive. Thus, there's no standing army (or even just standing military units) of mages, so they'll generally be allowed to stick with research and such when not actively serving.
If she somehow manages an army of the dead, well... no need for food or other supplies, and they could quite easily be stored underground... or in the city's graveyard... when unneeded. Out of sight, out of mind. =D Nice and easy!
...Either that or be buried just outside the city gates. Nothing quite like marching on a city only to see an army of undead literally claw its way out of the ground as you approach.
Of course, both of those would be fairly late-game things, I think. XD Until the city is large and strong enough to support that, Azri probably won't be doing much minion-wise.
That reminds me of the good-aligned "Deathless" from the 3.5 Tome of Exalted Deeds.
Hang out in heaven while your divinely purified skeleton waits in peaceful rest. When a threat appears, show up for duty, and then ascend back once it's done. The entire thing is, of course, voluntary service.
Under such terms, I believe Mihara would have no objection.
As far as future plans for Khalharum, Mihara will likely come to see it as excellent grounds for extending a branch of the Yao clan into the western continent, and establish a trade route between her homeland and Khalharum. Part of the city would probably become some kind of a Little Tian Xia.
I assume she and Selena would also end up teaming up where the city's entertainment district is involved.
It's going to be...interesting to see how this progresses. You're surrounded by large angry countries and have any number of options for how to direct the growth of the city, but limited resources to do it with. Should e fun to see how you all decide to take things.
I assume she and Selena would also end up teaming up where the city's entertainment district is involved.
I'll fetch all of the pretty ladies, then the pretty guys, then the brawny guys, then the brawny ladies, then the Evolutionist Summoners.
It's going to be awesome!But for the first part of the development of the city, I'll keep the investments on entertainment to a minimum and focus on defense and urban safety/development. After we get the commerce starting, we'll find ways to make all those wealthy merchants that come and go some extra coin. ;)
As far as troops go, I doubt Selena will be able to give some particular ones: on the other hand, Selena will probably call up some of her Calistrian friends over from Absalom. Aside from offering quality entertainment, Calistrian are usually adept at gathering information: we'll need an intel-gathering service. ;)
PS: Hhhm, talking about grappling and entertainment: further down the road, what about a Stadium/Coliseum? No fights to the death, obviously, but that could also be useful for training soldiers and gathering exotic people to protect the city.
I like it.
Agreed about entertainment being a luxury. To defense and urban safety, I would suggest also adding trade as a priority. Having access to many different resources is always a plus.
Oh, of course! I rewrote that paragraph a couple of times, but trade was supposed to be there with defense and safety.
And then Selena starts up a "wrestling" federation for the stadium...
But yeah, those three areas make sense to me. ^^ I'll need to see the rules before I know how Azri can contribute, but she won't have any objections as long as she can eventually lay the groundwork for education and all - and given her current status, she has no problem waiting for as long as that takes. XD Her plans are probably more 'luxury' than 'immediate need', so I'll cheerfully hold off on them until later.
And then Selena starts up a"wrestling"grappling federation for the stadium...
FTFY
And federation? Just give me time and I'll start up an entire monastic order based on grappling people half-naked while being covered in grease!
My plan is to use some modified version of the Kingmaker Kingdom and Army Combat rules. Only without the chance to destroy the economy. And with more detail, since you only get one city and maybe some outlying villages. I don't think Stonespire Island will be able to support many more, due to it's deserty nature.
But we has the magic sir! We can change the weather and grow them tree's. Much can be done. xD
Anyways Nigrum would be involved in defense and making a sort of warrior district. A stadium would be a must and all fights save forced death matches would be allowed. Now if two guys are fighting to the death for the sake of honor, then Nigrum will not be opposed to that and would rather have it done in a controlled/battle proof location rather then in the streets. That way any sort of blood feud or rivalries don't get blown out of proportion or threaten citizens.
If a orc berserker wants to fight, come to the stadium. But if he can not control his rage and tries to kill his opponent. That's a no no and Nigrum will have to put a stop to it. May even do so personally.
Selena and Mihara, need to talk to you two about a half time show. Thinking at least two major stadium events a year. We can call it the "Super Dome". ;P
Speaking of tiny: Come level five, Mihara will be literally "Tiny". (As in the size category.)
Woo, Fox Shape.
As Master-of-Shapes, Aibek will be able to (most likely to taken next mythic level) Size Shift: "You may expend a use of mythic power shift your size as though effected by enlarge person or reduce person with a caster level equal to your tier." Size fun to be had by us.
After 3rd mythic level, there is an ability that allows one to become a diminutive creature. I'm not sure if Aibek will get it as the ability is to get small and magically infest people like marionette possession and Aibek isn't very magicky.
Aibek has no real plans yet on what to get involved in, though the monastic order of grease grappling sounds fun. Setting up communication and merchants would be high on Aibek's list interplanar if possible because shadow creature.
Mythic Campaigns with templates: Where "Oil the Succubus" is a legitimate fighting tactic.
That aside, I had a question: Uncanny Grappler lets me throw people away for 10 feet per tier. Can I use that to fling evil Gnoll slavers off ships?
Mythic Campaigns with unusual races, where "Kitsune Kitsune Trickster Trickster" is a normal Race/Class line.
Yeah try explaining what a Cisor is fifty times. xP
P.S. I can just see Selena tossing enemy sailors like rag dolls over board. Saying something like "I call that flicking the horn, boys" xD
... now that you mention it... just what is a Cisor? (That's what you get for playing a custom race.)
I will answer you as soon as you let me know if you have a stutter or not? (Kitsune Kitsune Trickster Trickster, that's what you get too xD)
Haha, that's on purpose.
Mihara is a Kitsune. (Race)
Mihara is a Kitsune Trickster (Class, it's a rogue archetype.)
Mihara is a Trickster. (Mythic path)
Therefore, Mihara is a Kitsune Kitsune Trickster Trickster.
It amuses me too much to put it any other way.
I prefer to think of her as Super Tricksy Foxy Fun Time.
Super Tricksy Fluffy Foxy Fun Time
I'll be earning the fluffy at level 5. Give it time.
By the way, I'm curious:
Does anyone here have NPCs they want to bring down to Khalharum once we start building?
I for one would like to have one or two of Mihara's siblings coming along.
No NPCs here. ^^ ...Might make a few later on, though.
I'm saying this here because I don't want to forget:
If Mihara's sister Saraki ever shows up with stats, she's a geisha.
But I want fluffy NAO :(
The old Geisha or the fixed Lotus Geisha?
For NPCs, the two I was planning for Selena were someone in particular from the temple* (maybe with levels in Investigator, so we'll have someone capable to gather info into the city), and the follower of Kurgess that taught her how to fight (he could be useful when we make the stadium, maybe).
*As I said before, I was planning to send for some people form Calistria's temple in Absalom, but I doubt I'll manage to make a personality for all of them. And names! I'm terrible with names!
Hm. Fixed? I'm not sure what the issue was with the old Geisha. Saraki would be the regular Geisha, not the lotus one.
The hold Geisha was a little on the weak side, making a poor choice for a PC: as Saraki is an NPC, it doesn't matter that much.
But power aside, I agree that the archetype is flavorful as hell (bonus to Craft: Calligraphy!).
Yeah, the power doesn't really matter here, and I really like the Tea Ceremony shtick.
Aibek's family showing up would...awkward.
I'm sure our overlord will make it happen...
Azri's dead to her family. Literally.
Well, her other family, anyway. XD As far as she's concerned, you people are her new one.
Round 1 and we've already incapped all but the NPCs. Good times.
How lethal do we want to be? Are we taking prisoners? Should I go all out with those two 3d6+5 short sword attacks and that 1d4+2d6+5 bite on the boss?
We may be able to do this without killing any of the enemies: next turn, I'll bind the one I'm grappling and throw him out of the way. The turn after that, I can grapple the captain. When the rest of the slaver crew sees the bodyguards catatonic and their captain tied up, they'll hopefully surrender.
Also, bind slaver captains are 1)perfect to kick around to have some fun and 2)easy to drill up for information on who sent them.
Can a blind man with tied up legs and arms swim?
Well, her other family, anyway. XD As far as she's concerned, you people are her new one.
*Hugs the Lich-Girl*
Aw. Out come the saps, then.
Aibek leans more towards Ayreth's position (ganking slavers together is a good team building exercise XD) though there is nothing to say they can't feed some sharks after we get information from them ;)
Sorry but Nigrum has no mercy for slavers. They can surrender or die, possession excuse is not valid this time. xD
Oh, they'll die alright. We just want to make it an execution, not a slaughter.