Caliphas Noir: Thicker Than Water

Game Master The Dread Pirate Hurley

In Ustalav's fog-shrouded capital, Constable Selene wages a one-woman crusade against the things lurking in darkness. For in Caliphas, the only thing worse than the monsters without is the monster within.

Combat map | Map of Caliphas

Theme Song


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I realize that it's only been a month since my last big announcement, but I'd like everyone to know that I've just received my invitation to serve in the Peace Corps! I will be teaching secondary-level science classes in rural Cameroon, and once I depart from the USA at the end of May, I'll be overseas for 27 months.

I don't leave until May 21, so this affects absolutely nothing until at least then. Many volunteers have some kind of internet access at their post, but I won't know what my situation will be like until I get there.


I'll be traveling the next day or so. I'm only managing about a post every other day at this point, so it's unlikely to be an even further disruption.


So much for that. I'm back to civilization and internet access. Hooray! Hope you had a great holiday!


It was pretty decent all-around. XD Spent some time with family, had some tasty desserts, exchanged a few gifts... certainly nothing to complain about.


I do love tasty desserts! I came back with a whole pumpkin pie and some home-made whipped cream, so I'm set for awhile. I'll be missing it this time next year, though. Not a lot of pumpkin pie in Africa.


I'm a Grasshopper Pie kind of guy, myself. Mint chocolate marshmallow filling inside of a chocolate wafer crumb crust. XD Something of a tradition in my family.


I've heard of it, but never had the pleasure myself. It sounds delightful! I'm almost through my carton of eggnog and box of candy canes. Both are delightful holiday treats, but I only allow myself to indulge during December.


Now we're getting into dicey territory, mixing Spheres and Mythic.

Selene, Constable of Caliphas wrote:
Using Wild Arcana (which is a Supernatural ability, and so doesn't provoke AoO's... probably... XD) for a Destructive Blast with the Energy Wall talent, at CL 5. Forming a hemisphere of energy around her to blast them - and hurt them if they try to get in to hurt her.

Just to make sure I get this right, you want to use Wild Arcana (expending a use of Mythic Power) to cast a Destructive Blast modified with the Energy Wall talent at CL 5.

d20PFSRD entry on Wild Arcana wrote:

As a swift action, you can expend one use of mythic power to cast any one arcane spell without expending a prepared spell or spell slot. The spell must be on one of your arcane class spell lists and must be of a level that you can cast with that arcane spellcasting class.

You don't need to have the spell prepared, nor does it need to be on your list of spells known. When casting a spell in this way, you treat your caster level as 2 levels higher for the purpose of any effect dependent on level. You can apply any metamagic feats you know to this spell, but its total adjusted level can't be greater than that of the highest-level arcane spell you can cast from that spellcasting class.

Presumably the spell list you're casting from should be taken to be incanter. Spheres of Power doesn't really utilize spells, so some adjudication is required.

Each of the Spheres grants an ability that is modified by talents. Spherecasters gain talents at a rate comparable to Vancian spells. However, each talent is a modification of the base ability granted by the Sphere. They act similarly to a specialized, limited form of metamagic, while the base effect itself is more comparable to a spell.

My initial interpretation is that Wild Arcana would allow a Spherecaster to use any Sphere power from the list (i.e. Selene could cast the Nature Sphere's Geomancing power with any one of the associated elemental packages) and modify that power with any talents they already know. In practice, this limits Wild Arcana's usefulness as it would be unlikely that Selene would have talents in a Sphere she otherwise doesn't have access to.

The alternative interpretation, treating talents as spells, would hypothetically allow Selene to use any one talent from any Sphere (i.e. Selene could use the Feed on Fire or the Acid Rain talents from Nature). This makes sense for some talents (Feed on Fire), but breaks down for others (Acid Rain), because many talents modify the effect of the Sphere's base power. Selene wouldn't actually be able to use Acid Rain (which modifies Geomancing), because she doesn't have access to Geomancing. Under this interpretation, she would only be able to use talents that she doesn't have in a Sphere that she does have access to. On the face of it, this isn't itself a problem, but talents themselves (usually) only modify powers that are being cast. In the Energy Wall case, Wild Arcana would only allow casting of Energy Wall, not the Destructive Blast that it's modifying. This situation makes Wild Arcana functionally useless for anything except casting talents that have their own effects and don't modify a Sphere power. As such, it's completely worthless as an interpretation.

I can see one other potential interpretation: both the Sphere power and the talents count as spells for Wild Arcana. Wild Arcana only allows one spell to be cast, so it still wouldn't allow Energy Wall because it requires the simultaneous casting of Destructive Blast. Wild Arcana is clearly intended to give access to more of the spell list than normal, not act as a two-for-one special casting. Functionally, this interpretation is no different from the first interpretation unless Selene was somehow able to get access to talents in a Sphere she doesn't have, in which case this interpretation wouldn't allow her to use those while the first interpretation would allow it.

TL;DR You can't use Wild Arcana to cast the Energy Wall talent.

I hope I've been clear in my reasoning. I'm happy to clarify and I'll entertain a rebuttal if you choose to give one before making a final decision.


Female Human BldLtr 4 / Inc 4 / Shft 4 | HP: 69/69 | AC: 17 [21], T: 15, FF: 13 [17] | Fort: +8, Reflex: +9, Will: +9 (+Situational) | BAB: +4, CMB: +8, CMD: 22 | Init: +6, Perception: +11 [+25] |
Selene, Constable of Caliphas wrote:

Wild Arcana (Spheres version): Activating Wild Arcana is a standard action and uses one Mythic Power. When you use Wild Arcana, you can cast any basic sphere ability at CL +2 and apply the effects of one Talent from the appropriate sphere (even if you do not know that Talent). If you use Wild Arcana to cast from a sphere you already know, you can also apply any other appropriate Talent(s) to the ability if you would normally be allowed to add more than one. You do not have to pay spell point costs for Talents added to a sphere casting by Wild Arcana, but you do have to pay spell points for Talents added normally. If two Talents could not normally be used together, Wild Arcana will not allow you to circumvent that limitation.

(There are two important exceptions. First, no using Wild Arcana for the Conjuration sphere. Second, no access to Advanced Talents.)

GM Hurley wrote:
Wild Arcana looks fine. I trust that you've designed it well, but I'm curious - why no Conjuration sphere?

...?

Design Note: Spheres doesn't really match Vancian on a 1-to-1 basis, so when designing this, I tried to stick to the theme of being able to cast one "spell". Since Spheres is a kind of build-your-own-spell system, what I ultimately settled on was being able to pick a base sphere, and then one Talent, since that's usually enough to form a unique spell - but for more complicated abilities, you still need to have permanently invested in some abilities.


Sorry, it's been awhile since I've seen that. It would have saved me a lot of time trying to figure out those otherwise arcane rules interactions. Energy Wall is fine.

Less of an issue, but still worth pointing out - the wall isn't mobile and Selene doesn't have the Epicenter talent, so if I'm understanding it correctly, she's stuck inside the hemisphere unless she also wants to take damage.


Female Human BldLtr 4 / Inc 4 / Shft 4 | HP: 69/69 | AC: 17 [21], T: 15, FF: 13 [17] | Fort: +8, Reflex: +9, Will: +9 (+Situational) | BAB: +4, CMB: +8, CMD: 22 | Init: +6, Perception: +11 [+25] |

Teleportation is a wonderful talent to have. XD And no worries - we all forget stuff now and then.


A little more on the flat-footed situation. By RAW, Scent doesn't alleviate the Blinded condition that Selene would normally have under supernatural darkness, but I think that the combination of her heightened hearing and having Scent active should allow her to retain her Dex bonus as long as she is able to pinpoint the threat with Scent.


Female Human BldLtr 4 / Inc 4 / Shft 4 | HP: 69/69 | AC: 17 [21], T: 15, FF: 13 [17] | Fort: +8, Reflex: +9, Will: +9 (+Situational) | BAB: +4, CMB: +8, CMD: 22 | Init: +6, Perception: +11 [+25] |

As GM, it's your decision. o wo/


Selene has just fallen prey to the effects of dominate monster. This is a significant departure from what I expected would happen, and might very well seem completely out of left field. I would be happy to answer any questions this might raise.


Female Human BldLtr 4 / Inc 4 / Shft 4 | HP: 69/69 | AC: 17 [21], T: 15, FF: 13 [17] | Fort: +8, Reflex: +9, Will: +9 (+Situational) | BAB: +4, CMB: +8, CMD: 22 | Init: +6, Perception: +11 [+25] |

...Should I just go ahead and get some popcorn? XD


Popcorn is always good. But, while this is a dramatic development, it won't immediately derail anything. Aboleths are mysterious and subtle creatures, so there's no reason to expect that Selene would be hijacked in the immediate future.

That said, if you'd like, I can hit the fast-forward and skip to arriving back at Whitshaw.


Fast-forwarding will commence. I'll have that post up later this afternoon/evening. In the meantime, now's a good time to start that discussion about encounter difficulty.

Tactically speaking, I try to play the monsters as actual monsters with their own quirks. Selene didn't necessarily have access to most of this information (regardless of whether a player could have known or not), but it seems worth discussing so that I can build encounters that are appropriately challenging without being overwhelming. This isn't meant to be a criticism of Selene's performance; analysis is presented so that we can audit the encounter together so that I can improve the experience.

Enemy quirks:
  • Zoathrias is prideful but cowardly and uses hit-and-run tactics. He has sneak attack, but Scent curtailed his ability to use it.
  • The creeper troop is opportunistic and only attacks if it's easy. They also didn't like the earth elemental and gave it a wide berth. Magical armor bonuses provide DR versus troop damage as well.
  • The earth elemental hits hard, but has a lower speed. It also had a timer of 5 rounds.

The interactions were intended such that the troops would be an annoyance to occupy Selene for a couple of rounds, maybe bleed off a little HP while prompting her to buff up, while Zoathrias could get an attack off. They would be dispatched quickly, leaving Selene to focus on Zoathrias. AoE attacks and readied actions would have made short work of him.

Spoiler:
Selene made some interesting decisions that I hadn't anticipated. The earth elemental only got brought into play after Selene turtled up behind two barriers and separated all of the combatants Phantom Menace-style. The elemental got summoned by a gem that was originally just loot. If not for the gem, Selene was virtually steam-rolling the encounter with the energy blast barrier.

Admittedly, things got a little hairy when the elemental was summoned, but Selene's Warp distance is enough to keep it far enough away that it can't reach her to attack (has to use 2 move actions). When Selene jumped into the lake, the elemental only had one round left. If Selene had used a point to increase Warp distance from Close to Medium range, she would have been safely out of range and the elemental would have been completely nullified.

Diplomancy:
Before the fight broke out, the diplomacy was more-or-less working to completely side-step the fight. Had Selene allowed Zoathrias to activate the machine, she could have taken the Miregrold and left without further incident. The final diplomacy check only failed because of the quirky interactions between Zoathrias's goals and nature, Selene's behavior, and the aboleth's commands.

There's something in the water:
I tried to make sure that there were enough clues about the aboleth to warn Selene off of going in the water. Miregrold mentioned the aboleth in his journal, there was the (failed) check to notice the disturbance in the water, Zoathrias smelled like fish, and there was a check to notice that he was being controlled. It seems like either there weren't enough clues or that they were too subtle. Care to weigh in?

Many of the issues that seemed to come up were based on information that Selene didn't have. The darkness played a key role in limiting that information. As the player, did the darkness feel completely debilitating? Without it, the whole thing seems like it would have been a cakewalk (from my perspective).


Female Human BldLtr 4 / Inc 4 / Shft 4 | HP: 69/69 | AC: 17 [21], T: 15, FF: 13 [17] | Fort: +8, Reflex: +9, Will: +9 (+Situational) | BAB: +4, CMB: +8, CMD: 22 | Init: +6, Perception: +11 [+25] |

I definitely had no chance to learn about most quirks there - with no idea what the troop was doing, I sort of had to assume they were going to surround me at any time, and tried to act accordingly. XD Hence, y'know, the barriers. I was quite worried about being attacked from all sides, since solo characters can get screwed by the lack of action economy, and the darkness made it much harder to target with my normal AOE options.

I'd actually considered a longer 'Warp', but the way things were going (and with the lack of a map going that far), I was strongly suspecting I'd either end up inside of a wall (since, y'know, underground) or, if going to the surface, too high up and likely to take fall damage. Either would pretty much kill me flat out. Also, it's only line-of-sight without Unseeing Teleport (i.e. spending mythic power there), and I wasn't sure how far I could travel with it. Hence just trying to go as far as I could, and trying to evade another way when the elemental caught up.

I definitely wasn't thinking about monsters in the water there - caught me totally by surprise. It doesn't help that PbP is slow, and even fairly obvious hints can be forgotten if weeks go by and people are focused on other things - what might work pretty well at a game table may not always be the best choice here.

The darkness definitely felt debilitating, especially with the heavy attacks that came in from the elemental. Tough to escape from (since I wasn't sure if foes were blocking my exit, even), and not something I could expend resources to counter in any effective fashion.

On the bright side, as a police officer, Selene has Opinions about doing wrong things. o wo/ And since she has both Surge and a bonus against Mind-Affecting powers, she's got a decent chance to break free of domination. So there's that, at least.


That's great feedback, thanks.

I definitely understand the concern about getting surrounded. Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to test them in practice, but hypothetically they should allow groups of lower level enemies to provide a reasonable challenge. The automatic damage means they can't be completely ignored, and it also eliminates the risk of being completely overwhelmed by superior action economy.

I've been considering an extra 'gut check' mechanic that could serve as a reminder for things like the disparate clues, as well as a prompt to second-guess an action.

As far as the domination goes, I fully expect Selene to do her level best to thwart and break free of it. She does indeed have a good chance. In the meantime, I promise that any domination commands will be plot-related and that I will not use it simply to screw with Selene. Thankfully, I should have enough to work with to get this plot snowball going.


Female Human BldLtr 4 / Inc 4 / Shft 4 | HP: 69/69 | AC: 17 [21], T: 15, FF: 13 [17] | Fort: +8, Reflex: +9, Will: +9 (+Situational) | BAB: +4, CMB: +8, CMD: 22 | Init: +6, Perception: +11 [+25] |

Well, as long as she brings Miregrold back, she'll have gotten her mission done. XD Plus there's those other people she met - and the evidence she's turning in. And the creepy painting. o wo/ Definitely lots of hooks. And as for me... I'll work on my ideas for development, and see if I can round Selene out a bit more.


At the end of this day, Selene will gain a level (no mythic tiers). I was going to wait to tell you, but I realized that it might take a little while to do.

As for Caliphas's justice system, it's loosely based on the justice system in London from the 17th through 19th centuries. The legal codes are relatively light compared to the modern systems in America and Europe. There are very few protections or rights granted to convicts, but justice is usually only formally pursued once an aggrieved party makes an accusation. There is a relatively small prison population; incarceration is an uncommon punishment and is not intended to rehabilitate prisoners. Capital punishment is much more common, and the preferred method is by hanging. Formal hearings are held every six weeks before a magistrate and jury. Lawyers can be hired by the wealthy, but those who could afford them rarely ever appear before the bench to begin with. The magistrate is an unpaid position, and the office is held by one of the county's minor nobles. The hearing process usually takes one to three days, but can sometimes take up to a week, during which every person who has been accused and jailed prior to the session will have their case heard before the jury and magistrate.

The law enforcement officers (the Constables and the Investigators) are hired by the city to keep the peace, and are therefore under the authority of the Countess of Caliphas County rather than the Prince of Ustalav. The law enforcement agents are paid a token salary, but receive bonus pay for the successful conviction of criminals, like a bounty system that only police can participate in. These bonuses make up the majority of their pay, making the job worthwhile.

Constables are assigned the day-to-day peace-keeping tasks and low-level clerical work. They walk beats, provide security for special events, respond to emergencies, and file reports of complaints, accusations, and witness statements. When constables close a case without the aid of an investigator, they receive the full reward ("collar"), but they also receive a small share of the reward for their part in an investigator's case.

Investigators take on cases based on these filed reports. They typically don't bother with menial work, leaving the straight-forward work to the constables. Instead, they take on cases like serial robbery, kidnapping, or murder, as well as cases of mystery*. They will also be deployed by the city to aid in protecting the city from serious threats like monster attacks, though these are few and far between.

The number of constables and investigators is based on the population of the city. There is roughly 1 constable for every 250 citizens of Caliphas, and 1 investigator for every 10 constables. The constable limit is a soft cap, but the investigator limit is a hard cap. Currently, all 7 investigator slots are filled. Dionne Wild is the most recently promoted investigator, and was only promoted on special orders from Countess Caliphvaso; before Dionne, the limit on investigators had always been rounded down, and there are currently 67 constables. Presumably the Department won't add another investigator slot until there are 80 constables.

*The term case of mystery began as something of a joke, used in reference to cases of strange circumstances that lacked indication of serious wrong-doing ("It's not a crime, it's just a mystery.") These sorts of things used to be passed off to the constables, but over time, the mysteries tended to be particularly difficult to solve, and particularly dangerous if left unsolved or ignored. Thus, Whiteshaw started taking cases of mystery seriously and they became the purview of the investigators.

Specific notes on things that have happened in-game:
When Hoptler docked Selene's pay, he was indicating that she wouldn't receive a reward from the conviction of Barius Kent. This is completely unreasonable for him to do, but still within his power. He's an ass like that.

There are no specific laws or rules that indicate that a person under arrest must be released if they are being held without evidence. In Caliphas, it's perfectly legal to hold a person on suspicion, but if there isn't any evidence, the case will be thrown out in a hearing. Selene didn't do anything wrong by arresting Kent. However, any law enforcement officer whether constable or investigator has the authority to release an arrested person if there is no evidence against them. It's very rare that this occurs; Dionne was within her rights to do what she did, but her behavior is in gross violation of Department norms. This has made her a divisive figure. As such, Hoptler didn't really have grounds to verbally discipline Selene for Dionne releasing Kent; the bit about taking her badge was a transparently baseless threat. He's an ass like that.

The Department really needs an HR department.

The Bureau of Special Affairs is relatively new, and was only created when the Prince moved the court to Caliphas from Ardis. They're very mysterious and completely outside the Department's chain-of-command. Rather than the Countess, they are under the authority of the Prince. In rare circumstances, they'll take a case from the Department. In the exceedingly rare case that a constable or investigator completes a case that the Bureau has adopted, it would be the Bureau's responsibility to supply payment.


Female Human BldLtr 4 / Inc 4 / Shft 4 | HP: 69/69 | AC: 17 [21], T: 15, FF: 13 [17] | Fort: +8, Reflex: +9, Will: +9 (+Situational) | BAB: +4, CMB: +8, CMD: 22 | Init: +6, Perception: +11 [+25] |

Tristalt characters are complicated, but using Hero Lab helps, even if I do have to manually put sections together afterwards. XD Doesn't usually take me too long unless I'm creating someone at a higher level. Also, hooray! Background information! I'll aim to keep that in mind and not have Selene look totally out of line with how Constables are supposed to behave. XD


I would have loved to have had all of that info for you months ago, but it only came about after spending those months doing research.

We never discussed who your free pseudo-cohort would be. That's narrative agency that falls squarely in your court, so I have no issue with you creating that character. If you choose not to, I will do so instead.


Female Human BldLtr 4 / Inc 4 / Shft 4 | HP: 69/69 | AC: 17 [21], T: 15, FF: 13 [17] | Fort: +8, Reflex: +9, Will: +9 (+Situational) | BAB: +4, CMB: +8, CMD: 22 | Init: +6, Perception: +11 [+25] |

Well, the main usefulness of a cohort is someone who you can use to help the plot along as required... XD Perhaps it would be best to start with a few traits and see if you like them? What Selene would generally look for is along the lines of...

> Female. Drinking from a willing person is a fairly intimate thing for Selene, and she'd be hesitant to partner up with a guy that way. She cares a great deal for her job, and basically not at all for romance. XD

> Alignment: Neutral Good or Chaotic Good. She'd definitely be looking for a positive person, one who'd be willing to keep a secret for the sake of friendship and, just as importantly, would be inclined to see her more as a person than a potential monster, especially once they realized she wasn't a vampire at all despite the surface similarities. *Trying very hard to avoid any actual 'Queen of the Night' stuff, bluffs to Dark Creepers aside*

> Reliably present. Perhaps a career office worker, rather than someone walking a beat, in a vital but basically boring position. Not someone they could easily let go of, and who nobody would be concerned about if she occasionally went out with a Constable for a 'working dinner'.

> Similar to her in age. Mostly just a personal preference thing - she'd be looking for a long-term ally, and someone about the same age is far less likely to simply die from age. Also, younger is healthier, and drinking does cause Constitution Damage before she heals it - she'd be genuinely worried about doing that to anyone too old.


Previously I had mentioned moving to using Heal as the default forensics skill. There's a new Forensic Physician archetype for the Investigator that looks mediocre for a PC but would work splendidly as an NPC.

Having an expert in the emerging science of forensics could be helpful. Selene could consult her to learn things like a body's cause of death, strange bloodstains, etc. She could also be available as back-up.


Female Human BldLtr 4 / Inc 4 / Shft 4 | HP: 69/69 | AC: 17 [21], T: 15, FF: 13 [17] | Fort: +8, Reflex: +9, Will: +9 (+Situational) | BAB: +4, CMB: +8, CMD: 22 | Init: +6, Perception: +11 [+25] |

Ah, definitely. XD If you'd like an actual profile for them, I'd be happy to toss them together in Hero Lab based on whatever build rules you'd prefer.


Female Human BldLtr 4 / Inc 4 / Shft 4 | HP: 69/69 | AC: 17 [21], T: 15, FF: 13 [17] | Fort: +8, Reflex: +9, Will: +9 (+Situational) | BAB: +4, CMB: +8, CMD: 22 | Init: +6, Perception: +11 [+25] |

Levelup Summary:

Levels:
Bloodletter 4
Incanter 4
Shifter 4

FCB: +1 Skill Point
Ability Increase: +1 Wisdom

Automatic Bonus Progression:
Weapon Attunement: Claws x2
Armor Attunement: I'unno, clothes? XD

Skill Points: Various, but notably, I put two points into Profession (Constable). XD Seemed appropriate.

Bloodletter:
> New Bonus Feat: Vampiric Seduction (+4 Diplomacy/Bluff, doubled versus creatures that could be attracted to her)

Incanter:
> New Bonus Feat: Extra Magic Talent
> New Sphere Abilities: Life: Revitalize and Death: Cryptic Strike (whee for putting riders on Destructive Blasts!)

Shifter:
> New Sphere Ability: Alteration: Bestial Spirit (I feel like speaking to animals/vermin would be useful for an investigator)
> Enhanced Attacks: Magic (natural attacks are now magic for overcoming DR)
> Lingering Transformation (she can stay shapeshifted for 2 rounds without concentrating)
> Not a new ability, precisely, but she can add another Trait when she transforms


I meant to get a gameplay post up tonight, but my evening was hijacked by coverage of Trump's address; I've been working on the post for the start of the new day for awhile, but I didn't want to rush it at the last minute.

The summary looks mostly good, save for some questions and notes.

Automatic Bonus Progression wrote:
If she selects a normal set of clothing as her armor, it counts as having a starting enhancement bonus of +0. The attuned suit of armor gains a +1 enhancement bonus at 4th level.

Clothes/uniform is an appropriate choice for Selene, no issues there.

What is the magic talent Selene has chosen for the Incanter Extra Magic Talent bonus feat?

The Bloodletter feat further improves Selene's Diplomacy/Bluff. There's no issue with that, but if Selene is consistent in her methods of attempting to diplomacy before resorting to violence, we will soon reach a point where combat will be mostly eliminated. Would it be more satisfying for you to change tack into a predominantly intrigue-based game, or will Selene be selective in her use of diplomacy?


Female Human BldLtr 4 / Inc 4 / Shft 4 | HP: 69/69 | AC: 17 [21], T: 15, FF: 13 [17] | Fort: +8, Reflex: +9, Will: +9 (+Situational) | BAB: +4, CMB: +8, CMD: 22 | Init: +6, Perception: +11 [+25] |

Her bonus Sphere Talent would be Life: Revitalize. Incanters switch between two talents and one talent and a bonus feat (for feats that have casting as a prerequisite) at levelup. She's not very big on metamagic, I don't want to dive into spellcrafting, and she has Crafting Mastery as a Mythic power, so that pretty much just leaves bonus spell points or talents. XD And since she's a solo character, I prefer the added flexibility of more talents.

For her Bloodletter feat, I'm actually happy to go with whatever kind of game you think would be more fun to run, although my experience is that some mystery/intrigue types of things can be very hard to do in PbP - at the rate the games go, people might be asked to remember fairly small details from posts a few months previous, and that doesn't happen as often as we might like. XD It's best to be fairly on-the-rails about it, less "detective" (despite her job) and more "plot".

Also, there weren't very many good options at this level, so I mostly just took it as a prerequisite and to even things out a little. She doesn't need enhancements to her ability scores, she's already got plenty of combat potential between Bloodletter and Shifter... and I think it's best to train solo characters in various fields instead of trying to make them super-good at one thing. Keeps the numbers reasonable. XD


Work switched me to an overnight schedule temporarily and it's playing havoc with my posting schedule. This week should be better as I adjust, but I figured I should give a heads-up (because I'm terrible about that).


There's an excellent Golarion calendar that I've been using for reference. All options are set to the default, but I'm using the 4616 calendar year due to a mistake.


I'm working on getting the campaign tab updated, I've got a rudimentary NPC codex up.


Female Human BldLtr 4 / Inc 4 / Shft 4 | HP: 69/69 | AC: 17 [21], T: 15, FF: 13 [17] | Fort: +8, Reflex: +9, Will: +9 (+Situational) | BAB: +4, CMB: +8, CMD: 22 | Init: +6, Perception: +11 [+25] |

Quite helpful, those are, especially for socially-heavy games. XD


This week I acquired a copy of Ultimate Intrigue. I'm looking through it to see if there are any mechanics I like; the Verbal Duel mechanics might work out better than the static Diplomacy and Intimidate rolls for situations like this.


Hey there, I'm in the last stretch before leaving for Cameroon! I'm flying to DC tomorrow, set to leave the country next Wednesday. I'm not sure what my posting schedule will be like going forward. I intend to get some more posts up before leaving, but if you don't hear from me for over a month, that means this is the last internet access I had.

Whatever happens, I want to thank you for this opportunity and for sticking with it this long. It's given me the opportunity to get a lot of stuff out of my head and onto paper, and I've had a great time!


Female Human BldLtr 4 / Inc 4 / Shft 4 | HP: 69/69 | AC: 17 [21], T: 15, FF: 13 [17] | Fort: +8, Reflex: +9, Will: +9 (+Situational) | BAB: +4, CMB: +8, CMD: 22 | Init: +6, Perception: +11 [+25] |

And I've enjoyed getting to dust off this character and do some things. XD

(Incidentally, Paizo tends to stop notifying you of new posts if you don't post in a game or discussion thread for a month... so if you ARE cut off for that long, just PM me when you get back. ^^)


Training ends the first week in August and then I'll be moving to my permanent site. My plan is to return to regular posting in this game by the second week of August. How does that sound to you?


And we're back!

Since we've had this extended break, it's a good time to take a different tack if it's needed. I went back and re-read a lot of it, and it actually reads pretty well, which I'm pleased about on both our behalves. That said, I'm also aware that the scene-by-scene pace drags on extensively. Do you prefer lingering over the scenes and interactions the way we've been doing, or would you prefer to move things faster, even if it means hand-waving the details?

I looked over the Ultimate Intrigue rules, and I can't say that I was too impressed with what I read. I don't think I'll be incorporating any of the additional sub-systems.


This is an update I'm posting to all my games.

Cameroon is currently experiencing some civil unrest, and I happen to be living just minutes from the border with the conflict zone. The government has shut off internet to that region, as they'd done in the past. Currently, I have access; that may change unexpectedly.

I would like to emphasize that I'm in no personal danger, but if I disappear for a little while, that's what's going on. I'm pretty mobile on weekends, so I absolutely should not be disappearing at any point for more than two weeks.

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