Landhan "The Professor" Pelham |
Checking in as well. Very cool! It's been a while since I've gotten to play anything but published PFS Scenarios/Modules, so it'll be fun to have absolutely no clue what's coming next. :-D
Sukumar |
Back story is now on my alias under the spoiler. I tried to make sure that all the elements of his character were included in some form in the narrative. Let me know what you think. :)
Samuel Hutchinson |
Thanks for accepting me! I redid my character sheet. My question is how do they feel about Taldans and actors because that will inform what he thinks of them.
Since psychic magic doesn't have verbal and somantic components, would people who know psychic magic as well as Vudrans would be able to recognize it as it's cast on them and/or others? Due to psychic magic's relative rarity in Avistan, I've imagined that Samuel doesn't know what he is besides not a normal mage and no one has ever recognized him as a mesmerist.
GM Laughmask |
Hmm, I haven't come across much going deep into their relations with other countries, but from the way they're described, it sounds like they are a very amiable lot who would be on good terms with just about everyone. The way they're described is people who enter into relations with Vudran with a negative disposition are usually swayed because they're so friendly. So I would say they're at least neutral if not friendly. As for actors, they would love it. Vudra is big on theatrics, dance and display so actors are in a good spot.
As far as detecting and understanding psychic magic, that's a great question. I'll check the Occult Adventures when I get home to see if they discuss it. If not, we can come up with something. I like the idea that outsiders aren't fully aware of how it works or what it looks like though.
GM Laughmask |
I sent the spiritualist player a message and he will be getting his character finalized by the weekend. In the meantime, I will work on getting a little preamble to the adventure going in the gameplay thread so that you guys can start roleplaying and getting into character.
For now, I will leave you with the results of your random rolls. They were meant for mundane "random encounters", but not in the traditional sense. I will tell you what your character has encountered on his journey down the Matra river and ask for a little explanation. Feel free to get creative and world build.
For some quick context, you guys left from Radripal around noon, with the hopes of making landfall within the Skittering Mists by sunset with time to make camp. About 6 miles down the river, thick jungle growth begins to surround and envelope the river shores. Taking several winding splits in the river, you can finally see the uncanny fog banks ahead - the Skittering Mists. You gently row forward, at this point relying on the faded map to guide you through the obscure jungle-river complex. (More detailed into to come when I open gameplay)
Sukumar |
Samuel Hutchinson |
Sukumar, giant boring beetles are third party. Be careful on d20pfsrd; it has great third party support but isn't the best with separating third party from official Paizo, especially with the bestiary. Also do we need spoilers?
"Bah, a few bugs don't worry me. Wake me when magic is involved, thank you." Samuel looks to the arrow nocked by the Vudrani. It didn't match the broken arrows on the riverbank. With the comparison, he could see the subtle differences between them. Though they were clearly both modern arrows, Sukumar's arrow was sharpened to a deadly point. The arrows on riverbank were blunted rather like the arrows we used on the stage...
Sukumar |
Sukumar, giant boring beetles are third party. Be careful on d20pfsrd; it has great third party support but isn't the best with separating third party from official Paizo, especially with the bestiary. Also do we need spoilers?
Since we are in an actively homebrew game, I didn't think bringing in third party monsters would be a problem. Also since the GM encouraged us to world build, I thought that might be a good way to go. I wasn't sure if we needed spoilers or not, so I erred on the side of caution. :)
Samuel Hutchinson |
Samuel Hutchinson wrote:Since we are in an actively homebrew game, I didn't think bringing in third party monsters would be a problem. Also since the GM encouraged us to world build, I thought that might be a good way to go. I wasn't sure if we needed spoilers or not, so I erred on the side of caution. :)Sukumar, giant boring beetles are third party. Be careful on d20pfsrd; it has great third party support but isn't the best with separating third party from official Paizo, especially with the bestiary. Also do we need spoilers?
That's fair I suppose. I just get a little nervous around third party stuff.
Landhan "The Professor" Pelham |
"Hmmph.," the grumbly voice of the Professor suddenly out of nowhere may startle you all, as he's sad little or nothing since leaving town. "Th' rivar's lookin' diffrnt frum whut aye redd abaut it. Shuld be a buncha reeds n' such. Looks ded. Nothing growing. All these playnts are ded. Water cud be taynted."
Basically, the Professor has noticed that there should be ample plantlife along the river, but you've suddenly come upon an area that seems devoid of living plant matter, as you move toward the mists ahead. The jungle may be denser here, but it all looks dead.
Sukumar |
Either way, this all adds up to no good. Keep your wits about you men. I don't like the looks or sounds of any of it. Sukumar continues to actively scan their surroundings, including in the murky water.
Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15
Nandita Bachchan |
Thank you again for the selection, I am rather excited to get to play a Spiritualist. Also I am apparently going to be the only girl in a group of men and it seems like I will be the youngest. That should be fun. To be noted the phantom is kept hidden for the beginning since it unnerves people. This is a class I have never gotten to play with and work has been rather rough this week so I humbly apologize for the delay she should be done in a day or so.
If anyone has ever fiddled with a Spiritualist before I would love some suggestions. The spell list is rather awesome and I will be going the route of buffing with a little bad touch in there since I cannot help myself.
Also Gm Laughmask would the eschew materials feat count for the psychic magic's?
Samuel Hutchinson |
@Nandita Yeah this is one of the few times I'm playing a character to match my gender. I promise that Samuel has no opinion one way or the other on Nandita's gender.
As for the Eschew Materials, I don't believe that Psychic mages need inexpensive material components. They also don't have verbal and somantic components. The only thing mentioned as far as material components go is that psychic mages can use items of meaning as part of the spell. The example given is a psychic using her expensive wedding ring to revive her dead husband.
"Then what, if I may ask are you a professor of, my good man? Linguistics?"
GM Laughmask |
To note, I will often post links like the following when entering new "scenes" to help set the mood and keep everyone's imagination relatively consistent. I won't pull specific details from the images or anything so don't worry about feeling obligated to look.
Scene
Music
As Samuel said, they do not require inexpensive materials, thus eschew materials would be a waste. They only require foci and expensive materials. As for the verbal and somatic components, they are replaced by emotion and thought components for psychics respectively. Emotion requirements make it impossible to cast the spell if you are under the effect of a harmful spell with the emotion or fear descriptor. Thought spells increase the concentration DC by 10 when interrupted/distracted.
Psychic magic originates from the distinctive qualities of the caster’s composite being, rather than through arcane formulae or rote supplication to divine entities. Therefore, psychic spells never have verbal or somatic components, and have only expensive material components. Psychic spells are purely mental actions, and they can be cast even while the caster is pinned or paralyzed. Focus components work the same way with psychic spells as they do with other spells.
When a spell calls for an expensive material component, a psychic spellcaster can instead use any item with both significant meaning and a value greater than or equal to the spell’s component cost. For example, if a spiritualist wanted to cast raise dead to bring her dead husband back from the grave, she could use her 5,000 gp wedding ring as the spell’s material component.
Instead of verbal and somatic components, all psychic spells have components related to the caster’s inner being. The two psychic components are called emotion components and thought components. If a spell’s components line lists a somatic component, that spell instead requires an emotion component when cast by psychic spellcasters, and if it has a verbal component, it instead requires a thought component when cast by psychic spellcasters. Psychic spells cast by non-psychic arcane and divine casters use any listed somatic and verbal components as normal.
Emotion Components: Emotion components represent a particular emotional state required to cast the spell. A psychic spellcaster marshals her desire in order to focus and release the spell’s energy. It is impossible to cast a spell with an emotion component while the spellcaster is under the influence of a non-harmless effect with the emotion or fear descriptors. (The emotion descriptor was originally introduced in Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Magic.) Even if the effect’s emotion matches the necessary emotion to cast the psychic spell, the spellcaster is not in control of her own desires and animal impulses, which is a necessary part of providing an emotion component.
Thought Components: Thought components represent mental constructs necessary for the spell’s function, such as picturing a wolf in vivid detail—down to the saliva dripping from its jaws—in order to cast beast shape to transform into a wolf. Thought components are so mentally demanding that they make interruptions and distractions extremely challenging. The DC for any concentration check for a spell with a thought component increases by 10. A psychic spellcaster casting a spell with a thought component can take a move action before beginning to cast the spell to center herself; she can then use the normal DC instead of the increased DC.
Just as spell-like abilities never require verbal, somatic, or material components, these abilities also don’t require thought or emotion components. A psychic spellcaster can replace verbal and somatic components with thought and emotion components only for the purposes of the spell components themselves, not for the purposes of any other rules elements that relate to verbal and somatic components. She can’t use Silent Spell to ignore the thought component of a spell, for example. The new feats Intuitive Spell and Logical Spell serve a similar function for these new components, and appear in Chapter 3.
As you creep steadily down the river into the sweeping fog bank, Landhan draws your attention to the dying vegetation on the shore. Slumped against a mossy log, you spot a broken and rotten wagon wheel...and a body. What race/creature does the body belong to? How long do you think it's been there?
Sukumar As you scan the surroundings, you get an uneasy feeling that you're being watched. But jungles being such as they are, teaming with things eagerly awaiting their next meal, that feeling is sure to stick.
It looks like we're off to a great start. I will open up the gameplay thread tomorrow morning and from there on out we can drop the ooc tags in this thread. I will give time for Nandita to finalize the character and just continue with roleplay bits for the time being, until then, I'm glad to see everyone's checked in. I will also try to send a message to everyone with my gmail so that we can try to get a group message going just for announcements.
GM Laughmask |
Landhan It looks like you've still got a 15 pt buy and have 5 points left to spend. I'd like to put a min at 6 and max 19 if you don't mind. Also could you note on your character sheet what your starting spells are, not just the prepared ones. Should have 6 1st-level spells.
Samuel Just a reminder, but it looks like the myth-weaver link is still for the 25 pt buy.
Sukumar You also have a 15 pt buy with 5 more to spend =)
Nandita Bachchan |
I will get her stats done after work. I work nights so it will be a bit. I did the random roll in the recruitment thread. It is a four
Samuel Hutchinson |
I believe I see the source of the confusion. The one in the profile is for another campaign. I have included the one for this campaign in my profile now clearly labeled. I apologize for the confusion. I have been working with 20-point buy and do not intend to cheat.
Also do you have my gmail to contact me?
Landhan "The Professor" Pelham RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16 |
Sukumar |
It was going to be a 15 point buy, but everyone showed interest in 20 so I OK'd it. Plus it should help being a party of 4 rather than 5 with a few new classes being played. Also, Gameplay has started! And I sent messages to everyone with my gmail.
Dangit! Wish I had seen this last night. I won't be able to adjust stats until this evening. As is I have a busy day anyway, so I might not actually get to an in-game post until tonight. This looks like a great group! Really excited about this. Love the scene setting images and music GM Laughmask! See you all in the gameplay thread. :)
Nandita Bachchan |
Got a simple question. With the bonus spells you get from having a big casting stat can the extra spell go to the zero level spells.
Nandita Bachchan |
My mistake in the post. I was asking for a homebrew rule to add that allows this. Posting from my phone is chancy buisness
Samuel Hutchinson |
I don't necessarily have a problem with it. Let's just limit it to one swapped though.
I am confused now. I thought Nandita was asking for the bonus spell per day as per the rules for a high ability score bonus. This is strange as everyone has infinite amount 0 lvl spells. An extra spell known would be useful but ability scores don't modify spells known.
Nandita Bachchan |
Ok I apparently confused myself. All is well here folks just ignore me and my confusion.
Landhan "The Professor" Pelham |
@Laughmask: I didn't see anything from your gmail. You can send to this email address: cartmanbeck@pathfindercommunity.net
I also have a personal gmail address for Google Hangouts if you'd like to use that. PM me for that one.
Nandita Bachchan |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Its lydiagreystone@gmail.com though I check the messageboards more that I check my email. My priorities are totally in order!
Nandita Bachchan |
• What is your motivation for this expedition? To find her any information on where her uncle went.
• What was the last thing you did before falling asleep last night? Curled up in her bed roll and wrapped her fingers around the ring in her hair while promising to find her uncle.
• What is your character's goal in life? She honestly wants a simple live, to eventually marry and have children but beyond that she wants to understand more about what this red tinted creature is.
• What have you heard about the Skittering Mists? That they are a rather dangerous place. Mostly any information that she could from some of her uncle's friends and whatever Calaak had to tell.
I am stuck on feats and the phantom but the crunch should be done by tomorrow
Standing at 5'1 Nandita is rather accustom to having to look up at people. Not a remarkable beauty one of her most notable features are her eyes, which are a the color of honey. Fairly pale skin for the Vudrani people and long thick dark hair which she rarely does anything with beside making sure the brass ring is in place near her face. Despite growing up among the brightly decorated Nandita sticks out since she tends to favor more naturally colored fabrics with the exception to the bright blue scarf she keeps wrapped around her waist. The piercings indicative of her people she has latched onto. Silvery rings line her ears, there is one on her brow and another on her nose. Her left shoulder is dominated by a swirling red tattoo.
Soft spoken and tending to keep quite Nandita normally falls into the background of most settings. Not the prettiest or social skilled she falls behind in the normally eloquent speech and boisterous behavior of her people. Slow to learn anything Nandita is rarely without a journal filled with notes on things that interest her, safely stored in written word so she is likely to remember the information. Despite her quiet demeanor one of Nandita's favorite places to be is a busy marketplace full of loud merchants and louder throngs of people. She strives to keep a happy view of the world to honor her parents desire for her signified by her name but she struggles with maintaining a joyous viewpoint constantly.
Nandita Bachchan is the child of Kunala and Avani Bachchan. Kunala was born and raised a merchant while Avani is of the warrior caste. She fell in love with the Kunala on the job. She was hired by the Bachchan family as a guard and she never abandoned that position. Both were young when they fell in love and married, regardless of their families not liking the idea. Five years later, after they had a comfortable nest of money incase anything went wrong. They had one child who they named Nandita. Her name would mean happy child and that is what they hoped for their little girl. Nandita spent the first eight years of her life either traveling about with her parents in their circuit to different settlements or staying with her uncle, Abhay Misra, if her parents were leaving their normal circuit for a more dangerous endeavor
In her eighth year she was deposited with her uncle and her parents left. Planning to be gone for about three months. Six months rolled by with no word and Abhay left Nandita with a friend to go look for his sister. Ahbay was gone for a year and when he returned it was alone. He had found the remains of their caravan. He brought back very little besides closure as the jungle and bandits had picked it clean. He did bring back a brass ring that Avani wore is her hair. Nandita keeps the ring hanging in the front of her hair.
Abhay decided to keep Nandita and raise her. She spent the next ten years with her uncle. Abhay is of the warrior caste and once he was sure he was having to raise Nandita he shifted his work to keep him in the city until she was around 14then feeling she was stable and old enough to take care of herself Abhay started to take jobs that let him travel around more as a guard to various caravans and adventuring parties.
At 16 she got her swirling red tattoo, designed after on her mother had. While her mother's was a vibrant swirl of many colors Nandita felt that hers should be in vibrant red. The swirls loosely resemble a bird.
When she was 17 she had an unusual encounter. Her Abhay was gone and she was out wondering the market for most of the day. The day faded and grew dark before she realized in and heading home she passed a few drunken men who tried to proposition her and got a little grabby. From out of nowhere this ethereal glowing red brute appeared screaming in a fury. The drunks stumbled over each other to flee. Nandita was in a corner and prayed the creature would not notice her. It did but instead of attacking her the creature gently touched her face and brushed up against her mind. This was the awakening of her powers.
When Nandita was eighteen Abhay took a job going to venture down the Matra and was planning to go down to the cities of Radripal and Lipror to look into some disappearances and that was eight months ago. Nandita spent months looking for a group that would help her find her uncle. She heard about Calaak wanting to have a group run into the Skittering Mists and Nandita jumped at the opportunity.
Nandita Bachchan |
also mages generally need to keep their knowledge arcana up in ranks but there is not a knowledge for psychic magic is there one of the ones that already exist that you will use like knowledge planes?
cartmanbeck RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16 |
GM Laughmask |
Thanks for the character info Nandita. As far as knowledge skills go, I would keep psychics as knowledge(arcana) for the most part. I think understanding gaining a better understanding of your spirit would fall under knowledge(planes) however, since they are outsiders. And to identify a psychic spell being cast, it would still use spellcraft. If it were taking place outside of Vudra where psychic magic is so prevalent, I might have given a penalty to such things or raised the DC. But I feel like Vudrani would be very familiar with psychic magic and identifying it.
Samuel it seems like you have a good grasp on the new occult material, if you have any thoughts, let's hear em. This is the first time I'm using occult material in an adventure, so I'm still learning as well.
Samuel Hutchinson |
The FAQ you linked in Campaign info is for spellcraft checks against arcane spells cast with still/silent spell. It was discussed years before psychic spells were developed.
Vudrans being familiar with psychic magic and the fact that spellcraft works for both arcane and divine magic says to me that psychic magic being identifying a psychic spell is reasonable. But a commoner understanding a subtle spell like Charm Person being cast? Unlikely even in Vudra.
As for the knowledge, I would favor kn (planes) as spirits are outsiders and psychic magic comes from the Astral Plane. Arcane and Divine spells use different knowledge skills so using a different one for psychic is fair. Kn (planes) is also an adventuring skill so it doesn't mess with Background skills.
The point about how the majority of the artwork shows physical signs of psychic magic, usually glowing eyes, is valid. I would allow for signs that happen depending on the spell. Some spells are subtle and some are big and flashy. Another thing to keep in mind is artwork is intended to be flashy. It could be a more dramatic presentation of what actually happens like real-life artwork often is.
Nandita Bachchan |
So she will have an int of 8 and I am woundering about languages. Does she get Common and Vudrani just Vudrani?
GM Laughmask |
Samuel, I agree that psychics should have its own knowledge, and knowledge(planes) is a perfectly fitting. I will adjust the campaign page to include this. I was hesitant to use the "psychich magic artwork" argument because, like you said, they likely over-do things. My initial thoughts for spellcraft checks were to have only other psychics capable of using it to identify spells.
@Nandita If you are a Vudrani Human, then you start with both Common and Vudrani.
Samuel Hutchinson |
Since psychic magic is a type of magic, I think wizards and magi should be able to identify psychic spells since they could have studied them. Witches gain the knowledge from their patron. As for sorcerers, whatever allows them to understand arcane spells without studying should allow them to know psychic stuff too. Especially since there is a psychic bloodline.