Fang and Shackle (Inactive)

Game Master Kagehiro

Can I take Falcata for my weapon expertise, since I don't use any of the weapons listed?

Yeah, I'm fine with that.

I'm going on vacation out of the country until the 20th, and I won't be able to post, so DMPC me or whatever you need to do in the interim.

Not to pull the curtain back too much, but I'll go ahead and cover a couple of things here in OOC.

The group as a whole has a couple of options before them, barring any independent enterprise someone is dreaming up that I'm not party to. Rud and "Carrot" have more or less said that they've managed to put a stop to what was causing the chaos above. Unfortunately, there's nothing to be done down here for people who were already afflicted—this is going to boil down to trying to wrangle up violent madmen without killing them and then hoping that a combination of time and curative efforts will return them to their senses. The other option is to go chasing after some sort of shapeshifting technological genius with no leads (one glaring exception; see below) whatsoever.

Might seem a bit anticlimactic after clawing all the way down here, for which I apologize, but not every problem can be solved through a heroic dungeon clearing—it is my aim to kinda eschew the typical adventuring format. Worry not, that doesn't mean you're going to be a superfluous adventuring company. I just want to remind that this opens up into a sandbox, and some threads are going to run deeper than others. Not solving the mystery right away shouldn't be seen as a waste of time or a failure, I suppose, is the more succinct explanation.

Sampson: You possess the one and only means of tracking down this Leovarde. The shade of the Kuthite lingering inside of you claims it can help find where the traitor went. This trail will unfortunately go somewhere that isn't practical to follow immediately, and there is yet a lot of cleanup to be done in the city. The shade isn't pleased at this development, but it demonstrates patience and delivers on its promise earlier than expected (as incentive to fulfill Sampson's obligation to it). An immediate question I pose to you in that regard is: how are you going to go about collecting blood?

Moving this here for a proper round table discussion. As far as Vincent is concerned, unless someone can provide an immediate, reliable lead as to tracking down this traitor, his main goal is to resolve the current threat to the city, and that is wrangle up the remaining loonies and subdue them and hopefully find care for them.

After that, he intends to do the following:

1) Find his family, and make sure they are alright.

2) Find someone in charge, and make a report of what he has seen, preferably with the rest of the party to explain things Vincent does not understand, like the magical aspects of the whole thing, the sights in Rud's, etc. Particular individuals he would report to at this time are limited, but preferably he would report directly to his cousin.

3) Write up formal requests for commendations for all who were involved in his "team." This is a two-fold purpose in his mind. Firstly, these men risked their lives for Braganza, and as such earned his trust and he wants to try to repay that incredible good deed someway. Second, he hopes it will encourage them to stick around in the city, perhaps in positions where they could help recruit others to move here.

Beyond that, will depend entirely on how things develop in game I suppose, namely the extent of damage to the city, or to his own family, as well as any leads on the traitor.

I will be leaving for the beach this Saturday morning for roughly a week. My posting will be limited to from my iPad or phone. Shouldn't affect me in the game too much, but don't expect long posts from me during this time either. Hard to type with fat thumbs on a touch screen. Heh.

Anyone have Inner Sea Gods yet?

Nathmir may be going Evangelist.

The cleric archetype?

Prestige Class from ISGs.

Definitely interesting .... aligned class is sort of awesome

I'm fine with Nathmir taking levels in that, although I'm going to have a bit of a mini rant.

Am I missing something, or is Aligned Class just a flat out broken ability? Prestige Classes throughout Pathfinder have had one things in common: sacrificing class progression to gain a focused skillset, sometimes so focused on whatever that the Prestige ends up being pure rubbish no one would ever play from a powergaming perspective. And with this... they keep all of their normal class abilities, and add a bunch of new things on top of it. All they're giving up is their level 20 ability from a base class, and to be perfectly frank, abilities earned at that point may as well not exist.

Losing out on one level of spellcasting progression is about the only counterweight I see here. Maybe that's enough. *shrug* Either way, it's not like a campaign breaking thing, it just seems to fly in the face of their own class design (based on previous offerings).

Evangelist is pretty sick. I like the aligned class and flexible entry requirements a lot.

I'm fine with Nathmir taking levels in that, although I'm going to have a bit of a mini rant.

Am I missing something, or is Aligned Class just a flat out broken ability? Prestige Classes throughout Pathfinder have had one things in common: sacrificing class progression to gain a focused skillset, sometimes so focused on whatever that the Prestige ends up being pure rubbish no one would ever play from a powergaming perspective. And with this... they keep all of their normal class abilities, and add a bunch of new things on top of it. All they're giving up is their level 20 ability from a base class, and to be perfectly frank, abilities earned at that point may as well not exist.

Losing out on one level of spellcasting progression is about the only counterweight I see here. Maybe that's enough. *shrug* Either way, it's not like a campaign breaking thing, it just seems to fly in the face of their own class design (based on previous offerings).

For me archetypes basically killed prestige classes since they are so narrow and require all this planning etc. You can build out almost any character concept with multiclassing and archetypes. Perhaps something very flexible like the Evangelist is an attempt to make them more attractive?

Also some of the daily obediences are pretty rough if you've looked at those. It's going to require a very dedicated character to maintain that forever.

I kind of like the idea of a deity rewarding a servant who isn't a cleric, so the boons seem cool, but these prestige classes are .... wow .... This one gives you class progressions, the other gives clerics a third domain .... Powerful stuff.

And that's just from reading the srd, so I can't even see the full details on the boons/obediences yet.

Buncha tom-foolery if ya ask me... Heh heh

Just kidding, that actually sounds like a great character development platform. I can see the risk of "power gaming" the character into some awesome stuff, but the drawbacks of the obedience(s) come pretty close to moderating that aspect.

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For Eldred, I think I'll stick with his regular progression. I like the archtypes, and was briefly toying with the idea of a swashbuckler, but that just means I couldn't keep him surly. I just can't have that :)

But I'll throw it out there to the group, have you guys seen any archtypes/progressions for gunslingers that turn up the awesome?

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As far as what to do next, Eldred would rather go hunting, but he's not going to go foolishly on a blind search. He can bide his time and gather information until the hunt is assured to succeed. For the time being he'll assist Vincent in clearing out the crazy folk...although, I don't think they've created beanbag rounds for pistols yet, right? Mr. Brimleydower: Any such thing for subdual rounds in this universe?

Well my problem is I don't have ISG's yet. So I don't know Nethys obedience or boons. Which is kinda important info. xC

I like the Asmodean ones. I just need an unwilling slave or pet (And by pet, I mean a person who I have as a pet), drain some of their blood with a ruby-bladed knife, then paint a pentagram with it and pray in it. (Edit: Actually, its only 'preferred' that the creature is an unwilling sentient creature I hold dominion over. I can always use a goat. I wonder if goats are easy to come by in the city?)

Pretty metal right there.

Nethys' Obedience requires you to scribe arcane formula, blessings to Nethys, and lines of prayer on a blank parchment, (Not a complete spell mind you, only the notations sufficient to potentially spur a reader to study magic), then cast a spell or spell completion item. The bonus from the Obedience is a +4 to concentration checks. First boon is either Mage Armor 3/day, Mirror image 2/day, or Fly 1/day, second Boon is a beefed up Arcane Eye 3/day, and the third is the Robes of Nethys, an illusory robe that can absorb hostile spells for a number of rounds per day equal to 1 + 1 per 4 HD you possess (max 6 rounds), acting as a lesser globe of invulnerability against hostile spells only for that duration.

Oh, wait, those are the Evanglist boons - there are different boons for the Exalted and the Sentinel PrCs.

Also, Rutilus is updated, and I'll see about getting a post up shortly in the gameplay thread.

I remember Ragathiel's is killing a proven evil doer every day. Cause I am playing someone who's going to become a Mystery Cultist in Wrath of the Righteous. But that was in a different book, the Empyreal Lords one.

A couple questions before I make a post:

How did Vincent's family fair in the madness?
What can I learn of this Kolstov lady and her family, and how I could return her blade to them?

Since this is the first time Ive ever done any crafting, my apologies if these questions are really basic. Ive read through the real rules (confusing) and reread the homebrew rules so I think Im ready once I learn a little more about:

CASTER LEVEL: I assume these rules apply and I wont be churning out Rods of Lordly Might this week....

CRAFTING COST: probably the first question to ask, since I don't think we acquired enough loot to do much at the moment. How do the costs enter into your homebrew system?

MW REQUIREMENT: do weapons still need to be MW to be enchanted? Or could I add a +1 to Sampsons current Falcata?

EXPERIMENTATION: can I choose to make a standard item but also experiment? ie, not try to make a +1 flaming sword but rather try to infuse a Cloak of Resistance +1 with some of my fire magic as well to create something unique? Im almost envisioning it as 'hey, I know how to make this, but I wonder what would happen if I did THIS instead?" Like making +1 ammo for Dred but using the metal bits from the guardian as the reagent......do I try it and see what happens or should I come to the table with an idea of what I want to happen? Im also assuming that falls into the category of 'rare' and therefore 24 hrs per + to craft?

FAILURE: if I were to try adding a + to that falcata, or Vincent's MW armor, and I fail the experimentation check, does the enchantment just not work or do I turn the gear to slag as well?

HERE OR PM: don't want to dominate the discussion thread with this stuff if that's not your intention so what is your preferred method?

At this point, Ive got an idea for just about every member of the team......I tried to come up with ideas that were organic based on what Zeltresh saw during the battle and what he thinks might benefit the team in general. From a roleplay perspective Im thinking this is his first foray into crafting so he might not take orders yet but he definitely wants to give each person something. Some are basic formula and some are probably going to fall into that unique category.........

A brief note before answering: bear in mind that the new crafting system still imposes the same minimum level requirements. Think of it like a package deal—you get craft arms & armor, forge rings, and craft wondrous for the price of one. At third level, the only sort of crafting available would be Wondrous Items.

Caster Level: Correct. I still aim to keep power levels at least in the ballpark of balanced as the system assumes.

Crafting Costs: That depends in part on the reagents and materials you're supplying. If you had access to a noteworthy chunk of mithral ore, crafted the object yourself, and enchanted it using rare reagents you yourself harvested, you'd see a significant reduction in the listed price. A more general rule of thumb will hinge on the quality of your ingredients. The rarer the goods, the lower the final cost.

Masterwork: Items still need to be masterwork quality to hold an enchantment.

Experimenting: Experimenting is always an option. You won't be able to reproduce the effects of non-standard items, however. So, while you might be able to stumble into creating a cloak of resistance +1 that also provides fire resist 3, you couldn't churn those bad boys out reliably. Also, in order to experiment, you'll need something a little more tangible: reagents (although I might be persuaded to allow spells with worthwhile material costs to influence the item's creation as well).

Failure: If you're trying to create a standard item that is on your list of known formulae (like, for example, a +1 falcata) you won't risk destroying the item or anything crazy like that. Poor rolls will just mean no progress on crafting it. When you are experimenting, on the other hand, there's an entire range of effects that might happen.

More on Failure/Experimenting: Magic is chaotic. Your crafting check will serve to inform your roll on the experimentation table. Rather than failing outright, you're just going to really hurt your odds of getting a good result (but it's still possible, if you roll well enough on the experimentation table). I intend to keep the chart hidden from view because I want the results to be a bit mysterious and random, but it's a d100 roll. I will say that a result of 1 or lower is a cursed item, while a result of 100 or greater can create an artifact.

Feel free to discuss it here, as I'm sure the others would like to know what to expect from this as well.

A brief note before answering: bear in mind that the new crafting system still imposes the same minimum level requirements. Think of it like a package deal—you get craft arms & armor, forge rings, and craft wondrous for the price of one. At third level, the only sort of crafting available would be Wondrous Items.

ugh, read the whole thing twice and missed the obvious....

With that said, I will definitely file a lot of these wacky ideas for another time (when those ranks in crafting armor and weapons and that spell will come in handy). I like the idea of unique items and Im looking forward to trying a few things out in a couple of levels.

For now, I think I'll use my access to the army's stores to see what I can get my hands on, add into the mix the reagent from the construct battle, and try to make myself a nice cloak +1....while definitely experimenting ways to add my elemental powers into the process in some way.

If Im successful on day one I'd probably seek out the others to see what else could be done also, but if only one member of the party can benefit from my crafting skills at the moment, it should definitely be me!

I'll post a quick example to maybe give a better understanding of the process in general.

Step 1—Determine the item being attempted (and whether or not it is an experimental creation): Zeltresh knows how to make bracers of armor +1, but wants to see if he can improve the enchantment through experimentation. He has a flask full of spider venom (A common ingredient) that he incorporates into the enchantment process.

Sorry but been a bit busy.

As for what Nathmir does during his time off. He will help so long as the city is in danger (is it?), once things calm down he will go off on his own. After all he is not on active duty unless requested (his reaction will depends on a number of things). He will spend his time checking locations for a temple site he can claim from the city.

Would like to know if this is fine or not. Also if more details are needed. x)

At the moment, it's mostly a salvage and repair initiative. Some overzealous street gangs crop up here and there, but with the authorities already on edge and high alert, they're dealt with swiftly and harshly. Hard labor is in highest demand at the moment. Even with all of the visiting carpenters, engineers, and laborers owing to Building Season, the necessary repairs are daunting.

Governmental services are basically put on hiatus for the first few days, so far as public interface is considered. When they finally open their doors again, there's a veritable quagmire of angry/confused/distraught civilians wielding an impressive array of complaints, demands, and requests. This restricts Nathmir to mostly just browsing for the moment without any official word. His granted leave has not been rescinded so far.

Those belonging to the Most Noble Order of the Exalted March are predictably conscripted to help police the city, most of them assigned as officers to a detachment of guardsmen (those of Field-Squire or higher rank, that is; the rest serve as seconds to a higher ranking member).

Arzazel, I'm going to work on detailing out the Silver Agent (a name and everything!) and I'll get back to you on what your options are.

Zeltresh and Rutilus are both given orders to remain available (by Terandar Ravnagask himself, actually) though left to their own devices beyond this. They'll be involved in an investigative report on what happened at Rud's, and what can be done to fix it/ensure it doesn't happen again.

Eldred gets to supervise some gun toting grunts on patrols around town at regular intervals.

 
 
 
Even those officially assigned to tasks, most of your days/nights are your own time. There's enough men to designate to patrols that no one is spending excessive amounts of time on routes through the city.

Arzazel, I'm going to work on detailing out the Silver Agent (a name and everything!) and I'll get back to you on what your options are.

Thanks, I aim to support to plot and story. Cheers

Hmm.. since I've sort of forgotten to do Rutilus's background (I really need to get on that), who do I report to here in the city?

Your familiar. (^_~)

You're attached to the Chelish Embassy in the city. More than this, I know not.

Your amazing scorpion centipede. He pulls all the strings AT THE SAME TIME because of legs.

There's an undertaking I'm undertaking! Brief version: I'm trying to use more modernized game concepts to update AD&D 2nd Edition with. I intend to open up the discussion to people I know via these messageboards as well as people I game with face to face.

To be frank, I don't think D&D:N is going to be what it promised to be, which is a shame. Pathfinder remains fun, but less so with each passing day (I think it's simply too codified for my own tastes). So I'm going to green-light my initial idea to try and overhaul 2nd Edition's malformed chassis with some more modern themes.

I welcome insight from those with an understanding of AD&D 2nd Edition as well as those with an understanding of Pathfinder. New ideas are fine, but within a specific context. This is not a goal to design an entirely new game—the end result should still play like D&D, even if some pieces look different. That means Vancian spellcasters, Saving Throws, Str/Dex/Con/Int/Wis, alignments, and so on. I'm not looking to break any boundaries. Just trying to polish and update what's already there.

Here's the Google Sites link I've served up as a gathering point for ideas, development, and the like—complete with a horribly generic title: Dungeonfinder

thanks for the example, much clearer than what I had in my head......with 17gp in my pouch I think I'll be spending the 5 days helping out in the city, training, and visiting the army's reagent stores dreaming of the day very soon when I can start using them...

Alrighty, as far as Rutilus' plans go, he's probably going to check in with the Chelish Embassy to let them know what he's seen and then.. well, he's kind of broke at the moment, so barring some form of payment, he's probably going to.. do whatever evil wizards do, and plot to take over the world?

Honestly, barring going to the odd tavern and listening in for anything interesting, he'll probably stay indoors and study his spellbook while awaiting further orders.

I'm going to work on his background in earnst in the coming days as I said I would. No more slacking off! (Brimley, expect to see numerous messages as I work things out with ya)

Sorry, been swamped lately.

For Eldred, he'll spend a good portion of the day in the training yards. But he doesn't sleep much, so he'll want to hit the local taverns and see about this 'changeling'. For Eldred, any attack begins with a little recon and taverns are a great place to learn about a city. Maybe this baddie did some of his own while in the guise.

I'll write up something soon.

I'm going to be leaning a bit on the Discussion Thread before I shift the Gameplay forward for the next week of in-game shenanigans.

First up, Arzazel: While the presence of the Aspis Consortium is very much on the rise in Molthune, Braganza's share of that membership delegation is, as of now, still pretty lean. Before Imperial Governor Teldas exiled the Pathfinders, they didn't have much of a hold on the region. But now? They are officially recognized and catered to by the country itself, in an outright bid to flip the proverbial bird to the Pathfinders for having the gall to establish a lodge in Nirmathas.

But, as I mentioned, Braganza is still not exactly thriving. Given that large portions of the city are a veritable ghost town under the watch of Abadarans—A faith often frowning on the Aspis tendency of allowing profit to trump local laws—being assigned to the area up until this point had been a sign of incurring disfavor within the organization. Not that Arzazel is intimately aware of these things, but I'm sure there have been whispers from fellow Bronzes or lower to the effect of "man, who'd you piss off to get sent out there?"

Darvan Fallhammer is the Silver Agent you're reporting to, and every inch of the burly dwarf seems as if anathema to the Aspis Consortium. He eschews subtlety, flaunts authority, and is about as diplomatically equipped as an ice troll being held to the fire. But there is one thing the man does well: profit. No one knows exactly how, but the dwarf keeps a river of gold flowing into all the right coffers.

In his glory days, Darvan was an accomplished adventurer. There are plenty of rumors that would claim he suffered an injury that prevented him from continuing such a career, but Arzazel has seen the dwarf in action. He's one of the most terrifying and brutal warriors the half-orc has ever witnessed, which is high praise coming from an ex-pit fighter. Darvan owns an inn & tavern of middling reputation: The Bulbous Steed (complete with a keg-barrel "fat horse" dangling outside from a post). It sits in central Old Town, and its only claim to fame is having the strongest lager available in Molthune. Predictably, it's a bit of a hotspot for the very small dwarven presence in Braganza. Also, not surprisingly, dwarves tend to make up the bulk of the Aspis presence here.

Fortunately for Arzazel, Darvan's taken a liking to him. They usually send him uppity fops and he usually sends them off on some mission that gets them killed. They complain about the turnover rate, and he tells them to piss off. Darvan runs a very specific game to generate the respectable revenue that dumbfounds most people, and it's (again, predictably) a very dwarven bit of "espionage". Simply put, they mine claims out from under people. Molthune (and the Mindspins in particular) play host to an unusual concentration of silver mines. They've been caught a few times, but usually by miners who don't know how to hold a sword. The dwarves stealing from them are trained killers, on the other hand. When security tightens at a dig, they move on to another claim.

They have some legitimate mining operations too, of course. All told, it's a bit of an irony: someone reputed to be the worst Silver Agent in the organization has a monopoly on silver.

Arzazel, unlikely as it is, presents a golden opportunity that Darvan's ached for quite a while: someone on the "inside". He's not quite able to operate with impunity, because Abadaran's worshipers are a bit too vigilant. With the half-orc slated to be named Champion of Braganza, and all that goes with it, the dwarf finally thinks he has an ear to the ground to work with.

very cool. how well did my preview of the silver agent work with Darvan's ruthlessness?

cheers

Holy moly, do I have a lot of catch-up to play. I'll start reading it and hopefully be caught up by tomorrow (gotta go to work shortly).

Not entirely decided there. Either Darvan himself is the one who gave the orders (signed off on by a Gold, of course), or he had enough of a hate-on for Benot that removing him ingratiated Arzazel to the dwarf. While he colors outside of the lines so to speak, Darvan doesn't cheat the Aspis out of their due.

No longer capable of posting from work, which sucks, but I'll start trying to use that time to brainstorm and read stuff on my phone.

I'll have another update for Rutilus and Zeltresh to further explain what they're being tasked with for the time being. Need some backgrounds and the like from Rutilus, though. Else the GM will make official changes of unchanging.

Nathmir: Not ignoring your results, btw, but the ramifications will not be felt until later. In the meantime, I can reveal that your rolls are earning the goodwill and interest of some people within the city.

Working on my background nowwwwww. Its gonna be a good one, I promise.

Alright, got part of his background done, I'll finish the rest tomorrow.

Sorry for the gaping maw of absence, I've been stretched thin lately in general with an upper respiratory infection to boot. I'll get things moving again this week.

S'cool man. S+!+ happens. I haven't really known what to do in this game so I haven't posted. Sandbox is all good, but our characters all have widely varying motivations and allegiance, so without a plot to unite us I fear there is no real party. More like six solo quests running side by side or something.

I'm going to be getting Thron/Vincent to help me out as a co-GM going forward. Should help prevent future lulls. He has a moreorless direct line to me, so there won't be any divergent GM issues.

Going to finish up reading Kage's info he sent me, scheme up some things on my own, and get a post together this evening.

woot

Cool

Thron, fair enough. I'm going camping until Sunday, so bot me. Maybe Kage can set the tone of the Silver by then. Thanks for helping out.

cheers

good to hear we're still playing. I'll try and get a post up today

I'm going to withdraw from this I think. The pacing's poor and I've essentially written myself into a corner with Sampson. He's a horrible team player, and now he's working for Zon Kuthon so his only drive is to murder people and steal their blood. I don't care about Molthune, and there's nothing that would interest Sampson that's going to unite us all as a group. Soooo...yeah, I have nothing to post at the moment and can't see that changing in a sandbox type game. Thanks Brimley for the chance to play!

Good luck guys~

Nuu Sampson! While yes, the pacing is rather poor due to Brimley's schedule, thats going to likely change soon with Thron now helping him - and as for writting yourself into a corner with Sampson, instead of withdrawing altogether, perhaps bring out a new character like I did with Rutilus and Viktor?

Ooor.. perhaps Brimley/Thron can find a way for you to come back into the fold story-wise.

What is the story though? Seems like it ended at Rud's.

Well Zel and I have gotten a fairly straight forward quest from Rud himself that we'll inevitably need your lot's help with, once we know more about what we're looking for.

Plus I haven't read any of the other's stuffs so I don't know whats going on with them.