@Frenchy/Advocate: Should I run Melani through this next combat since Ahreni is out of it or can you stop by enough to post Frenchy?
I'm not really keen to the idea of one of you playing for Melani/Satin for a couple reasons:
- It could eventually burden you too much;
- Diminishes the interaction between the group and increases metagame thoughts;
- There is always the tendency of her to be put into a cohort spot instead of a major role since the one playing her would generally think about his PC's actions first;
- At the end of this period (in September when French returns) there is always the chance that so much happened that it becomes difficult for him to return, be it for personal reasons, because he lost interest, because he lost too much of the AP, etc. In this case we'll have to find another player and we'd have deprived him from the beginning of the AP since he could have joined now.
Because of these reasons, I believe that it would be at the best interest of everyone (including French who has pretty important exams in the near future) that we let him go and look for another player if French really won't be able to post daily.
For this quick battle I'll bot Melani if French isn't capable of.
@Marcellus: thank you for the compliment. I hope you feel the same way when you have to bail my ass out of a melee fight. :)
I wholeheartedly agree with the decision to drop the PC. If there's another opportunity for him to join and he can manage the expected schedule then he's more than welcome to join but carrying an NPC is no fun.
@Vicenzo: Looking at the adhesive spittle and the tanglefoot bag, it states that the target is entangled if it passes the saving throw, not grappled, so he is allowed to move, even if only at half speed.
Changed the downed enemy to red color.
Fixed. It happens when I update the campaign and fail to notice that the page had not loaded properly yet... it also screwed half of my spoilers (again). Sigh.
It is always sad when one player have to go.
Luckily for us, I think I've already got a replacement that will cause absolutely no disruption for our game since the player liked Melani/Satin so much that he will take her mantle, making only a couple minor changes to her stats.
It is always sad when one player have to go.
Luckily for us, I think I've already got a replacement that will cause absolutely no disruption for our game since the player liked Melani/Satin so much that he will take her mantle, making only a couple minor changes to her stats.
So we'll be back at 5 players then? Good.
Do we know this new player? When is he/she starting?
BTW, I'll also wait for Ahreni before posting.
He is one of my Reign of Winter's player and should join today after reading the whole gameplay thread. As far as I can tell, he is a pretty good player, both in frequency and quality of his posts.
Greetings all. I am the new player. Do not be fooled by the icon and name. I chose to maintain Melani mostly unchanged, as I had a very similar concept before I even knew the old player's build. I hope this will help with story continuity. Note the asterisk after her first name.
GM Advocate, please review my build and make sure there are no errors. I have tried to maintain light encumbrance and suspect I am borderline. I hope not to have to be one of those players who drops their backpack before entering combat. :) Note I will gladly move to medium encumbrance once I can afford decent medium armor. This version is more wise, strong, and robust, while being less intelligent and dexterous. Spells are pretty much the same but Bluff is way better due to a racial trait. She is pretty little liar. :)
I have not finished reading the game play thread yet (stupid job) but will do so before I sleep. As I am sure you all know it took quite some time to build the alias. Note that while I kept the background the same one thing I did want to change is the real name. I like Melani just fine and see no reason to use the other name. Reading the otherwise excellent background that name kept throwing me.
Let me know if anyone has any questions and thanks for the chance to join you!
Greetings all. I am the new player. Do not be fooled by the icon and name. I chose to maintain Melani mostly unchanged, as I had a very similar concept before I even knew the old player's build. I hope this will help with story continuity. Note the asterisk after her first name.
Welcome aboard!
I play the facially-challenged witch with gastrointestinal issues. :)
Regarding the PC you're taking over, the previous player didn't really get a chance to develop her much (it's a pretty new game) so rest assured that she'll be all you.
Game on!
Welcome new Melani!
I have notice a couple mistakes:
- Looking at your stats, I think you took the qlippoth-spawn alternate heritage (+2 Str, +2 Wis, -2 Int) since it is the only way to achieve your stats array with a 15 point buy... the thing is that if you do this you'll have to take the whole package, thus changing your skill bonuses to +2 Escape Artist and +2 Survival.
- Your Bluff skill is too high... it should be +5 (1 rank, +3 class, +1 Cha).
- OR you took the Beguiling Liar alternate racial trait and forgot to mention it in your sheet, which would make everything above correct... well, almost, since this alternate trait gives the bonus to bluff just for lies and not for feint.
- Since you increased 'old Melani's' Wis from 14 to 16, you should also increase the number of uses of both your domain abilities from 5/day to 6/day!
@Ahreni:Not trying to throw a bucket of ice in you or in your plan, but remember that Ahreni is an outsider, and even if she is an aasimar she is also Evil and thus a simple Detect Evil spell would probably show your real purposes when in the presence of the 'enemy'. I think it is pretty easy to assume that among this Iomedae's crusade there will be a paladin and so detect evil at will is a real thing.
If Ahreni wasn't an outsider this plan could work pretty well since detect evil would not affect her since she is less than 5hd. If you already thought about it, please continue with your plan but if you forgot about it, I thought it would be nice to remember you before you throw Ahreni to the wolves sheep(?)!
Welcome new Melani!
I have notice a couple mistakes:
- Looking at your stats, I think you took the qlippoth-spawn alternate heritage (+2 Str, +2 Wis, -2 Int) since it is the only way to achieve your stats array with a 15 point buy... the thing is that if you do this you'll have to take the whole package, thus changing your skill bonuses to +2 Escape Artist and +2 Survival.
- Your Bluff skill is too high... it should be +5 (1 rank, +3 class, +1 Cha).
- OR you took the Beguiling Liar alternate racial trait and forgot to mention it in your sheet, which would make everything above correct... well, almost, since this alternate trait gives the bonus to bluff just for lies and not for feint.
- Since you increased 'old Melani's' Wis from 14 to 16, you should also increase the number of uses of both your domain abilities from 5/day to 6/day!
I did indeed take the Beguiling liar and hinted at it above. I will more clearly call it out on the sheet. And that is true that only applies to lies. But that is all she intends to do with bluff.
Nice catch on domain abilities. I did adjust the save DCs for her spells before forgot the extra domain abilities. Thanks for the review.
As I read through I see that the old character sheet has not been updated with newly acquired gear yet. I'll get that done as well.
@Ahreni:Not trying to throw a bucket of ice in you or in your plan, but remember that Ahreni is an outsider, and even if she is an aasimar she is also Evil and thus a simple Detect Evil spell would probably show your real purposes when in the presence of the 'enemy'. I think it is pretty easy to assume that among this Iomedae's crusade there will be a paladin and so detect evil at will is a real thing.
If Ahreni wasn't an outsider this plan could work pretty well since detect evil would not affect her since she is less than 5hd. If you already thought about it, please continue with your plan but if you forgot about it, I thought it would be nice to remember you before you throw Ahreni to the
wolvessheep(?)!
Thought about it. a) assuming not many paladins in the town, even if there are others later. b) hefty bluff skill and broken wings should make a convincing "i fell to evil but seek redemption" storyline. That's the plan at least.
I'm off on holiday for a week, so I won't be able to post until next Friday. Please bot as needed!
Welcome Melani II! I'm the obnoxious and pedantic scholar. ;)
Well, I wanted to share the good news with you people: I'm a father for the second time, since my lovely daughter was born last night! Apologies for the lack of posts yesterday, I'll catch up now.
Congrats! I got two daughters of my own, a little bit older though (14 and 16).
They get more fun as they grow out of this baby stage.
Game on!
Congrats indeed! My daughter is 24. That is getting close to our illustrious GM's age. lol.
Shopping Questions
It seems that Melani has not upgraded her gear. I'd like to do so. If she sells her current armor she will has 498 gold and would like to upgrade her armor to a masterwork breastplate for 350 if that is available.
Also there is the matter of the (masterwork?) heavy crossbow and the two tapestries the group found at the tannery. If we think the tapestries could be safely sold we should do so. If not, perhaps they too should be used to frame people.
Melani would be pleased to carry the heavy crossbow if it is indeed masterwork. Of is it better used by someone else?
Congratulations Anarxos! I'm still a couple years before marrying and having kids so for now I can only imagine the joy of having a daughter. I wish you and your family much health and luck!
It is always fun when I remember about our age difference... here in Brazil we haven't a well developed game community/culture so I'm considered 'old' for such things around here. I hope to change it with my own kids in the future!
Regarding shopping:
@Vicenzo: Now that the rebellion "started" scrolls are pretty hard to find, especially for shady folks like you. Remember that the primary source of those are the Church of Iomedae. You can try to buy them from Mr. Ingoe in the Longacre's docks since he has the reputation to have a 'dead letters' room, but you need a Knowledge (local) DC 12 to know about this.
The alchemical items are ok and can be found at the Gield's General Store or at Odmer's Tonics.
@Melani: Longacre has no smithy so weapons and armors are more difficult to acquire. You can check at The Rees House, where you'll have 70% of finding a second hand item. An alternative would be trying to order one in another city but that could take a while to get. The heavy crossbow you found on the tannery was indeed masterwork.
@Everyone: Would you like for us to RP the shopping process or just hand wave it?
@Vicenzo: Now that the rebellion "started" scrolls are pretty hard to find, especially for shady folks like you. Remember that the primary source of those are the Church of Iomedae. You can try to buy them from Mr. Ingoe in the Longacre's docks since he has the reputation to have a 'dead letters' room, but you need a Knowledge (local) DC 12 to know about this.
The alchemical items are ok and can be found at the Gield's General Store or at Odmer's Tonics.
@Everyone: Would you like for us to RP the shopping process or just hand wave it?
Who you calling 'shady'? :)
I'm Ok with doing shopping however the group wants to.
I don't have knowledge local so I can't make that DC. I'll remove the 2 CLW scrolls but I will add a 'makeup kit' as apparently some people are offended by the way I look. :)
Game on!
No need to RP shopping for me. Please just let me know if second hand medium masterwork armor can be found.
Preference in order would be:
Breastplate
Mountain Pattern armor
Four-Mirror armor
Lamelliar Steel Armor
Chainmail
In addition to the tapestries and masterwork tools the group also has a potion of CLW and a thuderstone that can be claimed. Plus we have mudane items we can sell if we think that safe.
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Thanks everyone!
Anarxos will spend some time shopping in town to buy jewelry to go with his noble's outfit. Nothing too clinky or gaudy, just something of good taste for a nobleman dedicated to the Thrune cause. A necklace, silver pentacle with five rubies at the five tips, for example? The idea would be to spend at least 100gp (below that mark the noble outfit means nothing), but not thousands either. Something like 150-200gp?
If I correctly understood, you'll spend the rest of the day shopping and 'fast-forward' to the meeting with the archbaron on the next day... correct? If so, I'll describe your individual shopping and then the night (if something noteworthy happens).
EDIT: Oh, almost forgot! Vicenzo once asked me to show you that artwork of the AP so HERE it is! I'll try to keep it updated with more stuff as they show up.
Sweet. Melani will sell her old armor and start to wear he medium armor around. Ready to move forward here.
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Also, thanks a lot for showing the artwork of the AP, I think it's outstanding! I didn't imagine the angel mask/helm like that, but it's beautifully drawn. I imagine the kukri-wielding girl is Cimri?
Bought the pendant I was imagining in my earlier post for 200 gp. A nobleman shouldn't skimp on things like that.
Sorry for the delay... it was a rather large post and my PC decided to crash in the middle of it, making me restart the whole thing!
That WAS a hell of a post! Wow!
Welcome to our newest member! I look forward to playing with you. I'm the irascible old bastard (in character) with an axe to grind and the willpower to flat-out ignore injuries by sheer hatred.
Thanks. Already feel part of the team. :)
Working on developing Mel's aloof and plotting personality.
Guys, as soon as you finish the talk with the archbaron you'll be granted enough experience to bring you to level 2, so to speed things up and avoid waiting for the level up process, I thought about telling you a bit earlier! Feel free to post here the changes in your sheets.
Remember that for hit points we are rolling, with a re-roll for each Con modifier you have. For an example, a PC with Con 14 would roll his appropriate hit point dice three times (1+2 re-rolls) and take the better result.
I also think it is a good time to ask you what are your impressions so far, both regarding the AP and your experience so far. We have reached 1/3 of the first module.
Guys, as soon as you finish the talk with the archbaron you'll be granted enough experience to bring you to level 2, so to speed things up and avoid waiting for the level up process, I thought about telling you a bit earlier! Feel free to post here the changes in your sheets.
Remember that for hit points we are rolling, with a re-roll for each Con modifier you have. For an example, a PC with Con 14 would roll his appropriate hit point dice three times (1+2 re-rolls) and take the better result.
I also think it is a good time to ask you what are your impressions so far, both regarding the AP and your experience so far. We have reached 1/3 of the first module.
I'll probably level up later today.
As for the game, I like it!
The pace is good and you provide fertile ground for roleplaying, which are the two main responsibilities of a GM. The rest is up to us and we seem to be doing well there also.
This is my first time playing 'an evil PC' and it seems fine because I purposefully selected an evil PC that had some sort of justification for being evil.
Any changes/improvements you would like to see?
Vicenzo's level up
+1 BAB;
2 additional rolls
+9 hit point (6 roll, 2 CON, 1 fav bonus)
+1 will save;
+1 hex (misfortune);
+1 1st level spell/day
+2 1st level spells (chill touch, ear-piercing scream)
+1 patron spell (animate rope)
+ 5 skill ranks (heal, perception, knowledge planes, spellcraft, knowledge local)
+ 1 skill ranks for human (sense motive)
+ 2 background skill ranks (craft alchemy, knowledge nobility)
familiar level up
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I love this game! Your GMing is very solid, and provides lots of opportunities for us to roleplay, interact, and so on. As Vicenzo pointed out, the pace is good, and keeps us focused in the game. The AP does not disappoint so far, I feel fully immersed.
About my level-up, I was wondering what you thought about the idea I submitted above (the fencing lessons). If so, would it be possible for Anarxos to get his second level as an Investigator, then the third as Swashbuckler? If you're okay with that idea, do you wish me to be more proactive (looking for someone) regarding the search for a fencing master? Or should we assume that Anarxos's potential didn't bloom until now (because he lacked field experience) but he got lessons in his youth? Let me know what you think.
Having a great time if only just getting started. Enjoyed reading the game thread and catching up. Everyone has an interesting character and I have some plans for interactions. And I am pretty happy with our GM. For me its just the right balance of moving the game along and letting us RP a little. Pace is good. When I have more time I wish it was a little faster but when I a am busy I feel like I am getting left behind a little. So, perfect. :)
Leveling - Mel takes another level of Cleric/Fiendish Vessel and surprises no one.
Gets slightly subpar hit points but I can live with that. I Hope she can.
She gains +1 BAB and her Fort and Will save increase.
Her precious few skill points go into heal, diplomacy, and spell craft. Background skills are knowledge History and Linguistics. She picks up the Halfling language so she can better keep track of what that little buggers are up to.
She gains another zero and first level spell slot and chooses to memorize Create Water and Bless
Greetings all. I am the new player. Do not be fooled by the icon and name.
Hi Melani 2.0, I'm the innocent faced (ex)angel with a knack for elaborate and evil plans! :D
Will post in more detail later just to let you know I'm back! :)
@Anarxos: Sorry, I've forgot to answer your questions. I'm ok with both your suggestions, so feel free to take a level in investigator or swashbuckler as you see fit.
I believe it makes really sense for Anarxos to have had fencing lessons since he is part of the nobility. As you'll see in the close future, you've reached a point in the adventure where things become a little uncertain to predict since everything happens according to your own deeds but you'll still have a good amount of free time so there will be good opportunities for you to search for a master.
@Ahreni/Marcellus: We are about to level up so I need your new stats!
Ahreni's level up
+1 BAB;
hit points:
additional roll
hit points:
+8 hit points (6 roll, 1 CON, +1 FCB)
+1 ref save;
Evasion
Rogue Talent: Underhanded. A rogue with this talent gains a +4 circumstance bonus on all Sleight of Hand checks made to conceal a weapon. Furthermore, if she makes a sneak attack during the surprise round using a concealed weapon that her opponent didn’t know about, she does not have to roll sneak attack damage, and the sneak attack deals maximum damage. A rogue can only use the underhanded talent a number of times per day equal to her Charisma modifier (minimum 0).
+10 skill ranks (acrobatics, bluff, diplomacy, disguise, escape artist, knowledge local, perception, sense motive, stealth, use magic device)
+ 2 background skill ranks (appraise, sleight of hand)
All done and updated :) Now to read the thread!
Greetings all. I am the new player. Do not be fooled by the icon and name.Hi Melani 2.0, I'm the innocent faced (ex)angel with a knack for elaborate and evil plans! :D
Will post in more detail later just to let you know I'm back! :)
Welcome back Ahreni!
More shopping - Mel would like to pick up a healer's kit at some point.
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Outstanding! I'll be doing the level-up shortly. You're right, it makes more sense that way... but it could be fun to find a fencing master to perfect his moves! That being said, my other fear about the fencing master thing is that it would add another "side quest", whereas our agenda is currently full of them. I didn't want to slow the whole group down either.
I really do not thing it will slow you down since this new side quest would be much more simpler than the other two (yours and Melani's). I'm also working on a post about downtime activities for you to employ in the near future.
I'll explain. As you must have already realized, you'll be running Longacre for at least a couple days/weeks/months and even if you get a lot to do you'll also have plenty of free time... we could go two ways:
1)Playing every single hour of the day. This could be pretty rewarding and immersing but also delay us A LOT;
2)Skip the 'dead days' and jumping from encounter to encounter. This is the fastest way but also is really rail-road and less satisfying.
Because of this, I've thought to introduce some Downtime Activities from the Ultimate Campaign book, where you'd have to choose what to do along each day, but not having to decide about each hour. This would give us a middle term, possibly striking a good pace and immersing experience.
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The downtime idea is great! I love it, since it'll allow some very interesting character developments.
I think I'll go Investigator for now and take the Swashbuckler dip after the first few lessons in downtime, then.
+1 BAB, Ref, Will
Extract added to Formula Book: Ant Haul (should solve my encumbrance problems)
Skills: Acrobatics, Bluff, Diplomacy, Disguise, Escape Artist, Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (religion), Perception, Sense Motive, Stealth, Knowledge (history), Knowledge (nobility)
Poison Lore, Poison Resist +2, Poison Use, Fast Poisoning
I would vote for some downtime but not to play out every hour certainly. Downtime activities between jumping to encounters seems perfect to me.
Ok, looks like the Downtime is a winner! Not sure if you are familiar with the rules (that you can find HERE) but for those who don't, and since they are pretty extensive, I'll try to summarize them here.
Each downtime session occurs in 4 phases and each session occurs in 1 day, so each day you'll have the following:
1)Upkeep - Pay costs associated with maintaining buildings* and organizations.
2)Activity - Perform the chosen downtime activity (more detailed below).
3)Income - Determine how much capital your buildings*, organizations, and other activities generate, and sell off assets you no longer want.
4)Event - Check whether any unusual events occur to your buildings* and organizations.
* Due to the time frame you'll use these rules, I fear there will be no time for you to build something by yourselves so this just applies to some building you somehow acquire
There is also a common term regarding the downtime activities that is Capital. There are four types of capital: Goods (20gp), Influence (30gp), Labor (20gp), and Magic (100gp). To acquire them, you can simply buy them (paying their full price), or earn them through your actions by paying half that amount.
The activities you'll be able to choose are (check the link at the beginning for more information on each one of these):
- add spells to your spellbook
- blackmail
- coerce
- create an alibi
- craft magic items
- craft mundane items
- earn capital
- gather information
- heal others
- heist
- infiltrate
- promote a business
- replace your animal companion/familiar
- recruit for an organization
- research spell
- research facts and lore
- rest
- retrain
- run a business
- scheme for an upcoming adventure/mission
- smuggle
- street violence
- train your animal
- transport
That is basically it! As you can see, this could be a lot fun and reading for you since it allows you to do a lot of different things, from researching something that you wish your PC has some knowledge, to create an organization (network of spies, couple thugs, artisans, and so on).
How this will work: At the beginning of each day you'll choose an activity for you to make and roll the appropriate stuff and then I'll tell you if you had an encounter that day or if everything run smoothly.
Reading up on downtime. Never used these rules except for retraining in PFS and one home game.
Also I suspect it was covered before I joined but what are rebellion points and how do we influence them?
Rebellion points represent how rebellious Longacre is feeling at any given moment - the more points the more cross they are. We don't actually know how we influence them precisely except that we managed to get rid of some after the Sword Knight's speech and have acquired one since - it was something to do with how the notices got put up I think.
Basically if we're total nightmares in Longacre, more Rebellion points. If we go softly softly and can justify everything we do really well, maybe less rebellion points?
Stripped back downtime looks good. What do people think of Ahreni's current plan of action?
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Anarxos is fine with your new plan, Ahreni. We can proceed as you suggest, even though I'm not really convinced about your cover. We can give it a try though!
As for rebellion points, I think we shouldn't overanalyze them but you're right, they're more a global feeling of how the common folk feels about the old government.
-Posted with Wayfinder
I figured it was something like that. And while we should not overanalyze this game mechanic I also think IC our characters would have a feel for how rebellious in general the town was.