GM Lari's From the Tome (High) (Inactive)

Game Master Dhenn

Feel free to dot in here. Your characters don't need to be ready right this second, but I'd like to get moving this week. When you're ready, post in the gameplay thread. I expect you can keep each other busy with introductions for a little while.

In the meantime, please also post all the usual bookkeeping stuff (PFS #, etc.) here. In addition, I'd appreciate you providing a little bit of background on your characters, including religious affiliation (if any).

Hi GM Lari, thank-you for taking a chance on someone you don’t know.

Antonella is up to date and ready to go when you are.

Player name: Yours is mined
Character name: Antonella Schiavo
PFS number: 69095-4
Faction: Silver Crusade (I have a Silver Crusade PFS pin)
XP Advancement Track: Standard
Day Job: None

Deity: Irori

[dice=Initiative Antonella] d20+2[/dice[
[dice=Perception Antonella] d20+7[/dice[

✋☥✊☯

Hi Everyone! Hi Hmm!

I’m looking forward to playing this one with some pbp celebrities :)

Antonella, can act as healer and assist on the front-line, but she is NOT a melee powerhouse by any means.

Her player loves roleplay and co-operative, tactical combat.

Player: Pirate Rob
Character: Horacio, The Purifier
PFS #: 757-21
Faction: Silver Crusade
Day Job: N/A

Horacio is a Mendevian crusader armed with a heavy shield and red Dragon-hide breastplate.

A devout follower of Iomedae Horacio has joined the Pathfinder Society after seeing all the help they provided in the most recent crusade.

Having recently finished his official Pathfinder Training, he's enthusiastic to purify evil in cleansing flame with the holy might of Iomedae.

Horacio is a grandfathered Aasimar who's been sitting around collecting GM credits until I finally played him at level 6 in Broken Chains. This will be his second outing. He's a seasoned warrior and adventurer, having faced many horrors in Mendev but is relativly new to the Pathfinder Society, although did go through the 3 years of training rather than get a field comission.

Horacio is very perceptive, a skilled tracker and diplomat. In combat Horacio mostly makes things vulnerable to fire, and then if they still look like a big threat a round later can blow them up with a maximized scorching ray. Mechanically he is a flame/lore shaman. I am happy to give a more detailed run down of some of his powers or answer any questions you might have.

Players Name Edward McGee
Character Name Sparky Fantastico
PFS Number 145373-6
Faction The Exchange
Slow/Normal Track? normal
Day Job Take 10 for a 53. This gives him 300 GP for Day Job.

Note! Everyone else at the table gains a +3 circumstance bonus (Stacks with other circumstance bonuses) to their Day Job rolls. And a roll of 45 or more grants you 200 gold.

The day job stuff is from filling out all the goals in the season 6 faction journal card.

Sparky worships money and himself. That doesn't leave any time or space for gods.
Adopted by elves he rebelled against his name and expectations to become a very somber and businesslike individual.

As a high ranking member of The Exchange Sparky uses his role of Pathfinder to solidify the alliance between The Exchange and the Pathfinders.

He is rather standoffish but will help his Pathfinder allies however he can. Taking requests for extract requests, Giving financial advice, loaning out our creating alchemist weapons.

In person he is dressed well and has a faint smell about him but lacks the burns and singed eyebrows you expect from an Alchemist. When asked about that he replies "That is a sign of a sloppy amateur. I like my eyebrows right where they are so I get it perfect the first try."

In combat he throws explosive bombs with a 10ft radius blast or as a 30ft cone. Or he fires a bow. A fairly common tactic is for him to attach a bomb to a tangleshot arrow as a swift action, fire it as a touch attack entangling the target, the bomb goes off dealing damage and setting them on fire, Then taking a second shot with a normal arrow or Pheromone arrow if there are any animals with scent in the party.

Sparky has precise bombs and Infusion so he can pass out extracts to use.
Out of combat Sparky has a couple of knowledges, some survival, and is good at disarming traps or picking locks.
And of course he is very good at Alchemy.

Hey Antonella, Lari and others...

I'm sorry to be dropping right before we started, but my VL has been so excited about being the first to GM this for me that I cannot bear to disappoint him.

Antonella, I totally want to play a game with you. I watched your brilliant performance in Overflow Archives and loved everything your character did!

Hmm

Thanks, Hmm!

No worries from my side about not wanting to disappoint your VL!

While Paizo keeps publishing great one shot scenarios and quality GMs keep running them, I am sure we will get to game together some time ;)

So we are missing Luke P. and need a replacement for Hmm correct?

No problem, Hmm! I'm sure we'll cross paths in a PBP sometime soon!

Amenhotep *is* level 6; I just haven't leveled him up quite yet, something that I hope to rectify shortly.

Just a heads up everyone, I'll be at Carnage on the Mountain this weekend from Friday afternoon until late Sunday. I'll do what I can to post, but I'm likely not going to be able to as I'm running games most slots. Feel free to bot me (unless I'm the GM.)

Lari would Shevar Besnik be considered a merchant? He seems to be a casino owner so probably not but it can't hurt to ask.

@GM Lari, are we still good for high tier?

I believe we have: Amenhotep 5, Antonella 6, Bodta 4, Horacio 7, Jorciel 5, Sparky 7

I am grateful to be accompanying such experienced players and I understand a number of you have worked together before?

That’s good, because I have heard this scenario can be challenging.

Bigguy for faction card purposes I'd allow it, as they encourage liberal interpretations.

Antonella Still averages to 5.66, which rounds to 6, so we're good. This scenario does have some variable difficulty levels. So far, I'm leaving things in the hands of the dice gods on that front.

Thanks, GM Lari. I appreciate your candour.

A paladin (or two!) covering everyone’s retreat and then running for her life might be fun :)

Before we leave I'm gonna psyche myself up with a potion of Heroism and have a chat with Shevar about how joining The Exchange can reap all kinds of benefits. Don't think I'm going to talk up the smuggling aspect but casinos need supplies. And if he is starting a career as a treasure hunter we can offer good transportation rates.

Profession Merchant DC 23: 1d20 + 12 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 12 + 2 = 34

Woot! Sparky may not know religion but he knows business.

During the trip let's discuss spells or in my case extracts. Each morning Sparky can prepare extracts and can pass them out to be used as potions. Let me go over the options and let me know if you have any requests.

Level 3 2/day
Heroism is all Sparky knows. He will keep one for himself of course but hand out the other.

Level 2 5/day
Barkskin CL 7

See Invisibility lasts 70 minutes.

Ablative Barrier lasts 7 hours, The first 5 lethal damage you take from an attack is converted to nonlethal. Lasts until 35 total damage is converted.

Invisibility 7 minutes

Alchemical Allocation Drink this before drinking a potion and the potion isn't used up. Sparky has the following potions.
Heroism, Circle of Protection vs Evil, Fly, and Remove Blindness.
So with a bit of prep I can use level 2 slots for level 3 spells.

Level 1 6/day

Comprehend Languages
Shield
True Strike
Expeditious Retreat
Enlarge Person
Longarm lasts 7 minutes, increase your reach by 5 feet.

Also I notice that Amenhotep is a fellow archer so I loan him a few items to use in case they become needed.
Tangleshot Arrow x5 ranged touch attack to hit at -1 to the roll. Works like a tanglefoot bag but with lower DCs on everything.
Cold Iron Ghost Salt Blanch x10 Cold Iron arrows that deal full damage to incorporeal undead.
Durable Adamantium arrow x5 Adamantium arrow that can be retrieved after use.
Tanglefoot Bag x3

And if anyone can think of an alchemical item or weapon they want I can make it. But we'll need to buy the materials before we leave.

My standard spell prep includes 2 copies of barksin. No other buffs to speak of.

Once we get closer to danger Horacio would very much appreciate heroism (either from the extract or through alchemical allocation. My to hit is a little lower than I'm entirely comfortable with my scorching ray when I really want to kill things and I've got a good selection of skills to benefit from the skill portion.

I do tend to make things vulnerable to fire so people may want to consider that in preparing your stuffs.

My bombs only deal fire dmg. Usually in a large area.

Guys, I’ve been thinking about possible tactics in a tough fight.

Oh before I start, I made a mistake with APL before. Amenhotep is actually 6 not 5, so our APL is 5.83 – which is a little better than I thought.

I have found alchemists to be VERY effective, short range combatants. Sparky, yours looks well-built and in my opinion, the Grenadier is an excellent archetype.

I have little to no experience with the ACG and Occult Adventure classes.

The Medium looks not unlike an Inquisitor, yeah? I have seen very effective archer inquisitors in PFS. Amenhotep is a ✩✩✩✩✩ VL. I reckon he knows what he’s doing ;)

Horacio’s shaman seems to be an oracle/fire evoking damage dealer. Horacio himself is a much respected ✩✩✩✩✩ GM on these boards.

Ditto for ✩✩✩✩✩ VL Jorciel :) His character appears to be a standard sword and board paladin.

I am guessing he and Bodta are friends in RL.

I like the Unchained Monk class and think Bodta and Antonella working together should be able to at least hold half the front-line, (with Jorciel holding the other half) while Sparky, Amenhotep and Horacio take out our opponents.

My conclusion is, if we work together we should be OK.

Played this today. All I will say is it was much harder then I expected.

My conclusion is, if we work together we should be OK.

+1 for simply stated wisdom!! As "The Fat Kid" of the group power-wise, I'll most likely withhold my "get up front first" inclination and be much more choosy about the front-lineitude in which I partake. But I won't shirk my responsibilities. :-)

Ditto for ✩✩✩✩✩ VL Jorciel :) His character appears to be a standard sword and board paladin.

I am guessing he and Bodta are friends in RL.

you guessed correctly. HE's been my tabletop DM for...what, 21 years?!?! Man, we're old. That's 3 1/2 editions of D&D.

Sparky, if you know Shield as an extract you can hand out, I'll eagerly pay you for...as many as you're willing to hand out. I'll start guessing at "3" and see if you agree. That + Mage Armor gives me a reasonable AC of 26.

Sparky, if you wouldn't mind PMing me with some of the details about your playthrough (tier, BBEG, other encounters, etc.), that'd be good.

I ended up playing it as well, played with a bunch of meatheads on a different path, will PM you notes though.

@ Bodta Sparky doesn't charge other Patrhfinders during adventures unless it is for materials. He'll memorize 6 shields and keep one. You can have the other 5 or someone else might want one.

Yes to everything above! Sorry, I'm just getting back and getting my feet back under me after the convention. Ready to go!

you guessed correctly. HE's been my tabletop DM for...what, 21 years?!?! Man, we're old.

I dunno. I played AD&D in high school, but stopped when I went to college. So I had quite a hiatus from RPGs until I found Pathfinder.

That's great that you've kept a group together for 21 years!

That's great that you've kept a group together for 21 years!

*bow*

there have been many group additions and subtractions over the years. I think it's 100% fair to say, though, that he and I have been the only 2 constants over that 21 years!!

If anyone here is a Salvatore fan, you'll know what I mean when I say that he's "Me Brudder"

@ Bodta Sparky doesn't charge other Patrhfinders during adventures unless it is for materials. He'll memorize 6 shields and keep one. You can have the other 5 or someone else might want one.

*bow* Spoken like a gentleman!!

Point of order: 7 mins duration, correct?

Another point of order: would those count as "items procured during the course of the adventure" and thus not "keep" after the conclusion?

Yes 7 minutes and yes they only last for 1 day so adventure only.

I still have 2 Alchemical Allocations left. They add a bit of versatility but tbh the best use for them in this situation is probably more Heroism. Albeit for only 50 minutes.

I understand this scenario takes a lot of prep, GM Lari.

Are the colored key-blocks on the 'map coverings' your own design? I'm just taking note in case I decide to run this one sometime.

☥☥☥☥

Also, can you channel positive energy, Horacio? If not, does anyone mind if Antonella wears the ghostvision gloves?

Jorciel can, but it's better in Antonella's hands.

The color coding is my own approach that I tend to use when PBP maps get complicated (like this one is). I also tend to color code enemies of the same type (ex. three identical images of a zombie with red, blue, and green borders). That seem to help make sure everyone's on the same page. In person it's easier to just point to the different options.

As you can see, this is a pretty involved map. It's the Bigger Dungeon flip mat. It's worth picking up if you GM in real-life often, as I imagine people will want to take advantage of the replay factor. Or do what we do locally and keep a list of who owns which maps so we can borrow from one another.

Horacio does not channel, no objections to you wearing the gloves.

Think of Shaman as a wisdom based witch (with a more druid than wizard like spell list) that gets to choose their hexes based on their oracle mystery. Horacio has Flame and Lore. Flame has given him some fire spells and the ability to make enemies vulnerable to fire. Lore has given him access to some wizard spells and a bonus metamagic.

Hmm … sounds like a versatile (and quite powerful) class, which is probably what the designers were aiming for.

If the lower tier replayables are any indication, I am sure you are right about how popular this scenario will be, GM Lari.

Your lodge sounds very well organized.

Sadly I don’t have much time for F2F PFS these days, but I did loan out a particular mini when the semi-local lodge was running Dragon’s Demand.

Sorry GM Lari, so many buffs and magic item abilities going on that only work situationally (ie against certain opponents).

I make it Antonella’s AC breakdown before combat starts is:

So I think if our opponent rolled a 22 and 19, it missed Toni’s FF AC = 24

Now, when she activates Crane Style as a swift action, she gains an additional +3 dodge bonus if she fights defensively PLUS an additional +1 dodge bonus because she has 3 ranks in acrobatics.

As you know dodge bonuses stack with themselves on Touch and normal AC.

So in this eventuality her AC is 32 and her Touch AC is 25.

Thanks, Antonella. Detailed breakdowns like that are always helpful. When in doubt, though, I'll include a damage roll if I think it's possible an attack hit, especially if I'm posting in a hurry or away from most of my resources, and rely on the player to confirm one way or the other.

Oh no problem, GM Lari! :)

why am I under the impression that a monk's unarmed attacks are bludgeoning and piercing? Is that an older edition rule that is no longer the case?

Piercing requires a feat.

There was some debate early on about monks getting to use weapons like cestus or spiked gauntlets with their flurry but it was clarified that they could not. Ig you want to do slashing or piercing you'll need a feat or a weapon. Luckily there are some nice monk weapons in Ultimate Equipment. In Core your options are fists or weapons that deal 1d6 crit x2.

For those of you who still need to post your info for the chronicle remember that Sparky helps out is friends. You get a +3 circumstance bonus to your day job check. It stacks with other circumstance bonuses such as MW tool. I posted it earlier but it bares repeating.

Bodta is 2296-7 No day job.

by the by...can anyone throw out the name of the feat to give unarmed the Piercing quality? I'll most likely take that upon hitting 5...using weapons is not in Bodta's idiom.

I believe the feat is Snake Style, Bodta.

That is a nifty little assist, Sparky! Unfortunately, Antonella doesn't have a day job.

thanks Antonella...I believe We Have A Winner. :-)

So I forgot that Jorciel DOES have a day job:

Healer at the temple of Iomedae Day Job: 1d20 + 5 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 5 + 3 = 15

Chronicles are here

The game has been reported. I've almost certainly messed something up on these. Let me know and I'll put up new ones. If everything's all set, I'll mark this inactive in a few days.

Looks good here.

Looks good. Thanks for running that!

Looks good. Thank you.