...I think "glory" is overstating it, given the kind of damage she deals with weapons. XD Also, 'dem earlier rolls. I'm just glad three of us made it out.
As to your ability to gain Performance as a class skill - choose a kind of performance that Luca decides she likes, push her interest in it with some roleplay, and I'm sure adding it as a class skill can be arranged via a level-up bonus (or even outside of leveling up) at some point in the future.
If nothing else, I could always spend a feat for Additional Traits and get her some lessons that way. XD It's not like I really have any other plans for her feats - and that'd let me work in her slowly-growing confidence to explain why she'd be willing to perform in the first place.
Side Note: I definitely think we should look into fundraising, since we're pretty far behind on that. XD If I can get a toolkit for Luca, she can earn 9 coins per-week of work - which isn't phenomenal, but it's definitely a start.
(Uuuuunless our GM wanted us to use ABP or something? Which is an easy way of keeping the math up to date without worrying too much about wealth and magic items. XD Either way works, really.)
I was thinking that we should have Torble check the area; if this thing has been killing undead that wander into the area there might be treasure a plenty.
This is secondary to finding a place to hole up and wake up Dante though.
Assuming we can inhabit one of the buildings bordering the square, Tyrus can treat Deadly Wounds twice. On good rolls he can get Dante his 10hp back.
I can have Fluffy scout the nearby areas. o wo/ Now that he's small, he's got good Stealth and Perception.
...
I also think he's more expendable than Torble. XD
No wealth by level. No ABP. No nothing of the sort. You guys will often run across valuable things and find money-making opportunities, but it doesn't just happen because you gain in level. In my games, its entirely possible to be both mid-level and still very poor, depending on your path.
Of course, the reality is that once you get to mid-level you've got skills enough that you tend to quickly make money enough for most simple things. But if you're talking about buying pricey magical equipment and the like, you'll need to make a concerted effort to build up wealth.
One more thing. So in the original recruitment post, I had outlined a system of meta-currency called Fate Points. We've totally left that behind, and that's fine. But I was wondering, after this fairly-near brush with death, if you guys might want to give the system a try.
Basically if we're using the Fate Point system I'll tend to make combats a bit harder in general because you'll often have a free 'out'. When you guys do especially fantastic things you may earn additional fate points. As we get further along and enemies get smarter, more organized, and more deadly, it might provide decent insurance (though not complete proof) against losing your character.
Interested? No? Let me know what you think.
Probably worth doing, then, at least for basic gear and such. XD On the bright side, now I can Haste a whole team of minions, so that ought to help the next time we get into a pinch. *Clearly assuming this is inevitable*
EDIT: I'm fine either way on the Fate Points thing. ^^ We're pretty distinctly lacking in healing and recovery, so having the occasional out might be very helpful indeed...
Can you link the Fate system? If it allows something like a bonus on d20 rolls like hero points, then yes. Then I would likely not be dying.
It's under the Mercy's Rules section of the first post in the Recruitment tab, available at the top of the page. And technically you'd be able to use one now, though I'd suggest saving them for later. They are literally for avoiding death, and you've done that already for this battle. They're also for massive, over-the-top character-defining moments of badass roleplay. :)
*Looks at Luca killing the beast by weakly poking at it with a weapon that wasn't even hers*
...Heh. XD
Wow Mercy, I jut looked at your campaigns and you were serious about that pledge. This game seems to be the only PbP thing you're still in!
I can see that system would lead to a more heroic game. I'm okay with that, though I had expected Tyrus to act more from desperation than heroism.
How far away is the building we camped in last night? Is it within 'dragging two limp bodies' distance?
Well, I'm trying to design the possibilities to be flexible. You could still act mostly from desperation, and just happen to get a clutch crit on something while you do. Pretty open to improvisation. I meant it for those moments when it would be just perfect to nail an intimidate roll, or to dodge the consequences when an enemy lands a crit. I'd encourage players to have fun with it, of course.
And yes. My luck with campaigns as a player has been terrible. Last one died a long time ago. I'll browse around for more attempts soon - I only really like to be in homebrews, so it limits the prospects some.
Finally: The campsite from the previous night is something like half an hour away when moving somewhat stealthily and cautiously (which was how Georgi moved, as rule. RIP.) You and Luca could make it with both bodies... eventually.
...yeah, eventually.
Alright, I think we might want to hole up here for a few hours (should be early morning). Get Dante back on his feet. Then the three of us can get Georgi back to the last camp, and see how we feel about going further.
Spell wise, I'm torn on a number of options.
Bear's Endurance actually seems to be one of the best temp healing spells out there, doing what I wanted a necromancy spell to do. It'd give Dante 8HP back, for instance, pretty much putting him vertical immediately (for a few minutes at least). Plus it's Transmutation, which Tyrus specialised in.
Life Pact is interesting; you link people for a few minutes, and when any of them go below 0 the targets (up to 5 at this level) donate a HP to keep them alive (1/turn). Interacts interestingly with Bear's Endurance as when BE wears off the person drops down. Necromancy.
Defending Bone is generically useful: DR 5/Bludgeoning for hours per day. Self only. Looks a bit black necromancy though. Necromancy.
Boneshaker is potentially an attack spell. Hurts living creatures (and save or be moved 5ft) and gives you one round of poor control of an undead critter. Like a weaker Command Undead, but as it uses Fort save (not undead's awesome Will save) it could be surprisingly useful. Has great visuals, too. Necromancy.
Skinsend is cool, but I just can't see a time to use it.
Bloodbath is an attack spell. Uses sympathy; caster takes bleed to give a bunch of monsters bleed. Interesting, but I think a bit too dangerous for a low con wizard. Necromancy.
Long term I think he needs Magic Missile. I suspect Ant Haul or Ant Haul communal would pay for itself eventually, but is a bit dull.
I don't think we need many attack spells from you right now - except maybe that Magic Missile, because Incorporeal foes are scary. XD Luca just got Haste, so her minion army can now do even more attacks, and that ought to work against most foes.
Otherwise, I generally approve of anything that helps with HP. We don't have very much of that, and we're probably going to want it. On the bright side, at least it doesn't matter if Luca's minions take damage - by all means, feel free to use them as meat shields. XD
Oh - Lianna's Blessing fades at 4th, by the way.
Ah, yes. I was going to remind you of that. I was actually reading through some of our adventure over the weekend. We have a habit of doing really big battles in and around November, apparently. The battle with Emerine was last November and the big siege battle on the island was something like December-January, with the run-up in November.
Also, what with a leveling up and a large fight behind us, this is another good time to check in with you guys that the game is progressing at least in a somewhat entertaining manner for you. Are there are any changes you'd like to see made? I make no guarantees, but so long as suggestions are not something I'm ideologically opposed to (like wealth-by-level, sorry Luca ;) ) I'll try to accommodate you.
*Amused look* It would be pretty weird to get a big pile of coins on every levelup. XD
(That said, being poor makes us about a level weaker than the system accounts for... and given how close we came to a TPK there, I'm definitely interested in shoring up our abilities a little more. XD I like these characters, so I definitely think we should keep our ears open for money-making opportunities.)
I have magic missile so you can copy that. Actually, we can almost get two spells per level as long as we have the funds to copy form each other.
Level two suggestions:
Create Pit (Conjuration) - Pretty much going to end the fight if they don't have a climb speed.
Web (Conjuration) - great area control
Aggressive Thundercloud (Evocation) - good damage every round, direct as move, can still cast
Scorching Ray (Evocation) - 2 rays at 4d6 damage each
Spider Climb (Transmutation) - Get away from enemy and mobility
I am getting:
Elemental Touch
Mirror Image
If it helps, I think Tyrus can create scrolls of Luca's spells if she's around - and then the two of you could copy those into your spellbooks as well. o wo/
Wizards creating scrolls of spontaneous casters spells? Could you link me to some rules for that? Never heard of such a thing.
I believe that would fall under the Cooperative Crafting rules, which is the same way a Wizard could, for example, scribe a scroll of a Divine spell.
Hm. Well, alright then.
Oh, and a notice: I'm going to be be changing the title of this campaign sometime soon. "Glorious Thing" was really just meant to refer to your initial adventure path (the pirate island events - the title was a reference to Pirates of Penzance). I'm going to try and come up with something more general for us. Suggestions are welcome.
We forgot something along with Fate Points.
"To reduce the rate of WW gain, natural healing in Eldreon is a bit better (on average) than in regular Pathfinder. A character that is otherwise in good condition (not fatigued or starving, no diseases or poisons, etc) who gets a good nights rest (8 hours) regains hitpoints equal to 2 for each character level, plus half their CON modifier (round up) times their character level. Thus, a level 3 character with a Constitution of 14 would regain 6 + 3 = 9 hitpoints from a full, unstressed night's sleep. Yes, negative con modifier's would subtract from this (down to a minimum of 1 hp gain)."
That means Dante'll get 6 alone for 8 hours of rest or 12 if you give him long-term care. That means sacrificing some sleep but I'll be conscious tomorrow. Still take three days until full HP.
Also. There is a system called Adventure Conqueror Kings (ACK) that has a Mortal Wounds and Healing section. Thought I'd roll on that to see what happens.
Modifiers:
-2 for negative HP between 1/4 and 1/2
+2 for healing specialization (considering Tyrus skills in healing, this is probably a fair assumption)
-3 for being treated immediately after the fight.
Mortally wounded and will die unless brought to at least 1 HP within 1 round. That did not happen so dead.
If I had been healed, the 6 means lips and tongue are severed or mangled. Can't speak and can't cast anything without Silent Metamagic. Also bad.
Mulligan:
Instantly Dead
Mulligan Mulligan:
You'd think that'd be a good one but noooooo. Die unless healed within a day and 1 week bed rest. Also, HEART AND LUNG DAMAGE. Must rest 2 turns for every 6. Wilderness Movement reduced by 1/3 and CON reduced by 1/3. I forgot how brutal that system was.
I considered the idea of doing injuries on criticals or something like that, but I decided I wanted my brutality to take different forms. :)
It's definitely been fairly brutal thus far. XD Goodness knows we're not looking for fights in the expectation of stomping all over them.
Tyrus's Treat Deadly wounds is crazy! Who needs magical healing? Although I'm thinking that at higher level skill checks every character is using some basic magic to help out.
Tyrus is a healing machine - more cleric than man wizard.
That said, I'd argue one reason Treat Deadly Wounds (which averages about 2+level) looks so impressive is because the highest HP in the group is 20.
A 3rd level barbarian with a 16 con (pretty standard) could well have 35 hp.
Treat deadly wounds is a once a day thing. 8 hp still does't bring me around.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Not for Tyrus. He has a trait.
Decided I would add a discussion addendum:
Spells likes Resurrection and Raise dead and anything else that would easily bring somebody back from death simply do not exist. These sorts of abilities are beyond normal mortals.
However, such things are not unknown, if it be the will of the gods. You know of a famous individual who has been resurrected not once, but at least twice. She is well known: the Heirarch of the Encarnite nation, popularly known to have been brought back from death twice by their gods.
Can have the wrong word be one of the first symptoms of Tyrus' disease.
So... Resurrection is Divine Miracle (as opposed to Spell Miracle) level stuff. XD Got it.
...
What about Breath of Life? (Which I think is often flavored as bringing them back before they're dead dead... Just kinda curious on that one.)
I'd allow things like Breath of Life. It's a fairly high level spell and doesn't give you all that much extra time. I just want to avoid the "revolving-door afterlife".
And speaking of your disease, Tyrus, I will be introducing what I have for its mechanical significance soon. I was going to start that at level 4, but I need to finalize a few of the details. You'll have an opportunity for input as well, given that this is a voluntary handicap on your part for the purpose of RP.
Thanks :)
I think it needs to be something Tyrus is relatively helpless against, so I like an inherited mental degradation like Alzheimers. Ideally Tyrus would have lost a grandparent to it so he can have seen the terrifying final stages.
Yes, you probably would have had a grandparent who exhibited it. They also would have been quite talented with magic, and necromancy, just like you are. Perhaps the same with one of your direct parents, as well, if any of them were magically talented or lived long enough to show the effects of the disease.
So basically I want the mechanical effects to be concerning but never crippling so that we don't have to bother changing them. Thus, I'm considering that Tyrus takes all the preventative steps he knows to reduce the symptoms of the disease.
Every so often, I or you will roll twice. A 1d3 to determine what stat the disease is affecting this time around (Int, Wis, or Cha) and 1d4-1 to determine how much damage that stat takes. Once these die rolls have been made there are no other steps you can take to reduce the damage - it is assumed you are always doing everything you can. These damages are NOT cumulative - when we do another check, the previously affected stat is restored. Note that there is a chance that no stat will take damage (0-3 being the possible values). If any stat is damaged, however, you will also take 1 point of CON damage.
I think this system gives us something easy to manage dice-wise and easy to implement, while also posing the possibility of being anything from noneffective (if it hits your CHA or does no damage) to decently annoying (hits your INT and does max 3 damage).
And yes, all this does tie into the hidden backstory you asked me to prepare for you. That part is quite well fleshed out.
I know Tyrus isn't a front liner and neither Wisdom or Charisma is as important as Int but if he manages to take 3 damage to int for a day, that will be crippling depending on how long it takes to overcome it. So I thought of something. If we are going for something like Alzheimer's then how about adding a permanent 5-10% failure chance for all spells and int based skill checks. In another game, I have seen a caster willingly take a spell failure of 10% for better armor and only missed once on like 20 spells. Closer to 5%. We can make due without a knowledge check every now and then and he likely won't hit the 5% spell failure all that often. Periodically we can move the percentage higher as the disease gets worse.
...I feel like I should add more backstory for Luca now. XD Not for mechanical benefits/penalties, but just to expand a little more from "skittish little girl with Lovecraftian pets".
*Goes to start on that*
I'll wait for Tyrus to chime in on the mechanics, but I was also trying to reduce hassle. A failure chance on all spellcasts and int-based skills is a lot of rolling for a voluntary RP thing. But if Tyrus agrees with ya, then...
I'm assuming the frequency increases as the disease progresses, eventually reaching the point where it is doing damage faster than Tyrus can heal it - though a series of good rolls could leave 'lucid moments'. I'd suggest stats cannot progress below 1 (so 1 int, 1 wis, 1 cha) so it never really lets you die cleanly until con damage finally takes you out (and given that returns at 1/day...).
I was thinking something like confusion, but I'm good with this. I do really want this to be something that undeath would 'cure', though given undead's imunities that's not hard, as all his research so far has revealed lichdom is a way out.
For ease of bookkeeping I'm inclined to make the int/wis/cha a penalty rather than damage: non-cumulative and doesn't heal. This gets around a lot of the worries about "why not just use restoration".
Wizards do power up pretty dramatically after this point, and the disease gives you a chance to make sure Tyrus isn't stealing the show - and I'm conscious that Luca and Dante are operating under restrictions already.
I had been intending to do it mostly through roleplaying and voluntary penalties, but if you can tie it into the story so much the better :)
Eh, Luca's also going to grow a bit. 7th Level - which I do hope we reach someday! - is where her list really starts to take off with interesting choices. XD The low-level aberrations are, alas, pretty boring.
...Except Vilstraks. XD Those guys may not be super accurate or anything, but heck if they haven't been useful.
Alright - I realise this may not be appropriate for this level.
I'm interested in a, for lack of a better term, "Lesser Deathless" spell. Something to keep someone alive after they should have died, but that wears off. Not quite Deathless' "what care I for this 'damage' of which you speak" though.
Was thinking something that basically gives Diehard/Ferocity (keep moving when below 0) and something that stretches the threshold at which someone dies by the caster level (so instead of "at -con, becomes -(con+CL)). Would need to last at least hours.
My gut is this might be a third level spell: granting a feat or ability for hours is pretty sweet. Extra hp before you die isn't so great. Basically a really crappy enhancement to con.
Flavour is that it is "tying your soul to you" or "animating the body you're in". Basically really creepy borderline dark necromancy used for good.
@Mercy: How were you thinking the symptoms would manifest?
Int: Memory problems
Wis: disorientation, confusion
Cha: ???
Tyrus, I think you may have missed the part where I said the damage from the disease is non-cumulative. Thus, you will never have more the 3 points of incurable INT, WIS, or CHA damage at any given time.
This is partly due to gameplay preferences (I don't want to screw you over much) and partly due to story concerns (the true nature of the disease which I know, and you do not). Suffice to say that it fits my current ideas.
I'll have to think a good deal about the Lesser Deathless and related stuff. We should probably continue that conversation via PM.
As to the manifestations, you've flipped my general approach to the stats. I'd go with:
Int: Disorientation, Confusion
Wis: Memory problems, rash actions (acting as if you're much younger and healthier, similar problems)
Cha: Irritability, short temper, lashing out
And again, as this is voluntary on your part, I'll probably leave all such RP penalties to you. I trust you to commit to the bit. Mechanical penalties are the only ones I'll actively enforce, once we've agreed on what they are.
And finally, concerning you not operating under as many restrictions as Dante and Luca: They are both using classes which have earlier power differentials. Yes, Wizards are famously overpowered eventually. And I do hope that we all get to the point where that is a concern. However, there are myriad ways for me to f@~# with you when that happens. Seemingly few GM's introduce challenges such as extended lack of sleep (can't study to renew spells!) or removing your spellbook, or constantly grappling you (do you use enough meta-magic feats?) etc etc etc.
Luca: Got your backstory stuff and will respond with any thoughts tomorrow, probably. :) And yeah, those Vilstraks have come up clutch in a lot of situations. Cannonfodder shocktroops-cum-special forces who can move through solid rock. Handy.
And I do hope we'll make it to seventh level and beyond. I actually intend to accelerate your guys' level gain a bit. I do prefer slower leveling but I realize that, having played for nearly three years now, a level-per-year is a bit slow. I think I've been too stingy with story and RP experience bonuses. So fear not, it won't always be this sluggish. Even after a couple years I'm still getting used to the pace of forum games.
Yeah, they're pretty handy. XD I'll be a bit sad when they get weak enough they can't reliably hit stuff anymore... but of everything in the first three levels, they probably have the highest utility value, so I expect to use them throughout Luca's career. Between them and Fluffy, I ought to be able to scout areas pretty well before we go through the meat grinder heroically conquer the challenges in our path.
Good point - do we know our way back to the sanctified building?