The Darkest Corners

Game Master Nidoran Duran

Monster-hunting campaign using Korvosa as the background for urban fantasy.


1 to 50 of 179 << first < prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | next > last >>

Okay guys, congrats for making it this far, welcome to the party. Gameplay thread will be up later because lots of writing involved and I've got things to do this morning. This is where, if you have any last-minute changes to make to anything, now is the time to do so. Once you make your first post in the gameplay thread, you're committed to what's on your sheet.

Also, I'd like everyone to modify their race field to contain the following information, as suitable.

Race Class Level [HP X/X |AC: X, T: X, FF: X | Fort +X Ref +X Will +X | Perception +X, Init +X

That way I have quick references for the basic things. In addition, please make sure both your crunch and fluff are in your profiles.

As for the character-suited goodies:

Walther:
Butterfly Mark: Though wise, you do not know how the heavens operate, but you genuinely believe that Desna has a stake in keeping you alive. You draw from that, able to persevere because of your belief, or by a divine hand itself. You gain a +2 to all saving throws against effects that would cause cowering, exhausted, fatigued, fightened, nausteated, panicked, paralyzed, shaken, or sickened effects.

Regrettable Knowledge: Because of your experience and wealth of knowledge, you gain a +2 to all Knowledge checks relating to supernatural or undead creatures, but not for the purpose of identifying weaknesses. Your writings on the topic have caught the attention of the various academics in Korvosa, and you gain a +1 bonus to all Charisma checks made to influence scholars familiar with your work.

Shang:
Apothecary:Your store might not be the go-to apothecary in Korvosa, but you still do well for yourself, and there's no harm in ordering a surplus for your own use. When using Craft (Alchemy), you pay only 1/4 the cost instead of 1/3. In addition, you can buy alchemical items, herbs, and other substances at 75% the listed price. You've also learned almost entirely forgotten secrets of alchemy, and can make Holy Water using Craft (Alchemy) at Craft DC 20.

The Cycle of Life:You aren't sure exactly how many lives you have lived, but sometimes information creeps through that you didn't realize was there. Once per week, you may add a +5 to any Knowledge check other than Knowledge (Local). You must use this ability after rolling, but before knowing the result.

Laznist:
Mysterious Lineage: You aren't sure what your family history is, but the strange coincidences you've already figured out at least have their benefits. Once per day, you may increase the DC for one spell. You must do this when casting, before the target(s) have rolled their saving throws.

Private Consultant: Your profession of finding people and things has honed your senses. When you are able to take at least one minute to examine an area such as a crime scene for small, missable details, you gain a +2 to your Perception roll.

Ophelia:
Robotic Logic: As a machine, your every thought is one of pure logic, making you excellent at understanding both the spirit and letter of the law. When present, you are able to contribute to the efforts of others to discern lies. When dealing with devils, fey creatures, or others who twist words and manipulate people through craft language, party members in your presence gain +1 to Sense Motive rolls. You also have a +1 bonus to Linguistics rolls to discern forgeries, and may use your Linguistics skill as Sense Motive for any written work. (You only get the one because of the ability clusterf+!! that is your race.)

Dara:
Prodigal Thief: Your abilities have gotten you through situations by nothing short of a miracle. Against thralls or summoned undead, such as zombies and ghouls, you gain a +1 bonus to your Stealth and Acrobatics rolls.

Cultist Hunter: Your profession of breaking into cultists' compounds has slowly helped you build up an immunity toward necromantic magic. If you fail a roll against a Necromancy spell, you may roll one turn later to prematurely end the effect, as with Stubborn. You do not gain the +2 to Will saves against Necromancy spells.

Anastasia Botnick:
Living in Fear: You have had two run-ins with a vampire, and been promised that the third will be your last. That worry always lingers, giving you a +2 bonus to Initiative rolls when taken by surprise.

Vampire Slaying Training: It's a motion you've practiced a thousand times, and you know it by heart now. When using a Wooden Stake against a vampire, you gain a +1 to attack and damage rolls. This becomes a +2 bonus to attack rolls when driving a Wooden Stake through the heart of a helpless vampire to kill it (a full-round action).

Everyone please post your timezones when you report in. As said in the recruitment thread, it's expected you can generally make at least one post per day, and knowing when everyone is will help me figure things out. Also, roll your HP for second level in the thread. If it's lower than half, it becomes half. Only for this level though.


Male (5'8", 130 lbs) Samsaran Alchemist 3 [HP 23/24 |AC: 18, T: 13, FF: 15 | Fort +3 Ref +7 Will +3 | Perception +11, Init +8 | Dex Mutagen, Careful Teamwork]

Checking in. In a bit of a rush at the moment, but I'm here! I'm USA, Eastern Time Zone, GMT -5.


Urban Ranger 2 | HP 19/26 | AC 16, T 13, Ff 13 | CMD 17 | Fort +5 Ref +6 Will +2 | Per +7 | Init +3

Hey, I'm here Eastern time zone as well. Got to go to school. I'll check in when I get back.


Female Construct (Human Clockwork Automation) Bard (Archivist) 3 | Hp 20/23 | AC 15, Touch 12, FF 13 | CMD 16 | Fort +1, Ref +5, Will +4| Per +9 | Init +2 | Active: Careful Teamwork (bonuses not typed out)

Checking in! I am at GMT+1. I usually check my pbp threads during the morning and sporadically during the afternoon, evening and night depending on workload and access to computer.

Health roll:

1d8 ⇒ 3

4 it is then. O well, saveing my good hp rolls for when the half hp isn't guaranteed : )

As for last minute changes, I realized that the raical trait that gives skill focus replaces skilled, and not the extra feat. I have updated the sheet to reflect this, droping two skillpoints and adding a feat (toughness).

Spooky:
The trait seems cool : )

Regarding health - Constructs get a size bonus (20 for medium). That number is really to high to be balanced for a second level character and my suggestion is that Ophelia instead has that number (20) as a threshold where she is unconscious like a ordinary pcs Con score.

Ex: Lets say Ophelia has 5 hp left. She takes 15 damage which would ordinary trigger the repair rules detailed in the template. Instead she enters -10 (and perhaps start 'bleeding out'?) and is unconscious like a normal char. If she were to be healed for 11 points she would regain consciousness without any other issues. If she instead were to take 11 damage she would drop to -21. She will now be considered dead and can only be repaired following the rules outlined in the template - using a make whole spell or something similar and paying an large sum of gold (just like raising a dead character).

Would you consider this fair ?

Now - same topic diffirent issue : ) The heal skill allows you to threat deadly wounds. Would Craft (clockwork) be allowed to work in a similar way on Ophelia?

For reference: Treat Deadly Wounds*

Note: You must expend two uses from a healer's kit to perform this task. You take a –2 penalty on your check for each use from a healer's kit that you lack.

When treating deadly wounds, you can restore hit points to a damaged creature. Treating deadly wounds restores 1 hit point per level of the creature. If you exceed the DC by 5 or more, add your Wisdom modifier (if positive) to this amount. A creature can only benefit from its deadly wounds being treated within 24 hours of being injured and never more than once per day.

Time: 1 hour.


I'd say 20 as a threshold works well, but I do see the logic in the bonus health, since you do lose bonus HP per level. Let's say you get 4 extra HP per level, up to the 20 HP cap at level 5. That way, you do get a bunch more mileage than the rest of the party out of HP (which kind of makes sense given you're a machine and all), but you plateau on that before we hit mid-level.

As for healing, I'd allow Craft (Clockwork), and you already have clockwork tools, so we'll consider those to be a Healer's Kit equivalent for the purpose of repair.

I'm surprised you didn't take Grease, considering it's not only a great spell, but as per your race, can double your base speed.


Female Construct (Human Clockwork Automation) Bard (Archivist) 3 | Hp 20/23 | AC 15, Touch 12, FF 13 | CMD 16 | Fort +1, Ref +5, Will +4| Per +9 | Init +2 | Active: Careful Teamwork (bonuses not typed out)

I have toughness and favoured class bonus for health - so I think I'll be fine actually. As long as I have the negative health threshold I don't think I'll need any extra : )

Grease is a really sweet spell - But Ophelia didn't feel like the kind of person that would soak herself unnecessary in filth, even if it made her run faster : ) She might reconsider her stance depending on how often she find herself wishing she could run away from stuff faster (might pick it up later ...).


Yeah, that's fair. Just seemed like an obvious choice.

Realized I forgot to note it in the opener, but I'm also Eastern Standard Time. Semester and exams are over for me, so I'm going to be around pretty much at all hours for the next month and a bit, so I'll be posting as needed.

Enemies will be working off of shared initiative for the most part, so once we've had them go and everyone else is up, they can post out of turn. Just so we move a little faster. Otherwise, schedules get in the way and we take several days to go through a combat turn, which is not a great pace.

For leveling, we won't be going by XP, but instead by a matter of cases, which are what we have instead of adventures. Depending on the size and what happens in each case, you might level up every few cases, or after a particularly big one. Maybe in the middle of one if it's a REALLY long one, we'll see. First case probably won't be too complex, but it's more of a trial run to see how you guys handle what you're given.

If anyone has any more questions or house rules issues, let me know.


Male (5'8", 130 lbs) Samsaran Alchemist 3 [HP 23/24 |AC: 18, T: 13, FF: 15 | Fort +3 Ref +7 Will +3 | Perception +11, Init +8 | Dex Mutagen, Careful Teamwork]

I'd like to make one change to my character sheet: I'd like to take one rank out of Appraise and place it in Spellcraft. Would that be acceptable?


You can change anything you need to until you make your first post in Gameplay, which isn't up yet.


Male Half-Elf Vampire Hunter 2 / Detective 1 [HP 10/14 | AC 14 t10 ff14 | F3 R2 W10 | Percep +16 Init +5 (+8 one time) | Bard Spells (1) 2/2 Inquisitor Spells (1) 3/4

Thanks Spooky, I'm glad I get to play Walther. With luck I'll even be useful to the group :)

Those goodies you gave us in the first post, are they our traits, or are they extra traits? Either way, they're very cool.

I'm working on making a character sheet using Ravingdork's template. With two casting classes and all the situational modifiers, neither Myth-Weavers or the Hero Lab sheets are working overly well.

Edit: Oh yes. I wanted to roll my hit points in this comment too. level two hit points: 1d8 ⇒ 5


Extra traits, or else I wouldn't have asked people to choose traits. They are "write up a backstory with stuff in it" rewards, which is a terrible habit my real life group got me into because they're all newbies and have to be prodded into that sort of thing.


Male Half-Elf Vampire Hunter 2 / Detective 1 [HP 10/14 | AC 14 t10 ff14 | F3 R2 W10 | Percep +16 Init +5 (+8 one time) | Bard Spells (1) 2/2 Inquisitor Spells (1) 3/4

Awesome.


Female Construct (Human Clockwork Automation) Bard (Archivist) 3 | Hp 20/23 | AC 15, Touch 12, FF 13 | CMD 16 | Fort +1, Ref +5, Will +4| Per +9 | Init +2 | Active: Careful Teamwork (bonuses not typed out)

Unfixed the fix I fixed in the last post. Turns out I had it right the first time ... : )


DM

Spooky GM has been nice enough to let me wait to finalise my spell selection until I knew what the party had.

I already have
burning hands, color spray, corrosive touch, hydraulic push, hypnotism, magic missile, ray of enfeeblement, shocking grasp

I will avoid
deathwatch, anticipate peril, cure light wounds, detect undead, disguise self, expeditious retreat, reduce person, shield, silent image, true strike, vanish and vocal alteration

Would anyone like to make any suggestions?

Spooky GM:
Just discovered the spellbook ritual requires him to prep 3 level 1+ spells to get the effect, but Laznist only gets to prep 2 spells, even at 2nd level.
My bad for not reading it (and it is still useful as a spellbook!) but if you would be prepared to house rule "3 or all" instead of "3" I would be grateful.
Alternatively if you know any way to prep that 3rd spell at 2nd level I'll happily take it.
Either way, I'll keep it.


Since there was some fudging for you to get it, I'd say we'll just leave it as-is, and once you're levelled enough to get the effect, you get it.


Urban Ranger 2 | HP 19/26 | AC 16, T 13, Ff 13 | CMD 17 | Fort +5 Ref +6 Will +2 | Per +7 | Init +3

Hitpoints for 2nd level: 1d10 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9

26 hitpoints total.


Gameplay thread is live. Too tired to write up something longer, but it's enough to get the ball rolling. Once everyone has posted their arrival, we'll move on.


DM

hp for 2nd level: 1d6 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 + 1 = 4
Spells picked!

@Spooky GM: no problem at all - but I thought I avoided the fudging in the end, paid the full 900.


Male Half-Elf Vampire Hunter 2 / Detective 1 [HP 10/14 | AC 14 t10 ff14 | F3 R2 W10 | Percep +16 Init +5 (+8 one time) | Bard Spells (1) 2/2 Inquisitor Spells (1) 3/4

Walther's profile should be complete now, including a link to a (ugly, yet functional) pdf character sheet that manages to keep all the crunch on a single sheet. Background and contact information is only in the profile now.


Male Half-Elf Vampire Hunter 2 / Detective 1 [HP 10/14 | AC 14 t10 ff14 | F3 R2 W10 | Percep +16 Init +5 (+8 one time) | Bard Spells (1) 2/2 Inquisitor Spells (1) 3/4

Huh. After comparing the characters, it seems that I've made the party face rather than the party librarian (at least until I can get my library built. Then I'll be able to keep up with Ophelia, at least within my area of interest). Ah well. Just so long as I don't have to swim across any rivers or climb any walls it'll all be fine.


Female Dwarf Rogue 5 (Unchained) | HP: 31/31 | AC: 17 | Tch: 13 | FF: 14 | Fort: +2 | Ref: +8 | Will: +2 | Perc: +9 (+11 vs Traps) | Init: +2 | SR 8 |

Sorry for not posting earlier, yesterday got kind of hectic. I'm in USA Pacific Time UTC -8.

Lvl 2 HP: 1d8 ⇒ 8

Wow, that was actually better than what I rolled in Hero Lab. I will post in the Gameplay when I get those traits added in my Lab.


Female Construct (Human Clockwork Automation) Bard (Archivist) 3 | Hp 20/23 | AC 15, Touch 12, FF 13 | CMD 16 | Fort +1, Ref +5, Will +4| Per +9 | Init +2 | Active: Careful Teamwork (bonuses not typed out)
Walther wrote:
Huh. After comparing the characters, it seems that I've made the party face rather than the party librarian (at least until I can get my library built. Then I'll be able to keep up with Ophelia, at least within my area of interest). Ah well. Just so long as I don't have to swim across any rivers or climb any walls it'll all be fine.

Don't forget you get Monster Hunter on some checks as well - +5 (from wis) to identify weaknesses is quite good aswell.


Male Half-Elf Vampire Hunter 2 / Detective 1 [HP 10/14 | AC 14 t10 ff14 | F3 R2 W10 | Percep +16 Init +5 (+8 one time) | Bard Spells (1) 2/2 Inquisitor Spells (1) 3/4

True, for identifying enemies during combat monster hunter is a huge bonus.


It'll be interesting to see who's better at Knowledge as we go, considering Walther isn't taking any more bard levels, far as I remember hearing.


Male Half-Elf Vampire Hunter 2 / Detective 1 [HP 10/14 | AC 14 t10 ff14 | F3 R2 W10 | Percep +16 Init +5 (+8 one time) | Bard Spells (1) 2/2 Inquisitor Spells (1) 3/4

Correct; I'll be advancing Inquisitor until I can get into my prestige classes. And Detective replaces regular bardic knowledge with something similar that only improves knowledge (local) so I wouldn't be improving my knowledges much until I can get into Pathfinder Delver anyhow. Which is why I'm planning to spend future income on more books and hopefully some Book Depositories from UCampaign.

In any case, some redundancy of skills across the party is a Good Thing. Too easy for the only person who has a skill to roll a one at the wrong time.


DM

Laznist is suggesting magic items and stuff becomes Guard Property and is loaned out to the PCs. Unless people plan on skipping out or retiring that's pretty much the same as owning them I think.

If Laznist kills a ghoul with a severed hand that has a wedding ring, he's going to look for the dead person's spouse, not filch it.


Crap, forgot to note the exact figure post, but the salary in question will be 15 gp/month. If you so choose, that's enough for an Average (The PC lives in his own apartment, small house, or similar location—this is the lifestyle of most trained or skilled experts or warriors. He can secure any nonmagical item worth 1 gp or less from his home in 1d10 minutes, and need not track purchases of common meals or taxes that cost 1 gp or less.) cost of living with 5 gp left over. If anyone wants to dig through the Guide to Korvosa book or Ultimate Campaign for anything a little more specific, feel free to flesh it out a bit more than that.


DM

No, sounds good to me :)


DM

Sorry all, didn't mean Laznist to come across so pushy and cynical. Please believe I am not like this.


Does everyone have/'have' Ultimate Campaign? Since you won't be working cases every day, you'll have free time to work, and UC expands things really nicely by allowing you to gain money and resources using skills other than Profession, Perform, or Craft. It also opens up plenty of other ideas that are cool and would be neat to see people whip out for their characters. Just want to be sure everyone has access to it before I implement anything.


Female Construct (Human Clockwork Automation) Bard (Archivist) 3 | Hp 20/23 | AC 15, Touch 12, FF 13 | CMD 16 | Fort +1, Ref +5, Will +4| Per +9 | Init +2 | Active: Careful Teamwork (bonuses not typed out)

Pathfinder uses Open Game Licence!

*blam*

It is super effective!!

Wild 'not having access to the rules' fainted

(eg - the rules are freely available on this site : ) )


Female Dwarf Rogue 5 (Unchained) | HP: 31/31 | AC: 17 | Tch: 13 | FF: 14 | Fort: +2 | Ref: +8 | Will: +2 | Perc: +9 (+11 vs Traps) | Init: +2 | SR 8 |

Ninja'd by the Clockwork, how embarassing.


I prefer d20pfsrd for that, but yeah, I was mostly just asking if anyone needed linkage to stuff.


Female Dwarf Rogue 5 (Unchained) | HP: 31/31 | AC: 17 | Tch: 13 | FF: 14 | Fort: +2 | Ref: +8 | Will: +2 | Perc: +9 (+11 vs Traps) | Init: +2 | SR 8 |

The srd site is good, but some workplaces may have it blocked. Like mine. However, the PRD I can access without issue.


Male Half-Elf Vampire Hunter 2 / Detective 1 [HP 10/14 | AC 14 t10 ff14 | F3 R2 W10 | Percep +16 Init +5 (+8 one time) | Bard Spells (1) 2/2 Inquisitor Spells (1) 3/4

I have a copy, but find looking things up online (archivesofnethys for most things, the prd for rules references, pathfinderwiki for fluff, and occasionally the d20pfsrd) to be simpler. Especially since my hardbacks are all at my GM's house.

I definitely want to make use of the downtime rules; I need to add book depositories (and a bedroom) to my office.


Female Construct (Human Clockwork Automation) Bard (Archivist) 3 | Hp 20/23 | AC 15, Touch 12, FF 13 | CMD 16 | Fort +1, Ref +5, Will +4| Per +9 | Init +2 | Active: Careful Teamwork (bonuses not typed out)

I too would be interested in using the rules to reopen Polo's workshop. A storefront, workshop and some generic storage area/bedroom is probably what I would look to start at.

It feels slightly wrong that all bedrooms generate income (and come with an complimentary untrained labourer that rents it out for you ...)


Male (5'8", 130 lbs) Samsaran Alchemist 3 [HP 23/24 |AC: 18, T: 13, FF: 15 | Fort +3 Ref +7 Will +3 | Perception +11, Init +8 | Dex Mutagen, Careful Teamwork]

I hadn't seen the downtime rules before... I must study them.


Male (5'8", 130 lbs) Samsaran Alchemist 3 [HP 23/24 |AC: 18, T: 13, FF: 15 | Fort +3 Ref +7 Will +3 | Perception +11, Init +8 | Dex Mutagen, Careful Teamwork]

Will it be all right to purchase / whip up a batch of Tanglefoot Bags before our meeting?


Feel free to buy stuff whenever you have a moment of downtime, long as you tell me when you do so. I imagine on-the-fly whipping up won't really feasible until you have Master Alchemist though.


Male (5'8", 130 lbs) Samsaran Alchemist 3 [HP 23/24 |AC: 18, T: 13, FF: 15 | Fort +3 Ref +7 Will +3 | Perception +11, Init +8 | Dex Mutagen, Careful Teamwork]

I'll buy two Tanglefoot Bags then.

Also, I don't know where my shop is in reference to the Shingles.


Female Construct (Human Clockwork Automation) Bard (Archivist) 3 | Hp 20/23 | AC 15, Touch 12, FF 13 | CMD 16 | Fort +1, Ref +5, Will +4| Per +9 | Init +2 | Active: Careful Teamwork (bonuses not typed out)

Here is a map of Korvosa. The most of the Shingles occupy the rooftops and 'airspace' around Old Korvosa, which is the island in the top half of the map (in red). I placed Polo's shop somewhere in Midland (the green area), near where the gold markets are marked on the map.

Edit: Reading thru Shang's backstory it seems like he is living in a Golarian Chinatown so to speak. I would guess that would put him in one of the nicer parts of Old Korvosa (the most overcrowded and poor parts of the city) or perhaps in Midlands (the "generic" part of town)?. If I understand correctly, the Midlands is where the majority of the merchants and markets are. North point could also be a valid candidate since it is an old part of town, but in a lot better shape then Old Korvosa

Edit2: Not that it's exact location matters ... It was just the fastest way I could think of that we could resolve where to meet so we could head on towards adventure : )


Male Half-Elf Vampire Hunter 2 / Detective 1 [HP 10/14 | AC 14 t10 ff14 | F3 R2 W10 | Percep +16 Init +5 (+8 one time) | Bard Spells (1) 2/2 Inquisitor Spells (1) 3/4

I'm going to read over the Korvosa book for a bit, to try and figure out where my office is. It should be in a cheap, but not dangerous part of town, based on the contacts I have.

Somewhere in the Slope neighbourhood of the Midland seems to make sense. (Near Trinia's Flat or Girrigz's Lair on Ophelia's map)


Female Construct (Human Clockwork Automation) Bard (Archivist) 3 | Hp 20/23 | AC 15, Touch 12, FF 13 | CMD 16 | Fort +1, Ref +5, Will +4| Per +9 | Init +2 | Active: Careful Teamwork (bonuses not typed out)

Hmm I'm thinking that we maybe should make a copy of that map and host it on google docs or something. That way we could all access it and mark our houses. If/when we meet NPC:s or find important locations we could put them there aswell. Besides, custom maps is always fun : )

I'm not exactly sure on how it would work and I'm getting rather sleepy at the moment but if you all think it is a decent idea I could look into it tomorrow and see what I can do.


Since you guys are going well ahead of time, let's say you all meet at Ophelia's, just so we can move this along.


This isn't nicely colour coded like the one that Ophelia linked, but it also doesn't have CotCT locations marked on it. I believe this link should allow anyone to edit it. Map


Urban Ranger 2 | HP 19/26 | AC 16, T 13, Ff 13 | CMD 17 | Fort +5 Ref +6 Will +2 | Per +7 | Init +3

I'll look into the professor's study location and details tomorrow afternoon.


DM

I think the small stonemason's shop where Laznist lives is probably in Midland


Male Half-Elf Vampire Hunter 2 / Detective 1 [HP 10/14 | AC 14 t10 ff14 | F3 R2 W10 | Percep +16 Init +5 (+8 one time) | Bard Spells (1) 2/2 Inquisitor Spells (1) 3/4

I just realized that I never posted my timezone. I'm in Mountain Standard Time (GMT - 7 I believe)


Has the information from Walthastasia and Shangphelia's conclusions been shared with the group? I'd like to put it in the case file


I'm assuming they will, I just felt like letting them do it in posts on arriving to the meetup instead of just telling them that their characters did.

1 to 50 of 179 << first < prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | next > last >>
Community / Forums / Online Campaigns / Play-by-Post Discussion / The Darkest Corners Discussion All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.