Indeed. At this point even a small or partial success would be a boost to his morale.
*blinds and deafenes him*
XD
Not happy with that post but I got to get back in the swing of things.
No problem, sometimes you just have to go with what you can.
Oh, and I'm definitely curious about what's going on with Sevak after that post.
Good, that was the idea!
I got a picture of Sevak doing some lightning magic. :)
Very cool!
It's probably just as well that Sevak doesn't know too much history, or he'd realize just how hard pulling a region out of anarchy and warlordism is. XD
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread?
Something like that.
Hmmmmmm... Veeeeeeery interesting...
Interesting?
Oh, just trying to figure out what's going on with Sevak. For example, I'm theorizing that he won't get Fireball when he's targeting himself. :D
I hope I'm right on that.
You have way too much faith in me to be nice.
But with some time, you'll be able to stop the randomness.
Have you figured it out yet?
I was guessing that it's his Naga Aspirant spells, meaning he just got See Invisibility. Last night I was in a hurry and forgot he had See Invisibility, not Invisibility on his list.
From the decreasing die I'm guessing he gets one of each spell a day, too. And I was figuring he'll be able to stop the randomness once he has a few days to not be running or fighting or hiding for his life. XD
Poor Sevak. He was planning on coming to town, learning about the situation, and using what he learned to make a plan. Now he has to come up with one on the fly, and I have no clue how to make a workable plan here. XD
Should I dial it back? I am pushing a bit but part of that is Hundai and part of that is me wanting to give you authority.
No, it's just a tough situation. As far as I can see, the only solution to this problem is for someone with enough power to enforce some laws to, well, enforce some laws. It seems like the only options for that are either be A) An external force that moves in and occupies the area with an army or B) A local force that is strong enough to hold the others off. A isn't really an option, because Nagajor doesn't care about this area but would definitely care if another country moved an army into it. B is what Sevak is hoping Hudai can do, but he has no clue how firm her grip will be if she's in power, much less how dedicated to the whole idea she really is. But his impression is that any grip over these bandits is tenuous at best, which leaves him with no real idea of how someone could get enough power to start enforcing laws well enough to make a difference for long enough.
Or maybe I'm just thinking myself into a hole here. Maybe there's some solution I'm just not seeing because I've focused too much on the problems. I've been known to do that. Sevak's the one with 19 wisdom here, maybe he sees something I don't. XD
Hmmm... I guess maybe one idea would be to use his actions as proof of an external threat... plenty of leaders have cemented their grip on power by using the excuse of preparing for/dealing with some sort of threat. Maybe Hudai can use Sevak's actions as proof that Nagajor is trying to soften them up, and so justify changing the way things work as emergency measures to prepare for a possible invasion. Thieves could be 'traitors working with Nagajor to weaken us', and so forth. It's not a good solution, but I'm not sure there is a good solution here.
I think you are doing fine, for bumbling into it. I do want to, some day, get Sevak in a situation where he has time to plan and such, to give you that chance. The Quain stuff was supposed to, but we rushed it since you weren't a fan of it.
I may be overthinking this. :D
Every player over thinks everything except when they should.
Too true. XD Sometimes I just go with something because I'm tired of overthinking it.
Pro and con list.
Apparently I need to take a good, hard look at what Sevak is actually good at and try to stick to those things. XD
The gods smile?
Sevak's god is hard and easily amused at his misfortune.
I think a careful reading of Sevak's thoughts will reveal that he doesn't really expect it to happen...
Sevak has bad luck at the worst times.
I keep holding out hope that somehow, someday, the RNG will take pity on him... but thus far, that hope has been vain.
Maybe he needs to learn how to weaponize his bad luck. XD
I'm trying to figure out, though, if Sevak's just that unlucky or if I've been playing him exceptionally badly. I've never done a solo game and I've never really played a druid before, so I feel like I'm playing badly.
I mean, attacking the guys in the inn I knew was a bad idea but it felt right for Sevak at the time, but other than that, I haven't deliberately been making stupid choices... XD
Are you not enjoying things again?
Just feeling like Sevak's way in over his head. XD Hopefully I'm wrong about that...
Thinking it over, I think it's a case of feeling like Sevak has been playing to his weaknesses, rather than his strengths, which is why I felt like I was playing him stupidly. But as a primary spellcaster, his strength is magic... which explains why he feels like he's playing to his weaknesses right now. XD So I guess it's a good thing he's starting to fix that now.
Yeah, while the game itself doesn't feel listless, Sevak seems out of depth....do we need a build change? Or maybe some levels in a martial class? Like, for free?
With all of the skulking about and bluffing that Sevak has been doing, maybe he should take Rogue levels. :D
In seriousness, I had been considering a level or two of Ranger for Sevak--it would fit him, give him a few more skill points, slightly better attack bonus, and a combat feat or two. But that had been planned for just his normal level progression. I don't really think we need to be talking about a build change or free levels until he's really gotten back his full suite of class features. Being able to throw a couple third-level spells around and then turn into a grizzly bear would put him in a considerably better position at present.
I was realizing, though, that what we've run into here is kind of a clash between storyteller-me and gamer-me. XD Storyteller-me loves the idea of Sevak humbled, stripped of his powers, forced to make do with nothing but his blade and his (sometimes questionable) wits. It's an awesome opportunity for character development and good stories.
...on the other hand, it's maddening to gamer-me because I don't have any advantages to leverage, because... well, because he is out-of-depth here. The same things that make it interesting from a story perspective make it agony from a game perspective.
So I'd say, let's not go for a build change or extra levels at present. He's probably about due a level from 'experience', and that should be enough. Let's get him his class features (or some approximations thereof--I'm interested to see where you're going with his magic right now) back and get him back in the wilderness where he belongs instead of in cities where he, quite frankly, doesn't belong, and *then* we can see if he needs a bit of a rebuild or boost.
...But at the same time I'm torn because I don't want him to recover so fast he misses out on some character development. XD
I guess the one thing he might need is a bit more in the way of skill points. Druids are a 4+Int class, he has 10 Int, and he puts his FCB in skill points, which means he can cover five skills + background skills... which isn't terrible, but isn't really enough for a solo character, hence why he's failing at so many skill checks. :D So we might want to do something about that, but we can probably provide an in-game excuse. Though to a degree, magic + wild shape will make a lot of that a non-issue when he's back to full power.
That, and I need to not try to play him like he has a lot of skills and good martial abilities. XD I've been playing too many dashing swordsman-types of late, I think...
I guess the current situation might end up being a good one for him to desperately discover some of his abilities have returned (or that he has some other new abilities beyond his odd magic).
I guess one other element is that I feel like I should be coming up with clever solutions to these problems that Sevak is facing, but... all I've come up with is 'kill the guy in charge somehow'. It makes me feel like I'm missing something, like there's a better solution I should have thought of but just can't see.
Oh, there's an article about Naga in the latest installment of the Ironfang Invasion adventure path. I'll have to give it a read.
Sorry about the delay...been having life and tech issues....
Share what you discover!
Whoops, I read it and then didn't post here. Let me see what I can remember:
*The naga once ruled Vudra, but their empire was overthrown almost overnight thousands of years ago. History does not agree on the cause.
*Most historians agree that Nagajor was a Vudran colony that survived the fall of the naga empire in Vudra, but naga from Nagajor argue that Nagajor was actually the original empire.
*Naga live for a few hundred years, but can enter a state of torpor that basically 'resets' their lifespan. This state lasts for several years, and gets longer the older they are... though sometimes naga shed their skin and grow larger during their periods of torpor. Regular periods of torpor allow naga to live basically forever.
*Naga tend to be obsessive collectors of something, whether that be wealth or knowledge or something else.
Any idea of what your Mistress may have collected?
Good question... the example they give is a lunar naga who collects everything there is to know about one particular constellation, so it doesn't have to be something that makes sense to anyone else. :D Royal nagas tend to be proud and powerful, though, so probably something that makes sense... powerful servants? Treaties (that benefit her)? Fealty?
If you want to change things, Sevak sees Hundai give him a look and...a wink?
I'd actually wondered if that might be the case, but I guess I'm just too used to nothing going right for Sevak or something because I decided it probably wasn't what was going on. XD I'll change the post.
Getting back into the swing of things?
Am I forgetting something? I know going to speak with the bandit leader had been the original plan, but I don't recall Hundai saying anything about it.
No, this is supposed to be new. Sevak is supposed to be confused.
Yes, should be back in the swing. Sorry for the delays.
I promise to provide more direction...
I found a very interesting place in canon in Po Li that Sevak would like to visit.
Oh? Now I'm curious.