Also, after a very intense day of efreet and mephit hunting,
It'll take me a little while to get Odebie leveled; I have about three hundred pages worth of Physics to read before Wednesday.
I sincerely wish you the best of luck, and lots of coffee. Don't worry about leveling any time soon.
Sorry I've been feeling off since Christmas and my general off-ness has come in full blown thick-headed flu-yness. Apologies if I've been a bit all-over lately.
Probably not actual flu as I'm all up to date on flu-jabs etc, but I feel rubbish.
The flu (or whatever you have) is awful. I appreciate you taking the time to update us.
I've been kind of hesitant to bring this up, but... I think I should quit ignoring it.
In short, I feel I've built the wrong character for this campaign.
Byron is almost militantly indifferent to politicking, psychology, and just about everything else having to do with dealing with other elens--the sort of fellow who wants to grapple with problems of science, mathematics, and alchemy without having to deal with 'people' problems. As the campaign has gone on, it's become increasingly clear that this attitude leaves him, not entertainingly out of his depth as I had anticipated, but rather completely unengaged with large portions of what's going on, if not actually actively dangerous to the party as a whole.
Add to that the fact that his connection to the party is tenuous at best and I'm left wondering at times why he's sticking around.
I'm not quite sure what to do about this. Obviously, as a fictional character written by me, I could just start writing Bryon differently, but that feels... 'artificial' isn't exactly the right word, but it's not wrong, either. Writing Byron out and then having me create a new character is possible, but it feels like it would be difficult to integrate a new party member at this point with our group's rather uncertain relations with authority and consequent closed-mouthed-ness about our real intentions and plans.
So I'm not quite sure where to go from here.
Well, we have a bunch of not-quite defined characters orbiting us right now, and it seems likely we're about to be introduced to a bunch more (captain's meeting, witnesses to undead sylphs, etc). If you'd like to pick one of those up, you could. Plus Ky La could always decide that he wants one of his people watching us.
Side note, the flu shot this year was only... 20% effective? I think I'm remembering that right. They tried something new with the formulism and it didn't work very well.
I appreciate you bringing it up - always better to have any hesitations/misgivings out in the open.
I could see Byron's curiosity being the key - that is, Byron is naturally drawn to a problem like the planar boundary. Since research in pre-internet times is by nature at least a somewhat collaborative effort (going to the Temple library, talking things over with Osric, working things out with Eldon, etc), that could be a way to get him 'out of the house'.
One of his primary goals is to have alchemy/science recognized for contributions to the war and society in general - he'll need Temple resources (or a different organization, if you so choose) to find the tough reagents once the ruby solution runs out.
Although maybe I'm interpreting the problem incorrectly. It's not motivation as much as "yes, Byron is in Ky La's chambers because he needs materials, but he has nothing to say to him, he just wants to get back to the lab". In which case, yes, I can see that being problematic.
I'll post again later. Odebie has a good idea though - there are many possibilities of bringing a new character into the group's confidence right now, and I think we could do it with a fair bit of verisimilitude.
Yeah, it's more the second--Byron is too focused on solving 'science' problems before 'people' problems, and so when a 'people' problem like "How do I convince someone to let me use their facilities for this?" his first instinct is "This isn't my job to figure out I want to work on something else" and his second is "I will clearly and logically explain why this is vital to elen civilization and anyone who doesn't listen is illogical and not worth trying to convince of the obvious benefits of this research".
Basically, he's the sort of researcher who needs a manager to handle the non-science problems for him. XD
I don't know... maybe what he needs is material proof of how dangerous/naive his approach is. He's a smart guy, if he sees the cost of ignoring the elen element of life he'd realize he can't just keep doing things the way he's doing them.
That and I need to figure out how to play an alchemist in combat other than throwing bombs.
I thought Alchemists were either bomb-flingers or roid-ragers. I didn't know there were other ways to play them :P.
Osric would be happy to be the liaison to keep Byron (as an NPC) abreast of events so he can spend all day in his lab. He's competent enough in alchemy to discuss the discoveries and needs of the moment and pass along the information.
As for a new character, possibilities I see are:
-A magus with knowledge of planar issues.
-A warpriest/inquisitor as a party handler.
-A vigilante who's taken up hunting mephits for sport.
-A fighter assigned to assist by the watch.
Any particular build you're considering? I briefly considered an oozemorph for the lols, but it didn't seem like a good idea in the long run.
You can make a pretty nasty poison-focused Alchemist. Aside from that, not sure - I haven't built a vancian caster since I discovered Spheres of Power.
He's my first alchemist, so I'm learning. XD I'll have to think if there's another idea I'd want to build.
I've leveled up to 5.
Notable changes:
-Inspired Alchemy feat: I can spend inspiration to regain extracts.
-Empathy talent: I get advantage on sense motive checks (including the d6s), and once/day, I can spend inspiration to detect thoughts.
-I've learned the Investigative mind extract, which gives me advantage on up to 5 knowledge checks within an hour.
-I put some ranks in knowledge planes, because that suddenly seems useful.
-I put a rank into linguistics to learn Ignan, or whatever the language of the planar language of the efreet is. Mechanically this should work, but based on the setting, I feel like I need permission to do this. What are your thoughts, Miner?
Languages: These were your original languages, right?
Common, Ifrit, Maker Script, Oread, Sylph, Undine, High Ifrit
So you haven't actually updated that part yet? Just wanted to be sure.
As to what language efreet speak, that would be Geni, the language spoken by all Genies (which is essentially the equivalent of Infernal for this setting. Roughly speaking, Ifrit and High Ifrit are two dialects of what I would consider "Ignan")
I don't have a problem with you learning it, since between your intellect and your inspiration I'd say you'd at least have the basics down pretty quickly.
However! You would need a book to learn from. This is restricted knowledge, so you would need to figure out how to get it, then you'll be able to study.
In short: add Geni to your list, but put an asterisk next to it for now.
Fun abilities!
One thing I want to make clear on detect thoughts:
As I understand it, the only differences between Supernatural Abilities and Spells are those called out in the "Supernatural Abilities" heading. Thus, a creature would get the same "hostile tingle" feeling when they succeed on a saving throw vs a supernatural ability that they would vs a spell.
So, be aware that on a successful saving throw, the target would be aware of "some kind of intrusion into their mind". This would not automatically point the finger at you, but it would certainly be suspicious if it would just you and one other person in a room. Depending on the circumstances, a person might look around a room and it would be sense motive vs your bluff.
Correct, I didn't write down the language yet, pending your ruling. I will do as you say, and looking for that book will be on his list of things to do today.
I think it would be pretty obvious that it was coming from me, but I'd hope it would be at least partially disguised under the heavy stink-eye that I'm declaring is the somatic component associated with it. Magic or not, that has to be unsettling.
Osric is not terribly subtle when he's searching for the truth.
Should be levelled up now. Though this is the only Pathfinder I still play, so I'm probably a little rusty.
As a note, apparently 1/day I can now cast any spell from the Bard, Cleric, Sorcerer/Wizard lists. And oh jesus there are soooo many spells. So if anyone knows of a randomly specific/obscure one that would be amazingly helpful for a situation at hand please do let me know.
Yes, that is an absolutely amazing ability! I've never played a Skald, but it seems worth it for that alone.
Still debating what I want to do, sorry.
No problem, seriously. Especially since you are all doing your own thing right now - don't worry about it.
Odebie's now leveled. He picked up Extra Lay On Hands for his feat, in anticipation of level 6.
It's weird leveling him, I usually have an overly-complicated many-moving-pieces build for my melee characters. Here I actually have feats free.
Oh, you get a feat at 5th, I was thinking it was every 3rd level.
Another thing to look through then.
If there are no objections, I'm going to place Byron in the Ky La scene as well. You have a shared interest in getting info from him right now, and it's simply more interesting/easy to do a scene like this once. If you would really rather go somewhere else, let me know.
(or if Byron is heading for NPC status, you can let me know that too)
I'm really not sure. I can't really think of another character I'd like to play in this campaign. So we need something to get Byron more interested in the game.
And I thought of something.
Destroy his lab.
That is hilarious. I will go to bed tonight thinking of a fun way to do that.
I'm not updating tonight, too tired, but please let me know in gameplay or here if Byron is planning on going to Ky La (just so I know)
Sure, he'll go along. It'll give him a good reason to not be home. ;)
Odebie's referring to the Oread habit of planting trees in the bodies of the deceased.
I figured as much, but the clarification is appreciated.
Out of curiosity - what wind instrument (or instruments) does Fi prefer to play?
I don't think I put it in writing anywhere but Fi has a flute that she and Elfie built together and is one of her more treasures possessions (though probably not especially well-made). Out of love of this particular instrument she favours the flute.
Outside of sentimentality she has a more Ifrit-inclined love of the brass (seems like Ifrit should like brass) family of wind-instruments, Trombone and similar though she doesn't have one at home to keep in practice.
Byron doesn't trust any formula he hasn't yet tested himself. :D
Osric: If you are interested in looking for illicit sources for Geni, you could roll a knowledge (local)
Osric: are you specifically going to the newspaper that published the story about darkspawn? Only one had that story.
I'd prefer to go to the one that has the best reputation. Knowledge of darkspawn is a curiosity, but not necessarily the most important.
My strategy here is to give an account of yesterday's events to the media. I want to emphasize the other group's darkspawn resistance and embellish their rebellion against the temple, including casting So Khong's death as an intentional righteous blow. The point is to embarrass the temple for hiding the blessing, to show the vulnerability of even the highest of inquisitors, and to demonstrate that defiance is possible.
I intend to be fastidious to not mention anything about any darkspawn we encountered, as we have established that doing so would be dangerous to myself and others.
For now, I'll let you know that the most reputable paper by far is "The Kept Coin", which is printed and mostly read in the Shops and the Mansions. Though they cover mostly trade, taxes, and financial stories, they certainly carry the most important local and national news as well.
I'll post the set up tomorrow, but in the meantime feel free to roll a diplomacy check here in Discussion, and be thinking about exactly what you're going to be saying to a skeptical clerk that tries to screen out the crazies.
Minor update: The "Other Religions" document now contains brief descriptions fortune telling among the four races (not to be confused with oracles!)
Not really relevant to much, but when checking up on Sylph naming conventions I noticed your Sylph reference images are copyright Wakefield Council. That's the city I grew up in, and is about 10-12 mile away from me now.
Small world! I think I googled "industrial revolution working clothes" or something like that back when I was finding passable reference images.
Odebie and Byron, could you let me know when you might be leveling to 5? No rush.
Odebie's leveled; I forgot to update what level he was in the quick-look bar.
Gotcha, thanks!
You quickly come to conclusions similar to that of Osric.
--The planar rift allowing the mephits to enter the Slums is likely to get worse over time.
--You are confident you would be able to aid in some kind of repair job on the old wards, but the issue is still a power source. You are surprised Osric didn't bother to mention this to Ky La.
You also come to some new conclusions:
--The planar check gives you an interesting idea: if the rift could be located, it would be much simpler to destroy the rift from inside the plane of fire rather than setting up wards on the material plane. This has its own set of dangers of course, but it has the advantage of not requiring a tremendous power source.
--You envision the creation of a giant ice bomb that could be set off just inside the plane of fire, which would collapse the rift. You are 100% certain you could make this, given a few days' time and a little help.
Osric, to recap your main points on the new story:
My strategy here is to give an account of yesterday's events to the media.
Emphasize the other group's darkspawn resistance
Embellish their rebellion against the temple, including casting So Khong's death as an intentional righteous blow.
The point is to embarrass the temple for hiding the blessing, to show the vulnerability of even the highest of inquisitors, and to demonstrate that defiance is possible.
I intend to be fastidious to not mention anything about any darkspawn we encountered, as we have established that doing so would be dangerous to myself and others.
Question: that tone are you going for? Factual? Rebellious? Tolerant disappointment? You aren't writing the story yourself, but your presentation will certainly color the story.
I'm thinking clinical accuracy, except leaving out that So Khong attacked Inam. By mentioning it happened in her bedchambers, I was hoping to imply he was there to take advantage of her to make him appear even more villainous. If the temple wants to prosecute Inam, they'll need to defend against the idea of him being lecherous as well as murderous.
It's completely untrue, but it makes for a story that would sell better.
Gotcha.
In other news, clocks don't exist in a world where everyone keeps time on candles (at least in the cities), so "dextral" and "sinistral" are now our terms for clockwise and counter-clockwise. I'll add this to the same section where I define time under the "Society" spoiler.
Will post in a few minutes; I wanted to read through the archive and make sure I actually had the story straight.
Odebie will mention the unkillable sylphs, but after the captains have had a chance to process the information dump.