I've been away on vacation, with surprisingly little internet access or even cell coverage. I'll get caught up & will post as soon as possible.
There isn't much to Istas' wishlist right now that's under 4k. Maybe some potions and scrolls. And I definitely want to upgrade her armor (to a masterwork breastplate she can eventually enchant, most likely). Maybe a phylactery of faithfulness, though I doubt that would see significant play in the game. It would just be for story value.
Once we get into the 4k range of wish-list material, here's some stuff I've got my eye on:
headband of inspired wisdom +2
pearl of power (2nd level)
restorative ointment
wand of cure moderate wounds
wand of lesser restoration
And, beyond that, once we can start to pursue weapons with more than a +1 enhancement bonus, I'd like to upgrade Istas' spear...initially as a +1 weapon, but then I'd like to add the returning and/or ghost touch powers to it.
New Topic:
Neil, I just finished BLood for Blood. (A measure of how busy life has been that I'm a month behind on Pathfinder.) I thought it was brilliant. Giant sentient waterbugs! The free Fort Drelev minigame. Villains (the sisters at the temple) who are in it for the retirement plan! The whole Armag temple, actually.
The bogstriders must have been yours. Were any of the other bestiary entries?
bogstriders
Bogstriders? I didn't know Bury-St-Edmonds was in Golarian ...
bogstridersBogstriders? I didn't know Bury-St-Edmonds was in Golarian ...
Bury-St-Edmonds? A nice little town in Suffolk but otherwise I don't get the reference.
Bury-St-Edmonds? A nice little town in Suffolk but otherwise I don't get the reference.bogstridersBogstriders? I didn't know Bury-St-Edmonds was in Golarian ...
The locals are sometimes referred to as 'bog-trotters', as they live close to (in fact at one time before land drainage, in) the fens.
Neil, I just finished BLood for Blood....I thought it was brilliant. Giant sentient waterbugs! The free Fort Drelev minigame. Villains (the sisters at the temple) who are in it for the retirement plan! The whole Armag temple, actually.
Cool. I'm glad you enjoyed. Post a review or something on the product page. Or even just some comments in the discussion thread for it. The adventure didn't really seem to generate all that much interest before the next chapter came out. And since it was my first ever AP contribution, I was kind of psyched to see how people received it.
The bogstriders must have been yours. Were any of the other bestiary entries?
Nope. Just the bogstriders. I needed them for one of the quests in the Hooktongue Slough and I wanted to give the boggards a traditional enemy other than the Tiger Lord barbarians who migrated through every year.
Concerning levelling ... I'm easy, really. I'd like to, but it's not vital to me. Make that a half-hearted 'for' :D
Yeah you haven't done much on-screen since leveling to 4th. But a couple weeks have passed.
But the AP suggests you be 5th before tackling the wreck. I was comfortable letting you guys do it at 4th with major material support from the Guard and Grey in the way of water-breathing potions or what not. Neil suggested the party could be more self-sufficient and it might be better character-story-wise if you leveled first.
Either way, I'm easy. I'll goose the encounters a little.
Well, maybe he hasn't, but when Wellard joined the group I had him start behind the others in XP. It soon became apparent that it was more book-keeping then it's worth. I think the easiest is if the party levels together and I just watch the AP pointers on what level you should be at what point in the adventure .
You guys have consistently cruised through encounters as written so I've got to goose them a little anyway. Getting to fifth won't make that much difference, (although it will be a lonnng time to 6th if you level now.)
You guys have consistently cruised through encounters as written so I've got to goose them a little anyway. Getting to fifth won't make that much difference, (although it will be a lonnng time to 6th if you level now.)
I'm fine with waiting on 6th level. But here's how I look at things with regards to leveling up to 5th now...and I have to metagame a little in order to explore this subject, so bear with me:
If we don't level up now, that means by the time Istas gains access to spells like water breathing, water walk, or even cure disease, the story will have moved past several points at which those spells would have had their most meaningful impact. This is essentially a "gateway" level for spellcasters. It opens up a whole new door of possibilities. But those possibilities only have a significant impact if they occur at a point where they have relevance on the adventure at hand.
For instance, I intentionally wanted to grind out Istas' submission to bloodveil, because I wanted it to be important when she finally broke through to acquire cure disease. I could make it an important step in her growing faith and conviction in Pharasma. And yet, with the appearance of the wand of cure disease, that's really made a little less poignant. And now, with us about to go river exploring with some underwater potential, we may wind up doing this foray without Istas having access to water breathing and water walk. And, beyond this opportunity, I seriously doubt she'll ever find another reason to bring those spells into play.
Lastly, because this is play-by-post, there's really little reason to run us through every encounter as-written in any of these adventures. It's more important to keep the story and the action moving so we can progress. Otherwise, we'll all be pushing 50 by the time we get to the final chapter. That means pushing us through the storyline at a faster pace will cause us to miss out on some of the XPs for encounters we skip. And yet, that also means we won't be the appropriate level when we finally do reach a major encounter.
However, I will also say I've got every confidence you'll tweak these encounters to ensure they don't overwhelm us, while still remaining challenging enough to be entertaining. In this instance, I suspect some of that needs to be done in addition to to leveling us up to take advantage of new class abilities, spells, feats, etc. that contribute to the storytelling while also giving us a sense of pace to the growth of our characters where it makes sense.
My two-cents of respectful, supportive feedback,
--Neil
You make a good point, I'll vote firmly for levelling now, even if we have to wait longer for 6th level.
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Well, maybe he hasn't, but when Wellard joined the group I had him start behind the others in XP. It soon became apparent that it was more book-keeping then it's worth. I think the easiest is if the party levels together and I just watch the AP pointers on what level you should be at what point in the adventure .
You guys have consistently cruised through encounters as written so I've got to goose them a little anyway. Getting to fifth won't make that much difference, (although it will be a lonnng time to 6th if you level now.)
Yep, I tried to book keep for different PCs at different xps and its a waste of time. Like I said majority rulz.
All right. Wellard hasn't chimed in yet, but it looks like we're running in favor. You guys level. I'll go find my dragon turtle.
Levelled - Emerion has gained a level of fighter, the Power Attack feat and the Armour Training ability. I've boosted a few skills, and he's gained Heal.
Cool.
LoL ..some off us have past 50 already Neil.
I had no beef about the level we were at but the extra spells are nice. It means Heather can take endure elements and she can always swap it out later for something more appropriate
Did you end up winning the oldest gamer thread Wellard? Last I looked I thought it was you .
Edit: I guess not, but it looks like you won longest playing gamer.
Yup I'm the real Grognard on these boards I guess..
Heather will be taking the new favoured class optoion for sorcerers at this point
Sorcerer: Add one spell known from the sorcerer spell
list. This spell must be at least one level below the highest
spell level the sorcerer can cast.
Hit points 5
Feat...Precise shot
Spells gained...
Class Progression. Endure elements, Summon Monster II
Favoured Class Magic Missile
Blood line Shocking Ray(Electrical version of Scorching Ray)
7 Skill ranks
Ohh. Meta-game. Don't worry about buying water breathing, what you can't cast, Istas will be able to score gratis at the temple, or you can get it from other sources. Considering where you guys stand in wealth I'd be a bigger jerk than usual to stiff you for the price of those potions or scrolls.
Another level of paladin. Cool. It suddenly occurs to me that I should have warned you . One of the paladin's dilemmas will come along in the AP. I love the potential RP and think this group of players can handle it, but should you desire, you may rethink the paladin route now.
I'm sure Jeorik will manage to get through it, and I'm looking forward to the combination of his and Emerion's combat styles - I think we can safely say neither are the 'standard' fighter model: Jeorik's primarily an archer, Emerion's a swashbuckler.
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DM
Do you have the old Complete Adventurer because the prestige class that Kenan is built for is in that book, the Shadowbane Stalker? I'm mentioning it because he meets the requirements now.
Lets be honest..the entire party is going to have moral dilemmas thoughout this AP.
FW, we've been rolling HP I do believe with an arbitrary DM safety net. I think I encouraged someone in this group to reroll once.
My last set of books was 3.0 core, with a couple of the soft splats, (Tome and Blood , and the cleric one) .
Now I'm working out of a pdf of the pathfinder rules. That said, I'm semi-open to other content. Post it for me and I'll have a look. Dabbler can let you know how easy or not it is to bring in other material. Fortunately for him, his was psionics and available via the SRD.
I like moral dilemmas!
As for non-Pathfinder stuff, Thom's been great with Waifrin, and I've made sure to consult him at every turn with the character in turn. We've so far had to tone down one power a little, but that's all. Just let him know everything about what you are interested in!
Regarding the last fight,I find it ironic that Zara chose that group of tieflings to charge by herself. The description for Dravano, the big clawed tiefling listed something like this under his description:
"In combat, likes to tear apart the weakest-looking opponent. Barring that he'll challenge the strongest."
ANd there she was presenting herself as chief target without support.
Lets not cross the streams guys.
It did take a few of them out of the fight, though! I think Marius and Waifrin made a good double-team on the ones that attacked the rear - she 'de-buffed' them and he absolutely slaughtered them!
I hope we can take down the leader next, though, Waifrin doesn't have much power left and I think Zara is low on spells.
Lets not cross the streams guys.
Thanks. Got to repost on the other thread now.
Jury duty tomorrow. I doubt the Commonwealth will provide internet.
FYI...I'll be winging my way to GenCon in about 15 minutes or so. While I'm there, I'll have my laptop with me. But, I'm working the Paizo booth 6 hours each day. And, in my spare time, I'm going to be working on my Serpent's Skull manuscript and talking Carrion Crown with James and Wes. So I may be out of pocket for a few days. NPC my character, if necessary.
Thanks for the heads up, Neil. Have fun at the con.
Wicht, are you going this year? (Seems to me you went last yyear?)
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Wicht, are you going this year? (Seems to me you went last yyear?)
I've been to Gen-con once, seven years ago for my 10th wedding anniversary. The last two years I've gone to Origins though with the family, which must be what you are remembering. I would like to go back to Gen-con, but I can really only afford one real vacation a year, if that, at the present time and Origins is closer to me and makes for a nice family trip. Still, maybe next year. (My wife says if one of my works is nominated for an Ennie we can go.) (I won't be holding my breath or anything.) :)
Bah... Spicer gets to go bask in the limelight while some of us wonder if we'll ever manage to make it over for a Gen Con someday.
Am I jealous..off course I am:)
Enjoy yourself Niel
What is this "limelight basking" of which you speak? I'll be working my tail off for Paizo 6 hours out of every day at their booth/demo area.
Hey guys,
FYI...I'm still following along, just haven't had time or energy to string together a coherent post yet. I picked up the ConCrud at GenCon and I've also got my Serpent's Skull deadline looming this weekend and still have some writing to do. So, carry on without me a bit. I'll leap back in when I can come up for air again.
--Neil
That must be some crud. Hope you're feeling well soon.
I think it's blood veil.
I shall be on hols for the next week or so, I will have my laptop with me but posts may be short, and editing new backgrounds may be right out.
My family added a dog around July 4th. I don't know if you all have noticed a slow down in my posting starting around then. The dog is like a 10 hour a week commitment. Unfortunately gaming is one of the things which has had to give. I don't see my posting rate ever increasing again. OK not for about 13 years.
Anyway this is to assure you that I have not lost interest in the game at all. I hope the slower posting rate doesn't cause anyone undue frustration or loss of enthusiasm.
I think it's blood veil.
I hope it's not the improved mutated form.