I arrived in Wati last night, cutting things a bit closer than I would have preferred. Nonetheless, Pasha and I were on hand to witness the morning’s funerary procession to honor the Day of Bones. With all I have seen in my long years, it was still an impressive sight, and I do not regret the early start to the day in order to participate, even if only as an observer; alas, the temples of Nethys are too often lacking in ritual pageantry, for all that they inspire me in other ways.
Of course, once the procession was done, the priests lead the way back to the Grand Mausoleum, where the lottery occurred. There were nearly a dozen groups – “adventuring parties,” if you will – on hand to participate, most consisting of three to five people. The largest contingents were from the Pathfinder Society and the Aspis Consortium, and I can’t have been the only one in the crowd both concerned about the two of them attacking one another and grateful that they’ll be too wrapped up in their rivalry with one another to bother with the rest of us. I was the only solitary party willing to take up the task, as the Mausoleum’s clerics had warned me I would be last night when I put my name into the drawing. So be it then; I’m usually more comfortable on my own anyway. (Pasha says it’s because I dislike people. She’s wrong, of course. I like people just fine, but they don’t seem to much care for me. Whether they are intimidated by my intellect or offended by my passion for accuracy over social mores I neither know nor care; the end result is the same, and I have long since become accustomed to it.) Moreover, solitude allows greater freedom of communication with Pasha, without overly-inquisitive ears to hear her speak.
After a short opening speech I shall not bother recording, the Pharasmins proceeded with the lottery in pleasingly efficient fashion. When I presented my token, I was assigned the Tomb of Akhentepi, on the necropolis’ far edge. An auspicious beginning; a genuine tomb, and one so far from the gate access, has great potential for genuine discovery. When I received my assignment, Sebti the Crocodile, the Grand Mausoleum’s high priestess, took the opportunity to once more remind me of the three rules for this exploration by which I agreed to be bound: “remember how this came to pass,” “every slave’s hut is a memorial,” and “honor the departed.” She need not have bothered. I am a researcher, not a grasping tomb robber fumbling in the sand. Whatever I might uncover and turn toward mercantile purpose will be solely in support of my intellectual pursuits – my intent is to provide copies of all my research and discoveries to the Grand Mausoleum itself, as an expression of my respect and gratitude for the opportunity.
I have retained rooms at the Tooth & Hookah, where I will spend tonight as I did last night. I will assess the situation at the tomb once I arrive in the morning and determine then whether I will simply remain at my assigned delve or avail myself of the Tooth & Hookah’s hospitality further.
It is early morning when you rise, breakfast, and settle down to prepare your spells for the day. The dingy apartment you have called home since your apprenticeship ended is just temporary, you know; better things are coming, but there is one matter in particular that must be resolved before you can move on. That matter is named Gaedran Lamm. Thoughts of what the old man did to you frequently came to you during your training meditations, and it’s likely the nightmares will never go away entirely. As you study your ruined face in the mirror, you know that one way or another, you will need to deal with Lamm someday.
Clearing your mind of the matter for the moment, you reach out for your spellbook to begin your spell preparations. Your hand finds the leather of the book, but also a bit of cardstock atop it as well. Glancing over, you see what looks like a large playing card resting on the book’s cover. Picking it up, you see an image of a centaur on the front, his face shaded by a broad-brimmed hat and his flanks laden with traveling gear of all sorts. An open book is painted over the image in the top center, and across the bottom “The Wanderer” is blazoned in scroll-like lettering. You recognize it at once as a Harrow card, one signifying an individual who can recognize the value in things others might disregard. Turning the card over, you see a message written on the back:
Quote:
I know what Gaedran has done to you. He has wronged me as well. I know where he dwells, but cannot strike at him. Come to my home at 3 Lancet Street at sunset. Others like you will be there. Gaedran must face his fate, and justice must be done.
Derrian:
Your day begins with a visit to the hippogriff stables, where Aditi is housed. Though much of her daily care is in the hands of the young marine trainees, the ones who are now what you were only a few years ago, your morning visits to see her have been a key part of your recovery over the last few weeks. The careful ritual of cleaning and preening her feathers helps calm you both (even as it reminds you that she is still too young to fly – soon, though, her wings will be strong enough to carry you both over the city!). You were never quite sure if she somehow experienced some of the same effects of the shiver that you did, through the bond you share with her, or if she merely knows you so well that she grew upset and ill simply by watching you do so, but the difference is moot: the two of you have grown even closer as you have recovered together, each using the other as a means to maintain a hold on the world. Life without shiver is darker and more dull, the vast dream-vistas the drug opened up to you just cold memories, but you set aside the sudden urge for a hit with a mental effort that is still taking on the force of habit. Aditi needs you, and the temple of Abadar certainly doesn’t need any more of your gold.
After finishing Aditi’s brushdown, you decide to take her out for a ride around the Marine’s training grounds. You’re still on medical leave, so you can’t patrol, but you both could use the exercise. As you reach for her saddle and tack, though, you find a large playing card poking out of one of her saddlebags. Drawing it out, you see that the front bears an image of a puppet show, where dragon made from a sock and fabric-and-wood warrior do battle with one another. A crown is painted over the image in the top center, and across the bottom the words “The Theater” are emblazoned in scroll-like letters. You recognize it as a Towers card; turning it over, you see there is a message written on the back:
Quote:
I know what Gaedran has done to you. He has wronged me as well. I know where he dwells, but cannot strike at him. Come to my home at 3 Lancet Street at sunset. Others like you will be there. Gaedran must face his fate, and justice must be done.
Evred:
The late morning light wakens you painfully; after yet another late night chasing rumors of your lost half-brother through the dirtiest, darkest parts of town, it seems like the morning is something you see all too rarely these days. For most of your contacts, the name “Gaedran Lamm” is one of ridicule, but behind the mockery of “the child-stealing old bastard” you see fear, and it is that fear that holds the tongues of those who might help you finally set your brother’s soul to rest.
At least the Spherewalker blessed your dreams; you flew on butterfly wings through the night sky, while all around you Korvosa’s lights glittered in the darkness. It seemed as though a great fire burned just over the horizon, but for now, all seemed peaceful, and it was so nice to just fly. Nevertheless, morning has come, and another day of searching for clues about your brother with it. You roll out of the bed in your small room, reaching for the wash basin to splash some water on your face. When you begin to pat away the water with a towel, however, you notice something sitting next to the basin’s small mirror: a large playing card from a Harrow deck, such as gamblers use for Towers and the Varisian fortunetellers use to prophesy and scam money.
The card bears the image of a cyclops in a leather apron pouring beer into a large mug, while on the floor nearby, drunken figures lie passed out and senseless. The upper right-hand corner has been painted with a crystal-looking star, and across the bottom, the words “The Publican” are emblazoned in scroll-like letters. Turning the card over, you see a message is written on the back:
Quote:
I know what Gaedran has done to you. He has wronged me as well. I know where he dwells, but cannot strike at him. Come to my home at 3 Lancet Street at sunset. Others like you will be there. Gaedran must face his fate, and justice must be done.
Grent:
It seems forever since you felt the strong, solid weight of a forge hammer in your hand, but as another day begins, you force yourself to forget the morning routine of anvil and tong that would have occupied your time only a few short months ago. Instead, you begin to plan out your efforts for another day of searching for Gaedran Lamm. The Korvosan Guard was sympathetic but ultimately useless; they know less than you do about this criminal, it seems, though they know quite well that he deserves the hangman’s noose at the least. Still, they never knew Jathal, never saw the way the light would sparkle in her eyes when she watched a sunset with you, never heard her laugh, never held her in the night. They can’t know what was taken from you, and so you are the only one who can bring justice to the one who killed her. If you can but find him.
As you reach for your coat to head out into Korvosa’s streets, you notice a large card, like a playing card or perhaps some fortuneteller’s trinket, sticking out of the pocket. It shows a warrior in golden armor and crested helm, holding a sword in one hand and offering his other out toward the viewer. The top left-hand corner has a hammer painted over it (making you once again think of the soothing rituals of the smithy), and across the bottom the words “The Paladin” are emblazoned. Turning the card over, you see a message is written across the back:
Quote:
I know what Gaedran has done to you. He has wronged me as well. I know where he dwells, but cannot strike at him. Come to my home at 3 Lancet Street at sunset. Others like you will be there. Gaedran must face his fate, and justice must be done.
Kazadarin:
The first thing to do in the morning is sharpen your blade. The steady whisk whisk whisk of the honing stone helps keep you focused, helps keep your mind clear. You need clarity in order to accomplish your purpose. You need focus to see your goal through to the end. You need a sharp, sharp edge to send Gaedran Lamm to hell.
Whisk whisk whisk.
When you finish, you set the honing stone down on the table next to your bed in the small inn where you have been sleeping the past few nights. As you do so, you realize there is a large playing card, from a Harrow deck like the ones you often use for paying Towers, on the table right where you were about to place the stone. The front of the card bears an image of massive walking castle, with iron legs and arms, belching smoke from a strange pipe coming out of the roof. All around the castle’s legs are shouting figures waving weapons. In the top center, a hammer has been painted, and at the bottom, the words “The Keep” are emblazoned in scroll-like letters. Turning the card over, you see a message written on the back:
Quote:
I know what Gaedran has done to you. He has wronged me as well. I know where he dwells, but cannot strike at him. Come to my home at 3 Lancet Street at sunset. Others like you will be there. Gaedran must face his fate, and justice must be done.
Taelreth:
It is hard sometimes, getting out of bed in an empty house. The sounds of family are not always loud, but you always know when they are gone… when they have been silenced. The echoes of running feet, the remembered cries of laughter and excitement, the million impressions each noise makes on your heart – they never go away. There are those who say that being an elf must be a blessing, with such a long life as you might live. You know better. Living so much longer means simply many, many more mornings where you will wake to an empty house.
Your people speak of a certain joy in life that every sentient being instinctively seeks out, something the elves call “the Brightness,” but it has been some time since you felt any brightness about you. Instead, your days are spent in the dark, in shadowy bars and forgotten back alleys, trying to find someone – anyone – who can tell you where to find your daughter, the man called “Gaedran Lamm,” or both. The hope that Arianna might still be alive is the only Bright thing you can still lay claim to. All else is night.
Today, you rise and dress, moving out into the streets to begin your search once more. A beautiful, graceful elven woman earns many glances from passersby in the streets, but their stares or lewd shouts simply fail to register. You have your mission, and you keep at it. Merchants and dock workers, running children and decrepit beggars, you ask them all, but receive only stares or rude silence for your answers.
Finally, your stomach reminds you that you have not yet eaten, and the sun stands down from its noonday peak. You find a food-seller and ask for a pastry, but find something odd as you reach for your coin purse: tucked into your belt just behind the purse is a large playing card, or rather a Harrow card, such as the Varisian fortunetellers use for their divinations. It shows a giant striding through an ankle-high forest, smiling as he tosses a clock tower, a rowboat, and even a surprised-looking elephant through the air. In the upper right-hand corner, a key has been painted, and along the bottom, the words “The Juggler” are emblazoned in scroll-like letters. In the readings of the Harrowers, the Juggler represents those who manipulate fate or the lives of others, risking chaos on their ability to maintain their rhythm. Turning the card over, you see a message is written on the back:
Quote:
I know what Gaedran has done to you. He has wronged me as well. I know where he dwells, but cannot strike at him. Come to my home at 3 Lancet Street at sunset. Others like you will be there. Gaedran must face his fate, and justice must be done.
The first sensation is warmth – a rising heat that surrounds you on all sides, seeps into your bones, burns down your back, and settles into your lungs with the thick, heavy air. The grittiness of hot sand scrapes your skin along your cheek and under your hand, and the slow rush and roar of ocean waves on a beach sort themselves out of the sounds in your dreams.
As these sensations trickle into your awareness, so too does memory, the last things you remember drifting out of a distant haze. You were at dinner in the ship’s mess aboard the Jenivere, sitting down to a meal with nearly all the ship’s passengers and a couple of the crew. Of the passengers, only the quiet Varisian scholar Ieana was absent; all the rest were preparing to “enjoy” one of the cook’s infamous watery stews, quietly talking to one another or wrapped in the silence of their own thoughts, just as they had done throughout the Jenivere’s long voyage. And then… nothing. You can recall nothing else, until now.
Just as you are about to open your eyes, a sharp scream pierces the air from somewhere nearby. Jerking up and looking around, you see a pristine white beach and crystalline ocean bay, flanked by rocky bluffs on either side, and a rich green jungle forest beyond the beach’s edge. Long furrows in the sand and footprints lead up the beach to where you are lying, as though someone dragged you from the water; off to one side, stacked in a neat pile, is all your gear and that of your companions, including armor, weapons and equipment.
On the other side is the cause of the scream. Looming over the red-haired Sasha Nevah, one of your fellow passengers, with a long claw already dripping blood, is perhaps the largest crab you have ever seen, more than four feet high to the top of its shell, pincers as long as butchers’ knives. With one hand, Sasha clutches at her leg, where the crab has already sliced through her hamstring, while trying to push herself backward up the beach with the other.
As you stumble to your feet, a wave of nausea sweeps over you, the world seeming to waver and wobble; there is a thick metallic taste in your mouth, and your limbs do not seem to want to cooperate with your desires. Nevertheless, there is no time to waste, if you do not want you or your companions to die on the beach of this nameless island!
All of you are here and have just awakened, along with your fellow passengers Aerys Mavato, Gelik Aberwhinge, Ishirou, Jask Derindi, and Sasha Nevah. You are currently unarmed and unarmored, but your gear is a single move (to get to it) and standard (to retrieve it from the pile) action away. You are also sickened, however, suffering a -2 penalty to attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saving throws, skill checks and ability checks.
You awaken in order of your posts, and we will use that for your initiative this fight as well. The giant crab has just taken its action to cut a slice out of Sasha’s leg. Take your actions!
So if we could get all the players to post here, confirming their participation and giving some idea what characters they are wanting to play, that would be great.
Does anyone have an opinion on hero points they'd like to put out there?
Also, reposting character creation guidelines:
* 20 point buy
* standard PF RPG races (no tengu, aasimar, tieflings and so on)
* any base class or archetype from any Paizo PF RPG source; ditto spells, feats, etc.
* two traits, one from the campaign list in the Player's Guide plus one more from any PF RPG source
* starting money (which I forgot to mention before) will be class average, as listed here or in the appropriate place in the APG
After going back and forth on this for awhile, I've decided to try to take the plunge into PbP here on the Paizo boards. As I am currently running Council of Thieves in the real world and Kingmaker as a PbP utterly terrifies me, I settled on Serpent's Skull to give this a go, so now all I need is some players.
First, some ground rules. I've read a lot of PbP threads around here, and it looks very much like the ones that stick around do so for one very specific reason: dedicated, involved players. The ones that don't tend to collapse when someone - sometimes the GM, sometimes the players - disappears for an extended period of time, leaving the game to flounder and then die a slow, painful death. One way or another, I don't want that to happen here. So let me get this out of the way now: I'm going to enforce a pretty strict "post or tossed" rule. I'm looking for players who will commit to posting at least once a day, and if someone disappears without warning for more than a week, I'll find another player to replace them, period. (The same applies to me, for the record - if I disappear for a week without telling you, dump me and find another GM, I'll deserve it.) Souls for Smuggler's Shiv looks to have plenty of ways to shuffle a PC off screen for awhile - or forever - and I won't hesitate to use them. Just to clarify, however, I'm trying to keep people focused on the game, not be a jerk - if you can let me know what's going on, I will be happy to work around things to keep a player in the game. But seriously, don't sign up for this one if you're not willing to stick with it.
Okay, now that that's out of the way, if you're still interested, here's what I think I will be using for character creation and so on. The game will use a 20 point buy, and if it's in a Paizo-produced Pathfinder RPG book, it's legal, as far as character creation options go. (EDIT: I'm sticking with the 7 core races, though, just to clarify. No PCs out of the Bestiary, please.) I haven't decided if I want to use the APG Hero Point rules yet - I'd be interested in input from the players on that one. All characters get two Traits, one of which must be a campaign trait from the Serpent's Skull Player's Guide; the other may be from any Paizo Pathfinder RPG source. If there's something in particular you're hoping to get from a 3.5-era Paizo source, you can ask; I'll approve or deny on a case-by-case basis, but I'd prefer to stick with a Pathfinder-only game, and will likely only give the nod to things that have no reasonable PFRPG equivalent.
I'm looking for no fewer than four and no more than six players, but I will definitely keep a waiting list, in case I need to use the "post or tossed" rule. (I'm hoping I don't.) So... anybody in?
Thought a consolidated "needs clarification" thread might be useful.
Here's a couple to get things started:
1) Alchemists have to have a formula book, but there's no such items listed in the equipment section. Obviously I would think that you would get a spellbook, but I thought I'd clarify to make sure. Also, how many pages are required for each formula?
2) Are you required to have a given class feature before you can start taking favored class benefits that modify it? For instance, could a human cavalier begin "saving" bonuses to his banner at first level, even though he wouldn't get any advantage out of it until 5th?
So, other than Golarion, my hands-down favorite setting is Eberron. I've mostly been playing in Golarion recently, largely thanks to the Adventure Paths, but I've started having an itch for an Eberron game again, but there's no doubt I would have to run it in Pathfinder. There are a few things that would need conversion; I'll probably skip the kalashtar, but warforged, shifters and changelings are all reasonably straightforward. For classes, though, I find myself wondering: can I get along without the artificer?
I've got the Tome of Secrets, but I'm not really happy with the artificer version it contains, and most of the other conversions I've seen have left me similarly cold. I've played around with other ideas, but I keep coming back to the same idea - I should just skip it. I've got wizards, sorcerers, even alchemists; between all the various casters and the Master Craftsman feat, surely that's enough! Master Craftsman even lets me have experts cranking out all those magical items that artificers were so happy to have around, and the lack of XP costs for crafting means that the artificer's niche no longer really exists the way it used to.
So what do you guys think? Is there an artificer out there that's good enough to make the class worth keeping, or should I just chuck it and move on?
So I'm pondering a fighter concept for PFS: a Minkai samurai, brought to Avistan and to the Pathfidner Society for reasons that don't really bear here. The concept was largely inspired by the Heirloom Weapon trait; the first thought I had when I read the trait was how well it worked to model the "cult of the katana" that fantasy samurai often seem to participate in - even to the extent that, should he lose his katana, I plan to use the nonproficiency penalty he would suffer with another version of the weapon as a reflection of the shame he feels for having lost the weapon.
So the idea is to choose a family katana for the character via the trait and go with it. The problem I'm having is: which weapon should I choose?
Traditionally - I think the "tradition" goes back as far as the 3.0 GMG - d20 has described a katana as a masterwork bastard sword, but Pathfinder offers a few other options that might also work. What I want from the katana is:
* finesse-able
* largest crit range/multiplier I can get
* useable (possibly with restrictions) with either one or two hands
* largest damage die I can get
I don't think I can get all of these in one weapon, so I need to pick something to "reskin" as katana. The options I have thought of so far include:
Washington, DC – In a surprisingly frank discussion of her philosophy on judging that drew praise from Democrats and sharp criticism from Republicans, Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan admitted today that she prefers to roll her dice behind a screen in case she needs to modify the results to better suit the game she is running.
“The GM screen was created for a reason,” she said, testifying before the Senate Judicial Committee during the second day of her confirmation hearings. Kagan went on to clarify, “It is extremely important that the players feel that the game is fair, but at times the rules, strictly applied, produce a gaming experience that is satisfying to no one. Those are the times when a good judge knows to ‘fudge’ a bit, for the sake of everyone at the table.”
The comments came in response to questioning by Senator Al Franken (D-WI), who has in recent weeks expressed concerns over some of Kagan’s writings during her time as legal counsel for the Clinton Administration. Franken and other Democrats had suggested that briefs written during that time hinted at a belief in a powerful executive branch, similar to the philosophy put forward by members of the Bush Administration after Sept. 11. Today’s comments, however, drew praise from the Democrats on the Judicial Committee. “It’s important for any judge to understand that her decisions affect real people,” said Franken. “Game rules are not straitjackets and judges are not automatons; by seeking to apply the rules in a way that benefits everyone, Ms. Kagan is demonstrating true judicial quality.”
Republicans on the Committee, however, pounced on the remarks as signs that Kagan would be a “results-oriented judge.” Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), the ranking Republican on the Committee, had some of the strongest criticism of Kagan’s remarks. “That a nominee would admit to such behavior is really quite shocking,” he said, “and raises serious concerns about her fitness for the Supreme Court. Why bother having dice at all? Perhaps Ms. Kagan would be better off simply playing make-believe, or Cops and Robbers on the playground. If the dice say a character dies, that should be that. It is clear to me that Ms. Kagan’s position is distinctly outside the gaming mainstream.”
Other GMs were largely unavailable for comment, thanks to a large World of Warcraft raid scheduled for this afternoon.
