A friend of mine went out shopping at midnight with her daughter and they shopped until 6AM - that's just insane.
Toy store at Christmas, that's not going to be fun.
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Sakura, Zira, and the others continue to try to move the wagon as the flames lick dangerously close to it, but it's stuck in some sort of rut and while the group rocks it back and forth in the rut, it doesn't make it over the lip. Wilrana and Zira's unseen servant carry more water to the fire, reducing it some.
Alanar, desperately tries to save Kallien, but hasn't staunched the wound yet. The halfling sees Alanar's difficulty in trying to save Kallien and he speaks in a very calm and reassuring manner, "You can do it, don't panic, take those healing herbs, place them in the wound, then take the bandages there and press them firmly over the herbs."
John chases the pig all over the place, but it keeps squealing and running in panic.
Ugh, I hope you didn't have to work in retail for Black Friday. I know a couple of people who did and they were dead from it.
Talon fires an arrow at the wounded goblin, piercing it thoroughly. It clutches at the arrow and falls to the attic floor passing out, its crossbow clatters on the floorboards. K'nyaz fires his acid dart at the uninjured goblin, hitting it in the neck. It falls down between the broken rafters and splashes as it hits the sewage far below. Keeya's and Taize's pleading with Natalya appears to fall on deaf ears as she yells back, "Surrender? I will never surrender to the likes of you! As for Lady Heidmarch, she was going to cheat me and try to take it away from me, but I caught on to her plan and now its mine." Talon: DC 14 Will: She gestures and casts a spell at Talon, who feels a swelling of affection and trust for Natalya, but he realizes in time that she must be trying to control him and he shakes it off. Sense Motive: DC 15
Spoiler:
It appears that the more you try to convince her of your non-hostile intentions, the more she takes that as a sign of your weakness. She's definitely acting irrationally as if something were influencing her to act this way. Round #3
I'm back from Thanksgiving and working on posting. Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!
I'm back from Thanksgiving and working on posting. Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!
I'll wait until tomorrow night to see if K'nyaz posts for this round. BTW, keep up the amusing commentary and lines, I find them very amusing :) Also, after this combat, assuming you survive, you'll be second level. I like the idea of going with the fast experience track. I can cut out some of the mook level encounters that will just eat up time unnecessarily.
@wilrana: If a number of people will be gone, I'll pause the game until after the holiday weekend. And I never harm bubbled people. @john: You can either swap or use survival. Take your pick, although I surmise Survival will be more useful in the long term.
Sakura runs to help the mercenaries push the wagon, they all push as hard as they can and the wagon budges a little, but is still in danger.
Alanar rushes over to comfort and aid the dying woman, asking the halfling how to help, he replies, "Try to staunch the bleeding and help to clear her air passages from all of the smoke, while I try to keep Trevvis here from dying. By the way her name is Kallien."
Wilrana uses her magic to move bucket after bucket of water and dump it on the fire with Zira's unseen servant helping by dumping sand on it as well. Almah and Garavel look relieved to get the help and it appears the fire is going out substantially faster with the help.
John runs out trying to keep the pigs, goats and sheep from panicking and running away.
Sorry about the recent lack of posting, we've been trying to complete code before thanksgiving because right after it, it will go live. I've pretty much wrapped up my part and shouldn't be working insane hours from now on.
Sorry about the recent lack of posting, we've been trying to complete code before thanksgiving because right after it, it will go live. I've pretty much wrapped up my part and shouldn't be working insane hours from now on.
Talon fires at one of the goblins and misses again followed by K'nyaz' acid dart missing the goblins as well. Natalya looks a bit shaken by Keeya's vehement exhortation bursting out of her after her recent unpleasant experiences. She channels that anger into firing an arrow at the first goblin, which hits and sticks in it. She follows her threats and arrow with an entreaty to the goblins. The one goblin, clutching and pulling the arrow out replies, "The Mistress must be obeyed, all who oppose her must be crushed." Sense Motive DC 15
Spoiler:
The goblin sounds mind controlled as if it is being forced to do this. Heavy Crossbow vs AC 15
Heavy Crossbow vs AC 15
Taize channels energy causing both Keeya's and Talon's wounds to knit nearly closed and Keeya stumbles but doesn't fall down, although her day has not become any better. Natalya chants a few words and the rafters between her and the party become covered in grease, making traversal extremely tricky. Round #2
You are nearing your destination, a common watering and caravan gathering spot called the Sultan's Claw. As soon as the craggy trees appears over the next hill, it becomes obvious why it is called the Sultan's Claw. With five immense, mostly leafless branches, the growth looks more like a giant skeletal talon than a thing of living wood. As you top the last rise, a caravan of a half-dozen wagons and a large tent clustered around the distinctive tree comes into view. Camels in a nearby pen prance in agitation, and a clutch of confused goats and livestock wander the grounds around the wagons. Perhaps a dozen men and women rush around the campsite, chasing down an animal or hastening toward the center of the cluster, near the Sultan's Claw, with pails of water in their hands. One of the wagons is on fire! Lush orange and red flames engulf an elaborate wooden wagon emblazoned with painted moons and stars. A gout of smoke pours from an open door, and as you approach an ill wind blows a number of colorful fortune-telling Harrow cards from inside the wagon. One of these singed cards blows directly at John Lo, catching against his chest in a burst of orange cinders. It is the Cyclone, signifying a force that tears through whatever it meets at the behest of an intelligent being. The card portends war, arson, and destructive plans. As your eyes shift their focus from the Cyclone back to the wagon, the whole of the Sultan's Claw erupts into brilliant flame. The central flap of an elaborate tent flies open and a regal woman who can only be Almah, Garavel's patron and the one who is calling you all together to recapture the town, steps out into the firelit night. "Douse that flame!" she shouts to the men surrounding the wagon before turning in your direction. "Ah, Garavel!" she says. "And just a moment later than the nick of time, as usual." Looking specifically past her major domo and directly at the party, Almah barks out a simple order before running off toward the fire: "Find some way to help!"
Almah, Garavel, and four soldiers dressed in the distinctive red chitin-plate armor of the Pactmaster Guard run back and forth between the burning fortune teller's wagon and an uncovered wagon about 20 feet away. The latter contains a huge barrel holding enough drinking water to serve the entire campsite for a week. Four burly mercenaries struggle with an enclosed wooden wagon within feet of the burning wagon, hoping to move it to safety before an errant spark causes it too to burst into flame. A red-headed halfling cleric kneels next to two severely burned mercenaries who tried to enter the burning wagon. The priest is tending to a badly wounded mercenary but he is unable to focus on his second patient, a female sworder who lies near death from terrible burns and smoke inhalation. A modest collection of pigs, goats, and sheep accompanies Almah's party on the journey to Kelmarane. The flaming wagon has unsettled these creatures, which somehow escaped from their pen in the confusion surrounding the fire's outbreak. The middle-aged human camel driver and his wife do their best to wrangle the panicking animals, but their efforts are quickly being overrun by the chaos of the situation.
Round 1 begins.
I'm back everyone - combination of factors - I apologize. I'm working on a post.
Frustrated with Natalya's imperious and stymieing attitude, and trying to improve their bargaining position, Keeya and Talon both fire at the goblins and miss. The goblins nearly drop their crossbows they are so suprised at the arrow fire, but they start to recover soon enough. Natalya looks shocked at the party's temerity, but begins to recover. Taize, attempting to calm down the situation, tries to appeal to Natalya, but feels her entreaties fall upon deaf ears. Sense Motive: After K'ynaz, we'll be on to round #1: Initiatives:
Order:
I'm back everyone - combination of factors - I apologize. I'm working on a post.
Natalya scoffs, "Bring me back to the lodge? Come along quietly? How dare you speak to me like that! Don't you know who I am? I do not follow along quietly or come at the beck and call of anyone. Go back to your lodge and tell them to come meet me here."
You move carefully through the fire wall, avoiding falling through the rafters. Like elsewhere, the ceiling has collapsed into the room below, but most of the rafters have gone with it in this area, leaving large gaps of empty space over the drop. A large fireplace in the room below climbs the wall as a wide chimney into here. The crumbling, charred brick of the chimney has been chipped away to create a large hollow within, with a tangle of discarded planks and other rubbish now serving as a floor. On either side of the chimney's hollow is a sewer goblin with a heavy crossbow aimed in your direction. Standing in the hollow is someone matching your description of Natalya. She looks at you and in a very imperious voice asks, "Who are you barging in and disturbing me? This is not how you apply for membership in my gang, which will soon be the richest and most powerful gang in the city!"
Oops, missed that Talon said you're moving on, I'm working up a post right now.
You have been traveling for more than a week on a dreary camel caravan from the town of Solku to an unknown location in the northern scrublands of Katapesh. You are part of a ragtag group of adventurers, mercenaries, freed slaves, guards, and rapscallions under the watchful eye of a man named Garavel. Garavel is the no-nonsense major-domo of a merchant princess awaiting you at the caravan's destination. Garavel has traveled throughout Katapesh to gather you and others to aid in the reclaiming of Kelmarane, a remote village in northwest Katapesh. This village once held the southern end of a trade route between Katapesh and Osirion, but it fell upon hard times and has lain abandoned for years. Said now to be the home of a tribe of gnolls in service to someone called the "Carrion King," ruined Kelmarane represents a great possibility to the Pactmasters of Katapesh. If the village can be reclaimed and rebuilt, the trade resulting would strengthen Katapesh's western and northern reaches, a region long plagued by gnolls, monsters, and worse. In the distant haze to the west, you can just make out the immense outline of Pale Mountain looming over the mid-evening horizon like a tombstone. Everyone has had a few days to get acquainted and interact a bit.
Sorry, was delayed trying to get a release out at work. The gameplay thread will be opened moments after this post :)
I remember 1st edition quite well - no use being a fighter after 9th - the xp chart was horrendous and hp went up in a small fixed amount. XP was for killing and treasure. Dual class meant you were 8/8 when everyone else was 9th and don't even think of playing a bard :)
Yay, only a little more to go until 2nd level - oh, right, are we using the fast track? Good question :) I hadn't even thought about it, I didn't know Pathfinder had a 'fast track' experience. Considering the general pace of PBP, I'm thinking that taking out a few of the 'mook level' encounters and speeding up the progression makes sense. Let me look at it. What's everyone's opinion on this? "I really really hate this place" Keeya said, her guilt over killing a guard COMPLETELY EVAPORATED at this point. LOL!
Keeya stabs over her shoulder at the second bloodsucker, skewering it handily, even though she is feeling a bit lightheaded due to the blood loss.
@dark: I've looked through it. Let's go with it provisionally, if it seems to be too overpowered at anypoint, we'll tone it down a bit. @ronin: looks good. Okay everyone, I think most everyone has checked it. Let's start this Wednesday then. I'll open up the gameplay thread and do the first post Tuesday evening.
Keeya tries to struggle out of some of her clothing to get them off of her, but their proboscises go all the way through the cloth into her skin and the clothes don't come off. One of the bloodsuckers continues to drain blood from Keeya, weakening her further. Talon climbs to the top of the rope, struggling sometimes with the muck covered rope, but he finally drags himself up into the rafters, perhaps not as gracefully as desired. K'nyaz takes careful aim so as to avoid hitting Keeya, he fires the dart of acid at the bloodsucker closest to him and pierces it right through in one shot. It detaches from Keeya before it can drain more blood. Round 2 Order:
Keeya climbs the old, crumbling wooden wall towards the rafters, slipping occasionally from all of the muck covering her clothing. She gets a leg up and over straddling a rafter. Up here, nearly the entire ceiling below has collapsed, leaving only a criss-cross of rafters making the floor. Major sections of the firewalls to the south and the west have been destroyed providing access to other portions of the attic.
Someone hands up the end of a rope and Keeya begins to lash it around a sturdy looking rafter. Keeya's perception:
Unfortunately, she is too engrossed in what she is doing and she missed two tiny creatures hiding in the attic's rafters. The two insectoid creature each with two pairs of bat wings, a tangle of thin legs, and a needle-sharp proboscis, silently fly towards Keeya from behind. Vs AC 13 Touch:
They both alight on her back, latching their barbed legs into her clothing, and sinking their proboscises into her. They begin to drain her blood.
10% chance of disease:
The filthy creatures are covered in muck and disease, but fortunately neither of them infect Keeya. Round 1
Order:
Keeya doesn't examine the ladder well enough to notice its rickety nature and when she puts her full weight on it, it breaks and she tumbles backwards into the muck below.
@dark/zira: I'll have to look at the words of power system, I haven't ever read it.
K'nyaz opens the door and Keeya peers through the small hole in the wall into the next room. The room has no floor, opening directly into the sump of a sewage pit below. Likewise, the charred ceiling has fallen away, revealing the fire-blackened rafters above. Next to a hole cut in the southwest corner of the wall, a crude ladder that has been nailed to the wall provides access to the rafters above. The door in the left wall has no floor in front of it.
I'm glad you're alright Taize.
@ronin: Vampire bard archeologist, perfect. @dark: Sounds good. @valmoon: Looks good.
Back from unexpected Halloween weekend away. I'll be reading and catching up shortly.
Back from unexpected Halloween weekend away. I'll be reading and catching up shortly.
@dark:
@krum:
@val:
Talon splashes down in the muck, Keeya hops down to help him up and to climb up onto the ledge on the other side of the room where the boxes were.
Stuffed in a dried and half-eaten dire rat carcass are 13 cp and a small topaz worth 15 gp.
You also find 4 small burlap bags, tied tightly closed. On closer inspection they appear to be filled with poo and broken glass - evidently they're some form of thrown weapon that the goblins use. Behind the boxes and the goblins is a small hold in the wall, leading in the same direction as the door Keeya was standing in front of. Medium size creatures can wriggle and squeeze through.
So far:
and a big cuddly tiger :) If you want a tiny, pixie-like creature, look at the Azata, Lyrakien, it's in bestiary 2. They're available as an improved familiar for wizards. You can google it for images of it and the stats/description - its a little pixie like outsider with butterfly wings. Tiny outsider (azata), -4 STR, +4 DEX, +2 INT, +2 WIS, +4 CHR (includes size mods), 40' flight (good)/20'base, darkvision, Cure Light 1/day, Silent Image 1/day, dancing lights 3/day [or substitute other, similar spells] I've been allowing about 15 points for custom races. And go ahead and custom make one if you want. :) The big problem with a tiny stealth character, is that you can't flank, so sneak attack is useless. On to the game thread...
The eagle, it's claws and beak no longer shining so brightly, stoops down behind the boxes, following the goblin as it ducks out of sight. You hear flesh rending and goblin screams. Then, everything goes quiet, except for the slow popping and oozing sounds of the sewage below. Everyone prepares to fire upon the goblin if it shows itself again. You wait for a short while, but it doesn't pop up again.
Turns out most people are going with fairly standard stuff :)
@Azrael
@Val:
@Dark:
Let's go with 15, a nice happy median. You could also build the awakened animal using the same ARG rules as well, I don't suppose there is a 'no hands' weakness in the book. Though, it should be quite a lot of points. @Krum:
The eagle appears above the head of the goblin that just shot, surprising it, and causing it to curse. It puts the crossbow up between it and the eagle, trying to shield itself from the glowing, metallic talons and beak of the eagle. Flapping and hovering, the eagle can't make contact with the goblin. Keeya wisely keeps her head down for the moment, as dust and debris swirl around her. The first goblin pops back up to take it's shot, Talon's arrow wound still bleeding. K'nyaz, ready for it, motions his hands forward and the dart of acid streaks towards the goblin before it can act, piercing it. It cries out, drops the crossbow, and falls dead to the ground. Talon takes his shot at the flailing goblin missing the very lucky little beast as it ducks back down behind the boxes. Taize, not able to take a shot, chants and everyone again feels a very warm sense of well-being, while Keeya's wound visibly shrinks. Round 3
K'nyaz begins chanting and summoning an eagle. Keeya bleeds, the puddle growing larger and larger. As the first goblin begins to duck down behind the boxes, Talon's arrow hits it in the shoulder and it cries out. You hear a crossbow mechanism being cranked to load it. The second goblin pops up, also with a heavy crossbow, looks at the targets, sees the bowyer preparing to fire another arrow and it fires at Talon. AC 19: But in its haste and momentary indecision, it fires wildly. It utters something in Goblin, presumably a curse, and starts to duck down behind the boxes. Everyone feels a sense of well being wash over them as Taize channels energy. Keeya moans, her hands still clutching at the bolt, as she regains consciousness. Round 2
As I mentioned I'd do, I invited my players over from my other campaign to join us to round out the players to 6 to 8. Some, none or all may join us (there are 4 of them). Since we talked about being experimental, I wrote up the following for them, as to how experimental I'm willing to go (hint, it's pretty far :)
The four of them and one of you are 'known quantities' to me, therefore, I'm pretty certain this won't break down.
Yowch! Times like this I wish I had a DM's screen. Quick housekeeping:
Now, onto some fun... (Even though this is a bit long, you should read it :) There was a thread on the recruitment boards about DMs banding together and forming a group, each one runs one campaign and then we're players in all the other campaigns. Joy and roleplaying happen for all. Five of us are doing it, 4 players for each campaign. But, I prefer the 6-8 range for player count, it gives everyone slack to experiment. You have first dibs at my open slots. I have four open slots in the campaign and you're all invited. Now, don't feel obligated to join, you aren't. But, I'm enjoying our group so much, I want to extend the fun. If one, none, or all four of you wish to join, I'd be more than happy to have you. Besides, it gives me known quantities to buffer against the unknown :D One of the DMs is the S&S one in whose recruitment thread we met. I'm running the Legacy of Fire AP (even if you've done it before, come and join in :). Genies, sultry desert nights, and epic legends - sounds good to me. Now for the whip cream on top... We talked about allowing much more creative ideas than the typical run of the mill characters, so feel free to try out your experimental ideas - an awakened animal and a yuan-ti have been bandied about as possible characters. With enough players, you're free to not fit into the 'standard four' mold. I love good ideas and will help make them work. For example, in RL 3.5, a friend of mine used the Dragon Disciple PrC as a template for his paladin to gain a 'celestial/angel' style 'monster template'. Perhaps you want to be a Bralani Eladrin, we'll figure out a 'base race', and a class/archetype that eventually gets you most of the abilities or maybe some feats like the aasimar ones to gain some of the abilities. (Well, you'll figure it out, I'll approve/tweak :D Obviously broken/overpowered ideas will be nixed. Some may need to be tweaked in play if something gets out of hand. Also, while I'm willing to fudge the social interactions so everyone doesn't run screaming the moment you walk into town, basically 'good things' will be given the benefit of the doubt, 'evil things' will be looked on with suspicion. Come join the discussion thread. I'd be excited to have you join.
Keeya makes it to the other door and turns to look at the party's progress, noting with some frustration Talon and Taize balancing precariously a couple of feet onto the ledge. Just as K'nyaz joins her, a sewer goblin pops up from behind the boxes with a heavy crossbow, yells something in goblin, shoots at Keeya, and begins to duck back down behind the boxes. Heavy crossbow vs AC: 12 (FF)
The bolt hits Keeya right in her exposed abdomen and she crumples to the floor without a sound, the look of shock and surprise still on her face as her blood begins to pool on the floor. Round 1
K'nyaz:
Order of action:
Due to the player's guide not being free, I posted the various traits in the book to the website. There are four posts, each with a different set of traits - regional traits, race traits, religion traits, and campaign traits. You get two traits from any Paizo product and one campaign trait from the guide.
When you open the door quietly, you see the next room. The floor of this room has fallen away, leaving a narrow, charred ledge along the south and east walls. To the northwest, a ledge heaped with crates and barrels sits, while above the rafters of the attic lay bare to view. The ledge is safe to walk on, but is sloped dangerously at places .
The entire party makes it across the plank to the far door, with no indication that anything noticed. Keeya's sensitive hearing picks up, amongst the bubbling and oozing sludge sounds, low mumbled talking coming from beyond the sewer pipes. The owners don't seem to have noticed the party.
If anyone had a link to the players guide for this it would be awesome I have not seen one here on the site or maybe I missed it please and thank you It's the biggest, most lavish, and nice player's guides I've seen.
Sounds good - I'd say work up the numbers and see if you like how it looks.
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