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If you only had a necromancer creating zombies and skeletons from slain party members! That way they would still be helping even in their deaths ...
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"I hide behind the mound of dead bards*!"
* <Insert appropriate character class, as-necessary.>
EDIT: (speaking of ninjas...)
If you only had a necromancer creating zombies and skeletons from slain party members! That way they would still be helping even in their deaths ...
I'd be that necromancer so fast... a juju, naturally, hopefully pre-rewrite... >:I
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And it's up!
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This is loosely on topic as you mentioned the revolving door of PCs.
What do you do about dead PCs and player wealth? I've seen both ways run before (either loot goes to the party or disappears/used for non PC purposes)
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This is loosely on topic as you mentioned the revolving door of PCs.
What do you do about dead PCs and player wealth? I've seen both ways run before (either loot goes to the party or disappears/used for non PC purposes)
If someone intentionally ditches a PC (for example, Izren), they get half WBL for their next PC. Then half again (1/4). Then half again. It's intended to strongly discourage a revolving door of PCs for the sole purpose of generating wealth. That way, a single player never ever brings in more than 2x WBL.
For dead PCs that stay dead I've been giving full WBL, just because the numerous Raise Deads have seriously impacted party wealth level to the point I feel I'm going to have to start upping treasure beyond the double treasure I'm giving right now.
In other words, "If it's my fault as a GM that you're dead, you get your payout. If you're just spamming characters, you're not getting a money-generating scheme."
I've received no complaints, but then my group is refreshingly unconcerned with WBL. I've always despised even having a table for such things; I'd rather just look at a PC and say, "Yeah, that gear looks about right for your level," but the group as a whole is really hurting for money now, and using Hero Labs to get total party wealth and comparing that to where it "should" be is surprisingly useful in giving me an idea as to how much to "oomph up" the next few caches they find.
I'm just the kind of GM where if someone brings me their character sheet and says, "You're messing up! I'm at only half WBL!" I'm likely to invite them to leave my table... I seriously hate WBL. Seriously.
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...on the other hand, by 10th level I expect a paladin to be carting around a +1 holy weapon, some +2 armor, and maybe a circlet of charisma or something, at the very least.
Considering they're wondering whether they can afford a wand of Cure Light Wounds for the party and I don't think anyone has anything better than +1 right now, it's obviously important to insert some wealth in here...
...rather than a "WBL" table, I'd much rather see an, "At this level, a PC's best item should be +n or the equivalent" or some such table.
I understand WBL as an abstract concept of gear power, but raw monetary value has very little relationship to efficacy, both in the real world and in Pathfinder. Go figure!
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I totally agree about disliking the idea of WBL. But players like stuff and at points the game expects certain abilities/magic to be more common.
I keep meaning to use some of the alternate magic item ideas mentioned in Unchained, but then forget to bring it up at the start of campaigns.
I don't let new players have starting wealth equal to the others. It's maybe half that. My thought is that the player will be getting new stuff. And if it's a replacement PC because of death or the like, the dead character's stuff can be sold and repurposed.
Heck, when one player joined with a 7th level Sorceress, I let her have 1,000 gp of starting equipment. That's all. The 11th level ranger did start with more, but most of that was in two called returning throwing axes, because that was the character design and I allowed it for "rule of cool" rather than any other reason.
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Well, they're going to the southeastern part of the city where there's a lot of "interesting" stuff to be found, so I can seed some ancient magic.
Just gotta start pondering what I want to throw in.
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I must say, they've been keeping me busy.
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There are only so many Psychopomps, it's bad enough I gotta keep an eye on all the deaths caused by Pett, now, this...
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New characters for us usually come in a 1 level below the APL to also avoid using a new character to bypass res penalties. Their staring wealth seems to be rather arbitrary depending on other circumstances Skeld's mood :).
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Does Skeld always finish with his/her name in person as well, I would like to assume yes.
"You hear an Orc in the room beside you, what do you do? -Skeld"
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Heroic Heron the Horrible Hound Harries Hag, Helps Heroes
Sorry. I just couldn't resist.
Actually, no, no I'm not.
Anyway, as I wrote in Hooken's obituary, the party was in sad shape after its battle with Olujimi: He'd torn Athelya in half, Dominated Malek (to absolutely nobody's surprise), soaked up all of Voren's bombs (mostly Dispelling bombs trying to free Malek), severely wounded most of them (including sending Kwai Chang to negative hit points twice), and used up most of their healing resources.
What I'd been very careful to avoid posting in this thread was Egzimora's involvement in all this. After they'd visited her, refused to come in for tea (or in the paladin's case, even put away her weapon. How rude!), and then left peaceably, Egzimora saw opportunity. She waited for a few minutes, making sure they had truly departed, turned Invisible, and set off after them in the hopes of causing mayhem. Making the paladin fall would be the first order of business, of course. She studied them carefully, learning how they spoke to and treated one another, who was whom, and what their various abilities were. She was bold enough to follow them back into the Pathfinder camp and learn the layout and command structure there. When they set off into the charau ka area, she practically cackled in delight; somewhere, somehow, she'd get an opportunity to make the paladin fall!
Once they engaged Olujimi it seemed easy enough: She would assume Amivor Glaur's form, provide some token assistance during the fight, ask the paladin for custody of the prisoners, and then have her way with them. She knew paladins, and she knew Iomedae's tenet of, "When in doubt, I may force my enemies to surrender, but I am responsible for their lives." She figured willingly handing a group of prisoners over to a hag for torture and mutilation was probably enough for Iomedae to take notice and cast out the paladin. Plus, she'd get some free entertainment out of the deal, at the suffering of a few charau ka. Win-win!
When Olujimi got his hands on Kwai Chang, it was time to strike! She stepped up and fired off a powerful Suggestion to force Olujimi to release the monk. Unfortunately, she had underestimated Olujimi's spell resistance (that, or the GM just rolled really, really terribly) and the spell slid off him like nothing. She didn't want to use more powerful spells to attract Olujimi's direct attention, so she waited for an opportune moment, and finally put a Stinking Cloud on the paladin, Malek, and Olujimi. Perhaps not the best tactical decision, but very fun!
So when *she* saw the paladin get Dominated, she raced forward, hoping to get hit, then use the blow as an excuse to get Templari to do something later. Classic hag tactics, in my mind. Unfortunately, Templari made the save (after a week's wait to find out), so instead Egzimora just stabbed her and made up some nonsense about stealing her blood to raise her dark mistress.
This brings us up to speed as to exactly why Egzimora was racing through the woods, vial of paladin blood in her hand, disguised as Amivor Glaur. I wrote it up incorrectly in the obits, but correctly on my previous post: The desperate party knocked out Malek, looted Olujimi's body, gathered up bits and pieces of Athelya, and finally raced back after Egzimora towards camp, so Egzimora had time to reach the outskirts of camp, disguise herself as a wounded guard, Bluff Amivor and another guard to come with her, and head back into the woods.
That puts us back in context for the rest of the obit:
Once Templari struck Amivor for nonlethal damage, knocking him unconscious until she could figure out the truth of the situation, Egzimora figured it was over. Frustrated but out of range of her Scorching Rays, she admitted defeat, but not before hitting Amivor with a Magic Missile in the hopes of killing him. Still displaying her paladinly worthiness (yes, "Paladinly" is a word! Look it up! Oh... wait. Don't. Just trust me on that one!), Templari willingly went prone on top of Amivor, blocking line of sight from Egzimora and laying on hands on Amivor in the process. (Hey! This is a kids' game! Stop thinking that!)
So Egzimora was done. She turned invisible and started heading off, deciding to harass the party another day. Unfortunately, the party would have none of it, in spite of their dire state. Voren already had See Invisibility up, and he added Expeditious Retreat to prevent her from getting away. Kwai Chang kept pace with Voren. Then, in a move that was a near total-party suicide (the new TPS), Voren dropped a tanglefoot bag on Egzimora.
No longer able to run, and fed up with the stupidity of the party, she started letting loose with Scorching Rays every which way. First to go down was Kwai Chang. I think he needs a frequent dyers card. Or at least a frequent near-death-experience card. Hooken started unloading his howitzer, er, bow on her, so he was the next to "enjoy" her wrath. Imagine my surprise when her first volley killed him outright! I knew Olujimi had injured them badly and they hadn't taken the time to heal, but you never think of 28 points of damage being enough to kill a 7th-level character. She hit Templari for almost all of her remaining hit points as well.
Had it not been for the prescience of Kwai Chang and the doggedness of a determined Heron, the party would have wiped right there. Egzimora had over 100 hit points left. She had a handful of Scorching Rays, plus the entire rest of her compliment of spells. (Wand of Lightning Bolt, anyone?) However, Chivane and Kassata had arrived.
In my favorite roleplaying moment of the entire series, Voren yelled out, "We need help! She's a shapeshifter!"
Kassata responded, "What will you pay me?"
Voren: "We'll discuss payment once the fight is over."
Kassata: "Oh, in that case..." .
Pirates. What are you going to do? Er. Ouch! Free captains! Free captains!
So upon this scene of destruction came Chivane. Everyone was running from Egzimora except Templari, who was too horrifically slow to get anywhere near her, and Heron, who was determined to avenge his master but who was too useless for Egzimora to waste a round destroying. And Heron provided Chivane with the flank! 34 hit points and 6 points of bleed later, Egzimora realized she was in serious trouble from the newcomer. Given an extra round to catch up, Templari smote evil and charged up from the other side, smacking Egzimora a solid hit and further convincing her it was time to run. She moved out of the flank, taking the attacks of opportunity to guarantee getting her invisibility up. Heron tracked her by scent... and got a natural 20 on his Survival to follow her and point her out. One more 44-point hit from a flanking Chivane was all she wrote for Egzimora.
So Heron was the hero yet again... and Hooken's getting used to getting raised...
Once the fight was over, the party looted Egzimora's corpse as well, and sold most of the loot they'd just received to pay for the Raise Deads for both characters.
In perhaps the saddest moment of the campaign so far, Kassata offered to provide free shopping in exchange for all the Pathfinders' information about the city so far (she has a linked Portable Hole to her ship docked in Port Peril. Legal? Who cares? When you're the GM, such things get crafted willy-nilly. Darned rules-breaking GMs!). The party readily agreed to this "bargain"... and then learned that between ALL of them, they didn't even have 1000 gold pieces to remove even ONE of Hooken's negative levels. So yeah, WBL? I have lost all concern for it. I need to start putting some real loot on these monsters...
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That's the one thing that irked me about Serpent's Skull, it's a lost city, yet where is the treasure! (I have a long rant about the lost part too, but that doesn't matter much).
Otherwise, I'm a fan of Serpent's Skull.
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New characters for us usually come in a 1 level below the APL to also avoid using a new character to bypass res penalties. Their staring wealth seems to be rather arbitrary depending onother circumstancesSkeld's mood :).
It appears I need to monitor your posts more closely in the future...
After we played through the Savage Tide AP, I gave up on the "start a level behind" because it's easier to just keep everyone on the same level. Plus, character death is enough a penalty.
My rule of thumb on starting wealth is 60% of WBL.
Or whatever I'm in the mood for. :D
Does Skeld always finish with his/her name in person as well, I would like to assume yes.
"You hear an Orc in the room beside you, what do you do? -Skeld"
In person, I finish all my sentences with "-Mark" (an maniacal laughter).
-Skeld
My opinion on t3h ph4t l00tz in Serpent's Skull.
Otherwise, a highly satisfying end to Egzimora. I like it. :)
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LOL. Well, I've started the "personal treasures" thing, and I'll hopefully post the write-up of the rather mundane Monday session later today before I leave on a 5-day trip, but they went to Egzimora's house, played it beautifully (well done, kids!) by buffing themselves to the nines, stealthing around, and otherwise playing absolutely, positively as if she were still alive and waiting for them (and the way I've been treating the kids, maybe this wasn't an excessively-cautious maneuver).
So when they started searching for loot, I rolled a 1d8 for who was going to get his or her "special" treasure that day -- and got Voren.
I started pondering what you could give an alchemist that was truly... "special"... and my eyes lit up.
...and, now we get some suspense!
Yeah, sometimes I'm a jerk that way! :-P
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New characters for us usually come in a 1 level below the APL to also avoid using a new character to bypass res penalties. Their staring wealth seems to be rather arbitrary depending onother circumstancesSkeld's mood :).It appears I need to monitor your posts more closely in the future...
After we played through the Savage Tide AP, I gave up on the "start a level behind" because it's easier to just keep everyone on the same level. Plus, character death is enough a penalty.
My rule of thumb on starting wealth is 60% of WBL.
Or whatever I'm in the mood for. :D
Does Skeld always finish with his/her name in person as well, I would like to assume yes.
"You hear an Orc in the room beside you, what do you do? -Skeld"
In person, I finish all my sentences with "-Mark" (an maniacal laughter).
-Skeld
Hah, well that may have been the last time someone decided to flat out replace a character too, so you can't fault me there.
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Voren Lends a Hand
We reconvened with another attempt to find Hooken enough money to restore at least one negative level, but couldn't find it. The party decided that the best thing to do was go and loot Olujimi's fortress. Ah, the wonders of those who consider the world static!
In the meantime, as thanks for saving their bacon, both Kwai Chang and (surprisingly) Templari agreed to Chivane's deal. Chivane told them that she was in camp because she'd discerned the location of her artifact: In the spire of an area populated by mantis-worshipping troglodytes. Unfortunately, the troglodytes worshipped the old, "Murder, mayhem, and destruction" version of the mantis rather than Chivane's far-more-civilized, "Assassination is a tool for removing the weak" version, so Chivane knew she wouldn't be able to bargain with them. And lone assassins against stench-producing enemies was not a risk Chivane was willing to take, so... PCs!
They made sure she was OK with waiting until they'd generated some loot and restored their lost levels before going to get her artifact, and she was fine with that. So, off to Olujimi's fortress they went! Or at least they started that way. Fortunately, their Perception rolls are waaaaaay higher than the charau-kas', so long before they were spotted they realized that the fortress was aswarm with 300 or more charau-ka, diligently searching for their leader's murderers.
Maybe... going to the fortress wasn't such a great idea....
(Though I did love Voren's player: "C'mon guys! We can take them! It's only 300!" And I nearly killed Athelya again when the whole party wanted her to do a low flyover of the horde to try to attract them away, under the... er... interesting assumption that not a single one of them could possibly have Dispel Magic. By some miracle (perhaps a tiredness of dying), Mr. Stereotype refused to do the flyover, and hence Athelya was spared yet another death.)
Since they couldn't do the fortress, they went around the charau-ka area and to Egzimora's instead. The vegepygmies welcomed them, and hadn't seen Egzimora in a couple of days. In spite of this, they took all the precautions that make a GM proud: With an excellent Diplomacy roll (OK, actually a really crappy one -- a natural 1, but a +18 bonus plus Enhanced Diplomacy to get all the way to 1 + 18 + 2 -5 = 16, good enough!), Templari convinced a pair of vegepygmies to accompany them at least to the edge of Egzimora's territory so they could tell the party whether or not the ground still felt "weird".
The vegepygmies crossed into Egzimora's territory, smiled, and started rooting their feet in the dirt, saying it felt, "Just fine." Emboldened, the party approached her house. But... up went a whole plethora of buffs, the most important of which was... Magic Circle Against Evil on Malek! Woo hoo! They CAN be taught!
Kwai Chang and their new ninja companion Irwin Detyl stealthed up to the windows and peeked in, not seeing anyone. They carefully approached the door, knocked, called out, and did everything they could to ensure no one was home. In perhaps my favorite moment of the night, I told them the door was locked, two PCs had Disable Device, neither had thieves' tools, and so Irwin clambered in through one of the windows. Nothing was amiss... except the human hand in the garbage pail in the kitchen. He quickly let in the rest of the group... at which point Voren said, "Oh, wait a minute! I DO have thieves' tools!"
The look on Irwin's player's face was priceless.
They searched the spotless upstairs, and, other than the human hand, found nothing amiss. They then went downstairs into a cellar of horrors, where Egzimora had obviously been experimenting on grafting plant matter onto living creatures. Voren cast Comprehend Languages and started reading through her notes... and what should he find but detailed instructions on how to graft a plant-infused arm to his own torso! (The alchemist's Vestigial Arm discovery as a bonus.) There was one prepared arm in the lab, and it would last about a week, so he had a week to make his decision as to whether or not to do it. Without Egzimora's plant magic, he would not be able to create a new arm in the future. Voren pondered giving himself a hand...
Templari immediately went berserk. It was awesome. First, the player wanted to know whether such an abomination would force him to kill Voren. After a Knowledge: Religion roll, I pointed out that if Voren wanted to make himself a plant hybrid abominiation, it was just fine, as long as he didn't use any demon parts and didn't do it to anyone else. Even after that, Templari declared that if Voren did it, she would no longer speak to him. Voren's player started asking exactly how small and hideable he could make the change, so we finally came to the agreement that he was going to graft the fingers from the hand onto his tail (he's a tiefling), and instead of the alchemist's discovery, he was going to take the tiefling racial trait prehensile tail.
Templari was displeased.
A more thorough search of the basement revealed her "refuse bin", that included a few suits of masterwork armor, some masterwork battleaxes, and, most importantly to Hooken, thirty +1 arrows.
Once their search was done, they headed back towards the charau-ka area, hoping to pick them off a few at a time by coming in from the south using Silenced fireballs.
We ended the session just as they kicked off a combat with four charau-ka, four charau-ka thugs, and two dire apes... from 200 feet out.
I'm not betting on the charau-ka.
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LOL. Well, I've started the "personal treasures" thing, and I'll hopefully post the write-up of the rather mundane Monday session later today before I leave on a 5-day trip, but they went to Egzimora's house, played it beautifully (well done, kids!) by buffing themselves to the nines, stealthing around, and otherwise playing absolutely, positively as if she were still alive and waiting for them (and the way I've been treating the kids, maybe this wasn't an excessively-cautious maneuver).
So when they started searching for loot, I rolled a 1d8 for who was going to get his or her "special" treasure that day -- and got Voren.
I started pondering what you could give an alchemist that was truly... "special"... and my eyes lit up....and, now we get some suspense!
Yeah, sometimes I'm a jerk that way! :-P
Is it that cursed girdle you mentioned in that other thread, I told you, you're going too far.
I'm posting mostly to taunt your players that read this thread with the fact that I've PM'd you some super-secret knowledge that they can't ever, ever have (until they do). Muwahahahahah~! So evil!
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Is it that plan involving the Gibbering Mouther Seductress, I told you, you're going too far.
Ssh~! You gotta leave some secrets, CY, sheesh!
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Oh, hey, more for real, kids: sniping. It's a really, really great tool (EDIT: what you're doing now counts). Kiting, too (EDIT: again, what you're doing now counts). If you're totes for realsies about wanting to eventually take out those Charau-ka, snare a few at a time. Use traps. Tactics. Make them pay for every foot closer they get, and then make them pay for getting close. And make the rest pay for leaving. They'll either take the hint soon enough and leave or leave you alone, or organize and come looking for bloody, horrific vengeance... by which point you'll hopefully have levell'd up, and make them pay for coming toward you, again!
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But, I didn't even mention the trap that resurrects them into Savith's body, leading to numerous occasions of mistaken identity.
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Of course, it's just as likely that I've watched entirely too many Adam Sandler movies recently...
Except, of course, he hasn't made a decent movie in years.
Of course, it's just as likely that I've watched entirely too many Adam Sandler movies recently...
Except, of course, he hasn't made a decent movie in years.
Hey! Fifty First Dates was pretty great if you close your eyes and ears for the first segment!
And...! ... uh... hm. Maybe... maybe that was it.
I think you're forgetting an important one...
No.
No he is definitely not forgetting that one. That one is very dumb.
But enjoyable.
What he is "forgetting"...
is*...
pretty**...
significant***...
though****...
* Not a main character, admittedly.
** Okay, this one is also dumb. But it's not as bad, and shows that Sandler could have a solid acting career, if he actually chose to do so.
*** Alright, this one is animated.
**** It's kid-friendly. What? I like it. Along with another, it shows that he can make (almost) family-friendly comedy.
EDIT: For clarity.
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I honestly haven't watched one of his movies for years, that was a red herring.
I like Adam Sandler tho, he's a funny guy, even if his movies aren't. :-D
No he is definitely not forgetting that one. That one is very dumb.
A... actually, I was forgetting that one.
I honestly haven't watched one of his movies for years, that was a red herring.
I like Adam Sandler tho, he's a funny guy, even if his movies aren't. :-D
I tend to agree. I think he's actually a very skilled actor... but I also think he either doesn't care, or doesn't understand why so many of his productions are lackluster.
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Word of advice to the wise: If you are running Serpent's Skull for a group of 11- to 14-year-olds, DO NOT include Egzimora's Elixir of Love in the stash.
Oh... my... goodness!
30 minutes of mayhem, and essentially nothing accomplished for the evening... except an eternal quest to buy more of the accursed things!
I'll write it up tomorrow, after I've recovered.
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Word of advice to the wise: If you are running Serpent's Skull for a group of 11- to 14-year-olds, DO NOT include Egzimora's Elixir of Love in the stash.
Oh... my... goodness!
30 minutes of mayhem, and essentially nothing accomplished for the evening... except an eternal quest to buy more of the accursed things!
I'll write it up tomorrow, after I've recovered.
It was mayhem. Therefore, Voren was pleased.
I'm going to let NobodysHome describe most of it, but let's just say Malek bought a second Elixir a day after he used the first one.
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At least you didn't show them the more powerful Philter of Love.
It gives no save and instead of Charm Person causes the target to fall madly in love with the first creature it sees permanently. It's a good thing you didn't mention that, because it costs only 3000gp. Probably shouldn't let them know. Might cause some chaos.
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At least you didn't show them the more powerful Philter of Love.
It gives no save and instead of Charm Person causes the target to fall madly in love with the first creature it sees permanently. It's a good thing you didn't mention that, because it costs only 3000gp. Probably shouldn't let them know. Might cause some chaos.
Thanks. So. Much.
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The Act of Luuuuuuuurv...
I don't know what else to call this fiasco of a game, though the kids had a blast.
The evening started normally enough; the party utterly obliterated the charau-ka they had engaged at the end of the previous session. It was really rather alarming seeing them planning on additional Fireballs, perhaps a Haste, and other "nuclear option" tactics against 6 "normal" charau-ka, 4 "thugs", and 2 dire apes, all of whom had already been hit by a 41-point Fireball from Athelya, and hence who weren't looking all that well.
Anyway, that mop-up didn't last long, with the only really entertaining moment being when Templari finally made it across the map (Athelya had let loose from 200 feet), only to have the remaining charau-ka thugs unload all of their throwing axes at her. As Voren's player said, "What do they need to hit you? A 16? So you're going to get hit what? Once?" I managed to roll 4 of 6 hits and do a solid 23 points to Templari. Voren's player started talking about how, "Well, at least the apes won't be able to hit you," and Templari's player simply told Voren's player to stop jinxing him and shut up.
Once the massacre was over, they stabilized the three surviving charau-ka (and the two apes. Why? I have no clue. They didn't even take them with them! They just stabilized the apes and then wandered off. One of those, "What the heck? Are you guys even thinking about this?" moments) and returned to the Pathfinder camp.
At dinner, the madness began.
Voren had given Malek Egzimora's Elixir of Love because he figured it was his best bet for a laugh. So of course Malek poured the elixir into his own bowl of stew, then rolled a magnificent total of 7 on his Sleight of Hand to switch bowls with Athelya. Sighing, Athelya asked Irwin (Deady McDeaddead's new ninja) to Sleight of Hand it back in front of Malek. Irwin, being a troublesome sort, feigned putting the bowl in front of Malek but instead put it back in front of Athelya. A bit more unfortunate rolling later (I think Deady rolled a 3 and Mr. Stereotype rolled a 19), and Athelya knew she had the bowl in front of her again. I forget who meddled with it next (Athelya or Irwin), but one of them put it in front of Templari, and everyone was overjoyed when the paladin, being a paladin, utterly failed her Perception roll and downed the stew.
Of course the paladin, being the paladin, didn't even feel a hint of heartburn as the poor elixir withered and died under the annihilating sun of her 29 Will save.
And Kwai Chang's player and I thought that would be the end of it. How wrong we were!
Other things happened: The party spent a day helping the Pathfinders do research, and learned that there was an entire additional city under this one! Templari questioned the charau-ka under Zone of Truth and a strong Diplomacy roll, and learned that Akkituk the cleric of Angazhan still led the charau-ka, though they had no other strong leaders. But they were still over 280 strong, so the party had a looooooong road ahead of them if they were going to commit genocide. (Seems like that's the way they're leaning. Yeah. My kids. The kinder, gentler sort.) Templari also put the charau-ka on trial, learned of their crimes (thank you, Zone of Truth!), and cleanly executed them, earning Iomedae's favor.
But of course, the most important part was getting another Elixir of Love. They barely had time to sell some gear and retore one of Hooken's lost levels before Malek was off at the Free Captains, buying another precious, precious vial.
One more evening of ludicrous bowl-shoving ensued, with the final moments being Athelya and Malek locked in a mortal embrace, each trying to force the potion down the other's throat. Of course Malek, being Malek, utterly biffed yet another CMB roll, while Athelya rolled a natural 20. Down Malek's hatch the potent potable went! And Malek, being Malek, failed yet another Will save. I swear, I think the boy bought some comedy dice. I'm right at the table. I watch him roll. He uses a wide variety of dice. And yet pretty much every single Will save he rolls comes up a 6 or less on the die. It's truly an amazing moment of karmic komedy.
My other favorite moment of the night: Pointing out that Malek fell in love with the first creature he beheld... while Athelya was busy stuffing a potion of love down his throat. The look on Mr. Stereotype's face was priceless! "What have I done?!?!?!"
Unfortunately, Malek's enamored behavior was hard to differentiate from his non-enamored, except with perhaps a bit more leg-humping. Athelya was greatly relieved when the potion wore off a few hours later.
So the next day they set off to check on the charau-ka yet again, found the island to the north of the castle that had a shrine to Angazhan, and signs that a massive artifact weighing many tons had been excavated and dragged back to charau-ka territory.
They are now discussing what to do next. Or rather, just how they want to commit horrific genocide...
EDIT: Oh, I almost forgot: Voren did sew the zombie plant arm onto his tail and now has a prehensile tail. It's a pretty powerful item (he can pour a potion down an adjacent PC's throat without provoking an attack of opportunity), but it's also hideously creepy. So I'm happy...
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Isn't Templari also immune, or does she not have Aura of Resolve?
Aura of Resolve (Su): At 8th level, a paladin is immune to charm spells and spell-like abilities. Each ally within 10 feet of her gains a +4 morale bonus on saving throws against charm effects.
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Isn't Templari also immune, or does she not have Aura of Resolve?
Aura of Resolve (Su): At 8th level, a paladin is immune to charm spells and spell-like abilities. Each ally within 10 feet of her gains a +4 morale bonus on saving throws against charm effects.
It's the usual, "The player is responsible for knowing his or her character's abilities."
I knew about the immunity to Dominate starting at higher levels; I'd forgotten that immunity to Charm started so much earlier.
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I agree, I only know this because I am playing a Paladin in RotRL in our f2f group and this has come in handy a few times!
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So many posts to catch up! So much laughing and funny looks!
Ruyan.
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Well, I'm going to violate my own rule of good GM'ing tonight ("Never try to tell the story. Just provide the world. The PCs tell the story"), and we'll see whether it's as hopelessly catastrophic as I'm predicting.
Some GMs try to force their scripts down their players' throats. I did that long ago. It never went well. So I learned from a GM who taught me, "You're just the world, reacting to and interacting with the PCs. You HAVE no agenda; only the NPCs you are running have agendas, and you have to figure out what they're doing in response to the PCs' actions."
Trouble is, I came up with an idea I think would be really neat as a way to hand out another piece of gear. Trouble is, a certain PC has to take a certain action for it to end well. Otherwise, it'll just be ugly.
Well, I've got a couple of hours to decide whether or not to do it...
...crossing my fingers that I know my kids well enough to try to pull this one...
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Well, tonight's session pretty much ends up in "NobodysHome's Tedious Serpent's Skull Moments":
Ah! Looking it up, NOW I see my problem! I thought that running cost you everything -- your Dex bonus to AC, any possible attacks, and the ability to make attacks of opportunity. I see that I was wrong on that last part.
Ah, well, it makes next week very exciting, as the party lays into him (Athelya reached them relatively unscathed due to that little rules miss) and he kills Athelya. Again.
What do they have against apes?
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Despite all the dying, I think you are playing the PCs expedition into a long lost jungle city masterfully. Maybe some things should be left well enough alone - or be prepared for invasion of creative's homes -is a good lesson. :)
I would highly encourage Templari to pick up the Ultimate Mercy feat, if she doesn't already have it. It seems like the party should be prepared with Breath of Life more often too. Luckily for my group we use use Hero Points so mostly no one dies unless they used their points up, or get nailed again shortly after burning their points.
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This thread is so long that I forget how Athelya is flying, but if it is by the spell then she cannot 'run' per the spell description. While a creature with natural flight can if that helps your bad guy catch up with her.
But I also agree with the situation. Many AP encounters seem weak versus flying PCs. I'm running Giantslayer now and it has many ground based heavy hitters.
This thread is so long that I forget how Athelya is flying, but if it is by the spell then she cannot 'run' per the spell description. While a creature with natural flight can if that helps your bad guy catch up with her.
But I also agree with the situation. Many AP encounters seem weak versus flying PCs. I'm running Giantslayer now and it has many ground based heavy hitters.
It's the Wings of Fire mystery for a Flame Oracle. Nothing in there about not being able to run.
But yes, she's wearing medium armor and Grugonoth is starkers, so in theory he should get a x4 and she should get a x3, but he has a little bit of a "stone problem" if you know what I mean, so I figured giving them the same multiplier was fair.
As of next session, the attacks of opportunity will bring her down fast.
Honestly, considering it's the "big fight" of the northern region, I'm just as happy to see the entire party there. And I'm extra happy that Akkituk isn't.
I may get away with just killing Athelya again...
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Despite all the dying, I think you are playing the PCs expedition into a long lost jungle city masterfully. Maybe some things should be left well enough alone - or be prepared for invasion of creative's homes -is a good lesson. :)
I would highly encourage Templari to pick up the Ultimate Mercy feat, if she doesn't already have it. It seems like the party should be prepared with Breath of Life more often too. Luckily for my group we use use Hero Points so mostly no one dies unless they used their points up, or get nailed again shortly after burning their points.
Well, thank you!
Unfortunately, they have no cleric and their oracle is only 9th level, so neither Breath of Life nor Raise Dead are technically available to them. I'm letting The PC Who Shall Remain Nameless cast Raise Dead on them for free in camp, but Breath of Life is something they desperately need, and won't have until it's far too late.
My big concern is the number of coup de graces Grugonoth may be able to get off. Templari's a shoo-in for the necessary save, and Athelya is likely to make it, but I think the rest of the party is really hosed...
...on the bright side, I have contingency plans. With this group, I always have contingency plans! :-P