Problem solved?
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Problem solved?
At least until we find out she went invisible and her now withered body is actually a mimic!
Also I was recruited into a Thursday evening game, so I probably won't be making posts on Thursdays for the summer. Just wanted to give everyone a heads up.
DM_Delmoth wonders if he kills White Rabbit then Theophilus' player will disappear.
The White Rabbit is The player...lol.
Mara will go along with whatever further exploration people want to do, but she obviously can't really help.
Theophilus begins a full round cast.
I realize that this is lost on most of you, but anything to prevent Ellery from meeting his maker.
This all up to everyone else; Mara can't meaningful participate in any of this until she cures her blindness.
No reason you couldn't rest either
I'm good with resting, but I don't want to impose on everyone else. I just can't push the game forward until we do.
We'll definitely need Mara for the research, but resting could be risky if there are still enemies in the manor.
I would suggest that we continue exploring, with Mara sticking with us for safety even if she can't do much.
We can do multiple checks in the various rooms, and Take 20 on Perception in the private study. Look for any remaining enemies that can threaten us, gather any resources that might help us, and then rest.
In the morning, have Mara heal her Blindness and then we do the research checks as well as deal with the Star Stela and the confabulation plates.
Sounds like a reasonable plan to me.
And certainly not in a town where anyone in a position of authority is either dead, missing, or a part of the conspiracy. Cesadia, sure but she's just a prominent businesswoman.
Everybody level up, you should now be 7th. We're officially at the end of the second book, there are still a few threads you can tie up in Thrushmoor and perhaps some personal projects you want to pursue.
What feat would people like Mara to take at 7th lvl? The contenders are Shake it Off (teamwork) and Extra Revelation (Speed or Slow Time). Speed or Slow Time gives Haste.
Note that:
At 7th level, you can always act in the surprise round, but if you fail to notice the ambush, you act last, regardless of your initiative result (you act in the normal order in following rounds).
So Mara would be able to haste the party in the enemy surprise round if she took Extra Revelation (Speed or Slow Time).
Either of those feats could be good, Mara. I would take Shake it Off if others did, or else I might go with Arcane Strike for more damage.
I'd like to do the Release Nightmare ritual if we are at a good enough bonus to make the checks reliably.
Theophilus is at +14 Knowledge (Planes); +1 more at level 7, +2 morale from Heroism, +2 enhancement with Tears to Wine, +2 competence with Heightened Awareness, +2 for caster level, +1 for four secondary casters (Dervak, Rowan, Ellery, and maybe Winter?) gives +24. That's pretty solid vs DC 28. Two spells he would need to teach the White Rabbit, perhaps we can get them from scrolls.
Mara's Heal check is at +14 (+15 after leveling) but doesn't have as many applicable bonuses. It could be +20 with buffs, I think. I know she had mentioned an item that might help but we weren't sure if it would apply. It's a bit riskier. Does she have any revelations or spells that would help her Heal checks or let her reroll?
If there is a ley line nearby, that could boost the checks.
The casters need to make 4 of the 6 checks between them.
Assuming we purge Dervak of his curse, the idea is that he retrains into an Urban Bloodrager - representing that he has mastered control of his rage - and his bloodline becomes either Destined or Arcane. Maybe reflecting the hero he would have been if not for his father's decision to tamper with Things Man Was Not Meant To Know.
Destined has much better powers in my opinion, but its bonus feats are not great. Arcane has rather disappointing powers, especially at 12 and 16 (IMO), but its bonus feats are far better. I am leaning towards Destined, but that's one decision where I'd like some input.
The other decision is the bard/magus bonus spells. These are fantastic, especially the bard spells, but I'll only get four (7th, 10th, 13th, and 16th). The top contenders:
Blade Tutor's Spirit
Cure Light Wounds
Bladed Dash (combos well with Greater Bloodrage)
Disrupt Silence
Gallant Inspiration
Good Hope (perhaps with Encouraging Spell)
Echolocation
Dance of a Hundred Cuts
Grand Destiny
Leaning towards CLW (7), Bladed Dash (10), Echolocation (13), and Grand Destiny (16). Thoughts? He gets a free spell swap at 8, 11, and 14 so could trade out CLW at one of those points.
You won't be able to count Winter, more on why when you talk to her next.
Mara has Threefold Aspect on her spell list (via her archetype); the crone aspect would increase her wisdom bonus to +6. While the Time Oracle mystery adds it as a mystery spell at 8th lvl, I would presume that Mara can cast it as soon as she can cast 4th lvl spells. It's on the Witch spell list as well.
I'll note that Tears to Wine is potentially controversial, since it also gives an enhancement bonus. It's a case of whether an enhancement bonus to skill checks stacks with an enhancement bonus to ability scores.
Mara wants to buy Healer's Gloves, if they would help with the ritual.
She could get a re-roll with the Rewind Time revelation, but that would be in place of Speed or Slow Time.
I don't see why the enhancement bonus stacking is controversial. The most basic example is that Bull's Strength and Magic Weapon stack and have always stacked. Still, I know Tears to Wine is banned in PFS. It does get incredibly good at high level.
The rules for occult rituals specifically say that most mundane things that boost skills don't apply (i.e. to avoid the 'unnamed MW tool for everything'). But Healer's Gloves aren't mundane, they're magic. Even though the healing in this case is more psychic than physical, it's still healing. I can see that one going either way.
There is also this:
The standard rules are extremely lenient on how many skill checks a caster of an occult ritual can fail and still succeed. In a game where horror and tension are paramount, GMs may consider making it so that each failure on a skill check results in a weaker final effect or detrimental side effect. A simpler, more suspenseful solution is to have an occult ritual fail if a caster fails one skill check, regardless of how many checks the ritual requires.
So I am not sure that 4/6 successes will be enough.
The people who are the experts here (Mara and Theo) aren't 100% sure any of the preparations you're discussing will help. But that it's good to do them just in case. I'll rule what works and what doesn't once you're committed to performing it.
Mara will try to buy the Healer's gloves then.
Perhaps we could get Cesadia to act as a secondary caster. There's also Keldrin Mon, although we don't know too much about his motivations.
The other decision is the bard/magus bonus spells. These are fantastic, especially the bard spells, but I'll only get four (7th, 10th, 13th, and 16th). The top contenders:
Blade Tutor's Spirit
Cure Light Wounds
Bladed Dash (combos well with Greater Bloodrage)
Disrupt Silence
Gallant Inspiration
Good Hope (perhaps with Encouraging Spell)
Echolocation
Dance of a Hundred Cuts
Grand Destiny
Leaning towards CLW (7), Bladed Dash (10), Echolocation (13), and Grand Destiny (16). Thoughts? He gets a free spell swap at 8, 11, and 14 so could trade out CLW at one of those points.
Good Hope is really good, especially combined with a lesser metamagic rod of extend (26 min duration at 13th lvl).
Should also consider buying/selling other things too since the party has a decent amount of treasure, money, and magic items right now.
Wooohooo! Level 7!
Decisions, decisions....
Theo is willing to help; just let me know what you need from him (maxing knowledge planes being one).
There really is quite a bit of treasure there. What is the GP purchase limit in this town?
A Mossy Disk Ioun Stone would give Theo a +5 competence bonus to Knowledge (Planes). Might get him into auto-success territory, and have uses down the road for other things. It isn't too expensive either. And he could give it a name.
Theo isn't really equipment reliant, so I will keep Cyclops to boost Knowledge[planes].
Please count its cost against my share.
Mara has memorized three Speak with Dead spells. She can ask three corpses three questions each, while she can use the confabulation plates to ask another corpse two questions. Her memorized spells will have a better chance of forcing answers from unwilling subjects.
Note that Speak with Dead can only be used on a given corpse once/week.
Purchase limit in Thrushmoor is 10,000
D-door, PK, or BTs?
I do have Remove Blindness/Deafness also.
Picking up the Gang Up feat, anyone have suggestions as to what language to take with another point in linguistics?
D-Door seems good given how often Heaven's Leap has been helpful.
PK is quite a gamble with the 2 saves and many things being immune. Your hexes could help it land (and Dervak might get Riving Strike). Black Tentacles is strong when there is a grounded enemy not in melee with the party that does not have a good CMD. More circumstantial than is generally acknowledged but still a very strong spell.
Lots of gems on the Witch4 list. Arcane Eye is great. Charm Monster, Death Ward, Enervation, Scrying, Solid Fog, are always good. Detect Scrying we should have up every day at higher levels. Anti-Incorporeal Shell is good to have on a scroll.
If Theophilus wants an offbeat spell with crazy visuals, there are Cape of Wasps, Earsend, Hellmouth Lash, and Masochistic Shadow.
You're awesome, Dervak...lol.
I will, most likely, take D-door; you are correct about Mara's Heavens Leap!
I have taken Terran, but that's for my Summoning shenanigans.
confabulation plates
I'd appreciate it if you didn't link things that were first published in this adventure path. It could be confusing if I change how it works or I could hold back some capabilities to heighten mystery.
Sorry, I wasn't thinking. I won't do it again.
@Theo: I think it would be a good idea to learn Threefold Aspect, for use in occult rituals. It also lasts 24 hours, and allows you to switch back and forth between the different aspects; the elder aspect would add +1 DC to spells and hexes. Perhaps you could buy a scroll or two of 4th lvls spells to learn.
I’m fairly certain that Rowan will be useless in helping with this ritual, since he is not a caster, and his best knowledge is religion.
Level 7 gave Rowan cold iron and silver fists, and he took boar style, which allows him to do slashing damage, and also an extra 2d6 damage if he hits twice during a flurry.
I think Rowan and Ellery can still help with the ritual by taking part as a secondary casters (every 4 secondary casters adds +1 to skill checks that are part of the ritual).
Since it is possible for those lacking the ability to cast arcane, divine, or psychic spells to cast rituals, variables that would normally rely on caster level (such as range and spell resistance) use the character level or total Hit Dice of the primary caster instead. This is the case even for a ritual caster who has the ability to cast spells. Characters with a caster level gain a +1 bonus on skill checks to cast a ritual, and this bonus increases by 1 for every 5 caster levels they possess (to a maximum of +5 at caster level 20th) as their understanding of the fundamentals of magic grows.
Mara's bonus for the Heal check will be:
15 (Heal skill bonus) +1 (extra Wis bonus from Threefold Aspect) +2 (caster levels) +2 (Heroism) +1 (4 secondary casters)= +21. If Tears to Wine stacks, that's +23. Healer's Gloves possibly adds another +5.
Mara has the right of it. You can still participate if your characters want to
I have highlighted in yellow on treasure tracking sheet what I think we should sell.
I also had Dervak claim the Composite Shortbow (+3 Str) since I think he is the best to use it.
Hanging on to some of the useful scrolls and potions - and the plot-specific magic items like the Argus Mask and Eye (useful in the ritual maybe, or too risky?) and the Confabulation Plates.
Also keeping the talismans - with no more need for Necklaces of Natural Armor, somebody should have those (and pick up one more). Though I am thinking maybe a Swarmbane Clasp as Dervak's neck slot item.
The gold comes out to 5,535 per person. Now, it's a little sketchy to find a buyer in Thrushmoor for the "Gold Holy Symbol of the Unspeakable One," so maybe we just melt that down. The various doses of poison, Dervak doesn't have a huge problem with selling those. And there's the fact that we are clearly selling stuff looted from the manor to the people of the town (like the flatware), but I don't think anybody's going to complain.
Dervak has serious doubts about the Mnemonic Vestment. Very useful, but would look quite silly on him ("delicate-looking blue silk robe"). Have to think about getting a Greater Hat of Disguise down the road. For now, keeping it but not wearing it. Style matters!
The Mossy Disk Ioun Stone for Theophilus is 5,000 gp.
The Healer's Gloves for Mara are 2,500 gp.
Dervak is going to get a Swarmbane Clasp for 3,000 gp.
I don't mind giving another PC a loan from my share if they have an item they want that is more than 5,535.
Rowan doesn’t need the oil of silver-sheen, since Rowan can do that with normal attacks.
What talismans do we have?
Edit: someone, not me, should take lesser winds, and someone else should take warrior’s courage.
Anyone want to recommend something for Rowan to buy?
You can wear up to three talismans at a time, so one person can take both.
There are some fun magic cloaks that are freed up by not needing resistance items. Cloak of the Hedge Wizard can give a non-caster True Strike, Enlarge Person, or Shield 1/day.
Magic rings can be good. What do you want to accomplish?
A Sipping Jacket is a great item for cheap potions like Vanish or CLW.
Something that can enlarge person once or twice per day would be cool.
Items that could improve ac, prevent taking damage, or improve damage output would be preferred.
You should probably hold onto the diamond dust. Never know when you'll need a restoration to fix ability drain or negative levels.
Well, a Monk's Robe will improve your AC and damage but is beyond the price limit of this town. Something to save up for.
With Automatic Bonus Progression, the idea is that the items you do get are more about adding interesting capabilities.
Rowan actually has really good gear already.
Maybe some means of flight or a ranged attack would be good.
Edit: Good point on the Diamond Dust. So 5,455 each. The scrolls of Restoration would already have the diamond dust incorporated in them, but it's useful for other spells too.
The ring of sustenance could be useful for our casters. Only needing 2 hours of rest to prepare spells is pretty cool.
A Lesser Metamagic Rod of Encouraging Spell, if possible to buy, would cost 3,000 gp and would let Mara's Heroism go to +3 3/day. (And if Dervak ever gets Good Hope, it would work for that).
It has not been explicitly printed as an item in its own right. Encouraging Spell is a +1 level metamagic feat. It is my understanding that after Ultimate Equipment said "Yes, this pattern is in fact the rule, minor rod of +1 level metamagic is 3,000" then at least some subsequent metamagic feats have not had their corresponding rods explicitly printed. I don't think this is meant to say such rods are impossible.
Rowan's one point of dex drain would cost 100gp in diamond dust to remove with Restoration. It takes 2 points of drain/damage to give a penalty, so it's not an immediate problem.
Unlike damage, drain does reduce the ability score in question. So 1 point does provide a penalty. Rowan was at an odd score last I checked so it wouldn't reduce his bonus but if he needed dex to qualify for feats he wouldn't be able to use those feats.
Still not an immediate concern imo
Theo spends 5k on the Cyclops. He will also buy another Wand of Clw with the remaining, using gp he has for the balance.
Ill work on getting all the gear squared tonight. For some reason if I try to use Sheets at work it doesn't want to save any changes.
If there is a specific formula at work for figuring out metamagic rod prices I'm fine with using it to extrapolate for feats that don't have rods.
Gear is update from what I gleaned from above.
I distributed some gear in a way that makes sense to me, feel free to object.
Dervak
Cure Light Wounds Potion x2
Cure Moderate Wounds Potion x2
Ellery
Cure Light Wounds Potion x3
Cure Moderate Wounds Potion x2
Mara
Scroll of Dismissal
Scroll of Restoration x2
Rowan
Cure Light Wounds Potion x2
Cure Moderate Wounds Potion x3
Theophilus
Scroll of Cure Serious Wounds (can be fed to White Rabbit)
I also highlighted some gear that could be sold without too much danger, because they're not very useful or duplicate spells that the party casts daily already.