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Tolkien. My all time favorite author. Ever.
He was the first fantasy I read (around 12 years old). Started with The Hobbit and then burned through LotR. Reading those books opened my eyes to language (the invented languages) and concepts that I had not really known before. It is hard to overstate the impact this has had on my for my whole life. I won't bore you guys with the details.
Next after Tolkien was Narnia. After that I read the Prydain books, a good number of the Xanth books, some Robert Aspin (Myth books), basically, all the fantasy I could find in my small school library.
There was non-Conan fantasy before Tolkien but it wasn't well know. There was George MacDonald's Lilith and Phantastes. There was also the stuff by Lord Dunsany. These works were all proto-fantasy but some of the beginnings of the fantasy staples were there.
One could argue that the very first "English" fantasy work was Beowulf. (BTW, I wrote a paper in college British Lit that showed the correspondence between The Hobbit and Beowulf. Did you know that the scene where Bilbo enters Smaug's Lair while being invisible is almost a direct copy from a similar scene in Beowulf? The descriptions of the room and the treasure are almost identical. No surprise, Tolkien was a Beowulf scholar. Anyway, my paper got a gigantic A and totally blew away my professor who, prior to that, had turned her nose up to 'popular fiction'.)
If you go further back, there is the Greek author Lucian's "A True Story" (2nd century AD). But even further back is Homer's Odyssey. We're still borrowing material from that. But wait, there's more. The oldest known written work, written in 1500 years before Homer, is called the Epic of Gilgamesh. It's a story of heros, gods, quests, etc. Sounds very much like fantasy: https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-epic-of-gilgamesh/summary
Back to modern times, the guy who finished the Jordan books was Brandon Sanderson. If you haven't read his Stormlight Archive books, you are missing out. That will probably lead you to read his other books which are all good too. Be warned, he writes long books. Each Stormlight book is between 1000 and 1200 pages. It is a 10 book series and he's only written the first 3. The 4th comes out this November.
An interesting note about Tolkien and D&D, BTW, is that Gary Gygax was not a fan of Tolkien at all. He claimed that Tolkien had very little influence on D&D and that he found Tolkien's writings to be boring and tiresome.
I could write about this topic forever...
Tolkein having little influence on dnd is rather obvious. Tolkein's orcs are a subtype if goblin, and are twisted elves. In dnd, orcs are not only entirely separate from goblins, but also unrelated to elves.
Also, tolkein's half elves are basically elves that can choose to be mortal or not. (Elrond us a half-elf, but no one really thinks of him as being less than an elf, and is certainly is not some socially disadvantaged minority)
That said, dnd is intended for campaign settings of similar power to arda rather than the popular op settings like golarion.
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Tolkein having little influence on dnd is rather obvious.
Despite Gygax's declaration, I respectfully disagree. In pretty much inventing the fantasy genre, would there have been an audience for DnD without Tolkien? While elves, dwarves, and orcs were mentioned in either the German or Old English or Nordic mythos or Shakespeare, they were seen more as fairies/fey (elves & dwarves); it was Tolkien that made them into modern fantasy staples.
And it's obvious that the form they show up in DnD is pretty much straight from Tolkien, with a few exceptions such as the distinction between goblins/orcs and half-Elves as you mentioned. Elves and Dwarves living longer lives, Elves being tall/slender while favoring bows and magic, dwarves favoring mountains, riches, and axes. Not to mention that halflings were definitely patterned after Hobbits. I recall reading somewhere that they were called Hobbits in the original D&D but had to change to Halflings due to legal issues. I heard the same about the Balrog in DnD having to be called a Balor as well...but it's been a long time so I can't recall where I read that. Maybe it was in an old Dragon magazine, but I'm not sure...
Tolkien also pretty much invented the fantasy Ranger which was the inspiration for that staple DnD character class; I could be mistaken, but I can't recall rangers being mentioned in fantasy fiction before Tolkien came around. In the old AD&D, I think only humans were unlimited in level when it came to Rangers, following Tolkien's lead as only the Dunedain were known as Rangers in Middle Earth...
Just can't see how LotR didn't heavily influence D&D and all fantasy RPGs for that matter; just my opinion though. Probably no surprise, but I patterned Fin after Legolas...since reading LotR, Elven archer types have always been my favorite characters in modern fantasy...
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This reminds me of an old joke I heard many years ago.
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One day a group of scientists got together and decided that humanity had come a long way and no longer needed God. So they picked one scientist to go and tell Him that they were done with Him. The scientist walked up to God and said, “God, we've decided that we no longer need you. We’re to the point where we can clone people, manipulate atoms, build molecules, fly through space, and do many other miraculous things. So why don’t you just go away and mind your own business from now on?”
God listened very patiently and kindly to the man. After the scientist was done talking, God said, “Very well. How about this? Before I go, let’s say we have a human-making contest.” To which the scientist replied, “Okay, we can handle that!”
“But,” God added, “we’re going to do this just like I did back in the old days with Adam.”
The scientist nodded, “Sure, no problem” and bent down and picked up a handful of dirt. God wagged a finger at him and said, “Uh, uh, uh. Put that down. You go find your own dirt.”
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Whether Gary Gygax acknowledged it or not, his outstanding creation (D&D) was only able to flourish because Tolkien proceeded him and created fertile ground in which D&D could grow and engendered a generation of people with an appetite for the sorts of fruit the D&D tree would produce.
I highly recommend Tolkien's translation of Beowulf. It doesn't read as well as other translations but reading it out load it has a really good rhythm. It's hard to do the monotone classroom reading with it, it draws you in to storyteller mode.
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I mean the original release of D&D in 1974 had Hobbits, Balrog, and Ents. All of which got their names changed to Halfling, Balor, and Treant due to threats of legal action from the Tolkien estate. So there's that.
Not to mention the decades of influencing the fantasy genre before the release. Even if Gygax by his admission isn't the biggest fan of Tolkien he grabbed a lot of influences from multiple sources including Tolkien and most of the others besides Tolkien that he looked to for influences can draw influence to Tolkien in one way or another.
Plus D&D is a game constantly evolving and overtime it's certainly picked up a lot of things that invariably have Tolkien's DNA in it.
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I suspect Gygax denied the influence of Tolkien on D&D because he probably lived in constant fear of the Tolkien estate swooping in and claiming everything in the game was a copyright violation. :)
You are probably right. I mean, he had to deal with a lot of rights management and fighting those sorts of legal battle with some of his previous partners and TSR. I'm not surprised that he was very sensitive to those things.
would there have been an audience for DnD without Tolkien?
No, but that doesn't make it a direct influence. The existance of fantasy doesn't mean all fantasy can be claimed to have tolkein as inspiration.
That said, I do think many things from tolkein made their way into the game, but I'm pretty sure that was after the core of the game was created and additional material was needed to flesh it out. Additionally, many elements of dnd came from mythology which had also influenced tolkein, and tolkein had put various terms into more common use, making those terms useful even in cases not derived directly from tolkein.
A big evil monster of darkness and fire with weapons of fire, well say balrog and most people will go "I know what that is" even if there is little else in common.
I figure that by adnd, there was plenty of tolkein influence. I just think that I can easily believe that the initial core of the game could have had little direct influence from tolkein.
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I'm less certain about rangers, but I can see ranger class having sources other than tolkein. Army rangers or park rangers for example, both are trained for survival away from civilization yet are not separate from it like a hermit druid/witch would be, and both rangers are martial (one more than the other clearly, but still, the lesser is still a type of police) and favored enemy really only fits park rangers which have a specific park and thus specific terrain and fauna that they specialize in.
GM, I caught their physical description, but that wasn't what I was looking for. Did they look weary like they returned from a battle to rest, or did they seem to be looking for a fight? How did they look at the centuars? Did they seem to be searching for something, or just ignoring their surroundings? What were they doing to indicate whether they were hostile or not?
Because physical appearance is never going to be enough to assume hostility (for me at least. Obviously other players find it enough). For all we know, they could be the centaur version of a tiefling and valued members of the herd, or they could be summoned and bound creatures to serve the centuars, or any number of other possibilities.
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For all we know, they could be the centaur version of a tiefling and valued members of the herd, or they could be summoned and bound creatures to serve the centuars, or any number of other possibilities.
If they were, why were they trying to sneak into the camp, in the dark, in the wee hours of the morning? And why in the direction of the outsider's tents and not in the direction of the Centaur tents/lean-tos. I'm assuming if they're friends of these Centaurs, they'd know the layout...
The GM posted these two things that set off Fin's spider senses:
...sounds of footfalls in failed attempts to approach stealthy.
AND
...burly, primitive-looking creature have ape-like upper bodies, demonic horns, and cloven hooves. Each is covered with skin the color of a snow-buried corpse.
Put those two together, and I'm predisposed to fire every time. Would it have been better for Fin to wait to see if they entered the tents and caught his friends unaware? I'd feel much worse if I had done nothing and they had entered the tents and hurt or killed a friend. I did notice that after I hit the first creature, they didn't yell to stop firing or that they were friends...
I didn't fire when I came upon the Centaur patrol and there are plenty of other times I didn't fire first even when I was inclined to because I wasn't sure; it's not like I've been a loose cannon. I'm pretty sure here and I think firing here was the right decision...but if I'm wrong, Fin can live with it...I guess we'll find out soon enough...
As you said, wee hours of the morning. It'd only be polite to be quiet and try not to wake sleeping people. If they'd been out when we arrived, they might've been curious/concerned with new tents or other signs of unfamiliar presence. And tents implies that they move around a lot, which means a shift in layout would not be surprising.
If things were reversed (why were you outside anyway? I didn't take your spot.), and I'd been outside, I wouldn't be thinking in terms of atk vs let them in the tents, rather, I'd call out for them to identify themselves which also would awoken others giving everyone a chance to be ready for combat, yet also would have given opportunity for them respond with diplomacy if so inclined.
As it is, they'll respond to an atk with violence, because they have no way to know the atk from the trees came from a guest of the centuars, after all, to them you might be an outsider that snuck this far, even if they had been already updated on the presence of guests. Assuming they would try to stop the fight is ridiculous. Heck, in the real world, if a guy comes in my home with a gun, I'm not going to assume he's the police, I'm going to put him down hard unless I have clear and unambiguous evidence that he is not a threat to me and mine.
These new guys do not have clear and unambiguous evidence that you are actually a guest of centuars (it'd be reasonable to assume, but then again, you are attacking). So even if these guys were allies of the centuars, they'd automatically respond to your violence with violence.
Additionally, the centuars do not know us, and have no reason to trust us yet. If these guys were their allies, the centuars are more to defend them by attacking us than step in to stop the fight.
Now, very likely they are enemies, but the only reason I have to think that right now is that this is a game ap written by folks for players who attack everything that isn't super obviously an ally. Doesn't mean I want things to feel so cut and dried.
Given the writing of most of the paizo published folks, you might as well play the start of battle animation and cue the battle music before we even know these guys are here. It's one of my least favorite aspects of paizo publishing.
I mean sometimes the obvious bad guys are, you know, obvious. Because they're bad guys. It doesn't have to be that deep.
I don't think it needs necessarily to subvert expectations for the sake of things. I'm pretty sure if a group of elves were trying to sneak into camp like assassins it wouldn't be unreasonable to shoot them and elves aren't demons which are a literal manifestation of chaos and evil.
I am more interested in knowing if they have a reason plot wise for them to be attacking right now as opposed to a random encounter or something.
These are the moments you wish someone had swift girding prepared as a spell... I should pick that up on my wizard in carrion crown...
Rocking at AC of 12 at range... I can boost that up to 15 with the shield. Longbow time!
I mean sometimes the obvious bad guys are, you know, obvious. Because they're bad guys. It doesn't have to be that deep.
Yea, except what is obvious here? Their attempts to be quiet is reasonable for anyone at the koment given that many are trying to sleep, so that doesn't mean anything. They look nasty, but that doesn't mean anything either. Aside from the examples I gave earlier, they could be envoys from another group that is more evil but that has a tenuous peace with the centuars. And all the ways things can be made to look evil without being evil, makes it even less reliable in golarion than in the real world. So appearance isn't obvious either.
The same applies to your elves example. Sure elves could be attacking assassins, but what would mark them as assassins? Certainly not appearance.
It would be behaviour, body language. Attackers, elven or otherwise, will come in one of three ways, 1) a frontal attack, obvious and direct the attackers cause dmg and harm to all within range, intimidating and destroying as they move, 2) disguise, attackers try to appear as friends and either stay disguised as they attack in a discreet fashion (known as sabotage) or they position themselves advantageously before switching to a frontal attack, and lastly, 3) a stealth attack, attackers try to remain unnoticed. However, there are appropriate times to remain quiet and out of sight, so in such cases other aspects of behaviour must be observed before being certain, such as going around sentries, avoiding cameras (in scifi settings), weapons being drawn and ready, etc. None of which were mentioned at all.
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I told myself I wouldn't let myself get dragged into this discussion, but I'm letting myself down once again.
The essence of an adventure game is not combat per se, at least in my view. The essence of the game is making choices, often mock life-and-death choices, then seeing and living with the consequences of those choices, often as moderated by dice. And choosing wrong sometimes is part of the game, and can sometimes lead to the best moments.
Findurel was presented with a situation. Three large non-centaur creatures with demonic horns were trying to sneak into the camp while everyone was asleep. His character was called upon to make a decision based on that, and he performed (presumably) a risk/benefit analysis of his various options. On the one hand he can sit in his tree and watch the creatures infiltrate the camp and wait until they actually start killing people, or he can raise the alarm, or he can raise the alarm and start shooting, or he can run for his life or hide in his tree, or any number of other things. In my opinion, he made a perfectly rational choice -- these are obviously non-centaur creatures in a tribe which as far as we have seen is (a) 100% centaur and (b) at war with frost giants. We have powerful enemies who will likely send minions to try and kill us for as long as Baba Yaga is missing. They are sneaking into the camp after dark. Could they be doing it out of a sense of delicacy? Maybe, but not likely. The most likely explanation is that they are hostile and up to no good, and Findurel made a choice to act accordingly. A choice that would be easy to defend, even it turns out to be mistaken. It would be harder to defend a choice to sit and watch until they started ripping up tents and murdering helpless people, including perhaps one of us.
Findurel is a character with a history, which specifically includes watching a person he loved be killed. It makes sense that his character would be protective of his friends, perhaps to a fault, in the current situation.
Right or wrong, we are now moving forward with that choice. If the centaurs run out and start saying 'Whoa! Stop shooting our gorilla-demon friend Bob!', then we will probably stop shooting and offer them magical healing and half a bar of chocolate.
I think you are implying that you want the GM to give you a clear indication that the situation warrants violence. As players that is not always an option that is going to be allowed or possible. I think you are also implying that because Findurel attacked that his player is somehow shallow or irrational or impetuous. This is a complaint that seems to be a particular pet peeve of yours, Selena. You have raised it continually during the course of this AP and you seem to really dwell on it. 'Obviously other players find it enough' is the sort of snide sarcastic remark you usually make in these situations, and frankly I'm getting tired of you bagging on people because they do something that you disagree with.
Feel free to role-play Selena's frustrations with us to your heart's content. You get to reserve the right to say 'I told you so' when the gorilla-demons turn out to be friendly considerate neighbors stopping by for a cup of sugar. That should be enough.
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Selena, being the only one outside at the time, Fin awakens to three demonic/ape/corpse-looking creatures sneaking around a camp when everyone’s asleep. With our history while on this quest, do you really think it’s feasible that they’re being polite so they won’t wake anyone?
We go backpacking occasionally...the Grand Canyon, the Appalachian Trail...we have a rule. When approaching another’s campsite, you call out...and if it’s late at night or the campsite is dark, you don’t approach it (unless it’s an emergency). So by that standard, they’re not being polite at all, so I seriously doubt they’re sneaking to keep folk from awaking...
Fin makes a quick decision that he feels best protects his friends, especially since the dudes are sneaking around their tents...and also considering he’s seen three of his companions die on this quest. Is he infallible? No, but he’s 99% sure they’re hostile; if he calls out, they likely attack him and he loses initiative against three foes. If he fires, he has initiative, gets a shot while they’re flat-footed, and helps even the odds a bit. He’s fortunate that Maka believed him unconditionally and ran out instead of waiting to see the centaurs’ reaction or else he’d be facing them alone for a round...
By your standard, should we ever attack first in any situation? Heck, zombie-looking fellas might be friendly dudes with poor hygiene or leprosy for all we know. I’m for diplomacy when it makes sense, but I don’t think it made sense here...just like I didn’t think it made sense against the frost giants (but I didn’t force the issue and I didn’t start the fight there either)...
We’ll just have to agree to disagree, Selena. Even with all your arguments, Fin would do the exact same thing. You’re not going to change my mind and I’m not going to change your’s...I’ll speak no more on it...
We go backpacking occasionally...the Grand Canyon, the Appalachian Trail...we have a rule. When approaching another’s campsite, you call out...and if it’s late at night or the campsite is dark, you don’t approach it (unless it’s an emergency). So by that standard, they’re not being polite at all, so I seriously doubt they’re sneaking to keep folk from awaking...
This right here. Sneaking around a campsite at night isn't polite, it's you being up to no good. And that's true in the modern age were bandits aren't really a thing. Let alone in D&D worlds were you can't throw a rock without hitting a monster.
I can agree to disagree as well, but as far as my opinion goes sneaking into camp unannounced to me nearly all time to me reads as an ambush or thievery given the specific environment. You toss in the demon horns and wearing frozen flesh and it's hard to not conceive them as up to no good.
I don't mind the discussion, but that's my two cents.
That being said Tez has never had to deal with a situation where he is potentially ambushed in the middle of the night. Post this encounter he is going to be very keen to set up a nights watch. It will be very likely to include a convoluted schedule and possibly magical aids. Because introducing bureaucratic structure to solve problems is clearly his answer for most problems.
I've been playing D&D for quite a while enough to know that interrogation scenes can be tiring or sketchy to RP through, but Tez letting the frost giants escape without being able to question one was a mistake in his eyes. If we take one alive he's certainly going to want some answers out of these creatures.
Funny how far a simple thing can go. Remember this didn't really start as a complaint but rather a clarification with note for future reference. I asked for more detail and the gm responded with "they're not-so-quiet and ugly." Which was not what I meant. So I was trying to point out, that now and later, if I'm asking for more details, I'm often looking for more than just shallow physical description. Then Fin responded, and I responded back, then blah, blah, blah, here we are.
It is a trait that my character and I share, to not judge by mere appearance.
I'm not trying to say you guys are wrong for playing that way (though Selena does as a point of rp), but two things, first, I do tend to ramble on and debate things, I usually find it enjoyable, but I sometimes I end up going on longer than I should without realizing it. I'm autistic so I don't always catch what others are feeling about the conversation, and text makes it much worse. Second, Quasit is right, it is a bit of a pet peeve, an important aspect of what I'd really prefer as a playstyle. I'm accepting of other styles, but over the years my style has become increasingly difficult to find, especially as game systems and module writers more and more strongly pursue a particular kind of gameplay.
To use movies as an analogy, imagine that early black and white films covered all kinds of genres, but modern movies only ever did superhero films and movie geeks and critics all over insisted that movies were only worth it for superhero stories. Thus someone who likes other kinds of films may enjoy superhero movies yet have a growing hunger to see something else, like the musicals, chick-flicks, dramas, and sci-fi films of the past. To me, that is what is happening to the rpg industry, every publisher and the community seem to be narrowing in on a tiny piece of what rpgs can do. Finding other stuff is still possible, but difficult, and finding players for that other stuff, even rarer.
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As Quasit said, the essence of the game is making choices, but then again, every game is about choices, that is what makes them games and not documentaries. What differentiates rpgs from all other games is the scope and type of choices available. What rpgs are capable of that is different from all other games is that the scope of choices is limited by the narrative milieu and not any set of reasonably definable mechanics.
In a story, like Harry Potter, we don't need a list of all the spells Harry knows, we only need to know the ones he chooses to use, but if we are playing as Harry, then we do need to know all the spells Harry knows and all the rules for how those spell work so we can make the choice of what spell to use and how to use it, and feel smart when we find a loophole and do something unique.
The same applies to other kinds of information. In a story, we only need the results, to know what happens, but when making such choices ourselves, we need more.
Now, a rpg can be run simply, using very straight and robotic like information, much like a crpg, with details being ignored by all sides. A bit like swtor really. I play swtor for the story, but everytime I try to jump and find that my full on lord of the sith can't even force jump, it really makes me feel like I'm not a sith at all. It undercuts the whole feeling of being sith when such simple details are discarded as unimportant. Heck, my character shouldn't even bother with the lightsaber. I didn't get to make it and I never use it. Good stories, but not really star wars feeling.
We need to get Bulive an Armiger Panoply so we don't have to worry about his armor for ambushes such as this.
That's a good idea. A bit like the armored lady from the fairy tale anime.
Erza Scarlet, who definitely has some influence on Maka.
That magic item is definitely worth picking up, I hadn't seen it before.
I'll be honest I keep thinking of a 3.5 game I was in. Basically a rogue ally/frenemy kept sneaking into our camp and the military camp when we were with the army including tricking sentries out of position. She was warned to stop. She didn't... my Lawful Neutral Samurai character warned her if he caught her sneaking into camp again he would do his best to kill her. She was sneaking into tents as well.
...the last time she broke into the camp my character was on watch, and spotted her. He was a bit good at archery and almost had her in negatives before the rest of the party were able to restrain him. She stopped trying to break into the camp after that.
One game I was in, our rogue kept flirting with this drow priestess we kept encountering. One night she managed to abduct him. After that the gm rolled to see if there'd be kid as a result. The smile on the gm's face was most telling.
Reminds me of the bard who slept with a drow priestess and got upset when she said he was crap... he demanded a roll (constitution or something perhaps?) and got a good result and she still said he was crap. The GM explained she would always treat him like garbage no matter how well he performed!
Hope everyone had a good weekend, work has been busy with things reopening lately so my posting might have slowed a bit recently.
I had noticed DM Lareg didn’t post an update this morning which is unusual for him on weekday. No big deal or anything a slow pace is fine by me, but I hope everything fine for him.
I am looking forward to brutally murdering these friendly demon Yetis for their foolish courtesy of trying not to wake us.
Long weekend with family. Just catching up.
Let me know if there is any way I can be of support Sakitu.
The horned creatures are a part of the AP. None of the information provided in the AP can't currently be discussed in the context of what is going on. Further, given halfling sight the detail being sought in terms of facial expression is not currently visible.
Morning meeting so catching up as I can.
Just a quick note...
I am sorry to hear that...take care of what you need to and we can always bot you if necessary. You have my condolences.
Long weekend with family. Just catching up.
Glad your back and good to hear it was time spent with family as opposed to anything unfortunate.
Moved the OOC to here in discussion.
Tez lacks the typical dimensional anchor but could use Magic Circle Against Evil with a diagram to trap it and prevent planar travel if Selena does. You usually use that spell when calling your own outsider in an attempt to bind it, but it should work to at least lock down and trap already bound one. Non-lethal damage heals pretty slowly and you get a roll at a hefty penalty every hour to regain consciousness so a sufficient blow to the back of the head could keep it out of commission for long enough.
Alternatively if Selena doesn't have dimensional anchor Tezuzu might intend for the creature to get away before or during any questioning. If he steals a bit of the creatures fur while it's unconscious he can use it at some point later to scry on it and see who and where it returns to. He can also prepare a wondering hex in the morning that can detect thoughts as well.
It's probably not necessary and is up to the GM Lareg on if any of them are even alive, but Tez is certainly concerned as to why frost giants were seemingly waiting for us after the hut appeared and how these demons found us. So making an attempt to find out more about these things is something he would be interested in and willing to try.
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Whatever y'all think best...as I've said (and shown, no doubt), I'm not very astute when it comes to magic. Just noticed that they teleported to attack Fin and Maka and didn't know what might limit that if they awaken and try to use it to escape. If they can be stabilized, I don't think I'd stabilize more than one though...
Oh more than one would be certainly superfluous and if there's more than one Tez is certainly going to coup de grace that number down to one under any circumstances.
It is still probably a long shot, but as a player I don't really mind either way especially if it drags on the pace of the game if one is alive than having them be dead is better.
Playing the character he is means he is certainly going to try to gleam some information if that route is possible as he likely finds it incredibly frustrating to be on the back-foot with these series of ambushes he keeps running into over the last 24 hours.
That certainly is plan b. ;)
We found and identified an Unguent of timelessness in the hut and boxes/barrels of food in the loft. I made it a point to use a bit of it to preserve his ever expanding corpse collection up to a year and stuffed them into barrels and hid them in the library.
Tez definitely thinks we’re being watched/followed at this point. Too many weird things happening. Bragda and that merchant’s weird murder, the frost giants having us surrounded less than 24 hours after arrival while also knowing about the hut, and now demons sneaking up on us in the night....
Sorry to hear about your loss Sakitu.
My condolences Sakitu. Take care.
As for everyone else, holy cow 24 posts.
So I'm thinking of going lore spirit for the day so I lose my channeling and life link, but I gain the ability to repair the magic items we have and identify the rest easily.
The loot sheet I am using to keep track of most things is linked Here
I believe with my last try helped by the identify spell Tez should have managed to identify every magic item we've collected.
The only two loose ends are a lot of the non-magic valuables we don't have a price for. On that I was wondering, DM, if you wouldn't mind I do believe the person with the highest appraise skill is Quasit sitting at a +6. With drinking a bit of magical wine for a +2 circumstance bonus and a single person passing an aid another Q could simply take a 10 and hit the DC of 20 which should be what is typically required to price them accurately. Just to speed up the book-keeping.
Here's a list of non-magic valuables that were not priced when collected that I have noted in case you have to search through the pdfs of the book to find them.
Lewd Sketchbook
Jeweled Trollhound collar
Snow Globe
Gold Censer w/ plat inlay H-Symbol
5 Tourmalines
10 enormous pearls
Gold Locket
Blue Quartz Tiara
The only other magic item you didn't reveal but gave the DC for last time was the Artrosa inscribed amulet which Tez hit so letting us know what it is would be helpful, thanks.
Taking 10 for the appraise is fine in terms of values. I'll sift through all that once the party gets to town.
The Artosa amulet functions chime of opening.
Note: Hard Tack (bread that must soak liquid before being eaten) is not the only kind preserved travel food.
There is one kind (I forget the name) made by native americans that is a ball of fat with berries and nuts and things inside. (sounds gross to me but my mom says it tastes quite good)
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Never heard of the fat-berry-nut thing but looks like it's got three food groups covered. When we're hiking, we make up a bunch of freezer bag meals, basically dehydrated beans w/quick rice, oatmeal w/dehydrated fruit, and Cliff bars. I dehydrated some scrambled eggs for our last trip into the Canyon; they were good, but dehydrating them was a pain...
If we want the best travel bread, the Pathfinder Elves need to import some lembas from the Middle Earth Elves...
It was an excellent detail for the gm to add, but I suddenly wondered why I only ever heard of breadish stuff and jerky for travel rations in games and stories when the real world has so much more.
Which is not a criticism of our gm, just something I had thought in response. So I made a note, because it made me think of the fat stuff my mom told me about when I was thinking about alternatives I might use in my games, and I thought others might find it interesting.
No worries Selena. I've learned to consider most of your posts stream of consciousness. An interesting insight that is for sure. Always been a bit intrigued at how magic in pathfinder starts with creating or cleansing things like food / water. Space for simpler preservation magic, given things like preserving bodies.
Exactly, you can always have a friendly fight after. What did we say way back when? Punch a bear in the nose or rub its belly?
It's a very charming quality to have. Inspired by a few shonen protagonists iirc?
@Sakitu would it be reasonable to assume you slapped the unarmored characters Tez, Maka, and now Fin with mage armor in the last 7 hours? I am not including in my AC at present, but I figure I'd ask since it's a very long duration buff and it's feasible your char might have.
@DM Lareg, I picked up the hex that lets me craft wonderous items for the day. Given we're likely not at a settlement to buy 'materials' would you be willing to allow Tez to re-purpose some of the treasure as materials and have him take it out of his share once we sell some things? I was thinking particularly of the fancy troll hound collar and spending lunch/evening downtime crafting a Bloodstone Collar for Yang.