Hi all, I'm sort of back. I've got limited wifi and I'll be fully back by Friday afternoon.
Unless otherwise stared assume Mal provides answers to any questions you ask. He'll be forthcoming unless he sees A need to be subservience.
Sorry everyone! I've had to reformat my computer, been sick, and just generally unable to access GM stuff. Will be posting things again soon.
Duuuude.
Yeah... I've been having (and continue to have) a consistently rough year, but Pathfinder's been one of the more fun parts of it.
ok appartently I didn't posted what I wanted to post so I'll try again.
Now that I have Ayiyasha charmed I would like to try pulling her deeper and deeper into my clutches and turn her in a loyal pet.
What I would like to do is first of all drain her to a more manageable level (since succubi have 8hd and she seems to have some extra hd or class levels up her sleeves I guess draining 8 levels out of her would be a safe choice.
Once she have -8 on all saves and skills I assume Delyliath has the freedom to do put her under a spell or deceive her with bluff + diplomacy whenever she wants.
The Delyliath treatment would basically be keeping her under a regularly refreshed charm monsters effect, put her regularly in suggestions effects that forces her to act upon her passion for me but at the same time denying her the attentions she will crave.
Basically what I want to do is to train her to beg for Delyliath's approval, and turn her into a willing slave of her.
While I won't keep her from her job and I will encourage her to keep her position and limit their encounters to the end of her shifts, I think she might be less efficient than usual at her job. I hope nobody has the skills, the capabilities and the guts to check on her for several missing levels and enchantment effects applied on her.
Is that feasible? Do I have to roll something?
Diplomancers, enchanters, and their ilk... So scary.. All your combat abilities mean nothing..
Anyway, I'll hold off on posting till I get the go ahead on whether our knowledge folks pass on whatever information be under those spoilers.
She will still have her own Succubus abilities, so even though she will live for the attention of her new mistress she will probably treat everyone else the same way. If you give her the right instructions it should be easy for her to hide the fact that anything is different.
Diplomancers, enchanters, and their ilk... So scary.. All your combat abilities mean nothing..
Yeah. And also deceptively resistant to mind-effects immunity.
Many people say that enchantment is near useless because is easy to acquire immunity from it.But I still have to find a magic ring with immunity to your whole brainwashed city rising up against you. *wink wink*
Anyway, just give me the word, and Illia'll lead the way. These tight quarters are perfect for her.
Since this is a group effort and we have the means to at least partially coordinate our 'attacks', what would you all suggest is the best course of action for Dris?
Should I follow the party along into the dungeon? See if I could be sent away to another part of the palace and cook up trouble there? Or maybe just find away to slip my shackles and head to the elves we seek to ally with?
Let's just roll the dungeon together. Nice, straightforward, kill some monsters. :P
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As for tactics, I'd say, roll in a round after Illia, and catch anyone headed for the casters that gets past me.
Yeah, I figure it's a while since everyone's gotten to explore/fight and that could be fun.
And Delyliath, unfortunately, I'm going to stick with the wording of "A succubus drains energy from a mortal she lures into an act of passion, such as a kiss." And succubi are no mortals. So, while you've definitely got Captain Ayiyasha wrapped around your finger—and can call on her for information or aid—I don't think you can actually drain her levels.
(And Illia, don't worry, I'm one of those GMs who generally doesn't see the point in hiding a trap behind a Knowledge (history) check.)
Alternately, if there's anything I didn't put in an obvious spoiler that you'd still like to use your massive perception on, that's fine; I use the spoilers mostly for things that people would easily/intuitively know to look at, but am always willing to think of more detail.
Still, there could totally be stuff like, "Yo, ancient gorgons. Watch out" in poetic history metaphor. :P
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And Delyliath, unfortunately, I'm going to stick with the wording of "A succubus drains energy from a mortal she lures into an act of passion, such as a kiss." And succubi are no mortals. So, while you've definitely got Captain Ayiyasha wrapped around your finger—and can call on her for information or aid—I don't think you can actually drain her levels.
Umh, that kinda change all my assumptions on relationships between the succubi.
I always considered "mortal" as living being that can be affected by negative-energy/death effects, but I'm fine with it.It just kinda changes my plans and preconceptions about succubi.
But that leads me to...
by that ruling, should I consider all outsiders immune to my energy drain?
It's a bit of a weird situation, yeah. Succubi are definitely described as manipulating other demons, there's just less of a mention of energy drain. I'd say the other abilities (charm monster, etc) might work, but the energy drain itself wouldn't work on "non-mortals," which I'd assume would include Fey and non-native Outsiders (anything from another plane that doesn't age).
My guess as to a justification? Succubi eventually suck out their victims' souls. But other Succubi, being non-native outsiders, don't have souls.
That's not quite accurate.
Demons, angels, and other outsiders do have souls. In fact, it is arguable that souls are all they are. What they don't have are normal bodies. That's why they have to be summoned, or possess mortals. The only way they can come to a place in their true form is with really powerful magic like Gate or Plane Shift.
When their body is destroyed their soul is 'deported' back to where they came from. The only way to kill them is to destroy them on their home plane, where damage is done straight to their "soul" rather than to whatever shell they are wearing when they are elsewhere.
It's fair to say that succubi can't level drain other succubi. There's a sort of precedent for that. Other outsiders of all kinds really should be susceptible though.
On the other hand, Charm/Dominate should work on succubi just fine.
"Unlike most other living creatures, an outsider does not have a dual nature; its soul and body form one unit. When an outsider is slain, no soul is set loose."
Yeah, that's a bit weird. I always assumed it as sort of not having a soul to suck out, or at least as violating the prerequisite for counting as "mortal". May have to look into the eligibility of other outsiders then.
Given that her combat abilities fairly much all revolve around converting opponents or level draining them, giving all outsiders an immunity to Dely's energy drain is a very significant nerf.
Given how demons reproduce (corrupted mortal souls are fragmented becoming Dretches which gain power over time, eventually emerging as other kinds of demons), that indicates that demons, at least, are actually nothing but soul-stuff.
Huh, that makes sense. In light of this, my new ruling is
A) Succubi are still immune to each other's energy drain, just not charm. (If they weren't, there'd be only one succubus left in the Abyss, who's eaten all the others)
B) I guess there's nothing specifically protecting outsiders from negative energy drain, and "mortal" has no well-defined rules mechanic. I was going to ask the forums about this, but in light of Illia's point, I'm going to instead go with "Consuming part of an Outsider's soul involves dissolving part of their body as well, making draining energy from other Outsiders something that 'tastes' really bad, and which Succubi prefer to avoid except in extreme situations"
You heard that Drisquar?
You are not just being an §@#*§@°#, but you also taste really bad.
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I don't care what you think it tastes like, young lady. If you want to leave this table you're going to eat three bites.
Alright, a few things:
1. My hard drive just wiped itself for the third time in two weeks. I'm going to be bringing it into the Apple store yet again, but this means the dungeon map, as I upload it, will potentially look less self-congruous.
2. I've noticed the game slowing down quite a bit. Is there anything I can do to help get people moving again? It keeps feeling like we're waiting for something.
3. What do you guys think about bringing in a new player? This would bring the total back up to 8, and might also add some new energy; and "rescued from a dungeon in which they've been chained to howl in maddening silence for a hundred years" seems as good a place as any to meet a new party member.
Your call, I'm still waiting (Two days now) on anyone to respond to me as to whether they pass on the information in the spoilers.
I think the reason that hasn't happened is because we haven't ever been clear of the distances involved. Most of the telepaths have been away from you up until this latest jaunt.
Oh! My bad! There's a new dungeon map at the top of the campaign, but it's not very visible.
(The drow are behind you. Anyone who doesn't want to journey down into the dungeons doesn't have to. Colored squares mean closed doors that will lead to me adding sections onto the map)
Fair enough. But Shimsil: Drisquar discussed the possibility of you falling to the floor and mind-controlling one of the accompanying guards. Should you wish to do something like this, or mind control someone else at another time, the party will likely be aware, allowing you to communicate with them through that person.
One of the oddities of playing an inanimate object, I guess.
So what you're saying is that we need a convenient circumstance for the head guard to ask if she can examine the sword? That could be arranged.
Also: I'm bringing in another player, to bring us back up to 8 (9 if Iranaset returns later), since I think this is actually a pretty good place to do it. . . somewhere further into the dungeon, you may find a prisoner who was just offered freedom by the Crimson Stranger, and who is even more eager than Anaxian for a way to screw over the Drow above.
I'm surprised one of the guards with us did not relieve me of Shim. Was kinda expecting that.
Were that to happen, once we finish in the dungeon, Shim could command the guard to bring him to the head guard, whom he could then dominate.
Present
Ah, yes, party, Zhu Da will be joining us at some point. When I started this game, I was concerned about balance. I am no longer concerned about balance, and Rule of Cool says we could certainly use a proper aberration.
And Zhu: What's the range on your telepathy/detect thoughts? (So that when the party gets close enough, I'll let you know, and you can send them a message. This campaign's convention for telepathic speech is bold and italics with no quote marks).
P.S. Illithids have no spoken language, but ones who spend time away from their cities often spend time reading through ancient tomes in search of forgotten magic or artifacts. Feel free to pick a truckload of bonus languages to read/understand.
We have a tendency to stand and stare at things. I'm just moving things along a bit.
GM if you aren't as concerned about balance, that's fine. So far it hasn't been an issue and everyone has their niche. Combat power-wise we all seem to be comparable. From my observation, Drisquar and Shimsil have been the two members of the party with the least ability to effect the course of the story. (They both have abilities that could potentially change things a great deal, they just haven't really come into play yet)
It might be worth using the discussion section to identify and discuss issues regarding power balance. I agree that balance is largely subjective, but I want to avoid any situation where a player feels that their character doesn't have much to contribute.
Also, welcome to the party, squidface!
Yeah, we... probably don't need another mind-controller, but if anyone feels left out, let me know. And telepaths make pretty decent offensive casters. (Also, we have another character actually capable of injury, which is not much of the party these days)
Capable of injury? I'm not following you. (Admittedly, I'm pretty tired today.)
Oh, there's a few party members I've got a suspicious feeling may never actually take damage. Illia, TSG, Shimsil... and you and Mal return from the dead automatically if killed, so our party is not all that mortal.
Actually, I don't. When I die my soul goes into my Phylactory. I need a suitable Draconic corpse nearby to take over. There's no time limit, but until there's a suitable body nearby I just sit in my little box and wait.
I can leave a body and inhabit a new one, keeping the old one as a spare, but if a body gets damaged to the point of destruction it can't be used again (unless I take a new body to the place the old one was destroyed and use Restore Corpse on it)
Being a dracolich is more complicated than being a regular lich.
It is arguable that I could use Marvelous Pigments to make any kind of corpse I wanted, but that is kind seems a little cheaty and a lot less interesting from a story perspective.
Huh! Did not realize that potential weakness.
Not that I go after player's weaknesses...