Sefayll Valerian |
Thanks, Tikrok.
So with our potentially changing dynamic with new characters, should I reconsider my spell selection? Not that it's really optimum, but if there's an area that Tikrok is optimized to handle, spell-wise, I can avoid doubling up in that area.
Of course, if he's built to self-buff primarily, I will stay the course.
Tikrok |
Given that I can change spells easier than you can I think you pick what you want to do most and I'll adapt. My damage spells won't be very good as my save will be quite low. I was thinking more battlefield terrain control would be better for me. Cast some buffs on whoever wants them them before battle and wildshape to something useful. First round cast a control spell (wall of stone or thorns; sleet storm perhaps) then charge in.
Aubrey the Malformed |
Hi chaps, it looks like Arthur has dropped out so he will be 'eliminated' from the story. Via a different route another player, mittean, has expressed an interest in joining. Magnimar is a good place for a PC to join so mittean can join in here relatively seamlessly. Welcome, mittean!
mittean |
Thanks, Aubrey, I appreciate the opportunity. I’ve loosely followed this game since almost its inception, so this is exciting.
I am still locking down ideas for a character, and am open to ideas and suggestions, to perhaps integrate in with the group (oh, look, it’s my cousin, Mittean, from Magnimar. He could help us! Or whatever, lol)
Pixie Rogue |
Welcome aboard, mittean!
I imagine you have looked at the current arrangement of abilities in the party already. We have a lot of the bases - if not all of them - covered, so you really have a lot of freedom in what you choose. We have some weaknesses and you are welcome to step into a breach where you find it. If you are leaning toward a character of the arcane spellcasting bent, Sefayll is only too happy to coordinate her daily allotment of spells with her allies, so don't fret about stepping on any toes there.
Throw out ideas or come with a completed concept, we're pretty easy to work with.
Aubrey the Malformed |
Hi mittean.
No MIC - a lot of that stuff isn't all that balanced and may not mesh well with the 'new' Paizo rules on magic items.
The original game started under 3e with a 32 point buy. I think that translates to a 25 point buy under PF.
Hit point house rule is set out under the Aubrey the Demented/Malformed avatar info.
If approved, I am leaning towards 5 levels of ‘crossbow’slinger, 5 of Swashbuckler, and one of Magus. The character would fight with a katana and a repeating crossbow.
There is a specific Paizo archetype for gunslinger called a Bolt Ace - I suggest you run with that. The build is fine as far as it goes (race?). I'm more interested in (1) who this character is (2) what's his motivation to adventure (3) what's he doing in Magnimar right now, why is he there and what's his tie to the story (4) some explanations for the mildly wacky build in-game (crossbow and swashbuckling fairly understandable, but the dip into a level of magus may need some explanation - it may also provide some interesting background information I can use) and the use of crossbow with a katana (why a katana and not a bastard sword, is there some sort of cultural reason, why so keen on crossbows, why crossbow and katana)?
mittean |
Race will likely be human.
The bolt ace is perfect, thanks for directing me to that.
No MIC, copy that. ☺️
The issue I was having with the swashbuckler class honestly is the P weapon qualification. Specifically the rapier (one of my least favorite weapons.) I was looking at possibly using the weapon versatility feat, that allows you to Swift Acrion change how you use a weapon (say from S to P). I was looking at just a LS, but wanted a bit more flare and character, and ended up at the katana. It is in no way defining, and can change to a better suggestion.
The main idea is I wanted a crossbowslinger (got it now), who could handle himself up close, and in both cases used his luck to make his way through. Gunslinger and swashbucklers have grit and panache...but I dislike the P weapons on swashbuckler.
I picture this guy as lightly or not armored...which made me think of the Kensai Magus. And that got me to the katana again.
I’m honestly not sold on the katana or the Magus. I’m not even completely sold on the Swashbuckler, and may just do 11 in the bolt ace.
What do you folks think?
The character is not from Magnimar, but is here doing research looking for an item (tbd with you, Aubrey). I’m assuming that he either needs funding to go where he needs to go (hired by the team), or needs a team for safety (again, you guys show up), or something.
The item should tie in to the adventure, if possible, and should also tie in to him. This is a story about self discovery, and history, and validity; about family and belonging for him.
Aubrey the Malformed |
I'm cool on the katana if you can think of a good reason why he's got one - or even a fairly bad reason. It might be an interesting character quirk ("Let me tell you how I got this sword...") but it's not essential if it gets in the way. I don't know enough about the classes to really offer advice on which way to go, but generally multi-classing will lead to a weaker character due to the lack of access to the high level abilities. I shall leave you to ponder that.
(Also, as an aside, there was a really bad British fantasy movie from the (maybe) 80s called 'Hawk the Slayer'. There was a character in that with what appeared to be a fully automatic crossbow - all us lads at school watched it and our main comment the following morning was how cool the guy with the crossbow was (he died in the climactic battle, but anyway... it must have been cool because I still remember it over thirty years later). I'm kinda seeing your guy like this. Just hoping he doesn't die too.)
On the idea of motivation,
The other idea is that the character is interested in exploration of Thassilonian ruins. There are lots of them under the sea, and again Silverhelm can help get you access. It's maybe a less crunchy motivation but quite easy to slot you into the party that way with little fuss (not that I mind fuss).
Pixie Rogue |
There are weapon mods and feats that would allow a full-time crossbowman to be effective in melee if you decide to go with 11 levels of Bolt Ace. I'm thinking there's a feat that allows you to threaten an area for attacks of opportunity and you can mount a blade or bayonet to the weapon.
Just a couple quick thoughts before I return to RL.
mittean |
Okay, question, Aubrey...I currently have my build at a level 6 human Bolt Ace Gunslinger. I was considering a Swashbuckler for the next 5 levels. However, a Swashbuckler is a hybrid class, of the fighter and the gunslinger, and as I understand it (I've never played either of these classes, so I am unsure), a hybrid class's abilities DO NOT stack with a parent classes abilities unless explicitly stated. The feature in question is Nimble.
"At 3rd level, a swashbuckler gains a +1 dodge bonus to AC while wearing light or no armor. Anything that causes the swashbuckler to lose her Dexterity bonus to AC also causes her to lose this dodge bonus. This bonus increases by 1 for every 4 levels beyond 3rd (to a maximum of +5 at 19th level)."
"Starting at 2nd level, a gunslinger gains a +1 dodge bonus to AC while wearing light or no armor. Anything that causes the gunslinger to lose her Dexterity bonus to AC also causes the gunslinger to lose this dodge bonus. This bonus increases by +1 for every four levels beyond 2nd level (to a maximum of +5 at 20th level)."
As I understand it, Dodge bonuses normally stack, but my question is do these abilities stack? It's only one level of Nimble, so a +1 Dodge bonus, total, over those five levels, but I wanted to get your ruling. :)
Asher Merivingion |
Okay, along with Nimble is the Swashbuckler's initiative and the Gunslinger's initiative. Both give an Initiative count of +2. Do they stack, or no?
Inventory is 95% done. Links are about 75% done. I'll likely re-write the background tomorrow.
Aubrey the Malformed |
Nimble stacks. Gunslinger's and Swashbucker's Initiative do not stack.
Had a quick look at the character. First off, don't worry about giving yourself aquatic gear - that will be handled for you, so you can recycle the cost. Second, I don't think you can overcome the limit of two ring slots by wearing them on your toes.
Asher Merivingion |
That actually comes from the Belt of Meridian, actually, lol. I found it last night, and thought it quirky and interesting. It allows only two active at a time.
Noted on the Nimble and Initiative's, thank you.
That's a shame, I was having fun with the aquatic gear, lol. Alright, perhaps I'll recycle them.
Asher Merivingion |
Okay. If I just “step in” to that character, does it interrupt anything for you?
Also, what’s the specific item they’re looking for? I know the Bone Mountains (iirc), but WHAT in the Bone mountains? Would it be appropriate to cut to my knowledge of that? (Which means I might need that information from you).
Whatever motivates your story the best.
Aubrey the Malformed |
Not at all.
Re what they want,
Currently you and Grundar are in the process of building a submersible which will allow you to directly study the depths of the Varisian Gulf where a lot of these ruins are. That's Grundar's interest (yours we haven't ironed out yet, though you can do that in play). The submersible is in the warehouse, currently obscured by smoke. You need a specific golem part (I've made up a thing about golem engines which work in watercraft on a small scale in the past in this game) to make the engine work - however, what you have received from the Golemworks in Magnimar isn't up to scratch and inadequate for the needs. Hence the unfortunate explosion and smoke as the part fails. Which is where the adventurers come in....
None of that should prevent you from chipping in in character, asking relevant questions and so on (like "What sort of item are you looking for? what's it got to do with us? that sort of thing).
Asher Merivingion |
Aubrey, here are some outlines for Asher. I'd like you input in integrating into your campaign, and any suggestions. Hidden to keep it from the other characters until it's revealed.
Asher started dating Ceilidh, the daughter of Abydos, and their lives couldn’t have been happier. Money was flowing in, love was in the air, and Asher had discovered a talent with his fathers legacy: he was an extremely talented shot with the crossbow.
At the age of 17, his father started to struggle. Money seemed to be disappearing, shipments lost, expenses rose. Asher hired a friend, Thoros, whom he and Ceilidh had gotten tattoos with, to investigate what might be going wrong in the business, and it was uncovered that Abydos was embezzling money from the company. Asher had his friend Thoros blackmail Abydos, with Abydos unaware of who was blackmailing him. The plan worked, and Asher was excited to return a large sum of money upon his father’s return from a shipment to Corentyn, Cheliax. Asher proposed to Ceilidh, and all was looking up.
His father never returned. His ship went down in the Steaming Sea, during a great storm.
Shortly thereafter, Abydos killed his wife, and committed suicide. After the duel tragedy of losing her sister, brother-in-law and husband, Alona sank into a deep depression she has never emerged from. It was discovered that Ceilidh’s inheritance was non-existent.
Just before the story begins, Asher learns that the ship may have gone down through nefarious means, and he’d like to go verify the wreckage himself.
1. The tattoo he got in his youth was a Sihedron rune.
2. If you have a generic-esque character from earlier in the story that could be “Thoros”, who the party defeated somehow, that is perfect. I would like Asher tied in to Kharzog from the beginning, but not seeing the forest for the trees.
3. I’m unsure if Abydos kills his wife and himself, or if Thoros got greedy, went back and robbed them of their wealth, and made it look like a murder suicide, or something else, your choice.
4. The method in which the ship went down is up to you, to tie in to your stories history, or themes, or characters.
5. Ceilidh is gone, I think. Not sure where. Dead, homeless, something. You can bring her back if you’d like.
6. Looking for information on the ship, and the ship itself, obviously.
I obviously won't want to know any twists you decide, but wanted to put the themes and ideas in front of you. This connects Asher to your already told story, potentially, but he doesn't realize it yet. It gives him guilt, and duties, and a desire to care for his mother, and find his love, Ceilidh. It gives him potential enemies, alive or dead, and puts all of his losses in life directly at the feet of Kharzog, giving him solid motivations to pursue his destruction.
Aubrey the Malformed |
Asher
I would suggest some tweaks, as follows:
Dad's business is a bit more low key than suggested, what with ships and shops across Varisia and a factory in Korvosa. I suggest he has one manufactory in Magnimar but is more a master craftsman than an international businessman. As crossbows can be quite "dwarf-y" perhaps he collaborated with a member of the Silverhelm family, dwarven emigres from Janderhoff, on the design and manufacture. That could give him a bond with Grundar.
Asher is engaged to Ceilidh (not the easiest name to spell) who is the daughter of Abydos. However, there is no mother to Ceilidh who (apparently) died years ago. Ceilidh and her pal Thoros encourage you to get a tattoo (which turns out later to be a Sihedron rune).
Abydos lends money to dad to expand his business, securing it on the deeds to his home and factory. But the small print is predatory and dad is soon in trouble and cannot pay. Abydos hauls him before Chief Justice Ironbriar who condemns dad to the Hells, the prison in Magnimar, as a delinquent debtor. While in prison, dad mysteriously dies. The factory is closed and Asher and his mum are turfed out of their house with hardly a bean. To top it all, Ceilidh dumps him in very cruel and derisive fashion.
However, events move fast. Shortly after the foreclosure, Ironbriar and the other Chief Justices disappear. Rumour has it that adventurers uncovered a cell of the cult of the Skinsaw Man which had infiltrated the upper echelons of Magnimar's justice system and was carrying out killings, in the prisons and high society alike, in the name or Norgorber. The Chief Justices were mixed up in this and wiped out by the adventurers. These rumours are never confirmed, but reviews of Ironbriar's judgements lead to the release of more than a few prisoners.
But justice comes too late for Asher's family. Dad is dead, a victim of the cult, and worse, Abydos fled town as Ironbriar fell. Bearing the deeds to the factory and Asher's home with him, Abydos took the first ship out of Magnimar heading anywhere. A storm blew up and sent Abydos down to the bottom, deeds and all.
The plot thickens as Thoros and Ceilidh simply disappear. Asher makes some enquiries and discovers that Abydos was never married and no one knows where Ceilidh came from - she only showed up a year or two ago. There is also no report of her joining Abydos on the ship. The authorities are also showing an interest in who has received the seven-pointed star tattoo that Asher had with Ceilidh and Thoros. Similarly, Thoros has no history within Magnimar and most of what you thought you knew about them appears to be lies.
So Asher is now thrown on to his wits. His mum has gine into decline since the family's precipitous decline in fortunes. Without the deeds they cannot reclaim their properties and restart the business. And to cap it all, the manufactory seems to be haunted by his father's ghost. Divinations suggest that returning the factory to family ownership will settle the ghost but, alas, that's difficult while the deeds sit at the bottom of the sea.
We need to explain to some extent why Asher is quite so high level, given that his original backstory pretty much just had him hanging around Magnimar with his chums while being loved up. I would suggest that he has adventured a bit while trying to 1) earn a bit of cash now that everything has fallen through, 2) trying to find out what happened, and 3) trying to get the materials together for this submersible. He has battled cults to find out that the mark he has is an ancient Thassilonian rune, and that quite a few people received this rune and then died. He has stalked the wilds and travelled far to bring back various components for the submersible. All this has changed him from a callow youth to someone a lot tougher.
How does this work?
Asher Merivingion |
You are welcome to change any of the names, obviously, to fit your needs better. I like this, it works pretty well for me.
I finished off my inventory, I believe. Still finishing off a few links for ease of you or I looking up specific information for any feats or class abilities or anything.
Asher Merivingion |
I still wish they added a way to "bookmark" your favorite games. The stupid update thing doesn't tell me when anyone here updates, so I have to go look manually.
And, come top think of it, I haven't found the stupid update page on this new site. Grr.
Aubrey, did you take a look at my questions?
Aubrey the Malformed |
Asher:
Aubrey the Malformed |
You don't have to spoiler that last one.
Aubrey the Malformed was a character I played in a one-shot of Heart of Nightfang Spire (the old 3.0e adventure) with my RL group - he was a Mystic Theurge worshipper of Nerull. Anyway, the party fell out and we never completed the adventure (odd, really, given the party had me and a paladin of Pelor in it, among others) and old Aubrey was never played again, so he was a very short-lived character (though he survived, mainly but running away when the paladin found out about his religious convictions). But I was playing him at roughly the time I created my board alias here (well over a decade ago) and so, for want of a better alias, went for that.
The Aubrey bit comes from Aubrey Beardsley, who was a 19th Century artist who, among other things, illustrated the programmes for Oscar Wilde's first production of his play Salome. But Beardsley was famously decadent (supposedly having sex with his sister and taking lots of drugs - anyway, whatever the truth of that, he hung around with Wilde and managed to die young) and also did some rather odd erotic art too. I think there was maybe an exhibition of his work going on somewhere at the time I created old Aubrey - I probably saw the posters on the Tube - and, looking for a suitably decadent name, I chose Beardsley's. The Malformed bit come along from him being a twisted Nerullite, and from possibly from Beardsley's weird art. So there you have it.
Tikrok |
I guess I should put this here too. My plans for desert travel are quite magical. At camp time I can cast Grove of Respite for a comfortable campsite. I'll have create water prepped so we don't go thirsty. During the day I'll be wildshaped to be a lookout and have beastspeak prepped so I can tell you what I see. That wand would probably be a good idea though.
Nevynxxx |
Elisile needs some rations, a tent, and a sun-hat. A wand of endure elements is a good idea … but Elisile already has the spell in her spellbook, so could cast it a few times a day – she’d be willing to prepare 4 castings of this per day to protect 4 characters and/or mounts. If a few other casters can use it too, we may not need the wand?
If the Cinderlands are prone to wild fires, Elisile will try to purchase some scrolls of resist energy and/or protection from energy her in Magnimar and copy them into her spellbook.
That's using spell slots that we may need to use against beasties though? It's worth considering as an option, but a wand has the advantage of not reducing your effectiveness in combat ;)
Asher Merivingion |
Well, I have attempted now on seven different occasions to update the background section on Asher. I've gotten one line updated. It errors out, even if I copy paste in that section for some reason. I'll keep trying (I do every other day or so, trying to add more). But eventually he'll actually have a pertinent background up. *Siiiiigh*
Aubrey the Malformed |
At this level, 1st level slots won't be the first things you turn to in combat. Rather than a fully charged wand, perhaps a few scrolls might be better instead. I'll be honest, it's making me think of campers with too much money, fretting about whether they ought to bring both the bug spray and the citronella candles, or just one or the other.
Tikrok |
Haha, well you aren't wrong... if you step back and look at it it's kind of funny to see high lvl adventurers fret over mundain travel arrangements. That being said, I can prep a bunch of endure elements spells as well. If I'm feeling frosty I can even extend them with 2nd lvl slots for two days worth of protection. Most of my spells are for buffs and heals anyway.
[Sarcasm]We should totally look for a covered wagon enchanted with endure elements permanently! Travel in style![/sarcasm]
Sefayll Valerian |
Actually, I don't think the duration of the spell is level-dependent. It appears to be 24 hours, period, so higher-level slots would be a waste. It really sounds like we will be traveling in style with the array of magic you are planning to bring to bear.
If we opt to use spell slots, Sefayll could certainly prepare multiple to spread the 'cost' among the spellcasters. She doesn't have it in her spellbook yet, though. *cough cough*
Elisile Starbrow |
Yeah, Elisile won’t be likely to cast about three other 1st level spells per day, so can free up 4 slots for endure elements. She is willing to share her spellbook for Sefyall to scribe the spell from.
Nevynxxx |
We'll spend Easter weekend up in the Lakes I think, there's a Harry Potter exhibition on in Lancaster too, so a nice train ride away.
If you're in Cornwall, the Eden project is well worth a look. we spent a nice day there a couple of years ago.