Beyond the Tentacled Eye - A Pathfinder Greyhawk Tharizdun Campaign

Game Master GM Darkblade

Sorry for the absence folks, the flu I caught over Thanksgiving decided to devolve into a bout of pneumonia. I am once again able to access my laptop and resume posting. Again, sorry for the disruption.

No problems GM. Take care of yourself.

My mother had pneumonia this past week, and is barely up and about again. Hope you are feeling ok Darkblade...

Unfortunately I have grown too accustomed to pneumonia; this was my sixth documented case of it in the last few years. "That which doesn't kill us..."

"...makes us fatter."

"...tries again tomorrow."

"...often provides nice loot."

Sorry all, adjusting to a new job. Switching from days to nights. I may be having a bit of trouble this week, but I am still here!

It's something. Better than unemployment.

Take care Fil. I worked nights for a few years...

I will be taking the day tomorrow, making merry in whatever manner I can manage. I wish each of you whatever Greetings of the Season you may celebrate, and hope you all take a moment to enjoy friends, family, and any goodly company as might be available to you. For myself, I offer Merry Christmas and God Bless Us Everyone...

Merry Christmas. :)

Happy Mr Newton's Birthday.

Sorry to all. Have been working nights and tonight is the last night. I haven't even looked at anything because I have been working 12 hours and driving one hour each way.

It was definitely better than unemployment, but it took everything from me all month. I didn't even see my family for Christmas.

Will be posting a real post probably Friday after I recover, if you want to still have me.

I'm still keen to wait for Filnefillan's player to chime in if they can, and see what the situation is moving forward. If Filnefillan has to leave I vote we recruit another, but I would accede to whatever Musami and Braggi want as I feel they were here from the start...

I guess that's an issue can solve when, if, we manage to win or current combat xD

I am fine to recruit another, but we need to get through this combat, and perhaps it may have to wait until we get back to town. It depends on how GM Darkblade would like to into a new person. I am enjoying this game a lot.

I have sent a message to Fil, waiting to hear back from him. In the interim I will bot him to attempt to bring the party back to a fighting stance.

Still no reply from Fil, he has not posted under any alias since Jan 2nd.

Thoughts?

I am reluctant to say it but maybe we replace him.

I defer to Musami and Braggi as well. I enjoyed playing with Fil, but PbP games have high turnover, and he might have just needed to move on.

Reading his posts as player and DM he's had three relatives in intensive care/hospital and changed to a new job that is completely taking his time. I'm actually up for continuing or playing dual characters - getting a fresh person in to take on all the plots might be a lityle onerous.

But happy to defer to Mu/Brag, DM can always link them to synopsis posts that break it down...

Will have a gameplay post up later today...

I'm fine with keeping Fil in the party for a while, don't get me wrong. It is onerous for GM Darkblade to be botting him though. Is nominating someone to bot him for a couple weeks an option and we'll see if he resurfaces?

Honestly, I can see virtues and flaws in each of the solutions. In the end, at least to me, it's the GM who needs to be comfortable, and that transpires in comfort for the players (usually).

Myself I have just started a new job, so I am looking to balance the needs of two hours daily commute with the job and maintaining the PbP. I can bot if necessary, but I would feel a little more comfortable if someone in the party would take that mantle. I will add any particular info Fil might have had from his exposure to the goo and dream voices, when appropriate, so the player would only need to cover combat actions, with no additional vote in group decisions.

Seem fair?

Sounds very fair Darkblade. Volunteers to bot Fil?

I have enough trouble with Navith, and I don't really play arcane casters, so I'm not volunteering. If it's untenable I say we continue without Fil until such time as he returns or we decide we need a replacement.

Sorry folks, Flu Type A just swept through my new office and I was an unfortunate victim of the near quarter of staffing afflicted.

Feeling somewhat better but I know the hang dog drag will last a few days more.

Take it easy, rest up GM...

I post here in order to not clog the Game thread too much:

I really don't know whether to stay or to leave. Honestly. So, as you guys say.

I'm in the same boat. If we leave, we'll find it much harder given they will have time to prepare. If we stay, we might not prevail. Ach. I'm for pushing on to the end I guess, and let the devil take the hindmost.

Folks, if you haven't read Navith's spoilers, you may wish to now to see what trouble he has wrought for himself, and the transformation he has undertaken.

@Darkblade. I'm not sure how Pathfinder handles clerics "falling". Essentially, Navith is following the story feat he has, Crisis of Conscience. I've peppered my posts for Navith with frustrations with Pelor's might, and a growing fondness for the evil morningstar he picked up at Emridy. I hereby wish to change Navith's alignment from Neutral to Neutral Evil. Note that this is not to seen as Navith completing the goal of the story feat.

I imagine a new deity might need to be found, and in the meantime Navith will lose access to spells. In ADnD, if memory serves (which it may well not), such a loss of deity meant only higher level spells were unavailable...

If Navith's new alignment is untenable for the type of game you wish to run I am happy to retire him, and if allowed, create a new character to join our doughty band.

@Navith, you may shift your alignment if you so desire, I will not interfere. The party may take actions depending upon how "evil" you take it.

As for spells, for the time being you will find your prayers are being answered, though no voice yet speaks to you regarding who it is that is guiding you.

You must change one of the two Domains you have chosen, and we will worry about how the new one is administered once you realize the deity listening to you. Destruction, Evil, Fire, or Weather would be appropriate choices for the elements affecting the hearts and minds of the area.

For channel energy you may still channel positive energy, I doubt your hatred of the undead would shift that too extremely, at least at this stage.

Sound fair to everyone?

If you would rather shift to a new character we could pause a moment and allow you to do so, while also shopping around for a replacement mage for the party.

I leave the decision up to you and the players.

Seems fair, and I thank you for your considered appraisal of my proposal so far!

Will drop Sun for Evil domain..

I would ask that I change to negative channel upon attaining the next level - hatred of undead is more Pelor's schtick (and doubly given the Sun domain's bolstering of channel damage to undead) I imagine than Navith's personal crusade - if anything he is becoming interested in the concept of master over spirits. If you think negative/harming channel will be too powerful/unbalancing (or have reservations about him controlling undead either mechanically or thematically) then no harm, no foul I'd rather retire Navith and make something/someone new. Given his somewhat prickly encounter with Burne, this might be for the best.

Undead only plays a part in this campaign at the early levels, rapidly tapering off in favor of more powerful demonic and abhorrent abominations as it progresses. Just a friendly FYI.

My concern with negative channeling is harming teammates in the AoE. But to address channeling as you approach the next level, which should come at the end of the moat house, I feel if you avoid positive energy until then I could be persuaded to allow the change.

Why are you doing this to me Darkblade...... Musami is so hung up on Tomi and he is just an NPC.

Thanks for this Darkblade. Really enjoying this game. On a side note we have been going for more than a year.

As discussed in the Order of the Stick, if an NPC develops a name and personality then all kinds of plotty messes can occur.

Who knows, Tomi may someday develop into a hero, villain, perhaps even a deity, much like the puppets Banjo and Giggles, depending upon how events unfold. Or he could be just another juvenile delinquent arrested for petty crimes and sentenced to twenty years of hard labor. Only time will tell.

I do have an arc and timeline for Tomi, one which is dependent upon the outside forces of the NPC world, and influenced by Musami's ongoing interactions. BTW this is just the pre-teen drama, wait until full on teen angst rears it's ugly head...

Well, Musami, at least you didn't have to wake up at 3am to change his diapers xD

Braggi is a loyal follower of Banjo the Clown.

Also, do we recover hp for the night?

Cool with Navith's choice thus far, but just a heads up, my character is very much a "good by whatever means necessary" type character. Don't care about obeying laws, but do care about good vs evil, so she'll happily shoot you if she thinks you are promoting that cause.

So, if the "evil" thing gets to the point where it would cause a rift in the party, I'm happy to have Zokama exit the game when it comes up (with no hard feelings at all).

For now, as I said, doesn't look like there is any conflict, especially since my character has no idea what happened, so no current worry... just a heads-up for the future. (You totally don't need my character to have a great game, so definitely not asking you to cater to my character (or me as a player) at all. Just information, so you can be ready to recruit someone else if needed.)

I second Zokama's words.

Understoood. In the interest of party cohesion I will retire Navith. For the purposes of story, how about we say the forces of evil in the moathouse were greater than his will, and the tearing at his soul of the morningstar drove him to the dark side. While not technically immediately a super evil person, he had no desire to face the evil within the moathouse and like a pragmatic NE, simply fled, abandoning his former associates?

This would mean the loss of the human bane morningstar from the party resources/total loot. Happy to have that taken out of my new character's share if folks feel that is appropriate.

Moving forward with a new character GM, I can't exactly remember how I created Navith - was it the same as the initial recruitment for Braggi/Musami? How do I outfit/equip - some sort of WBL? Are there any roles/classes you do/don't want - I was thinking maybe a Summoner, though I know a lot of GMs abhor them. Might make up for lost personnel though...

All: I thank you guys in advance for your understanding, given we just lost Fil. I appreciate this is another bump in the road, and while I was enjoying some aspects of Navith I found I couldn't really connect to his faith nor his purpose. His background was somewhat nebulous giving me little to grow from. Sorry GM if you had plots/plans for Navith that now must be scotched.

Wait, does that mean you were actually planning on playing against the party? Because if you weren't, and won't, where's the problem in pushing forward with Navith? He could play a quite cool role in the story as it is.

Is there a guidance councilor class, cause Tomi and the other youth of this town sure need some help. :)

Seriously, I am fine either way Navith. Do what works for you.

@Braggi: no, I wasn't planning to be adversarial nor work against the party. But given his strained relations with the town leaders and the whole evil cleric fighting evil cleric (which is probably quite common, moreso between NE and CE) coupled with my not really being able to fit in his skin AND Zokama likely finding Navith's new morality problematic - it's high time he shuffles off to some NE holdout.

I think Zokama and I mean (I speak for myself, and I can only guess about Zokama, but correct me if I'm wrong) that we don't want you to play against us (like plot, treason, or whatever), but as long as that doesn't happen, your inner demons are fine to us (and could give us a nice reading).

But, of course, and I totally understand that because I've been there myself, you should always be comfortable with what you play.

I think that in so much as being NE does not necessitate you actually going full on EVIL 100% of the time I am not sure how soon Navith would actually clash with the party. A shared focus of ending the evil threat the cult plays, and in primarily slaying only the servants of those ends may extend the time before conflict ensues.
That said only you Navith understand what you planned to play out with the character and I will abide whichever decision you determine.

If the game follows the campaign as plotted, after the moathouse and visits to Nulb along with the original Temple of Elemental Evil the group would follow traces of the plot in one of two directions, towards a rumored second Temple or chasing after the Flaming Eye as they continue abducting important personages as slaves, hostages, and/or ransom victims, out of a Pomarj base lead by cruel slavers and their cult allies.

If you would rather create a new PC, then yes follow the same creation rules as the others, and use an appropriate WBL as listed in the Pathfinder PHB.

And on a similar note, do you wish to recruit a new spell-slinger to replace Filnefillan?

Someone to round out the party would be nice. With Navith departing and a replacement coming (not sure who Oceanshieldwolf has in mind for a replacement but pretty excited to find out) do we need a spell slinger or is there something else that would benefit us more?

Yep, sorry to keep you waiting...hope to have it ready soon...

This is Navith's replacement Egesovax, a Suel monster hunter from the outskirts of the Sea Princes locality, a scion of ancestral Suel petty noble mercenaries. Given a man's name, and raised as more warrior than mystic artist, so she'll be reluctant to use her summon monster and rely on her own brawn and that of her weird avian/biped eidolon. Also, will not be choosing haste as a 2nd level spell...

Still have to choose spells, traits and equipment.

Egesovax' eidolon is a biped with the following evolutions:

Free evolutions:
limbs (arms)
limbs (legs)
claws (arms)

1 point evolutions:
claws (legs)
improved damage claws (arms)
improved damage claws(arms)
reach (legs)
reach (arms)
improved natural armor
magic attacks

And will have AC 17, HP 30, F +4 R +2 W +3 and four claw attacks +7, 1d6 +3.

Making an alias for it too...just thought I'd give GM a heads up in case any of that looks outlandish.

In case you're looking for suggestions for your spells, well, Cure Something would be nice if you have access to it. Just saying xD

Summoners don't get cure spells. They do get infernal healing and they do have UMD. I'll embrace my demonic side to get healed.