This is the OOC Discussion thread for Blood Will Tell, an invite-only Pathfinder one-shot adventure.
Character Creation Rules:
6th level, 20-point buy (from Pathfinder), 1 Trait
All Pathfinder, Complete Series, and Compendia. Other sources by request only.
HP is max at 1st level, avg(rnd down) after that. I.e. d8=4.
Make aliases and post your characters here. I'm leaning towards having y'all be a pre-existing adventuring group, so try work your backstories together somewhat.
Also, during character creation keep in mind that this is intended to be a more mystery/horror game, though there will still be combat aplenty.
As for the world, as per my usual philosophy: whatever. As far as I'm concerned, the rest of the world other than where the adventure takes place is a blank canvas. Go wild.
Well, I'm in
If I die by 2 hit points I blame rounding errors. But yeah, I'm in.
Sorry I couldn't do this in person (this week is a little hectic). Definitely interested though.
Ah! My favorite genres - I am SO in!
I'm in!
Okay, that makes five. I'd be okay with maybe one more, but the five of you should begin making/discussing characters and we can get started as soon as I've taught myself MapTool.
Okay, that makes five. I'd be okay with maybe one more, but the five of you should begin making/discussing characters and we can get started as soon as I've taught myself MapTool.
Well, I already made a a character, but I can definitely add to the backstory or, if need be, change some mechanical things about the character.
(This is Alex Henke, btw)
Im thinkin some sort of assasin,maybe slightly magical
Quinn is a "rogue/mage"-style character as well, emphasizing magic and skills instead of stabbing kidneys. It might be interesting if the mages' cabal Quinn works for also hired your character.
A mystery adventure calls for a detective, right? So I'm thinking about rolling a detective bard. But I'm flexible to changing roles depending on what people want to play.
Quinn is a "rogue/mage"-style character as well, emphasizing magic and skills instead of stabbing kidneys. It might be interesting if the mages' cabal Quinn works for also hired your character.
Mine will emphasize the stabby stabby, so we should be fine.
So I am envisioning a assassin style character, which imo means using poisons. I'm interested in the Toxic magical property from Drow of the Underdark. This +1 weapon enhancement makes a poison last for 2 successful hits instead of one. I was wondering if that was ok with you if I grabbed this on my dagger?
Also, secondly how do you feel about spring attack and hide in plain sight? (currently looking at 3 rogue/2 Alchemist vivsectionist from ultimate magic/1 Shadow Dancer PrC) I've been cruising the forums for rulings on this, and there seems to be a lot of ambiguity as to what the official line is. From what I can collect, is that most DM's are allowing you to have your hidden attack, but apply the -20 to stealth from sniping. (I.e you make a normal stealth check. Nxt round, you attack out of stealth, get a sneak attack, and run away. As part of running away you can attempt to hide again, but this time at a -20 because of the sniping rules. This seems like a fair way to handle this to me, but if you are treating it different I might not go for spring attack.
I'm thinking vanilla bard for this, with an emphasis on ranged attacks. Don't worry, I can't go full gatling-bard until 7th, preferably 8th.
Also, an all- or mostly-bard party sounds hilariously fun. Maybe we're getting the band back together?
Here's my character alias for this game (still a work in progress at the moment).
Hm, I'm fine with a Bard/Bard/Beguiler/Assassin/?? party. There's going to be some holes in group capability (Wands of Lesser Vigor + UMD ftw) and a lot of overlap, but with different bardchetypes it could definitely work.
If Jackson wants a more traditional party for a one-shot which may be difficult to adjust, I could shelve this character concept for later (originally a beguiler beguiler anyway =P) and do something else. Maybe tank, maybe blaster, not sure right now; I'll talk to him.
Eh, you should play the beguiler. I'll switch things up and play a tank of some sort. I spent some of yesterday building a different character so I'll probably get one figured out either tomorrow or Saturday.
I'm.just going to come right out and say that all-arcane all-stealth party is a terrible idea. Straightforward combat will still play a major role and bardbardbardbard may just wipe the introductory encounter. And the mystery is not so difficult for the attentive player that you all need to optimize for it. You're adventurers who stumble into a mysstery, not scooby-doo and the gang. :-P I'm not going to say who if anyone should swap around, but you will want some more diversity of talent.
Rhiom: yes definitely and sounds legit but i need to think on it, respectively.
Vethcyr: Is this just for flavor/skills or is there some trixy way to use this in combat?
More thorough answers to come when I get to a real.computer.
==From Ogden UT super 8==
1) Anything in DnD can be used for tricks in combat.
2) This one's a bit of both - for combat it just makes hitting the higher DCs for the Knowledge Devotion feat (CCh) easier, and in general I think it fits the knowledgeable old guy character type pretty well.
I'm.just going to come right out and say that all-arcane all-stealth party is a terrible idea. Straightforward combat will still play a major role and bardbardbardbard may just wipe the introductory encounter. And the mystery is not so difficult for the attentive player that you all need to optimize for it. You're adventurers who stumble into a mysstery, not scooby-doo and the gang. :-P I'm not going to say who if anyone should swap around, but you will want some more diversity of talent.
I think you underestimate optimized bards and beguilers. Also, I told you I wanted to play a beguiler before I knew what the one shot was even about =P That said, I'm not dead set on beguiler. I've been wanting to play a variety of classes from both 3.5 and PF, all of different class archetype.
As MisterBungle stated, you may be underestimating us.
A bard can be as or more effective than a ranger or a fighter at ranged combat. This one, at level six, reliably manages two attacks per round at +15/+15 to hit and deals 1d6 + 8 damage per shot (not counting the bonus from point blank shot), with one standard action needed to set up. At maximum optimization he would get two attacks at +14/+14, dealing 1d8 + 15 (+1 fire damage on the next round) damage per shot (also not counting PBS) with the same setup time, if you would prefer that option...
By the same token, a dedicated melee bard could be rather effective at this level as well.
I'm just saying that you should not discount the humble bard as a class. After all, it can make everyone in the party better while still kicking ass!
Also, I just realized that having that item makes this character worse, oddly enough, so never mind my previous question.
As MisterBungle stated, you may be underestimating us.
A bard can be as or more effective than a ranger or a fighter at ranged combat. This one, at level six, reliably manages two attacks per round at +15/+15 to hit and deals 1d6 + 8 damage per shot (not counting the bonus from point blank shot), with one standard action needed to set up. At maximum optimization he would get two attacks at +14/+14, dealing 1d8 + 15 (+1 fire damage on the next round) damage per shot (also not counting PBS) with the same setup time, if you would prefer that option...
By the same token, a dedicated melee bard could be rather effective at this level as well.
I'm just saying that you should not discount the humble bard as a class. After all, it can make everyone in the party better while still kicking ass!
Also, I just realized that having that item makes this character worse, oddly enough, so never mind my previous question.
If most of that is from inspire courage, you may want to check out Dragonfire Inspiration.
I am aware of Dragonfire Inspiration - the above examples rely on options within the allowed sources. Plus, I like to think that there are some depths to which I will not sink.
I am aware of Dragonfire Inspiration - the above examples rely on options within the allowed sources. Plus, I like to think that there are some depths to which I will not sink.
Well, you can't sink that low when you're optimizing party buffs and making the rest of the group awesome. I'm tempted to play melee just to get the bard bonus now, but then we'd be missing out on haste, which I'd guess is what you were talking about when you mentioned a "full gatling-bard."
Edit: In any event it appears we have combat covered, so long as Ser Halford doesn't run out of bardic music rounds :) Everyone should just play what they want.
It's not really a gatling bard until 7th level, when you get access to 3rd-level spells (Haste and Good Hope being the important ones), or until 8th, when bard BAB reaches +6.
And even the ultra-optimized option listed above (which is actually a fighter 1/bard 5) has a flaw: functioning that effectively in combat while still functioning as a bard (by which I mean retaining enough Cha to cast spells and use skills effectively) requires dumping Constitution, which results in having 18 hp (possibly 24 w/ favored class boosts) at level 6...
And the bonus granted by inspire courage in either case is +4 to attack and damage, just so you know.
Apparently I stumbled upon to a hidden cache of bard-love.
I won't forbid any party composition, I was just suggesting that a more diverse one might lead to a better play experience.
My last one shot also had an all-arcane 2/3-gishy composition. Is this just what's popular with the "kids" these days? Like your damn Rock'n'Roll Music? And your descended trousers!
I realize that this group is sort of specialized at present. However, it is worth noting that bards have access to the cure assorted wounds spells and can hold their own in most circumstances. Besides, we're still waiting on Jagar to make a character. If we need to fill holes in the party, I can switch to another class or build to suit. It's simply a little early to decide for certain.
Also, bards are one of the most diverse and wacky classes in the game. Is it really any surprise that they're popular?
Apparently I stumbled upon to a hidden cache of bard-love.
I won't forbid any party composition, I was just suggesting that a more diverse one might lead to a better play experience.
My last one shot also had an all-arcane 2/3-gishy composition. Is this just what's popular with the "kids" these days? Like your damn Rock'n'Roll Music? And your descended trousers!
Counting four of the five party members, the group has:
Knowledge skills
Sneaky skills
Face skills
Save-or-X spells and abilities
Group buffs
Divinations/Utility Spells
Out of combat healing (UMD, Cure X Wounds)
At least one character who can take a sword to the face and laugh it off (assuming [er, should I not use names here?] in fact decides to go this direction)
Melee damage
Ranged damage
Two out of five, instead of two out of three, arcane casters
Again, I don't see debilitating holes (restorative magic and battlefield control are tough to live without, but it's doable), and the overlap is good overlap (damage, save-or-x, healing). And once again, this is considering four of the five party members. We'll be fine.
In a thick Mediterranean accent
"Hello, Yes, Gentlemens. What is this business, yes, that we are doings. Yes it is this that I would like to be knowing."
Hopefully the rest of you can get character aliases submitted soon.
The circlets are of course head items, while the headbands - the items that actually boost mental stats - are just that, headbands. There is no conflict.
The meteoric knife is from the MIC. It has 3 charges a day,and I can imbue the item to have either returning, flaming+returning,flaming+returning+3d6 fire burst, each for one round depending on the number of charges used.
The capsules allow you to administer a dose of poison or alchemical capsule onto your blade as a swift action provided you have one loaded prior into the capsule retainer on your weapon. Reloading this container is a full round action for each compartment reloaded. I went with the expanded container with three compartments.
Half grunted:
"Great. 'Nother lot of sissies that don't know how ta fight."
One option for a favored class bonus for human fighters is a +1 to CMD against any 2 kinds of combat maneuvers. Would it be possible to take one of these against tumbles/acrobatics checks and the other against grapples?
Haversacks hold 120lb of gear. I don't think it's going to be a big issue unless my character becomes a traveling grand piano salesman. *Mulls that over*
Anyway, I'll flesh out the adventuring gear + spare cash, mumbling and grumbling all the way.
Haversacks hold 120lb of gear. I don't think it's going to be a big issue unless my character becomes a traveling grand piano salesman. *Mulls that over*
Anyway, I'll flesh out the adventuring gear + spare cash, mumbling and grumbling all the way.
Backstory should be up in a few hours.
EDIT: What book is fouchard from?
According to http://www.d20pfsrd.com/equipment---final/weapons, it's from Classic Horrors Revisited.
Oh, the crazy weapons you can find...
But no, I don't consider it wasted time. Now, for instance, we know you don't have manacles, or iron spikes, or a climbing kit, or other things that could be interpreted as "mundane equipment"
I think we're just about ready to go, except Jagar. NM, if you can whip something up in the next couple of days, great, and if not I'll start the OOC thread in somewhere between 18 and 24 hours, and you can join later on.
I paid 2 cp for your mom, but I also acquired the syphilis-ridden template, so I think I want my money back.
Or maybe I'll just get rid of that part and buy some manacles. Yay, mundane kit buying: it's a game of "let's pour through the entire list of equipment and see what you forget to bring." So fun.
Do you mean, start the IC thread?
Oh yeah, that one.
IC is up here.
Let's get this road on the show! Or something like that.
Jagar, you can join later if you're still interested.
Jagar will be joining us soon, so I'll wait for his description in the IC before moving on.
2) Done. Sorry about the delay, I always have trouble picking spells for spontaneous casters.
Do we want to think of an adventuring group name?
Slash how should our company be organized?
I was thinking it would make sense to have one of us be the person who receives instructions/ letters from the larger organization and relays it to us (Harris maybe?). Which sets them on slightly higher ground, but not to the extent that they can give orders or receive higher pay, but that they are the liaison to a larger organization structure.
Then for company structure, we mainly run ourselves as a subunit, collecting our own missions and payment but sometimes are contracted by the larger company at a prorated rate to do special tasks. In return, we receive free shelter in larger cities as well as access to much of the mundane equipment we might need (such as horses)
Does this work for people?
As far as names, I was thinking:
We are "The Obsidian troupe", a part of the wide spread "Viridian Export and Trading Company."
I was thinking it would make sense to have one of us be the person who receives instructions/ letters from the larger organization and relays it to us (Harris maybe?). Which sets them on slightly higher ground, but not to the extent that they can give orders or receive higher pay, but that they are the liaison to a larger organization structure.
Then for company structure, we mainly run ourselves as a subunit, collecting our own missions and payment but sometimes are contracted by the larger company at a prorated rate to do special tasks. In return, we receive free shelter in larger cities as well as access to much of the mundane equipment we might need (such as horses).
Hello all! Back in the action!
This whole plan is a little too teamworky for Gromtheb, so I think that if this is the case, he joined the party after they began the official employment. He tends to increase conflict much more than is necessary to accomplish the party's tasks. Members of the party have gathered that he is interested in the cash reward and violence than anything else.
From glancing at various backstories, I was acting under the assumption that we were working as a group contracted under Quinn's company, the Way. But we don't all have to be organized from that group.
Also, do we have a current mission? Harris mentioned that he'd had preferred that the party had kept on going rather than stop for the night, implying that we have somewhere to be.
In either case Duglan has joined on as hired muscle. This is a semi-permanent position for him and he's bound to stay here with this group as long as he keeps on getting a good salary and access to good equipment.
The Viridian Export and Trading Company could subcontract to various organizations to form adventuring troupes, including more secretive organizations looking to battle-test their new recruits...
More conventionally, the company probably pays local adventuring guilds and mage academies to provide workers as well. Just a thought.
Harris would have preferred to travel on because he's deeply misanthropic and jaded. He will put on a friendly face for townsfolk when he must, as was the case in the tavern, but he would have preferred to camp in the woods, where he wouldn't need to be around such irritating people as the townsfolk.
I'm not sure Harris would have formally joined up with a company - it seems more likely to me that his traveling with you lot is more an alliance of convenience than anything else. Sure, he has grown to respect you guys, and even to like you a bit, but he would not want to be formally employed by another.
A decent sentiment for him would be "I'm not in this for your revolution. I'm in this for me." The underlying social or ecological problems don't interest him beyond his ability to spin a decent tale from them - he just enjoys the adventures for their own sake. Hence his easy acceptance of the barkeep's request - he just wants to get out of this hole and return to adventuring.
Well, the problem is that I think all of our characters are anti-social and dont give a sh**, and reputably I am apparently the only person who would actually willing join an organization of any variety, with the exception of Quinn....this will be a fun group dynamic...
This is hilarious! All the characters are either true neutral or chaotic neutral! Perhaps we are a group of adventurers who, upon recognizing that each of us basically is going to try to get whatever they want, band together to do whatever we want without judgement. Plus, the only hindrance we will get from each other is when our desires conflict. It also seems that we are a rather dark group of neutrals. Maybe we have simply found it most profitable to hang out together!