Cele's Jade Regent

Game Master Celestine8

Hey Irnk, just read your backstory, nice work there. ;)

Thanks! All of yours were pretty fun too.

@Sienna: So do I.

I just had an issue explode with the group I'm playing Jade Regent with and that was the relationship point thing. It allows players that run around, talking to everyone, with high Cha and Diplomacy/Intimidate to possibly get levels ahead of anyone else. Our fighter is falling behind because he's got low Cha and is a stoic sort of character. He's level 2 and two of us are level 3 and it sucks to have our fighter fall behind because he's not playing a social butterfly. One player is with the DM all the time and talks to EVERYONE and it sort of slows up the game as she grabs for as much XP as humanly possible. I've suggested a solution to our DM, but wonder how you feel about it, as we won't have the same issues or opinions.

First thing, while it's not clearly stated in the Player's Guide, James Jacobs has stated that the XP from the Relationship Score is just like any other XP earned, which is to say it's to be split among the entire party.
Second, has the GM looked closely at the Relationship Rules? They fairly clearly state you only get to make one check per level/per NPC to improve your relationship score. They also state you only get half your XP for the NPC's after the first.

If you check the Jade Regent Discussion threads, this very subject has come up at least once.

Look for a thread titled Relationships & Romance. My web fu is weak or I would put the link in this post.

Hi Irnk, Hijiro here. I will be kinda mia during the daytime hours for the next 2 weeks. I promise to come on at least once a day and post though, so this might be it for today - Its nice to meet you and I will read your backstory as soon as I have time. :)

Ok, backstory read and it is very cool... can't wait to meet you ic.

Irnk- My GM doesn't have much of a grasp on the rules and I will mention this to him. I normally GM in my group and have decided to step out of the comfy GM chair to play and its been... interesting. It was my suggestion to split the XP amongst the party, also. I'm glad its written somewhere as a suggestion. It's meant to be a group game.

Alright, Irnk. Shalelu's about to head out to pick off some goblins on her own. Perhaps she sends you out to catch up with the group, after making you aware of her plans for the day, since we have to ret-con the whole 'nominating Wanwa'lasse' thing. Maybe she quietly nominated you and told the group she'd be sending someone out. Meet up on the main road? Do you have any preferences as to how this should be done?

I have opinions and I have suggestions. The two are not the same.

In my opinion, Irnk likely doesn't go into town much, if at all. He may be a Paladin, but he is still a Goblin in an area of Avistan where 'shoot first, worry about questions later' (at least regarding Goblins) is just good sense. Therefore, I was figuring he likely just hangs around (taking advantage of an insane for first level Stealth) keeping an eye on things. The Toadlickers getting their hands on a load of Fireworks is just the sort of thing he is afraid of, because he knows it is going to end badly for them. As is being proven right now.

As to my suggestion: He is probably in the swamps right now, trying to find a way to find a way to minimize the problem. Ideally, he is aware of the other PC's presence & is looking for the best opportunity to show up. The Soggy Monster would be ideal. Worst case scenario, he would wait until they are almost in sight of the Toadlicker village & then call out to them. Actually, worst case scenario would be one of the PC's making the Perception check to notice him shadowing them, that or the Soggy Monster manageing to get the drop on him.
Actually, thinking about it, nothing I've said in my opinion negates Shalelu finding & directing me. If anybody in the Sandpoint area can find me anyway it would be her. She likely knows I've been in the area & one of the first things she probably did when these troubles started was find & grill me. (I have the sudden mental image of a beat cop grilling a street snitch imposed over an elven ranger trying to grill a Paladin, pardon me my sides hurt now). Thinking about it further, while Shalelu can find me easy, other Goblins probably can't. Shalelu has likely set me to keeping an eye on them & letting her know which ones might be becoming a danger. Boy she must be pissed I didn't warn her about the Licktoads earlier. Hell, I am probably pissed I didn't find out about it earlier. My excuse is I'm a Paladin, not a Ranger. Yeah, that's it.
So, yeah, Shalelu probably gave me one last chance to fix this by heading down & helping the rest of you lot out. Otherwise I can kiss Sandpoint good bye.

How do those ideas sound?

Works for me. So, she's sent you out looking for the group. Both combat ideas are good, as well. So let's go with it

Ok, I´m openly suggesting here Wanwa'lasse takes the faceless stalker back to the sheriff as a way of taking her out of the game for now. I´ve read her player's recent posts and he seems to be taking a break from the boards to focus on some personal stuff.

Sounds good. She sent me a PM saying she was dropping out of the game due to too much going on.

You still here, Kravo?

Automatic success on a natural 20 only applies to combat or does it wotk with skill checks too? I ask because Irnk rolled a 20 in perception and might be able to act in the surprise round, but I'm not sure about the rules.

Nat 20 doesn't apply to skill checks, no.

^ What he said. It's sad when you get a natural 20 and it's not enough to get you what's needed.

Right. ;)

Sorry, hadn't read the creature's description in Sienna's spoiler. Even ooc, I still don't know what that thing is, though. :)

It's a sinspawn!

My bad for not describing it again. It's been a long, strange day.

Kravo???

Celes, I have come to something of a role-playing dilemma. While I have read the write-up of Erastil in Pathfinder #32, I have apparently in my head been considering him to be more like Sean K Reynolds write-up of St. Cuthbert in Dragon #358 than he actually is. I would appreciate your feedback as to how you perceive Erastil as once Irnk gets some skill points in Knowledge religion it is going to affect how he sees his deity & himself.

Erastil, as I see him, is sort of a mix between Ehlonna and St. Cuthbert. He's a nature god who places heavy emphasis on family and community, upholding traditions and is known to protect communities that live off of the land. He values strong women, but it seems like he sees them as mothers and wives first and for them to be much else to be a waste. He encourages people to live simply and seems to dislike change that isn't brought on by nature. Does this work for your character, still?

He values strong women, but it seems like he sees them as mothers and wives first and for them to be much else to be a waste.

This right here is my sticking point. ooc, part of my concept for Irnk is the whole Han/Leia thing out of the original Star Wars trilogy. I'm not saying it will happen (I have no idea if either of them will survive that long). Just the idea that their 'true loves' would happen to be members of species' they each find more than a little abhorrent just kind of tickled me. Unfortunately, I really don't see either Shalelu or Irnk really being that interested in that kind of a relationship. I don't see it being much of an issue until/unless it happens, but I also don't want to be coming completely out of left field either.

Okay, I'm happy to more or less abandon that part of what I've gotten out of Erastil. There are a few issues that I've had with liking the deity. The sexism thing was one and the hating adventurers was the other. It seems to me like he's great for a 'we don't take kindly to strangers' kind of village elder, but not all that great for a god followed by adventurers.

And, as a side note. Your concept there VERY much tickles me. I giggled a little.

I've noticed no one took Walthus' cloak of resistance +1. I suggest we give it to Hijiro since he's got the worst saves (except for reflex).

How do you guys want to split treasure? (I wouldn't know much about it because my playgroup usually runs really low-treasure games...)

What works with my group is that really useful stuff is 'claimed' as we get it and the rest is piled up until they get a whole lot and decide to sell it.

I totally fail. No, they don't get bonus to damage. Oops.

Thanks for botting Hijiro for me to keep things moving on! I'll be home on the 13th but checking in when I can until then.

I'm now learning that there's quite a bit of difference between gaming at home and gaming on the net. I'll remember to describe the things outside of the spoiler windows in the future and am looking at mapping software or scanning maps in the future

So as not to clutter main thread. Total Defense is a standard action, Demoralising is a standard action and you can fight defensively as part of a full-round or standard action while attacking, you just penalties to hit for doing so. Never seen it used during a Skill check but up to you Celes what happens.

Total defense doesn't allow you to attack, but isn't a full round, true. Fighting defensively allows you to take attacks at penalties.

I've got a map done for this, so it'll be less confusing. I just need to post it somewhere. I have a deviant art account and could host it on flickr or wherever else. I would prefer deviantart because the images don't go anywhere. Thoughts?

If you post it on Deviantart can people who don't have Deviantart accounts see it?

You can create a drawing on google docs and make it public, then place the image as a background. We can create shapes representing our characters in the map and move it turn by turn. We're doing this in another play-by-post I'm in (in which Sienna's player also plays, actually) and it seems to be working well (though I'm not really familiar with other methods).

I'm fine with Deviantart, too, but the downside is it's static and we can't really move the characters around the map.

Okay, I can do google docs!

Though its worth mentioning that my google docs is in Japanese for some reason I cannot even begin to comprehend. I have gremlins. FIXED! I hope

https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1u-jMl3V609WLKVdQEcU16R8yFhXan_RslU3dxCP JIBA/edit

There! Boss is the triangle. Hijiro and Kravo are mapped as letters. I'm not sure what you prefer to use as markers, but we can work with whatever you'd like. Place yourselves where you'd think you'd be. You were near the mud pit initially.

Hm, link is not working for me. Did you enable the option "anyone with the link" in the sharing settings?

I've tried making it public and doing the link thing and its not working... I made another drawing. Hope this works.

https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1V04wSZF96cyDPLxb2-lEkoqQJgwQBJcdxsRZ5X4 3Vkg/edit

There seems to be a space in the above link that I can't fix in the Paizo window, but when I close it on my address bar, I can pull up the map and the go to thing doesn't work at all. You have to copy it and fix it.

Ok, new thing. Is it just me or do I suck as a melee combatant? Have I just been having really bad rolls or is a Goblin Paladin really that sub-optimal? I very much want to play this concept, but I don't want to do so at the expense of the group as a whole's success or survival.

On the bright side, I have now managed to get to your map Celestine, hopefully I was successful in placing myself on it.

I have other questions about where I should take Irnk, but I would like to know how you guys feel about how he is doing first.

I think it's just been bad luck. You can't do much with rolls like the ones you've gotten!

You have been really quite unlucky, +5 to hit is quite good at this level. Just a little question about your build Irnk, is there a reason that every single mod is odd? Instead of a few evens? Also couldn't you pump your strength somehow to 14, then with -2 it will be 12. Reason for this is so you can have a mighty bow +1 and shoot things. I mean a ranged paladin works just fine too, unless you want to go full melee? Then the strength will help anyway as it's still +1 damage.

I really like your concept too I'm just baffled with all the odd numbers, I mean you could go for something like (After racial mods):

STR 12, DEX 17, CON 12, INT 12, WIS 8, CHA 14

I'm not sure where this adventure path ends but with the above set to say level 12, so 3 stat ups, you would end up with a natural DEX 20 at the end of it and have all other stats at even numbers. You would still have the same skill points, same hp and a little higher damage potential and more CHA for your Abilities later like this, just at the expense of a few WIS skills.

I am used to 3.5, where ability damage is/was quite prevalent, so I tend to go for the odd abilities as that helps to keep the negative 'side effects' of ability damage from hurting quite so quickly. You aren't the first person to comment on that tendency of mine. It is a habit I guess I need to unlearn. The ability spread you show there would probably work quite well for Irnk as I'm playing him, I did call Wisdom his 'dump stat' after all... The WIS skill hit can be offset with Feat selection also.
As far as the ranged Paladin concept goes, it really would make more sense, again, I'm an old player & I frequently don't adapt as quickly to new ideas as would be helpful. The idea of a 'non-melee' Paladin is really new to me. My other reason (read excuse) for going melee rather than ranged would be fluff, Since Shalelu is so strongly ranged combat oriented, I was planning on focusing melee, on the other hand, since he is in a 'combative/competitive' relationship with her, 'showing her up' at her own 'game' so-to-speak would also make sense. My final (first really) reason for melee would be that I just like to get 'stuck in' as it were.
None of which really changes the fact that the suggestions you made don't substantively change my base character concept and they do make him much more viable as a productive member of the party. Which is to say, if Celes ok's it, I would be happy to make them.

Do the rework if you want, I'm all for your character being as useful as possible.

Well I have an idea that is a little of both worlds. Go ranged to start with keeping some of your melee weapons for when you need it. Then once you get to choose your bond go with a mount and build him for a bit of melee. Allowing you to both act as ranged support and an overrun tank such as a large dog or maybe a cat with pounce or something. You would be medium size, good for allowing flanking and have high mobility. Allows you to get stuck in and be hardy at that. Not to mention goblins are really good at riding things if that hasn't changed from 3.5, and I doubt you really need more than mounted combat to make it work.

Also means you try to beat Shalelu at her own game still, just because its fangs and a bow, that seems fair to a goblin doesn't it? My mount is still my weapon and he will pack a punch.

Will do, as that is the case, may I switch out Goblin Foolhardiness for Bouncy?

Bouncy: Your bones, flesh, and skin are a bit more elastic than those of most goblins--when you fall, you tend to bounce a little better as a result. Whenever you take falling damage, the first 1d6 points of lethal damage suffered in the fall are automatically converted to non-lethal damage. You also gain a +2 trait bonus on all Reflex saves made to avoid unexpected falls.

Well I have an idea that is a little of both worlds. Go ranged to start with keeping some of your melee weapons for when you need it. Then once you get to choose your bond go with a mount and build him for a bit of melee. Allowing you to both act as ranged support and an overrun tank such as a large dog or maybe a cat with pounce or something. You would be medium size, good for allowing flanking and have high mobility. Allows you to get stuck in and be hardy at that. Not to mention goblins are really good at riding things if that hasn't changed from 3.5, and I doubt you really need more than mounted combat to make it work.

Also means you try to beat Shalelu at her own game still, just because its fangs and a bow, that seems fair to a goblin doesn't it? My mount is still my weapon and he will pack a punch.

As I was already planning for the Mount & there is a Goblin Feat in Goblins of Golarion which is essentially Power Attack for your Mount, that would work quite well. Yes, Goblins are still really good at riding things. +4 Racial bonus on Ride on top of Dex bonus. A Goblin Cavalier with the Feat below is Scary at high levels. Fortunately for the rest of us, they rarely get to that point.

Saddle Shrieker (Combat)

You sometimes get carried away when encouraging your mount to fight.
Prerequisite: Goblin, Ride 1 rank.
Benefit: You can choose to take a -1 penalty on all attack rolls and combat maneuver checks to grant your mount a +1 bonus on all attack rolls and damage rolls made with natural weapons. These effects affect you and your mount for 1 round. When your base attack bonus reaches +4, and every 4 points thereafter, this penalty increases by -1 and the bonus to your mount's attack & damage increases by +1 to a maximum of +5. You must choose to use this feat before making an attack roll.

Do the switch, Irnk! Sorry I keep messing up guys, I've been posting at the end of long days and should take more care to make sure that I'm posting correctly. I most certainly will try harder.