Council of Thieves

Game Master Mug

Thoughts on loot:

In terms of loot, Sabinus is interested in the handy haversack itself and the pearl of power, if the Viscount isn't going for it. With his previously saved funds and part of his new share, he would like our local crafting wizard friend to make him a headband of vast intelligence +2. (I need to pick a skill associated with it, presumably an INT skill. It will give ranks equal to my HD in that skill, but NOT stack with my current ranks, so I'll need to figure out which skill makes sense. Any suggestions for obscure INT skills?).

(Sabinus will switch out the headband and his circlet of persuasion, but mostly wear the headband while adventuring and the circlet in social situations in town)

Sabinus also expresses interest in the ring of feather fall. If he's going to be up in the air in battles, it is probably a good investment to avoid death by falling damage if he's knocked unconscious.

I'll have to study Ava's loot table to see if Sabinus will have any funds left over after all that.). Probably not?

Sabinus would like the party to buy a wand of lesser restoration from party funds. Either Sabinus or Enko can carry the wand of CLW, presumably without it counting against their share of the loot.

Should the party hold onto the golembane scarab and have it carried by a fighter type, on the possibility that we may encounter a golem in the future?

Rusting grasp is a brutal spell against armored and weapon carrying opponents, but since it is a 4th level Druid spell it might be hard for any of us to use the wand (DC 20), unless someone is really good with use magic device.

Any suggestions for obscure INT skills?.

Linguistics. It'd have a language programmed in for each rank, making you a veritable polyglot.

Interesting. It wouldn't confer benefit to Sabinus until he gains another level, because he already has +5 in linguistics, but he would keep gaining languages over time....

Your +5 is just from your intelligence isn't it? If so, this would give you 5 ranks in addition to the +5 Int modifier AND 5 extra languages right out of the gate.

Sabinus if Dellano already made you your half price item, he'll still make you the headband of Vast Intelligence, it'll just be the full price this time. FYI.

Enko, Dellano will make you the Agile Amulet of Mighty Fists +0 at 50% of list price as it's your first item.

Hold the phone, I think I'll go with Guided AOMF and Owl's Wisdom potions. Eventually I could get Agile added...devastating!

-edit- forgot which score was higher. Agile it is. Will add Guided at later date. :)

Thanks, Caladius, I missed that nuance. The only thing I wonder is whether there will really be cause for THAT many languagEs in this campaign.

Dellano has not yet made an item for Sabinus, so this would be his half price item. Sabinus couldn't quite afford it before.

@Sabinus got it, half price for the band. :)

Sorry about the radio silence from Lucon. I lost my level up file a few days ago along with half an IC post, and my lung collapsed on boxing day and I havent been able to do long spells at the computer.

Just checking in to let you all know I'm not dead!

Thanks for checking in and I'm glad you're not dead!

Seriously, man, a collapsed lung! So glad you're ok!

Just so we're clear. I am now waiting on the group to start the next part of the story. I don't want anyone thinking I'm holding things up. :)

Take care, Twigs! I need to post Sabinus for level 5 and otherwise I'm good. Thoughts on level 3 witch spells?

I think ash storm is a really strong battle-field control type spell. Super great for slowing baddies down. Other solid control spells in a similar vein are spiked pit and stinking cloud.

If you're looking to be more direct in your spell casting and leverage your high Int, then you might consider chain of perdition as a free combat-maneuver machine each round. Good for the action economy and your CMB check would be pretty dang good. On the other end of the action economy angle is howling agony, which makes the target spend a move action each turn to avoid a bunch of penalties. It's pretty witchy in the flavor department too.

All that being said, dispel magic is fantastic all the time, and displacement and haste are always solid choices as well.

Thanks! Of those, only ash storm, howling agony, and dispel magic are witch spells, unless I'm missing something. I was thinking about dispel magic, unless the Viscount has that sufficiently covered. I agree howling agony is pretty good flavor. Lightning bolt is a combat spell available to Sabinus, but so far I've been developing him more as a buffer/de buffer than a damage dealer.

SABINUS Witch LEVEL 5:

No increase to BAB or saves.

7 skill points:
+1 fly
+1 knowledge local
+1 knowledge engineering
+1 knowledge dungeoneering
+1 perception
+1 stealth
+1 diplomacy

New 3rd level spells: dispel magic and howling agony

hit points: 1d6 ⇒ 3
Total hp = a mere 21...

@Sabinus, no FC bonus? or was that to a skill?

@All - please update your mini statbars to level 5 if you haven't already. I do refer to them fairly often. Thank you!

Thanks! Of those, only ash storm, howling agony, and dispel magic are witch spells, unless I'm missing something.

Bah! You're not missing anything, I apparently selected the Witch spell list in the index then when I clicked level 3 I must have clicked back onto the Sorc/Wizard list. My bad, yo!

Stinking cloud is still on your list, and another neat one I just saw going over the *proper* spell list is screech. If Lucon takes a reach weapon, you could make him awfully happy if you took that spell =P

It looks like heroism is on the witch list too, which would be a really solid choice if you stuck with the buff/debuff angle.

Ah yes, I forgot the favored class bonus. Make that 22 hp. Thanks!

Sabinus will likely take the fortune hex at level 6, which would significantly enhance his buffing abilities.

Happy New Year, etc. It's certainly been an eventful fortnight. Though isn't it always?

Anyways, just need to sort out the last bit of loot before we can all shop up.

I've left the Pearl of Power and various scrolls in Sabinus' inventory for now (Except for Command Undead, which he can't use. That went to the Viscount). Same deal with the Ring of Feather Fall.

I second giving Enko the new Wand of CLW, as it's always good to have multiple people who can patch each other up. A Wand of Lesser Restoration also seems like a good idea and a solid investment. 4500gp now could save a lot of trouble down the road. In fact, in my most recent tabletop session, the party had to turn back from the final encounter of a dungeon because they had so many debuffs on them from an encounter with a Sea Hag.

Ava will hang onto the Wand of Rusting Grasp for now. Though she can only use it on a 13+, it could still be useful outside of combat.

As for the Defending Longsword, Keen Longsword and +1 Cold Iron Battleaxe, Lucon should grab one of them (The Defending Longsword would probably fit him best) and we can sell the other two for a large margin. Or we could sell all of them to get an extra 3.5k each. Might be nice.

I don't think we're going to be fighting golems soon (Don't quote me on that), or at least not in any significant numbers, so we can probably sell the Golembane Scarab too. If they do turn out to be a persistent enemy type, we can always pick up another scarab or adamantite weapon later.

Anyway, as soon as we've got those sorted out we can measure out the shares of gold, get our shopping (and subsequent stat changes) done and then move forward to adventure!

@Sabinus: Almost forgot! Are you going to be using that Circlet of Persuasion you got during the performances? Because Ava could probably put it to good use now that she has Coax Information.

Thanks, Ava. That all sounds fine to me. As for the circlet, Sabinus' intent is to wear the circlet in non-adventuring contexts. He's grown attached to the confidence it gives him in overcoming his obvious social deficits, and he is always seen wearing it around the Torchbearers HQ (although he has had Yako add some embellishments that make it more appropriate for a male witch). But Ava is welcome to use it during adventuring, or whenever else she wants to borrow it.

Thanks! Of those, only ash storm, howling agony, and dispel magic are witch spells, unless I'm missing something. I was thinking about dispel magic, unless the Viscount has that sufficiently covered. I agree howling agony is pretty good flavor. Lightning bolt is a combat spell available to Sabinus, but so far I've been developing him more as a buffer/de buffer than a damage dealer.

The Viscount took stinking cloud and haste, so dispel magic is a good choice.

Feats: We don't appear to have the time or money to craft at the moment, so the Viscount will put a crafting feat on the backburner.

It looks like wondrous item is on the list first.

Feats selected: Greater spell focus (conjuration) and Metamagic extend.

I third the ideer of a Lesser Restoration wand and am happy to carry the CLW wand.

Er, Enko is happy to carry it. Enko serves the Users!

Good luck on your romance Enko! Just remember to do the honorable thing if you knock her up. ;)

Alrighty. Lucon's said he'd rather the gold, so we'll sell off those weapons too.

Selling the weapons, the mithril scimitar, the spyglass, the full plate and heavy repeater at half price we get...

+ 10,652 gp items sold at half-price.
+ 4950 gp trade goods
+ 5700 gp gold coins.
- 3600 gp wand

= 17702 gp total

Which equates to a six-way split of 2950gp with a remainder of 20 silver in the coffers.

Edit: Did some maths wrong. Fixed now.

I hate to mess up completed math, but don't forget that Yako's abilities and contacts and skill at bargaining allow you to sell items at 60% of their value instead of the traditional 50%.

So attempting to recalculate...

10,652 x 2 = 21304 (To get the full cost of items sold)

+ 12,782.4 gp items sold at 60%
+ 4950 gp trade goods
+ 5700 gp gold coins

-3600 gp wand

= 19832 gp total

Gets you a six way split of 3305 gp with a remainder of 40 sp in the coffers.

If you see any issues above let me know. Sorry to make you adjust your loots amounts a little higher, big bummer I know. :)

Ah, that's good news. I'll update the equipment tables accordingly.

5241 gp
- 0.2 (10 loaves of bread)
- 2,000 (ring of protection +1)
- 3,050 (adamantine greatsword)
+ 25 (selling old greatsword)

leaves Caladius with 215 gold and 8 silver in his money pouch.

Good enough! =)

Ava, I just want to make sure I understand the loot table. It states that Sabinus has 3151 GP. I assume that reflects the 3305 GP for each after selling? Is that remaining after the 2000 GP Sabinus gave Dellano for the headband? I'm trying to figure out if Sabinus has some shopping left to do. Sabinus is also probably willing to contribute to others if they are short on a purchase they want to make.

A thousand thanks again for your excellent tables.

...I had the same question! Thanks, Ava!

Yes indeed! Both of you have 3000+ left after buying from Dellano.

I have 3 first level spell slots to fill. I'm going to buy 4. Thoughts? I'm planning on Charm person and remove sickness. How about enlarge person and reduce person? Would Lucon enjoy being giant and having reach? Might be situations where shrinking Ava down might be helpful? Other suggestions?

I'll let you guys suggest any ideas for Sabinus's spells.

This is me cracking the GM-whip. Thanks to all who've been posting during the latest down time, it hasn't gone unnoticed. On the flip side, I stated a week ago that I was ready to move on and waiting on the group to initiate the next part of the story (opening the Crux). So lets get back in the saddle, back to the 1/post a day minimum (it really doesn't sound like much when I say it like that), and sally forth!

Thundercats HOOOOOOoooooooooo! ...ahem...

-- Excuse me, I got a little caught up in the moment there.

Mmmmm. Thundercats. I wish they'd renewed the rebooted version. I really rather liked it.

I have 3 first level spell slots to fill. I'm going to buy 4. Thoughts? I'm planning on Charm person and remove sickness. How about enlarge person and reduce person? Would Lucon enjoy being giant and having reach? Might be situations where shrinking Ava down might be helpful? Other suggestions?

By "fill" do you mean teach your familiar or prepare for the day? I'm presuming you mean prepare.

Enlarge Person would be nice both for Lucon and Ava even, as that'd afford Ava a 15ft reach with the glaive. Might be tricky to move around, but she could establish a bunch of flanks with ease with that kind of melee range.

Do you have a list of all your learned spells, Sabinus?

I never saw the reboot, but my nerd-brain-mouth started salivating a little just thinking about it! So it was pretty good huh?

Oh man, it was really, really good. I loved what they did with it. The fact that they got Larry Kinney (the original voice of Lion-O) to come back and do the voice of King Claudus (Lion-O's dad) tickled me to no end.

That is awesome!

So I'm guessing from your tone they only did 1 season of the reboot? I guess I could do a search for myself.

Sadly, yes. We only got 26 episodes =(

They were really, really good episodes though.

Dang! That is a very sad story.

So Mr. Rend, how are things IRL?

Ha - funny you should ask. I just hung up the phone and caught myself grumbling aloud about how frustrating it is trying to help impatient customers who don't read (or listen to!) instructions login to their online banking. The customer I just finished a call with had me so frustrated that I actually considered cashing in a half-day of paid time off just to avoid the possibility of having to field another call like that today =\

I took a sip from my coffee and tried focusing on the fact that at least I'm indoors and not out in the -20 degree wind chill, so my mood is on the up-swing now.

Still, it's calls like that which make me realize how good a thing it is that I do not have superpowers. If I did, man - I'd just blow up everything. =P

Ha! Well I'll add my hope powers to yours that you don't get any more calls like that today. I actually just did cash in a sick day today, the downside is I'm actually feeling flu-ish. *sigh*

That's one thing I love about the movie Hancock. If someone had super powers and just didn't care, or got really upset at something 'mundane'... it's amusing to think about. -20 degree wind chill!!?? Man alive. It's about 30 above where I am and it feels like summer after being cold for so long... but at least it's nothing like where you are.

I learned what FLGS meant yesterday, so I'm all proud of myself now. :)

Awww, dude. I had a horrrrrrrrible stomach bug over New Years. I earnestly hope that's not what you're wrestling with - it was terrible. Whatever you caught though, I hope you bounce back quickly. =\

Favorite Local Game Store! Sadly, I don't have one near me. No game store, comic store, nothin' cool like that nearer than an hour's drive and at that distance it's not really 'local' any longer =P.

Nah, nothing so violent. Just a severe head cold and some nausea.

That is far! I do have several fairly close to me, I'm just so much a creature of the internet and computers, going into a store is usually not my first choice. Add to that the fact that I didn't start playing role playing games till a few years ago and that due to my hectic schedule I primarily play via PbP, and I'm basically a closet Roleplaying nerd.

Thanks for the prompting, Mug. I'm amazed you only started gaming a few years ago. Even those of us who are lifelong RPGers, visit our FLAGs, and have tabletop games going are still in the closet to many (or most) people. I run a game for friends every Thursday night and for my 9 year old and his friends every 1-2 months, but it still feels like a confession whenever I admit to someone new that I play RPGs. And there are lots of people, especially at work, that I don't mention it to at all. RPGs are still so misunderstood...

Anyhow, thanks again for running such an engaging PbP!

lol no problem. Yeah I play pickup basketball four times a week with two different groups and just imagining the looks they'd give me will likely keep me from ever letting them know. I do recognize that the imagined ridicule is probably much worse than the real thing, and 'guilty' attitudes like mine are probably 90% of the reason behind the misunderstanding of RPGs. If I look guilty, must be something wrong with it! ;)

Mug! I hope you are feeling better and your flu-ish symptoms are long gone. =)

Also, as I've been copy/pasting in all my pbp discussion threads, I'll be visiting an old college roommate this weekend and there's a good chance I won't be able to post much (if at all). If I do get the opportunity, I'll try and check in with my phone. Should be back to normal when I roll back into town Monday night.

That's alright, thanks for letting me know.

FYI all, I've been thinking of altering the party composition slightly to breath/kick some more energetic life into the game. Some people have been posting a little more, but overall activity is not enough for my liking. Rather that stopping the AP, which is an idea I have considered but do not want to do, I thought I'd just let everyone know how I was feeling. And let you know I'm considering... some trimmings if we can't all get going again. Once I start feeling less interested (whether that's because I feel my players may be less interested, or whatever the reason) I know something needs to change or eventually I'll just lose interest and I think it's super lame when GM's bail without a Great reason. (IMO, lack of interest is not a great reason)

There we have it. I'm not even sure what I'm asking exactly, but the thought that's dancing around my head is something along the lines of 'show me something'. Also if I'm the reason for the slower posting/lack of involvement lately, please let me know and I'll see if I can make a personal adjustment. Cause somethings gotta change.

Thanks!

I'm hoping it was just a holiday slowdown and people trying to settle back into their routines. I'm loving the game. I know it was tricky for me to be consistent during my Christmas travels. I'm assuming there's no issue with my level of engagement in recent days, and I don't foresee problems maintaining (multiple, as appropriate) daily posts on weekdays. Weekends are trickier for me. Let me know if any of that is a problem.

On a separate note, can people remind me what it is that we expected to find in the Crux that would help us with respect to Delvehaven? We're we expecting to find a key or something? We found tons of interesting stuff, but none of it clearly rings a bell for me as to what we were looking for. I wish there were an easier way to find this info in the gameplay thread!

Actually, searching is just fine if you have a good keyword. Here it is:
"Unfortunately, one cannot just simply walk into Delvehaven. While the House of Thrune no longer actively guards the site, they transferred that responsibility to Westcrown’s mayoral office. Worse, the fact that the House of Thrune has been engaged in an act of rewriting history (either by destroying existing documents or changing them to suit Thrune’s preferences) means that reliable information about Delvehaven has become incredibly scarce. Ailyn knows that there are several powerful magical locks and wards on the lodge placed there by the House of Thrune to prevent entry, and her research has shown her that keys to the locks and documentation relating to those wards exists in only one place—Aberian’s Folly. Further, the House of Thrune’s devotion to order and tradition all but ensures that these keys and documents are kept in a complex, twelve-sided puzzle-box container known as a Chelish Crux, and that if it has been secured anywhere in Aberian’s Folly, it is likely to lie within the manor’s vault—a place known as the Asmodean Knot."

So I guess that means that some of the stuff we found should help us overcome the locks and wards...