DM Alexander Kilcoyne's Kingmaker PBP- Chapter 3

Game Master Alexander Kilcoyne

DM AK wrote:

I'll let you know when you can peek people ;). Lurkers get to peek right now if they wish...

Pff like we need your permission..

*Attempts to burn down the insolent peanut gallery with mind powers.*

*Attempts to burn down the insolent peanut gallery with mind powers.*

Kip attempts to counter Alex's mind powers in defence of the peanut gallery... Reminded of his own, recent, lurker origins. ;)

Karina . . . I was hoping that the mystery cultist would be her. After being spurned by Mathir, what choice did she have? Fie upon thee, pall-o-dine! ;-)

But more seriously, the Lords of Kardas might consider investing in a periapt of proof against poison for the lovely Vaysh. Really popular, lower-level NPC Queen = attractive assassination target for Grigori.

The issue with see inviso is that . . . you have to use it 6 times so people can see invisible opponents vs. the purge affects everything within 'X' distance.

What about a grenadelike, single-use wondrous item that casts invisibility purge (or, better, glitterdust) at the point of impact? That seems within the crafting rules.

I don't think the delivery method is the issue IMO. It still boils down the limitations and expense of an effective invisibility purge versus a highly mobile opponent. IP is more defensive, again IMO, good at keeping invisible things from getting too close. See invisibility is better suited to pursuit and ranged attacks. If the wisp is bent on attacking the party, IP is very good. If the wisp is fleeing or avoiding, then IP is poorly suited as it requires the source of the IP to also fly and be able to keep up with the wisp to keep it revealed.

I still think the best answer is a combo of IP and SI.

Just my thoughts...

Cheers!

Hi guys. I've told Alex, but thought I'd tell you as well. My time right now is fairly limited, as the FBI and DOJ tried to shut down my employer last Friday. I'll try getting as much posting time in as possible.

Which poker site do you work for? :)

Some friends of mine run a software firm that designs the gaming programs for many of these sites...they shut down the firm in the US and started a new one in Costa Rica so they could continue in the internet gambling arena just to be sure...

Being based outside the US didn't help the poker sites in this case. :)

Well, looking at the three charges, I (not a lawyer) can easily counter two of them and I imagine someone more versed in Law can counter the third charge:

1. Operating an illegal gambling site: Poker isn't gambling but a game of skill. You are not playing against the "house". The US Supreme Court has even ruled that poker is a game of skill at one point, so unless the DOJ can get around that ruling, that's one thing fewer to worry about.

2. Money Laundry: Money laundry is turning illegally obtained money into "clean" money. As operating a poker site isn't illegal, there is no money to be laundered.

3. Bank Fraud: I don't know the US Bank Laws, so I can't say whether it is illegal for one or more companies to buy the majority share in a bank, but I would say "no" going on my gut feeling.

Fenna also has a gift in mind... though Ilya's time looks a little in demand... is he free for one more?

I think Alex would have to weigh in and let us know if I can craft anything in addition to what was already on Ilya's plate.

Ok- 61 pages and 13,000 words; mostly generated in the last three days and submitted yesterday. Add to that the software my study ran on crashed due to insufficient testing by the computer science monkeys I was assigned.

I am mentally and physically drained but I think its a good piece of work. I'm proud to announce my triumphant return to PbP- my posting might still be slow for a month or so but should be much better than the last couple of weeks.

So, thanks for your patience everyone.

Its really annoying but I discovered today that the paizo server is not letting me log into my account or post from my blackberry. So I can't see my dots nor post unless I'm doing it from the computer. If this continues it means while I'm travelling (like I am in this week) I won't be able to post except in the morning and the evening.

Redot...

To get the ball rolling with regards to magical scroll/potion/wand creation/procurement, here are a few spells off the top of my head we could consider acquiring:

Zone of Truth (scroll)
Detect Thoughts (scrolls or wand)
Fly (scrolls, potions or wand)
Mount (scrolls or wand)
Disguise Self (scrolls, potions or wand)
Bestow Grace (potions)
Fireball or other "blaster" spell (wand)

That is a start anyhow... other suggestions?

To get the ball rolling with regards to magical scroll/potion/wand creation/procurement, here are a few spells off the top of my head we could consider acquiring:

Zone of Truth (scroll)
Detect Thoughts (scrolls or wand)
Fly (scrolls, potions or wand)
Mount (scrolls or wand)
Disguise Self (scrolls, potions or wand)
Bestow Grace (potions)
Fireball or other "blaster" spell (wand)

That is a start anyhow... other suggestions?

I think we own 1 potion of fly and Ilya has a couple of fireball scrolls. May want to transfer 1 scroll to Kip.

I'm pretty certain that between Ilya, Kip, and Fenna we could craft all of those things in one building session. Or we could save some BP and purchase them as a business expense. (It is for the good of the kingdom, after all)

You should be VERY wary of buying anything like consumables out of kingdom money.

Yes, it seems like they actively discourage it by giving a very poor exchange rate for BPs. Plus, our citizens might be a little tiffed. Only as a last resort, of course.

As well as the DM... :)

I was goiing to wait until we are much larger before we even thought of anything like withdrawing BP from the Kingdom. Alex and I have discussed this and the plan is to make the withdrawals even more detrimental to the Kingdom to make sure that the rules are not abused and are only used for emergencies and the like.

Tanner, Kip does not have any crafting feats at this point in time.

Im not going as far as to say 'you can't do it', but i'm very, very close. Best policy is- don't do it.

I wouldn't suggest opening that can of worms either. I doubt that most of you are suffering in the wealth/magic item department. While I know Kip is on par by the WBL standards ;) I suspect, with all the crafting going on, most of you are well and above those standards.

We should be fine without raiding the Kardas treasury.

My thoughts anyhow.

We really just need to cut out the jibber jabber and get out there so we can kill those trolls, I am sure they have some type of treasure hoard...because you know that is all that Malthir is worried about... :)

Just to let you know, I am going to be SUPER busy the next three days (Wed-Fri) and fairly busy the two days after that. I will do my best to post but it will only likely be once a day if I am lucky (late at night my time). Please DMNPC Kip if needed.

Cheers

I think we should look at the spell/wand/potion situation from a perspective of dealing with specific situations, enemies or obstacles. We can break down some of the scenarios we are likely to encounter, and make sure that everyone in the group has a way to contribute in each case.

Here's a few topics for starters:

Healing
* Everyone should have at least one potion of Cure light wounds, preferably Cure Moderate Wounds.
* Out of combat - Wands is the most economic way to go. Fenna, Malthir, Kalev and Casimir can all use a wand of CLW. Casimir's wand has 26 charges left. If we are about to make camp for the night, any unused spells/LoH/Channels can be used.
* In combat - We are pretty much covered. Fenna has her cure spells, Malthir LoH/Channel, Casimir CLW.

Ability damage
* Fenna has a fully charged wand of lesser restoration.

Poison
* Everyone should carry at least one dose of antitoxin
* A scroll or two of delay/neutralize poison would probably be a good idea.

Disease
* We have this covered through Maladin's LoH Mercy

Grapple
* Kip and Casimir can cast Grease to make escaping grapples easier. Everyone should carry a light weapon just in case.

Paralysis
* A scroll of Remove paralysis for both Fenna and Maladin should do the trick.

Curses
* One or two scrolls of Remove Curse should be adequate.

Blindness/deafness
* One or two scrolls of Remove blindness/deafness should be adequate.

Fear effects
* Casimir has a bardic performance that gives one heck of a save boost. Maladin is immune. I think we are covered.

Entanglement
* At some point, we are going to want access to Freedom of Movement. In the mean time, everyone should be sure to have ranged options they can use if prevented from moving.

Incorporeal enemies
* Force effects - Wands/scrolls of magic missile and other force spells for Kip/Ilya and Casimir (UMD is getting high enough to use wands reliably).
* At some point, Casimir will be able to give a weapon the Ghost Touch ability

Invisible opponents
* Casimir has a wand of see invisible, and glitterdust.

Petrification
* Not likely to come up for a good while, but a scroll of Stone to Flesh should do the trick.

Damage resistance
* Casimir, Kalev and Malthir should all have a way to punch through DR/Silver and DR/Cold Iron, DR/(S/P/B) as a minimum. I think we are pretty well covered, but a backup weapon or some weapon blanch might be good.

Energy damage
* Fenna has a wand of Resist energy

Difficult terrain
* Casimir has a wand of Feather Step

Swarms
* Alchemist fire for everyone (Covered)
* Scrolls/wands of fireball and other AoE blast spells.

There are probably lots more. Let's run down the list and see what areas are top priority.

Flying
I think this is a big one. If we are to fight the wisps, we need a way to bring them down or go up to them.

Water
We could use a scroll of water walking or water breathing.

Its nice to see such detailed preparation :P.

Ok, well heres the announcement. I know i've mentioned this on MSN somewhat and i'm aware its something of a U-Turn on what I have said in the past so I apologise profoundly for changing my mind so thoroughly, but I do reserve that right as DM.

I am changing how crafting feats work in this campaign.

At first glance, crafting feats seemed ideal for Kingmaker. I actively encouraged them and for you to take them. However, wealth by level is becoming more and more skewed and I honestly don't have the time to give my NPC's the same treatment and boost encounters further.

In a 4 man party, the feat cost of the crafting feats might actually be significant but in a 6 man, its almost negligible for a huge amount of gain. The huge amount of downtime means that almost everything is player crafted, nearly doubling WBL in theory.

So- here is how it will work from here on out; and don't examine it too closely or the versimilitude of the game world starts getting blurry.

Craft feats now gain you no savings as opposed to purchasing items- the cost is the same.

You may still find the feats very useful as they allow you to work beyond the constraints of your kingdom's base value and item slots; there is a limit on how high a city's base value can go, so there is definitely still value in the feats.

With this said, I appreciate you may now feel short-changed by the feats value changing. Thus, anyone with an item crafting feat may trade it in for a different feat, either now or at 7th level.

Again, sorry for the U-Turn but I believe this move is in the best interests of the game.

With all my nefarious affection.

DM AK

^^ The above does not include scribe scroll, I should add.

Alex, I will be on vacation all next week at the Grand Canyon from Sat-Sat. My posting will be sporadic, as I will probably only post from my phone, which is not good at that type of thing...and possibly be out of cell range for a day or two.
Don't let me hold anything up, but it sounds like we will probably not get back into exploration and combat for another week or two anyways.

Don't let me hold anything up, but it sounds like we will probably not get back into exploration and combat for another week or two anyways.

What do you know that I don't? :)

We have some diplomatic get-to-know-you with our eastern neighbors to get out of the way first, remember?

Vaguely... something about a request for a retinue? I haven't read any spoilers...

Vaguely... something about a request for a retinue? I haven't read any spoilers...

I haven't checked, but I believe your knowledge is the extent Jace SHOULD have ;).

Vaguely... something about a request for a retinue? I haven't read any spoilers...

Yes we are meeting with their Baron...it should take up another few days of real life...unless it goes quicker than expected...like one of you guys insult him or he decides that he wants Vaysh for himself and steals her like Helen of Troy... :)

This was the letter we sent to them, you would have been told about it but you were away at the time.
To Maegar Varn, Swordlord, Champion of the Nomen Heights, Hero of Varnhold Pass, and Founder of Varnhome.

Many happy returns. In response to your request to visit our mutually fledgling nation, survey our shared border, and allow a company of guards and retainers during said visit, I am happy to extend to you an affirmative on all counts.

While we welcome your initiative in establishing friendly diplomatic relations, we are still as yet unacquainted. As such, we must ask that of the thirty guards to serve as entourage during your visit, no more than one arcane and one divine spellcaster accompany you. Their holy symbols and spell components will need, of a necessity, to be cataloged before entering. We would also request that you limit your guardsmen to twenty souls, along with ten retainers. We will likewise ensure that the Kardas forces escorting you through our country does not exceed this number, as well. We sincerely hope that this stipulation does not sour your expected visit, and instead merely communicates healthy prudence on our part in beginning a new relationship with a neighboring kingdom.

With much hope and expectation do we look forward to meeting you, Lord Varn. Our Baron al'Dagon has expressed that he would like to meet and escort you to Swordhaven himself.

~ Stakari Ilya Shukhov, Grand Diplomat of Kardas, Mayor of Northgreen

Kip Bendybrook wrote:

Vaguely... something about a request for a retinue? I haven't read any spoilers...

I haven't checked, but I believe your knowledge is the extent Jace SHOULD have ;).

Ah yeah right...I forgot that we had not been briefed on that yet.

"Hello, my name is Jace...I'm a spoilerholic."

Hello Jace... welcome to the meeting. ;)

Are we others to be informed as to the exact contents of the letter that prompted this response correspondence? :)

Hello Jace... welcome to the meeting. ;)

Are we others to be informed as to the exact contents of the letter that prompted this response correspondence? :)

Yes, we would have talked about it in the first meeting of the council after you got back from your mission...and you would have seen the letter in fact.

We can RP it after we finish this last tidbit of stuff from the wedding.

Ok... I was just checking. I didn't want to presume anything and just start opening spoilers. :)

With so many plots weaving in and out of sync chronologically it is beginning to feel like Pulp Kingmaker around here. ;)

I take that as a compliment- I love plot weaving.

Anyway- just a warning that I am VERY busy this weekend with various peoples birthdays and a PF one shot i'm running for three players on Ilizmagorti, Mediogalti Island. I'm very excited as its been a long time since I could run my own material (I did want to use my homebrew setting, but way too much introduction for a one shot).

So if you don't hear much from me or if my absence is noted on other threads please kindly ask the DM to take my action for me.

I take that as a compliment- I love plot weaving.

Anyway- just a warning that I am VERY busy this weekend with various peoples birthdays and a PF one shot i'm running for three players on Ilizmagorti, Mediogalti Island. I'm very excited as its been a long time since I could run my own material (I did want to use my homebrew setting, but way too much introduction for a one shot).

So if you don't hear much from me or if my absence is noted on other threads please kindly ask the DM to take my action for me.

I've read about Medigalti Island a while ago, the dreaded island of the red mantis assassins. Sounds awesome. Good luck with the one shot.

I misphrased- i'm PREPPING the one shot this weekend, not sure when i'll get time to run it yet. If your interested in hearing about what I have planned I can share it on here.

I take that as a compliment- I love plot weaving.

And it was intended as such. I am having an absolute blast playing this PBP. Everyone involved is top notch, and the story telling is fantastic! Now that I have gotten a little taste... I want MORE! :)

I'd be interested in hearing what you are planning for your one off game... is this the super secret game you had been hinting at?

Nope... That has yet to be devised. This will be a single session 8 hour game, with the party members travelling to Ilizmagorti to seek vengeance on a rogue Prophet of Kalistrade.

I suggest giant preying mantis deathmatches.

Note I apologise for my disruptive post far above. I always wondered why it never made it to the ooc thread for Alex's SS game.

Hardly disruptive Dan... no need to apologize. I had already chalked up to forum weirdness. :)

Nope... That has yet to be devised. This will be a single session 8 hour game, with the party members travelling to Ilizmagorti to seek vengeance on a rogue Prophet of Kalistrade.

So I take it this is a RL game then, and the super secret PBP is still yet to be revealed?

darn disappearing dots...

I've given up on the dots... I've just started pinning all my important threads in my browser and click through the cycle every few minutes. XD