That orb of pure law has some nice abilities. Liam can't use it, but Amelia and Katria can. I'd say Amelia should hold onto it -- she's more likely to be attacked in melee than Katria, so the deflection bonus will benefit her more (and Katria's saves appear to be better too).
It's slotless so it does work with my setup. I'm sadly not lawful though , and I'm thinking of moving up from TN to NG with the help of Desna.
Katria can use UMD to emulate Lawful alignment, so she is the best to carry the Orb.
Liam's level-up:
1d8+3 HP (+8, new total 139)
+1 BAB (now +13/+8/+3)
+6 skills (Sense Motive, Diplomacy, Knowledge-Local, Perception, Stealth x2)
+2 Background skills (Perform-Oratory, Knowledge-Nobility)
+1 6th-level spell per day
+2 9th-level spell per day (Domain spell is Prismatic Sphere)
+2 rounds performance
Inspire Courage improves to +4
Katria, Level 17 occultist!
+7 hp
+1 5th- and 6th-level spell slot/day
+1 mental focus
+1 focus power: Quickness
+1 feat: Pending further discussion. Maybe Greater Spell Penetration, since I now have a few direct damage options...
+13 skill ranks (inc. FCB, background skills): A whole bunch of things...
--
As for the orb, up to you Amelia. I'd be able to use those spell effects, but a lot of time I'm wielding Dignity's Barb, which means my hands'll be occupied. (Though I could do wand and orb, I suppose, or use the orb and then stow it if we know we're coming up against something particularly chaotic ...)
+A bunch of skill ranks.
+8 Health
+1 Will
+1 1st level spell
Hide in Plain Sight (Urban only, but it is EX)
Not sure what feat to grab, might sink it into Iron Will honestly, or Improved Critical (Longsword). Not sure if I can actually grab Arcane Strike (I cast Bard Spells but the Dandy doesn't specify if its Divine or not), but its probably not great with all of my Parry and Luck Sharing as Immediates. Let's hope I remember Quarry the next time we fight one of my very narrow favoured enemies. I need to use it at least once as a Ranger.
---
We can swap the Orb if we need it, I don't feel like in character she would use something so Lawful unless desperate.
Maybe we sell the Orb?
It seems a little crass and money-grubbing to sell what we were just given as a gift, but this is the home plane of Abadar, and it's worth a lot.
What about the Pale Green Prism Ioun Stone? The +1 competence bonus to attacks is usually irrelevant because of Inspire Courage, but +1 to all saves, skill checks, and ability checks (which I think includes initiative) is pretty good. Does anybody want that? Amelia?
Also for Amelia - that Seeking Lens we were given has some special ability related to Quarry, if you want to use that.
Back here we got distributions of 11,983.5 to Amelia and 13,983.5 to Katria (Katria had an IOU from Liam), of which Katria spent 5,000 gp on diamond dust.
We now have another 37,315 each; +10,000 each if we sell the Orb, and +5,000 each if we sell the Pale Green Prism.
My main goal at the moment is boosting my Wisdom; 23 is kind of low for Clr17. I could improve my Headband to +6 for 20K; if Miracle with 25,000 GP of diamonds can give a +1 inherent bonus (not explicitly spelled out, but it does work as a prerequisite for crafting a Tome) then I could get to 26.
Seeking Lens feels real good actually. Getting a mini-Smite/Challenge would be solid. I don't think I need the Stone as I have plenty of random bonuses from Koriana's.
I don't mind selling the Orb, I have plenty of things I can buy as a martial.
I think unless we have something specific we want the funds for, let's let Katria have it. +4 AC is nothing to sneeze at, even if she doesn't get targeted very often.
The other things may be of use at times...
Assuming I have the founds -- which it sounds like I do -- I might try to upgrade a wand. Those seem to be my main weapon outside of Dignity's Barb, so 21,000 to have the highest-level option wand available seems to make sense.
The other option may be to get a couple of higher-level scrolls since it seems like I'm using my magic a bit more in combat now (though my player tendencies to hoard items make me wonder if I'd get that much use out of them).
The Orb is only +4 AC (net +2 for Katria) against Chaotic creatures, and I don't know that we've fought a ton of those (think the last dungeon was mostly NE), but it's still pretty cool.
Okay, Liam will take the Pale Green Prism Ioun Stone if nobody else wants it.
He has 4,557.5 GP now, and will sell his Ring of Protection +2 for another 4,000 GP (he has two other rings that he wears).
Then he gets 37,315 from this distribution. New total 45,872.5
He will get his headband boosted to +6 Wis (20,000). New total 25,872.5.
He would really like an Orange Prism Ioun Stone (cost 30,000) so will save the rest of his gold for that in the future.
Feat will be Improved Initiative.
Good to go.
Planning on getting things started with the final book tomorrow morning!
It's slotless so it does work with my setup. I'm sadly not lawful though , and I'm thinking of moving up from TN to NG with the help of Desna.
Amelia being NG would make it easier for Liam to cast Holy Word, but it's not a huge problem otherwise; he can use Inspire Greatness to boost her HD above his CL, and thereby make her unaffected by Holy Word.
If it's only +2 net AC, let's sell it. Then you can get your ioun stone. I'll try to figure out my purchases tonight.
Cool. So everyone's share from this distribution is 47,315.
Liam gets his Ioun Stone and has 5,872.5 left.
I'm pretty sure I owe Katria some money for the Map from the Devil.
But I'll start buying stuff shortly.
Don't worry about owing me money. I don't know what I'm going to buy as is!
47315 Total
-16000 Cloak of Resistance +5 (Upgraded from +3)
-16000 Amulet of Natural Armor +3 (Upgraded from +1)
-10000 +3 Composite Longbow (Upgraded from +2)
Leaves ~5315 left + 138 from before.
Enough to upgrade my Breastplate to +3 (from +2).
Feat will be Improved Critical (Longsword)
I don't think I need to commit super hard to my +2 Bow right now, considering Katria can handle some ranged combat. Another 14k can put it to +4 for what that's worth.
@Amelia, I am happy to cast Barkskin on you. It's a better bonus than the amulet, it lasts a very long time, it frees up your neck slot for a more interesting item, and it saves you a ton of money.
And I don't mind casting Magic Vestment on your armor or shield either, or Greater Magic Weapon on your bow. Happy to help out where I can, if there are other items you would wish to get.
47,315 gp - latest contribution
4,868 gp - previous money
Sell wand of magic missile (CL 5, 47 charges, 1,762.5 gp) and wand of scorching ray (17 charges, 765 gp) -- +2527.5 gp
54,710.5 gp total
Buy:
Wand of magic missiles (CL 9, 5 missiles) -- 6,750 gp
Wand of scorching ray (CL 11, three rays!) -- 16,500 gp
(These seem to be my main weapons other than Dignity's Barb, so definitely feels like a good idea to me.)
31,460.5 gp remaining, which I think I'll save in hopes of getting at least one more chance to get a big item down the road. Maybe a ring of regeneration? We're pretty badass as we are. :)
--
Man, I wish the bracers of archery didn't exclude crossbows. Not quite sure what they were thinking of in terms of that design...
Bracers of Archery don't stack with Inspire Courage, so you're not missing much.
Talismans are often a good purchase if you don't know what else to get and your neck slot is free. They have some pretty cool options.
@Amelia, I am happy to cast Barkskin on you. It's a better bonus than the amulet, it lasts a very long time, it frees up your neck slot for a more interesting item, and it saves you a ton of money.
And I don't mind casting Magic Vestment on your armor or shield either, or Greater Magic Weapon on your bow. Happy to help out where I can, if there are other items you would wish to get.
I don't think there's really much else in that cost range.
I can't really upgrade my physical stats, and they aren't really efficient to do so, and most of the Ranger Unique items are kind of limited in my case.
Getting the Bow to +3 might be helpful as GMW doesn't help me break Damage Reduction.
The way I see it, is by me buying these items, I open up more slots for you to do things, and we need higher magic at this point.
Amelia, if you would like to join the Discord discussion, send me your user name and I'll extend you an invitation. :)
I will be out of town today through Monday, 8/8. I will not have Internet access for much of that time, so I will not be able to post. I hope to get caught up on everything again by next Tuesday or Wednesday.
Amelia is up still!
I'll be out of the country (and with limited access to the forums/ability to post) tomorrow through Aug. 28, after which I'll be moving Aug. 29 to a new place.
I may get another post or two in before I leave and maybe a post Aug. 28 when I return, but I probably won't have regular posting again until Aug. 30 or 31.
Obviously feel free to bot me in the meantime.
Amelia, the people clearly seem hostile. They have arrows nocked in their bows and are aiming them towards you, plus you spot holy symbols of Norgorber around their necks.
And here I was hoping to not have to murder some people.
This has been a somewhat lower-combat AP, at least compared to the other ones I have done, but we are raiding the assassins' base after all.
I'll be out of town again this weekend, back late Monday. I think this is my last trip for a while, however.
I should note, I have no problem with Amelia playing Bad Cop to my Good Cop, but given that the specific wording of the Suggestion was "I suggest you surrender, for we are known to be merciful to those who do," Liam will try to follow through on that.
He did spare the assassin leader in Zimar as well, so he is definitely not expecting Future Taldor to be a utopia where Eutropia doesn't need anyone to do the really dirty work...
She really hates Norgorberites but she's not that overzealous.
Just wanted to inject a little drama.
Conversion is a thing.
Make some pamphlets. So they can turn away from Norgorber...
Liam should probably have pamphlets.
I'll try to get a post in. I've been working overtime recently and have to travel for a wedding this weekend.
You know my usual kill attack strategy.
You've got Disrupting Weapon active on your sword, so every time you hit the undead have to make a DC 22 Will save or be destroyed.
That might argue for turning off Power Attack... or keep it active if you think your attack bonus is high enough to hit with hit. Inspire Courage isn't up yet, but Good Hope is.
I will wait on the results of your attacks before deciding what I do.
I got logged out and missed all the updates.
Bah.
A couple of questions on loot:
Did the three archers with the ooze-Earl have the same gear as the various other archer assassins we faced? I assumed they did.
And did the regular vampires have no magical gear? I assumed that as well.
I assumed we were keeping the following:
Ring of Spell Storing
2 scrolls of Magnificent Mansion
3 scrolls of Mass Cure Serious
6 potions of Lesser Restoration
2 Scabbards of Keen Edges (Amelia, Liam)
20 +2 Corrosive Bolts (Katria)
5 Greater Hushing Bolts (Katria)
Amulet of Natural Armor +4 (Amelia, with her old amulet going to Katria)
Iron Bands of Binding (Amelia)
Headband of Vast Intelligence +6 (Katria, with her old headband being sold)
Ring of Protection +4 (Katria, with her old ring being sold)
Ring of the Recalled Soul
And I assumed we couldn't make off with the furniture at this time.
Selling everything else (although we can certainly keep the Staff of Conjuration if Katria wants it - you don't often get a chance to use staves).
The shares right now look like just over 100,000 each.
Everybody take a look and see if there is anything else you want to keep.
Liam is updated.
The biggest thing I have left to decide is his level 18 Deific Boon (he gets them 2 HD earlier due to Diverse Obedience, and can choose which one).
All of them look pretty cool.
Invoke Uprising to dispel possession effects with a touch is neat - could it work on Carrius? Or would that just kill him? Oh, one cool thing about it is that it automatically ends compulsion effects on a save, even if they initially didn't grant a save (like Power Word Stun) or had a still-debilitating effect on a save (like Overwhelming Presence).
Wall of Roses could be a battlefield control option, although only Liam would be able to pass through it at will.
Martyrdom seems the a great option and most in keeping with Liam's nature, but I would hope it never comes into play.
Hmm... leaning towards Invoke Uprising.
Oh boy I get a Combat Style Feat and uh... Favoured Terrain 4.
And a new 4th level spell known. Probably going to grab Neutralize Poison, as we really can't afford to take damage from a lot of these endgame effects.
Not terribly exciting sadly.
@Liam: Invoke Uprising seems really good. Dispels are never bad. I can't use the Scabbard of Keen Edge, I have Improved Critical already.
Going to grab Pinpoint Targeting as my Ranged Ranger Feat. Most of the other ones at this point are pretty bad.
100k GP seems like a ton.
A part of me just wants to pour it into a Belt of Physical Perfection and sell my previous belt for it, the other part wants to get this Bow to +5.
The difference between WBL for 17 and 18 is in fact a bit over 100K. I will probably upgrade the belt to +6 and also get some scrolls and talismans.
And spell components and foci.
While Liam doesn't get any named class abilities at level 18, the extra 9th-level spell is huge. I just remembered that one great use for Miracle is casting Contingency as a non-wizard. That offers all kinds of options.
Also, with his CL now at 19 (with the Ioun Stone) Anointing Oil makes it CL20 for +5 Greater Magic Weapon or +5 Magic Vestment.
I'll just keep it simple.
Get the Physical Might to +6 (50k) and get the Bow to +5 (32k) so I can break Alignment and Adamantine. That leaves me with 18k to pitch towards Scrolls and stuff we might need.
Thinking of some Greater Slaying Arrows but don't know what creature type.
Otherwise let me know what Scrolls you want and I'll drop the money into them... I think a Readied Pinpoint into a Caster might be better than Counterspelling.
Liam is ready to go.
I went with Martyrdom after all.
I decided to also sell the Scabbard of Keen Edges that would have gone to Liam. One of the fun things about this class is trying out different playstyles, and he will be a THW PA fighter for any remaining combats, with a morningstar boosted to +5 through Greater Magic Weapon and Anointing Oil (and enlarging through Righteous Might or Frightful Aspect) So the Scabbard wouldn't be much use. And Amelia can't use hers. That changes the shares to 108,090 GP each.
With what Liam had before, he can afford this:
Belt to +6 (80,000)
Cloak of the Diplomat (20,000)
Invoke Deity Components (1,000)
Talismans (Life's Breath 3,500; Ankh 1,250; Freedom 900)
Scroll of Mass Minor Reversion (1,550)
Scroll of Eaglesoul (1,550)
Scroll of Life Bubble (1,125)
Potion of CSW (750)
Anointing Oil (2) (50)
Scroll of Paragon Surge (375)
Focus for Contingency (1,500)
Total: 113,550
Remaining: 412
He will use Miracle to cast a Contingency "When I begin Inspire Heroics then Divine Power on myself."
Is there a check I could make to know what kind of foe we're more likely to face in this mindscape to help inform Amelia's choice?
The astral legends may take on a variety of forms, but planning to go up against outsiders would be the most useful bit of advice I can give you. :)
Katria up to Level 18!
+7 hp (+9 with my standard Mental Focus array)
+1 BAB, +1 to all saves
+12 skill ranks, probably mostly to Knowledges
+1 6th-level spell/day
+implement: necromancy (we've been dealing with a lot of spirits, so this seems to make sense)
Base focus power: Base Focus Power: All occultists who learn to use necromancy implements gain the following focus power.
Mind Fear (Sp): As a standard action, you can expend 1 point of mental focus to cause a living creature to succumb to fear. The target must be within 30 feet of you, and it can attempt a Will saving throw to negate the effect. If the target fails the save and has a number of Hit Dice less than or equal to yours, it is frightened for 1d4 rounds. If the target fails the saving throw and has a number of Hit Dice greater than yours, it is instead shaken for 1d4 rounds. This is a mind-affecting fear effect.
+necromancy spells:
0: touch of fatigue
1: preserve
2: purge spirit
3: sessile spirit
4: greater false life
5: entrap spirit
6: temporary resurrection
--
Gear:
Going to upgrade my ring of protection from +2 to +3 (10,000 gp)
Going to upgrade my headband of vast intelligence from +4 to +6 (20,000 gp)
Going to upgrade my belt of incredible dexterity from +4 to +6 (20,000 gp)
Selling my gloves of arrow snaring and buying gloves of storing (8,000 net gp)
Lesser quicken metamagic rod (35,000)
13,000 remaining (anyone need to borrow any money? If not, I'll look into some consumables, probably scrolls)
I can grab 4 Greater Slaying Arrows, so lets cover some bases...
Going to get Outsider Arrows, but I need to choose subtypes so I'm thinking the following:
- Lawful
- Lawful
- Evil
- Evil
I don't see a lot of this campaign going too Chaotic at this point.
What say you?
It's not a great DC - Liam himself has a +21 Fort save all day, even before things like Good Hope.
But it's a lot of damage if they fail the save.
I guess your allocation looks good. The 2 Evil ones would be particularly good to have if we need to fight that sahkil (Thassritoum).
Yeah it's not great, but its between that or just another Runestone of Power.
It's a shame that item DCs are pretty terrible. I would probably be better off with Bane Arrows when you go by the pure numbers / cost but I don't think they're nearly as dramatic.
OK, so I've got 13,000 gp I can spend on some high-level scrolls. I can pretty much cast anything, thanks to my UMD. Here's what I'm thinking (and will get unless anyone else has any suggestions). I figure Liam can get most of our healing/restoration/buff stuff covered, so I'm going more for high-level wizard spells.
I don't have a ton of direct damage, so that seems to make more sense:
Scroll of energy drain (wizard 9, 3,825 gp)
Scroll of meteor swarm (wizard 9, 3,825 gp)
Scroll of prismatic spray (wizard 7, 2,275 gp)
Scroll of power word blind (wizard 7, 2,275 gp)
That's 12,200 gp, leaving me with 800 gp or so.
Posting this here since I don't think Amelia is on the Discord:
Invisibility is probably out due to the wards against illusion.
We could try shapechanging magic to impersonate sentries; not sure how we would get past the Alarm spells. Or transmutation into something nearly invisible, like Shadow Body.
Teleportation is a possibility if we want to pay the bribe (I think we have some potions and such from Book 5 we can sell if we need more coin). We do have Dimension Door from the Standard of Conquest.
Enchantment magic might work. For example, we could cast Suggestion on the first patrol we hit that they should bring us before Carrius. However, the throne room guards might demand that we be disarmed.
Liam has Demand as a spontaneous spell (Sending + Suggestion) and could try that on Carrius until we get him to come out. His DC is 26 and he can cast it twice per day (at the cost of my 9th-level slots). Are there ways to increase DC temporarily, or lower the saves of someone you do not have line of effect to?
Alternatively, we could Bluff that we have come to pledge our service to Carrius. We could say that we slew Panivar Lotheed for his crimes against Carrius. That might go over well; I don't think Carrius or the legend souls had any love for Panivar (he was using the Ring of the Recalled Soul to try to tame them). Again, the risk is that the throne room guards would want us disarmed first.
But maybe we just buff up as much as we can, get a patrol to take us to the throne room (through magic or bluffing) and then be willing to fight once we get there? Not a great plan.
Use our operatives to create a distraction and draw guards away from our path?
The operatives probably make sense, though we haven't really used that subsystem.
I think I like the idea of that if we can, along with bluffing to get close. This could also work. If I cast it on an item, cover it, then reveal it when we get to the palace. But that's probably just going to deal with a single guard/patrol -- or have us leading a parade around the palace.