Beyond using spells for faster travel, yes. For instance, fly would easily get you wherever you'd want to go faster than charging through the clearing would.
Just to confirm: Is everyone on board with the plan to assault the command camp, rather than taking on the two camps that haven't yet joined the battle?
I just re-read the recent posts...and I think I am confuzzled.
I know Derek wants to go after the lead camp.
And though Maddok was suggesting hitting the side camps first.
I believe Appario was ready to follow Maddok and attack the side camps.
If Appario had his way, he'd be completely out of this. :)
Not sure about Semenya or Yahirma.
That's sort of the reason I asked: Derek suggested going after the command camp, while Maddok suggested to perhaps go after the side camps first. But neither plan has been confirmed (as far as I can tell). Appario wants to follow Maddok, Yahirma seems to want to follow Derek, and Semenya mentioned eyeing the commander.
The most recent posts read as if people are ready to go, and I'd need to know which direction they'll go in :)
And if the party plans to split up, I'd need to know that too :)
I think we should all go after the command group first - Semenya has, if I've tallied it properly, two third level spells left, plus most of her 2nds and 1sts.
I'm always in favor of splitting up the party!
But in this case Maddok will go along with Derek's plan.
If we're approaching from the southeast, my only concern is that we will have to skirt around the camps (takes a while), rush through the two unoccupied camps to reach Command, or dance through the carnage wrought in two other camps. Otherwise cutting off the serpents head sounds perfectly reasonable.
I will be traveling to give a lecture and a class (my first for archaeometallurgy) today, and I will not return until Friday evening. Although my computer is coming with me, I cannot say what internet options I will have; if I go without posting at a critical moment, go ahead and NPC me.
Yahirma is looking forward to dropping a chain of perdition into the enemy, ideally entangling, tripping, or blinding the leader or one of the stalkers.
Party, feel free to grab Misfortune whenever you feel the need. Otherwise it's watching your backs for critical threats from the enemy.
Thanks for letting us know :)
Right, I'm back but also mentally dead from about 15 hours of driving today. I'll catch up and post tomorrow.
I'll refrain from reacting to Derek's post until Yahirma has had her say in the Madjaw situation :)
Appario, in case you missed it the commander has done everything you asked of him (kneeling and laying down his weapons before Appario came to the scene, and answering his question afterwards).
***
A heads-up to everyone: In light of Semenya's recent lengthy absences, I've invited Maddok's friend (I don't remember his forum name at the moment, but he's the same friend I considered adding a few months ago) to join us following the events in Hagwood. Hopefully he'll make for a good replacement or addition to the team :)
I was waiting for Yahrima's reaction before I acted again. No matter how this works out it's going to be memorable.
Thanks Are for admitting Peter. He's working on a suitable replacement for Semenya.
I suspect I will be posting tomorrow morning. I need to contemplate Yahirma's next action for a little bit - sleep on things before sleeping with things... I agree. It will certainly be memorable one way or another.
I think I'm going to see what Yahirma and Madjaw do before I post again.
I'm thinking the Beast will react to this in one of two ways...
Hi, I'm Peter. Just posting to say hi. I'm looking forward to joining the group.
Welcome Mortal.
:)
Welcome to the party!
Welcome, and I hope you'll enjoy our company :)
Good to have you, Peter.
Maddok and Are, I must say that I am amused by Vahnwynne and Shu-Ak'eh-Di's introductions to each other. One of these days I'll have to pick up Shoanti...
Well, Appario wasn't at the that meeting so this post is much more appropriate to Appario's viewpoint.
Oh, I agree completely :)
I posted that link more for Maddok's benefit; it was 5 pages ago, after all. And I needed to find that post to remember what was said myself too!
I'll post the Mother's reply once Yahirma and Derek have had a chance to react to the latest developments.
Yar. Things are afoot!
We don't know what is going to happen next!
The anticipation!
This is probably as good a time as any to say you can start working on updating your characters to level 8, as that's where they'll be at once they emerge from Hagwood :)
Holy epic post batman!
It looks like we have some reading to...
Also, Maddok/The Beast should be done leveling.
It turned out a lot longer than I had envisioned. I hope you don't drown in words :)
I'm working on my own responses to the long post, which certainly has opened up some plot-thread opportunities.
-----
Just in pondering my level-up options, I have been feeling a little too light on the party buffs aspect (granted, we also have a bard and a self-augmenting summoner, so I'm not the sole source of beneficial effects). On the other hand, Yahirma is shining as a pseudo-witch curse-machine, and I wouldn't mind expanding her list of debuffs. Here are a few possibilities for my new 4th level slot:
Aura of Doom: A sound debuff effect with a great duration and a solid thematic connection
Blessing of Fervor: Versatile haste is pretty neat, but we already have at least one person capable of casting haste (Maddok and Semenya both)
Death Ward: 'Nuff said, as they say
Debilitating Portent: It's a fantastic single-target debuff, which seems to be one of Yahirma's specialties
Freedom of Movement: I think we all recognize the amazing nature of this spell, but I already have Liberating Command to ease the burden of grappling
Holy Smite: I can't tell whether or not Semenya is continuing with us, but this could broaden our area damage without worrying terribly much about friendly fire
Spiritual Ally: It's so thematic, but it is tied to wisdom
Terrible Remorse: Not a bad spell, though the flavor seems a little off for Yahirma
I think I'm most drawn to picking up Debilitating Portent or Aura of Doom unless folks are particularly excited about Blessing of Fervor. I'm also thinking of using the 8th level trade-out to retrain Borrow Fortune for another 3rd level spell. Again, I can't tell what Semenya's status is, but Communal Resist Energy has strong appeal. Prayer and Remove Blindness/Deafness (the latter for repeatedly apparent reasons) are also attractive.
Hmmm...I may need to grab Craft Staff at some point just to cover some spellcasting contingencies.
Insights and recommendations are welcome.
I do not believe Semenya will be returning.
As much as I would like someone to pick up the haste responsibility, I like the idea of Yahirma as the dedicated debuffer. Both aura of doom and portent get my vote.
+8 hp
+5 skills
+1 Stealth
+1 Perception
+1 Disable Device
+1 Acrobatics
+1 Merchant
+1d6 on lay on hands
Yahirma: You can use Charisma instead of Wisdom for spiritual ally if you wish. It was written before oracles existed, and I'd assume the wording would be similar to debilitating portent if it was created now.
Don't worry about haste, it's a natural spell for a bard to get ay?
I envision that time spent planning the Drovenge's downfall might take a bit of time in game, so if there are things that you would like to have crafted (time permitting), let me know.
-----
+1 Charisma
+1 Bluff
+2 Diplomacy
+1 Know (Nature)
+1 Know (Planes)
+1 Know (Religion)
+1 Spellcraft
Spells Learned
0: Light
3: Resist Energy, Communal (retrained Borrow Fortune)
4: Spritual Ally
Don't worry about haste, it's a natural spell for a bard to get ay?
Thanks Little Brother.
No problems big brother. Might as well take it now, it will be three or so levels before I could again what with the chevalier prestige class coming up.
+1 Dex
Acrobatics +1
Knowledge Local +1
Knowledge The Planes +1
Linguistics +1
Perform Acting +1
Stealth +1
Profession Brewer +1
Sense Motive +1
Perform Sing +2
Spells:
Haste
Chevalier is really cool. I considered it for Maddok at one point.
Well since everyone else is doing it... HP: .
Never doing that again. I'm taking my winnings and leaving Vegas.
Am I correct in the belief that Maddok is supposed to go back to Westcrown to take care of business while Vahnwynne's ritual is underway?
That seems to be the case for Vahnwynne. He could wait around, but there does not seem to be a set end date for the ritual and its preparations.
It's up to you. Either way is fine with me. The Mother's inner sanctum is a place she never invites anyone into (so she won't let Maddok in there), but Vahnwynne would have to be there for her to perform the ritual.
Timewise, I simply didn't want to be specific; it's a ritual that's virtually never performed, so the exact timing of it might not be known to the Mother. Plus several centuries old beings aren't all that particular about days/weeks anyway. She did spend twenty years gathering information about Vassindio Drovenge without having yet attempted to carry out her vengeance, after all :)
All that remains now is the conclusion of the Yahirma-Mother conversation. After that, the group will encounter our new player (which will take place at the makeshift camp the carriage driver set up for himself while the group ventured into Hagwood).
I'll be looking over character sheets within the next few days; I had no spare time to do so over the weekend.
***
I have informed Semenya via PM that since she hasn't posted on a regular basis in over a month-and-a-half, and has given no reason for the last 2+ weeks of absence, I don't think it's fair to the other players (or to herself, since she has missed so much of the plot developments) to keep her in. I didn't want to cut her from the game, but I don't feel I had much choice at this point.
It's never a fun call to make.
Since everybody else is posting at the moment: Do you think I should ask Xerath to make his introductory post whenever he's able (which could lead to his introduction running in parallel with finishing up with the Mother), or should I wait until Yahirma's conversation with the Mother is over?
It's your call. I like to keep things moving but I don't want to infringe on Yahirma's story time.
My pardons for the inconvenience, but I won't be able to post much on that conversation for another six hours or so. If you want to start working the party back to town, I can work on that dialogue with the Mother once I have a bit of free time.
It's certainly not an inconvenience, and your posts are always worth any amount of waiting time :)
We've been pretty good at telling two stories at the same time anyway.
Yahirma: You can continue the conversation with the Mother; my post detailing her retreat with Vahnwynne will be assumed to happen after your conversation is finished :)
Updated Appario's alias to level 8.
Oof, never thought I would get here.
Anxious to keep going. :)
I intend to keep this game going at least until you've finished the AP, so there will be several more new levels in Appario's future :)
Character-update notes:
Appario: Tiny little thing here; you didn't increase STR to 20 in the table :)
Derek: Attack bonus for ranged dagger and shortbow should be +10/+5. Bardic performance is now at 21 rounds/day.
Maddok: Summon Monster should be SM4 also in the offense section. Shoanti bolas attack should be at +8 rather than +11.
Yahirma: All your attack routines should include a second attack (although you probably won't full-attack all that often!). Perform (oratory) should be at +12.
Xerath: You should have an additional language. It looks like you have too many 0th-2nd level spells known. By my calculation it should be 7 instead of 11 0th (normal 8, reduced by 1), 5 instead of 7 1st (normal 5, reduced by 1, plus 1 bloodline spell), 3 instead of 5 2nd (normal 3, reduced by 1, plus 1 bloodline spell). Or did I miss something simple again?
As a side note, I find it funny that the sorcerer has the highest hit point total in the group :)
It's getting there, this time there were ALMOST no corrections needed.
Fixed the SM entry in offense.
The bola attack line looks right. It's my CMB - 4 for lack of proficiency.
Didn't Maddok get some sort of trait switch to be proficient in bolas?
For Yahirma, yeah, can anyone imagine her attacking more than once per round?
I suspect Xerath took the human favored class bonus, which allows a sorcerer to gain an additional spell known at a lower level.