DM Corerue's Carrion Crown

Game Master DM Corerue

No problem, GM A. Good luck!

Good luck with either keeping your current job or finding a new one, GM...

Heck, I wish I could write characters as witty as yours. I laughed like 50 times when I was reading through the campaign prepping for it.

Thanks! Playing Heck is wish fulfillment--I get to use the jokes that in real life I don’t think of until half an hour after a conversation is over.

Also, I borrow shamelessly from a bunch of different sources. There’s a little of Eeyore, Steven Wright, Maria Bamford, Marvin the Paranoid Android and Puddleglum in Sour Heck, but his most direct antecedent is Dolorous Edd.

Good luck with the job situation, by the way. Always a stressful time.

PbP is a good way to get around the worst of l'esprit d'escalier, at least if you catch things within an hour of the initial post.

Whatever your inspirations are for Sour Heck, please do continue to draw on them! ^^ The man is GOLD!

ok, so i have settled on a character. Pellious Leroung, Chellaxian conjurer.

Child of one of the noble houses, life-long student, archaeologist, student at one time or another and long-time correspondent of the late Professor Lorrimor. is in urgent need of surgery to remove the silver spoon from his mouth and the stick from his lower digestive tract, but he's not a bad guy necessarily. His house is one of the 'nicer' Chellaxian ones, as they tend toward the scholarly, rather than the diabolical/enslavement/opression trilogy of happiness.

will have an alias sorted out soon

Awesome, Corvus. I'll intro you quite soon, probably after the courtroom scene.

So, this issue with work isn't that I'm going to be fired, it's just that in construction, there's not enough work to go around in the winter. It's left me with a ton of free time, which is great except I'm also a little depressed about not working. Really, the best thing I can do is try to just power through it and do the things I can do while I search for some other job. Thanks for your support and understanding.

Also, it occurs to me that you should probably have leveled to five by now. I should note that I don't keep a running EXP total, since I prefer to level you when I think it's appropriate to the story. Really, that should have happened upon your return to Lepidstadt. Go ahead and level up. I'll have a gameplay post tomorrow. Also, if you'd prefer a running EXP total, I can start keeping track.

Seasonal employment can be grim, but you're right--take advantage of the free time. I had some friends who did consulting, which was a little less predictable, and they said the same thing.

WRT the game stuff, I'm fine with organic leveling. For previous levels we did PFS standard (half die+1) instead of rolling, so I'll assume that we continue with that.

Peredur's saves don't change, +1 BAB, he'll probably take Power Attack as his L5 feat, he picks up his second favored enemy, and adds +2 to his current favored enemy bonus vs. undead. GM A, this isn't exactly covered in the book (and it's also more than a little bit metagamey), but I'd like him to take lycanthrope as a favored enemy. Opinions?

Skills: taking +1 skill rank for favored class bonus; incrementing
Climb
Disable Device
Knowledge (Dungeoneering)
Knowledge (Local)
Knowledge (Religion)
Perception
Stealth
Survival

HP now 44.

Aest - this path does a good job of pointing out when to level everyone up, if i recall correctly. somewhere toward the beginning of the book.

i will level up Pellious, accordingly, as well.

also, some friendly advice. if you have free time, and are stressed out due to work, and the fact that winter sucks, hit the gym. I started a legitimate workout routine a year and a half ago and it has helped so much with all of the above issues. /plug

PFS standard is fine with me. I always hated having a barbarian roll a 1, or something.

That is a little bit metagamey, but I don't think it's actually a huge problem. I mean, I'd assume Peredur would know that Ustalav is known for, you know, every gothic horror enemy ever.

@ Corvus: Yeah, I saw that. It gives a good idea of when to level for 4, 6, and 7, but no idea about 5. I'm guessing somewhere between 4 and 6, which is about here.

OH, and is there any consideration to equipment i should give when i finalize my character? any magic items, or base gold level i can use to equip meself?

I would say average WBL for level 4. If there are obvious balance issues, I can solve that with payment for the successful (or otherwise) trial.

I'll be taking another level of Magus for Eloise.

HP: Half maximum + 1 + Con. modifier +1 for favoured class +1 Toughness feat = 4 + 1 + 2 = 9
HP becomes 43

Bonus feat

+1 spell slot / day for 0, 1st and 2nd level.

Skill points: 2 + Int. modifier + 1 human bonus rank = 7

Ranks taken in:
Knowledge (arcana)
Knowledge (planes)
Knowledge (religion)
Linguistics (selecting Necril, the secret language of the Whispering Way)
Perform (sing)
Spellcraft
Use magic device

Feats selected:
Improved unarmed strike (I'm getting ready to develop the Kirin Style-feat tree)
Weapon focus (Longsword)

New spells:
Bear's endurance
Flaming sphere

I think Pellious, being the studious sort, has been spending time at the university of late, doing that thing he does with old books, and late nights. likely heard about the trial and is in the audience today, out of curiousity. Maybe he should approach the group after today's proceedings, offering some help.

GM Aest, before I level up, I want to ask if I understand the Dirge Bard's Haunting Refrain power right.

At 5th level, a dirge bard is able to stir primal terrors in the hearts of listeners. He can use a Perform (keyboard) or Perform (percussion) check in place of an Intimidate check to demoralize an opponent, with a bonus equal to half his bard level.

Would that apply if Sour Heck was using Intimidate to demoralize via a spell, specifically Burning Invective?

You unleash an insulting tirade so vicious and spiteful that enemies who hear it are physically scorched by your fury. When you cast this spell, make an Intimidate check to demoralize each enemy within 30 feet of you. Enemies that are demoralized this way take 1d10 points of fire damage and must succeed at a Reflex save or catch fire.

Seems to me that you can use Haunting Refrain in place of any check to demoralize, which includes Burning Invective.

So i'll just step in at a good moment?

Yeah. Any time is good. I'm assuming you were in attendance at the trial, and that you want to help the party, but how you do your intro is up to you. If you'd like, I could do an obligatory "You're approached by a stranger" post.

Don't we need to go have a beer at the inn before that can happen? :p

Ah yes, I forgot. Rounds for everyone!

I have an idea, I'll put a post up shortly.

Ah yes, I forgot. Rounds for everyone!

Schweet! :D Ale's on the DM!

Seems to me that you can use Haunting Refrain in place of any check to demoralize, which includes Burning Invective.

Thanks, Aest.

Here’s what I choose for Sour Heck at the new level up:

Feat gained: Arcane Strike

Skills Gained: Perform (Percussion) +2, Diplomacy +1, Perception +1, Knowledge (Nature) +1, Sense Motive +2.

Spell Gained: Blistering Invective

Spell List Change: Decompose Corpse lost in exchange for Disrupt Undead.

Alternate Favored Class Bonus (Human): Adds 1 spell (Feather Fall) to spells known .

He also gains 7 hit points, 2 performance rounds, and the Haunting Refrain ability; increases his Inspire Courage bonus to +2; and can cast another 1st and another 2nd level spell per day.

I'll level up tomorrow, this week has been almost as stressful as last week. Our sick cat (she's about 18 and was being treated for liver problems) has gotten worse, probably due to the stress of all those strangers working in the house and the noisy fan near her litter box. We took her to the vet last Saturday for fluids and nutrients, and had an x-ray done. It seems the liver problem is due to the cancer. She's still with us, but she needs force fed and she's getting weaker, so not for much longer. Sigh...

My sympathies, Iesha. Our dog went through something similar last year, and putting her to sleep was a very difficult decision.

Ahh, so sad. Even if our furry companions live to a ripe old age, it's so painful to lose them, whatever the cause.

Would you prefer a more formal intro, Corvus, or are you alright with just walking up to the group out of the blue? I could think of a way to get you linked in, if you'd like.

I got it, just waiting for the opportune moment heh

I asked this question in the discussion thread for the other game I'm running, and I'd like to ask it here as well. In the discipline I got my degree in (history), critique and criticism is huge. I'd like to improve as a GM, and I'd like your help to do it. What can I do better? Am I doing anything that's annoying you or causing you to lose interest?

Doing fine, Aest! I'd send you mail if I was having problems enjoying the game.

@Corvus: I tried to read your background, but the background tab is either empty or broken in your alias. I really wanted to read it, because it seems like there's a lot of potential for cool story with you and Eloise's seemingly shared history. If it's not too much trouble, would it be possible to fix it?

yeah i havent gotten a chance to put it down yet. should hopefully get it written up this weekend.

we've actually discussed it a bit, and yes, there is certainly interesting potential between the two characters.

I am running emergency recruitment for a Healer-type character in my campaign, the Seven Prayers!

Please read the character creation guidelines, look over the general posting and let me know if you're interested.

Currently, my party is ascending an evil Wizard's tower, so there is going to need to be a reason for you to be in there. You could be a prisoner awaiting the dining pleasure of the tower's guards, or you could be a member of the Goblin tribe that used to live in the caves at the foot of the tower. If the latter, then obviously you need to break the mould. ;)

Shoot me your designs and we'll pm about the particulars.

You'll understand if I beg off, I trust. (That's because I'm already playing, and my character could only qualify as a healer if she learned infernal healing.)

-Posted with Wayfinder

I understand perfectly. ^^

pm sent Eloise

I'll be away from the internet from Friday until Monday. Just a heads-up.

Thanks for the warning. I'll also be out of town a chunk of the weekend.

Leonard Nimoy passed away today. :(

Posting seems to have died down a lot the last couple of weeks. Anyone know what's up?

That was weird; I didn't see this post on my Campaigns tab. I think we're mostly waiting for something to happen, and for my part Peredur let Sour Heck do the talking.

Okay, I'll get things moving tonight.

I'll have a courthouse map up in the next day or so. The one in the book is pretty terrible, so I'll have to redraw it in Inkscape.

Terry Pratchett passed away today.

Not due to suicide, but due to Alzheimer-related complications.
At least he leaves us before the disease could steal his mind away.

Rest in peace, Sir Terry.

Holy cow, so many updates! Sorry to have been lax. I'll jump in with a post sometime today.

Pardon the interruption - Long-time lurker, first time poster.

Sour Heck, the work on the crowd in front of the court was a fantastic bit of inspiring roleplay.

*golf clap*

This guy took the words right out of my mouth... err, fingers... err, whatever.

*golf clapping as well*

Will have a gameplay post up tomorrow night-ish. I'm visiting my grandfather tomorrow (he's dying of cancer) and I can't really focus long enough to put together a reasonable post.