DMDM's Way of the Wicked: The Devil My Only Master (Inactive)

Game Master Douglas Muir 406

Ty Dm that prompted a follow up

Ok, I think that the Judge is finally done. Damn there is a lot to do when you have as screwed up a character as I have.

Went with Quickdraw/Mythic Quickdraw for feats

Marshall Mythic Path
Potent Message for the Path Skill
Decisive Strike for the Path Ability

Also took Potent Message as a Rogue/Bard Talent <-- in place of Weapon Finesse which just seemed foolish. Unfortunately there were really no other good feats and this, together with the Potent Message, really seem to fit the Judge's character and background. Undermine and subvert.

Wrap up items for Dren:

Okay, a word about... what do you call the lines of information about your characters? Status lines? Taglines? I don't want to pin you down to a standard format, but it would be helpful to me if you could do it like this:

Level & Class [optional]
Initiative
Perception
Anything that affects perception (like Scent or an active True Seeing spell)
Armor class / touch / FF
Saves
Current HP
Any conditions (exhausted, etc.)
Major buffs lasting more than 1 round/lvel that are currently active. Don't include buffs that are minor, or that are already included in other stats (like False Life, Mage Armor or stat increase buffs). Do include buffs like Freedom of Movement or Resist Energy, so that we don't have to scroll back through 400 posts to confirm that you cast it two weeks ago.
Move (like "30' or 60' Fly" if you have Fly active)

Then, if you can add a spoiler and stick your skills there, even better.

I will fix it when I am off my phone Dm

Come to think of it, throw CMB / CMD in there with the skills.

Dm was the con damage from blood loss or from poison

Jax doesn't have room to fit any of his skills in a spoiler. His buffs are in the spoiler though. All buffs/current statuses are also in a spoiler on the top of his character profile. Same with Zoren.

Ok, Edmin is complete with equipment and spells for today. Ragnar is complete with items.

Now, I only need to finish my leadership.

I should have a 19 in leadership as a base. So I should have:

- 13th Level Cohort

Knights of Nessus
- 40 1st levels
- 4 2nd levels Corporal
- 2 3rd level Sargent
- 1 4th level Chief
- 1 5th level Captain

Question.
My 13th level cohort, what are my options?

War priest of Asmodeous would be sick

Yeh, same question for me. Still thinking about taking Grumblejack though.

Take grumbles and make him a vampire ogre

Was thinking Unholy Barrister or War Priest, but DMDM mentioned others from our travels.

I don't want a vampire ogre. Was thinking more that he would have a secondary coffin in a bag of holding.

Also, need to find out about organizations. The Judge will have people carefully planted in many noble homes and influential political positions.

I definitely think you should take grumbles. Just some straight muscle is good, and we could use it for sure.

Just make sure you give him Iron Will

Maybe be a Mutation Warrior? Easily can be flavored that Ulp kept feeding him random things and now he can make his own mutagen mixed from blood of foes. Hilarious

eventually Ulp will want to get a tribe of his own. I think his endgame is a small Kobold Kingdom somewhere. Ironically it would probably be fairly peaceful.

Might do that at level 17 or 19.

A 13th level Cleric has access to Resurrection.....

We will need some one in The North. I don't think Fire Axe will be long for this world.

Oh my stars!

Hi guys!

WOW! You restarted!

I had no idea!

Do I get credit for getting DM to reconsider?

I am traveling with family but I will be free by Sunday.

May I please get help building my character?

I really have no real experience building a high level character.

I have so much to read.

Take grumbles and make him a vampire ogre

Poor Grumblejack!

Welcome back! We've kept a place open for you.

It may take a little bit before we can bring you into the action, so take your time about reviewing the gameplay and building your character.

Cy - you are lucky. Straight wizards have a lot less class decisions to make. Pretty much it is feats (metamagic is good, especially for a blaster), spells and magic trinkets.

Also, you have to decide. If you want Grumblejack as a cohort, then I will create someone else. Otherwise, the Judge will likely take the big ogre. For you, some muscle might be good.

Less class decisions, maybe, but spells are the hardest part!!
Take Grumbles and make him into an Egor type character, Judge!

Question.

My 13th level cohort, what are my options?

Here's a suggestion. You don't have to take it, but it might perhaps be interesting.

Your cohort is a cleric and she's largely non-combatant. She doesn't follow you around. She's elsewhere. Let's call her Sister Jane.

Jane was a perfectly normal midlevel priest of Mitra... until the day you and your army of evil overwhelmed the Vale of Valtaerna and slaughtered all the servants of the Bright God there. Jane was supposed to backstop a desperate last charge against you. But at the crucial moment, looking out over the death and desolation you had wrought on the beautiful Vale... well, it wasn't her courage that broke; she's brave enough. But all hope in life and goodness simply shriveled. She fell into despair, and lost her faith.

And then came Sir Edmin, striking across the landscape of blood and horror like an unstoppable titan: the New Order made flesh, a hero of death and dark charisma.

Jane fell from grace with the Bright Lord, and rose again as a fanatically devoted servant of Asmodeus. She's rapidly organizing a new, clandestine Church, working in the shadows, preparing for the day when Talingarde falls to you. She's not a combatant, but she's optimized for manipulation, treachery, and running things. I see her as something like a Cleric 10 / Diabolist 3 -- see below -- but YMMV.

Here's where it gets cute: right now, the position of High Priest of Asmodeus in Talingarde is empty. The pit fiend Naburus stripped Cardinal Thorn of that title so that you could attack him... but he's holding it in abeyance until he sees who wins. If you guys prevail, the natural candidate would be someone who is closely associated with you. That's Sister Jane. (She doesn't call herself that any more, BTW. That was her old name, for her old life.)

So while you lose the benefit of having a cohort tagging along after you, when and if you beat the Cardinal you'll gain the benefit of having the High Priest(ess) of Asmodeus in Talingarde, Lord of the Church, as your cohort.

(Is there a romantic or sexual aspect to the relationship? That's entirely up to you -- but given the personalities involved, I'd say "maybe yes, but only one of you is really interested". Former Jane might view Edmin with awe and adoration, but Edmin seems almost monastically devoted to the service of the Dark Lord.)

As to personality, Former Jane is embracing the whole Asmodean mindset, hard -- meaning she's cruel and demanding to subordinates, but very organized. She uses Planar Ally a lot to call devils (hence the Diabolist PrC). That's great at building relations with Hell (you'll recall you spent a point on that) and it gives her all sorts of ways to undermine the kingdom, but it costs a lot of money, so she's very grasping. And even at 13th level, she's still always looking for ways to impress Sir Edmin.

Again, wholly optional! But if you'd like to swap a combat cohort for something more political and intrigue-y, this could do. Up to you.

Yeah! Welcome back Cy! Finally we have someone to cast real spells!

As opposed to what, my imaginary spells?

@DMDM - any thoughts on a cohort for me? Grumblejack is an option, but I am sure that there are others out there, and various politically connected organizations, and people in high stations within the current Talingarde government, that would work very well for the Judge.

Wow dm. That is just tragically awesome.

Hey zimu. One thought. Make sure you scribe plenty of scrolls. Also remember that Ulp makes pptions

Any of his level 1-3 spells can be potions. Well most of them. The cost is

Spell Level x caster level x 25

Note that you can have a potion any level 1-15

So a level 1 cure light is 25 while a level 5 would be 125.

I am traveling with family but I will be free by Sunday.

May I please get help building my character?

I really have no real experience building a high level character.

Pick a school and focus on it. If Evocation take:

Spell focus - Evo
Greater Spell focus
Spell penetration
Greate Spell pen

To be an effective wizard at high level you need to make creatures fail their saves and get through their Spell Resistance.

Once you have that be sure to get a Wand of Quicken Spell, Lesser so you can drop multiple spells in a round.

Ok that sounds good. Edmin has long ago lost anything inside him that could be called love or romantic.

I will ask that she be able to craft items though. Armor and weapons of course.

@DMDM - any thoughts on a cohort for me? Grumblejack is an option, but I am sure that there are others out there, and various politically connected organizations, and people in high stations within the current Talingarde government, that would work very well for the Judge.

I'm going to give Zimu right of first refusal on Grumblejack, since she was spending the most time on cultivating him. Give me a bit.

Oh, and question: what's your position on creating vampire spawn and/or new vampires?

(Note that Sister Serafina is still out there. Whether there are other vampires in Talingarde is an open question, but she's there and she's at least as powerful as you are.)

Ok that sounds good. Edmin has long ago lost anything inside him that could be called love or romantic.

I will ask that she be able to craft items though. Armor and weapons of course.

You can design her. Her starting stats are 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, and 8, she's a Cleric 10 / Diabolist 3, and she has standard NPC WBL. She's picked up a crafting feat or two and invested some skill ranks in an attempt to impress you.

One caveat: While her conversion is wholehearted, she's still figuring out her new alignment. So she sometimes acts, not so much like an Asmodean priest, as like a lawful good Mitran's idea of what an Asmodean priest should act like. She wears red and black, has a huge spiky Asmodean holy symbol on a massive gold chain, and spends a lot of time screaming at minions. And anything she makes for you is going to be jet-black and absolutely covered with spikes, devil horns, fangs, pentacles, stylized flames, infernal runes, and carved snarling fiend faces.

Anyway, right now she's guarding home base for you.

That's fine. I can see her side. Edmin will attempt to show her the non flash side of evil, the angry side if you will. I will atemp to provide her a military mindset more than anything.

I'm going to give Zimu right of first refusal on Grumblejack, since she was spending the most time on cultivating him. Give me a bit.

Oh, and question: what's your position on creating vampire spawn and/or new vampires?

(Note that Sister Serafina is still out there. Whether there are other vampires in Talingarde is an open question, but she's there and she's at least as powerful as you are.)

Personally, except as fodder for a big battle, I would consider them to be a nuisance. Minions are easy to control. Dominate person here, lesser geas there, some nice personality and rewards and you have a happy and devoted group of followers. If one gets out of line, you kill him, maim him, or really make his life miserable. This tends to detract from others following in his footsteps.

Really, I suppose that minion vampires are fine, and having one to make sure that things are running correctly in the Judge's network of spies and political informants could be good. The biggest problem is that the vampire would be very limited in what they could do during daylight hours, making him/her not exactly the most useful spy.

And, don't worry. The Judge will take back from the good sister what she stole from him, only tenfold.

Guys I did not know there was even a recruitment thread so I have 364 posts to read!

Whew. Where do you guys find the time.

Internet very limited until late Sunday. Any suggestions how to tackle so much game info?

Where are the rules for leveling up? Like amount of magic items and what we are allowed to do.

Judge you lost your shadow?

Thanks for all the help with the builds I will get to them all, I really appreciate it. Jax put a lot of work in. There may have been others but I have not gotten to them yet. Please keep them coming.

So...how is it in the last 17 rolls there have only been 2 rolls above a 10?

So...how is it in the last 17 rolls there have only been 2 rolls above a 10?

We suck? I mean, I know that the Judge sucks, that is sort of the Judge's whole motif. But I did not realize the rest of you were so good at sucking.

At least they are just ropers who can drain your strength to 0. Jax and Edmin will enjoy being paralyzed...lol.

Judge, here's my thought for your cohort. Again, this is totally optional.

There are many honest merchants in Talingarde who have made their fortunes through hard work and shrewd but fair dealings. Master Mallory Hawthorn is not one of those.

Hawthorn is a living epitome of greed. An obese, gluttonous hedonist, Hawthorn’s ultimate goal is to be the richest man in the kingdom, and he's already well up the top ten. He owns land in every major city, and sits atop a trade network that extends throughout the kingdom and far across the sea.

To casual acquaintance, Hawthorn is a jolly fat man who chuckles a lot. In fact he is an absolutely ruthless evil bastard -- cynical, self centered, and endlessly, endlessly greedy. He loathes the House of Darius and was carefully, quietly working with the Cardinal -- it was he who brokered the shipment of weapons that you brought to the North. But he's switched his allegiance to the Ninth Knot now...

Build him as a rogue or bard, very much non-combatant and he's not going to craft stuff either. (He has people for that.) Rather, he's a huge political asset -- he has blackmailed or bribed people all over the kingdom -- and a major source of mission-critical information. Also, if you do manage to take over, having the single wealthiest businessman in the country as your cohort won't hurt.

What think you?

nice

I can't wait to get my cohort in a few levels now. Though I think obviously it will be a Kobold dragon Herald, who will help me grow a tribe.

Let me think about it. Maybe some levels of Guild/Aspis Agent as well. I will have to read through the bard/rogue archetypes to see how to build him.

Gonna be out of town this weekend, should have some time, but not a lot to work on this.

No rush. Survive this first.

The rogue is a skill monkey with useful talents, the bard has handy spells and all those bard things. Build towards manipulation, domination, and lots and lots of lying.

Merchant Hawthorn comes from a low, slightly disreputable background -- people say he was the son of an innkeeper, and (depending on what you choose for his character class) he's said to have spent his youth either as a burglar, a fence, or a pimp. The Darian regime has firmly refused to grant him a knighthood, let alone a patent of nobility. Lesser men than him have managed to buy baronies and even earldoms, so the thing is not unthinkable, but he's been frozen out. It's a very tender spot. He's quite sure it's because these wretched Darians think they're better than etc. etc.

(In fact it's because paladins and, you know, Detect Evil. The government can't arrest you just because a paladin smells the badness; it's a lawful good system, so they have to wait until they catch you going over the line. But they for damn sure aren't going to hand you a patent of nobility.)

almost new friends! Teeheeteeheeheehee

Bref says from his throne made of poo as he watches Xen drink wine and Morsum chew on a bone

Since Cimu is still around, Jax will have her on the bracelet of friends instead of Dren. He's too creepy! And evil.
Edit: And since Irin is...indisposed, Ulp is keyed to it to take her place.

Do note: Jax and Zoren both have a scroll of teleport. Jax also has Boots of Getaway, meaning he can get himself back to Zoren's shop as a single action...then use his bracelet of friends to teleport Edmin, Cimu, Ulp and Judge to him ....sorry Dren.

I had Boots of Getaway until the end, just did not have the money for them. They were one of the last items I had to drop.

Do note: Jax and Zoren both have a scroll of teleport. Jax also has Boots of Getaway, meaning he can get himself back to Zoren's shop as a single action...then use his bracelet of friends to teleport Edmin, Cimu, Ulp and Judge to him ....sorry Dren.

Zoren's old shop is a burnt-out shell. You have a secret home base elsewhere.

Oops. Okay, home base is within the former dragon's castle then. Specifically that amazing bedroom.