DM Dr Evil's PFS 00-02 The Hydra Fang Incident (Inactive)

Game Master DM DoctorEvil

In which a handful of Pathfinders look to capture a bloody pirate and prevent a war from breaking out in the Inner Sea.

The six players have already been selected. Please introduce if you are bringing in a new character.

Also, please help me out by providing the following (even if you have already) which will help me with Chronicle Sheets when we get done.

1) Player Name
2) PFS number & extension for this PC
3) Faction
4) Starting XP
5) Starting PP/Fame
6) Starting Gold

If you want to pre-purchase or rebuild anything per the rules, please let me know. We will assume you had a safe (relatively) journey from Whitethrone in Irrisen back to Absalom and thence overland to Diobel on the Isle of Kortos, where this adventure begins.

Hi there! I'm back with my elven rogue.

1. Leinathan
2. # 78774-1
3. Andoran
4. 3 starting exp (level 2)
5. 2/4 PP, 2 Fame
6. Currently at 1,570gp

The Pathfinder Society is freakin' heroic, man.

No rebuilds or additional purchases for now.

I'm not wrong in thinking first level characters get a free rebuild, right? I think I might make a few changes to Archibald, seeing he has an illegal feat and everything. I also have 6PP to spend. Any suggestions on what I could use it for?

This is Kaddok's druid, checking in.

Twigs - depends on how drastic your rebuild plans are. A wand of mage armor is nice to have at times, if you plan to be in combat at all. You can buy a wayfinder for a free light source, or a wand of CLW for out-of-combat healing. I'm sure there are other options, I just haven't thought about it for more than a couple of minutes.

As far as GM info...

1) Pedwiddle
2) #70085-5
3) Qadira
4) 3
5) 4/6
6) Currently 538gp

Fair warning - Darvan isn't quite the combat monster that Kaddok is (except when he's got his shillelagh going). His goal is to eventually (level 5 or so) be able to do some fairly cool standard-action dinosaur summoning, and have a fairly fun time with wild shape.

You can redo anything and everything you want.

Well everything except your Bio. I love Archibald's Bio.
When I read it the first time my first thought was "Damn, I wish I'd thought of that. Brilliant!"

I wouldn't get bracers of armor though... seems like it'd be cheaper just to buy a wand of mage armor or wear a haramaki. Though I'm not a big fan of the later.

And don't forget to snag what spells from Milo you might like.

Hm... the scenario takes place on Kortos? Guess we're still in Absalom territory.

Oh ya... for the GM

1) Aaron
2) PFS# 84637-3
3) Grand Lodge
4) 3 XP
5) 6/6 Prestige/Fame
6) 2053 gp

As for new purchases to start this one.

Smoked Goggled (10 gp)
Alchemist's Lab (200 gp) (circumstance bonuses stack, who knew?!)
Scroll of Endure Elements (25 gp)
Scroll of Obscuring Mist (25 gp)

This is Ashia's halfling Cavalier.

1) Achilles
2) 116049-3
3) Andoran
4) 1
5) 2/2
6) 554g 9s

And I second that a haramaki isn't great unless you don't plan on using Mage Armor. Ashia only grabbed one because she will never learn Mage Armor and I'm not ready to commit to buying a wand.

Max level for a PFS character is 11th level, right?

I'm currently thinking of rebuilding Jiro, but into what? I'm not sure yet. I'll post again later today with my final decision :)

I'm torn between a Michael Bay arcanist, a wizard abjurer who's a specialize herbalist and singer and who uses his attunement with nature to enhance his magic (oh, the fluff!) or .. an illusionist. Hm..

Personally, the second idea really intrigues me :D Elael'll soon be doing plenty of illusion and Michael Bay bores me.

wait, I'm Michael Bay!

BOOM!

1)Ciaran (Twigs)
2)PFS# 84608-2
3) Grand Lodge
4) 3 *level up*
5) 6/6
6) 1,064gp

Rebuild:
Still not 100% but I'm planning on switching my school and possibly my spell specialisation. Possibly to burning hands (although that might be overkill considering the sheer insanity that Milo is capable of... Nice build!)

Level Up:
Another level of wizard for this Pathfinder. None of that fancy-schmancy multiclassing. Harumph!

Heh... milo started out as a thought exercise on background fluff

Friend and I were discussing the various over-optimized blaster type builds, and he was going on how no one ever explained the background on how someone could have all these bloodlines in them, they just did it for the mechanical advantage...

So I created a background to explain how a gnome might have an orc bloodline (and a red dragon bloodline)

Then decided to attach stats to it and try playing him on a whim one day for my first foray into PbP.

He really is way overkill. =)

Okay, I'll start working out the details on the 'plant singer' :) my current idea is an Abjuration Specialist from Osirion, who dreams of discovering the ancient plans of whatever Osirion's equivalent is of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. But while one can dream big, one must start small ;)

With the name, I was envisioning someone like the wizard from the first Conan movie...

Good lord, my build is coming together nicely .. but I think plenty of people will raise an eyebrow at it :'D

edit - how does selling starting gear at lvl 1 work .. you simply get half?

Half-elven Osirian Abjurer who weaves spells through song and his attunement to nature. Since abjuration is way too strong of a school, he also wields a khopesh-glaive (read: a dwarven longaxe) and stands behind the front-liners to give them invaluable assistance.

At lvl3 he can take the feat 'bodyguard' and when enlarged, can easily boost the AC of his companions significantly while also making some attacks of his own through triggered AoO's. So, yes.. I still got a couple of hundred GPs to burn on scrolls, potions and what not.

The man himself is somewhat socially unstable, thanks to the intensity of his studies and the odd beliefs he hold - magic through song? rebuilding an ancient wonder, the hanging gardens, in the desert of Osirion? The Shelynian community aren't sure whether he's a genius, insane or a combination of both.

You can sell stuff back at full price at level 1.

And common man, you were adopted by halflings, yet can't speak halfling? =)

Good point! Even with his INT modifier I'm still in need for more skill-points and languages :< and thank you.

eh whatever... my monk/cleric also has adopted and helpful (for bodyguard haha). he doesn't speak halfling. halflings speak common and he wasn't raised by so much as spent a long time training with a halfling.

oh, Dr. E! don't forget to close the old game please and thank you.

Hey guys~
Quick poll time.

I kind of want your thoughts on Elael's proposed progression. I wanted to take him into Arcane Trickster, and I was wondering if you thought I should give him wizard or sorcerer levels in order to do it. His INT and CHA are the same, although increasing CHA will give him a higher Bluff modifier (for Feint maneuvers to keep him a damage-dealer in melee), and increasing INT will give him more skill ranks (presumably to train Bluff along with his other skills).

I dunno. It's the same-old debate, versatility versus power. What do y'all think? I'd probably be going with the shadow subschool of the illusion school if I went wizard or the rakshasa bloodline if I went sorcerer.

Assuming you're doing 3 levels of rogue, you'll be doing 3 levels of wizard or 4 of sorcerer, then (presumably) 6 or 5 levels of arcane trickster.

Going wizard won't get you much, but the earlier entry into arcane trickster will give you the chance to get that 6th level of arcane trickster, which will get you another +1d6 SA damage.

Going sorcerer will get you the 1st and 3rd level bloodline powers, as well as the bloodline arcana, but the bloodline arcana won't increase past 4th level.

Wizard will allow you to swap out spells to match the situation, but removes any flexible use of metamagic feats (you have to memorize spells at the beginning of the day with the metamagic already applied). It also allows you to use pearls of power to get those spells back.

Sorcerer will limit your spells, but you'll be able to use metamagic feats as the situation calls for it. Of course, if you don't plan on learning any metamagic feats, then that's a non-issue.

Sorry, not going to tell you what to do, but these are the salient points, as I see them.

Arcanist is also an option, since the Adv Classes are legal for PFS play .. ;-) .. but wizard seems better, simply because it lets you enter your desired PrC a level earlier.

Hey all, weekend was busier than I expected so I didn't get much done on game prep. I am traveling on Tuesday to Dallas on business, and will have down time in the evenings. Let's plan to start that night, unless someoen has objections.

Closing old thread now.

Theoretically, if you changed your race to one of the various flavors of teifling or aasimaar, couldn't you get into arcane trickster 2 levels earlier using the spell-like ability to qualify for the 2nd level arcane spell portion, and a single level of wizard/sorcerer/arcanist to get mage hand.

Actually, hmm...
planetouched race to get the 2nd level spell requirement...
magical talent trait to get mage hand as a spell-like ability 1/day for the mage hand requirement...

Then take 3 levels of rogue (for the sneak attack) and one level of any casting class at all (oracle or cleric even) then arcane trickster for the remaining 8.

Interesting thought being an arcane trickster in a divine class =)
Probably not better, but interesting nonetheless.

I'm pretty sure that picking a race with a spell-like ability doesn't work ;-)

According to relatively recent FAQ on the subject, yes they do.

Spell-Like Abilities, Casting, and Prerequisites

Even mentions early-entry prestige classes specifically =)

He's right.
You can also use the scrying subschool of divination to give yourself clairvoyance/clairaudience as a spell-like ability that applies. There's a diviner1/fighter1/eldritch knight2 in one of the games I play in.

Thing is, though, like Milo's build, I don't often approve of builds like that. They seem cheatyface unless there'a a reason for them.

ha! Nah, Milo's build is far worse!

I still think the idea of a divine arcane trickster is interesting though!

me too... i might work on one now.

Wow, they really ruled that? Consider me amazed (and actually a tad disappointed!). I can't update/make my character right now, but I'll try and squeeze it in tonight after I get home from work. Reading handwritten diaries (some 41 of them) that span some 22 years means my eyes would love to do something ELSE than read x'D

eh... as the FAQ entry points out, it's really not a game-breaking ruling. PrCs in PF aren't like PrCs in 3.5 were. also, as we can see (Milo), it's plenty easy enough to be ridiculous without early PrC entry.

edit: arcane tricksters don't get fun until 10th AT level when you can sneak attack with your spells. or i guess when you get rounds per level of g. invis at 9. still not something i'm likely to see in PFS. but the tiefling ninja/oracle trickster would have been neat.

FYI, gameplay thread is open.

I guess I need to see Jiro's re-build and Twigs' leveled up Archie. It looked to me like Darvan Moll may be 2 skill points short? I show he spent 8 but has 10 to spend?

Hop over to Gameplay, and let's get started!

Archibald Changes:
Specialisation changed from Diviner to Transmuter
Ability scores adjusted (transmuter bonus in Con, higher dex, lower cha)
Feats adjusted (spell specialisation switched to burning hands), spell focus (conjuration) picked up also
Skill Points in Craft (alchemy), Knowledge (dungeoneering, engineering, geography, local, nature, nobility)
Level up spells: Burning Disarm, Hypnotism (thought I'd try it out, despite low DC's. Unlike charm person it actually doesnt require opposed charisma checks)

Spells Prepared:
1: burning hands, burning hands, hypnosis, burning disarm
Cantrips: prestidigitation, open/close, daze, detect magic, light, detect poison

Scribing:
From Jiro's Abjurer: endure elements, magic weapon, enlarge person. 30gp
From Milo: air bubble, burning hands, crafter's fortune, expeditious retreat, feather fall, infernal healing, mage armour, shield, shocking grasp. 100gp

I'll format the character either during my break or when I get home tonight! :)

Day Job Roll (Craft Alchemy + Lab + Crafter's Fortune: 1d20 + 7 + 2 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 7 + 2 + 5 = 29 +50gp

Ugh, I've lost this post several times in the typing, so here are the cliffnotes.

hey Dr E. i just noticed we never fixed my starting gold from before on Ashia's chronicle sheet. i told you i had miscalculated by 2g (she actually had 6 not 4 at the start of Frozen Fingers). i don't know if it's fixable or if it'll even matter much, but i thought i'd point it out.

heh... 3 wizards!
Too bad Ashia didn't stay, then we'd have 4 arcane casters! =)

Nuke it from orbit!

oh, and I'm a little concerned that Milo might be influencing Archibald in a bad way!

hahah yeah, i saw that too. lol. both the 3 wizard party and the little bit of Milo in Archy.

Okay, what's best: to make a new PFS profile/character page or overwrite everything on Jiro's? I can't change the character's name on his though .. and if I make a new one, how does the paperwork work? So many questions, sorry :')

You can make a new (non-PFS) alias and just use the same PFS number with it.

Don't make another PFS alias because it gets its own number. Well, I guess you could but then you'd have an extra PFS number floating around.

Thanks, I'll do just that.

Ha, Darvan had a great Blakros Museum run going there.
Must have been getting tired of that place, some fresh air will do him good!

Heh, yeah - it was feeling that way for a bit...:-P

Not for PFS, but I REALLY wish one could make the divine trickster idea work for an undine or a sylph. Unfortunately, their spell-likes are only 1st-level spells.

On another note, I'm ready and excited to tackle another adventure with you fellows!

This is kind of novel actually doing a scenario with pc's I've done others with, rp-wise! Can actually make in-character references to previous events that make sense to other folks and such.

Hell, just thinking about Milo and Archy's interaction, off-screen, as they shared magical knowledge, and perhaps Milo showing Archy some alchemical tips, and such, is just ripe with RP fruit. Especially given both of them, in their own ways, are a little bit crazy =)

To actually act like you know some of the people you're with! Is a unique perspective for me in PFS!

Hm, later today I'll sort out his gear - scrolls, wands, etc.

It's funny how little window PFS seems to leave for interparty roleplay. Thrown right into the action with a brand new group and being faced with a Venture Captain or contact right off the bat, you tend to skip over the introduction and go through the motions without a single conversation. Its my mission for this module to at least throw a few words Elael's way! Although it's definitely the gnome he shares the most kinship with. They definitely have a lot in common.

As for the mechanical similarities, it mostly happened by accident. I wanted to change my specialised spell to something that scales faster than burning hands, so I was opting for shocking grasp... but then the idea of layering two (possibly three) wizards worth of burning hands on top of each other hit me. But it's clear where Archibald learned his new tricks. Or old tricks. I can see him insisting he knew all of this already. And to anybody who says otherwise he just knows that baleful polymorph spell is in his spellbook somewhere, and they're lucky his eyes aren't what they used to be...

Also I just consulted my Skull and Shackles books, and apparently burning hands won't start fires on a ship (unless there's gunpowder or something aboard, of course.) In short, we can burn them to high heaven without any nasty, robe-drenching repercussions.