I think we're down to just the last Stirge left, then it'll be over. I'm sure the professor-type isn't going to let the students leave class Con drained.
Quick subplot recap:
Murders in the Jail
Kassara has been hunting for who killed Grimold's friends in the cell. She discovered guards were called away from position by an urchin named Josica to handle a fire. The fire was small, but could have spread so was dealt with. No one has seen Josica since or knows where he can be found. No one other than Sato entered the jail cells that day and she was there only to take Grimold away. The cell was locked at the time of the murder, and afterward. A pile of ash from something was found and bottled in a corner and given to Kassara.
Kassie has spoken to the guards and the head of the Gilded Dragon, a tavern that had the fire against its back wall. They do not know who could have set the fire.
Further searching for Josica can be done via diplomacy checks using the "gather information" capability of that skill within the city.
Rats
The cohort has found that there are unusually large amounts of rats in the Bonewatch. Some have ruined books, with weird coincidences in which books--although some choices were simply random. Some rats seem supernaturally hardy. Marcus was hunting them, but no one is sure why. Kassie spoke to Padraic and another boy from cohort two about it. Padraic said Flint was working for, or with, Magister Dazen and it may have been him who assigned the task.
Bloodstones of Arazni
A treatise on this mysterious item went missing from Professor Comell's room. Daen, after researching the item, has found that Arazni was a former herald of Aroden. Oddly, despite knowing Iomedae became Aroden's herald at some point, Priestess Astrata makes no mention of Arazni in her lessons. Several workers claimed they saw Theodric skulking around the Crusader War College around that time. Further information is best gained by spending more time with Knowledge (History or Religion) in the library.
Guards on the Dormitory
Cohort one has united together to provide its dormitory with protection.
I will be away tomorrow, Saturday and most, if not all, of Sunday visiting my wife's family. Normal posting will resume either Sunday evening or Monday evening.
Sounds good to me. I've got a family emergency going on this weekend, so having less games to worry about is helpful.
Yay, starting my first day of work..and recovering from a spontaneous hives outburst this weekend. I didn't even know I was allergic to anything!
Hey guys,
Sorry I'm behind on posting,... Family have been visiting from interstate but leave tomorrow. Will try to get a post up today then back to normal when they leave.
It's okay! We can move on.
On another note: A spot in the cohort has now been freed up and we approach a greater chance of looking for a new player.
I'm considering the Ambushed trait from the second round of recruitment as well as at least one more:
Street Urchin
Being an orphan is tough. Growing up with a strong defiant streak makes it even harder. In Vigil, if you haven't sworn the Oath (and sometimes even if you have), you are sometimes treated as a second-class citizen. And yet, Vigil is also a city of opportunity. One where even orphaned Oathless may get the chance to become Heroes. You are an orphan in Lastwall who, recently, helped re-direct some guards away from a prison post for a bag of coin and a loaf of bread. The one who made the offer didn't mention the small details and now you find yourself in a bad situation.
Benefit: You gain the Quick Scrounge and Scavenger rogue talents.
I'm having some trouble coming up with a post for Sato's class, so I'll let that scene end if you don't mind.
As for the trait, that seems fine. I'd also consider having a "recruited" trait. I think the Knights would be constantly putting out feelers for promising recruits, and the most promising would be entered in right away instead of waiting for the next set of cohorts. Perhaps something like that. Alternatively, it'd be cool to have an half-orc character, and a trait for that might encourage that.
I do really, really want a half-orc character. There's even a small sub-plot ish thing I put together to include one. I haven't figured out a way to introduce it more strongly (if you look back, the Inspector and the Pentarchos mention orcs once, in a side comment). Nor have I figured out a trait to tie it in yet.
That was a nasty hit from Elyssa! Assuming that last round finished her, I planned to go on to Austyn, Rans, and finally Jalen (though I seriously doubt I'll make it that far), so if you wanted to run other fights at the same time, that should make it a bit easier.
Since everyone is in the same area its hard to run multiples at the same time. I think for that reason we limited previous bouts to 2 fights a person for the PC's.
Part of the reason for that is that Fisk heals each scrub for one cure light wounds charge after each fight.
I'm having some trouble coming up with a post for Sato's class, so I'll let that scene end if you don't mind.
Forgot to reply to this part of the post and figured I would: That's fine. A lot of the classes are, in part, to gain bonuses later as well as for specific events that will occur eventually during those classes.
Hm..since those are shut down by antimagic fields, I suppose they would count as magical. Darn.
Apologies for the rapid succession of rules-citations and answering questions directed at other people. Just trying to save people the trouble.
Rules citations are a bad thing? I appreciate it. Especially when its to PC advantage.
No problem. I've had a lot of stuff come up in my life over the last couple of months, and I never did update my character sheet. It's nice to know other people know how the game works and can help me out.
Also, I think I'm down, if that was really 17 damage. How many maneuvers did you build into him?!
Some people find it annoying; I'm glad it doesn't offend here.
Unrelated question: is the Swift Claws maneuver usable with a double weapon to make two attacks with the double weapon? The maneuver's text indicates it's to be used with two wielded weapons or unarmed strikes. Double weapons are a discipline weapon for Thrashing Dragon.
Eilidh, my guess is that Jalen has 4 maneuvers available to him per fight, same as Grimold. It's possible he's got the Extra Maneuver feat, which would grant him an initial readied maneuver. They're the main feature of the Path of War classes. I've gotta say, as somebody who typically plays casters, they make playing a martial character a heck of a lot more fun.
Upon further review, the extra damage dice came from one stance (a maneuver type that takes a swift action to activate and is basically a passive boost that's on until it's switched) and from his acrobatic gambit, a Warlord class feature which is a recovery method to recover expended maneuvers. And given that gambit's use of acrobatics, in this situation it probably gave him a better chance to hit you than a normal attack would have. It was a pretty brutal example of the class in action.
Also, GM, I still haven't been able to figure out what maneuver Jalen used in the previous challenge day. Was the ghostly wings bit just additional flavor text, or is that actually in the maneuver? In retrospect, it seems like additional fluff for the AC bonus from his stance.
Speaking of the previous challenge day, this isn't the first time that Austyn's used Charge and Power Attack. Is that a coincidence/consequence of his build, or do you have specific notes on individual NPC's fighting styles?
Double weapons are fine for swift claws.
Ghostly wings is flavor text for his silver crane stance..the Knights are filled with secrets.
And no, each NPC has their own tactics. Elyssa gives up if she's reduced to a certain % of hp. Some NPC's fight until unconcious. Jalen prefers fancy tricks (acrobatics, disarms, trips). Austyn charges head-first into combat after some preparing that way. He always uses power attack. Rans prefers brutal two-handed weapons but is more picky about using power attack. Vorin is more careful, like Jalen, and fights like Kassara. Ardis is nervous and always fights defensively. Lond actually prefers a quarterstaff. Rhill's specialty is shield bashes. Adir likes to ready attacks and use a weapon to maximize reach, forcing multiple attacks of opportunity. Bryson likes to trip foes before using elemental spells. etc etc.
The harder part is keeping track of speaking patterns. Only a handful of them have them. But, for example, Elyssa should use plenty of conjunctions, slang and big words. Jalen speaks simply but never uses conjunctions and does not use nick names. Ardis, like Allie, is nervous and has a slight stutter. Vorin is gregarious, but arrogant and likes to feel better than others. Austyn would growls a lot. Cilys never meets someone's gaze.
Edit: Jalen may or may not also have a level on you. Daen's success should mean that much more.
That's cool about the different fighting styles. Keeping character voices consistent can be difficult; I'm still feeling Grimold's out. I liked the bit with the simulation of multiple characters in his head; what did you all think about it?
I don't feel so bad about not being able to find that Silver Crane maneuver; it's not standard access for Warlord or its archetypes as far as I can tell. I suspect there may be a feat that allows access to other disciplines.
Totally forgot that nonlethal healed for double. That'll be good to remember for the future. Looking back over Daen's fight, I gotta say, it was pretty tense what with Daen being one hit away from KO for the whole fight. With Jalen's damage output, he should have been ended so many times. He really earned that first place slot! Grimold's going to be toast as soon as Fisk lets supernatural powers back in. His AC should be alright, but if it becomes a war of attrition, his lower unarmed damage is going to be a tough handicap to overcome.
I hope Kassie challenges. She can still use her swashbuckler abilities, so it should be a pretty dynamic fight. And she likes to show off anyway. How can Daen challenge if he's number 1? Is it a case of him being allowed to challenge somebody ranked lower than him? That might be fun, but there doesn't appear to be any benefit from it (from an IC perspective).
I forgot he was still number one! No, he has no one eligible to challenge. You can only fight upward and gloat as you stand atop the heap of others.
That section with each voice saying their peace was well done. Grimold has started to find his feet amongst the group.
Just wait until Fisk has a day when you can only use magic :) Or while underwater. Or in the dark. Or on horseback. Or while standing on balance beams. Or with nets only.
Or in the dark on balance beams over water with nets only....
:P
Turns out Kathleen and Cilys are secretly circus people and ruin us in the crazy environment-based challenges. But who in the cohort is secretly a veiled master? Hmm...
The challenges are a lot of fun, and promise to only get better in the future. I've been reading up on D&D 5e, and while I like the simplified and narrative-friendly mechanics, it's games like these that ensure I'll never entirely abandon Pathfinder. The complexity of the system really adds a lot if you have the time to pay attention to the details.
Those mysterious d100 rolls keep me nice and paranoid, too. Especially when mine is accompanied by a mysterious d7
I agree about 5e, at least for now. And you may see something similar to that coming up, Allie...
The change of status effects and such amuses me, but, at least for the moment, I don't think it offers the options I'd need/want to run a game like this. I'm also very much not a fan of how they did feat/attribute increases in that one. Not sure how much its come off in this game, but I vastly prefer playing D&D 4e or 13th age over Pathfinder most of the time. However, 4e is impossible to run in PbP and 13th age has far too small a membership base to bother.
As a random aside: Do any of you have Pathfinder Unchained? I'm considering using the new rules for diseases/poisons, the changes to Profession as a skill and the automatic bonus progression for item bonuses (with a couple of changes).
Automatic bonus progression essentially means you gain automatic item bonuses at certain levels starting at level 3. You would still find magic items but instead of a +1 magic dagger you would find a Rapier of Righteousness that lets you use a cavalier challenge 1/day or some such thing.
I don't have access to Unchained, though it's my understanding that it will eventually be added to d20PFSRD.
I hear very good things about the new poison and disease rules, to the effect that they'll actually be worth including in the game for the first time. The automatic bonus progression has most of my interest; I've long hated the Christmas Tree effect and the Big 6 requirements.
One thing I like about Pathfinder is the APG classes. That book really marked Pathfinder as something different than 3.75 in my mind. And you're right about the lack of options. 5e looks like it will be great for capturing the old-school feel of Dragonlance or the 2e-era Forgotten Realms novels, but when I want to play something other than standard LotR-derivative high fantasy, I won't be using 5e. The Advantage/Disadvantage might be a good chasis for a cover-based shooter game.
How much was "The Cloud Castle of the Storm King"? We cut the scene before I actually bought it; I assumed that I did, and I've added it to my character sheet, but I never actually paid for it.
I don't have unchained, but our home group has been using alternate stat increases for about three years. I don't think we will ever go back to using belts, headbands and cloaks for stats and saves.
We did go back to using the regular weapons and armor, mostly because it was too much work to fix an AP. It threw off WBL, and the GM was inexperienced, but we just found that we liked it better the old way. But that was just our group.
If you want to try something, I say go for it, and we'll adjust. You're already doing a lot to switch things up through the extra feats. Although I wouldn't mind an extra trait or skill point now and again either. Not that I'm complaining or anything. I just find that we're using the skill checks more than the combats so far. Although, if you are pulling out more monsters for training purposes, that could really change.
I don't have unchained (yet) either, but am on board for any and all of the alternative rules you suggested. I've always hated the Christmas Tree effect and have been looking for options for some time (it'd be good to see how well they actually work!)
I don't have Unchained, though I've been thinking about picking it up. That being said, I'm down to try new things for sure.
The Cloud Castle would have cost Grimold no more than a few silver. Let's say three.
Extra skills (and non-feat things) are around the corner. The end of each month features: Bonuses from normal classes (skills, mostly), bonuses from extra classes (Usually weaker versions of class features, feats, skills), bonuses from player downtime activities (class features, feats, skills), as well as the Trial. The second month will also feature the start of "Specials." So on top of classes, downtime, challenges and monthly trials PC's will be subjected to a third new and mysterious assignment.
One reason I'm not fond of the traditional weapon/armor method is that it encourages PC's to use only a single type of weapon. As you can tell by the various feats I've thrown around (and hinted at for the future), I'm hoping to encourage more variety.
Poor Kassara. She's in for a tough weekend, although next week should alleviate some of her distress.
She's not used to being scared and doesn't realize that the effect was magical. These new feelings are strange and unsettling.
Finals are coming up next week. My posting may slow down a little.
Starting on Monday through Friday I will be out of town for work. I do not know if I will have Wi-Fi access at the place they are putting us up. I'm bringing my laptop along just in case to post if I have the time, but it may be spotty.
No problem, and if it doesn't, we'll see you when you're back!
The hotel doesn't seem to have any, but one of the cafes nearby does so...no week off!
Awesome! Don't work too hard though.
Hi there folks,
For the past week or two, I've been talking with DM about a new character entering the story. I'll be playing Zohluk*, a half-orc rogue who came out of Belkzen as part of an ambitious "officer exchange program" of sorts. :)
I'll get a profile up this weekend and have a first IC post up as soon as humanly (half-orcishly?) possible. I hope to have a great time telling an awesome story with you all.
Ghorrin Redblade
*DM, I know I told you "Zohluk," but even I keep tripping over it and calling him "Zohruk" with an r, so I know you have a post up already but if it's all the same to you I'll go with Zohruk? Your call.
Welcome to the Bonewatch!
And here's the skeleton of a profile. I'm beaucoup tired, so I'm going to call it a night for now.
Name changes are fine. You'll just have to pay the retraining cost.
Also, it's Burning Sun, not Bright Sun. :-)
She has altered the name. Pray she does not alter it further. Because then you'll have to pay more retraining cost :P
Welcome, Zohruk!
Btw, what is the retraining cost for names?
At a paper & pencil game, those costs are usually counted in either beer or donuts.
Welcome to the yard. I'm sure we'll have a good time. I've always loved the rogue, I think the unchained one will be quite nice. I can't wait to see it in action. Although, we likely won't get up too many levels rapidly, I imagine eventually we'll get to see how it all works out. Of course, Daen's reception of you will be a bit more frosty than you'll get here, but considering your backstory, you were probably expecting that from most of us.
At my home game, our DM just informed my wife that she can go ahead and metagame because she makes the cookies.
Sorry for the delay. Had a four hour drive back from a training seminar for work yesterday. But I'm back now! At least for a week. Then I have to go back for another week and deal with shoddy interwebs.
Quick question about a strategy occurred to me in making my last attack:
1) Kassie has Improved unarmed strike so she can make an unarmed combat manoeuvre without the -4 penalty.
2) Kassie has has Improved disarm, so she can make disarm attempts without provoking an AAO (and with a +2 bonus).
3) You can make unarmed attacks even if you are armed.
4) Disarm without using a weapon and you can grab the weapon.
So am i right that, even when armed Kassie can make a disarm attempt without using her weapon to grab her opponent's weapon with no AAO and a +2 bonus to her CMB?
If so, and its OK, can her last attack (in the Gameplay thread) be to do that instead?
All of your stipulations are rules legal. Ret-cons are up to the DM though. It's a good idea, and pretty cool to boot.
Yes, and since she has a free hand she can end up with that weapon in her off-hand. Sheathing it or throwing it away would be a move action. I wouldn't give you two-weapon fighting penalties unless you started attacking with the other weapon (i.e. treat it just as a held object).
Excellent,..... I thought so. Watch out in the next challenges everyone!