Karactus is definitely going to like Nuandis. :)
Oh I totally agree, I was asking both the GM and Bognus what THEY think in this specific, evil-aligned game. :)
Oh, I think it's hilarious, and encourage it. Bognus, on the other hand, is a recently-freed mind slave with a decently high Will save and a literally supernatural temper, so...y'know. Try at your own risk.
Welp, given enough time to ponder and second-guess myself, I think I am going to switch around some of my Rage Powers. Losing the Beast Totem tree to gain Superstition, Disruptive, and yes, Body Bludgeon. To support the bludgeoning of bodies, I'm making a (probably) sub-optimal choice with my equipment and adding the Titanic enchantment to my bracers of armor, making those and my belt my most expensive toys.
Oh, and GM - should I bother adding in one of the versions of the Daybreaker item, or do I not have such a thing (at least not yet)? At the moment, I don't have one marked down, but I'll need to free up a significant chunk of change if I do have it. Either way, my backstory remains intact; if Bognus still had it, clearly the Idans left it with him for whatever inscrutable reason. If he doesn't, they took it with them for more obvious reasons.
Even God is fallible. I forgot about Easter weekend. I had to rush to make baskets for my nephews and spend a few days doing the ritual egg dying and so forth.
I'm 90% certain we will begin the game tomorrow!
...with a decently high Will save....
I think you'd still need a natural 20 to deal with Nuandis. She's quite a terror, but I couldn't resist having a compulsion caster in an evil campaign.
I'll message you about Bognus, I need a little more information about your hindrances.
Alright! Let's bust this joint!
I think you'd still need a natural 20 to deal with Nuandis. She's quite a terror, but I couldn't resist having a compulsion caster in an evil campaign.
Hm. This piques my interest... Theoretical fight incoming! So we're all clear, I know this is likely to never matter, but in case something goes terribly weird and we end up trying to murder each other for some reason, I'm curious how it plays out. Just let me play over here - it's all purely theoretical 'cause I can't stop my brain from running, so please, don't read too much into this.
(EDIT: Hid the numbers running behind a spoiler 'cause it ran too long to clutter up the page with. Feel free to check it out if this sort of thing interests you, otherwise I put my summary thoughts below)
If caught unaware, with no equipment, Bognus has a +12 Will save when it comes to spells (dwarf, rahr). She would almost certainly start with her Hypnotic Stare (she pretty much has to in order to affect him at all), which throws Bognus a -3 to his saves, so he's down to a +9. Fortunately for her, Nuandis has done a very smart thing and taken Psychic Inception, letting her affect targets who are normally immune to mind-affecting effects (such as undead Bognus), but such targets do still get a +2 bonus against it (plus a 50% chance of ignoring such things every round), meaning Bognus is back up to a +11.
Nuandis's highest DC spell seems to be Hold Monster, with a DC of 29 according to her sheet. So at the moment, Bognus needs an 18 in order to dodge her. Pretty tricky! He does still have that 50% chance to ignore it every round, but the chances are pretty good he's at least a little caught: if she catches him unaware. If she does pull off the Hold, she probably goes for the coup de grace and ends him, as quickly as possible. I admit I have no idea what kind of damage she can put out, but it's not so hard to pull off an attack with enough damage to make a coup de grace really difficult to live through. Probably, he gets to live through two or three rounds at best, unless he comes out of it for one of those rounds - 50% chance leaves that one up to fate.
Bognus does have a very slight advantage in initiative, though, so let's see what happens if she gets a little unlucky.
If Bognus goes to murder mode first or notices what Nuandis is up to, then naturally, he rages. At that point, his will save jumps up by 6 to a +17, meaning he needs to roll a 12 to beat her save - and, of course, he comes after her. If Bognus goes first, he probably gets right in Nuandis's face, and goes to grapple her if he's close enough. With his bonus of +21 before rage and her CMD of 15, he's got her unless he comes up with a natural 1, so she's probably grappled. With a +1 Escape Artist and a CMB of +4 vs. Bognus's Grapple CMD of 31, she's gonna need a natural 20 to get out or cast any spells, since she doesn't seem to have Silent or Still Spell. Now, I admit I'm not completely familiar with her spell list, so there might be something on there that doesn't have somatic components, but without that, she's probably caught. At that point, he pins her, drains her blood for Con damage, and (probably) breaks her jaw with the Jawbreaker feat, putting her ability to cast spells through the floor if she should eventually escape. He then proceeds to spend the next two or so rounds murdering her pretty brutally.
Now, let's assume that Bognus still gets to go first, but he isn't close enough to go for the grapple, so just gets up in her face. Her best shot at getting out of this scenario is to tag him with a control spell immediately or go for Dimension Door or maybe Greater Invisibility. If she goes for the escape spells, his Disruptive rage power makes her defensive casting harder, and the Step Up feat makes it tricky for her to get away from him, so she probably goes for a defensive cast. She's got a +17 Concentration check, I think, which means to pull off either escape spell, she has a DC of 27 so she needs a 10. Not bad odds on either, with a 50% chance, but not great. If she goes for the control, we're back to the first scenario with the added complications of his higher will save from rage and the above issues with spellcasting in range of him.
And, of course, all these numbers get changed up or totally rearranged if/when equipment enters the picture.
After all of that, my basic conclusion is...I think it's a toss-up. A big portion of it comes down to who goes first (high level rocket tag, anyone?), but after that things get weird. Bognus has a tiny +1 advantage in initiative, so that's kinda a crapshoot. He needs pretty good rolls to beat her DCs (18 or 12, depending on rage or not), but it isn't insurmountable - especially since almost all of her effects have a continual 50% chance to not affect him at all every round due to his being undead. On the other hand, if he gets ahold of her, I can't see any way she has to get out (although I may well be missing some trick she has for such situations).
Should they ever really get into it, I see the outcome going one of two ways. One, she turns invisible and flings enough spells at him that he gets locked up one way or another while he fails to hunt her down, then she finishes him off. Or, he gets initiative, pins her down and tears her throat out. One way or another, it promises to be interesting as hell, and mitigating factors could easily make it an intense back and forth.
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All that aside, presuming they all get along nice and neat instead...holy crap I wouldn't want to face off against this team. Even Bognus alone running interference melee for this lady is a terrifying idea, not even counting the rest of us getting into the picture. I do not envy the people we're coming after - they are going to have a rough damn day.
I just realized I never got around to writing up Bognus's description. This must be remedied!
Mesmerists can cast while grappled. All psychic spells are automatically Silent and Still unless otherwise noted.
What screws over psychics are being under the effects of any emotion effect (including intimidate, which is a huge weakness of psychic casters), and vision-hampering effects. Pretty much all psychic magic requires a caster to be able to target their opponent. Darkness, Smoke, Blindness, or opponents behind full cover or concealment are big hurdles for mesmerists.
They can still use Stare while blinded, but not most of the rest of their spells and effects.
When fighting an incredible mind controlling threat like Nuandis, first steps are scare the pants off her and kill the lights.
If you let her be one the offensive for even one round she's going to make you her pet.
Hm, definitely didn't know that. Neat. That definitely swings the odds towards her pretty hard. Still, she's got to make the concentration check, and there's the 50% chance of me ignoring it every round, so that makes things interesting.
Edit: Hhmmm. Actually, I think I've probably still got her if she's grappled. The concentration check to cast a 1st-level spell in that circumstance is a 34 if I'm not raging (10 + CMB + spell level), which ain't easy. Turns out big angry people holding you down with intent to murder screws with your concentration.
Edit edit: Looks like it might be worse than that, actually - apparently, the thought component makes concentration checks much harder to make? Conclusion: Psychic casting is weird and I hereby cease trying to make sense of it. I'll just punch people who try to mess with my brain (until they tell me not to and I obey, anyway).
Or just don't piss off the psychic enough to make her want to reprogram you. :)
I feel like a weatherman, giving that 90% chance and not posting. I had every intention of starting this yesterday morning before work, but Paizo's forums decided they didn't want anyone touching them for the first half of the day. First post IS coming today.
On the subject of Nuandis, she has the best of both worlds. If she is put under those emotional status effects, she can still cast as a sorcerer. Nuandis and I have actually been discussing more convenient ways to manage the spell list and might go with casting all spells as a psychic, sharing spells known and spells per day. Ultimately, most of run-of-the-mill NPCs will be fairly powerless to resist Nuandis: the reasons the character slipped through the cracks into the campaign were that she was intentionally created with a few glaring combat (virtually no defense) and social (narcissistic, vain, childish) weaknesses that she heavily relies on teammates to get her by; and I just liked her backstory.
First post is up :)
On the subject of Nuandis, she has the best of both worlds. If she is put under those emotional status effects, she can still cast as a sorcerer. Nuandis and I have actually been discussing more convenient ways to manage the spell list and might go with casting all spells as a psychic, sharing spells known and spells per day. Ultimately, most of run-of-the-mill NPCs will be fairly powerless to resist Nuandis: the reasons the character slipped through the cracks into the campaign were that she was intentionally created with a few glaring combat (virtually no defense) and social (narcissistic, vain, childish) weaknesses that she heavily relies on teammates to get her by; and I just liked her backstory.
Whoof. If she goes rogue (or we come up against her twin), I think our best/only shots are the grapple, instant death effects, or total enveloping darkness. That's...about it, really. I got nothing past that. Folks like her have got to be dealt with fracking instantly or they get to 'unstoppable' real fast as the party turns on itself.
We were asked to optimize hard for this one. I'd say job well done.
Welp, it's almost certainly pointless, but it has to be tried. Bognus is taking Strength Stance and Raging for a round to try and bust the chains, adding a +10 to his currently pathetic circumstances, if such things are possible in the condition he's in.
or a 26 if he can pull off his special tricks at the moment. Probably wildly insufficient even so, but one does what one must.
Edit: Whoop, sorry, kinda forgot I'm an Unchained Barbarian. Nix 2 of that bonus, it's only Strength Stance that's adding to this, making for a 24. Still a nice try, considering.
Just discovered a feat Bognus is going to want to pick up soon as he can - Shrapnel Strike. Highly related to current dilemma, but just noting it here so I don't forget about it later on.
Related to Shrapnel Strike, Stunning Irruption is pretty incredible. Combined with Reconnisance Gloves, you can make a hell of an entrance.
Great theorycrafting. It's nice to know Bognus will be able to effectively distract my enemies until I can convince them to kill themselves. :)
Great theorycrafting. It's nice to know Bognus will be able to effectively distract my enemies until I can convince them to kill themselves. :)
I live to serve, milady. ...wait a minute.
=PAlso, this didn't occur to me until I saw Karactus do it: Morgan, would you like us to be putting our actions behind spoilers until we can actually see each other?
Related to Shrapnel Strike, Stunning Irruption is pretty incredible. Combined with Reconnisance Gloves, you can make a hell of an entrance.
Or a Ring of X-Ray Vision! A very different version of Bognus I'm playing in a Reign of Winter game actually has one of those. It's hilarious every time.
I live to serve, milady.
See? No spells needed.
I asked the GM about the spoilers earlier. He said he didn't care and only left his posts in spoilers to better organize it for us.
Nuandis is correct.
Does Bognus detect the yelling outside, or is it too far away from his cell? If he does, that seems like a decent distraction for some more chain-breaking attempts.
If that's a thing, here's some dice in case.
Hm. Probably not good enough, unless he's got some more leverage than before with one wrist freed.
Bognus is not on the same floor ;(
Not noisy enough yet
That roll is enough to pop another, I'll keep it saved and when the time comes, I'll let you know.
Is there a map, or are we doing this without one?
Bognus is not on the same floor ;(
Not noisy enough yet
That roll is enough to pop another, I'll keep it saved and when the time comes, I'll let you know.
Righto. I'll pretty much check out until that time, Bognus doesn't have any other ideas just yet. Unless everybody else leaves him alone for like an hour, then he'll get bored and give it a shot anyway. Never fear, though, I'll keep paying attention.
Something I hadn't thought to ask yet: Would you like to use the hunger/feeding rules for undead creatures from the Pathfinder Companion Blood of the Night, outlined at the bottom of the Vampire template page?
In a nutshell, it leaves me pretty normal most of the time, with some temporary minor bonuses to my saves for an hour after feeding, and some pretty harsh penalties if I go a long time without (and also a compulsive need to do so eventually). Me, I think they won't affect things too much, but it's kinda neat to express the flavor of it with some small rules.
And while I'm at it - you haven't said too much specifically so far, so I assume you were okay with the changes the original GM made to the template (or anybody else's, for that matter)? For me, 1/2 stat bonuses, lose dominate and energy drain, significantly tone down my sunlight vulnerability, and keep the CR adjustment at +2? If you wanted to switch it up in some ways, that's cool by me, but one way or another, figured I'd make sure before the math starts getting serious in game.
Are we waiting on anything in particular, or just suffering from weekend slowdown? Not to be too impatient, just inquisitive over here; Bognus wants out of his cage!
I'm moving as fast as I can. I check this game about 5 times a day and I'm trying to get to the party as soon as possible.
I just don't know what I can possibly do to escape without my spellcasting, so I'm hoping for a prison break very soon.
Have any spell-like abilities? You could still use those.
Actually only extraordinary abilities work in these chains. It was explained in group two which was following for fun. Otherwise i would try using my swaying word spell-like from converison inquisition.
Bognus started whistling a jaunty tune as he waited for the commotion elsewhere to find its way to his cell. Mildly at first, then with increasing enthusiasm, he started clinking his chains to the beat of Queen's "I've Got to Break Free", calling out an off-key rendition of whatever lyrics he could remember. Eventually, the crew joined in as well, and the whole thing devolved into laughter. "That's going on the blooper reel," someone shouted from off-camera.
We were suffering from a few things. I lost access to my computer and was negligent in posting a warning. Everything should be back on track now. Seth is coming into play next post and Bognus and Ulmah very soon.
I just want to go on record as being very entertained by what's going on in the game thus far and how different the feeling of this opening is from the usual start to this campaign. Usually, it feels like the prison break it is; in this one, it feels like being on the monster's side in a horror movie.
We are unleashed.
I guess I need to choose the spells that I would have prepared now then.
Just posting to stay in the game, no real actions yet.
Also, I'm trying not to be too metagamey about it, but I should admit I'm definitely kinda aiming for an appropriately dramatic moment to try and bust out. ;)
Ultimately, my decision was to make it impossible for any of you to escape on your own. I hadn't really anticipated Nuandis's theatrics and she probably could have done it once she was out of the room, but thankfully Karactus came just in time not to derail me here! I thought a group of powerful villains would not feel particularly beholden to Thorne had they all just escaped on their own accord, especially since I wanted most of Branderscar to be a pushover for you, much like Bognus noted with the 'horror movie' appeal.
The first group is definitely doing the 'prison break' approach, though their group is scaled back in power a bit from this one and also have that villainous feel to them. Aside from Nuandis (who is just a creepy sadist) most of you are rather monstrous instead. In fact, to remedy their power curb, I just gave them all some pretty outrageous custom items that they will eventually draw their mythic power from.
Not sure how I'll approach it with this group yet!
I'll have a gameplay post up soon!
https://app.roll20.net/join/1362756/ydOKeg
This is a link to the roll20 campaign for this group. I will be using your icons as your characters. I am, by no means, an artist, so expect some generic "line drawn" dungeons. I still prefer imaginary immersion here, but I think exact positioning is an imperative part of combat.
Putting the map link in the Race or Class section of your Alias will make sure that whenever you post the map is very easily accessible.
Since I use this alias for both campaigns, that would prove difficult. A benefit of having the roll20 base is that there is no link to remember. One can simply join the campaign for the main interface on roll20s website. For now, I prefer it simply because I can keep up a fog of war, and assign individual tokens to each person. If this proves troublesome (I know that roll20 can't be accessed on apps unless I subscribe) I'll transfer over.
How about a link in the About This Campaign tab? That would put the link at the top of every page.
Good suggestion
Irony. Been using roll20 for years, the first time I attempt to use it with strangers, it goes offline.
Irony. Been using roll20 for years, the first time I attempt to use it with strangers, it goes offline.
LOL
It's back up Mr.Freeman.
And...
creepy sadist?
/cry
GM, how do you want to handle Attacks of Opportunity?
Karactus has Combat Reflexes and a 15 foot reach. This is going to come up a lot.
Now, for instance, since all the guards provoked when they charged him. It's going to cause an awful lot of retconning since Karactus is prone to Tripping, Disarming or Frightening anyone who tries to get close to him.
If you'd like, I can give you Karactus' Attack of Opportunity sequence, and you can make those attacks for me as creatures provoke. Or, I can do it myself and let you sort out how it effect things.
Feel free to leave me a detailed a list in your profile of usual counter attacks. I'll ask sometimes, or act automatically.
Done. You'll see the breakdown in the Attack Sequences tab at the top of Karactus' character sheet.
And...
creepy sadist?
/cry
Aw, don't cry...
You're a monster too!
Deleted my post. I mistook Shadow Walk for Shadow Step. I'll have to do something else.