Defense of Brookside

Game Master caster4life

Gm I'd like to prepare euphoric cloud. Can I aquire the necessary mushrooms along the way with a survival check or from the dwarves?

Yes no worries there.

Spells are updated. Idk if you'd like to coordinate spells Turion, but Fyrtor would share what he had prepared for with Turion.

Due to the Quick Study, I will mostly stick with a 'default' set. (not spoilered as since it will be 'steady' others are welcome to know what will usually be "available" as standard, as well.)

Level 0|8= Read Magic, Detect Magic, Light, Ghost Sound, Mage Hand, Prestidigitation, Acid Splash, Mending
(Not much to explain for cantrips. Pretty standard selection there.)

Level 1|5= Magic Missile, Liberating Command, Heightened Awareness, Shield, Feather Fall
(Liberating Command and Feather Fall for when they are opportune, Heightened Awareness as long-time buff in case of trouble. Shield as defensive buff for Nelly, Magic Missile to use with Toppling Rod)

Level 2|3= Web, Burning Arc, Mirror Image
(Web as one kind of Area Control, Mirror Image as defensive buff for Nelly, Burning Arc to be tested with the lesser rod of Quickening, to add some direct damage where needed)

Level 3|2= Suggestion, Spiked Pit
(Suggestion as social option or to avoid going to combat, Spiked Pit as a prime area denial tool.)

Level 4|1= Improved Invisibility
(Lots of options there - but I feel in a pinch it's the one with the highest utility - and, considering his Initiative - a good defensive option as well when needed)

I do have a lot fewer options available at any one time, but with the Quick Study ability, I can adapt(at a cost of pool points and a standard action). So I'll mostly stick with the 'universal' set. Charm Person or Alter Self MAY be more useful for the next arc, but Túrion does not KNOW, and both of those will usually allow enough time to swap them in when needed.
I am not saying there will be no deviation, or changes e.g. after level-up(which gives +1 spell prepared for 2/3/4), but the general structure will remain intact.

I really liked the grease in combination with winter's grasp combo we did once before which was one reason I prepared that spell again. Other than that I think the loadout of spells is pretty complimentary.

I did notice that lockjaw can be made into a potion. Would that one be of interest to you? Having grab seems like a pretty solid upgrade for Nelly. Also I could cast carry companion on Nelly. I'm sure she wouldn't like it, but it might be necessary in the future to get her I to some places

Just thoughts.

I can swap Heightened Awareness for Grease, if you want.
Regarding Lockjaw: Maybe one for utility if targets need to be moved or taken into custody.
For regular combat, Nelly will prefer tripping them. It's her natural instinct to do so.
(There's Greater Trip and Furys Fall at Levels 10 and 13, respectively. For those opponents tripable it's a way to get in multiple attacks on a target(plus they provoke from other frontliners too).)

Nah heightened awareness is too good a spell for you not to have that prepared, +4 to init when you already have such a high modifier is basically a "I go first" card, and your spells are extremely valuable for shaping the field.

Well, it's a pity they ruled Rings of Revelation are immune to UMD. Otherwise i would totally have picked up Temporal Celerity.

That said, I could still start running around with a Duelling Dagger drawn for the +4 Initiative - then first thing in combat free action drop it to have a hand free for casting(with a Rod in the other hand) :)

Anticipate Peril is unfortunately really bad in comparison, even if it would stack with Heightened Awareness - maybe I could research a longer-lasting Level 2 variant of it. *shrugs*

Oh, and make that dagger runeforged...for another +2(insight). :)

But na, it's fine, I can take grease - if I expect trouble, I can still swap back to HA.

Or, you know, I could get the GM drunk and have him accept the third-party "Presence of Mind" Feat as canon...(Int to Initiative in addition to Dex) - but that would probably get close to alcohol poisoning before reaching that sweet spot so I'd rather not risk it.

You'd have to get me drunker than I've ever been (which would be hard because I don't like the taste of alcohol) to start accepting 3PP feats like that. I might as well ok the "Go First" 3pp feat, which does exactly what it sounds like to initiative. XD

Yes, please don't kill the GM with alcohol. Or anything else, for that matter -- I'd like to see Mel's story reach a conclusion!

I wonder if this is the last story arc he has planned for us, or if there is more percolating in the back of his devious brain.

Regarding our travel accommodations: GM, which would attract less attention?

Knowledge (local): 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (19) + 15 = 34

Here's an aid check to add to Mel's superb roll.
Aid Knowledge Local: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10

Edit: Whew, that was close. I guess Fyrtor doesn't have too much to add, maybe a small tidbit. lol

I don't really want to say whether or not this is the last story arc because that would give people expectations about when things may or may not become climactic. XD

With Fyrtor's one, almost-relevant anecdote, Mel determines that camping out will draw no attention if you aren't noticed but will be seen as somewhat odd if you are, since you clearly have the funds to stay at Inns. Staying at Inns will mean you are certainly noticed but not necessarily noticed to be unusual.

Excellent dodge, GM. :-Þ

Nelly is going to be conspicuous. Especially if we go with inns. Every innkeep we stay with is going to remember the group of foreigners who came through with an elf, a dwarf, and a gigantic wolf.

On the other hand, Nelly might give us an explanation for camping out.

Thoughts?

We won't be able to escape notice forever, I'd say we should decide a cover story, Turion's tutor one was actually pretty good, and start staying in inns. We'll get a good chance to gather info by doing that.

If we do decide to go camping along the way Nelly is a pretty good reason.

So, do with stick with Turion coming to serve as a tutor? At some point I think news of that would spread in certain circles. Is there any way to dosguese Turion better to avoid the questions about an elf?

Well, what about you guys stick to the Inns(and meet our replacement), and Fyrtor, Túrion and Nelly use Sylvan Hideaway to camp close by?

I know technically one does not split the party, but yeah, Nelly and Inns will not go well together.

(On other notes: Sylvan hideaway is really badly worded. It holds up to 12 creatures of "any size". So you could have 12 Gargantuan creatures or 12 diminutive ones...either way, since Fyrtor gets to decide on shape and configuration, he can easily create a chokepoint we could defend almost indefinitely if needed.)

@Story Arc: I dare say it may not be the grand finale. I figure if we're close to the end, it may not make sense to bring in a replacement for Brolin given the level of background and detail expected of a submission.
But that's just conjecture.

I'm fine with that, but that leaves Mel and Kazador without a face. I could simply cast Sylvan hideaway and then go in with them. We can use pack emapthy and the Sylvan hideaway to keep you and Nelly hidden and still stay in communication.

GM while traveling I'll prepare Sylvan hideaway in place of communal spider climb.

How does that all sound?

Actually, Sylvan Hideaway makes camping a lot more attractive. The DC 17 Perception check to notice the trap door isn't super high, but if we're careful about where we put it, we might be able to avoid giving passersby the opportunity to even make such a check. It's flush with the ground, so if we put it someplace with tall grass, it would effectively be impossible to see it until you're practically on top of it.

GM, it's my impression that "country estate" means that it's not in a heavily built up area. Not wilderness, but countryside with regular stretches of open land between settlements. Is that correct?

If so, we could plausibly camp in Sylvan Hideaway until we reach Count Aral's estate, and then reassess after that point.

That said, we are going to need cover stories soon. I'd just like to know more about what's going on in Bannerhold before we set those up. It wouldn't do to invent a cover story only to get there and discover we've accidentally made our lives harder by, say, accidentally aligning ourselves with one faction in a local dispute.

Yes, Fyrtor. You are traveling for multiple days so you can prep Sylvan hideaway.

Turion: That reasoning doesn't hold for me. I just brought a replacement into a game with one arc left such that the intro player won't even level once. But it's still a lot of action, roleplay, and IRL time. But I will say that this Iustia arc will cover more than one level and lots of IRL time. Probably 10 months or so. Very hard to say.

Mel: Yes there are stretches of open land between settlements but a great deal of it is crops or pastureland. There are still some significant patches of uncultivated land, though.

Sounds workable to me. I propose we camp in Sylvan Hideaway until we reach Count Aral's estate, looking for inconspicuous spots to put the trap door along the way.

I agree.

Works for me. And sorry for lack of posting, had an idea but writer’s block hit

@Reasoning: What I meant is that we are not distinctly lacking. We have skills, healing, frontlining, full casting support(arcane and divine)...Brolin missing is unfortunate, but more hurtful for the loss of the character than the loss of the role he fulfilled.
I figured if we would be closing in on the finish, it may be simpler to stick with the core team - you did double-recruit me and Fyrtor when you looked only for one caster.
As said, it was simply conjecture and I don't claim to understand what you would and would not do, but in my mind, it made sense - but then, maybe that's wishful thinking because I thoroughly enjoy the game and would like it to go on.

I am recruiting one more, btw. He'll be around pretty soon.

This is a fairly point of the campaign so I'll wait for all four to respond to Aral, unless that takes inordinately long. I don't expect any crazy responses but I want to see your character make a statement.

Will update later today. Was at my Grandpa's funeral yesterday and driving through tons of Midwestern snow for hours so I haven't really had the mental bandwidth for big story updates.

My condolences. Of course, take care of you and yours first.

I'm sorry. As Kazador said take your time. No rush.

My condolences as well. Take the time you need.

And from me as well. Get to it when you can, it'll still be here.

Poor GM -- both campaigns I'm in with him came to big story moments at pretty much the same time.

Just a heads-up, I'll be traveling all day tomorrow. I don't imagine that will stop me from posting, but if I am slow to respond, that's why.

Intrigue is difficult, especially in play by post. I will try to make sure that you guys always have at least one plot hook but will often give you more than one so you can choose a path to follow. You guys will need to be proactive and form and execute plans in a timely fashion with timely pushes from me. You could spend a lot of time deliberating over plans so you'll need to keep forward momentum as we determine when you've discussed enough.

As always, you can let me know if the plot hooks aren't as clear as I think they are.

Traveling with family all of next week. Posting will be spotty

Agreed intrigue is difficult in pbp. I expect momentum will be difficult to keep up during the holiday, so we'll have to be a bit more direct than we might otherwise be.

Yes I'm sure we'll take something of a break over the holidays but I'm not worried about that.

I'll be traveling and perhaps entirely unavailable Dec 25-Jan 1.

Hey Túrion, Sending would be a really handy spell to have when you hit level 9. If you have higher priorities, Mel would be willing to purchase a scroll for you.

Mel I just want to reiterate, WOW... That was impressive both in the analysis and in writing the post. Bravo!

Awww, blush.

And I'll say again -- man, have I been wrong before! XD

There would be a great number of spells that would be handy :)

Sending one, Sow Thought another.

So far, aside from Nellys armor, I have spent all my acquired wealth on expanding my magical capabilities and versatility.
And will continue to to so for the forseeable future.

I'll first have to work through your post in-game :)
As traditional, my work load improves significantly as we get closer to Christmas, so I am quite stressed ATM, sorry for any delays that causes with in-game posting.

What is your vocation that the load increases around Christmas? Just curious.

Why, making toys and bringing them to children on a reindeer-pulled sleigh in a couple nights.
Double-checking those lists close to the due date is really getting out of hand, and the coal acquisition of ethically acceptable coal producers is becoming more difficult as well.

GM mentioned that he's going to be mostly incommunicado till the 1st of January. Túrion, Kazador, if you have anything to say about the current planning, it would be nice to have that in place before then.

I'll make sure to get a post in tomorrow. Apologies, family time week turned out to be more demanding than I hoped it would be.

Same here. I'm going to get us moving forward again now, though I will be extra patient since we're still in the throes of the holidays.

Huh. A portable hole and a necklace of adaptation. Handy.

...

You know ... if we need two people in the bag, all we need to do is stab Túrion until he stops breathing, shove him in the bag, and then we can heal him once we pull him out again!

:-D

Haha. Brilliant.

By the bye, how do you do the TM like that?

ALT+0153 = ™. You have to use the numpad, and you have to be on Windows for that to work. This is also how I always get the correct diacritic in Túrion's name -- it's ALT+0250.

There is much that can be done by memorizing the Unicode glyph tables! These are the ones I use most often:

ALT+0222 Þ
ALT+0254 þ
ALT+0250 ú
ALT+0153 ™
ALT+0241 ñ
ALT+145 æ
ALT+146 Æ

Alternatively (on Windows) open the Character Map application and use the search function to find the trademark symbol, then select and copy it so you can paste it. Other platforms have different shortcuts, like OPT+2 on Mac. Or, you know, googling the correct number for ones you don't need often.

Ah gotcha. Thanks!

Will reply tomorrow - but just in case: How much does Mel remember about the Magisters? Just in case I would need to impersonate someone from the Concordat at some point. I mean, I do have official gear, already :P

Here's an exact record of that conversation, which happened on Discord.

Mel: Hey, I left a d20 roll at the end of my last post in discussion and got an 18. It's a Knowledge (local) check for a total of 33. Do I know who this wizard was now that I've gotten a chance to look at him more closely now that he's dead?

GM: Ooh great question. You know that he is one of the master mages of the Concordat Academy from various insignia but not which one, specifically

Mel: Okay, what do I know about the Concordat Academy?

GM: The Concordat Academy is the premier magical research and teaching institution as well as an arm of the council when magical expertise is required. Several hundred apprentices work under about 100 mages who work under 8 master mages, each corresponding to an arcane school. Doubtless, you fought the conjurer. You know that the apprentices must have extensive knowledge of arcane theory and applications, usually gained at lesser schools, before even becoming apprentices at the Academy.

That's the whole of it. I decided to call them "Magisters" when I relayed this info in-character. It seemed like an appropriate title to use.

The fact that we took 1/8 of the most powerful mages on the continent down fills me with pride. Even if we did have terrain very heavily on our side.