Doug M's Way of the Wicked (Inactive)

Game Master Douglas Muir 406

Really worth it on the overseas flights.

Been super sick since Tuesday, going to try and make a couple of posts today. Not sure if I'll be up to posting tomorrow.

I figured that the business class upgrade was a much better use of my airline miles versus getting a cheap ticket for free.

I used to fly a lot as a freelancer. Upgrades to business crossing the Atlantic were the only think I ever spent my miles on.

My father is an uber traveler for his work has so many miles airlines go out of there way to do things for him it's amazin

Ok boarding go kill that monk

I want Chieftain Bref to send a tribe of intelligent ninja Goblins with the Bugbears to do nothing but murder this Monk pain in the a$$.

Brief digression WRT the monk pain in the ass. As a player, I hated nothing more than DMs who threw unkillable "cool" NPCs at me. I had one DM who did this regularly. In particular, he had this mysterious woman who would appear out of the shadows, blast someone with a spell, deliver some cryptic message, and then disappear again. Pursuing her inevitably led into a trap or an ambush. After the fifth or sixth time she'd danced away -- avoiding Spot checks and preparations made specifically with her in mind -- we came to realize that the DM had fallen in love with this NPC and was simply not going to let us kill her. Oh, man, was that annoying. (And he got really pissy when we called him on it, too.)

Such is not the case here. She's totally killable. It's more like, I designed her to be a pain in the ass. And it's working! Wheeee! Go me!

Bah, monks are easy -- Fly + Wand of MM. Yeh, she might be able to outrun the spells eventually, but it is fun to pop them for a while.

Fair. Just make sure the monk's not a Zen Archer before you try this. ("Ha ha, I Magic Missled you for 17 points of damage!" "sssssThunk, sssssThunk, sssssThunkThunkThunk." "gurgle")

Zen Archer = most broken archetype in PF

--> Lets see, uses Wis for attacks. Adds Wis to AC and CMD. Gets for free Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization, Point Blank Master, and Improved Unarmed Strike. Gets additional bonus feats at levels 1,2,6,10,14,18. Gets to use a composite longbow for flurry of blows. Essentially gets Snap Shot so that he threatens with his bow at level 9 (although this is sort of pointless since he already threatens with his unarmed which does more damage).

So, now you have an unarmored archer with about a 30 AC that can move 90' per round and has the highest saves in the game, and if per chance he loses his bow, still can do 2d10 damage with his elbows and knees. Na, that is not broken.

Oh, there are ways of dealing with a ZA monk. But yes, they are one of those archetypes where Paizo seems to have gone "oh, and this would be cool too" without actually doing the necessary editorial work and playtesting.

She's totally killable.

From your lips to the DM's ears.

Had I had any inkling of this Monk pain in the a$$ before entering the fortress I would have prepared a Scroll of True Strike and introduced her to a cup full of Bref's head.

That would have been 25 gp well spent, heck I would have paid 50 gp to have nicer script that said 'eat this Princess' along with the spell.

It still may be worth it, who has the best throw Xen at a +10?

The monk is gone now. She is attacking you because you are the only non-combatant in the group. Eventually, she will make a mistake and then Morsum or Edmin will get a hit or two in on her.

Judge, ask your wife if she let others fight her fights growing up.

Also, who are you calling a non combatant, Cуровую Str is 9 to your 8.

:P

I would like to share this because it's the Holidays, some of you may be catching a plane, add a dash of some Shakespear, and who does not like the legendary C N.

I would like to share this because it's the Holidays, some of you may be catching a plane, add a dash of some Shakespear, and who does not like the legendary C N.

Yup - no photoshopping there.

I think they may have taken some of Chuck Norris' smile lines out now that you mention it.

Do you know what is more tiring and fatiguing than week in and week out of working for you masters degree, having a 30 hr a week job in finance and a 40 hour a week second job serving rich pricks drinks?

Six hours of Christmas shopping and groceries with the mom that's what!

I'm exhausted.

She has the special ability, Maximized Guilt Trip as a Focused Feat.

Light posting today, as oldest boy and I are getting on a plane to fly to Germany.

Safe flight jet set DM.

As long as everyone is in agreement, the following spells should be active.

Edmin - fly (5 minutes), probably carrying Ragnar
Grumblejack - Levitate (5 minutes) <-- per DMDM, he is less than the 500 pound limit
Cуровую - Shield (2 minutes), Mage Armor (? hours)
Jax - Levitate (5 minutes)
Dren - Alter Self ?
Xen - nothing ?

On round 13:
Jax casts Darkness onto Morsum's backpack
Edmin picks up Ragnar and holds onto him while flying. He can also hold a rope for guidance as he does not have darkvision.
Xen climbs onto Morsum.
Morsum picks up the Judge and Cy with Xen holding onto his back. (I am guessing from descriptions that the three of us are less than 532 pounds.)
Jax picks up Dren, then levitates and grabs a rope tied to Morsum.
Grumblejack levitates and also grabs the rope.

I post this here because it was getting a bit crowded on the gameplay thread. Took me almost 90 minutes to double check all this. Whew.

Cуровую

Mage Armor from wand, approximately 52 minutes and 2 to 4 rounds remaining (assume 52 minutes)
Fox's Cunning from 4 Level Scroll, approximately 6 to 8 rounds remaining (assume 6 rounds)
Shield 2 minutes (20 rounds)
Detect Magic
Message, cast on the group including Grumbeljack, but not Ragnar and Morsum
Disguise Self as the magister, approximately 10+ rounds left

Mirror Images, disappeared when Invisibility was cast

Fly cast form Scroll on Edmin in 4 minutes (40 rounds)

Dren Cуровую has one Scroll of Levitate if you want to save one of your second level spell slots, let me know if you need it.

Cуровую is at 33/44 HP and can use a heal, can someone please use the wand on her?

Judge Cуровую offered to use the wand to Mage Armor to save you time if you need help.

I have been keeping notes on the Fireball wand, two charges used.

Scrolls used

Mirror Image
Fox's Cunning
Fly
Shield

Xen can give you a zap from the cure light wand

1d8 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Levitate will take Grumblejack but not his stuff -- so he'll have to take off weapons and armor and give them to someone else. No biggie, unless you get in a fight shortly after landing. (Which, okay, could totally happen. But there it is.)

Mage Armor on Grumblejack would be useful.

Questions for the group.

a. Where do we put the Obscuring Mist, on the roof so they think we are still up here or elsewhere? What are the current weather and lighting conditions, it seems like a storm is about to break.

b. Cуровую has her bonded object, which she can use to cast any spell in her spellbook (I wish we had gotten the magister's open). While I wold like to save that for an emergency, if needed here we can use a Summon Monster II to send some fire creating creatures to the stable to screen and hide our departure from the roof.

I am not advocating this, but giving it as an option.

c. Cуровую can use Xen's hat or a Scroll of Disguise Self to appear as the Monk Princess, or any of the officers (although maybe not the commander) who are not recorded as dead, Barhold, maybe the last captain, and use this to get the guards to open the room we need to get to above the gate. Again this is an idea, I don't think fighting while atop Morsum trying to get into a secure area is ideal.

d. Who is monitoring equipment we have collected? I have everything listed up to the magister but we have encountered a captain, a master sergeant, a seeker, a Cleric and several troops.

I have loot in my profile and I am going to say stealth and trickery is past at this point so no on the disguise plan

As to where to put the mist, not sure

It is not an extended deception but to help get us into position above the gate.

The soldiers are trained to take orders if they see an officer or the Seeker on their way to enter their guard post above the gate they may assume that they have come to take command.

My thought doesn't change the commander is smart guaranteed he has sent word around the fort about us.

He probably also knows an attack is coming so everyone is ready everywhere

I still say no to the disguise plan

Not sure it is economical to use the summon monster ability...but I leave hat to number crunchers like judge

We may need a summon to get into the gate. We will be landing on top of it but I assume we will need to get into it in order to control it. Without transport magic we would have to break down the trapdoor or send some things in, which you and the judge can do.

I have one other thought for that but not sure it will work. Command one of the men to come to me. Might force him to open to the trapdoor to try and get to me.

We also may need to see what we can do about the doors in 8b...of course if we get the bugbears there they may be able to break that down.

Summon Monster would have been great before I summoned Morsum. The problem is that I cannot use both summonings at the same time.

Cy list of active spells.

Cy, keeping track of these in a spoiler would be very helpful.

If we can't find another way into the gatehouse you may have to dismiss him again...we don't have knock, unless Cy has it?

will try t get a post up late today, been dealing with a bad fever/sore throat and today it decided to add an eye and ear infection simultaneously. F!%@..haha.

Judge she meant that she can summon one with her arcane bond

I know, but we have burned WAY too many spells up to this point. If people are running out of resources before we even begin tangling with the commander, we may be in trouble.

I have quite a few spells left, though the Levitates did burn though what I thought was my extra spells. And I have my Confusions. Hopefully we can soften him up a little before facing him, or not face him at all...

If we can't find another way into the gatehouse you may have to dismiss him again...we don't have knock, unless Cy has it?

Sorry, I was thinking that for other situations in the fort but I don't have it in my spellbook.

Its one of those spells that you never think to get, until the situation stares at you in the face.

will try t get a post up late today, been dealing with a bad fever/sore throat and today it decided to add an eye and ear infection simultaneously. F#!%..haha.

Wow. Hope you feel better soon!

Stop dating other girls and Irin will stop throwing Hexes at you.

Judge she meant that she can summon one with her arcane bond

Thank you.

we have burned WAY too many spells up to this point. If people are running out of resources before we even begin tangling with the commander, we may be in trouble.

Wait ... we're not in trouble yet?

I was just saying if they pin cushion us as we Fly to the next area all is for naught.

If we leave them with a significant distraction to focus on they may not even know we left the rooftop and continue to commit troops to storming this rooftop even as we slip away.

DM please let us know the current weather and lighting conditions.

I sure hope they see the dead bodies around the golem (Artiste de Cadavres Gelés) and attack it.

Cy - Jax will cast Darkness on Morsum's backpack. We are flying at night against what I believe is a cloudy sky. First someone will have to make a fairly high perception check to realize that there is a moving sphere of darkness. Then they will have to shoot us. Then they will have to roll against total concealment. We may take a few hits, but not that many.

Moraum is pretty beefy so he can take it

If we leave them with a significant distraction to focus on they may not even know we left the rooftop and continue to commit troops to storming this rooftop even as we slip away. Wasting their time and buying us some more.

I sure hope they see the dead bodies around the golem (Artiste de Cadavres Gelés) and attack it.

Translation let them think we are still up here, so they don't send all available troops and resources to the gate, if they think we are up here it will buy further us time to act and deal with what is already at the gate.

I can place sounds on the top of the tower which will make it sound like we are doing some kind of dark ritual to try and distract them from our true goal?

Cast Ghost Sound...

Minor Image would also be great. Is there a reason people keep posting IC in the OOC thread?

Ok, I really do not care what happens. If people are allowed to use illegal scrolls, that is fine. If people can add magic items to their character sheet without having ever posted that they scribed or bought the item, that is fine. I will cease posting ideas for the party, because it is clear that the party is incapable of sticking with a single plan without someone deciding to go rogue and cast other spells, or steal things, or wander around town getting in fights.

I understand that we are evil, but we are generally LAWFUL EVIL. We should work according to rules and established protocols, we just enjoy doing it for our own benefit and like to hurt others in the process.

If people do not want to work as a team and follow the rules of the game, then perhaps I should step down and let you all find someone who can play within the structure you decide. I really like this campaign, but as several people have mentioned in the past, the ongoing rules arguments, most of which are at best ill founded, and general bickering which seems to be persistent in this campaign is starting to really drag.

Have to agree a little with Judge here, Cy. I thought that when you had asked about scribing scrolls with the magic ink, DM said it still had to be at the same caster level as normal, you could just make them as cheaper.

I think all that happened when I was so slammed...not sure

I can place sounds on the top of the tower which will make it sound like we are doing some kind of dark ritual to try and distract them from our true goal?

Cast Ghost Sound...

Mine was just an oversight, was doing a quick check on the PBP this morning and was a little fuzzy from the night before, this was meant for the main thread.

Cy I don't have a scroll of Levitate. I have several others like Silence and Lesser restore. I think I can manage with using the slots.
Judge, I think we are moving ahead with your plan, is there something we are not doing at this point?
It seemed pretty well thought out and there was no argument from anyone.

1) Discussing plans on discussion is totally fine. Saying what you're actually doing, that should go over on gameplay.

2) I'm not entirely clear on what's up with the scrolls either. If you want to use a scroll, it would be helpful if you could provide a link to where you either bought it or scribed it. I don't recall Zimu ever using the special ink that Irin gave her, but if she did, I welcome correction.

3) People make mistakes. That's no big thing.

And finally, (4) we're nearing the end of a campaign that's been going on over a year now. This is why I want to take a break for a little while before continuing. So let's keep it together just a little while longer -- you'll probably soon be triumphant, or dead.

Minor Image would also be great.

That's a great idea, I was thinking something along those lines as well except it only works when concentrated upon and I only have one scroll of Minor Image and that was intended for use for the gate once we opened it to make it seem it was still shut.

I was posting in occ because I was commenting in ooc. I bolded because it was the important bit.

I believe minor image is concentration +3 rds but in any event you could concentrate while riding, or Xen can cast it