Follow the Flood Road (Inactive)

Game Master Transylvanian Tadpole

@ Delkaneth – featastic! I presume it’s weapon focus (hand axe) rather some other kind of axe.

Finally, could everyone give me a quick audit of expendables (potions, arrows etc). I notice that in some cases what’s on the character sheet isn’t quite up-to-date.

yessir, hand axe. Audit also complete so he should be all set.

@ Pyotr. Excellent. Carry on then.

@ Pellius – we can assume that Pellius’ has deciphered his new spells whilst studying the spellbook of Lamintar Greyfoal. I note you never expressed an interest in learning any of the other spells set down in that tome . . . ?

Of which I totally forgot about. :(

I'll try and find them and reserve the right to switch out these last 2 spells learned.

I'll check tonight.

Audit also complete so he should be all set.

Four out five.

Bonegrit?

Slam-diddly-slammed atm; I will square away everything tonight, consequences be damned.

Would you be okay with me picking up boon companion as my 3rd level feat? I technically don't meet the prerequisites for it yet (not until 4th, I believe). I would see zero benefit from it for the entirety of 3rd level, but I'm aiming for Bonegrit to have a staunch animal companion at his side, be it a scrawny puma or a sturdy Dort charger.

HP: +9 (8 + 1 [Con])
BAB: +1
Saves: +1 Will
Bonus Feat: Endurance
Favored Terrain: Mountains (includes Hills)—The ranger gains a +2 bonus on initiative checks and Knowledge (geography), Perception, Stealth, and Survival skill checks when he is in this terrain. A ranger traveling through his favored terrain normally leaves no trail and cannot be tracked (though he may leave a trail if he so chooses).
Feat: Boon Companion (if permitted) or Point-Blank Shot
Skills: 8 (6 [Range] + 1 [Int] + 1 [Favored Class])

Thanks Bonegrit. I've been mulling it over all day, but I'm afraid I'd prefer you to save Boon Companion for 5th level, powerful feat that it is. So Point Blank Shot for now I'm afraid.

I've been working on a gameplay update as well as the first instalment of Tanladvir's story, but neither are ready.

I'd also like people to give me the character sheet audit of expendables expended above before proceeding. Thanks to Del for doing this already.

Audit of Alagor done. In terms of expendables, Alagor only have the following:

- sling bullets 10 (never used, and willing to give them to anybody if needed)
- arrows, 7 standard arrows remaining, rest used or transferred to Bonegrit
- torch, 2 pcs. never used
- sunrod 1, never used
- caltrops 2, never used
- trail rations (now at 3, not sure if I should delete some for trip through the mountains)
- I just saw/remembered that Alagor has 2 more whetstones, will remember to use them in-game now :-)

That should be all.

Should be all accounted for on the new alias!

Pyotr; shouldn’t your new hit point total be 35 rather 34? As in 10hp + 2 hp for Con, and +1 hp for favoured class? Or is your favoured class +1 skill point?

People please make sure your favoured class choice is listed on your character sheet if it isn’t already :-)

Also, interesting to see that you finally went with Squire! I have some ideas here.

Given to Bonegrit (dropped at caravan camp):

Sharpe's ring
Khozin's purse
Pyotr's old scalemail
Commor's old scalemail

Given to Bonegrit?

We’ll incorporate your new hit points into your current hp status, considering that you’re about to stride in a room full of skeletons.

Which means the following: Bonegrit 29hp (full), Alagor 13hp (full), Pyotr 24hp, Pellius 26hp, Delkaneth 11hp (less dead than usual).

Pellius, Bonegrit, your turn.

Just a small correction - Alagor's new HP is 20 (lvl. 2 now), and he is full 20/20

Sorry Alagor, moment of dumbness!

Pyotr; shouldn’t your new hit point total be 35 rather 34? As in 10hp + 2 hp for Con, and +1 hp for favoured class? Or is your favoured class +1 skill point?

People please make sure your favoured class choice is listed on your character sheet if it isn’t already :-)

As of level 3, all of my favored class bonuses have gone to skill points. Pyotr currently has 12 total ranks. (2 class + 1 Int + 1 FC) x 3 Levels.

Also, interesting to see that you finally went with Squire! I have some ideas here.

Yeah, it's nearly become embedded in my concept of who Pyotr is, and will be. I'm glad to hear you have some ideas! It would be much more fun for me to collect some wayward soul, rather than poof someone into existence.

Pyotr wrote:

Given to Bonegrit (dropped at caravan camp):

Sharpe's ring
Khozin's purse
Pyotr's old scalemail
Commor's old scalemail

Given to Bonegrit?[/ooc]

It might be more accurate to say, "Entrusted to Bonegrit and Pellius for delivery to, and storage at, the caravan camp following the brief battle with Sharpe's thugs." I might have abbreviated it a bit. =)

Here goes:

+1 Alagor's gifted cure light wounds potion
-2 normal arrows (ghouls)
-4 blunt arrows (bridge & wight)
-4 normal arrows (wight)
+2 blunt arrows gifted by Alagor (Who I shall begin calling Santa)

That puts his current quiver where it should be, I believe. I hope. Perhaps I have quiver of selective devouring.

Thanks Bonegrit. How many arrows left on Amiro, just in case he's eaten by trolls whilst you're in the dungeon?

14 arrows, 20 blunt, 20 flight, 19 whistling, and the quiver from the dead archer-thug from the Sharpes gang.

Thanks Bonegrit.

the quiver from the dead archer-thug from the Sharpes gang.

And how many arrows were in that?

I've got a gameplay update almost ready to go, but I'm just gonna wait for Pellius to do his audit first. :-)

Alagor took... let's see... 8 arrows and 2 blunt arrows (the latter of which were just handed over to Bonegrit, I do believe).

Which leaves, from the Sharpes Gang Haul:

With regards to Pellius' equipment, I just copied from his PC sheet:

Weapons:
MW longsword(15 gp) (4 lbs)
MW dagger (2 gp) (1 lbs)
light crossbow (35 gp) (4 lbs)
bolts (10) (1 gp) (1 lbs)
light mace (4 lbs)

Armor:
studded leather (25 gp) (20 lbs)

Miscellaneous:
spellbook (15 gp) (3 lbs)
spell component pouch (5 gp) (2 lbs)
Flask 3 cp, Flint and steel 1 gp, Candles x2
Bedroll 1 sp, Backpack 2gp, Belt pouch 1 gp
50' Silk Rope 10 gp
Cold weather outfit 8gp travelers outfit 1 gp
wedding ring
love letter
spellbook of Lamintar Greyfoal with:
Cantrips: all the cantrips listed in the Core Rulebook.
1st level: Bladeshade*, Burning Hands, Expeditious Retreat, Featherfall, Hydraulic Push, Reduce Person, Lesser Orb of Acid**
2nd level: Arcane Lock, Minor Image, Touch of Idiocy
others to be determined later

beautifully worked scabbard
antique gold coin
(1) beggar's diamond (100 gp)

cure light wounds potion (1)

I'll also replace the 'jump' with the 'lesser orb of acid' in my learned spells.

The Story of Tanladvir as told by the fallen wight Arith-Zind: Part 1 – The Forging of Tanladvir.

Arith-Zind begins his tale:
“I am ancient, and my master more ancient still, but if the stories are true Tanladvir origins are older still. I called the blade Azlanti forged earlier, though in all honesty such words might be mere legend. But there can be no doubt that Tanladvir is exceptionally ancient.”

“The tale of its Azlanti forging is told thus. More than 10,000 years ago there lived an Azlanti weaponsmith known only as Anaivander, who lived not upon the earth but below it. To say that Tanladvir was forged perhaps misleads, for Anaivander did not work with fire and anvil. Instead, he bent, shaped and honed metal simply through the force of his magic, turning the iron ore in his mines to a cold liquid which flowed into whatever form he desired, turning gold and silver to water to dance at his command.”

“Tanladvir was made from an alloy of steel and a skymetal of a kind no longer found on Golarion. I’m sure the Azlanti had a name for the stuff, but whatever it was, it has not survived to reach my ears. Still, it’s a claim I believe, for before Jobox it shone with a coppery fire of a hue I’ve not seen elsewhere in all my years of life, nor my longer years of undeath.”

“Anaivander gifted the blade to the dwarves beneath the earth, and perhaps for the only time in history the dwarves recognised a man had outstripped them in skill at weaponsmithing. Of course, after Anaivander and the rest of the Azlanti had long since passed, and the dwarves emerged from the Darklands to exist beneath the sky, they claimed Tanladvir as their own creation.”

Arith-Zind sighs and shrugs. “Makes a good tale, does it not? But even for one such as me, I speak of the distant past. The distance between truth and legend are as the black gulfs between the stars.”

Thanks for the gear updates everyone, much appreciated by DM Accountant.

Loot sheet updated on the Shared Drive.

[ooc]Shattered this evening, but I'll give you an update to the Gameplay thread and Arith-Zind's tale in the morning.

The Story of Tanladvir as told by the fallen wight Arith-Zind: Part 2 – Of Powers Lost.

Arith-Zind continues his tale.

“But there is more that I can tell, with the authority and clarity of deeds witnessed with my own eyes – when they were blue and shone with life or tears. And the Tanladvir that I saw wielded was flawless, and possessed of mighty magic indeed . . .” the wight sighs heavily, looking longingly on at the weapon “But what has become of you now?”

“If Anaivander was indeed the hand that made Tanladvir, then he certainly knew how to ensorcel a blade. Not the petty magicks commonly found upon a sword – a keener edge, or an aurora of flame or lightning. Tanladvir’s powers were myriad and profound.”

“In the hands of Eladys Stormstar, I saw Tanladvir cleave through arcane walls of fire and invisible force as if they were paper. Eladys claimed the sword could also sunder magical barriers of ice and fire. Everytime Tanladvir struck a blow against its enemies; it struck an echoing, triumphant peal of thunder.” Here Arith-Zind pauses and chuckles. “The last sound I heard in life as it happens.”

“But for all her potency, Tanladvir also asked a high price of her wielders. Those that held her in their hands recovered from their wounds with unnatural swiftness, but if they turned from a battle before it was done, those same wounds would split open again and bleed with malign insistence. It was this curse that finally ended the life of Eladys, when we were forced to retreat from our fight with Klocasiss, the water orm of Vhunsaub.”

“Two other powers were spoken of, but I never saw them used. Supposedly, the bearer of Tanladvir is invulnerable to the breath of dragons, in whatever form it might take. It’s also said that should Tanladvir be sheathed in earth, all those clutching its hilt will find their bodies cast of iron, and virtually impervious to the blows of their enemies until the sword is withdrawn or they release the hilt.”

In the next instalment, Arith-Zind speaks of some of the previous wielders of Tanladvir.

*low whistle* Wow, that's a heck of a blade!

Is Tanlavir's material similar to the longsword that Pellius found?

Just a short FYI - I am enjoying "The story of Tanladvir"!!! :-)

Thanks a lot!

[ooc] Four hours on the road and about six floating blissfully over coral reefs teeming with fish (poor me!). Sleep, then work, then update in about 24 hours.

Is Tanlavir's material similar to the longsword that Pellius found?

Although Ithuryssa and Tancladvir are both clearly forged in an atypical fashion, they don't appear to be made from the same material. Tancladvir is distinctly more metallic.

*a racial slur as old as time, shenfanow roughly translates to 'pointy-eared demon' and is a not-at-all-nice term for those of elven blood. It is commonly used along with its opposite, the derogatory term for humans dy-keeni, or 'round ear'.

In what language would that be? Keep your Willow-isms out of my game! :-}

Hehe ... 20+ years later and I'm still friends w my gaming group from college ... and we STILL use those 2 terms all the time. And not just in game speak either .....

DM Tadpole wrote:

The tomb mote, and the tunnel it’s heading for, are about thirty feet off the ground.

Pellius wrote:

The magus quickly points and shoots at the mote some thirty feet above.

and now Im expected to READ too?!?!?!?!?!??

sorry 'bout that

Whew...! Mother's Day weekend is a killer at the restaurant. But, I thought I would have the time/energy for a quick post or two at the end of the day. Sorry for the absence all. But, I'm back on a more regular schedule, now.

Hope everyone had a Happy Mother's Day.

Guys sorry for no posts during the last 4 days. My company decided to send me in the field, and in Nigeria internet is not really available in the rural areas. Just got home, tired as hell. Will go to the office in the morning and start regular posting then (10-12 hours from now). Cheers.

Works kicking my butt. My about Tanladvir plus a gameplay update tomorrow with a bit of luck.

Almost posted this, but actually I am not sure if this is doable, so wanted to ask here first - since mote is obviously before Alagor on the initiative, do I get a full-action at all, or just an AoO?

My idea was either to grab a bunch of caltrops and throw them in front of the fangate (along the mote's direction), or to also try a grapple attack to subdue it. OK, since Pyotr obviously tried that now, can I support him with Aid another maybe (if caltrops idea does not work)?

If caltrops are doable, and from my understanding the rules they should be (move-equivalent action to retrieve them from the backpack, standard action to "attack the square" where I want to throw them, do I just roll to hit for ranged attack?

I'd be crying if I wasn't laughing so hard. Too funny! Maybe I should go Evangelist and start worshipping Desna: if she's going to rain this much bad luck on me she can throw me a few boons while she's at it!!

It's tough to say... but, if this were tabletop, it would probably only have been two, maybe three sessions of bad luck for Del. It would certainly be enough to comment on. But, in PbP, it's been like six solid months!

There's a movie with William H. Macy and Alec Baldwin. I can't remember, but I think it's called "The Cooler"....

The Story of Tanladvir as told by the fallen wight Arith-Zind: Part 3 – Those Who Wielded Tanladvir.

“Be warned young warrior,” Arith-Zind addresses Alagor “Many have borne Tanladvir, but it seems a curse of the blade that none wield it for long. The roster of those who have met their doom with Tanladvir in their hands stretches longer than my own knowledge, and all of them were no doubt better men than you.”

“Let me tell you of the ones I know to have carried Tanladvir, but remember this is but a slim selection when cast against the long history of the blade.”

“My battle-sister Eladys Stormstar claimed Tanladvir from the corpse of the dwarven hero Dulrik Gildgaunted whilst his blood was wetting the stones beneath him. In those days I was known by a different name, my master had yet to christen me into his dark army. Of course, the greatsword was my weapon, but it was Eladys’ blow that gutted Dulrik, so the claim was hers to make. We were mercenaries in the truest sense, serving the highest coin, not troubling ourselves with notions of honour and fairplay that the ‘noble’ warriors so swiftly compromise. We were sought out by those rich enough, ambitious enough and audacious enough to hire us, and by all others we were feared.”

“The greatsword was not Eladys’ chosen weapon, she favoured the lighter scimitar, but when Tanladvir was taken from Dulrik I saw in her a love and compassion I’d never before seen inspired in her eyes, not even when she fought at my side or warmed herself in the embrace of her lover Nasmevia. With my tuition, she swiftly taught herself to handle Tanladvir’s greater heft and reach, and soon outstripped my own skill. Though Tanladvir was hers for only four years, she took three dozen lives in that time.”

“But eventually Eladys fell, as I described before, and I was too heartbroken to make my own claim to Tanladvir. But Nasmevia Charthavion was not so bereft, and she stole the sword and fled before the sun had even set on that dark day. That Chelish b~#%# deserved not one of the caresses Eladys bestowed upon her, but a just end found her soon enough.”

“Barely a fortnight after Eladys’ fall, Nasmevia was herself destroyed by a devil that was either able to dominate or masquerade as her eidolon. The fiend took the blade back to Cheliax, and I did not see Tanladvir again until the day of my death.”

“For at least two decades, power-hungry nobles within Westcrown fought and slew each other to lay claim to Tanladvir. But it was a noble paladin named Velriik who brought her out of Cheliax, and carried her northwards as he embarked on the great Taldan Crusade against the Tyrant Returned.”

“Velriik fell swiftly, as most paladins do, in mistakenly challenging one of Tar-Bapon’s champions, and was gravely wounded. With his dying breath, he bequeathed Tanladvir to his squire Ulsverd, who was yet to be known as the Unyielding, who put her to better work against Tar-Baphon’s legions than Velriik had managed.”

In the final instalment, Arith-Zind tells of how he was slain at the hands of Ulsverd the Unyielding wielding Tanladvir.

Alagor, as nonlethal damage isn’t much use against the undead, you’ve gone with option 2. Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I think the attack roll would be vs. AC 10 to hit a square. Although I think the miss would normally indicate a scattering like a splash weapon, as we’re not using a map (at the moment), I’m opting that they just generically miss the target.

Actually, reading the rules for thrown splash weapons (not sure if caltrops apply as one), it is against AC 5, not AC 10.

But as long as Pyotr has been able to grapple the thingie, you'll have no issues from me :-)

And thanks for the reminder of nonlethal damage versus undead - sitting in Nigeria, not GM-ing at the table with my group tends to affect my memory of specific rules :-(

Finally - beautiful (and a bit open-ended, not to say ominous) sequel to the Tanladvir story. Kudos!

There's an undertaking I'm undertaking! Brief version: I'm trying to use more modernized game concepts to update AD&D 2nd Edition with. I intend to open up the discussion to people I know via these messageboards as well as people I game with face to face.

To be frank, I don't think D&D:N is going to be what it promised to be, which is a shame. Pathfinder remains fun, but less so with each passing day (I think it's simply too codified for my own tastes). So I'm going to green-light my initial idea to try and overhaul 2nd Edition's malformed chassis with some more modern themes.

I welcome insight from those with an understanding of AD&D 2nd Edition as well as those with an understanding of Pathfinder. New ideas are fine, but within a specific context. This is not a goal to design an entirely new game—the end result should still play like D&D, even if some pieces look different. That means Vancian spellcasters, Saving Throws, Str/Dex/Con/Int/Wis, alignments, and so on. I'm not looking to break any boundaries. Just trying to polish and update what's already there.

Here's the Google Sites link I've served up as a gathering point for ideas, development, and the like—complete with a horribly generic title: Dungeonfinder

LOL, Del! I so wanted to post, "Me do hit stuff good. Me also hear good. And me no forget what you say."

But... it would be a little bit... drastically out of character for Pyotr. =)

hehe...I started posting before yours hit but got distracted by work, by the time I finally hit submit yours was already there. Almost went back and re-edited the post, but decided he probably would have said it anyway........

For the first time since this little adventure started, Delkaneth looks at Khozin not with thinly-veiled contempt but with something akin to a playful grin as he rolls his eyes.

"Me carry big stick. Me hit stuff good."

Presumably that's supposed to read Alagor rather than Khozin. Otherwise I'm confused :-)

@ Bonegrit. Good luck with Dungeonfinder. I will have a look here and there when I've got a few spare moments, but I don't think I'll have much to add. For me, the crunch is the crunch, and I don't think about it too much, regardless of edition.

It's all about the story man!

Didn't write that well ... Alagor complained about Del and Khozin casting, so I thought the two casters might share a moment.

Gotcha! :-)

I agree for the most part. And I like Pathfinder a lot, don't get me wrong. There are a lot of situations that creep up that I (personally) feel like stifle player enterprise, though. It's mostly an issue with Skills/Feats and the rampant math therein. I prefer the rules to provide an expression for what the character is doing instead of defining what a character is capable of doing. 2nd Edition held up way better in this regard, imo, excepting some very glaring examples (like only thieves and rangers being allowed to sneak).

In a couple of hours I'll be on an island. Don't think they've got Internet, and even if they do I might be too busy snorkelling. Probably won't be further posts me this weekend!

Have fun! And now I'm off to work... =( [/unfair]