GMElberion's Wounded Wisp PBP Gameday 6 (Inactive)

Game Master GeraintElberion

Plenty of time before we get started.

Introduce your characters here, if you have a stable or are making a new character then you might want to discuss your choices with other players.

Would you, please, also share PFS ID numbers for your characters once you have decided.

Also, if you want to see the gameplay thread in your 'my campaigns' and be marked as a player, please make a post in the gameplay thread and then delete it, rather than having the thread cluttered with dots at the start.

Alright, thanks for having me.

Quintus is, as the archetype decribes, a "devil's advocate". I hope I'll be able to RP it right... :) While servant of evil deity, Quintus follows the "lawful" aspects of Asmodeus, rather than evil.

He is not very combat focused, but on these levels he should be able to help in melee (if someone else deals the real damage). His biggest asset is suberb diplomacy/bluff, I hope they will be of some use in this scenario. Healing is provided via wands.

Speaking of which... did the rule of casting evil spells making alignment shift make into PFS? I was planning to get a wand of Infernal Healing but don't want to end up paying for atonement after every scenario...

Edit: forgot the requested information...
PFS #96960-13
Faction: The Exchange

Before ghost dotting the Gameplay...

Sesotho is an Arcanist focused on battlefield control spells. The Magaambyan Initiate archetype allows him to spontaneously convert a limited number of slots to Cure Light Wounds (for now).

However, I do have an ample stable of characters from which to draw, and I have another potential Evergreen that I could run Sesotho in, so if we're running light in a particular area, I don't mind playing someone else.

I have no idea about the infernal healing thing: I've yet to see it in play.

Additional resources will be the place to look.

Here is Sesotho with his profile in place.

PFS #: 230524-15
Faction: Scarab Sages

not sure who to play yet... depends on what games finish up by start date... can I hold off declaring til later in the month? For now I will dot as JAF0 and you can remove JAF0 from active players when I dot with actual player avatar... sorry for any inconvenience.

Yes, JAF0, that's fine.

FAQ for casting of evil spells and alignment.

Valtyra is a force wielding arcanist who considers herself twice as smart as the average Pathfinder but does her best in trying not to talk down to those of lesser intelligence.

She hails from small village in Ustalav but is extensively traveled due to the need to further her education and this includes a stint spent on the islands of Minata learning how to hunt with magic. Her thirst for knowledge led naturally to the Pathfinder Society where she was mentored by a Seeker who eventually become a Venture Capitan.

Now having passed her Confirmation she is ready for more and it appears that the lodge masters have plans to teach us further. I look forward to the challenge.

Thanks for the link, Big Joe.

Looks like your good, Quintus.

I've seen a bit of 'no, I'm not evil, honest I'm not... wink, wink...' play and i'm not a fan of it at all. But a comitted lawful-neutrality should be fun to see. Especially as the big rule your character is committed to following is 'explore, report, co-operate'.

Thanks for the link, Valtyra.
My local groups have been using IH wands for ages, but with the Horror Adventure rules, I wasn't sure how it would work.

I don't plan Quintus to be a uptight follower of law (like hellknights and some paladins). Rather a servants of contracts and the letter of the law (and perhaps not always the spirit of the law). Still remains to be seen how the roleplay ends up.

Anyway, yes, he'll follow the tenets 'explore, report, co-operate', and as I player my guideline is to have a game fun for every player in the (virtual) table.

Sorry for not getting a post in here earlier. I got it in my head I needed to have her character finished before I could get a post in here. I made the alias, and am working on her numbers. Right now I'm really torn between Holy tactician and Divine hunter and that has been holding me up for a bit. She should be ready by next Monday, though.

Infernal Healing lawyer of Asmodeus
+
Paladin
=
smoothly functioning party?

Would Quintus and Kvina please decide beforehand on some principles for how they're going to make this work?

Hmmm, Quintus isn't evil himself and as long as he doesn't actively advocate evil actions or proselytize, she should be fine. Infernal healing is slightly more complicated, but as the spell doesn't actually cause evil (the effects are temporary, and it does healing which is often seen as inherently good) she'll probably be able to live with it. This is assuming he tells people about the spell before casting it, and they freely accept.

I can point to some of the tenets of the Iomedaen paladin code that might be usable to make this work.

I will guard the honor of my fellows, both in thought and deed, and I will have faith in them. Another Society member, therefore a fellow. He is probably a horribly misguided but decent person.

And the discription of an Iomedaen Paladin seems to focus on "eliminat[ing] evil at its root," and he's just a symptom, who or whatever converted him is more of a problem.

Or if you prefer I have about two to six other character ideas in various states of doneness I could bring instead.

Not to mention Asmodeus is a legal religion in Absalom as opposed to Lamashtu or Rovagug, he's a member of the Godclaw along with Iomedae, and there's a Homolog sect of LG paladins of Asmodeus.

...and there's a Homolog sect of LG paladins of Asmodeus.

I thought James Jacobs had done all he could to retcon those out of existence?

Actually, that was Paladins of Asmodeus in general.

What book are the homologs ones in?

They still exist, but the Trait that lets a PC be one isn't PFS legal.

Distant Shores

I've got that but haven't read it.

Might give it a look.

Well, Quintus does have evil aura, as per aura feature of Cleric class.
But if Kvina is willing to overlook that, he might be easier to get along with, than for example a Cailean priest.

Quintus would perhaps regard Kvina a bit amusing in her "do-goodiness", but as long as she is threatening to smite him down, he will see no problems in cooperating with her.

(And I do also have some other characters available, should Quintus be seen as a problematic part of the party)

The trait Sesotho mentioned is Pact Servant. So a paladin of Asmodeus is not unheard of. And also, there are a number of paladins among the ranks of Hellknights - so they must be able to get along with devil-worshippers (for greater good).

This Pathfinder Tales novel shows Hellknights, Paladins and devil-binders working together.

It's an excellent piece of writing.

I look forward to seeing how you make it work.

One Paladin
One Cleric
Two Arcanists

JAF0 can choose pretty much anything he likes, I imagine.

Incidentally, I just realised that I played my first PFS scenario with you, JAF0: First Steps 2: To Delve the Dungeon Deep.

You were the gnome (Lore?), I was the elf wizard who really wanted to redeem the ghoul. We had a charismatic rogue (Shy? Shay?) a dwarf paladin... good times.

oh my, that was a long time ago, yes, that was Lore's (and mine as well) second pfs game ever. She's a 10th lvl cleric - exalted now ... Good to see you again!

Well, Mylvwara is only level 5, so I obviously need to pick up my Pbp pace.

BTW, there's a local Con coming up, and if I end up in tier 1-2 I'll might play with Quintus. But I'll try to leave him at level 1 in any case.

Okay, It's significantly later than I said it would be, but I finished up all of the details with Kvina and she should be ready to go!

I will be traveling from Saturday morning until Weds. night (driving up north to see the eclipse). I will try to check in at least once a day, but if I miss a post time, please feel free to bot me to keep the flow going. I don't want to hold up the game.

Shouldn't affect this game which doesn't start til the 25th, just posting this in all my games... just in case.

looks like the party needs a rogue, so I'll play the pregen rogue merisiel

Sorry for the slow start: turns out I've had a weekend of children's parties which have taken over everything.

no problem... with the start of gameday, some of us are scrambling to keep up with the rush of posts, which will most likely dwindle to a more handle-able pace very soon.

I will be attending Strategicon from Friday through Monday... Will be able to make limited posts, but not reliably nor frequently... I will try to keep up with at least one post a day, but no guarantees. Please bot me as needed to keep up the pace of the game, thanks.

Sorry if I've slowed down a bit.

My kids both have chicken pox, it's taking up my free time.

Oh, that's a shame. Sorry. Thanks for letting us know.

No worries! Take your time to help them feel better as that's not fun for them or you. Thanks for letting us know!

No worries! Family goes first, take care of your kids. Hope they'll be well soon.

Apologies again for the drop.
Will post again tomorrow or today to get things moving.

Apologies again for the drop.

Will post again tomorrow or today to get things moving.

Yay! I'd been wondering about this game.

Valtyra, how do you get intelligence 22?

Valtyra used 17 points to get an 18 at creation. She gets +2 to Int from being a Peri-Blooded Aasimar (Emberkin). Finally I have applied a boon from scenario #2-22

That's an amazing boon!

This is a very dangerous situation.

Okay, couldn't find any clarification on chokers repositioning so I have made a judgement.

I was readig up on the grapple rules, so I have any idea of what I can do while grappled, but I was kind of confused about one thing. The attack on me had the grab special, I'm guessing, but does that also count as maintaining a grapple, or does that need a seperate action? Because it looks like it takes a standard to start the grapple and then on subsequent turns te character has to spend a standard to maintain the grapple allowing those other actions. Otherwise you'd be able to spend the standard to grapple and then move the foe, deal damage or pin the foe on the same turn which sounds pretty powerful for a single standard.

In particular, I am looking at this line

"Once you are grappling an opponent, a successful check allows you to continue grappling the foe, and also allows you to perform one of the following actions (as part of the standard action spent to maintain the grapple)."

Emphasis mine.

It doesn't matter much now as Kvina isn't going to die immediately, but in case she breaks free, it might be important for the next person.

Also, will Kvina have an action this turn or should she wait for the next round?

Maintain is a standard action, and it has to be done every round of grapple. If the maintain action is successful, then the grappler can perform one the actions (move/damage/pin/tie up) as part of the same standard action. Grapple rules are a bit of a mess, unfortunately :( I have one grappling character, and I always need to have some cheat sheet close by.

Of course, a monster with multiple attacks and grab can always use the cheesier tactic of attack->grab+constrict->release-attack->grab+constrict. But GM, please ignore what I just said :D

Choker is pretty dangerous opponent for lvl 1 characters...

Maintain is a standard action, and it has to be done every round of grapple. If the maintain action is successful, then the grappler can perform one the actions (move/damage/pin/tie up) as part of the same standard action. Grapple rules are a bit of a mess, unfortunately :( I have one grappling character, and I always need to have some cheat sheet close by.

Of course, a monster with multiple attacks and grab can always use the cheesier tactic of attack->grab+constrict->release-attack->grab+constrict. But GM, please ignore what I just said :D

Choker is pretty dangerous opponent for lvl 1 characters...

No objections here, but my question is more 'Do you have to maintain the same round you initiate?'. Because then you are spending two standards that round, unless the maintain is included in the initiating standard.

No, you only maintain if you start your round in grapple.

http://www.pfsprep.com/e107_files/public/1482694608_186_FT297_grappleflowch art_1.0.pdf

Constrict triggers on a successful grapple check, not when a grapple is maintained.

Chokers are highly effective against isolated foes but there are choices the party made which unwittingly made this tricky (like not waiting for the others before entering the mysterious room; provoking instead of taking a 5ft step...)

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out if this was a mistake.

Wait, I forgot the triggering attack was an AoO, not an attack taken on its turn, blah. Sorry!

Also, quick question, did this thing read as evil from my detect evil?

Oh, yes, definitely Evil.

I am working as the Society organizer at a convention this coming weekend, October 13-15, 2017. I may not be as responsive as I would like to be but will still be able to check in and post for games each day.