GM Euan's Mummy's Mask (Inactive)

Game Master Euan

Yes, ten minutes passed, give or take a minute, before Rubila returns and departs with her forces. Gotcha Florence! I was muddled there for a moment. :)

Benedictus dispels the glyph on the floor to avoid any unpleasant surprises with a nod. Stelle hears nothing through the northern doors, but she thinks she hears some noise from further down the hallway. What exactly it is though is hard to say for sure at this distance. Whatever it is, is somewhat far away...

Nidhi meanwhile checks the southern door for traps and, finding none, opens it.

A clay lamp atop a wooden table lights this room. Against the wall stand weapon racks holding only a few warped and rusted blades. Rotten quivers hang from spikes driven into the wall. Two small wooden casks sealed with wax stand beneath the quivers. The smashed remains of a third cask lie in a puddle of oil suggesting all three contain lamp oil. There is nothing else of note in the chamber, though it looks like someone was loitering here recently.

Oh, and my bad. I've said that Heroism is still going, but I forgot you rested for a couple hours - so that spell is past. I think, as you waited ten minutes for Rubila, all current spells have expired. Let me know if that is not the case.

I kinda figured the ten minutes had passed in between the time Rubila left to terminate the contract the girtobloobloo had with their evil overlords, gather her troops and return here just to leave us here.

Same.

I've said that Heroism is still going, but I forgot you rested for a couple hours - so that spell is past.

Noted!

"Let's go." The bard motions for her companions to follow. Nidhi walks into the room (see map) and casts Detect Secret Doors (PRD link)

Nidhi detects no secret doors in her sweep of the room.

Let me know if that is not the case.

Zilchus would argue that his extended magic vestment is still going, 22 hours.

After the right amount of time is passed (and then some), Zilchus will follow Nidhi into the side room. His blade is still drawn, and his weapon cord is still attached. He will look about the room.

1d20 + 21 ⇒ (2) + 21 = 23 Perception

There is nothing else of note in the chamber, though it looks like someone was loitering here recently.

"This would be the perfect dance hall. I bet the acoustics are great!" Nidhi opens her mouth and tests a few harmonious notes on the walls. She tilts her head, places a hand on her hip and smiles. Then she frowns. "Ugh, this thing is so heavy."

Sleight of Hand (put on mask quickly): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (7) + 11 = 18

Nidhi proceeds to unwrap the silk scarf around her waist and fasten the mask properly on her head. When she's finished fastening the mask, she ties her scarf back around her waist, securing her traveling cloak closed once more.

Still hovering by the northern door, Stelle holds up her left wrist where she wears the Scarab of Mummy Defense, and peers at it curiously.

She taps it three times with her right index finger*.

So, tell me, are there any Mummys hiding around here?

The party searches to no avail, finding nothing else of interest in the cavernous room.

Stelle finds no mummies in her search.

Florence peeks inside of the room, frowning at the spilled lamp oil on the floor. "That looks recent...like, really recent. Where those archers planning to shoot flaming arrows or something?"

And with that thought, Florence recalls that they hadn't really searched the fallen archers - having been too caught up in Rubila's appearance immediately after the battle. "Hmm, I wonder if they were carrying anything useful? I'll go look really quick."

Florence heads back into the other room and proceeds to do just that.

Casting Detect Magic, Zilchus gives one last look around the room (mindful of the spilled oil) and then looks for another path forward.

1d20 + 21 ⇒ (6) + 21 = 27 Perception

If nothing, moved Z to new location on map.

"Ugh, this thing is so heavy."

Stelle, some what bemused, watches Nidhi re-fasten the mask to her head.

"Is it less heavy when you wear it like that?" she asks, a genuine note of curiosity in her tone.

Stelle helps Florence check the archers' bodies for loot.

"I think maybe we should head down the western corridor from whence Rubila and her troops came before they departed. That's probably where the cultists are gathered, wondering what the impetus is for the Girtobloobloos sudden withdraw. We should hit them hard and fast and take them by total surprise."

Stelle will, as they go further into the complex, continue to check for Mummys every 100 feet or so until cultists are encountered.

Florence checks the bodies, and realizes that the party ignore the bodies from the earlier fight too! Never even searched the room…

Digging through their belongings, you find:
amulet of might fists +1 (x2) (x4)
belt of giant strength +2 (x2) (x4)
Gilt wooden funerary masks worth 25gp, and 40gp in assorted coins (x2) (x4)

Searching the entry room, you find substantial alcoves behind the hanging reed mats, but otherwise nothing of particular interest.

Zilchus manages to avoid the oil but finds nothing magical in the chamber. He moves to he next set of doors.

Go ahead and position yourselves on the map as you move forward and I’ll open up new areas on the map.

Stelle watches Zilchus zip by going in the direction not-west. She shrugs.

"Or, we could check out the eastern doors first." she whispers.

She joins him by the eastern doors and listens.

Percept: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (14) + 13 = 27

That's crazy!

Nidhi finishes buckling the last strap of her mask. A wave of relief crashes over her as the mask returns to its proper home. Like a glove. Nidhi joins Zilchus to the set of double doors. Feeling safe with Stelle and Zilchus by her side, she confidently attempts to open the double doors. "No warm welcome?"

After gathering up the items worth some coin from the fallen guards and archers, Florence hurries out into the hallway to catch up with Zilchus and the others.

Stelle also hears nothing at the doors.

Benedictus catches up, "So what's the plan? I still need to rest before we go too far. This is a big place. Not a good place to get lost in..." he looks around a little nervously.

"Well, we could try holing up in the room with the lamp oil," Florence suggests as Ben catches up to them as well. "There didn't seem to be any other way inside and we could maybe barricade or lock the door so we don't have more cultists or guards wandering in."

Zilchus almost chooses to ignore Ben, but then doesn't.

"I think we can do a bit more here. This place is huge so we'll probably need to try to rest again, don't you worry."

He awaits Nidhi's opening of the doors, ready to move on in.

The song of my people. Jokes aside, we can rest if people feel like we need to rest. Nidhi's a glass half full.

"I would prefer to continue on," says Stelle, "just until... until we kill all of the cultists... "...oh, nevermind."

She smiles and looks at Nidhi and Zilchus. "Let's just see what's inside, shall we?"

"Oh I'm fine with pressing on a little further," Florence remarks with a shrug. "But I figured I'd suggest the oil room as a place to come back to when we do decide to hole up. That's all."

Benedictus shrugs unhappily as Nidhi checks and opens the door.

A wide hall stretches from a pair of stone double doors to the south to an oversized archway to the north. Engraved sigils of eyes, suns, swords, and water birds mark the large stone blocks that pave the floor. Six alcoves line the hall, three on each side. Within each alcove stands an upright stone sarcophagus carved in the likeness of a human man, his arms crossed over his chest. Thin, foul-smelling smoke emanates from the eyes of the sarcophagi, creating a dank haze in the room. The ceiling is 30’ high in this lofty chamber.

The first sarcophagus to the southeast stands open and empty; a small pile of charred bones lie heaped on the floor in front of it.

Florence moves up and peers through the open door into the room beyond, frowning and waving her hand a bit to disperse the smoky haze that drifts over them.

Kn. Planes (DC 23): 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (15) + 13 = 28

Her eyes widen when she spots the smokey-eyed sarcophagus and she throws up her hand to stop Zilchus or anyone else from moving into the room. "Whoa, wait! That smoke there...that's a characteristic of this thing called a 'bodak' - an undead creature from beyond the Material plane."

She frowns, quickly trying to recall anything useful about bodaks but isn't able to come up with much. "I don't know a lot about them, though. If I remember right they're resistant to ______ but that's all I can think of."
____________

Resistances, please :)

Bodak are resistant to both acid and fire (10hp/r).

Benedictus nods in agreement, "Yes, bodak, quite. Chaotic Evil undead."

”A boe dack? Interesting. Are there more varieties of dack, other than boe?” Zilch nods at the warning, moving in slowly to examine the corpse and sarcophagus.

His sword is out as his eyes sweep the room..

1d20 + 21 ⇒ (20) + 21 = 41 Perception

Nidhi takes Florence's warning into consideration. A bodak? The bard squints.

Knowledge (Planes): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24

"Oh, yeah. That's what that smell is from!"

Nidhi eyes the room but doesn't cross the threshold. "But... I don't understand... Where are all the people? I thought this was supposed to be some big cultist operation. I mean, why else have all the bodyguards?" She throws her hands into the air, "when I saw the double doors I expected some big, elaborate gathering but there's nobody here!"

Nidhi gently rests a hand on Stelle's shoulder. "I'm right behind you." Nidhi casts Good Hope on the party.

Good Hope: Standard Action, 100ft + 10ft/level, one living creature/level within 30ft. +2 morale bonus on saving throws, ability checks, skill checks, and weapon damage rolls.

Zilchus' eyes sweep the room, and he sees a trap. A few traps actually (you don't see them all from your spot, but you can surmise those further away).

If you step within the red areas, the nearest sarcophagus opens, revealing its contents... This one is triggered, and revealed a bodak. Hard to say what the others might reveal.

Those of you in the hall, though you're technically within the radius of a trap, you're not 'in' the room so you're safe.

To be clear, Florence believes there may be at least one Bodak per sarcophagus, but there may be more, and there may be... other things. Just that that's the sort of smoke that comes off a Bodak, and there's a dead Bodak on the floor.

"...that's a characteristic of this thing called a 'bodak' - an undead creature from beyond the Material plane."

"Whoa. Baykoks and Bodaks. Are they cousins?" Stelle looks around. "Don't breathe that -- " she says, pointing to the smoke.

Engraved sigils of eyes, suns, swords, and water birds mark the large stone blocks that pave the floor.

Stelle urges Anubis into the room. "Wow! Look at this floor! Four sigils, and six sarcophagi. Maybe it's a puzzle...?"

Puzzled, Stelle goes to inspect the open sarcophagus, any of its deocrations as well as its last (occupant?).

Though intricate, the sigils on the floor do not seem related to the sarcophagi.

Stelle further finds nothing within the sarcophagus. It is empty. She thinks it could contain as many as three of the Bodak if they were crunched together. They're large sarcophagi.

"Well, should we disarm the traps, and open the sarcophagi one by one, or should we go back to the western door? I thought I heard some noise coming from down there earlier."

Her eyes gleam.

"Maybe we'll find cultists!"

Nidhi tilts her head and places a hand on her hip. "Maybe we should check out the Western door. There don't seem to be any cultists here."

"Personally I say we disarm the traps and leave whatever's in those sarcophagi in there to rot," Florence chimes in, looking around nervously. "Whether we do it right now or after having a look at that western door, it doesn't matter to me."

Each of the five sarcophagi would need to be disarmed separately. Nidhi is pretty sure they are tough to disarm - in part because she has to do it from 30' away. Do-able for a woman of her singular skills, but tough.

She anticipates some failures before she's done however. Those failures may trigger the traps if she's unlucky.

"Oh, yes -- to be sure we will scour every inch of this place before departing. For now I am suggesting that we keep our momentum on eliminating the cultist threat. The sooner we do that, the quicker we may be able to rest and explore without that hanging over our heads."

Florence shrugs. "Just a suggestion but Nidhi understands traps way more than I ever will. If it'd be easier to just move on and come back here later then I'm fine with that too. We just need to keep moving if we're not going to rest."

"Oh, yes -- to be sure we will scour every inch of this place before departing. For now I am suggesting that we keep our momentum on eliminating the cultist threat."

Zilchus readily agrees with Stelle's wise words. He carefully backs out of the trapped room and moves south to the next door.

"Good plan, Stelle. Last thing we want is to have extra fights when some of us are already ready for bed," Zilch's eyes flicker to Ben, then back on the task at hand.

He will move to the south trapped doors and look for traps, because he's sure that they are there.

1d20 + 21 ⇒ (4) + 21 = 25 Perception

"Nidhi, while I'm looking over here, do you think you can lock those doors good? Or disable them?"

"Err - I can try to lock the doors but if the cultists have a key it won't help us much." Nidhi still pulls out her lockpick set and gets to work on the door. (Assuming everyone is back in the hallway.)

Disable Device (+tools, +good hope): 1d20 + 17 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 17 + 5 + 2 = 33

With everyone more or less in agreement to leave the Room of Imminent Death for the time being, Florence follows a few paces behind Zilchus as he moves to investigate the next door.

"Do you think maybe the cultists weren't able to completely take this place?" she asks aloud. "Maybe that's why one of those traps got tripped. Maybe they've been working their way further into this place just like we are - they just got here first is all."

Stelle shrugs at Florence's very good queries. "Let's hope they haven't gotten too far inside."

She then waits for everyone to clear the room of Imminent Death before finally joining everyone at the western door.

Squeezing their way toward the front of the group, Stelle and Anubis approach the door.

She listens along with Zilchus. +4 to Zilchus' percept plus maybe two more if Good Hope applies.

The party rounds the corner to see two cultists down the hall keeping watch. One calls out loudly, ”So you survived, too bad. This is as far as you get!” One is wielding a scimitar while the other has a long spear.

- Round Surprise -
Benedictus - 27
- Round 1 -
Benedictus - 27
Stelle - 22
Nidhi - 21
Florence - 11
Good Folks - 8
Spear, red - 8 (-28hp)
Zilchus - 3

Nidhi has not yet secured the northern doors and Zilchus has not yet listened at the door.

Benedictus is up in the surprise round and Benedictus, Stelle, Nidhi, and Florence are up in round one. Sorry Zilchus!

Benedictus moves to the corner to see in the surprise round, and opens fire with a Scorching Ray, focusing on the spear wielder in round one.

Ray touch: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23 damage: 4d6 ⇒ (6, 5, 2, 3) = 16
Ray touch: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12 damage: 4d6 ⇒ (6, 4, 3, 5) = 18
Ray touch: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27 damage: 4d6 ⇒ (2, 5, 3, 2) = 12

He connects twice.

No time to check for hall traps, just going to have to move fast. No archers, but one spear?

Fearlessly, Stelle takes Annie as fast as he can go into a Spirited Charge down the hallway toward LongSpearMan.

SpiritedCharge: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (17) + 17 = 34 -PA
for Damage: 3d6 + 18 + 6 + 6 ⇒ (5, 3, 3) + 18 + 6 + 6 = 41

Allies have:
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
(There is currently no challenge)
+3 morale bonus on saving throws against fear*
+2 morale bonus on attack rolls made as part of a charge*

(Challenge, Order)
+2 circumstance bonus on melee attack rolls against the target of Stelle's challenge
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
*Banner

Round 1:

Nidhi begins to sing, inspiring the party. She continues to attempts to lock the doors (?) Is it a time thing or a skill thing?

Round 1, Initiative 11

"More of you?" Florence sighs. She moves up the hall a little, to get a better view of the two cultists. "Go home. You're just small fry compared to some of the things we've tangled with."

With that, she attempts to anchor the shadow of Red to the ground.

Florence casts Shadow Trap on Red (or the other one if Red is dead); DC 16 Will save.

Benedictus moves and launches a trio of scorching rays at the enemy wounding one (red seems to take less damage, slightly, then he should. DR perhaps). Stelle charges the same man and adds to the injury, though he does not falter and again takes slightly less from the assault (DR). Nidhi, just needing some time, wedges the door shut (no lock). Florence then piles on and tries to pin him to his shadow!
Spear Red will: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16 … and his shadow is free, but only just

”Now you idiots!” comes a shout from red, bleeding badly and breathing through a broken tooth. Never the less, he steps back 5’ and attacks Stelle with his spear.
spear red on Stelle: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (18) + 14 = 32 damage: 1d8 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10
spear red on Stelle: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25 damage: 1d8 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9

He hits Stelle once for a scratch.

His companion stays where he is and attacks Stelle up close with his scimitar, though he doesn't land a blow.
scimitar blue on Stelle: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (6) + 13 = 19 damage: 1d6 + 7 ⇒ (5) + 7 = 12
scimitar blue on Stelle: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16 damage: 1d6 + 7 ⇒ (4) + 7 = 11

Meanwhile, the door next to Zilchus opens and another pair of cultists attacks him! He and Benedictus can see the small room over their shoulders. It contains four wooden cots with legs carved to resemble lions’ paws. A padded neck rest and a thin cotton sheet rest atop each cot. Above each cot, a niche cut in the wall serves as a shallow shelf, and is adorned with a carved figure of a snarling sphinx looking out into the room. Four wicker stools sit in a corner of the room next to a small wooden chest.

spear green on Zilchus: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (19) + 14 = 33 damage: 1d8 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10
spear green on Zilchus: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (8) + 9 = 17 damage: 1d8 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10

scimitar brown on Zilchus: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (8) + 13 = 21 damage: 1d6 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10

The spearman, like his cousin, does well, while the scimitars do poorly.

- Round 1 -
Zilchus - 3 (-10hp)
- Round 2 -
Benedictus - 27
Stelle - 22 (-10hp)
Nidhi - 21
Florence - 11
Good Folks - 8
Spear, red - 8 (-66hp, pinned)

The party is up!

Benedictus considers this new development, and tries to make it easier on Zilchus. He casts Web in the room - trying to pin the two new cultists in place.
spear green reflex: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7 vs DC 19 or entangled
scimitar brown reflex: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16 vs DC 19 or entangled

And they're both stuck!

Zilchus - you technically go before Benedictus, so if you chose to enter the room, he'll change his action...

Round 1, Init 3

Zilchus takes a single surprise stabbing, but then returns his own flurry of blows with a manly grunt.

1d20 + 14 + 2 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 14 + 2 + 5 = 22 to hit; (+bard,+grunt)
2d4 + 13 + 2 ⇒ (2, 1) + 13 + 2 = 18 adamantine slashing damage. (+bard)

1d20 + 7 + 2 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 7 + 2 + 5 = 15 to hit; (+bard,+grunt)
2d4 + 13 + 2 ⇒ (2, 1) + 13 + 2 = 18 adamantine slashing damage. (+bard)

Ah yeah! GCP Boxcars!

Round 2, Initiative 11

"Well, can't say we didn't warn you," Florence remarks as she attempts to use her magic to hold Stelle's second attacker in place.

Florence casts Hold Person on Blue! It's hopefully super effective! (DC 17 Will).

Will: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13

Blue, still chuckling at Zilchus' misses, freezes in place and though the features don't move, the eyes look horrified at what's to come. Stelle, you may coupe de grace the blue scimitar if you wish...

Round 1, Init 10

Stelle maintains her attack on RedSpear.

Poke: 1d20 + 11 + 2 + 2 + 2 - 3 ⇒ (8) + 11 + 2 + 2 + 2 - 3 = 22 +Lance, +Courage, -PA
for Damage: 1d6 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 6 = 20 +Lance, +Hope, +Courage, +PA

Poke: 1d20 + 6 + 2 + 2 + 2 - 3 ⇒ (14) + 6 + 2 + 2 + 2 - 3 = 23 +Lance, +Courage, -PA
for Damage: 1d6 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 6 = 18 +Lance, +Hope, +Courage, +PA

Poke: 1d20 + 1 + 2 + 2 + 2 - 3 ⇒ (1) + 1 + 2 + 2 + 2 - 3 = 5 +Lance, +Courage, -PA
for Damage: 1d6 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 6 = 20 +Lance, +Hope, +Courage, +PA

'GCP'? 'Globus Connect Personal' boxcars?

Anubis bites the immobile blue

"GGrrrrrrr!"
Coup De Gras: 2d6 + 10 + 2 + 4 + 4 ⇒ (5, 3) + 10 + 2 + 4 + 4 = 28 +Hope, +Courage

Allies have:

**~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
||(There is currently no challenge)
||+3 morale bonus on saving throws against fear*
||+2 morale bonus on attack rolls made as part of a charge*
||
||(Challenge, Order)
||+2 circumstance bonus on melee attack rolls against the target of Stelle's challenge
||~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
||
|| *Banner
||
**

Fort: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (5) + 10 = 15 vs DC 38

Both cultists pop like angry blisters, exploding in light and flame. Saves for both Stelle and Annubis please as Stelle clears the hall.

DC 16 Fort or be blinded 1r (twice, once for each cultist)
DC 16 Fort or take half of fire damage: 1d6 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10 (just one cultist in range for the fire snakes)

FortDC16blindStelle: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 9 + 2 = 21
FortDC16fireStelle: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 9 + 2 = 16
FortDC16blindAnubis: 1d20 + 11 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 11 + 2 = 27
FortDC16fireAnubis: 1d20 + 11 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 11 + 2 = 33

OK folks! Welcome to the discussion thread.

First things first, everything that happened in the recruitment thread, actually happened. You can consider that a Jr. gameplay thread. It’s how you’ve all met, it’s an introduction to poor Abdur, everything. We’ll start the gameplay thread in a bit, in Abdur’s office.

Second, I’m serious when I say I don’t care about your builds. I do care, they should be reasonably done naturally, but role play is far more important here. We’ll make the party work, though I think you’re pretty well balanced.

I’ve reviewed your builds and have some minor comments/questions.

A note about familiars since two of you have them. If you keep them tucked away, I’ll not go after them in most cases. Bring them out though to make attacks, carry spells, etc. and they’re fair game like any other PC. Benedictus, I suggest you get a familiar satchel or the like for their protection.

Next, please check the following spoilers for accuracy. Ignore the ‘good folks’ line. That’s just my notation for your opponents. Let me know if you have any special abilities that might effect these rolls (like Benedictus’ surprise round action).

Finally, the Treasure Sheet. Everyone can ‘see’ it, but only I can write to it currently. I’d like one of you to take over, at least temporarily, as the treasure tracker. I’m fine if you trade off over time, but there should always be one person, not me, in charge so I know who to nag if it gets behind. :)

I’ll add the first few things and teach whomever gets the gig how it works. It’s pretty automated, so the biggest problem is usually just cut-and-pasting the loot over and looking up values for things I don’t already provide. I do not worry about appraising non-magical gear. i assume you’ll get professionals to check it over before selling anything to ensure you’re not being taken advantage of. No need to play that out each and every time you sell a trinket. There will be some role play of loot naturally, but I don’t want to get bogged down in it. You’re heroes not merchants. Uh, probably.

Hey all! I'm so glad to be here! My thanks to Euan for the selection. I'm looking forward to share this adventure with you all!

Treasure Tracking I volunteer for keeping the treasure sheet up to date. I'll need some instructions from Euan, but I'm willing to do it at least for the first module.

As for my build, I'm going to change my stats as decided as soon as possible. I'm fine with your way of managing initiative Euan. No problems at all about that. As for drawback, Ive chosen my traits accordingly to it. So much potential in that drawback! I took student of philosophy (trait) just to ensure I will actually use Diplomacy and fail my checks every now and then.

I'm definitely buying the familiar satchel.

Hello, checking in and thank you for the selection! I'm really looking forward to playing with everyone :)

Re: familiars - Right now I have no intentions of sending Bynx into combat so we should be good, for the most part. I am toying with the idea of whether I'd like to take a familiar archetype for him (assuming such would be allowed) or if I want to 'upgrade' him to an Improved Familiar on down the line; most of the familiar archetypes don't stack with Improved Familiars so it's either one or the other. Still thinking over which would make the most sense for him.

Re: stats and stuff - I don't think I'll be doing much changing to my stats or build aside from possibly adjusting spell selection a bit, if needed.

Initiative and perception setups look good to me!

Thanks to the good professor for volunteering to track loot, by the way :)

As an aside I'm working tonight so it might be a bit before I get a chance to check back in but I'll try to poke my head in as opportunity presents itself :)

Benedictus - great. I’ll do some of the data entry initially, so you can see how things work, but I’ll share it with you shortly.

Florence - your spell selections are fine for now. Keep ‘em both. I don’t think they’ll be unbalancing.

Player 3 enters the game.

Hey all, nice to meet you.

I hope we have a rocking good time with this. Forgive what may be some jiltedness in my early posts for Zilchus, his voice and mannerisms are still new to me. They will come in time.

I look forward to this; let's have fun.

Hello! No worries on that, it usually takes me a bit of playing to really nail down a character voice too :)

*edit* Since Gameplay is up I'm going to do the dot-and-delete to get the campaign on my Campaigns page; will try and get a proper post up in a bit.

Checking in and very glad I was accepted for the campaign.

As for my steed, It shouldn't be too much of a problem to not have him all of the time. I planned on building the character to not rely on mounted combat. I just get some extra bonuses when I am mounted. I will look at the archetypes though and let you know if I see anything that works better for the AP.
I may want to change my teamwork feat though since I took it to pair with my friends character.
Is anyone in here planning on or willing to take a teamwork feat though?

Is anyone in here planning on or willing to take a teamwork feat though?

Zilchus shakes his head, having little teamwork within him. He has often acted alone, so working with others will be new for him.

It's good to see you're up for this, Zilchus! I'm sure we'll have some fun together! Also, Florence, Augustus and Nidhi...it's nice to see you here!

A couple more things...

To speed things up, if it's agreeable, I'll assume any magics you encounter will be identified with Detect Magic, taking-10 by your most skilled character. I think that means Benedictus, with a +8 will be the lead identifier.

The upside is that it speeds up the process of identifying items, but the downside is it does count as his attempt for the day, so if he fails, he cannot then roll that day to ID the item more closely. Others of you of course can, and Benedictus can check the following day as per standard rules.

Further, there's a prestige class in the AP that is available to you. The Living Monolith (link) is a little different, and takes some doing to achieve. As with most prestige classes I'm not sure it's worth it, but it is rather keen if you're interested. Please chat with me though if you're planning to head down this road so we can coordinate.

That makes perfect sense to me GM. Also, if the first check fails, I could cast identify in order to learn more about the properties of a particularly powerful magic item.

Sounds like a plan on IDing the magic goodies; just assume that Florence will help out when needed if Ben has any trouble with something!

As far as teamwork feats go, erm...let's just say that Florence isn't really who you'd want watching your back in the middle of a melee. Her talents lie elsewhere :)

That prestige class is certainly flavorful for the AP but it's not a path I see Flor heading down!

While I'm thinking about it, I wanted to mention that as far as posting goes my posting times will fluctuate somewhat since my work schedule varies a bit from week to week. On Mondays I'll almost always be unavailable to post until early to mid-afternoon CST (GMT -6 I believe) when I get home from work. As for the rest of the week I'm usually off a few days in the middle of the week and then work a couple of night shifts somewhere in the Thursday-Saturday range. So don't be surprised if you see posts from me at all sorts of strange hours :)

Hello everyone! I’m excited to be picking up this new hobby! I’m probably the most novice in this campaign so advice and suggestions are always welcome!

Checking in for the day. I plan on posting when I get back home tonight. I just moved to a new place yesterday so I'm still getting things settled here.

No worries Augustus, I hope you're able to get settled in okay!

Nidhi, I'm really digging your writing style :)

More of a general question for the group: in other games that sometimes move quickly and/or have a lot going on, I sometimes do a 'flashback' of sorts and tag it under a spoiler if something happened that my character would've responded to but the action moved on before I had a chance to post. Would that be okay here or would it be too confusing, even with spoilers to keep it less cluttered?

Also sorry for all the little posts today; I had the day off and a new campaign is always super exciting.

Florence, thank you!

Personally, I'm fine with flashbacks on the main gameplay page. I feel the same way - there have been 2 instances (so far) where I wanted to add a line or two but I felt as if I missed the time frame for opportunity.

No worries Augustus, I hope you're able to get settled in okay!

+1 to this. I'm usually a fast poster and oft-pusher, but have been trying to go slower to allow the group to find their pace and get accustomed to checking the thread.

I've been playing with GM Evilan for a long time and respect that his greatest skill is consistency: you know you'll get an update in the morning and there is almost always more posts in combat.

More of a general question for the group: in other games that sometimes move quickly and/or have a lot going on, I sometimes do a 'flashback' of sorts and tag it under a spoiler if something happened that my character would've responded to but the action moved on before I had a chance to post. Would that be okay here or would it be too confusing, even with spoilers to keep it less cluttered?

+1 to this. I've been known to have spoilered flashbacks and side chats as well.

I'm totally fine with spoilered flashbacks as well, provided we don't get too carried away. With luck, I'll get our game-flow perfectly balanced and everyone will have time to post to everything in it's right place and time (hahahahahaha).

But I'd rather have more role play than less, and will adjust the campaign to allow for it. For example, we haven't started on page 1 of the AP quite yet... we're still in the pre-AP stage, and with the addition of Tephu, will be for a while yet.

So stretch your creative legs, and if we move too fast, spoiler away! :)

Benedictus - Lirgala is Osirion, and well known in the Wati pub scene, a city in Osirion, so the +1 definitely applies.

Indeed it is, but there was no way for me to know the check was about Osirion without reading the spoiler XD Any thoughts on how we can solve this issue in the future? Perhaps an asterisk (*) in the spoiler title to let us know that the check is about Osirion or its people?

Yes, as I think a few of you have that feat, or will, if it's an Osirion question, I'll asterisk it so you know to apply the bonus. Easy!

Yes, as I think a few of you have that feat, or will, if it's an Osirion question, I'll asterisk it so you know to apply the bonus. Easy!

Cool, thanks!

Oh don't worry, I won't overdo it with the spoilers! I mostly try to save them for things that seem fairly important or for moments where someone or something specifically addressed my character in some fashion. It's a pretty big bummer to try and engage another PC and not get any real response so I try very hard not to let things like that slip by me.

It's a pretty big bummer to try and engage another PC and not get any real response so I try very hard not to let things like that slip by me.

Totally.

Along the same lines, if Zilchus ignores you, it's probably because he(I) missed it. Feel free to bump it again or call me out. Sometimes I miss things or read things wrong...lemme know when that happens!

Benedictus stats have been updated. He has now 12 Con, 10 Str and 12 Wis. I updated all the relative modifiers accordingly. Also, I removed his rank in Craft (alchemy) in order to put his FCB into his hp. I shall put a rank in that skill as soon as Ben reaches 2nd level.

Also, there's something I've realized only now. Thanks to his familiar, Ben gets the benefits of the Alertness feat, giving him a +2 bonus to both Perception and Sense Motive. These conditional modifiers are calculated in brackets in his stats line, next to his Perception and Sense Motive modifiers.

Question 1: Can I make a Perception (Wis) roll if it is a class skill but I haven't put a point into it? If yes, will my Perception be capped at 10 until I put a skill point into it?

Question 2: What does FCB stand for?

Nope. Only knowledge skills are capped at 10. Check the individual skill descriptions (link) for more information.

Perception is not capped. If you have a +1 and roll a 20, you get 21. :)

FCB - Favored Class Bonus (link)

I suspect you have not yet applied your free skill bump for being human, or your Favored Class Bonuses. Let me know if you have further questions. :)

Ugh, first days of classes finally over. Sorry for the late post today guys.

I missed your character's comic relief!

No worries Augustus! I got called in to work tonight so I'm just now getting a chance to check the forums again.

And yes, comic relief is always welcome :D

Agreed, post when you can, but don't worry so much. We're still getting into a rhythm and there will always be interruptions. ;)

There's a mistake in my last post. I thought that Abdur had pointed us to the Purusha's Inn to sleep, while that Inn is in Tephu instead. As such, I believe we spent our night at Milki. Sorry for the mistake ;)

GM, a few questions about money and treasure tracking. Am I supposed to put the money we spent for mundane things like transport in the treasure sheet when they amount to more than a few gp? Also, should I note down other mundane purchases such as the familiar's satchel and the souvenirs in the treasure sheet or is it enough to subtract the amount spent from my character's sheet?

The treasure tracking sheet is only for large group purchases (like wands, buildings, etc.) and income (mostly income). You should track your own income and expenses on your own sheet, or wherever it makes you happy so long as it's tracked independently of the treasure sheet.

I'm also not worried about a gold piece here and there, meals, residence, etc. I don't want to worry about that level of tracking, to free you up for more role play and less a game of Papers & Paychecks. :)

Do track anything that runs a few gold or more, and I do expect you to track arrows and arrow purchases (as those accumulate) and the like. It's a little inconsistent as they are also cheap, but you should know where your gear is coming from.

Don't sweat things like rations/water when you're in/near a community. However, should you decide to head out into the wild, you'll want to track that carefully so you know when you start dying...

The treasure tracking sheet is only for large group purchases (like wands, buildings, etc.) and income (mostly income). You should track your own income and expenses on your own sheet, or wherever it makes you happy so long as it's tracked independently of the treasure sheet.

I'm also not worried about a gold piece here and there, meals, residence, etc. I don't want to worry about that level of tracking, to free you up for more role play and less a game of Papers & Paychecks. :)

Do track anything that runs a few gold or more, and I do expect you to track arrows and arrow purchases (as those accumulate) and the like. It's a little inconsistent as they are also cheap, but you should know where your gear is coming from.

Don't sweat things like rations/water when you're in/near a community. However, should you decide to head out into the wild, you'll want to track that carefully so you know when you start dying...

Perfect, thanks!

I'm also not worried about a gold piece here and there, meals, residence, etc. I don't want to worry about that level of tracking, to free you up for more role play and less a game of Papers & Paychecks. :)

Dude, I'm a subscriber to the Accountants supplement product line. Do you mind if I bring in some material from the recent Actuairials and Abacii recent release? It has some nice feats for tracking compound interest on crocodile teeth.

Also, would you look over the 'Spreadsheets of Power' section? Will you allow that in this game?

Lol. Dude, I do animal rescue for a living. I know this is a cat(link) trap. You can't fool me...but Zilchus...*sigh*...

Snipped from Gameplay to avoid clutter. That's really cool that you do animal rescue! I don't have any sort of experiences like that, but growing up from about age 7 or so we always had at least one cat running around so I'm painfully aware of the traps they like to lay for their human slaves :3

(I'm a sucker for cats, something that should be apparent if you ever peek at my aliases.)

That also reminds me that I've not really introduced myself here. I already know our GM a little from another game where we're both players and I know *of* Zilchus (Painlord) by reputation and his PbP guides, but that's about it. I'm Lady Ladile (Kristin) from Tennessee and I've been gaming for about 18 years or so, though I've only been doing PbP on Paizo for about 3. When I'm not on the forums or doing other things in my spare time, I make a living working in a hospital laboratory.

Anyone else? Feel free to share as much or as little as you feel comfortable with :)

Whaaaaaaat? I feel like everybody knows everybody else except for me and Augustus. It must be a small community?

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My name is Carol and I live in Richmond, Virginia. I'm a cat-person as well and always had a cat growing up (although I don't currently have a cat.) I mainly play games like League of Legends, Diablo 3 (I love Blizzard games), and Pokemon (Go, 3DS, console.)

My boyfriend plays video games with me and we built both of our towers. We met playing Magic: The Gathering but I don't play much anymore. (He still does.) All the gaming stores in our area (5-6) also have Pathfinder and DnD but I wanted to try something I could do from home in my pajamas.

I recently graduated from college. (Sounds like Augustus is still in college.) I may be going back for my masters but I'm not sure yet.

I’ve been gaming in the world of D&D since 1977 with the ‘blue box’ basic set. Picked up Pathfinder when I moved to California in 2010 or so having joined a game with Painlord as another player. He suckered me into Pathfinder Society and that lead naturally to Play By Post where I spend my time these days.

This is my third campaign as a DM on these boards, but I’ve been a DM of one game or another more or less nonstop since ’77. I feel old now…

I know Benedictus only a little as he DMed a game I was in for a short time, and Florence I know even less as we’ve been in a game together but also only for a short time. So yeah, it is a relatively small community. :)

I’m living in the Bay Area, CA now with my wife, as well as a cat and dog who mostly get along. By day I part-own a company that helps folks do probate without an attorney, saving thousands. Luckily, as owner, I can take my breaks in my hobby - PbP is great.

Anyway, I better get back to the gameplay thread before you lot take over my library!

I sent some private/public stuff to Nidhi & Florence, but will elaborate on that here.

I've been playing D&D forever as well, but got into Pathfinder in 2008-9 when I failed to find fun in 4e. I had played a lot of Living Greyhawk (the 3.5 living campaign) and started PFS play in the Bay Area and grew out region to one of the biggest.

Yes, I was able to dupe convince Euan to come play PFS after we both joined an infinitely awful Curse of the Crimson Throne game.

Euan eventually helped me organize some of the biggest PFS conventions on the USA (at the time), including Kublacon and Pacificon.

But after getting really sick of bad PFS policy encouraging bad play (and despite my ability to try to train better players), I've mostly left PFS play for PbP play. Yes, even again suckered convinced Euan of the benefits of online play, and I've never regretted it.

I still want to be a better player and encourage better players around me...and I am in the process of slowly collecting ideas for another guide. But mostly, I like PbP play as a creative outlet during the day.

Outside of this, I enjoy my wife and cats and live in the Bay Area.

Why don't you like PFS? What do you mean by bad PFS policy? You get to play your character basically wherever you want!

Why don't you like PFS? What do you mean by bad PFS policy? You get to play your character basically wherever you want!

Oh, I don't want to discourage you from playing PFS. I encourage you to enjoy it. :)

We can have a discussion of the policy and the merits of such as you wish, but it should happen via PM.

PFS is good for many things and I encourage you to go enjoy.

I can't speak to the experience of playing PFS live since there's no presence in my area, but I've done some playing here on the forums. On the whole I think I still prefer to play modules/APs/homebrews via PbP than PFS, but it's still been plenty of fun and something I'd encourage you to check out if you're interested :)

And yeah, it's sort of a small community on the forums. If you spend enough time in the Recruitment forum you'll start to recognize a lot of the same people even if you never end up actually playing in a game with them.

Hey all. Checking in finally! Just got done with a bunch of school/school work and its not fun. I'm going to take care of some non related school stuff and I promise to post before I go to bed tonight.

I've been gaming for 6 years now. I discovered the game very late, when I was 20, but since then it has quickly become my favorite hobby.

Unlike all of you, I'm based in another continent: Europe. I live in Italy, where I work as a translator for the Italian version of the Pathfinder RPG and earn my living through a scholarship. I'm currently studying for my PhD, and simarly to Benedictus, I plan to become a Professor one day, although I already made some lessons. Next year I'll move to France, where I'm going to continue my PhD at the Sorbonne. I'd love to come to the U.S. and work as a professor there, either at high school or university, but I don't know how things work there. But that's definitely something I will at least try. My primary areas of interest are late medieval & early modern history and philosophy. I'm not married yet, although I live with my girlfriend, and I have no pets with me currently.

I don't like PFS either, especially in PbP; we don't have PFS IRL at all, here in Italy. As for its PbP transposition, well...I'm not going to go into the details now, but I don't think it suits my tastes.

Ben, were you born in Italy? Your English is excellent if you're not a native speaker.

Yes, I was born in Bari, southern Italy. I'm not a native speaker, so I thank you for your praise Nidhi!

Off to work so it may be a bit until my next post. In the meantime, do you still need a rank in the relevant knowledge skill to make a check here? If so, Flor will be about as much help as Zilchus on this one :P

In the library checks may be made untrained with no limits.

Further, the library itself adds to your checks, in some categories, if you are trained.

Figured i'd introduce myself as well.
I've been gaming since i was pretty young, D&D 3.5, 4th and 5th edition as well as Pathfinder. I've never tries PFS and this is my first PBP game ever. I live in Las Vegas and until a couple weeks ago worked in a Pharmaceutical Research Company. I decided to go back to school though. I'm currently not married but I have a 4 month old son.
I hope that this game really helps get me into the PBP community and that I can become friends with you all.