GM KoKyu's Jade Regent

Game Master KoKyu

I hope everyone had a happy holidays! Will post tonight.

Do we have any indication regarding Matt's continued participation?

Not that I know of. I will try e-mailing him...ummm actually I only seem to have a UofA address for him. Anyone have an update one?

Sorry guys I'm having technical difficulties. I have a new ipad and installed/transferred hero lab to it but it didn't have any of my player files on it. That should be fine because they are in dropbox, but when I went to load them it only has Jeryn at level 1? I found the profiles for Finwik, Jeryn and Kalest in the shared pathfinder--> campaign files --> Kingmaker Campaign --> Finwik the brave.

Is there another spot they are saved? I thought maybe in 4 Dariel but that folder looks empty. I'm going to boot up my laptop and see if there is anything on there. Worst case scenario if the file is deleted, I should be able to get quite a bit of info off of what I have pasted on paizo and basically recreate the file.

Woohoo I found it under dropbox-->apps-->herolab!

Leveling up to 4 but I could use some advice. Since I am a newbie and mages are complicated I've done some reading on the interwebs about different builds and Jeryn is currently set up to do some sweet burning hands damage.

Eventually the goal is to throw massive fireballs that melt faces. There are a billion spells though so if you guys have any advice on which ones would be useful to take as free spells, I'd love to hear it.

Current spell list is:

Level 0
Acid splash
Arcane mark
Dancing lights
Daze
Detect magic
Detect poison
Flare
Light
Mage hand
Mending
Message
Open/close
Prestidigitation
Ray of frost
Read magic
Resistance

Level 1
Burning hands
Endure elements
Mage armor
Magic Missile
Protection from evil
Shocking grasp
Summon monster 1

Level 2
Bull's strength
Locate object
Owl's wisdom
Resist energy (picked as free level up spell)
See invisibility
Corrosive touch (learned from a book)
Aggressive thundercloud (learned from a book)
[one more free level up spell remaining]

Feats
Scribe scroll
Spell focus - evocation
Spell specialization - burning hands
Wizard weapon proficiencies

Skills
Appraise
Craft alchemy - never used this
Knowledge arcana
knowledge geography
knowledge local
knowledge planes
linguistics
perception
profession teacher
spellcraft

Any input or advice welcome! So many spells look cool but I have no idea if they would ever be useful. I can see myself casting bull's strength basically every fight. I don't have a clue why or when I took owl's wisdom but it's in there...
Thanks!

Ok, a few posts went up at once and it looks like Draeven is having second thoughts on strategy. I'm not willing to erase my post though as I had the Drake kind of delay jumping into battle with you guys - its still deciding what kind of a threat you pose on its territory :)) Besides, I put in a couple hours on it only to have my computer restart for updates (unannounced updates are a Windows 10 feature) just as I was posting. I'm just happy my efforts didn't go down the toilet! So feel free to spread out and retcon a couple wardings, we can work that into Round 2 if need be.

Matt, I guess it depends a little if you want to go heavy evocation, which it seems you do. Scorching ray and flaming sphere seem like they would fit in with your goals. I would read up on them and then compare to your other spells to make sure you are covered for all different ranges and possible saves. Eg. flaming sphere has a long range and duration but isn't great against targets with a high reflex save while scorching ray is pretty short range but you just need to succeed a ranged touch attack. Both have spell resistance. I don't know what all the other offensive spells you have do but its always good to have at least one spell that doesn't have spell resistance.

Thanks for the tips, I went with scorching ray because I definitely plan to go with fireball and lightning and those have great range.

I took resist energy on this level up but I won't cast it this fight because I took it after I had done the arcane check and read the stats on the sea drake so that would be pretty cheap of me.

I have no idea where owl's wisdom came from - going to look and see if it was picked up from a scroll or something (I know for sure corrosive touch and aggressive thundercloud were).

If past-me took it as a free spell, would our benevolent DM let me swap it out for a different (more useful) one?

Also I'm trying to be better at life and have been checking for posts daily. Sorry to have sucked at that over the past while

Just waiting on the Monk now...

If your knowledge check revealed the information to you then you would know it and can use it. You as a player didn't know it, but your character did and that is what matters. I don't know what the check revealed so I don't know if it did mention the lightning, but Kelda mentioned it as well, maybe even before we saw it, so I think you are safe there as well. Cast it on your turn, it could be helpful.

Sorry Matt, haven't had time to really chime in with advice... and blaster mages aren't my area of expertise. :)

If you do want to go that build then there are a few threads on here offering advice on spells and feats to make you more effective.

I'll try and find some for you and post the links here when I have a chance.

EDIT: Here is a doc about blasting I just found. I haven't read it but hopefully it has some advice.

Stoic Monk e-mailed...

Kenan updated to level 4

Quick question about timing. Have we had a chance to rest between the fight with the corbies and the fight with the sea drake? I upgraded my slellbook assuming wr had but before I start casting new stuff I just want to check (and if we haven’t rested then we have to get rid of Draeven’s bull strength).

There has been no rest. The group started the day early in the morning and cleared the castle in good time. It is about midday now and you were heading back to camp to rest but decided to look into Kelda's missing companions/retrieve what is left of their bodies for burial first. So no, no new spells have been prepared.
As a house rule from other campaigns we've run together, spell casters need to wait until the next rest period before they can upgrade their spells as either new prayers or tending to fresh preparations to cast the day's spells need to be made. As I understand it, when wizards prepare their spells (in the morning) most of the spell is cast at that time, only the latter part of the spell needs to be performed in order to release that spell's energy. Kind of like shaking up a bottle of pop, all that needs to be done is to later remove the cap. Building up and then holding back that arcane energy takes practice and experience. Like fighters discovering an improved technique, new ways to do this are discovered by the character as they go; kind of like on the job training although other ways can be role played out. Although the spell caster may discover greater skill in her craft in the middle of the day, she still needs to rest (to safely release energy from spells not used) and study or mentally prepare before casting new spells.
I hope this makes sense, however I welcome anyone else's take on the subject :))

Ah ok my bad. So much time has passed in the real world that I must have assumed more time than a morning had passed in game. I always thought that the morning oreparation was to ‘memorize’ a spell from a spellbook (kind of like cramming for an exam). Then when the spell is cadt, they forget the words to the spell or something but I think your way makes more sense!

Either way please remove the bull strength from Draeven and I will out my spells back to how they were pre-level up.

Thanks!

We have 2675 gp worth of loot designated for sale/trade when/if we get back to civilization. Plus we are all carrying other treasure/equipment that we would likely rather sell/trade as well.

While I talking about loot, I'm feeling our WBL is quite low. We have nothing by way of magical armor and very little by way of other protection magic. Heck, we don't even have decent non-magical armor. Most of the magical weapons we possess are either ones we can't/won't use or are in the hands of those that are primarily casters first. In fact most of our magic is comprised of one use items, potions, scrolls, arrows, etc, or items of middling use (ring of climbing).

I seemed to have missed this stuff from the dungeon:

"A light steel shield lays at the top of the first chest, its immaculate front bearing the image of Castle Brinewall having handily absorbed Draeven's axe blow. Appraising eyes quickly tally the rest - 1,320gp stamped in an older Varisian mintage, 800gp in fine jewelry: rings, necklaces and pendants nearly all of which displaying some form of polished gem from diamonds, pearls, rubies and sapphires to topaz and emeralds. A few larger gems sit on their own: a diamond of fair size, pearl and an opal. In the third chest, a compact compass made from silver and bearing gold accents stands out as rather collectible."

So we can add that to the tally of loot to sell.

We of course also got the seal inside the red lacquered box that gave us our "Empress" visions but that isn't likely up for sale. :P

Appraisals have yet to be done one some of those items.

We have a longsword +1 from the wight that is available for use... not that anyone uses swords outside of Rennyn and he doesn't use longswords. :P

(Our treasure tracking record is pretty spotty. Who knows what else we have missed/forgotten.)

Part of the poor tracking was not stopping to 'reap the rewards' as they come. I think treasure tracking was better in the swamp because it was more consistent.
In other APs I've been in/am in, some GMs spoil their players by providing and updating a loot list for players to link up to (I'm not going to do that BTW). In others, players are expected to add treasure to their profiles as it comes up, dividing treasure there and then - end of story. Forgot to put it down? Sucks to be you. In this case, some get left out of the loot and others make off like bandits - usually the party rogue :)
In JR, I have probably added to the treasure tracking problem as I am guilty of not 'giving' immediate identifications for magical items or other appraisals etc. trying instead to blend a creative description of the item(s) into the story line. That kind of carrot dangling places more work on the players who are now expected to role play identifying items; dice rolling checks or even just posting something to the affect of "I inspect this item". This has either not happened, dragged the game down unnecessarily or resulted in stuff being overlooked. I've learned my lesson (maybe, you know me) and will be trying to do away with any sort of creativity in the next AP - if there is interest in carrying on to the second AP that is.
I have been trying to compile a list of treasure to cross reference whatever you've tracked/put together. Anything missing will (somehow) turn up...somewhere....in town or nearby. I can make further adjustments once I know how much off of the WBL the party is out.

It is no one person's fault. I am not looking to assign blame. I don't think we need to change much. I think I have a solution that should work for logging what we find. As long as players add stuff to their characters when appropriate we shouldn't have as much of a problem.

Speaking to that last point, I get the impression that when players say that they have added loot/items/etc to their character they are usually referring to their off board HeroLab files and not their Paizo board character sheets. This makes it imposible for me to verify and for Chris to see what our characters actually have. It would be super helpful if players kept both forms up to date.

This is my solution. I will use this account to track all treasure in the future. It will mostly serve as a running spreadsheet. We can see if it works.

No time right now, but I will try and add (with some help from Chris and everyone) all the treasure found to date so we can have a full accounting of the AP so far.

This is what I have come up with so far. Please cross check this with your lists...

At minimum Draeven needs a magical weapon and some better armor. Rennyn likewise needs to improve his defenses.

Wammies can be purchased for weapons/armor in any city of your choice. Draeven has Dancing Wasp which is a magical kusarigama. Unless he's changed his mind, it's not like he's without anything at all. He is welcome to pursue other items however *spoiler* the kusarigama has some cultural significance to the future of the AP so I'll be keeping tabs on what happens to it.
The elemental gem is in the AP, the diamond is not. Metamagic is not something we've played with in the past. Having an item which does the job without the cost or penalties of taking a feat is a novel idea and may encourage experimentation.
Not all treasure has been found (hoard) yet and other 'adjustments' (believe it or not I do have a plan) will filter down as we role play the transition from part 1 to part 2 out.
As for tailoring items to be found, I like the idea of Role playing out those details as it saves me from guessing what any PC might want/prefer. Knowing that PC X has their heart set on adding magical item Y to their inventory lets me point to one end of the sandbox as opposed to dragging everyone the other. As for where this would fit in, if I may gloss over many of the details of the next leg of the AP, part 2 is basically about finding stuff to take on the journey to Minkai. Making part 2 about acquiring items you would actually like to have sounds like fun to me and requires practically no change to the story line.

I'm not sure what you mean by "changed his mind". Draeven is merely carrying the kusarigama. He has never had any intention of using it. :P

I erred, both gems are in HL so they must be in Pathfinder somewhere. As for metamagic use, I don't think it is accurate to say we haven't played with it. Maybe not much... but anyhow, I still think a 8000 gp single shot item is a little much given our WBL is only 6000 gp currently. If you really wanted to encourage experimentation might I suggest metamagic rods? They are infinitely more useful and cost way less. (Not for quicken mind you.)

I'm not asking for all tailor made equipment/loot, but a few party specific useful items now and again would be nice. :)

It is more meaningful if magic items are acquired via the story as opposed to getting them at the local Magic Mart. :P

I'm.... not a fan of this development to put it bluntly.

As characters in the AP we were in for the long haul by design already. To now frame it as "swear life long fealty" to someone who was just hours ago an equal and friend strikes me as wrong on so many levels. Talk about a quick developing god complex. The rest of this AP is to see our characters reduced to servants? Will NPC Ameiko be making all the decisions from now on?

As for my characters, Rennyn would have accompanied Ameiko anywhere, but this demand makes this unlikely.

Draeven will absolutely not agree to these terms.

I'm not sure how any of the PCs could while staying true to their characters.

And for what it is worth, not a fan of huge speeches peppered with "before anyone of you can speak/respond/interject" either.

Sorry about the "before anyone of you can speak/respond/interject" bit. The pace has slowed and I didn't want to gum things up with a lot of back and forth.
The AP would have forced this on you. The moment the warding box was opened you were all to be baptized her scions, become her wards if you will and be given little choice as to where to go next. If I'd stuck that the AP as written, the party now HAS to go north and HAS to do A,B&C before it can proceed along the only road available to you. Literally, the whole purpose of the party is to protect Ameiko as she makes her journey east. Its up to the party to do what needs to be done to get her there and she (or rather the AP) chooses the path. I'm trying to unhinge this because I'm under the impression railroading was a bad thing.
You can refuse to go. You can question her further, ask WTF? You can put forward your own terms to accompany her; if that's what you'd like to do. I'm trying to give you an out, free you up to go do what you want.
Being a scion comes with its own benefits once you get to Minkai, but yes you will be sub servant to her - she is the heir to the throne, not you. (Culturally, this is very accurate. The division of rank and class in Japan is very clear and you are either with the program or politely shown the door.) Ameiko needs to die before any of her scions can make that claim. For now she is the destined ruler, queen, etc. of all her people. That title comes by divine decree and carries its own perceived god complex and is the very reason why many people view monarchies as bad.
What I have presented to you is an obstacle which you now must over come. It may not be a drake or a horde of ogres but it is there and it threatens the party unity. How you choose to overcome this is up to you. If it means taking separate paths from Ameiko's, so be it.

Yeah I'm confused as to why Fenra would do this. She MAY on her own decide to swear fealty to Ameiko but the whole beginning part of the AP required to chose a hook and Fenra's is her loyalty to Koya. I'm not sure of any reason Koya would have to follow Ameiko in this way as she is an old woman whose background doesn't scream subservience. She is also Varisian a notoriously free spirited race. I can see her doing it for a last adventure but not as a servant. Same with Sandrhu, he doesn't seem like a fealty type of guy, they are wandering merchants. I can see them going for the adventure aspect, or a chance at new markets/riches like I said but the scion thing seems unrealistic. If it happened magically when the box was opened I can see that being a little easier to swallow but Koya and Sandrhu weren't there so they would still have no reason/obligation magical or otherwise.

It also seems a little weird that Ameiko would change so suddenly. From going to background giggler to "god complex" ruler seems a bit of a stretch, she may understand her obligations but she left her homeland for a reason and her usual demeanour and actions suggest she doesn't care to practise the traditional formalities.

It just seems like a jarring personality/direction change. If when we opened the box a voice proclaimed that we were all now bound to the Empress and must guard her with our lives in her quest to reclaim her throne I can get behind it. Ameiko proclaiming, i'm your boss now for the rest of your lives or bye, is asking for an, OK bye, scenario.
And you haven't presented an obstacle, you said we must do this or separate as a group. It's an ultimatum.

So compelled to accompany Ameiko by defacto magical decree is ok but given a choice is bad? I still see this a being railroaded but if the group decrees, why should I argue?
I didn't intend her speech to end in an ultimatum, but yes I see your point. Honestly I'd hoped to emphasize what going to Minkai signifies:
1st This is a one way ticket.
2nd Ameiko doesn't want to force you to join her, thus her instruction to sleep on it and talk in the morning. Unfortunately my approach and writing skills didn't get this message across.

The impression that Ameiko has not been herself since opening the box is intended. There have been hints to this leading up to her speech but no one has asked her any questions or the timing was not right. Now that everyone is at camp, this would be the perfect time to revive some questions and/or have an intervention.
Rather than try to fix this myself and risk digging myself a deeper hole, how should we move forward from here? Suggestions?

The AP would have forced this on you. The moment the warding box was opened you were all to be baptized her scions, become her wards if you will and be given little choice as to where to go next.

Being made a scion means we are like a family member, and more importantly, an heir. Not that we are compelled by magic to behave a certain way, nor are we controlled by Ameiko. At the very least there would have been a save allowed for such compelling magic. Are you sure you have read this bit correctly?

If I'd stuck that the AP as written, the party now HAS to go north and HAS to do A,B&C before it can proceed along the only road available to you. Literally, the whole purpose of the party is to protect Ameiko as she makes her journey east. Its up to the party to do what needs to be done to get her there and she (or rather the AP) chooses the path. I'm trying to unhinge this because I'm under the impression railroading was a bad thing.

Most APs by their nature, are railroady. Some to more or less extent. It is not necessarily a bad thing. This AP in particular seems to be one that uses "fate" as a strong component. As such I would expect a lot of being lead about. Cutting the players loose may seem like a good idea, but then you risk losing any control over them (keeping them on task) and/or you need to throw out huge portions of the AP. A little freedom is good. The DM can wing it when needed but the AP is there to do the heavy lifting. By all means, customize, tweak and change what you wish for a better experience (for both you and us) but I don't think you need to make drastic wholesale changes to the AP.

I myself wasn't feeling railroaded so far.

You can refuse to go. You can question her further, ask WTF? You can put forward your own terms to accompany her; if that's what you'd like to do. I'm trying to give you an out, free you up to go do what you want.

As Stacy has mentioned I don't think this will work.

Being a scion comes with its own benefits once you get to Minkai, but yes you will be sub servant to her - she is the heir to the throne, not you. (Culturally, this is very accurate. The division of rank and class in Japan is very clear and you are either with the program or politely shown the door.) Ameiko needs to die before any of her scions can make that claim. For now she is the destined ruler, queen, etc. of all her people. That title comes by divine decree and carries its own perceived god complex and is the very reason why many people view monarchies as bad.

Our characters will likely have no issue being subservient to Empress Ameiko when the time comes, but that time is NOT now. (I suspect her being made Empress is the final act of the AP so rendering this concern irrelevant. The scion bit merely being an insurance policy for the AP to continue in the event of Ameiko's untimely death.)

My characters aren't even interested in making a claim. My issue isn't with being subservient to an NPC, it is being subservient to an NPC who is present in the adventuring group for apparently the lion's share of the AP. That dynamic is not going to be conducive to a great experience in my opinion. All along so far you have been reluctant to have the NPCs act unless specifically directed by one of the characters/players. If our new party leader is NPC Ameiko, how is this going to work?

What I have presented to you is an obstacle which you now must over come. It may not be a drake or a horde of ogres but it is there and it threatens the party unity. How you choose to overcome this is up to you.

Stacy addressed this already. The character either follows Ameiko or leaves the AP. There is no reason to think characters that split from Ameiko are going to take their own path to Minkai.

If it means taking separate paths from Ameiko's, so be it.

This would be the end of the AP then no? We would stop playing Jade Regent, and instead be playing a campaign inspired by Jade Regent? (I suspect that the latter has already been happening to a certain extent.)

Honestly I'd hoped to emphasize what going to Minkai signifies:

1st This is a one way ticket.
2nd Ameiko doesn't want to force you to join her, thus her instruction to sleep on it and talk in the morning. Unfortunately my approach and writing skills didn't get this message across.

Why is this a one way ticket? If our characters wish to return to the Inner Sea, for whatever reason at whatever time, they will be prevented for all eternity!? By what exactly?

And more importantly, how would Ameiko know this?

We as players already suspect/know we are going to travel to the other side of Golarion, and our characters also likely suspect. We were already committed, so there was no need to create a "hard sell" pitch.

The impression that Ameiko has not been herself since opening the box is intended. There have been hints to this leading up to her speech but no one has asked her any questions or the timing was not right.

When given a moment to sit and think upon the days events his mind wanders to the warding box and the visions they had when they found it. When are we going to discuss what we are to do with this and what it all means, he says looking squarely at his good friend...

I did try.

Now that everyone is at camp, this would be the perfect time to revive some questions and/or have an intervention.

Rather than try to fix this myself and risk digging myself a deeper hole, how should we move forward from here? Suggestions?

I think the AP has been languishing specifically because we have lacked a clear goal (After clearing Brinewall and finding the Seal). Taking us off the rails has caused us to stall. Trying to force roleplaying has had limited success. I think it would happen more naturally if things were happening and we had a clear plan of action.

I would retcon the speech and just have Ameiko (and/or a vision) lay out what lies ahead. A rousing speech about, how she having now learnt the truth about her and her family, feels compelled to see what fate has in store for her. That she is going to travel to other side of the world to set things right and that, while she cannot compel us to go with her, would gladly accept any assistance we might be able to provide. Something along those lines. Thin the scene at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy and a million other movies.

Rennyn wouldn't even hesitate to pledge his sword and life to such a noble endeavor, and would swear to become her personal bodyguard. (It is his AP character hook after all :P )

Even Draeven would sign on, if for no other reason than he has nothing better to do and wouldn't mind seeing new and interesting lands.

Not to be a pain, but what you have done has not undone the bits that are the problem. My suggestion was to redo the troublesome bits of the post that caused the issue. Your second post, rather than a redo, was just an lengthened explanation and to make Ameiko sorry for what she said rather than change what she said.

Also, after speaking at length with Pierre, and taking into my own thoughts, I am proposing changing Draeven up. Two archery focused characters (plus Shalelu) isn't working for us. Either we have Draeven leave or I can rejig him into another class/build. Perhaps a druid, ranger, barbarian or something.

Let me know what you think.

With the amount of retcons already done in this thread I'm sure Paizo has begun private inquiries into the validity of my GM license. *Nervously looks over his shoulder*
I'm on board with anything to get things moving :)

Funnily, I had hoped to rejig Shalelu to be more melee focused, something like ninja since we will be heading to that part of the world. Thoughts? Also, JR is VERY NPC heavy...most could be parked (and replaced as the journey progresses) but it would be easier to pick them off here.
Draeven is very useful in the ranged department, are you sure you want to loose that? What about multiclassing? We are short on Roguish skills. Will you have a story to explain this? Or will he just take off and be replaced by another (half-orc)?
I don't suppose you and Pierre spoke of reviving any of the other APs? My attention has started to drift.

So we will replace Ameiko's initial speech with the edited version above?

And FWIW, I would hold off on the scion thing. It seems premature. It would make more sense to me that the seal grants us that honor as we earn it through action rather than just being present and/or being Ameiko's friends.

I wouldn't bother rejigging Shalelu. I made Draeven when he was meant to replace Kenan. It is just too many archery focused characters. I don't see a good future for Draeven as he is now. I'm still mulling over ideas. He may end up close to what he is now but just take his focus off of archery.

And I would also hold off on the eastern themed classes. If PCs or NPCs wish to multi-class later, once we get to the east and are exposed to that sort of thing, it would make more sense. Rennyn may take up Samurai levels at some point for example, but it doesn't make sense at this point story wise.

We have talked about reviving previous APs on hiatus, with Kingmaker being the most likely at this point, but I wouldn't get too excited yet. I have to study for and pass my branch exam soon and we may be getting into some serious renos here as the house desperately needs some attention.

I'll keep you posted.

And I'll post tomorrow now that it is midnight... :P

Liking the posts so far, just waiting on the others :)

What's the interest in Pathfinder's latest release (rules updates)? Will we have to update our characters or will we be sticking with what we have now? Any impressions?

The new rules don't get released until August. Bits and pieces are coming out now but not enough to do anything with them yet. And that is only the playtest beginning in August. The finished rules will be well after that. So no, I wouldn't say that we will be converting this game to PF 2.0.

I'm interested to check them out, and will be pre-ordering the playtest rules and official adventure to participate in the playtest then. You guys are obviously invited to play along with some other players from the forums.

I like what I've seen so far regarding changes to actions. Not sold on death and dying. Losing alignments and major changes to races will take some looking into. That's all I can think of atm.

Liking the posts so far, just waiting on the others :)

How long are we going to wait? :P

I'm waiting for Koya's take. Since she is Fenra's tie to this she needs to have a reason to go. I mean I'm sure she wants one last adventure or visit to the Varisian homeland or something but Fenra will somewhat defer to her.

I need a new lap top :( Have lost several posts over the past few days due to heating issues - I think. That or the system is shutting down to complete updates *sigh* but how many updates does Windows...never mind.

Draeven, I had hoped Kenan and Jeryn would have chimed in by now but it is what it is...I'll feather the gas.
Fenra, you nailed it. Koya's only reason for continuing is that one last hurrah. But don't feel like you need Koya's permission to continue east with Ameiko; or any one else's for that matter. Fenra is her own 'person' and can do her own thing. At this point, the only essential NPC is Ameiko. The others have been along for healing, bodyguard duty (two skills which haven't been heavily taxed) and to equip the adventures with the skills to run a caravan - rules we are opting not to dig into. Personally, I wouldn't mind leaving a few NPCs behind as it makes for less in play posting on my part. My handling of NPCs has gotten the AP sidetracked on more than one occasion and I don't need temptations in a slow posting game.
I've been working on the next post but as I mentioned, a few have been eaten. I've also undertaken some new responsibilities which have been taking up my time so I haven't been able to devote as much time to JR as I did this time last year. I will try to get something posted tonight...

Ok I just looked at an actual map of where Tian Xia is in relation to us and it is a veeeeeery long way and it looks like much of the journey will be by see unless we travel through across ice fields. If we went that way I don't see any reason to go through Varisia and for some reason I had it in my mind we had to go through there first. The other option seems to be to head to the west coast and sail over the top of the continent to the west and straight to Minkai. Otherwise travel almost the entirety of the continent we are on east and then sail to Tian Xia and the cross the entirety of Tian Xia. I had a difficult time finding a world map I could read though so I may be confused.

That sounds about right. The map I have looked at has most of the known continents and the ways of getting to Minkai are only limited by imagination. The good news is the group has a chance to see all of Golarion if you choose or take the adventure out to sea - its up to you. The bad news is teleportation is not an option. Using the caravaning rules, just getting to Brinewall was supposed to take a long time; 1/3 of the first AP. I fast forwarded that and can fast forward some of the upcoming travel time pausing as perils come up.

I'm waiting for Koya's take. Since she is Fenra's tie to this she needs to have a reason to go. I mean I'm sure she wants one last adventure or visit to the Varisian homeland or something but Fenra will somewhat defer to her.

We are already in Varisia. We have already traveled pretty much the length of it from south to north. I'm not sure where you mean to go?

Feel free to express opinions for how to get to Minkai. The sooner we know which direction we are heading the sooner I can send the AP's necessary forces to stop you :P

I would like to go where the AP is designed to go. I want to play Jade Regent.

That's fine with me. Any opinion on the NPCs? Future NPCs capable of joining?
There are still some loose ends; shopping, returning slightly used goods to the good people at Walmart and Ameiko wants to liquidate some assets to fund the trip. What do you want to do about your claim over Brinewall - that's if you would still like to pursue this? I will need your input.
Ameiko can conduct her business in Kalsgard and for that matter shopping can wait until you get there as well leaving us to fast forward to the start of your long march North. The visions provided of Ameiko's grandfather's journey over ice should be enough to conclude the fastest way to Minkai is across the ice caps to the north. Please post your actions and how your characters would like to address these issues in gameplay.

Yeah, I just tried to find sandpoint and realized we have been in Varisia the whole time. I have been really confused. I guess Koya will just want one last hurrah, maybe she can have a terminal disease and die along the way.

Nice :P

Our claim over Brinewall is moot if we are never to return to this part of the world. If Spivey is to be removed, we can leave it in her hands and wish her well. :)

I assume Kelda will leave us in Kalsgard.

Sandru and Koya are usually left with the caravan so I don't see them as much of an issue. Koya could also turn back at Kalsgard due old age and the difficulty of the coming trip over the crown of the world. Ameiko could give/sell Sandru the Rusty Dragon and he could take Koya back to Sandpoint with him.

Shalelu can also stay with the caravan as protection, or she could stay with Spivey in Brinewall to rebuild it. I think that her staying makes sense for her character. She is a sort of protector of the area no?

Ameiko is obviously staying for the long haul.

Anyone else I am forgetting?

All this assumes that the other NPCs don't have a function to fill in the AP other than as part of the caravan "mini-game" which we aren't even using at this point.