GM Miskatonic's 9th Level Homebrew Campaign: Trail of the Dead God [Group #2]

Game Master Cthulhu, Jr.

Okay, where is everybody? By my count, we've got me and Flint, then a guy who hadn't finished his character 'till this afternoon (no offense, just adding you to the tally), then we've got one person who hasn't participated beyond adding himself to the thread and two who haven't even done that much. Did interest in this game die that quickly?

PP: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
PP: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (1, 4) + 3 = 8
PP: 3d8 + 6 ⇒ (2, 7, 4) + 6 = 19
PP: 4d4 + 9 ⇒ (3, 3, 1, 2) + 9 = 18

Relax, Professor, technically Group #2 hasn't started the campaign yet :P, soon though.

Currently working on my character will post when finished

Good stuff, Cthanos.

Here is my character for the tank spot William Grove. I switched from fighter/rogue to fighter/barbarian(armored hulk) as I felt rogue didn't add much to the tank role but barbarian did. The character is in a pcgen file on my computer, I just need to get it all into my alias. Sorry for the delay.

No worries, just be sure to post an intro in gameplay by the weekend.

So, a friend pointed out a flaw in this build- it takes 3 rounds for him to get fully combat functional. Since most of my stuff is so much cheaper than the 10k limit, could I get Boots of Speed (12k gold)?

Also, howsabout that fiddle?

And my armor and bandolier from the previous post.

Two last things on build. I don't like any of the +1 or +2 abilities on armor so can I take on of the especial armors? Specifically Lesser Luck Mail improved to mithril and +2 enchantment. The version they have is a little over 5000 so that probably means Luck is around a +2 enchantment.

The other thing is, I couldn't find a body slot item. I was going to make that the slot for your special quiver but found one that suits me better. The beneficial Bandolier. Can I make that the body slot item so I look more like the traditional gunslinger with the bandolier over the shoulder, or, combine it with the belt of dexterity and not take a body slot. In either case it is cheap enough I can make alterations and still be under the 10,000gp limit.

Beneficial Bandolier is cool as your body slot, yep. The Lesser Lucky Mail seems reasonable.

So, a friend pointed out a flaw in this build- it takes 3 rounds for him to get fully combat functional. Since most of my stuff is so much cheaper than the 10k limit, could I get Boots of Speed (12k gold)?

Also, howsabout that fiddle?

You may have the Boots of Speed but you only get 5 rounds per day rather than the listed of 10 rounds per day. We'll call these boots the Boots of Super-Fastness... just kidding, they shall be called the Boots of Swiftness.

You may also have your Masterwork fiddle but take the Drawback: Attached(Your Fiddle). You may name your fiddle. Strange but awesome things may happen with your fiddle...

Can the Boots of Super-Fastness be upgraded at a later date? And do I get a trait from the drawback, or is the benefit provided by the strange and awesome things that happen with my fiddle?

Although, to be honest, I don't really want cool things to happen when I play the fiddle. I just want it to be something I do around the campfire at nights. I'd almost rather not have it at all, than have a special one, for some reason.

At some point you may get an upgraded pair. Just a Masterwork Fiddle of no particular bent is fine, yep.

Do you still want me to take Attached?

Nope.

Added the trait Blessed Touch. I'll post in gameplay when Khazia's no longer naked. Could really use some help with the armor... I like the straight DR of adamantine breastplate, but would like something heavier like full-plate. Here's what I'm looking at for wondrous items:

Tremor Boots (feet)
Belt of Physical Might +2 (Str, Con) (belt)
Unfettered Shirt (chest)
Necklace of Adaptation (neck)
Mask of a Thousand Tomes (head)
Insignia of Valor (unslotted)
Phylactery of Positive CHanneling (headband)
Phylactery of Negative Channeling (headband)

That leaves the body, hands, wrists, & shoulders available for wondrous items (gonna look at rings in a minute). I would very much like something that boosts Charisma, and you can see I don't have any resistance (saves) or AC bonuses (natural, deflection, etc).

Each of the items above, except the phylacteries, meets the 10k limit. I would like to request a combined neg/pos phylactery, or have one take a different slot or something. Some way to have a phylactery for each of my channel abilities. Also they're each 1k over your limit.

The Mask adds +10 to all knowledges, but makes you blind while wearing it. It's just something I want for flavor (part of her quest to understand her Mystery & learn more about her genie roots), and there are plenty other items for the head slot that would actually increase combat effectiveness. Essentially going for the Blind Oracle trope. I'd like some Oracular or magical way to mitigate the blindness. The Blind-fight feat chain combined with tremor/blindsense makes fighting grounded enemies feasible. The Blind Man's Fold takes up the eye slot & grants the middle feat (also makes you blind). It's 2k over the limit though, and taking up a second slot now to mitigate the penalties from the slot used solely for flavor. Otherwise I can just put something else on her head.

I'd also like the Bracers of the Merciful Knight (taking the wrist slot). These are 50% more than your set gold limit, but match your original CL 9th limit.

Still have no idea about armor, & need to grab some mundane stuff.

Can I swap the tremor boots out after level 10? At that point I'll have blindsense 30ft from the Cloudy Vision curse (making Blind Fight effective against flying enemies). The boots are partially just to mitigate the blindness again anyway.

Not currently pressing, but can the 15ft Blindsight gained at level 15 from the Cloudy Vision curse stack with the 30ft blindsight from the Lifesense Revelation for 45ft of Blindsight? Planning to pick the revelation asap at level 11.

If you're looking to increase spells known, allowing the bonus spells from both Dual-Cursed archetype & Life Mystery at levels when each gives a bonus spell would be nice, but I don't really need the bonus spells (currently, the archetype spells replace the Mystery spells at specified levels).

@ Khazia Nyrazim: Alright, lemme look over your propositions tonight and I'll cook something up for you soon.

Sounds good, thank you! After I pick a couple more spells & get the gear sorted out she'll be good to go. I'll work up her backstory along the way (given a good sense of it through recruitment & discussion posts already).

EDIT: Following along with the action. I really like your style, Miskatonic, this should be a fun adventure :) I may post my intro in gameplay sooner than I stated

PP: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
GP: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (2, 4) + 3 = 9
SP: 3d8 + 6 ⇒ (8, 7, 4) + 6 = 25
CP: 4d4 + 9 ⇒ (3, 3, 1, 4) + 9 = 20

PP: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5
GP: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (2, 3) + 3 = 8
SP: 3d8 + 6 ⇒ (7, 2, 2) + 6 = 17
CP: 4d4 + 9 ⇒ (1, 2, 3, 1) + 9 = 16

Backstory & Personality added to alias. Finished spell choices. Added Belt of Physical Might, Tremor Boots, Unfettered Shirt, Insignia of Valor, & Necklace of Adaptation to the sheet.

For armor, could I use a +1 bonus and the +2 worth of enhancement to get +1 Medium Fortification (50%) Full Plate? It's a +4 bonus equivalent. Otherwise I'll just use +2 Full Plate of Light Fortification (25%) & Spell Storing.

Gotta pick mundane equipment, make any corrections/additions you request, & I'm good to go. As for my initial lengthy equipment request, I can scale back & make a simpler request, if you'd like. I just figured with the cloudy vision & different sense abilities available it'd be fun to go completely blind. But it's not necessary.

I'm wondering what the purpose of the Dual-Cursed archetype is. It looks like it provides a fairly large penalty, with no real bonus- it only replaces things you already get, rather than adding something new. And the replacement abilities seem to be about as good as the regular ones, or only slightly better.

Obviously it's great from a story point of view, but what's the gameplay advantage?

Dual-Cursed is the only way to get the Misfortune & Fortune revelations. Both are immediate actions, one forces another creature to reroll d20 & take the 2nd result, the other allows you to do the same (more times/day at later levels). Misfortune can be used 1/day on every creature.

Critical hit? Reroll. Nat 20 on the save-or-die? Reroll. I don't like your face. Reroll.

EDIT: You'll appreciate the benefit the first time I force you to reroll a failed save ;)

Planning to pick up Fortune at 13th level, giving me 2 immediate action d20 rerolls/day.

Also, GM Miskatonic, are you not going to wait for Khazia before moving past the Odeon of Reflection?

I'll narrate you in with spoilers, Khazia. If you're not opposed? Also, I will have your results for your requests in a bit.

I'm fine with that, but I did also just type this up. Whichever you'd prefer is fine. I was trying to get in on the action a little sooner, but I can be patient & wait for the results of my request & for you to fold me into the story. No worries, just let me know. & thanks for handling my obtuse requests, I don't mean to be a pain.

I now know why I thought the Misfortune and Fortune revelations are worthless. You have to use the ability before the results of the first roll are revealed, and the second roll is the one that's taken, no matter what. So, effectively, it does nothing. If you could do it after the results of the first roll are revealed, it would be useful, because then you could use it to force the reroll of results you don't like. If it forced your opponent to take the worse result, and you to take the better, that would be useful, for the same reason. If Misfortune provided some sort of penalty, or prevented your opponent from using some bonuses, that would be useful, because it would effectively be a debuff. But the way it's written, from a logistics standpoint, it doesn't actually do anything.

Look at it this way. Say Ham is attacking you, and rolls his attack roll. Now, before you know if that attack hits or not, you force him to repeat the exact same roll. Effectively, the first one didn't happen. There's no difference in the likelihood of Ham's attack hitting or not.

Do you see what I'm getting at?

I follow you, and hadn't really thought of it that way.

The way I read it was that Misfortune applies after the roll is made (& you know the number rolled), but before the results of that roll are revealed. So you make your attack, and I see you rolled a 19 before your modifiers are added and compared to my AC (before the results are revealed), and force a reroll, hoping for a lower roll.

It would almost have to apply this way for Fortune (rerolling your own d20). It makes no sense to have an ability that says "After you roll a d20, before you look at the number you just rolled, decide if you want to reroll the d20. Then take the second result." That would be the explicit instructions for your depiction of the ability from Fortune.

For Fortune, "before the results are revealed," means specifically before the DM tells you whether your save failed/passed, or your attack hit, or whatever the results of your d20 roll are. You decide after a roll if you want to reroll it.

I just applied the same logic to Misfortune.

Also, it will probably work a little differently here on the boards. Since the way we typically make rolls here reveals their results at the same time as the roll, & given the timing inherent to posting our actions (rather than describing them around a table), most times I choose to use Misfortune will be after both the roll is made & the results are revealed (since both typically happen in the same post).

If Miskatonic rolls dice individually, without adding modifiers until after the roll, and describes actions without giving us their associated dice, I'll need to apply Misfortune in the way you described. EDIT: e.g. "Idk what numbers are being used at all, but this monster's attacking me, so reroll the dice!" But that feels like an underhanded way to run things to me, just to make ability work against the way it seems to be intended.

TL;DR - "The result of a roll" & "the number rolled" are two different things. You can change one before knowing the other, & create a different outcome.

Added the trait Blessed Touch. I'll post in gameplay when Khazia's no longer naked. Could really use some help with the armor... I like the straight DR of adamantine breastplate, but would like something heavier like full-plate. Here's what I'm looking at for wondrous items:

Tremor Boots (feet)
Belt of Physical Might +2 (Str, Con) (belt)
Unfettered Shirt (chest)
Necklace of Adaptation (neck)
Mask of a Thousand Tomes (head)
Insignia of Valor (unslotted)
Phylactery of Positive CHanneling (headband)
Phylactery of Negative Channeling (headband)

That leaves the body, hands, wrists, & shoulders available for wondrous items (gonna look at rings in a minute). I would very much like something that boosts Charisma, and you can see I don't have any resistance (saves) or AC bonuses (natural, deflection, etc).

Each of the items above, except the phylacteries, meets the 10k limit. I would like to request a combined neg/pos phylactery, or have one take a different slot or something. Some way to have a phylactery for each of my channel abilities. Also they're each 1k over your limit.

The Mask adds +10 to all knowledges, but makes you blind while wearing it. It's just something I want for flavor (part of her quest to understand her Mystery & learn more about her genie roots), and there are...

Alright, the armor can be full-plate adamantine, no problem there.

As for the Phylacteries, how about this item:

Hope you found some items for those other slots but if you still need help lemme know.

I like the mask, very cool :)

Largely, the next parts of the story will be identical for Group #1 and Group #2 but will begin to deviate once the acclimation to Hideaway has been established.

Somebody in my other campaign pointed out that, as a vivisectionist and surgeon, the Professor ought to have a Healer's kit at least, if not a Surgeon's Kit. Is that acceptable?

Here is my completed character.

Does anyone happen to be able to cast Vampiric Touch? I'd like to keep my greatsword loaded up with it. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.

PP: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4
Gold: 2d6 + 3 ⇒ (6, 4) + 3 = 13
Silver: 3d8 + 6 ⇒ (6, 7, 6) + 6 = 25
Copper: 4d4 + 9 ⇒ (2, 2, 2, 3) + 9 = 18

Here is my completed character.

Does anyone happen to be able to cast Vampiric Touch? I'd like to keep my greatsword loaded up with it. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.

If the magus can't, Imma b~!&% slap 'im.

William Grove wrote:

Here is my completed character.

Does anyone happen to be able to cast Vampiric Touch? I'd like to keep my greatsword loaded up with it. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.

If the magus can't, Imma b$$$% slap 'im.

Vampiric touch is indeed one of my spells. Hahaha. No need for the slap threats.

@ Khazia Nyrazim: If you ever feel the need to use either Misfortune/Fortune then just speak up and I'll let you know if it applies.

@ Professor Brooks: You may have a Masterwork Healer's Kit and a set of Surgeon's Tools, yes.

HEADS UP EVERYONE
AFTER ALTAEN'S INTRODUCTION AND THE SUBSEQUENT 'EVENT' YOU WILL NO LONGER BE ABLE TO MODIFY YOUR CHARACTER. I WILL WAIT UNTIL TOMORROW TO ALLOW YOUR FINAL TOUCHES AFTER HIS INTRO AND THEN I WILL BEGIN 'FINE-TOOTHING' CHARACTERS.

THIS PROCESS WILL INVOLVE ME NOTING UP TO TWO CHARACTERS AT A TIME IN DISCUSSION AND PROFFERING MODIFICATIONS IF NEEDED. HEAVY MODIFICATIONS WILL BE SENT VIA PRIVATE MESSAGING ON PAIZO.

Again, thank you everyone for slogging through these slower parts with me, a few more chunks of roleplay/story and your first encounter shall begin.

Aw shit. I just found some great resonance with another class that will make long and short range badass. I'll make the adjustments later today.

Oh. Never mind. Stalker isn't on the list.

Made final adjustments to spell choices, swapped the Reactionary trait for Fate's Favored, did a little numbers correction (I had Paladin CL & Background Skills incorrect), & added mundane gear. I went with a different wondrous item for the Head slot, and filled all the other slots except Hands & Body. I also have one unslotted wondrous item. All are within the 10k gp limit. Links to each under equipment in the spoiler.

Khazia is all set to go, although I do have 2 final requests:

1) May I have a +2 Charisma wondrous body or hand slot item? There isn't one in the pregened Pathfinder items. I figure the remaining slot can then be "exchanged" for the unslotted Insignia of Valor, yeah? Something like "Splendid Robes" or "Gloves of Resplendent Gestures." Equivalent to your common ability-boosting belts/headbands etc.

2) Can I go with the +1 Medium Fortification Full-Plate instead of adamantine full-plate? I mentioned this in a previous post. Medium fortification is a +3 bonus, so added to +1 Full-Plate it is still a +4 bonus equivalent. After a bit of thought, I'd even rather go with +2 light fortification and another +1 equivalent enhancement. Any percentage to avoid sneaks/crits is better than a piddling 2 damage off the top of each attack. If allowed, I'd be quite happy with Medium Fortification Full-Plate without the +1 armor enhancement (making the armor only +3 enhancement equivalent).

Thanks for helping me with this. Gestalt is hard enough to compile properly, but this is also the first character I've fully built starting above level 1, & the first time I've been given such free reign on magic items. Also my first "full caster" in Pathfinder. Excited to start, gonna go dot in gameplay :)

Khazia Nyrazim
Female Gestalt Suli-Jann (genie kin) Dual-Cursed Oracle 9/Paladin Hospitaler 9
LG Medium Outsider (Native)
Deity: Spirits of the four defeated Good Elemental Lords
Initiative: +1; Senses: Low-Light Vision & Darkvision 60ft, Tremorsense 30ft, Deathwatch; Perception +9 (blind beyond 60ft)

@ Khazia Nyrazim: Any permutation of the armor you suggested is fine so long as it fall within the armor guidelines.

@Flint Blackwood: As you can see, Miskatonic answered my question on armor before I posted, but I had an approved armor equipped in the meantime anyways. The other request is a for a +2 Cha item, which will add to many of my existing abilities, but again, isn't itself essential.

I just realized, from an OOC Player's perspective, that Sense Motive check was foolish. If they aren't the good guys, Khazia probably just got herself killed :P But of course it is something she would do.

EDIT: & GM Miskatonic did intro Khazia, so it appears he doesn't share your trepidation, Flint. But what is it you see that makes her not ready for gameplay?

This is why I wish there was a better way get tone and emphasis across using just typed speech. Flint would assume the Choosing would mean a battle and your characters just popped in so they are the obvious choice. I get what you meant, that your character is ready for RP. But since you are still gathering equipment I didn't know if you were ready for combat. That is what I was getting at. But now that I see the order and times of posts this all probably moot.

Relax, folks, all will be smoothed out as we go :)

Ah, I see what you meant, Flint. Well, without divine spells or abilities (read: nearly all my abilities), Khazia is far from "ready" for combat. But that's an in-game issue, and I am, otherwise, all set for combat.

As far as expressing tone, I didn't take offense to your statement, and my response was just clarifying the situation, followed by an honest question. It's certainly possible I miscalculated something, or otherwise skipped over some aspect of her sheet.

If you do see something incorrect on the sheet (this goes for everyone), think of a new combat strategy for Khazia, or have any other suggestions for the character, don't hesitate to tell me. I tend to appreciate criticism more than most people.

@GM Miskatonic - Do Khazia & William each have a mark as well? I'm not really worried, but you specifically mentioned everyone else having gotten a mark. Just trying to get a clear picture, as I have no idea how many of these little details will come into play later.

@ Khazia Nyrazim: William and Khazia have yet to take the Mark, that will become evident momentarily. It is very integral but before further details are given I shall await some prompts from everyone that they have read the 'portal opening sequence' and are following or not following the Accommodator.

@ EVERYONE: I apologize for any redundancy here, but I need everyone to post their most recently edited Character Sheet, whether it be in a url format(see formatting for info) or simply a post stating your alias is largely done. Those of you with questions regarding empty Wondrous Item slots, I'll address them as I go over your sheets and craft/edit new items accordingly if it is wished.

Yo.

Alrighty, the first to be evaluated shall be: PROFESSOR BROOKS AND HAM.

Yo Ho

Next up for evaluation: FLINT BLACKWOOD