GM Phntm888's Way of the Wicked Campaign (Inactive)

Game Master Phntm888

As an FYI, my computer has given up the ghost, so I'm working off the PS4 web-browser. (Fun fun.) If I mess up, it's just me messing up without access to my HeroLab.

Good job so far guys.

By the way, this week is Thanksgiving in the US. I will be traveling, starting tomorrow, and will not have computer access. Therefore, we are on hiatus starting tomorrow, and will resume Monday. For those in the US, happy Thanksgiving. For everyone else, I hope you have good days.

Happy T-Day for those who do it! Safe travels for those on the road!

Enjoy!

I have a cold so Lutor is likely to be quiet for a few days.

I'm going to point out that Timeon is not going to be a quick conversion - it will take time to fully convert him to a loyal servant. You can leave him trapped, though - or you can strap him to the rack. It's up to you.

I'm not posting as this is Gallen's show, just FYI :)

I figure Sir Gallen will drag him out, buffet him about the head and shoulders for a bit (traditional for pages/squires), inform him that he's going to learn what /real/ greatness and honor is about, and drag him upstairs, keeping him in line with a blend of intimidation and diplomacy -- fear and awe. Hel will put Grumblejack to watch him while the group has their meeting with Cardinal Thorn, and then Sir Gallen, with occasional assistance from the rest of the group, can bring Timeon over to the Dark Side. (Kssshhhh (tk) haaah -- kssshhhh (tk) haaah -- kssshhhh (tk) haaah ;) )

I still think Wesh would be a better 'handler' for Grumblejack, though, semi-barbarian that he is. ;)

Everyone can level up. Here is the list of Traits you can choose from.

“Asmodeus is with you.” Adrastus Thorn indoctrinates you into the deeper mysteries of worshipping the Prince of Hell. Whenever you channel energy, you gain a +1 trait bonus to the save DC of your channeled energy.

“Deception is a tool. Master it.” Adrastus Thorn teaches you the subtle arts of deception and how to sense when they are being used against you. You gain a +1 trait bonus to Bluff and Sense Motive.

“Discover what is real and what is illusion.” Adrastus has taught you to see through deceptions and to never lie to yourself. You gain a +2 trait bonus on saving throws against illusions.

“Fear nothing save our dread lord.” Adrastus Thorn has shown you fear and taught you to master it within yourself. You gain a +2 trait bonus on saving throws against fear effects.

“Focus strengthens your will.” Adrastus Thorn drills you on ways to avoid magic that seek to take control of your mind and divert you from your mission. You gain a +2 trait bonus on saving throws against charm and compulsion effects.

“Let us perfect your favorite spell” Adrastus Thorn drills you again and again in the use of one particular spell. Pick one spell. This spell’s effects manifest at +1 caster level.

“Quiet as death” The Cardinal has trained you in the arts of being silent and stealthy. You gain a +2 trait bonus to Stealth checks.

“Strike first, strike ruthlessly and thus be victorious” Cardinal Thorn has taught you never to shirk or hesitate in a combat. You gain a +2 trait bonus on Initiative checks.

“Wear your armor like a second skin.” You have drilled extensively in wearing armor in combat. When you wear armor of any sort, reduce that suit’s armor check penalty by 1 to a minimum check penalty of 0. (This stacks with Armor Expert).

“You shall be my angel slayer.” Adrastus thorn spends exhausting amounts of time teaching you about good celestials, their strengths and weaknesses. You gain a +2 trait bonus on Knowledge (planes) checks about good-aligned celestials and receive a +1 trait bonus to any damage roll you make against them.

You also, as a group, get a free Teamwork feat. It must be the same feat for all of you, so you'll have to agree.

Angel slayer for me, and the ‘communicate at a glance’ feat, I forget the name.

Will have to level this weekend or maybe Monday. Going to work out of different office this afternoon.

Are you thinking of Bonded Mind, Hel?

Away from my computer, but yeah, that sounds right. Useful for quick, short exchanges; I always think of it as reading microexpressions, conveying basic information — ‘don’t trust this guy,’ ‘go around back,’ ‘give me a moment with her,’ ‘go on three’ — nothing really complex, unless you’re actually talking and ‘reading between the lines.’

Yay, nice work guys. Leveling up and posting soon. I will be taking the second vampire feat.

The Dying
You are dying. You can feel it in very core of your being. Your mortal blood is failing and the vampiric curse is overtaking you. Soon, you will die and rise again as a vampire. Prerequisites: The Bitten, 3rd level Benefits: Your natural armor improves +2, your darkvision improves to 60 ft., you gain a +2 racial bonus to Perception and you gain the toughness feat. However your Constitution score is again lowered by two permanently, you now cast no shadow and have no reflection in a mirror. Further, in full daylight you are sickened.

Being able to communicate without speaking probably would be a good teamwork feat option, but we might also want to consider something combat focused, like Outflank, for instance.

I'll take a closer look at the feats over the weekend and try to get leveled up as well. I'm thinking 'focus strengthens your will' at the moment for the trait, but I'm not completely set on that yet.

lvl 2 HP: 1d8 ⇒ 2 taking half +1
lvl 3 HP: 1d8 ⇒ 6

Am now at 22 HP :/ Gonna suck until 5th level oh well.

Took Silent as Death for +2 stealth.

Rogue Talent combat trick for the Enforcer feat and thug ability, now i can make people shaken, sickened and even frightened if i want.
I now have dex to damage on saps also which is great. Non-lethal immune things will be tough though.

All leveled up I believe.

How much gold/equipment should I be at?

Well, between loot cash redistribution and the gift from Thorn, we were at ... 754.67 gp when we entered the Nine Lessons. Presuming GM Phantom brings you up to that, we'll just include you in the loot split -- which is not, I don't think, much at this point, unless we can sell what we retrieved. (Can we retrieve the draugr's axes, or does Jarvis want to use those for the 'next batch'?)

Since I haven't been able to recover my character since my computer melted down, I, unfortunately, need to recreate Hel -- which is why I am SO happy I have my original 'intentions' stuff laid out, however much I've shifted from them. That said, there are a couple of things for the GM.

HP!: 1d10 ⇒ 3 ... that means half-plus-one, aka 6 again. :)
FCB goes to skill point (as usual for me) ...

I /am/ presuming we generally need to pass the prerequisites for the bonus Teamwork feat -- that, or else it doesn't come into effect until we (individually or together) reach that benchmark. I don't disagree that other options, particularly combat ones, could be useful, but IMO Bonded Mind will have the greatest use both in and out of combat, and has my vote.

Just catching up. I'll level up when on a PC. Strike first... sounds appropriate!

Level 3 Summary

HP: 1d10 ⇒ 8 That works! (+4 from con and +1 from FCB)
+1 BAB
+1 Reflex & Will Saves
+1 Stamina Pool Point

Feat: Intimidating Prowess

Adventuring Skills:

+1 Climb
+1 Intimidate
+1 Knowledge (dungeoneering)
+1 Survival

Background Skills:

+1 Craft (Weapons)
+1 Profession (blacksmith)
+1 Knowledge (engineering) - Using an Adventuring Skill Point

Armor Training (Ex): Starting at 3rd level, a fighter learns to be more maneuverable while wearing armor. Whenever he is wearing armor, he reduces the armor check penalty by 1 (to a minimum of 0) and increases the maximum Dexterity bonus allowed by his armor by 1. Every four levels thereafter (7th, 11th, and 15th), these bonuses increase by +1 each time, to a maximum –4 reduction of the armor check penalty and a +4 increase of the maximum Dexterity bonus allowed.

In addition, a fighter can also move at his normal speed while wearing medium armor.

VMC: Barbarian

Rage: At 3rd level, she gains the rage class feature for a number of rounds per day equal to her Constitution modifier + her character level.

I went with "Focus strengthens your will" for the +2 trait bonus against charm and compulsion effects.

-----

GM, question about how rage will work. I would assume the way the base barbarian's works, but the base barbarian also makes how the temporary hit points work strange. Would the temporary hit points actually be lost first or would it be easier to use the rage from the unchained barbarian? Granted, I would prefer the regular rage, since I think it's slightly better for Wesh, but the temporary hit points part of the description is strange, so any clarification you can provide would be appreciated!

@Demlin: Use Hel's total of 754 gp, 6 sp, and 7 cp as a baseline on top of whatever you have from the escape, and then anything they sell from the Nine Lessons, they can cut you in on. You were also given an iron circlet, which allows you to alter your appearance like a hat of disguise, and a silver holy symbol of Asmodeus.

Any equipment you still have from the escape that you want to sell, you can sell for the standard half price. Given that all of the weapons and armor have Talirean markings on them, it may behoove you to do so.

@Hel: The draugr's equipment is in very poor condition, and wouldn't be worth much, if anything.

I don't have an issue with the familiar archetype. However, your choice of familiar is going to stand out, as Talingarde does not have any native dinosaur life. It will draw attention to itself purely due to its uniqueness. If you're okay with that, then you can choose either familiar.

@Wesh: Barbarian rage doesn't directly boost your HP. It boosts your Constitution score, which then increase your HP accordingly. When the rage ends, your Con score goes back to normal, and your HP does so as well. So at the current level, when you start raging, your Con core increases by 4, giving you 6 HP (3 HD x 2 Con Mod), and when you stop raging, your Con returns to normal, and you lose that same 6 HP, as though your Con score had decreased.

Fair enough on the familiar, etc. All the Talirean equipment from the escape was already disposed of. Which reminds me -- Demlin, lop 150gp off that for donation to the Wand of CLW fund. Call it a refund to Willow Burkle. ;)

If I understand the Rage right ... that means that at the end of the rage, you take your Bonus-Con HP off what you currently have. If you've been severely damaged (down to, say, 2 HP), when you come off the rage (-6 HP) you keel over, because you've now dropped below zero (2 - 6 = -4). Correct? (I mean, that is the classic 'raging barbarian fury' schtick ...)

Correct.

Sorry for not posting sooner, I was working all weekend.

Bonded Mind is a choice I wont object to I'll admit.

“Strike first, strike ruthlessly and thus be victorious” is looking nice.

@GM Phntm888 I like the idea of having Timeon get recruited by us and I understand it would normally take a long time. However I'm willing to take the Squire Feat so maybe Gallen wins the squire over a lot quicker than might be expected. I imagine fighter would suit best if we use this option?

You have a 3 month training period during which time you can attempt to convert Timeon. I will determine the results based on your rolls and how you go about doing it. How you describe converting Timeon will play a role in the overall success. Taking the Squire feat will also have an overall effect. Once everyone who wishes to attempt to convert Timeon has posted, I'll let you know how you all did.

I also want training montage posts from everyone, as well, describing your training. Converting Timeon and the training montage can be combined into one post.

HP: 1d10 ⇒ 4 ... so 6+2+1=+9
“Strike first, strike ruthlessly and thus be victorious” +2 Initiative

Bravery +1
Aura of Cowardice
Plague Bringer
Cruelty Fatigued
Feat: Squire

Adventuring Skills: 2+2+1+1
Bluff +1, Diplomacy +1, Perception +1, Sense Motive +2, Stealth +1
Background Skills: 2
Knowledge: Nobility +1, Linguistics +1

New Language: Celestial

@GM & all

I'm a bit stuck on familiars. With vmc sorcerer, I get arcane bond. I could also pick up improved familiar. But I'm not at all sure what a good option would be. Leaning towards a Fiendish bat for stealthy scouting. As amusing as a beheaded made from Sir Balin would be, it would be less than subtle.

Well, I'm going with the rhamphorhynchus, which will give us flight scouting -- probably not so stealthy as a fiendish bat, but still. You could go with a mongoose, get a +2 to Fortitude saves. And don't forget the animal/familiar archetypes.

Thank you for the explanation on rage. That makes sense, though I certainly see why they simplified things for the unchained version.

Sorry -- brain-dead for now, will post tomorrow/Wednesday. Lutor, Demlin, thoughts on the group feat? Wesh, do you have other suggestions?

Sorry was only at work 1/2 day yesterday and didn't get any posting time. Will update today. I will be taking the second Vampire feat as well. We are going to need a large Stagecoach for our coffins :)

I'm curious to see if the two of you will still want to take the third feat in the chain at level 5, based on where you will be in the adventure at that time.

I think Bonded Mind would be extremely useful, given our dire need for subtlety.

Bonded Mind is probably the feat that'll be most useful for all of us. Other feats will realistically probably only benefit a few. I'm good with Bonded Mind.

Bonded Mind seems good. Most teamwork feats are a bit too situational. I do also like outflank, stealth synergy and escape route but for now let's go with Bonded Mind.

Well, that's 5 votes for Bonded Mind, so I think that's the final decision.

I'm enjoying running this with two separate groups - the similarities and differences in how you choose to go about things make for an interesting comparison.

Alright so Bonded mind then.

+1 Villain Point go to 3

So with VMC we don't get a 3rd level feat, I was thinking it was optional but nope, so I will retrain combat reflexes into the dying. So spending 150gp to retrain.

Level 3 Sanctified Slayer Inquisitor

I'm going with "Deception is a tool. Master It."

HP: 1d8 ⇒ 6 -3+1+1: +5, Woot 16 HP :) Come on level 5.

+1BaB, +1 Reflex

Feat: Retrain to The Dying (Get Toughness for Free), Bonded Mind(Free), Intercept Charge (Bonus Teamwork)

Skills +1 to the following:
Profession Soldier
K. Religion
Disguise
Intimidate
Diplomacy
Perception
Bluff
Sense Motive
Survival
Stealth

Background:
K. Engineering
Linguistics

Language: Celestial

Cast: +1 1st level spell

The VMC is free, Cole - you don't have to sacrifice a feat for it. It normally isn't, but I'm giving it to you for free.

You know I was looking again and was going to post asking that :) So I will not be spending my gold :) HP is still low. I got to die at level 5 and try and rely on my social skills and disguise. I'm made of tissue paper, the rogue has more HP than me :)

Toughness gives you +3 HP if taken any time between level 1 and level 3. You should have 18 HP, not 16.

oh yeah thanks for the catch forgot to add the other 2 from levels 1 and 2, :) Hooray 18HP :)

Exactly. You're roughly as durable as a Wizard, except you have better AC.

Level 3 Wizard VMC Sorcerer

"Strike first, strike ruthlessly and thus be victorious" +2 Initiative

+1 VP

VMC:
Arcane Bond (Su): At 1st level, you gain an arcane bond, as a wizard equal to your sorcerer level. Your sorcerer levels stack with any wizard levels you possess when determining the powers of your familiar or bonded object. Once per day, your bonded item allows you to cast any one of your spells known (unlike a wizard’s bonded item, which allows him to cast any one spell in his spellbook). This ability does not allow you to have both a familiar and a bonded item.

-> Compsognathus Familiar (infiltrator archetype)

HP: 1d6 ⇒ 5

HP = 22 (15 + 5 + 1 + 1)

Fort +1
Ref +1

New spells per day:
2nd: 2

New spells:
Glitterdust
Invisibility

Skill Ranks per Level: 8 (2 + 4 Int +2)

+2 background skills

Appraise
Intimidate +2
Knowledge Arcana +2
Knowledge Religion
Perception +2
Sense Motive
Sleight of Hand
Spellcraft +2

Feat:

Improved Initiative (+4 initiative)

A question. How much gold have we ended up with? I have notions to invest in spells.

Loot from the Nine Lessons:

2000 gp worth of mithral from the cobras

Sir Balin:
-a longsword
-a silver and sapphire holy symbol of Mitra
-a set of full plate
-a heavy steel shield
-cloak of resistance +1
-a potion of cure light wounds

That's it.

Once Hel posts her training montage and whether or not she's helping with Timeon (and how), we'll move on.

I've also added some feats to the Campaign Info tab that you can take if you want, designed for the AP.

I bought masterwork saps and masterwork studded leather armour. I also have these to sell, Astra Mysterii(75gp), 5 noble outfits(375gp), diamond studded gold ring. It came from Branderscar so it probably should be shared.

HP low previously, so +6 hp.
VP: +1.

+1 Acrobatics
+1 Climb
+1 Craft (alchemy)
+1 Craft (bows)
+1 Intimidate
+1 Knowledge (nobility)
+2 Knowledge (planes)
+1 KS (religion)
+1 Linguistics
+1 Perception
+1 Sense Motive
+1 Use Magic Device

Not sure where the three Talirean languages (Iraen, Norspik, and Yutak) are spoken; she'd snag something that was spoken on the coast we're on, guided by her prior experience with the Janleyn family's trading -- the sailors, captains, traders, and the like, so please let me know which of the three I should grab.

L3 Feats, Abilities, etc:
Feat: Lesser Pyure.
Trait: You shall be my angel slayer.
Monk Ability: Zen Archery, Ki Pool, Fast Movement.
- Vows: Vow of Cleanliness (+1 ki)
VMC: gain familiar Faila, discreet nuncio rhamphorhynchus

For an idea of where each language is spoken, see below. I'll use the map of Talingarde on the Campaign Info page for reference.

First, you'll see an island called the Lands of the Yutak. That is the only place Yutak is spoken. There is no formalized trade between Talingarde and the Yutak, because the Talireans believe the Yutak are pagan devil worshippers. There are no known Talireans who speak the Yutak language. While there may be the occasional fishing village willing to trade with them, no merchant family would engage in trade with them.

Next, Norspik is spoken in the Savage North, above the Watch Wall. Rarely do Talireans venture above the Watch Wall, for there are savage monsters living there - bugbears and giants, ogres and goblins, ice elves and trolls. Trade with the tribes who speak Norspik is nonexistent, and they are rarely encountered.

Finally, Iraen is spoken in the Caer Bryr, on the western side of the island. The Iraen people used to live all over the southern part of the island, but the original settlers fought them for control of the land, and now they live only in the Caer Bryr. The Talireans are, generally, frightened of venturing into the Caer Bryr, so the Iraen generally keep to themselves, and contact is mostly avoided.

Of the three, Iraen is the language you are most likely to have encountered, and even that would mostly be based on translations of texts of old monuments.

EDIT: Demlin, the Astra Mysterii and the diamond ring were sold off previously. The 5 noble's outfits were not, however. You can either sell those now, or you can hold on to them - it's always nice to have some fancy clothes.

Whoof. Well, I intend to pick them all up eventually ... but since Hel was an East Coast girl, we’ll randomize between the ones on that side of the island.
Let the gods decide!: 1d2 ⇒ 2
Norspik it is, then.

I see I missed something above. You can only learn Norspik or Yutak if you can find a teacher - they aren't widespread enough for you to have learned them otherwise. When I say trade is nonexistent, I mean trade is nonexistent - you have no reasonable way to have encountered either group before, based on your backstory.

Some other things from the Gameplay post:

1. Timeon: You have successfully gotten Timeon to turn away from Mitra, but you have not brought him to the worship of Asmodeus. Further, his alignment remains Lawful Neutral, although you've pushed him close to Lawful Evil. You have, however, done enough for me to boost him up to the Heroic NPC array from the non-heroic NPC array. His stats are below:

He does not currently have any weapons.

2. Future Combats: As I learned with the other group, some of the combats coming up involve a lot of moving pieces, and a lot of work on my part. In order to lighten my load, I'm going to have you control some NPCs in combat who, at least for the most part, can be trusted not to betray you.

Gallen, as Timeon is your squire, I'm going to ask you to control and roll for Timeon in combat. I need someone to volunteer to take on control of Grumblejack in combat. Grumblejack's stats are below, as well.