GM Rednal's Rappan Athuk (Inactive)

Game Master Rednal

Round 5

Kei attempts to cut down another ghoul with his blade.

Kei uses Brilliant Moon on one of the ghouls (standard action).

+2 Keen Mind Blade attack (Power Attack): 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (10) + 13 = 23 vs. Touch AC
+2 Keen Mind Blade damage (Power Attack): 2d6 + 21 ⇒ (4, 4) + 21 = 29 + Brilliant Moon force damage: 4d4 ⇒ (1, 4, 3, 3) = 11

Brass blew away one of the ghouls, and Iyashi took care of another - which left seven of them left, still, and three of them pounced towards Iyashi with hungry ferocity. Brass' attempts to drag Iyashi back and out of danger were of somewhat limited effect if he darted right back out to engage in melee combat, and it was quite clear that the horrors of this tomb were attempting to drag every foe down. They might be weak individually, but one blow might be all that was necessary to end a warrior's life...

Claw (Iyashi): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22
Claw (Iyashi): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14
Claw (Iyashi): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17

Assuming, of course, that they ever managed to land a hit. Meanwhile, the lifeblood continued to pour out of Alamar's body - were he to be brought back at all now, it would likely require truly potent resurrection magic.

Sorry, I meant say I was pulling Alamar out of the fight, not Iyashi. Brain no braining

"May I suggest we tactically retreat and deal with Alamar?" Firing off another round with the rifle turret on her shoulder, Brass set up her second, double hackbutt turret as a preperation to withdraw. Leaving them something to play with seemed like a good idea.

Rifle: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13
Damage: 1d10 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Could be trouble, that. XD This dungeon does want to kill you, and will often punish such mistakes! On the other hand, this has taken long enough already...

A careful withdrawal might have been much harder than it should have been, what with the undead continually pressing forward... and Iyashi's breathing was much heavier as he slashed out over and over. Even after dealing with the ghouls, though, there were still the ghasts, and it took several heavy blasts of cannon fire to bring the undead down and finally kill the chamber.

Now you just had to figure out what to do with Alamar's body...

With a grunt Brass hauled what was left of Alamar up onto one shoulder. Carrying her huge earthbreaker in the other, she re-traced her route to the surface and town, hoping to avoid any issues...or things trying to kill them.

There was only one town near Rappan Athuk, if the word 'town' could really be applied to it. Some people said Zelkor's Ferry was more of an Inn with delusions of grandeur, and the entire tiny hamlet had no more than 20 permanent residents or so. It was, however, well-known by anyone who came to visit... and if you wanted to try and bring someone back to life, the town's Necromancer was the only option.

Kei does his best to help Brass carry Alamar's body, a look of deep worry and responsibility clouding his face. Upon finding out about Zelkor's Ferry's town necromancer, he strongly insists they visit post-haste, frustratedly squawking all the while.

With the Tengu's aid Brass dragged Alamar to the Necromancers. Pausing, she knocked at the door. It was only polite when knocking on the door of those who could re-animate the dead.

After a few minutes, the door creaked open, and a human male looked out. He was dressed in stained black robes, and an odd smell floated around him. He looked down at the body, and up at the two of you again. "3,000 GP, payable up front, and don't whine if it don't work." he said bluntly. "Can't guarantee anything, but the other people in town've seen me succeed many times. You can talk to them first if you want."

"Do you take magic items and such as trade?" Brass asked simply, aware she only had about 2000 gold on her at the moment. No one was using that magic club...

Kei caws despairingly, knowing the handful of currency rattling around in his coin pouch wouldn't be nearly enough to pay for the resurrection. He looks to Brass with frustration in his dark eyes.

The necromancer narrowed his eyes slightly as he regarded the two of you. "Depends on the item." he said. "Simple and trustworthy is good. If it's strange or rare, forget it - pawn it off somewhere else instead and bring back the coin. I'll examine 'em myself."

Brass shrugged her shoulders. "Fair point. Let's see what we've picked up, shall we?" Putting the body down Brass reached into her backpack. "OK...we got a nice bearskin rug, a silvered greatsword, a potion of Fly in case you ever feel like taking a peek at the stars, a keg of wine in case you're feeling a little thirsty, a gold chain with a ruby set in it, a magically enhanced greatclub which is pretty shiny...any of this catching your fancy?"

The Necromancer grunted slightly as he examined the items. There was no chanting or waving - nothing, in fact, other than occasionally holding something up and examining it from a different angle, but he seemed satisfied with what he was doing. "The club will suffice as payment." he grunted. "Reckon some other fools will be happy to buy it from me soon - they always want weapons. Heh, idiots. We got us a deal?"

Kei nods emphatically. "Deal!" he squawks.

"Bring him in." the Necromancer grunted, shuffling his way inside and allowing the two of you to put Alamar's body on a large table. As you did, he got out a number of herbs, muttering under his breath as he circled around Alamar's body several times. There was no real chanting, no hand-waving, no obvious sign of anything either of you recognized as magic... but the air over the table fluxed and darkened, crackling with energy as the necromancer continued his ritual and-

Mishap? High is Good: 1d100 ⇒ 89

-Alamar's body suddenly took a great gasp of air as his heart started beating again and his wounds closed with astounding speed. After a few moments of heavy coughing, the warrior opened his eyes. The necromancer, on the other hand, buffed his fingernails on his shirt - given the amount of dirt on both, it didn't do much. "A flawless job." he said, clearly satisfied. "Your friend was lucky."

"Heya Alamar," Brass said brightly. "See anything fun in the great beyond?" Given the unusual source of there abilities, it seemed possible that some hideous creature that's very colour sheered a hole in reality might make an appearance.

Light returns. Images and memories recoalesce. What was beyond is forgotten. The ultimate mystery is still a mystery.

"I am still here." Alamar declares, emotionless as ever.
"Where are we?"

"Necromancer's house." Brass shrugged. "He seems to have put you back together about right, and all we had to do was swap the scary club for it. We'll take a break for the day, get a room, and take another peek tomorrow."

The best place to take a break around here is probably Bristleback's Inn, the most notable building in the tiny settlement. It's the sort of place one would expect to find in a remote settlement. really. A cracked and peeling wooden sign creaks from its iron bracket by the door, showing a picture of a wild boar in badly-faded paint. It's an old building, small for an inn, and is not in the best of repair. Room and board costs 1 GP per night.

Brass stared at the building. "Nice." Well, maybe the meals were good. Although living in the same town as a necromancer...maybe she'd take the vegetarian option.

Moving inside, a figure in clanking mechanized full-plate, Brass sat down on a stool near the bar. "Hi! I'm Brass. We're vising the ruins near here and were wondering if we could a meal, some sleep and any information that will help us not get killed that you might happen to have."

The man behind the counter was a wide, bristly man - almost boar-like in his overall appearance, actually, in the sense of having more muscle than fat. "Food and beds I can do." he grunted out. "As for the ruins..." he squinted at Brass. "I hear that deep in the dungeon lies a vast cavern with monsters of gigantic size. Of course, I'm not a bloody fool trying to get myself killed, so I've never tried to figure out whether or not it's true."

"Can't say I blame you!" Brass replied cheerfully, not bothering to mention that within hours of entering the dungeon they had found an item that could have led someone to have a comfortable life in a good house with spare change.

"Still, giant monsters do make bigger targets..."

The innkeeper snorted. "Yeah, and they can kill you just by sitting on you. If you're so eager to die, though, ain't my place to stop you." With that, he took your payments, then handed out bowls of a thick, hearty vegetable soup. Beds were easy enough to come by upstairs - apparently, all you needed to do was pick one and fall asleep.

You can plot and plan, or simply rest for now and get up for more adventuring in the morning!

Resting sounds good. I'll heal myself up to full (6PP for 18 HP healed) and then spread it to the others (1PP each) for a total of 8 PP spent.

Anyone else have something they wanna do?

Resting seems solid. Is there anything else beyond the Inn, the Necromancers and any village houses?

Did we get a total on loot?

Zelkor's Ferry also has a Smithy, a Trading Post, and a Gemcutter. Loot is what you've picked up.

After storing her non-vital equipment in the rented room Brass headed for the trading post. "Hi!" she called as she entered the building, "I'm looking to pick up a few healing items if you have some?"

"Aye, that we do." the owner of the shop - a middle-aged wizard who introduced himself as Rasmus Pye - said. "What can I get for you?"

This shop has a base value of 220 GP. Items at or below this price, including magical items like potions, are available with no need to specially confirm them. Just note your purchases as you prefer. ^^

"Any potions or Wands featuring the Cure spell would be my first choice, or anything that acts like it." Brass considered for a moment. "Anything else unusual or exotic? I wouldn't mind taking a quick peek, although my funds aren't unlimited."

"Got plenty of your basic potions. Wands're a bit too fancy." Rasmus explained cheerfully. "Hard to get the supplies to make them out here, see."

Basically as many potions of Cure Light Wounds as you want are available. ...It's a REALLY low base value. XD; This place is not a Magic Mart. Literally the opposite, really.

"Cure Light Wounds?" Brass shrugged. "Better than a kick in the junk pile, I suppose. How much per potion?"

"Exactly what you'd think." the wizard answered. "And I hope they make all the difference for you."

Items are sold at standard rates here. ^^

Discussion thread! In a little while, I'll have a sample profile up for you to view. I want all of you to format your aliases in exactly the same way the sample has things. This makes it far easier for me to find information when I need to reference it. As usual, if you have a different profile format you like to use, you're welcome to keep a private copy for yourself and do whatever you want with that.

dotting, will make avatar after work and school tonight. Thank you very much!

Dot. Looking forward to giving this a go!

Kei should be 100%, but if you see anything that needs fixing /changing I'm all ears. :)

All right, here's the format that your profiles should take - it's the standard Hero Lab output, so those of you using that program are already close to being done. Note, in particular, that skills are listed only with their bonuses (not their ranks), and ALL special abilities are grouped together and alphabetized, not split apart by level and/or class. List the effects of feats and traits with your special abilities. Be sure to note the save DCs of any spells or abilities that have them.

In addition, I'd like you to review your offensive abilities. Those with touch attacks should list the bonuses for those, and if you have abilities like Power Attack, list your attack and damage both with and without that ability. The main purpose of doing this is to remind you of the options you have in combat - sometimes you may want to focus on damage, other times you'll want accuracy, and having your choices already listed means you won't have to double-check the math if you want to change things up a bit. Versatility is your friend.

Finally, note what went into your Saving Throw bonuses. Some people do miscount things because of the way gestalt builds work, and I'd like to double-check that. ^^

GM Rednal,

I can send you my .por file if you would like. Do you have the gestalt mod installed? Also, Hero Lab does have issues with CMB/CMD totals so I will be inputting the correct totals w/ a breakdown (in a separate tab so you can verify).

Indeed I do. XD I think I downloaded that on literally the first day it was available - mostly an accident, I'd randomly been looking over community additions and came across it - and it's been my second-favorite add-on ever since. ShadowChemosh's adjustments, of course, remain on top.

I'll have to look up the ShadowChemosh mod.

So I decided to change Martial Charge to Weapon Group Adaptation for the additional bonus to maneuver DCs. The only problem is that I'm not sure if my Mind Blade will fall in the Heavy Blades group (because it's going to be effectively a 2H slashing weapon of some sort most of the time), the Polearm group, or something else entirely? I doubt Mind Blade would be a weapon group all on its own, but who knows?

Also, I'm just going to have two copies of the special abilities section in there, because I refer to my own sheet here all the time. One will be alphabetical, one will be by class and level.

-e-

Also, the breakdown for my saves is as follows.

FORT: 6 (Vitalist) + 3 (Con) + 2 (Cloak) = 11
REF: 6 (Soulknife) + 2 (Dex) + 2 (Cloak) = 10
WILL: 6 (Both!) + 6 (Wis) + 2 (Cloak) + 2 (Psicrystal) = 16

Actually, Mind Blade does seem to be its own weapon group. XD It's listed as such in the programming for Hero Lab (where it literally appears as "Mindblade Proficiency" as a bonus feat, the same way you normally get proficiency feats), but more important, the class' explanation says that "A soulknife is proficient with all simple weapons, with her own mind blade (regardless of form), with light and medium armor, and with shields (but not tower shields)."

Taken together, that suggests that the Mind Blade really is its own class of weapon. XD That's probably for practical purposes, both to stop weird combinations and to explain how someone is fully proficient with what's basically a shapechanging weapon.

I'll start doing those save breakdowns shortly, and sorting out my Alpha and Automatons.

One quick question, however - I realized that the Earth Breaker doesn't actually have a weapon group. I grabbed the one for hammers assuming it would be in there, but...can I assume it's just an oversight? If not I can switch to heavy blades and use a greatsword. I just figured a big hammer fit the character better.

In that case, I'm just going to grab Weapon Group Adaption (Mind Blade), Rednal. :)

Also, Earthbreakers are the coolest weapons.

Earth Breakers are in the Hammers group. ^^

made my avatar and put the Hero Lab export in the description. I will double check the CMB/CMD numbers as Hero Lab has issues with those.

I believe I'm all done bar some shopping. Gotta have them sentry guns.

Shopping might not be a bad idea. ^^ Consumables could be rather important, if there are any you haven't grabbed yet...

Yeah, I plan to finish it up and then post in the main thread. I'll also add my stat bar into my profile.

I've only got ~290gp left over. Any thoughts on what I should grab?

Scrolls and wands are likely a no-go for me, because I have an awful UMD modifier of -1. >_<

A potion, maybe? Or you COULD just save the money for future purchases, I suppose. ^^

I don't imagine the Magic Mart (TM) has a branch inside of Rappan Athuk. Also, a single potion of Lesser Restoration goes for 300gp, which I am just short on affording. A shame.

I think Kei is ready to get crazy.

No, but there is a small hamlet - purchase limit of 1,000 - named Zelkor's Ferry that isn't too far from the dungeon. The three of you entered the region through that point, and unless you decide to camp somewhere else, feel free to assume it's a good base to rest at.

hmmm.... how much leveling will we be doing? I would like to get a pair of gloves of dueling soon....

That depends on the kinds of challenges you decide to face and overcome. ^^ I'd expect at least two by the time you hit the Temple of Orcus, and there are many opportunities around the dungeon itself that you can use to further prepare.

That's an important detail, by the way. You don't have to enter the dungeon itself right away, and are free to explore the surrounding area. Just note that while some of the areas you can reach are appropriate challenges at your current level, others... aren't. XD

Now if I was playing my typical human version of Alamar, he would say that there is no challenge that is a threat to him :)

Kei, being a textbook worrier, will likely want to make all the preparations possible before going headfirst into a horrific murderhole. D:

Very wise of him. o wo~ Of course, part of having above-average wealth by level was to give you a better opportunity to prepare properly and get the items you wanted to have at that level. XD

That aside, Iyashi already knows what I was going to ask, and Brass plans to... which leaves you, Alamar! Add the quick reference data to your stat bar, in this exact format:

Classes | HP: X/X | AC: X, T: X, FF: X | Fort: +X, Ref: +X, Will: +X | BAB: +X, CMB: +X, CMD: XX | Init: +X, Perception: +X |

Iyashi's got it almost right. XD DR and SR go after AC/T/FF if you've got 'em. If space gets tight, abbreviate the classes as much as necessary (that's the least-important part of the whole thing), and you can add Melee and Ranged Touch as a section after the saves and before BAB if you plan to reference that a lot. I believe there are multiple lines you can use within the alias, too...

my CMB and CMD will just be the base as they will vary widely based on type of maneuver and my actions. For example, my base CMB is +9, but my CMB for disarm is +25.

Then put the base in your stat bar and mark them with an asterisk to note that they can change based on the situation.

also I post in this format during combat:

RP text

All pertinent dice rolls

Other info or ooc comments.

Melee touch attacks are Strength + BAB (so Wisdom + BAB for Kei), and ranged touch attacks are Dexterity + BAB, correct?

If so, Kei should be good to go. I have no intention of doing any combat maneuver stuff (Alamar's got it covered!) so I figure leaving it out of the stat bar will probably be fine.

I know not everyone plans to do many combat maneuvers, but there is a reason I ask for it to be included. ^^ There are times when it may become relevant.

Just finishing up my mundane shopping. I found a few new Machinesmith toys and tweeked my sheet so I now have rampage armour powered by my Mobius Core and a small cannon...when I should have been shopping. On the plus side, I am now a steampunked tank. Cannon included.

Boy, I sure hope all those explosions don't cause a cave-in and collapse the roof right on your heads... =D

Kei can teleport, he's fine. D:

I knew I should have built an Automaton with a drill...

All right... so, are you all ready to begin? ^^

I do believe I am.

Yeah, I think so.

EDIT: Do we start in town?

Nnnnnnope. But you don't have to STAY where you start, either. XD Go in or come back later, it's all up to you.

ready.

Sorry, I think I'm being dense...do we start at the infamous well?

You'll see. XD

(Specifically, you'll be starting outside the dungeon itself once I get the first post up in the morning. There's an open ground level to explore/leave/rob/whatever/)

Aaaaand the first post is up! It's technically still morning where I am, so I'll count that as a success. XD

That reminds me. Avasa's Alpha has an intelligence score and such, right? DM, does that mean I can add it to my Collective, even though it's a construct? The construct subtype says that it can't heal on its own, but doesn't seem to say that it can't be effected by healing spells (it just says they can be repaired with spells like Make Whole).

If not, I imagine Avasa can take care of healing it, but if I can handle it, I'd like to.

Unless specially noted otherwise - which isn't impossible for something in 3PP classes - constructs do not benefit from standard healing spells (i.e. those that use positive energy). They must specifically note that they heal constructs. Though, if you can grant Fast Healing, that'll work just fine.

I can, but it's just Fast Healing I. I suppose it's better than nothing.

You cool with me adding your Alpha to my collective, Brass? Even if I can't heal it, I can buff/telepathically communicate with/etc. it.

Go with it. Any little helps. This is Rappan Athuk after all.

So I just noticed: Brass, your HP is lower than it should be.

We got max HP at each level. 7d8 max = 56 + 21 from Con = 77.

My mistake. I automatically did the 'max at first, half thereafter' method.

You alright, Alamar? Or is it the dreaded IRL catching up to you?

three hectic days at work. Also tonight I'm flying to Cincinatti.