GM Tarondor's Ptolus Campaign

Game Master Tarondor

idk, that's why I'm asking. It sounds like a ratmen horde, but I'm curious what all that entails?

The ratmen will continue to threaten us as long as we are exploring this place. May as well deal with them now while we are at full strength.

Makes sense.

A mob of them. Or whatever it is that Pathfinder calls their mobs. The Grease is coming in very handy.

There are both "Swarms" and "Troops" in Pathfinder. This is a troop. Similar to a Swarm, but composed of larger creatures. It lets me throw a horde of lesser creatures at you and still have them represent a threat.

Neat! Will have to do some reading on them as I have not yet.

Guess who made up a bunch of new troops types?

I have seen them in several of the APs. In 3.5 the grapple mobs were terrible to see.

Folks. I am SO SORRY for not posting sooner. Life has gotten a bit hectic for me and the fam. We're all healthy, just having to double down at work (to include building a side-hustle now...**sigh**) with the current economy and have had little time for Pathfinder. :(
I think I will have to bow out of this game (and others) for the time being, but will keep this thread bookmarked for the future.

You are (were) in most of my games, so I keep saying good-bye. But we'll miss you!

Take care!

Camris checking in!

This is tomtesserae’s PC. Thank you for accepting me into the campaign. I’m looking forward to it. If anyone has played a gunslinger before or just in general wants to offer tactical advice during combat, please feel free to do so.

Due to his high intelligence, I took a few bonus languages: Imperial Common, Draconic, Elvish, Halfling, Palastani, Uraqi. If one or more of these aren’t acceptable, I’ll be happy to change it.

I’m almost finished with the character sheet. I will post it tomorrow. I’m mostly double checking the gear and money.

I played one in 1e, but not yet in 2e, except for the one-shot "Head-Shot the Rot," so I don't have a lot of insight to offer.

Camris here.

Here is the basic building blocks so far of Master Nekht, without equipment.
Still tweaking spell list and selecting equipment.

hey everyone! i should be able to get my character built tomorrow - renovations are going on in the house but my room should be done and back to normal tomorrow. Just wanted to ask your guys preference - mastermind rogue or bomber alchemist? I’m leaning mastermind rogue but figured I should ask.

I have built a spellshot gunslinger, but he's only level 1. I'll be interested to see how yours plays.

Benobo, are you doing to try and make the same build with both of those options (i.e. a bomb throwing character)? I think I would lean towards the mastermind rogue regardless. Might be more versatile.

no - two separate concepts, was just unsure which i wanted to delve into more. Looks like mastermind rogue is the choice.

I changed his 8th level class feat from Call Gun to Machinist Munitions – allowing him to craft moderate level alchemical bombs and items.

The profile has his character sheet now.

What amount of gold do we have to spend on items?

Just a note, I changed the skill Occultism for Society. I think the Recall Knowledge for Society would be more pertinent to Sauklas’ life.

Benobo, this is what I did. Either number of items at this level 7th: 1, 6th: 2, 5th: 1, 4th: 2 and 180 gp OR 1,100 gp. Here’s the link to Archives of Nethys.

Welcome to the new people. I would waive, but currently I am paralyzed. :D

Benobo checking in! Most character stuff is done, just need to solidify a backstory.

Are Hero points in use here? If so, how many do I have to start?

What amount of gold do we have to spend on items?

You each have 1100 gp. No more than 350 gp can be spent on any one item.

Are Hero points in use here? If so, how many do I have to start?

Yes they are. You start with 1.

OK, the mechanics are done now, and fully equipped.
I used HeroLab Online, and several picks were flagged as Uncommon and requiring the DM's approval.
Spell: Rope Trick
Item: Ring of Wizardry I
Item: Wayfinder

OK, with DM approval, my character is ready.

Yeah, those are all fine. They're really paranoid about spells that let you escape from trouble.

Almost ready for the new guys. Four questions:

1) Garwrick, what's the deal with the filcher's fork? How did you come by such an unusual specialty, and why? Also, what are your goals?

2) Sauklas, firearms are very new in Ptolus. The ancient dwarves were rumored to have such things, but all evidence of this is lost and waiting to be uncovered in the fabled Dwarvenhearth. More recently certain highly distinct cults of the Iron God have begun to sell firearms through a store (the Smoke Shop) in the North Market, but all such sales are closely monitored by the strange brotherhood known as the Shuul. They are virtually unknown outside the city. How did you come by your weapons and your mastery of them?

3) Nekht-Mutf, are you a member of any Ptolus organizations? The Delvers, for instance?

4) Nekht-Mutf, Garwrick and Sauklas, you are all capable individuals, but such are very common in Ptolus. Why are you destined to join Our Heroes? And how do you come to their notice?

You know, I kinda like that Inverted Pyramid agent archetype. Very appropriate to my theme.

1) Garwrick was adopted by halflings at a very young age and they were the ones who raised him (reflected by versatile heritage + uncommon weaponry). His goals in life are two things: Collect as much money as possible, and retire happy, healthy, and old. Often these two goals clash, especially in the line of work he dabbles in.

4) perhaps the gods have another plan for Garwrick. One that takes him away from the path of self-indulgence and lavish living, one that puts him in the path of a “hero”, whatever that could mean. Maybe the party encounters him in the middle of a theft, or on his regular bar crawls where he drinks himself into a stupor. Maybe it’s less direct and Garwrick steals something of great import that catches the parties attention. Just kind of spitballing ideas, but i think the general vibe is there.

I didn’t read the “Players Guide to Ptolus” as well as I thought. I missed the part about guns being extremely rare. I thought it was the opposite. That’s the whole reason I chose the Gunslinger class. I wanted the character to be a common adventurer, someone who wouldn’t stand out in a crowd, but that doesn’t appear feasible if he’s wielding a very unusual weapon. My initial reaction was to use an air repeater gun, so the Shuul aren’t involved, but using a weapon like that would be fairly unique as well.

So, if you don’t mind I’d like to rework him into either a human gunslinger (way of the drifter) and have him fight with a hand crossbow and a melee weapon (presented in the spoiler below) or a halfling fighter (using a halfling sling staff) who takes the Unexpected Sharpshooter Archetype (I’m not yet done doing a rough sheet for him).

Sauklas lost money betting on Tilver (when he was a gladiator) and thought Tilver should compensate him for the loss. One bloody nose later, he realized he was wrong. Or maybe they were alchemy classmates. Sauklas often had to copy Tilver’s schoolwork. After Sauklas dropped out of the academy, they went their separate ways and haven’t seen each other in twenty years.

As for Silas, maybe he was a passenger on one of Sauklas’ ships and they’d talk during free moments.

Sauklas - I'm fine with whatever you choose, including staying as you were. Please let me know when you're ready.

EVERYONE - Please conform your header to the one on the Campaign info tab:

Ranger 1 - HP 16/16, AC 18 - Perception +5 (Darkvision) - F: 5/ R: +9 / W: +3 - Speed: 25 - Hero Points: 1/1, Active Conditions: None; Default Exploration Activity: Search

Updated!

Okay, thank you for your patience. I reworked his background slightly. He doesn’t create alchemical items anymore but he still uses them. I think he’s ready to join the campaign. If anyone notices a mistake I missed on his character sheet, please let me know.

Header changed.

All Players, Current and New:

I've got a few ways to introduce the new players. Please let me know what you think:

1) They're an adventuring party who just lost their wizard (eaten by the thing in the pit). They've been delving into Ghul's Labyrinth hoping to find the entrance to the famed halls of Cordaris or perhaps even the fabled Dwarvenhearth but have instead stumbled into the Temple where the current players are.

2) Same as above but they're prisoners of the Temple, nosy adventurers who got trapped by the ratmen. Once rescued, they may know a few things about their foes.

3) They're well-known Delvers sent by Brother Fabitor of the Church of Lothian or by Jevicca Norr of the Inverted Pyramid or by the Knights of the Pale or another of your allies to help you and they've finally caught up with you.

Whaddya think?

I think 3 is best. It gives reason to stay together and potentially a reason we would trust them some since we are meeting in a place full of sneaking conniving cultists.

It also isn't them being defeated before they start. Although #2 is a common way to meet, its a bit sad.

Agree with Silas. Starting with our characters effectively the "NPCS that need rescuing" is a bit damaging to the credibility of our characters, and starting as well established Delvers would put our skill on par with the party. My vote is for #3.

Agree with number 3 for me.

3 is pretty standard, but I do appreciate them not being failures before meeting them. I'm good with #3.

#3 works for me. Specifically, I think Brother Fabitor should be the one to send them. I'm not sure how much trust there would be if they came from the Inverted Pyramid.

I am fine with number 3. I’ll need to change my character’s history a little (or a lot?) but that’s fine. Maybe he came back from sea about five years ago and has been with these two ever since. Perhaps we exchanged Friendship Bands in our youth? (Page 18-19 in the Ptolus Player’s Guide).

Awesome. #3 it is. As soon as these slackers defeat/run away from the Thing in the Pit, you're in.

This is a general idea for Sauklas' new history. He was a cabin boy on his father’s ship. When he was sixteen they were shipwrecked during a storm. He was stranded alone on an island. After six years he was rescued. When he returned to Ptolus he discovered his mother had remarried and had three more children. His step-father was kind, but Sauklas didn’t feel a part of this new family that had grown in his absence. He never wanted to go to sea again, so he joined the Delver’s Guild. He was old for an apprentice, but he didn’t care. In time he worked his way to full guild member and found a good friendship with many others in the guild, especially Garwrick and Nekht-Mutf.

Hey, gang. I’m sick and so is my whole family. My head is fuzzy and I’m going to be away for a few days until I can think again.

If I’m the GM of this game, I’ll be back as soon as possible. If I’m a player, please bot me until I get back.

I hope you and your family have a quick recovery. Take as much time as you need.

It’s been a full week, so I want to check in and report that I have pneumonia. My recovery has been decently effective, thanks to heavy doses of...whatever it is they’re giving me. But I’m still quite tired. I’ll be trying to post in some games no later than tomorrow.

Folks, my recovery from pneumonia took longer than I thought it would. Turns out I’m still alive. I’m still fairly weak but I’m going to get to this game today. Sorry it took so long.

Hello, I will be on vacation from now through Jan 8th. I will have access to the internet, but I am not sure how much I will be able to post. Bot me as needed. Happy New Years!