I think you'll find a sympathetic group here when it comes to work/employment issues, mental and physical health issues (both personal and loved ones), and just general stress and fatigue.
I am glad you are doing okay. I am glad you're staying with us.
Humble-pology? Apollo-brag? Very nice either way!
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What is happening to me: I am asking for a pass for the next few days. On Tuesday, my father-in-law collapsed and went into heart failure. They revived him and took him to the ICU where he has been since. Yesterday evening, he was talking and sitting up and asking for water when we left visiting hours. We no sooner got home when they called to tell us that he had coded again (this is the fourth time in as many days). He is currently in cascading organ failure. We have him on dialysis to try to clear his kidneys and jump-start his metabolism, but right now, the only thing keeping him alive is the ventilator and the pacemaker they put in. I don't know how long this will go on, but I ask if I fall behind, you be understanding.
RL comes first, always. My heart goes out to your poor wife. Take care, and when you are ready for a distraction from all that, we'll be here.
I'm very sorry for your loss. Please take the time with your family.
So sorry for your loss. We're in no rush.
Hope you're doing well, then.
Bumping for the rest of the party.
I've been meaning to reply but have been distracted and delayed. I should get to something tomorrow.
I recognize that I'm putting the cart before the horse, but Dantes being Feebleminded presents a definite problem. Even if I hadn't multiclassed, shamans don't gain access to the Heal spell (through the Life spirit) until Level 11 when they get Level 6 spells. For me, that probably won't be until next book. We'll either need to sail back to civilization to get a scroll of Heal for Carmelia to cast on Dantes or else markofbane might have to roll up a temporary new character while we fix Dantes.
I do have another plan, though, once we survive this fight. Carmelia can cast Lesser Planar Ally to try to summon a Mercane and try to purchase said scroll from the mercane.
If she needs to commune with the Lore spirit to cast something like legend lore or divination first to get the name of a mercane that is more or less allied with the Red Mantis, she can do that, too.
First things first, of course, but just a first draft of a plan for the group to consider.
Pinging the rest of the party for feedback here. I don't want to just do something without y'all's feedback, whether IC or OoC.
I'm fine with summoning a Mercane. We need to get Dantes' brain back online!
Clearly I am okay with it, but I think that is to be expected.
Fingers crossed on that!
You and your wife have had a challenging year so far, so I wish you both only the best. We'll be here when you're ready.
Best wishes for a full and rapid recover. Take care GM, we'll be around when you're ready.
I forget at the moment if we have any sort of formal loot sheet. If we don't, I'm going to get one started in the next couple of days so that we can start tracking formally. There's likely something in the current loot that can purchase a scroll of Heal (1650 gp) and make up the 500 gp offering and 600 gp payment. We're looking for stuff in the neighborhood of about 2750 gp, unless Big Blue is interested in waiving the offering and additional payment.
This is also a great time to make other purchases, which it looks like could be even trades instead of half-price sells. So consider your wishlists.
It'll be a day or two before I can work up the loot sheet, so if there's anything in the most recent cache that you want to claim (like that +2 cloak of resistance for Chumtooth), then speak now or forever hold your peace.
I will offer my +1 cloak (unless someone else wants/needs it) for sale, and will claim the +2 cloak.
Okay, I didn't feel like going back further, but I went through the thread to when I joined the campaign two years ago. So this doesn't include anything prior to when I joined, but should be a halfway decent accounting of everything since then. I proudly present...
So I joined to take down Giles, the assassin. Between Giles and the end of Book 3, we had spent 21kgp and earned 35,126.4 gp (and some claimed items), leaving us with 14,126.4 at the end of Book 3.
If I saw someone specifically claim an item, that should be marked on the sheet. I could very well have missed something, though.
So far in Book 4, we have 13210.28 worth of unclaimed loot. Chumtooth claimed the Cloak of Resistance +2 and put his Cloak of Resistance +1 up for sale. And we have 1100 gp in offering to Big Blue to get him and the Curio to our side.
As it so happens, the consumable magical items that I have tracked on the sheet since joining (2 potions of cure light wounds, an elixir of hiding, an elixir of tumbling, an elixir of vision, an oil of magic weapon, a potion of lesser restoration, a scroll of control water, and a scroll of displacement) plus the +1 cloak of resistance are worth a total of 3275 gp. That exceeds the payment we need to make to Big Blue by 525 gp, so we could even hang on to some of those consumable items if we want to.
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So if I can make a few requests:
GM WhtKnt: Can you please add a link to this loot sheet to the campaign header for easy access?
Everyone Else: When you have a chance, please just take a quick look over the loot sheet to make sure it matches more or less with your understanding of how we have operated. If there is something you claimed that I haven't marked here, please change it. If there's something that I said you claimed (when you didn't), please change it. And then take a look at the newest batch of loot and claim anything you think you might want.
Once we have all that decided, if there's something else you know that you want, this is a great chance to trade. So look through your wish lists!
Thanks, GM!
For instance, the next upgrades for Carmelia are probably trying to upgrade her shield and armor from +1 to +2. Those won't help with the plethora of touch attacks we've been experiencing, but I don't think anyone but a monk would have a prayer of escaping those. If Carmelia can trade out her current +1 heavy darkwood shield or +1 mithral agile breastplate for +2 versions, that's where she would consider trading in her current equipment plus an additional item worth ~3000 gp (the price differential between +1 and +2).
On a more party-oriented focus, a specialized healer's satchel could further increase our healing capabilities. Any interest?
Carmelia also plans to ask Big Blue if he would be open to be contacted via Sending spells in the future when the party is interested in trading.
Just checking in with the other players--do you have any comments on the state of loot? Anything you plan to trade? Yes-no on the proposed trades for the Scroll of Heal?
This is a great time to trade up. It might be a perfect time.
Any other feedback on trades to get the Scroll? I don't want to make unilateral decisions.
Well, obviously Dantes can't give his two cents. But as a player, I am fine with what you are suggesting. I'm not sure what the diadem does, but if it offers a better intelligence bonus, I would certainly trade. Dantes has a couple of wands that could be traded (maybe the mirror image, CL3, 23 charges). I'm curious as to what the books are that were found. But for the most part, I plan on crafting more gear for Dantes.
Last call, y'all. As far as I can tell, no one else has touched the loot sheet to claim anything or give an opinion on what should be sold, kept, or traded away. If no one wants to bother with the specifics of loot, that's fine, but please just say so.
(Haven't heard from Chumtooth regarding any of this yet.)
I am good with taking the +2 cloak of resistance and adding the +1 cloak of resistance to the pile to pay for the scroll.
I don't have enough coin to buy or trade up to anything else at the moment.
I've had a busy week, but I'll finalize the limited trade list and post it in Gameplay tomorrow.
Looks like we can get the Bag, Gloves, Journal, Tome and Diadem identified at a bargain rate, if we wish. Probably worth it, since he's right here to buy them if we decide no one wants them.
Yes
Let’s do it.
Does anyone want to claim any of the identified magic items?
I have an interest in the gloves of swimming and climbing (Chumtooth tends to find himself doing a lot of both), and the headband to a lesser extent (if anything to get his charisma stat out of the sub-par range). That being said, I would agree that if it would be of benefit to someone whose character is more charisma focused, they should definitely have it.
Sorry for the radio silence. I think I got frustrated feeling like I was doing the loot stuff without input. I'll get back into things now.
Let's protect the characters with low Will saves!
So tomorrow (and probably for as long as it seems like we're facing this sort of line of attack), Carmelia is taking the Tribe Spirit as her wandering spirit and Steadfast Example as her Wandering Hex.
The shaman touches a willing creature and bolsters its mental and emotional defenses. The next time the target attempts a Will saving throw, the subject can use the shaman’s Will saving throw bonus instead of his own. The shaman can have only one creature under the effect of this hex at a time, and a creature affected by this hex cannot be affected by it again for 24 hours.
I'll only be able to protect one person at a time, but it's a big boost to Will saves.
Add to that that the Tribe Spirit's Spirit Ability is Tribal Cooperation.
The shaman gains a teamwork feat as a bonus feat. She must meet the feat’s prerequisites. As a standard action, the shaman can grant one of her teamwork feats to all allies within 30 feet who can see and hear her. Allies retain the use of this bonus feat for 3 rounds plus 1 round for every 2 levels the shaman has. Allies do not need to meet the prerequisites of this bonus feat. The shaman can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + her Charisma modifier.
Tribe Mentality will generally be good for compulsion or emotion effects, but Shake It Off will be much more effective depending on our positioning.
I'll use my Fluid Magic hex...
The shaman’s magic is not constrained by the reservoirs of magic that hold others back. She is able to prepare her spirit magic spells in her regular spell slots. If the shaman changes her wandering spirit, any prepared spirit magic spell belonging to that spirit becomes an open spell slot.
...to prepare a bunch of spiritual ally spells in her Lv4 slots to contend with incorporeal mofos.
It also seems like prime time to use the Spirit Talker feat to grab something else useful for an hour, like Life Link from the Life Spirit. It's pretty easy for Carmelia to heal herself, especially if she has another spell going.
Other useful spells:
Spirit-Bound Blade seems PERFECT for what we're about to do and might be one of my new favorite spells. So first, the touched weapon becomes ghost touch (full damage vs incorporeal), and then you get another special ability. Take your pick of +2d6 damage, sickening frightened creatures, increasing flanking bonuses, bonuses to critical confirmation, energy resistance, doubled crit range, or returning.
I won't necessarily prepare all of that, of course, but if there's something in there that you see that makes you go "GIMME GIMME!" then I'll make it happen. I'm anticipating lots more Will saves, touch attacks, and incorporeal creatures before we're done with the Fort. But the above doesn't preclude my stand-by stuff like the evil eye and slumber hexes. I can keep a couple of spell slots dedicated to non-incorporeal (so just corporeal) threats. But hopefully the abilities described above will account for some of the challenges that we faced during the previous day.
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I mostly give the above so that Dantes and I can prepare complementary spell lists. Some of those spells might be better handled by the wizard.
I'll look at my spell selection and keep what you put here in mind.