Bupkis, buoyed by Amira's heartening song, powers up and unleashes another blast at the wyrm. "No good eating here!"
5 ft step, Move Action: Gather Power, Standard Action: Empowered Cold Blast (Extended Range Infusion if necessary). Depending on the dragon's height, he may be within 30 ft for Point-Blank Shot.
Cold Blast (touch), Inspire Courage, Haste:1d20 + 14 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 14 + 2 + 1 = 23+1 if within 30 ft. For damage calculation: empowered variable damage:4d6 + 2 + 4 ⇒ (5, 5, 4, 6) + 2 + 4 = 2626 x 1.5 = 39 Cold Damage (variable damage x 1.5), inspire courage:39 + 2 = 41+1 if within 30 ft.
Gather Power pays the burn cost for Empowered. Infusion Specialization pays the burn cost for Extended Range (if needed).
Bupkis shoots the dragon right out of the air. The blast pushes the dragon back, it falls backwards, hits the edge of the tower floor and plummets down. You hear as it hits the roof of the cathedral and then slides down to fall into the yard.
Daseem blinked and stared over the edge in surprise murmuring, "Oh..."
The angelic choir vanished along with the dragon as it plummeted to a messy end below. This wasn't how it was supposed to be, Daseem really wasn't sure what to do!
Steal its loot obviously.
So he started looking around for something to do or ideally fight.
Perception:1d20 + 15 ⇒ (13) + 15 = 28
In the corner is the bed of the dragon which consists of a large spined shield, a +1 light pick, a +2 shortbow, a potion of delay poison, a potion of displacement, a potion of haste, a scroll of blade barrier, a scroll of charm monster, a scroll of hold monster, a scroll of summon monster V, a scroll of wall of force, a noble’s outfit, a copper amulet with garnet setting (worth 80 gp), a brightly painted clay ceremonial mask with bronze feathers and glittering blue sapphire eyes (worth 545 gp), a set of three lapis lazuli carvings of leucrottas (worth 50 gp each), a black pearl worth 500 gp), 180 pp, 1,240 gp, 4,490 sp, and 13,800 cp.
Bupkis helps to gather up the mass of treasure and load it into Ivan's large bag. He leaves the copper coins for last, since the party might not be able to carry them all.
Once he's finished he askes his companions, "Now where we take the people we rescue from cages?"
Bupkis' handy haversack is mostly carrying rations and ammunition.
Male Human Bloodrager 7/Dragon Disciple 5 | AC 24, touch 12, flat-footed 22 Uncanny Dodge | HP 109/109 (143/143 Bloodrage); 24 nonlethal | Fort +12, Ref +8, Will +9; Resist fire 10 | Perception +15; blindsense 30 ft. | Init +6 | Bloodrage 33 rounds/day | Active Effects: none
Menrozzar looks over the trove. "Between this and the chimera's treasure, we should have brought a cart. Maybe one of those two knows how to build one. We should take those two to the village we passed through on our way here - they may be from there."
"That would pay for a wardrobe full of nice clothes." Amira states. "But bringing it in coppers, it'll look like I earned it from singing. And not in a good way."
"We're done with this forge? Because Agrimmosh can resize persons. And if there is a grain of truth to the legends, then the giants forged the weapons of their dwarven enemies into weapons for giants here."
"If that would work the other way around... but selling the stuff and buying something that fits works too."
Male Human Bloodrager 7/Dragon Disciple 5 | AC 24, touch 12, flat-footed 22 Uncanny Dodge | HP 109/109 (143/143 Bloodrage); 24 nonlethal | Fort +12, Ref +8, Will +9; Resist fire 10 | Perception +15; blindsense 30 ft. | Init +6 | Bloodrage 33 rounds/day | Active Effects: none
"I don't think we have all the tools we would need to relight the Forge right now - what was it we needed again? The hammer, the breath of a dragon, and what else?"
As there is nothing left to be done in this cathedral, the group leaves. The villagers come along. They are used to evade giants in these mountains, but at least until they are out of the giant's camp they prefer to travel with this company.
The group sneaks out of the cathedral and into the valley. To not have to cross all of the camp again you turn the other direction. After some distance the mountain flanks draw together, creating a narrow pass that is blocked by an impressive wall that spans the entire valley. Sloppily cemented stone and timber make up the wall, which contains a large archway in the center blocked by a massive portcullis of sharpened logs bound together with thick hemp rope.
On top of the wall are a hill giant and an ettin and through the portcullis you see two large smilodons who pick up your scent as you approach.
Bupkis manages to get the attention of the guards. As they see who is approaching, they open the gate for the oversized cats. It will be interesting to see how long the cats need to close the distance of some hundred feet once the gates are open.
Preparing for battle, Daseem shouts "Gorrrum!" at the top of his voice, seeking Our Lord in Iron's blessing. He then grins at his fellow warriors waiting to see if one of them wants to take the lead.
Casting Bless as a standard action followed by using quicken blessing to cast war mind as a swift action (selecting +1 AC this round). If Ivan or Menrozzar move, Daseem will use his move action to follow.
The portcullis moves up and as soom as its two foot off the ground the smilodons go through and charge. One goes for Menrozzar, the other one can't reach a target yet.
Ivan gives Menrozzar's cat a bad headache. But that doesn't change its intent to eat Menrozzar. Daseem also feels the painful claws and teeth of the beast.
The hill giant throws a rock at Ivan, dealing maximum damage to the flowers 10 feet besides the dwarf..
Male Human Bloodrager 7/Dragon Disciple 5 | AC 24, touch 12, flat-footed 22 Uncanny Dodge | HP 109/109 (143/143 Bloodrage); 24 nonlethal | Fort +12, Ref +8, Will +9; Resist fire 10 | Perception +15; blindsense 30 ft. | Init +6 | Bloodrage 33 rounds/day | Active Effects: none
Menrozzar roars in pain as the cat tears into him, but he doesn't hesitate to tear right back into the smilodon, claws and fangs snapping at everything.
He then slams his hand into his wounded flank where he'd been savaged and some of his wounds closed as Our Lord In Iron's healing surged through him.
Cure Moderate Wounds:2d8 + 8 ⇒ (5, 7) + 8 = 20Using fervor to cast CMW as a swift action.
If the Smilodon is still alive then Daseem can't afford to eat another full attack and he'll have to move away, accepting an AOO hoping the others will kill it.
Once Ivan moves over to Daseem's kitty Amira moves up behind him. Using the dwarf's strange dance, where he swings the hammer around and around, always closely missing the cat and almost hitting himself, as cover for casting.
Casting defensively:1d20 + 12 ⇒ (9) + 12 = 21
As she is done, Daseem disappears from sight.
Bupkis isn't sure where Daseem went; he hopes that Amira cast some sort of spell to keep him safe. The goblin powers up again and tries to take out the last ferocious cat. But he hesitates at the last moment, afraid that he might somehow hit Daseem, by mistake.
Daseem blinked as Bupkis's blast burst the wounded Simildon like an overripe grape, thinking, 'Damn!'
He glanced down, realising with a shuddering gasp that he was still badly wounded. He slapped his hand on the worst of the bites and thanks to Gorum's grace some of the bleeding stopped, he would be able to fight on.
Fervor to heal:3d6 ⇒ (3, 4, 3) = 10
He growled the word, "Gorum!" and six feet of blessed steel started to glow softly and he calmly walked towards the giants!
Swift action: Lay on hands
Standard action: Activate Sacred Weapon for +2 enhancement.
Move action: Walk closer towards the Hill Giant - I assume he doesn't get in range yet.
The wall is made from big rough stones and would allow for climbing. But as you are on the "inside" of the wall, you could also climb the stairs leading up.
Welcome everyone! Please be friendly and try to resolve any disputes in an exceedingly lovely fashion. It is fine for your characters to rub each other the wrong way, but keep it civil out of character and chat about how you can make your conflict interesting and avoid disruption, etc.
Please remember as far as posting expectation go, you are expected to post at least once a day, and your posts are expected to average about 2 paragraphs. It is fine to make a quicky post if necessary, but you need to give me something more substantial later and it cannot become a habit. But even a quicky post need to have a bit of description on it.
I would categorise myself as a rules heavy GM, feel free to dispute rules and decisions that do not seem to fit within the rules - I would be a massive hypocrite if I minded :) Generally we will not retcon unless it puts a PC at great risk in some way. Please do so here in the discussion thread.
If you do post out of character in the gameplay thread, usually to explain actions please ensure it is in OOC tags and thus shows up blue. Or if you are posting information about an ability, or spell, put it inside a spoiler, as seen below.
Move to move, cast Burning Hands to catch goblin 3 and 4, swift action to draw dagger from spring loaded wrist sheath.
Burning Hands DC 15:
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S
Effect
Range 15 ft.
Area cone-shaped burst
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw Reflex half; Spell Resistance yes
Description
A cone of searing flame shoots from your fingertips. Any creature in the area of the flames takes 1d4 points of fire damage per caster level (maximum 5d4). Flammable materials burn if the flames touch them. A character can extinguish burning items as a full-round action.
Loot Rules:
We will be handling loot distribution with a split based upon sale prices. The split can either be between the party, or between the party and a group fund for items like cure wands, etc. I will throw up a google spreadsheet and update it each time I award treasure. This is mainly a way of ensuring that characters who are not suited to the APs loot do not miss out. PCs can choose to "buy" items you find at half price which comes out of their share and it is perfectly fine to go into debt for more than your share. If two players want the same item roll for it, but if you are in significant "debt" please consider giving up the item.
@Ivan not a problem, I am about to sleep anyway :)
@Scuttler my apologies for sending you 2 invites, I noticed I had not switched to the GM alias at the last second and thought I had been able to catch it, but evidently had not.
@All I really should have sent links to the threads in your invites, but it only occurred in hindsight.
Please note that unless there are significant deviations from the AP I will be awarding levels where the AP suggests to rather than tracking XP. Happy to here arguments against this if you have them :)
CG Male Human Summoner (unchained) 2 | HP 15/15 NL 13/15 | AC: 14, T:11, F:13 | CMD: 11 Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +4 | perception +0 | Init +1 | speed 30 ft
Edwin:
AC 15, touch 11, flat-footed 14 (+1 Dex, +4 natural) hp 17 (2d10+2) Fort +4, Ref +1, Will +3 Defensive Abilities evasion; Resist electricity 5; CMB +6; CMD 17
I third the approval of lvling when the AP says it’s now I’ve always done it As well. I’ll have a proper introduction in the gameplay of thread by tonight.
Goodness two goblin PCs, if only the playtest forum knew ;) Interesting class mix, we'd better load up on CLW wands, best not tell the playtest forum about that either...
LOL, well I warned you guys that party composition was not really a factor in selection :) Please note that I will be putting all of the characters into herolab over the course of this week, as it gives me both easy access and a chance to see any potential issues.
@Scrabbler could I get you to insert your "essential stats" in the classes bar for easy reference please? Never know quite what to call that, must be a better name knocking about?
Bupkis could pick up the Kinetic Healer utility wild talent at lvl 2. It's healing with a price: either the healer or the healee has to take Burn (one point per level of non-lethal damage that requires a night's rest to restore).
Bupkis is currently built as a switch-hitter, using telekinetic blast and kinetic blade.
I thought I'd raise a rules issue/ambiguity with Kinetic Blade and Aether Kineticists.
Kinetic Blade wrote:
You form a weapon using your kinetic abilities. You create a nonreach, light or one-handed weapon in your hand formed of pure energy or elemental matter. (If you’re a telekineticist, you instead transfer the power of your kinetic blast to any object held in one hand.) The kinetic blade’s shape is purely cosmetic and doesn’t affect the damage dice, critical threat range, or critical multiplier of the kinetic blade, nor does it grant the kinetic blade any weapon special features. The object held by a telekineticist for this form infusion doesn’t prevent her from using gather power.
You can use this form infusion once as part of an attack action, a charge action, or a full-attack action in order to make melee attacks with your kinetic blade. Since it’s part of another action (and isn’t an action itself), using this wild talent doesn’t provoke any additional attacks of opportunity. The kinetic blade deals your kinetic blast damage on each hit (applying any modifiers to your kinetic blast’s damage as normal, but not your Strength modifier). The blade disappears at the end of your turn. The weapon deals the same damage type that your kinetic blast deals, and it interacts with Armor Class and spell resistance as normal for a blast of its type. Even if a telekineticist uses this power on a magic weapon or another unusual object, the attack doesn’t use any of the magic weapon’s bonuses or effects and simply deals the telekineticist’s blast damage. The kinetic blade doesn’t add the damage bonus from elemental overflow.
Telekinetic Blast wrote:
If the attack hits, the target and the thrown object each take the blast’s damage.
RAW, this would appear to mean that if you use a weapon with Kinetic Blade, it takes damage whenever you hit someone with it (subject to hardness), so once you're doing more damage than the hardness, the weapon is quickly destroyed.
I could always avoid the issue by sticking to a purely ranged build.
Male Human Bloodrager 7/Dragon Disciple 5 | AC 24, touch 12, flat-footed 22 Uncanny Dodge | HP 109/109 (143/143 Bloodrage); 24 nonlethal | Fort +12, Ref +8, Will +9; Resist fire 10 | Perception +15; blindsense 30 ft. | Init +6 | Bloodrage 33 rounds/day | Active Effects: none
Worse comes to worse we can try to find you an adamantine stick or two to use with kinetic blade. That plus the mending cantrip should cover things.
I only half kid, btw.
As far as healing goes, kinetic healer is a good option to start, if not necessarily the best for prolonged use, and CLW or infernal healing wands should work fine, as well. Most groups use CLW or infernal healing wands as the main source of healing, so I don't see that as an issue. We have a few different people who can use them, too.
That is the way I read it Bupkis, but then it ought not to be a big loss, and a "club" will usually be available in most environments as a quick replacement. Plus you could always choose something more substantial like say a three inch iron ingot which would have 30hp since it can be any object, or more expendable like any random rock.
Fighter 10/Ranger 1/brawler 1 HP:127/127, 0NL | AC: 40(44 vs giant subtype) FF: 37 T:20|DR3/adamantine|| CMD: 33 (37vs trip, 37 vs bullrush, 37 vs overun)(+4 vs giant subtype)|Fort: +17(+5) Ref: +17(+5) Will:+12(+5)| Init: +4 Perception: +17
@ bupkiss,
you could always just use random items. I remember my first telekinectist, he was a "investigator" sorts.
he was inspired by harry dresden and gambit. Basically, he carried around a couple bags of marbles, a few decks of playing cards, and some containers of toothpicks. He would use the marbles for bludgeoning damage, cards for slashing, and toothpicks for piercing. RAW it works just fine too. It was also awesomely thematic when he killed an orc by literally mind-throwing a toothpick through its head.
that fixes any throwing problems.
For the blade, I would recommend just allowing him to form a solid weapon out of aether, like the other elemental types. It wouldn't change much, and makes for another thematic thought. Just my 2-cents.
Aether kineticists need to use an object. Unlike other kineticists, they can't form a blade out of their element (see the bolded text in my previous post).
Some people have argued that a length of rope wouldn't take damage:
Ineffective Weapons wrote:
Certain weapons just can’t effectively deal damage to certain objects. For example, a bludgeoning weapon cannot be used to damage a rope.
It's possible to draw a new object every time, although that can run into action economy problems (at low levels you need to Gather Power as a move action to avoid the burn cost).
Fighter 10/Ranger 1/brawler 1 HP:127/127, 0NL | AC: 40(44 vs giant subtype) FF: 37 T:20|DR3/adamantine|| CMD: 33 (37vs trip, 37 vs bullrush, 37 vs overun)(+4 vs giant subtype)|Fort: +17(+5) Ref: +17(+5) Will:+12(+5)| Init: +4 Perception: +17
Also, I'd argue that, the weapon used for telekinetic blade Doesn't take any damage, as the wording states the thrown weapon bolded for emphasis. Since you aren't throwing the blade for kenetic blade, it doesn't classify as a thrown weapon.
Bupkis could pick up the Kinetic Healer utility wild talent at lvl 2. It's healing with a price: either the healer or the healee has to take Burn (one point per level of non-lethal damage that requires a night's rest to restore).
Filbert has that in my Strange Aeons game. It's proved very useful for them although it is a bit of double edged sword as he recently found out when he'd built up enough burn to be KOd early.
Anyway like Edgar says I think we'll be fine for healing with that in mind. Daseem will certainly learn the various cure spells and presumably we can buy / find wands and scrolls for more situational things (healing ability damage, diseases etc).
Daseem, did you choose positive or negative energy for your spontaneous casting? Or does Arsenal Chaplain sacrifice that?
Molthuni Arsenal Chaplin sacrifices channel energy (for weapon training which is a good trade these days). He can use fervor normally and he'll select positive energy for sure.
A good warpriest (or a neutral warpriest of a good deity) can channel stored spell energy into healing spells that he did not prepare ahead of time. The warpriest can expend any prepared spell that isn’t an orison to cast any cure spell of the same spell level or lower. A cure spell is any spell with “cure” in its name.
An evil warpriest (or a neutral warpriest of an evil deity) can’t convert spells to cure spells, but can convert them to inflict spells. An inflict spell is any spell with “inflict” in its name.
A warpriest that is neither good nor evil and whose deity is neither good nor evil chooses whether he can convert spells into either cure spells or inflict spells. Once this choice is made, it cannot be changed. This choice also determines whether the warpriest channels positive or negative energy (see Channel Energy, below).
Male Human Bloodrager 7/Dragon Disciple 5 | AC 24, touch 12, flat-footed 22 Uncanny Dodge | HP 109/109 (143/143 Bloodrage); 24 nonlethal | Fort +12, Ref +8, Will +9; Resist fire 10 | Perception +15; blindsense 30 ft. | Init +6 | Bloodrage 33 rounds/day | Active Effects: none
Bupkis wrote:
Should I be making a strength check at all? Would it help our efforts if Bupkis didn't pull, given his strength penalty? :)
I thought I'd answer this here. If it's most appropriate for Bupkis to pull, have Bupkis pull. If his Strength penalty makes it more inconvenient for us, that's half the fun of roleplay.
Daseem: As someone who's played a base Warpriest of Gorum, let me just say that if everything goes right, you won't need to use it much, but it's very good to have when you need it.
Also, around the time you get level 3 spells, the only level 1 spells you'll prepare are divine favor and shield of faith. I don't think I ever swapped them out after a certain point.
To be honest I am not wild about the tug-o-war mechanics, but it is just a bit of fun, you do get minuses for the gobbos low strength, but also for Ruby's, but removing a weak team member should not make you stronger so I will give a -2 for non participation - I will eyeball distraction so if down effectively they are, well, effective :)
And to be clear you cannot aid the strength score is your combined strength.
@Menrozzar: Menrozzar would likely have met Bupkis before, through Rodrik.
Relevant background exerpt:
That day the lookout was lax, and the raiders got quite close to the market, before they were spotted. Traders and townsfolk ran in panic as the alarm was sounded, and orcs ran through the stalls. Bupkis was filled with fear for Alicia's safety; he had to do something! Hiding behind a vegetable stand, he picked up a rock with his mind, and launched it at the nearest orc. The villain was closing in on a woman just a few steps behind Alicia, when the rock slammed into its shoulder. Surprised and angry, the orc turned and chased him. He dodged out of the way, scrambling through the maze of tables, and threw another rock at it. The commotion confused the other orcs, and delayed them long enough for the a group of guards, led by Patrol Captain Rodrik Grath, to arrive and drive them off.
Before this point, Bupkis had been very good at remaining unnoticed, but his concern for Alicia had caused him to throw caution to the wind. He had been spotted, but luckily for him, Rodrick had realized what had distracted the orcs, and that lives had been saved. Bupkis was cornered by the guards, but Rodrik ordered them to spare the little goblin.
Rodrik took a liking to Bupkis, and made sure he could get enough to eat without stealing, in exchange for a promise to defend the town if it came under attack again. The Patrol Leader also arranged for a place in a shed for Bupkis to sleep, so he didn't have to camp out beyond the walls. Bupkis now had two friends! Rodrik introduced him to his brother Kurst and some of the guards; if they had any reservations about a goblin in the town, they kept their concerns to themselves, deferring to Rodrik's persuasive manner. He continued to visit Alicia; he would amuse her with his slapstick routine, and she would play games with him (these were a lot nicer than the goblin games played back in his former tribe).
CG Male Human Summoner (unchained) 2 | HP 15/15 NL 13/15 | AC: 14, T:11, F:13 | CMD: 11 Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +4 | perception +0 | Init +1 | speed 30 ft
Edwin:
AC 15, touch 11, flat-footed 14 (+1 Dex, +4 natural) hp 17 (2d10+2) Fort +4, Ref +1, Will +3 Defensive Abilities evasion; Resist electricity 5; CMB +6; CMD 17
GM Placeholder of Doom! wrote:
LOL, well I warned you guys that party composition was not really a factor in selection :) Please note that I will be putting all of the characters into herolab over the course of this week, as it gives me both easy access and a chance to see any potential issues.
Honestly I think we are farely well balanced, we have plenty of muscle, a dash of divine, a bit of arcane, a sneak and it sounds like the kineticist has ranged options as well?
Also GM, if you like I can just email you my hero labs raw data file save you some time
Male Human Bloodrager 7/Dragon Disciple 5 | AC 24, touch 12, flat-footed 22 Uncanny Dodge | HP 109/109 (143/143 Bloodrage); 24 nonlethal | Fort +12, Ref +8, Will +9; Resist fire 10 | Perception +15; blindsense 30 ft. | Init +6 | Bloodrage 33 rounds/day | Active Effects: none
Bupkis: Yep, although I don't think they'd necessarily be friends. Here's the relevant excerpt from my Intro post.
Menrozzar wrote:
Towards the front he saw Captain Rodrik Grath leading that goblin he'd taken a liking to to the front - it was a curious friendship, but the goblin didn't cause trouble, so no one would likely care.
Menrozzar just might not quite remember his name - I imagine they've only met once or twice.
@Edgar Bronson, no thank you Edgar, I generally learn a fair bit about characters while inputting them so I find it a useful process - appreciate the offer though :)
Fighter 10/Ranger 1/brawler 1 HP:127/127, 0NL | AC: 40(44 vs giant subtype) FF: 37 T:20|DR3/adamantine|| CMD: 33 (37vs trip, 37 vs bullrush, 37 vs overun)(+4 vs giant subtype)|Fort: +17(+5) Ref: +17(+5) Will:+12(+5)| Init: +4 Perception: +17
In addition to its great common room
for feasts and meetings, the structure also contains several
barracks where young unmarried warriors of either gender
can live in order to focus more on their militia training.
Chief among these is Jagrin Grath,
Ivan was going to the longhouse, but he would go the ramblehouse if kurst sent him there.
