I think Cueno is the one to look to for the tracking part. I considered investing some feats into it to try and get on par, but that felt a bit like wasted resources. (Especially since I'd need more then one feat to actually try and get ahead! And probably a bit of Wisdom ...)
Drekisal could possibly get in on the item creation if there's a type of item Histrok's not going to take a feat to create.
Histrok is probably done after taking scribe scrolls and Craft Wondrous Items, though the 5th level potion cap might be tempting when we hit higher levels. It sounds like we can probably make wands anyhow (or at least can't make it easier with the feat,) but rods, staves, rings, armor and weapons I was going to leave alone.
Alright, we're about to move on. I'm not going to bother with actual gameplay time on the trek from the Dragon's Realm to Gelkrosh - you guys are simply going to arrive. I'm assuming that Surtur's outline is still the go-to plan, so you'll be heading to The Lodge.
Somebody mentioned the idea of sending notice ahead to Yidi Tir (the halfling who works for the Dragon at the Lodge) about your arrival, and this can be easily arranged. I'll assume that was the plan as well.
Excellent! I will be using pass without trace on our mounts (or the mercenaries themselves if they're not mounted) for the last day of travel to throw off exactly where we're coming from in case we get tracked. If we're camping just outside the lodge the last night I'll start with full spells to start the day, but we're arriving at the end of the day I'll be burning 8 spell slots to have done that for 10 hours of travel for the 16 of us. Or I guess 4 spell slots if the last day's travel is 5 hours or less and we get there the middle of the day.
If it's OK, I'd also love to have Surtur pick one topic to use my divination ability (from the Wisdom of the Ancestors revelation) on based on our intelligence reports before we arrive. Histrok would have been sure to offer that opportunity during the journey.
Looking forward to starting!
Arriving in the morning after resting up would be a sensible and prudent plan, so I imagine Surtur would be onboard with it. I'll go with you guys doing that.
The first post will get a touch large (I'm still writing it). I'm fine with Surtur saying what he'd have had you divine when he next posts, and I'll provide some after-the-fact info you should be able to work to your advantage.
Another note on magic wishlisting!
I'd love some sort of magical weapon (don't we all?).
Occultist's Transmutation base power adds temporary enchantments to weapons - but not like the magus. Instead they're exactly like "real" weapon enchants. So spontaneously Bane or Holy or whatever. Which is really nice.
But you still need that first +1, like a "real" enchanted weapon, so that's why one of those would be handy :P
Would a +1 from the magic weapon spell work for that? It's a minute per level, so it should last a fight if I cast it. If you could make it better that would make it more worth my memorizing on a daily basis. Long term a real magic weapon would be nice sure, but can that work short term?
I don't think it works but I'm not 100%.
Legacy Weapon (transmutation base focus power) only says it stack with the weapon's enchantment bonus. And (Greater) Magic Weapon typically doesn't stack with that.
Might also be a bit clunky since it would take two Standard Actions to get everything running. But if we get Greater Magic Weapon ... Jhaelwyn might get that one if all the other transmutation spells are picked up : )
As a side note having a scroll or two of Magic Weapon might be handy. Just in case there's a ghost or something.
And another note - might be worth it to aim for a magical bow for Cuneo. Stabbing someone with a Bane Scimitar is nice - peppering them with twenty Rapid Shot Bane arrows is even better! (DR permitting of course!)
Drekisal could take Craft Magical Arms and Armor at 7th level.
Given his curse, though, he might ask for payment for his services.
@Jhaelwyn, yeah, reading through the ability it does say that the at least +1 enchantment has to come from the weapon or the legacy weapon ability. That probably precludes spells. Ah well. For arrows overcoming DR, clustered shot can make that less of concern perhaps.
@Drekisal, that'd be fine with me, but it's up to you. I don't know how common the creation cores will be which you'd probably need for weapons. Presumably we'll have a better idea by level 7, so the judgement can be made then perhaps?
@GM Mercy, do you have names for our 10 member fighting force pre-made? I'll probably want to address some by name and I could make them up as I go, but if you've got a list in mind I'm happy to use that.
@Everyone, I'm speaking Gelkish (Tribal) by default unless there are those who can't understand that. What language have we settled on for our common communication?
Drekisal speaks both dialects of Gelkish (as well as a number of other languages), so he's fine with whatever. The tribal tongue probably fits well with our cover story.
Additionally, I was thinking that Drekisal would volunteer to act as quartermaster/treasurer for our group. After all, it gives him a role when he wants to appear innocuous, and he otherwise doesn't look to fit in a group of tough mercenaries.
Excellent! You should come with me to buy firewood then. And Gork and maybe some soldiers, because neither of us is going to be able to carry it. Though I thought I'd see if it can get delivered. Mind you, it's an excuse to ask for information, but we've got to have some sort of cover story.
Anyone who rides a mount of any kind please put its info under a spoiler entitled "Mount" in your player profile. That's info I'll need to have handy sometimes.
As for names and other details of your soldiers, I'll come up with some. For their mechanics, while I don't have it ironed out yet, they will be uniform in ability. During battle they'll take orders as a single unit. When it comes to non-combat, they have relatively little utility, but will pass on anything they see and hear.
Unless Surtur says otherwise, I'll assume they are kept in the dark about specific information, but they are soldiers of the Dragon who know where you guys came from, though can be trusted not to blab about it. They know whatever cover story you guys decided on.
@GM Mercy, sounds good!
@Surtur, it's equivalent to a Divination spell with a 90% chance of success.
@Languages - Jhaelwyn has both versions of it, though she would prefer elven. But that might be a bit much to ask :P
@Mount - Did we get stats for Yaks yet? I must have missed it if so.
I made a spoiler anyhow, but it is probably not very helpful.
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I'll try and get a post up tomorrow. The website maintenance ate my planned post window and it's too late for anything that require imagination right now : )
I just decided that yaks cost as much as a heavy horse and figured that we'd sort out stats at some point. If I should have paid some other amount then I'm happy to adjust.
Drekisal has a riding dog that's more dangerous in melee than he is. :D Let me get those stats added to his sheet...
That feels like a good way to handle it!
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I'm assuming that since people are still posting no one else is having trouble, but Paizo's been going in and out on me for the past day- and- a half. Anyways, I'm still checking and posting as much as I can!
Question for divination: Should I ignore Kulwa Stonebreaker until we have the forces to deal with him?
(From what I understand of divination, it's going to give 4 answers: weal, woe, weal and woe, and unknown- so that's a specific, yes or no question)
Yeah, the site's been pretty spotty for the past couple days on my end as well.
I think that divination is a more powerful version of the spell that can actually give a more nuanced answer, but that question should be fine. From the description: "The advice granted by the spell can be as simple as a short phrase, or it might take the form of a cryptic rhyme or omen."
The weal and woe bit is for Augury, and Divination does start by saying it's like a more powerful version, but then it goes on to make it seem like it's more open-ended for what can be asked.
My ability to post over the last couple days has also been terrible. These forums, man... hopefully they start working better soon.
Yeah. It's really demoralizing when you type something up and is met with the paizo goblins on post. Doubly so if you forgot to save it!
Hopefully it's a sign that they are improving things and not that the forums are falling apart again. That would be a bother.
@GM, size-of-Ham:
I stumbled over the question of how huge Ham actually is.
Guess he's large now and is getting huge at lvl 7 right?
I will have to adjust some stats (-AC, +CMB, -Atk, +Dmg) for his size (but not the lvl 7 adjustments), because the Companion stats for the ochs start with medium sized.
...or shall I leave everything as is and we just fluff-him-up?
I've taken to composing every single post in a text editor before I post it. The forums are just too unreliable to risk writing it directly into the browser, and I'm sick of rewriting things.
@Gork: Large now, yes. Currently I'm thinking we just keep him as Large, but if you really want him to become Huge later on, we can stick with that. I'm probably going to have to attach some sort of monetary cost to feeding this guy when you go places without a LOT of grass to munch on!
@Histrok and Surtur: I'll answer the divination question via spoiler in the Gameplay thread.
Text editors are also good because they help you edit your text.
Indeed.
Also I forgot to mention - I love the excellent writing everyone is doing, but to make it easier on me I'd ALSO love it if people could include, in OOC text at the bottom of their posts, the kind of actions your character is taking (especially vis a vis any dice rolls you've made). This will help me write responses faster and help insure I don't misinterpret your intentions.
Is basically what you're looking for?
I'm also wondering if the feat tax rules apply to animal companions. Seems like it'd be a big boost if they did, and they aren't actually characters, so I'll ask. My companion is currently built using them, but I'll switch her over if you like.
Also, something that I figured I'd mention is that they is a third person singular pronoun in common use throughout lots of America. It's been officially adopted for years, but I guess it isn't in common use everywhere. I know lots of people who use they as their preferred pronoun, and it's become pretty natural sounding to me. Most people also already use they as a third person singular pronoun a lot, for example in the sentence 'each student will clean out their locker' instead of 'each student will clean out his or her locker'. Usage of their in that sentence is also more inclusive. I don't have any problem with using one as a gender neutral singular pronoun, I just figured I'd point out that there's already a gender neutral singular pronoun in usage, and one which in my opinion reads slightly more smoothly.
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@GM Mercy- I'll be sure to start doing that for you!
Second, quick question: was Surtur able to pick up on any watching, or no? I rolled for it, here:
Of note to him are the ones studying him, and he pays close attention, though he pretends not to notice their observations.
Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25
Just double- checking!
@Histrok: Are you me? Just joking, but we apparently had the exact same plan starting!
Well, we have to find out where it's safe to set up camp somehow and this might work. Plus, setting up some good will by buying a steady supply of minor purchases that I'm sure we'll be able to afford probably can't hurt too much. If I've done anything else you would have it's probably just coincidence.
@Cuneo, as far as pronouns go I'm actually a proponent of they/them/their IRL; as you say it's used fairly commonly in much of North America, even by people who would deny it (they just don't realize that they do it from time to time.) I've certainly argued for the use among friends and colleagues from time to time. I had been doing going with that during a lot of my early work with Histrok, but eventually decided that I wanted to go with one instead. It helps emphasize some of the isolation that is felt, mostly just trusting the spirits that are constantly around, but lacking connections with other people. It is slightly awkward to type, and there's no way that I'd try to speak that way conversationally, but I think I like one/one/ones for the character concept here.
It's alive! Oh and the forums are back. That's nice : )
Huzzah!
We live! Lovely. I will be responding to some of the recent business in gameplay tonight, but as I'm moving this weekend I won't likely be active again until Monday.
Whoa, that was a long bit of maintenance. Crazy.
Anyway, what's our first move?
I think we are looking to establish a campsite for ourselves and probe the area for rumours. Seems reasonable to spend a day or three at least getting acquainted with the place before we head out for a hunt.
Yeah, establishing our presence here before we head out is probably our priority. Also, anyone have any thoughts on what to do with the divination we got?
"When you have what he has not, break the Stonebreaker yourself."
Until I've got something better to work with I'm going with an initial assumption that what he has not is respect for killing Mantids or something along those lines. If we learn more about him there might be a better interpretation, or maybe someone else has a better thought?
Okay, geez. Every time I've checked the forums they seem to be down. I'm going to try to post tonight if they stay up!
Yeah, today's the first they've been up since this weekend. Hopefully your move went well! We'll understand if you're still busy dealing with that.
Thanks! Went well enough, things are moved, at least into the new apartment. Putting them into a place I actually want them is a longer process.
I believe that I might have a couple boxes I packed a couple decades and at least 5 moves ago that I've never gotten around to unpacking. I understand. Good luck!
Yes, hopefully things will be stable now.
I'm suspicious of trying to interpret that without more information. We'll have to try to learn more.
Drekisal will be looking for... corruptible souls. Obviously we'll want to coordinate with our agent here, but he's on the lookout for others that could possibly be bought to pass news to us. Discretely, I should add.
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I think Surtur and Drekisal are on similar terms, with one exception- he's looking for allies, not hired men, because Surtur is honorable and all that jazz. I do think we should maybe hit up the mantids- that is what we are theoretically here for, and it'll be one of our best chances at making allies. That's one thing Surtur hopes to glean from Obega Garca; how the raids are conducted, who does the raiding, etc.
I also agree- we don't have enough information to use against Kulwa Stonebreaker, and the best course of action right now is inaction.
Glad everything's working out for you, GM! As a former military brat, moving isn't always easy, I know.
That's why Surtur needs Drekisal--to do the unsavory but necessary business without him knowing. ;)
Won't be able to post tonight, there was just too much else to do. I'm gonna hope the forums are up during the day tomorrow. :|
Yeah, I guess we will do some talksy and then go smash some bugs to establish our badassery.
Then do some serious talksy and maybe some shadowsy (read: everything Dreksial does) to get new friends (not to mention foes to smash).
@Mercy: Yeah, moving sucks. 'Where did I put that thing ...' - it still happens, and I have moved (a very limited amount of stuff!) 2 1/2 years ago x_x