Hmm - just checking some things.
I want Tyrus to be really really good at necromancy eventually.
I know you said to trust you about the bloodline. If you want me to hand over a feat, just say so!
Otherwise over progression I was thinking things like Mage's Tattoo, Spell Specialization, Greater Spell Specialization Spell Perfection and maybe Skeleton Summoner, Threnodic Spell and Thanatopic Spell
Gameplay thread is up! Because I want to post them all together, I won't have the unique traits up until tomorrow. They won't affect gameplay before that.
Not to fear. Your unique trait will have something to do with necromancy as well, as well as your heritage - though Tyrus is unaware of that.
Regarding Logan:
How old is Logan now? The last age in his backstory seems to be 14.
Sorry I had meant to elaborate on his years since then and connect the 'recent' section with 'youth' section. I should have most of it worked out tonight and fine tune it tomorrow. To answer the question straight Logan will be 25. When he puts his mind on something he can be very stubborn and learn quickly when it intrigues him.
@Mercy: Also I will be updating him to Level 2, Yay! Though should we have standard wealth by level then?
@Everyone: Any suggestions for another trait?
Opportunistic or Master of the Sudden Strike?
Thanks for bringing this up, Logen. I forgot to say that if you started at level 2 you won't be on the wealth-by-level table. Instead, you roll starting gold twice. Feel free to continue modifying gear until our first combat encounter, or just “save up” the gold. Never hurts to have spare cash.
STAT LINES: It is very convenient for me when you have certain stats laid out in your profile so that they show up under you name (as Dante has done, and very well formatted I should say!). Do this by putting the same info as Dante has into the Classes/Levels field after your actual class and level. Thanks!
Your “special” traits are below. If they somehow go against your concept for your character let me know, as I've had to do some interpretation. Feel free to bring any issues (conflict of concept, confusing language, etc) up with me either through PM or here. I fully expect that we will eventually need to clarify some of the language on them, and we'll deal with those issues when we get to them.
Tyrus has gained the following trait/ability:
False Dichotomy – You are beginning to find that the line between Life and Death is no such thing. The two are interconnected, hazy in distinction, and always in motion.
You gain a +2 Insight bonus to all Heal checks, and +2 damage to any spells from the Necromancy school that deal HP or ability score damage. As a one-time bonus upon character creation, select three additional Necromancy spells and add them to your spellbook.
(feel free to reselect your spells if you want to maximize the benefit from the two additional ones, or just add three necro spells. Up to you!)
A book on the Kadeshi language would have been easy for a lifelong teacher like you to procur cheaply. Go for it. Necril probably won't exist, as the dead will speak the languages they did in life. If Necril does exist in some fashion it will be heavily modified in exactly what kinds of undead speak it and why. But like I said, I wouldn't worry about the languages too much on this one.
Finally, your skill checks with the torble (which I see you charmingly named Torble ;) ) reminded me: Until you are actually able to speak with your familiar, any Knowledge skill checks it makes must be to Aid Another. Until then, the torble is just trying to “nudge” your memory in the right direction through the empathic link. It can't actually tell you any new knowledge. I've seen a lot of different takes on how this should go, but this is the one that makes the most sense to me. I hope you agree with the logic.
Dante has gained the following trait/ability:
Ancestor Blade – Is the blade the vessel, or merely the bridge?
Your heirloom greatsword is a masterwork weapon (+1 to Attack rolls). Furthermore, once per day you may call upon your ancestor's strength and summon your eidolan as a standard action. If this ability is used less than 24 hours after the eidolan was lost due to being reduced to 0 hit points, the eidolan returns at half health and is fatigued.
Furthermore Dante, I'm not seeing what spells you've chosen in your profile.
Logen gains the following trait/ability:
Wholehearted Fighter – You don't fight anything by half measures. If it's worth beating, it's worth beating hard.
Twice per day. Logen can rage (as the barbarian class feature) for 3 rounds. Logen must use these consecutively, and once activated his rage will not end until all rounds have been spent. Logen is NOT fatigued when his rage ends.
Rage mechanics from Barbarian class description:
While in rage, a barbarian gains a +4 morale bonus to her Strength and Constitution, as well as a +2 morale bonus on Will saves. In addition, she takes a –2 penalty to Armor Class. The increase to Constitution grants the barbarian 2 hit points per Hit Dice, but these disappear when the rage ends and are not lost first like temporary hit points. While in rage, a barbarian cannot use any Charisma-, Dexterity-, or Intelligence-based skills (except Acrobatics, Fly, Intimidate, and Ride) or any ability that requires patience or concentration.
Also, you seem to have a couple oddities in your gear, which probably comes from assuming the wealth-by-level charts. And quick question: Did you pull the stats for a “bruiser” from anywhere in particular?
Luca gains the following trait/ability:
Look into the Void – When she looks at you in a certain way, you get the sense that something else is looking too... and it doesn't like you.
Once per day, Luca can stare at another creature as a standard action. The creature must be conscious and be able to see Luca, and is drawn to meet her eyes unless it is engaged in melee combat. If they are able to see each other, roll 2d6 for an effect and 2d4 for a duration: The targeted creature gains the corresponding condition for that many rounds. This is a mind-affecting supernatural ability.
2,3) Nauseated
4) Confused
5) Staggered
6) Fascinated
7) Shaken
8) Sickened
9) Fatigued
10) Dazed
11,12) Frightened
All right, that should get us started. I know it's been an involved process and we've got a lot of rule tweaks. We'll iron out the glitches as we find them, and hopefully the changes make for more fun in the game!
I rather like that trait! ^^ It's random, it's weird, and it's totally fitting for her theme...
On a related note...
@GM: Last big question. XD Do you mind if I add the chance to summon lower-list monsters to Otherworldly Guardians? That's something that the various summoning spells do anyway, so it's not much of a change. (For example, if Luca was using Summoning Mastery II, a roll of 1-5 would result in something from her second-level list, and a roll of 6 would result in 1d3 creatures from her first-level list, as per the normal spell text.)
Gold:
x 10 = 150.
Hah! Exactly what I'd been using anyway, so I don't need to change anything. ^^ That's convenient.
That will be handy at night or on surprise situations. Thanks.
Thanks - looks great.
Yeah, in my head I had him creating a unique lifeform he named Torble, but I didn't clear it with people and now it is one of genus Torble. Ah well :)
The aid another thing with Torble is very generous. Are you sure? I had Torble trying to explain to Tyrus (the whole pseudopod thing) and not getting anything across. Only strong emotions normally go through the link.
I do want to be able to play Torble as well once he can speak, as I find the duality of characters like that is good for making explicit what would normally be internal dialogue.
Not sure what you were doing with the initial torble knowledge checks then! :)
I originally was of the opinion that familiars doing knowledge skill checks was weird, but - as pointed out in a thread I found - why else would they have those skills? Might as well have those checks do something useful.
If Logen hasn't posted in a couple hours, I'll "assume" him onboard (he can retro-post for the beginning) and move on. That will be the usual action for players not posting in a day, as I'd like to keep up a decent pace.
@Mercy, Bruiser I just took as a greatsword as if it was small, I just deleveled the damage and made it blunt, should the crit be 19-20 or just x2?
Sorry folks yesterday I was swamped with activities, let alone my pain.
x 10=130gp
Is everyone else level 2?
I think Tyrus is Level 1...?
If my records (yes, I'm keeping records) are correct, Tyrus and Dante are starting at level 1, and Logen and Luca are at level 2. Not exactly the characters I thought would be starting at level 2, but not really a problem for me. Can't nitpick every decision you guys make! (out loud) ;)
Oh, and one more thing: Remember that you can't normally make untrained Knowledge checks. Some of us rolled knowledge checks for skills in which we had no ranks invested! Gonna let it slide this time...
So it's a blunt, training greatsword? But not made of wood or anything I take it. Sure, 1d8/x2 sounds fine. Gold cost will be the same as a regular greatsword, though.
A wooden training sword would be worth 50 gp?
Well I guess it is really well made, how about 1d10 then?
I will also have crafted at least my greatsword, which will get me back 25 gp to help pay for the training sword.
Confused on what you're saying. Is it wooden or not? A metal training sword is normal for all other intents and purposes, just happens to be blunt. A wooden training sword would be cheap, but not do much damage. And whether or not your master gave it to you, it counts as part of your total starting "wealth."
If metal: 1d8/x2, normal greatsword cost.
If wood: 1d4/x2, maybe... 1gp?
Use whichever is appropriate.
Sorry, I thought I have always said the training sword is wooden.
Ok, will do!
Since I was with my Master for about 10 years... I will update the background with what I typed up today soon... Are you fine with me crafting my sword thus paying cost instead of price?
1d4 worse than a club? I am thinking of basically a kendo sword so at least 1d6.
Tyrus is a 2 - thought there was a discussion from post 5. I said I was happy to make him level 1, and I am, just have to downpower the crunch a bit. Does mean I have to work out what my old equipment list was. I think I bought the healing kit, crucible, retort and black book.
Work out which skills...
craft, 6 knowledges, spellcraft and heal at 1.
Favoured class bonus into skills.
BAB to 0, CMB and CMD 1 less. HP to 6. Will to +2. 2 less spells in spellbook; youthful transformation and unseen servant. 1 less 0 and 1st spell/day.
There you go, cut back down to size.
I am having trouble with that link. Do I need to create an account?
I have an account, but The link is just sending me to the site.
I didn't suggest you needed to change anything. It's entirely up to you whether you want to start at level 1 or level 2.
I was shooting for a club's damage, must have misremembered it. Go ahead and treat the training sword like a club with all the same stats.
My apologies, looks like I used the wrong link. This should be the correct one. Will update the other link.
If it'll help, I can get you an icon of Luca's face. ^^ Also, that question above...?
Ah, sorry! Yes, chance for multiple downlist monsters is fine. I'll worry about the mechanics a bit later. And yes, you'll definitely need an icon for Luca.
What size would you like the icon to be? ^^ Cropping and resizing shouldn't take more than a minute, but I'd like to be sure it's not too small.
Icons for the game board (DungeonGrid) are resized automatically, and actually you guys can add your own to the map by dragging any picture into the map grid from elsewhere on your desktop (a weird way to do it, but I didn't make the thing. Wish I could get in touch with the creator!).
As for an icon for your own profile here, why don't you just pick one from the stock images? I was assuming you would all use those for the game board.
That should do. ^^ At least, I HOPE it automatically saves edits like that...
Creepy
I am going to go ahead and create everyone's avatars for the ship. Feel free to delete it if you want something else in there.
@Mercy: Anything else you want me to work on for the moment?
Thanks wolf, though I replaced a couple of the NPC portraits. Nothing much else to do for a bit. Unless I hear from people that they would like to keep roleplaying I'll plan to move the adventure forward tonight.
Its all good, now for those boards...
As we come up on our first combat, a quick note on how I'm going to be trying to run them so as to make them go more quickly.
1) I will roll initiative for everyone at the start of any combat. Make sure you have your initiative bonus in your stat line!
2) Combat actions will execute in turn order, but ALL PLAYERS will post their actions simultaneously (or rather, whenever they post). Once all actions are in I will then resolve them together. This is meant to show that while initiative divides characters as to who goes first/next/last, all characters are actually attempting to act at the same time. This should let us get through at least one combat round per day, which is a heckuva lot faster than a lot of the combat I see on these forums.
Now, this does have trade offs. You can't always plan for what will happen during combat, so this requires you to imagine what is likely to happen and choose your actions accordingly. You can have simple conditionals (Move to X and attack enemy A. If enemy A is dead/unconscious before my turn, move to Y and attack enemy B) but please keep them reasonable.
I'll also be trying to play around with certain bonuses to actions that were hampered by the simultaneous submission thing to help make up for the shortcomings of the system. And as with most things I do, this system is subject to change if it doesn't work well/isn't fun. If it turns out to be a complete pooch screw, we'll go back to the regular way.
Let me know if you have any questions about the above.
The Eidolon's stats are now in her profile. ^^ I should probably add them to the stat bar, too...
Or add an alias. The two of you will act differently. Also what your evolutions?
So far: Pounce, Claws, and Magic Attacks. Nice and simple to start with. ^^
To simplify things I just have all summoned creatures and such act with the same initiative as the summoner. You don't need to worry about having the eidolan's stats in your statline (that would make it too confusing. I'll look it up in your profile when needed. Also yes, an icon for your eidolan will be necessary.
I'd been thinking of changing Tyrus' spell list given that he'd seen hints of this happening since last night.
The irony; an extra Mage Armor for his young friend Dante.
Ah well - changed it anyway.
Phew! Naturally I pick a big, complicated battle to open my first PbP game with. Ambitious little moron, I am. Ah well: gotta start with a bang, eh?
Also, with move orders - generally try and tell me what enemy/square you were aiming (if any) at so I can place you with more accuracy. One of the drawbacks of doing combat this way is that it'll be harder to retcon things.
Feel free to comment on the "all-at-once" combat resolution style at any time, especially as to whether or not you enjoy it or think it harms the feel of play.
Your "standing orders" re: your HP and your eidolan were seen and noted, Dante.
Standing orders?
That you will always sacrifice your own HP to keep the eidolan around. I assume that applies so long as you yourself wouldn't be knocked out by the sacrifice? (I need to take a look at the rules again to see what it says about that situation, too).
Luca, does your Eidolan have something that will avoid AoO's when it leaves those threatened spaces, or were you just going to let them try?
Looking at what was happening, I was sort of hoping all the creatures threatening it would be dead by the time it tried. XD If not... well, I guess I'll let them try to hit it.
Oh got it. Yes if it becomes a fatal blow to both of us I will try to stay alive but I have a better chance of doing that with the Eidolon's armor. And "The eidolon cannot be sent back to its home plane by means of dispel magic, but spells such as dismissal and banishment work normally. If the summoner is unconscious, asleep, or killed, his eidolon is immediately banished." Should any of these happen mid-fight I am screwed because of the 1 min cast time but your trait will help in at least one instance per day.
So probably, as long as it won't knock you out you'll save the eidolan. Good policy. Also, I'm going to change the balance of your Ancestor Blade ability slightly: I'm going to make it a full-round action which draws AoO's, so it isn't quite so much of an "instant fix."
@Luca: Probably not all of them, but you never know. And with AC 18 the thing will probably be okay. :)
I've been meaning to mention this, but I think it's spelled "Eidolon", not "Eidolan". XD
That aside, that is a lot of pirates... If we'll get swarmed fairly regularly, I should look into more ways of quickly eliminating the small fry. XD Or at least helping channel them into narrow areas where we can get rid of them more effectively. That's for later, though. This is certainly a fun opening act!
I am the GM and I'll misspell anything I damn well please! (including the word "wharf" in the very first post. Noticed that one just past the edit deadline. Arg).
I keep meaning to find some other term to call your eidy-thingy by. Dante's is an ancestor spirit, and yours is a... something. Maybe I'll just call it "fluffy" for the time being.
Also: Opening act? Hell, this is still basically the prologue. :) Glad you're enjoying it though!
Well, there are quite a few options. XD On the other hand, I think Fluffy is perfectly fine as a nickname, and that works for me!
Aw, Nerfed.
Also, Luca I think fluffy will be okay. It goes after me and I just bisected the only pirates (currently) threatening it. That's how you make a comeback.
Now if only Logan would post. Excited to see pirate reactions.
Well... It's not the right side of the map I'm worried about. XD