So: Thinking Tyrus should get at least one attack spell.
=====
Spells available
Dante
1st(5) - Grease, Shield, Shocking Grasp, True Strike, Color Spray, Ray of Enfeeblement, Silent Image, Magic Missile (bought)
2nd(2) - Elemental Touch, Mirror Image
Tyrus
0: all but illusion and enchantment
1: 15 spells; Obscuring Mist[c], Crafter’s Fortune[t], Enlarge Person[t], Polypurpose Panacea[t], Touch of the Sea[t], Mage Armour[c], Summon Monster I[c], Burning Hands[e], Sculpt Corpse[n], Cause Fear[n], Chill Touch[n], Snapdragon Fireworks[t], Air Bubble[c]
2: False Life [n], Cat’s Grace [t], Bear’s Endurance[t], Boneshaker[?]
The extra one
1: Obscuring Mist[c], Alarm[a], Detect Charm[d]
2: Acid Arrow[c], Summon Swarm[c], Levitate[t]
=====
Combined
1: Grease[c], Shield[a], Shocking Grasp[e], True Strike[d], Color Spray[i], Ray of Enfeeblement[n], Silent Image[i], Magic Missile[e], Obscuring Mist[c], Crafter’s Fortune[t], Enlarge Person[t], Polypurpose Panacea[t], Touch of the Sea[t], Mage Armour[c], Summon Monster I[c], Burning Hands[e], Sculpt Corpse[n], Cause Fear[n], Chill Touch[n], Snapdragon Fireworks[t], Air Bubble[c],Obscuring Mist[c], Alarm[a], Detect Charm[d]
2: Acid Arrow[c], Summon Swarm[c], Levitate[t],False Life [n], Cat’s Grace [t], Bear’s Endurance[t], Boneshaker[?],Elemental Touch[e], Mirror Image[i]
=====
Removing spells that are obviously not useful to me
1: Grease[c], Shield[a], Shocking Grasp[e], True Strike[d], Ray of Enfeeblement[n], Magic Missile[e], Obscuring Mist[c], Enlarge Person[t], Mage Armour[c], Summon Monster I[c], Burning Hands[e], Cause Fear[n], Chill Touch[n], Snapdragon Fireworks[t], Obscuring Mist[c]
2: Acid Arrow[c], Levitate[t],False Life [n], Cat’s Grace [t], Bear’s Endurance[t], Boneshaker[n], Elemental Touch[e], Mirror Image[i]
(removed summon swarm because specifies it chases 'Living targets')
=====
Tyrus gets huge bumps to necromancy
He gets
1: 5+1[t]
2: 3+1[t]
Dante gets
1: 3
2: 2
=====
Possibilities.
Everyone who can get Chill Touch does. We Bad Touch any zombies that come near us. Enlarge Person is used to get those sweet reach AoOs, and stop being grappled. Catch: touch spells stop more casting.
Open up with Command Undead. Zombies don't get a save. Used commanded undead to attack other undead (hopefully keeping them away).
Mirror Image to provide distractions and pray they attack the wrong images.
Burning Hands (repeatedly, and together) in the hopes of ashing a path through the Hopscotch of Death.
Obscuring Mist/Luca's summons in the hopes of luring them to a different area.
If nothing else, I've got bodies to spare for distracting and leading the undead in different directions. XD
Nobody has actually done anything yet...
How thick is the fog, exactly? Would my scouting plan be workable, or should I just give that up?
We have neither the money or the time for all that. There is still a cost associated with copying spells. 10gp for first level and we don't have any gold. Even if we did, its assumed that the gold is going towards magic enhanced ink and quills and other things. It's not as simple as copying words. We have to get out of here first.
Command Undead does have a save, even for mindless.
I think the best plan would be having Luca summon enough things with high AC and HP. Have them screen us as we use burning hands to open a path to move. She has a lot of uses per day, can summon several and they last minutes. We should abuse that against weak undead.
The fog/mist is not all that thick, especially during the middle daylight hours. Scouting from above would work just fine.
@Dante: I reckon you've got a pretty good chance of making the spellcraft roll to memorise from Tyrus' spellbook.
A nonintelligent undead creature gets no saving throw against this spell.
Prepare a spell from a borrowed spellbook 15 + spell level
I did not know you could do that. +9 vs 16 or 17. Pretty good is true but we might want to try before coming up with a plan. Also might want to pitch it in character.
I thought you meant command undead the necromancer ability, not the spell.
Ah.
Yes - a generally superior power, but the spell does have the one benefit for commanding an army of mindless undead - I had a player do it once. The long duration means a single spell slot each day can basically deliver CL undead minions.
I think we could probably Aid each other, though it'd double prep time. Seems strange if we can't. Having the person who wrote the spell down right there to help you learn it should be hugely useful!
Go for it (the aid another checks). I'm happy to have you share spells within the party. I might institute harsher rules for it in the future, gold costs and such - but there are plenty of ways for me to screw with your magic availability, I don't need to mess with this one. :)
*Taps chin* Speaking of availablity, would it be all right if I added these creatures to Luca's summon list? They're all from Bestiary 5 - my list of choices is still significantly smaller than the normal Summon Monster spell, so I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to at least check out what was available from newer sources. XD Alas, the low levels of Aberrations are still pretty boring, but it is what it is.
Summon Monster 2: Akaname (<- The only new thing she'd be getting right now - 13 HP, AC 13, +4 attack roll... as a CR 1 creature it's not terribly frightening, but its climbing might come in handy)
Summon Monster 3: Thought Eater
Summon Monster 5: Blightspawn, Cuero, Grimslake, Rhu-Chalik
Summon Monster 6: Aatheriexa, Capramace
Summon Monster 7: Egregore, Yangthe
Summon Monster 8: Somalcygot
Dante - yes, that has my vote.
@Luca: please don't summon an Akaname unless our very lives depend on it.
*Looks at how things have gone lately*
...
That might happen sooner than we'd like... o wo;
How many 'pockets' are there, and how long would it take to go through them?
Thinking
* Tyrus gets Mage Armour & Alarm
* we stock up on Burning Hands.
I'd like a way to avoid killing our own with the fire, though.
Any ideas for when we get grappled?
Maybe we each get Mirror Image?
It'll cost T two slots, but might be worth it.
Enlarge Person might also help - but not if we're squeezing through gaps. (@Mercy?)
Maybe Dante burns anything that gets close (hold to do so) and Tyrus commands the first couple we come across, then uses them as a running shield on the others? Would they be able to get through if commanded? (@Mercy again)
Luca: Go ahead and add them. I'm a little wary of the constant spider climb on the Akaname, but if it becomes too useful I'll deal with it later.
Tyrus: From your memory of the area you'd be able to surmise that the path leads you through a ruined section that covers roughly two city blocks, however you do not know how many zombie-infested pockets might exist in the area or whether or not you'll be able to avoid them. You very well may have to squeeze through gaps, but any such obstacle may also be able to be climbed over (which an enlarged person would find easier).
Okay if Tyrus uses the following then?
2nd: False Life. Bear's Endurance [t]. Command Undead x2.
1st: BLANK. Mage Armour. Enlarge Person [t]. Burning Hands x2
Does anyone have rope? Did we get some from Georgi?
For what it's worth, the normal Summon Monster list has a creature with a similar effect (the Giant Spider, also Climb Speed 30 ft.) at the same level. Honestly, I'm not expecting to use them too often - but as always, if you ever feel like it's too much, I'm happy to change it. ^^ You've been pretty generous with letting me have a custom summon list as it is, so I certainly can't complain if you'd like to tweak it.
Need these for Burning Hands.
Dante, did you get false life?
...Out of curiosity, what spell were you using to command that undead, Tyrus? XD I've never really played an undead controller character, and I thought all the spells at our level had a fairly short duration.
False Life might be better than mirror image.
got it.
Standard Command Undead
Fun Fact: You first left Fort Mistwatch 10 pages ago, on May 17 2016. And now you're back! I hope you enjoyed your visit to Keldradt.
1000 posts for a walk through Keldradt? Wow. Less than a year though.
Closer to 500, I think, if every page is still 50 posts. XD At the moment, I'm wondering if we should hold off on direct adventuring a bit, and perhaps aim to use downtime to gather some funds and outfit ourselves a little better.
How long were we gone IC? I make it about a week of stop-start progress.
Off the top of my head I think it was something like 9-10 days. But That is without actually taking stock.
Also, and I'll be honest here: the interior of Keldradt is still pretty vague as far as distance and time are concerned. You were a group a guinea pigs there. The total number of days you spent in there isn't a big concern for me. The challenges you faced were.
Dante, here's what I've decided for that feat.
This functions identically to the Toughness feat (and counts as the Toughness feat for pre-requisites).
However, you would have acquired several unattractive and visible scars, as well a a somewhat more prickly demeanor. You take a -2 to Diplomacy checks (-4 when the target would otherwise find you attractive).
As far as the Diplo check, please apply the -2 yourself whenever you roll diplomacy and I will worry about any other effects.
The going trend was to leave Keldradt for a little while to rest and make use of skills to make some money. If that is what the others want to do then Dante will stay for a little payback. Joining Purger groups to keep the main paths clear will be his down time. It will also give him an in game reason for the next level. If we decide otherwise I will change the response accordingly.
Things we need to do:
(1) hand over Georgi's stuff and explain what happened
(2) find out HOW people make a profit, and whether they loot the fallen.
(3) Sell or hand over (2).
Now, my theory is that this is like the gold rush. Most people just lose time or there lives, MAYBE finding enough to stay even (though likely selling artefacts rather than gold dust). Every now and then someone strikes it rich, and those are the stories that lead people to keep coming out.
Happy for Tyrus to enquire around, but people are more likely to answer a wide eyed question like this from Luca, or possibly Dante.
Well, for what it's worth, I'm Charisma-based. XD ...Definitely gonna put a point or two into Diplomacy next level, though.
Depending on the target, Dante will be below Luca's pure charisma diplomacy.
If nothing else, I can Take 10 on it. XD A 14 isn't fabulous, but ought to suffice if we're just asking for simple help, especially if you Aid Another.
Remember we have the group loot sheet.
It needs to be updated with the stuff we found (and what we used) but not sure if Georgi's stuff can be obviously returned, ie does he have someone who would inherit it.
We don't want to keep the loot of a guy who went out with us, will look like we killed them for the stuff!
Sorry for short absence.
Remember that upon returning to the city, everything you brought with you would have been inspected (and obviously nothing untoward was found or I would have noted that).
You'd be pretty safe asking anyone at Mistwatch or anyone associated with Georgi what you should do with his stuff.
And finally, have you guys discussed how long you intend to stay in Keldradt on downtime? We can fly through the weeks if you are just working and saving and whatnot (sorry Dante, I won't be going through any actual combat for you, though I will roll some events so interesting things could happen).
Alright - should we rp through asking, or just treat it as done?
Regarding downtimes; we need coin. Tyrus has somewhere to go now, but I can see him spending his free time looking for his 'visitor' - he has to come out some time. Could spend a few weeks doing that.
I get that the game is more realistic; a lot of the dangerous things don't necessarily make as much money as a serious, solid, stable job. But it's pushing yourself that leads to growth.
Whichever you like, Tyrus. If you want to treat it as done that's fine, you can assume you returned Georgi's possessions to someone you are reasonably sure was close to him.
And as to coin: Yes, this game keeps you tighter on coin than most. It would certainly be possible to become vastly rich by adventuring, but it usually takes effort focused on exactly that. Getting to know an area, getting to know its history and where the big "scores" might be, that sort of thing. And making a lot of money from a day job is also possible, but it also takes time to establish yourself. That's one of the good things about downtime, though - it can fly by. The character's might be humbly working their day-to-day jobs for months on end but for us it only takes a few days to get through it.
You had the right of it when you thought of Keldradt like a gold rush: some strike it big, most just make a living, lots of people go broke or die. And the higher level you are the more likely you are to 'strike it big': as I've alluded to before, the majority of Keldradt might be rather beyond your abilities now.
So yes, if you guys want to make a ton of cash by dangerous adventuring, you'll want to be adventuring specifically for that purpose. Some in-character brainstorming and information gathering will turn up leads. Some of them will be getting paid good money to do dangerous things, and some of them will be going out and finding shiney stuff. And hopefully some of them will be more original, but no promises. ;)
I think we might do better to find something more within our means, rather than something particularly dangerous but with a high payoff. XD
Also, don't you guys still have a few doses of mensha? That stuff be valuable.
We do indeed have some of that. XD Luca's making sure Tyrus can't dip into it when nobody's looking.
Sure money isn't the be-all and end-all. Does mess with CR, but you're pretty careful about not putting us up against things that require DRs we don't have.
Dante: what is happening with your sword? Have you just abandoned it?
Strongly considering having Tyrus research a spell. How would you like to run that @Mercy?
NOTE TO SELF v1
ACTIONS:
* restock kit
* research Greater Disrupt Undead
* research Greater Phantom Blood
* find out how to get to the healers
* try to find out who the visitor was
* find the visitor
* can we sell the scimitar & gear from the martyr
If nothing else, I'd like to look around and see if we can get a healstick... XD I definitely feel like lack of healing is affecting our ability to explore, although at least we've got Luca's minions to absorb a fair bit of damage for us.
Remember the campaign rules - we're not just going to get away with CLW.
My hope is that Tyrus can keep us more or left up, though I grant that at an hour per roll that is substandard.
Wondering if there's a way to set up a spell like False Life, but one that can be used on others. Could always Scroll it, I guess, but that's expensive.
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Ah, thanks Tyrus. Dante still has his sword, and in fact during the last week it would have woke up again. I'll do a post for that.
As it turns out, level 4/5 is right around the time I encourage players to think about inventing their own spells if they wish. The sorcerer in my face-to-face game loves creating new touch-attack spells to go with her dragon claws.
Given how complicated spells can be, this is one of my more ad-hoc systems. In the "Expanded" below I give you the more cohesive rules I've developed for it, but I am open to freeform. I do take some cues from the pathfinder suggested rules. The below is tailored to wizardly-type casters (Luca, if you are reading this, the rules would be a bit different for you).
Essentially I allow for two main types of spell creation by players:
1) In place of currently available spell gain at level-up
2) Wholesale creation during downtime.
In (1) you replace a spell you'd normally learn at level-up with a tweaked version dependent on some rolls. In (2) you spend time and money to create entirely new spells, power again dependent on skill rolls and other resources spent.
I'm always open to ideas from players, and feel free to "make your case" any time you try to create a spell, both in the spell itself and even in the process. Think recent experiences have given your character a leg up on creating a divination spell to locate fine cheeses? Give me your best spin on why. Think a certain rare item you found could be used as experimental fodder for a new spell which turns pumpkins into carriages? Make your best case! It's up to me to buy into or shoot down your interpretation. You're the lawyer, I'm the judge.
Apologies for the wall of text here. Magic, ya know.
THE FIRST METHOD is of course the easiest. You take a spell you could otherwise have learned at level-up, and you think of a way you'd like to tweak it. Take, for instance, the Alarm spell, which does not usually apply to Ethereal creatures - but you want to have a version which does.
This is a fairly small tweak, and could be narrowed even further to fit with Tyrus' specialties: A version which applies only to undead ethereal creatures (as well as normal targets for alarm). That is focused enough and in line with Tyrus' proficencies (both roleplayed and mechanical) that it'd be fairly easy for Tyrus to research.
When you choose to make a spell this way and choose the 'tweak' you want, I'll decide the difficulty level necessary to properly research the spell, as well as what bonuses you get. (You won't roll a d20, as I like to use 2d10 for these kinds of rolls to give a real probability curve.) Success means you research the spell with the specified tweak and all other spell elements unchanged. Failure means you research the spell with the specified tweak but with an added drawback - a cost you paid somewhere else in the spell's details to add the feature. For instance, the Alarm distance might shrink somewhat, or require a non-trivial casting focus (read: small monetary cost), that sort of thing.
Finally, Critical Success (2 10's on a 2d10) mean you an even more powerful tweak or another benefit elsewhere in the spell. Tyrus's Expanded Ethereal Alarm might apply to all Ethereal creatures, or have a larger range, duration, etc. And of course, the reverse for a critical failure (snake eyes).
As always, I reserve the right to modify the process for changes I think are more grandiose, impactful, or otherwise deserve special consideration.
THE SECOND METHOD is much more flexible, and much more expensive in terms of time and other player resources. You can essentially repeat the process above if you want, basing the spell of an existing one but with a single main change. I'll assign a time/money/skill roll cost and you'll spend it to research the spell with the same kind of rolls.
Or, you can attempt more grandiose changes to existing spells, or even attempt to create new ones wholesale. The process can be essentially whatever we want, but I usually suggest this: You decide on an initial concept and do "preliminary research" with whatever materials are available to you (and you can endeavor to access others, such as paying a private library fee to use someone else' tomes, that sort of thing). How high you end up rolling in whatever skill checks I feel are necessary determines a few starting points for the spell. You can run with these and go through a few more research rounds to tweak and change other aspects of the spell (eventually finalizing it and taking what I give you for the remainder of the elements) or abandon that preliminary research and try a new "approach' to the same spell idea.
Example: Tyrus decides he wants to research a new 2nd-level necromancy spell that can not only harm the undead, but heal the living (so essentially, a necromancy-based version of the divine Cure spells). Tyrus knows a lot about necromancy and healing both, so he'd get some decent bonuses for initial research. He does some skill checks (over a week or two) and rolls poorly. He abandons that and tries again, this time rolling middling numbers. I rule that he has discovered an approach which does good damage to undead (comparable to other undead-damaging spells of the level) but can only heal a small amount (would not quite match a 1st level cure spell). Tyrus decides he is okay with this limited versatility and continues research. Over the next few rounds (constituting a couple more weeks of research, and some money spent on materials and experiments) he rolls well, and aside from getting fairly normal attributes for a combat-utility spell, manages to make it into a ranged touch spell. Tyrus gives it a name and finalizes the research into a castable spell.
When looking at what bonuses or negatives you might get during creation, I try to take a holistic view of all stats and roleplay. So skills, ability scores, spells already known, character development, past experiences - all of these are considered (ideally).
ON MAKING MONEY BY SELLING RESEARCHED SPELLS
Most spells invented by lone wizards are idiosyncratic and esoteric, relying on their specific specialties and bodies of knowledge. This makes them less than ideal for teaching to others and thus not very valuable in general (though you might be able to sell it to a like-minded specialist!). However, very high rolls on spell creation can give you the option of making a powerful personal-use spell, or instead researching a less-powerful but more widely castable one, which is more valuable on the market of magical research. These spells will be marked with the attribute Generalized (or something like that, I keep changing the name of the attribute).
After the info Dante got I think we have a choice. Either stay here and make this our adventure or leave for something else. The level of difficulty and man power needed to end this would take an entire AP's worth of effort in my opinion (Possibly hitting multiple sources of the curse at once or maintaining vigil one ones we've dealt with. Either way that will take a lot of time and influence.). I could RP it either way but I want input from the others and the DM. It sounds cool but unless you give us a Deus Ex or magic bullet, the coordination necessary to pull this off would take a long time and a lot of levels.
Awesome!
Was just thinking about a Necromancy spell that is Disrupt Undead with a scaling damage. Was thinking if it is capped at 5d6, probably level 1. If capped at 10d6, probably 2nd. Does this seem reasonable? Do you have any OOC reservations?
@Dante: Luca's an almost depressingly agreeable sort, so she's probably going to go along with whatever you decide you want to do. XD
I definitely use Pathfinder's guidelines for spell damage: damage is capped by spell level. A level one spell would indeed be capped at 5 dice, and your rolls would determine whether that's a 5d4 or 5d6 or perhaps even higher. Level 2 spells are capped at 10 dice for single target or 5 dice for multi target spells. The table is available here.
However, I should also mention that one of the major elements in your ability to research a powerful spell is how close it is to your maximum spell level. Given that you are almost capable of 3rd level spells, you could research a 2nd level spell - but you'd be safer (and more capable of good-to-great results rather than poor-to-moderate) trying for a 1st level. Up to you, of course.
Still need to know how much time you guys want to spend on these activities. I can do a whole batch in one post if I know what the plan is.
Dante, I take it from your posts that you are prioritizing the switch from Magus to Harbinger, I'll try and re-read the issues you raised regarding that soon and get you some concrete answers.
Luca's just earning money, so she's happy to work at that for as long as Tyrus and Dante want to do anything here. XD