Ith's PFS pbp (Inactive)

Game Master ithuriel

Congrats on the house buying. :). Hope you join us again later when things get back to normal for you.

I think we'll be fine with the remaining group even without a dedicated frontliner. We'll have:

Cleric 2
Bard 2
Sorcerer 2
Sorcerer 2
Witch 2

Considering this scenario is playable with four brand new first level characters I don't think it will be a problem for five second level characters even if our configuration isn't ideal. Alwyn and Fog can sub in as front liners with a little buffing and considering going into this one clomping around in plate mail seems extremely unlikely, innate spell casting ability will be very handy and all five of us have that. If we are barred from bringing any visible weaponry into the opera house that still leaves us the ability to fling around fire, drop people to sleep, grease the floors, and heal ourselves.

I picked up a wand of mage armor and clw with prestige. That will allow allow all of us to armor up to some degree and ensure Fog has access to all of his spell slots for things other than healing. I can throw down enlarge person at least once and the ward hex is good for +2 deflection ac and saves on one target until either fails, but I can renew it.

We can make it work.

No worries Evan. Good luck with the house, it can be a stressful time!

As Ith says, I think we will be fine for this scenario.

We seem to be a bit slow to start (myself included), is everyone ready to go?

Ith, make that Cleric1/Fighter1......

I'm basically ready to go, but I need to have a night of consolidating my funds etc...Nothing that will stop us moving forward though.

No problem, Evan. I look forward to seeing you come back for the next game :-)

Does Alie want a short shopping montage post? She's got that fashionable trait and its a rare opportunity to show it off. If you want to post her guiding a reluctant Magda through Absalom's boutiques take it away and I'll jump in. Otherwise we are probably about ready to go other than some gear purchasing for those who need it.

Mechanically I'm going to buy the noble's outfit and the required jewelry. I just wanted to put up a fuss about it IC.

Also- Worship of Sarenrae is illegal in Taldor. Aldred can probably take 10 to warn Fog. Then again- Fog probably knows full well that an entire country has outlawed his faith for over 100 years without a roll.

Hey guys,

Apologies for my unexpected absence over the past few days. For those who haven’t heard, I abruptly lost my job earlier in the week. Times are going to be tough for a bit – my wife has just started working for three days a week after coming off 18 months maternity leave, so we fortunately have some income, but we pretty much burnt through our savings over the past 18 months so … hopefully I will find something soon. My industry is starting to be pretty badly affected by the financial uncertainty in Europe and elsewhere, but I’m sure something will come up. Circumstances may keep me away from Paizo more than normal though – not sure yet. Apologies in advance for any upcoming delays or slow downs. Please act for my character where required, or forgive slow GM updates as the case may be.

Anyway, this post is not meant to air my misery or garner sympathy, it is to express wonderment and heartfelt thanks to this fantastic community. Some far too generous person or persons who chose to stay anonymous have sent me a likewise far too generous gift certificate to help me keep up my AP subscription during this time. I can’t know for certain, but I suspect the person (or persons) is either a FAWTLy and / or in one of my pbp games. If you were behind this, thankyou so much, it is truly fantastic of you.

Cheers,
Luke

I'll be out of town tomorrow for a week. I'll continue to check in from my parent's house, but last time I vastly underestimated the costs for roaming data charges on simple web browsing while in Italy. I'll probably check in each evening rather than a few times a day via phone.

Hey all, many apologies for my unexpected absence. This whole job hunting thing is tedious and depressing, and I’ve found myself getting easily distracted from it. At the beginning of last week I decided to buckle down, promised myself that I would not log on to Paizo until I had sent out some letters, made some job applications and finished up my portfolio … well, what I had estimated I would get done in about two days stretched out to more than a week.

Anyway, I’m back now and will try to catch up soon. Apologies for any inconvenience.

No worries at all, Mothman :-)

Just glad to have you back :-D

Thanks man.

Since we are pretty close to the end of this one and it looks like we have a pretty fair chance of not completely wiping out now, what are you thinking Luke/Sek? Are you itching to get back into the action or would you like to run another? Trying to decide if I should get a new front line guy ready.

Someone hit me up via PM about joining a PFS pbp and without Kayluss and Aldred I think we could use the support. He's new to PF and PFS and I have no idea what kind of character he was thinking about. He also requested the new scenario that will kick off GenCon in a couple of weeks. 4-01
4-01 Rise of the Goblin Guild It hasn't come out yet so no one has played it. I'd be interested to run it to see how Season 4 is looking. Sek- if you would prefer to run another I would also be happy to play it. Either way is fine.

Season 4 does run on the assumption that you have 6 players. Most of you will be 3rd level after this adventure so we could either
1) play down at tier 1-2
2) recruit a 6th
3) both.
4) I think season 4 offers a scaled down version for groups of less than 6 players.

I think playing up might be impossible due to APL if he brings a 1st level guy. It might also be a terrible idea even if it is mathematically legal.

What do you guys think?

I am fine with whatever the rest of the group wants. If we could add a player or two that would probably be my suggestion. Seems like a PbP game works better with six, since the more posts the merrier. But I'm game for whatever.

This!

As long as the new to PFS player doesn't make me look *too* stupid wrt tactics and actually knowing the rules. Although, that's probably asking a bit much on my part.... ;)

I think we definitely need a sixth player. If he has to start at 1st level, then playing at Tier 1-2 would be better I think. Our party composition is not optimal IMO.

If sek runs and we play up I'll bring a 5th level fighter.

Even then up is probably a bad idea.

The guy who pm'd me is looking to start with a first level wizard so he's going to pass on our group since it is a half tier up from him and heavily weighted to the arcane. We only have four characters though once Aldred retires after this scenario so if you guys prefer six we can recruit. Maybe get some L2 or L3 guys if we are lucky.

We are going to have to recruit a tank or two. We'd have been tpk'd about three times in this one, if not for Magda's CLW wand!

Sek is a pretty decent killing machine with respectable AC. We suffered by swapping him for Magda, but I wouldn't have done that had I realized we would be without Kayluss. Also playing without our full complement of gear left us in a hard place. I laugh now when remember saying I didn't think it would be a problem. :D

Re: the wand. Either of you guys might benefit from a 1st level wand for 2 prestige. Magic missile for example. Certain critters are completely immune to Alie and anything at range is beyond Wadi's ability to hit with a spell. And with Magda retiring Fog could get a wand of clw for 2 prestige as well.

I'll put a recruitment up soon and emphasis the need for some muscle.

After this one is over, ith, please help me with getting Alie leveled and equipped, if you don't mind. I was thinking of adding Magic Missle as Alie's gained spell at the next level. This is my only PFS experience, and I am definitely behind the curve on how things are done...

Hmmm... This particular thread was quiet for so long, and then suddenly, there has been a proliferation of posts! :-P

To answer a couple of questions:

1)I am happy to keep GM'ing, especially since there are relatively few modules that I can play, for credit (there are few games I can play for GM credit, either, but that is a separate story...)

2)Recruiting additional players seems like a fine idea to me; I can probably suggest at least one.

3)Sek, sadly, was permanently killed in another game, so I can't bring him back... I do have a replacement character, though :-)

4)I would like to run the other modules in this 'series' ('Among the Dead', and 'Among the Gods' - the latter module will have to wait a couple of games, as it is level 3 minimum).

5)Spending 2 PP to purchase wands of Magic Missile, Mage Armor, Infernal Healing, and/or CLW is a very useful thing to do...

Which scenario killed Sek? I might have played Among the Dead. Gonna check now.

If you've got a lead on someone bring 'em over :)

Have you burned through the modules Luke? That might be another path where you could get credit over here.

I have played Among the Dead with my 5th level fighter. Not a problem though. I'd be fine sitting in with a pregen without credit for a session.

The wand of infernal healing Luke mentions is one of those items that are less common in regular groups but tons of arcane casters have them in PFS. Flavor wise it is an arcane spell taught by the faithful of Asmodeus and involves devil's blood and unholy water in the casting. Mechanics wise is is basically the Lesser Vigor spell from the latter days of 3.5. Target gets fast healing 1 for 10 rounds. So after a fight 1 charge heals 10 hps every time. It also makes the target detect as Evil while they are healing. As Wadi is from Cheliax it would be more in character for him to have one than for Alie, but there is nothing preventing her from also taking one if she wanted to do so.

Alie is going to get entangle at third level which is a big deal in terrain where she can use it. Everyone else should keep that in mind and be prepared with ranged options. If she can lock a group of enemies down for a few rounds you can pick them off while they try to get out. It has a 50' radius so they arent likely to be getting out in one round. As far as other spells I don't know. Magic missile will scale if you take it as a real spell rather than a wand, but you also might be tempted to blow through all of your spells trying to drop a single critter with it when you need it. I don't know if there is any clear winner. Just make sure it is something that you can see casting often and probably something that is not mind affecting so that you diversify. Grease, Enlarge person, Shocking grasp, Protection from Evil (to suppress mental domination on your front liners), Disguise self (if you can see Alie getting some use out of dealing with enemy npcs while in disguise in conjunction with bluff and diplomacy or perhaps charm person). Or magic missile. It is solid and dependable. Or none of the above. Whatever fits your theme.

Mage armor makes a good wand because it lasts an hour. So if you have five encounters per scenario you'll get ten full scenarios minimum out of one wand for 2 prestige or 750 gp and save a spell slot for something else. As far as other gear, a cloak of resistance +1 is pretty popular for +1 on all saves for 1000 gp. As a sorcerer maybe some situational scrolls for things where you'll be glad when you need it and have it. Eventually you want something to deal with magical darkness. It comes up a lot as it did in your first scenario but that will come later when you can cast daylight.

I bet Luke has better suggestions from the player angle than I do. I typically GM much much more than I play.

I might try to get a new pc going and rack up some GM and/or player credit on him during the one play a pregen. With luck I might get to 2nd level or so.

To answer a few more questions:

1)Actually, I am one of the 'regular' GMs in my area - I have played and/or GM'ed all of the (currently available) PFS modules, as well :-/

2)Sekhemre died in 'Dawn of the Scarlet Sun', which was an unrecoverable TPK (despite having a balanced party of six) - it started with a failed fortitude save versus a death attack, and ended with someone else being level-drained to zero...

Was Scarlet Sun the free adventure from a couple months ago? If so, a TPK doesn't shock me...that last encounter was unbelievably brutal.

Yes, yes it was.

The only table I know of that did *not* end in a TPK was one where there was a paladin, who was smiting, and had a lucky crit...

...still, the occasionally insanely dangerous module is good; I just wish that I had known that going in, so that I could have tried to plan accordingly :-/

I haven't played it, but from just a read through, I don't see anyway a paladin-less party could have gotten through, other than pure luck.

I see Among the Dead is 1-2, 3-4, 6-7. So we could potentially do either of the lower tiers depending on who we recruit. I'll bring Valeros L1 or L4 depending on our subtler. If we recruit a tank I might bring Merisiel instead.

It will take us a little while, but I think we have Fel Bustrani under control now. :) don't forget faction missions guys. I think most of us haven't done ours yet.

I did try to nudge people a few times regarding faction missions :-/

I am looking at Magda and Fog when I say that, of course...

Yeah, when Fog stops running he may well bring that up ;)

Mine is supposed to be done secretly. Sneaking off alone in the middle of a zombie apocalypse seemed like a bad / hard to explain thing to do from an IC perspective. I know where I need to go though. Just waiting till clean up.

Recruitment is open. Luke when you hear back let me know whether your buddy was interested so I know whether to grab one or two from the recruitment thread.

We have several people interested in the recruitment thread.
Druid 2 (potential to bring it up 3 between adventures through GM credit)
Rogue 3 (active poster)
Fighter 1 / Rogue 2 (built for the nonlethal + intimidation combo. )
Inquisitor 1 (active poster, very keen on joining)
Barbarian 1

What do you guys think? For me the level one guys make a vulnerable front line. A Druid can be a very effective striker type if built for it. The nonlethal guy will find his specialty nullified against many of the same targets as Alie, but otherwise it is a strong build. We might find ourselves very happy to have a rogue in certain scenarios.

Normally I would take the first to respond, but in this case the first two were the first level guys and we need at least one tough who is not first level. Since this is an ongoing group chime in and we can me the decision collectively. Unless Luke's friend is joining we will want to pick two.

I'm with you on the level 1 front liners. It's suicide, and I'd feel guilty if we brought them in, only for them to die. I'd be less so if it wasn't society, but it is.

I'd be tempted to go with first "viable" poster, so first of the druid/rogues. If we were going two, I'd say the druid and one of the rogues.

If it matters, my plans for Fog are another level of fighter at some point then concentrate on Cleric, he's supposed to be an Ex-tough who "found God". Depending on what we end up with, I could do the fighter level at third, or leave it until fourth..... I'm happy to take opinions on that!

I've listed them in order of first viable candidate according to what we were looking for- then the level one guys at the end. So if we go that route (which seems fair enough) we'd take the Druid and then the rogue if we need two.

I will say I played the next one at subtler 3-4 with a L3 or L4 switch hitter fighter and I nearly got destroyed a couple of times in one encounter. It was brutal. The GM was playing logically and with no mercy as he should and that encounter whipped our butts. So it is particularly likely that a L1 melee guy would bite it in the next one if we play at 3-4.

Considering I can't get credit in the next one I could sit it out while leveling my new PC rather than play a pregen. Then the guy with the inquisitor could give it a try, but I would want to come back afterward and would probably feel a little guilty booting him to take my spot back (if he survives :p )

EDIT: I looked back at my sessions and I was confusing this one #49 with #48 I think. The one that was so tough was run by a different GM so I'm sure it wasn't Among the Dead.

Let's take the Druid first. Then figure out of we need another or not.

Okay. 3 out of 5 says bring on the Druid.
Once we know if we need one we'll figure out number 6.

I agree with Gerald on this.

I agree with the selection of the Druid.

The person that I mentioned is still deciding, but I should have an answer one way or the other within the next 24 hours :-)

Hi guys- Im' the Druid that you have been talking about (in Ailias form). :)
My statblock is listed here.
I am one exp from third level which I should have this weekend with our home group (I GM). Plus this guy will get a run at GenCon next week. I can start playing at whatever level you want at the GM's descretion and timing.
I'll post my sheets later tonight when I get home, but Among the Dead is open for me.

Welcome Kovar! Glad to have you. We are wrapping up our current adventure and shouldn't be too far away from starting the new one...

Welcome Kovar, nice to have you aboard! Druids are just plain awesome!

BTW, I am a little confused here. What is the next scenario we are running? The rcruitment thread mentioned 2 scenarios, Among the Dead and Voice in the Void.

Luke is going to run Among the Dead for you guys. I can't get credit for that one because I have already played it. After you finish it I will bring in a new PC that should help round out the group balance, but I haven't made that PC yet. While Among the Living is running I'll try to rack up some GM credits toward a new guy. So I'm going to run a one shot PFS pbp (Voice in the Void) for a GM credit and I'll run a few real time. If I don't manage to get quite enough credits I can bring a cleric of shelyn L3 or a fighter L5.

I haven't decided yet if I should sit in with you guys on Among the Dead as a L4 Valeros pregen or let someone else sit in as a one time member or leave you guys as a table of five for that one scenario. Thoughts on that? If I bring Valeros and the as yet undetermined sixth PC is L3 we will average to the subtler 3-4 version. More loot, more danger.
I was considering letting the L1 inquisitor take my spot for Among the Dead because he was so keen, but with me running the other one parallel he could just get in there instead and probably play without getting splattered.

I haven't decided yet if I should sit in with you guys

You should. Apart from the fact that (and I think this is pretty obvious by now) I find your tactical advice absolutely essential, you pick up on all the little mistakes I make. You are also pure gold for a GM in a "keep posting and keep the flow going" sort of a way. So it's not an entirely selfish reaction.

:)

I vote for ith to play the pregen with us. If he wants to, that is.

Okay. Valeros it is. I'm down one game anyway since Mothman is out and he was GMing one that I was in.