JCServant's Council of Thieves (Inactive)

Game Master JCServant

Heehee. :)

Gold is now updated. Here are the totals. Gold value first, Gear next.
Recommended Gold for Lv 5: 10,500

Aemon: 6410, 3554
Beppo: 6536, 12700
Brandon: 6993, 1670
Kyle: 6755, 3473
Tessai: 4812, 9044

Anyone care to loan me 1757gp?

Wow, I'm POOR!

Apologies GM-JC for not remembering the level up, last couple of weeks have been a mess - things should be settling down now.

Updating Tessai now.

Yeah I'm poor too, I didn't realise people's gear was worth so much!

Hopefully someone will be charitable :)

Yeah, in looking this over, it's clear I've just given out WAY too much lewt! We're just going to have to CUT BACK :P

Hey guys,

I have really been thinking hard about this, and have very mixed feelings from day to day and even hour to hour, but I have decided to withdraw from the campaign.

I have had such a great experience, great action, creative and engaging role play, intriguing characters and great GMing. You really can't ask for more out of this. At the same time I also feel like I've been struggling to keep up at times between work and family duties. Between that and considerably more travel in the upcoming weeks and months I just felt it best to bow out so that you could have someone that was equally as talented and creative as you all are to keep the momentum and story line going.

Sorry to leave you hanging, but I thought that now needed to be the time with where we are in between chapters so to speak. I'll still play pbp but think I will limit myself to occasional PFS scenarios.

I will miss interacting with all of you, sincerely, and will be sure to follow along as you progress.

Corellon

Just finishing up Tessai level up info.

GM-JC: Could you remind me the value of the Ring of Fascination? And if no one wants it, it should be sold.

Also, I was under the impression that the +2 shield was a Light Steel +2 shield? It is heavy? Great! :D

@Corellon: I can understand what you mean man, and it is a shame that you have to leave. I have enjoyed having you in the group even with sparse posting at times (it happens to everyone actually). I regret that you do not have a way to keep up with the posting since I appreciated the serious undertone of your character.

I hope we have the opportunity to play again. Take care of yourself.

The ring suddenly becomes worthless. I can't have you guys becoming richer! You're practically kings now with all this leet lewt!

Sorry to hear that Corellon, you were a fun player. I wish you luck.

@ Brandon, Kyle gives him the funds.

@ JCServant, any blue light specials?

Och...i sent myself a reminder to give each of you two hero points and power points for your victory in the Knot.

Blue Light: Any item that offers healing is 25% off. That can be as simple as a wand of cure light wounds, ring of regeneration or the item (can't remember what it is) that automatically heals you if you are brought to below 0 hps. Offer good only on purchases emailed by Saturday morning.

The ring suddenly becomes worthless. I can't have you guys becoming richer! You're practically kings now with all this leet lewt!

..........

Brandon, I had pondered buying a Scabbard of Vigor for Tessai for 1800gp, but I guess you may be able to put the cash to better use. What are you planning to buy?

I also have to admit I am a little lost as to what to purchase.... Improved her weapon, improved her armor... Would like to have utility items but I am not knowlegeable enough to decide I guess...

The ring suddenly becomes worthless. I can't have you guys becoming richer! You're practically kings now with all this leet lewt!

Also, I think it was that ring putting my gear value so high, right?

I'd have to look at home. If it's a custom item, I made up, then it will have no value in HL, though.

For those of you who play a lot of PF, I cannot recommend the book, Ultimate Equipment Guide enough. It's great for helping to decide what to buy, and a resource you will use with every character you build.

Sorry to see you going Corellon, it's been nice playing with you!

I've been thinking about what to buy and I'm going for Bracers of Falcon’s Aim and saving for a belt of dex at some point.

I'll have to review the Bracers purchase (do a little research). I recalled they banned that from PFS play not that long ago because it being OP'd for what it did. 2k for a 'keen' addition to a weapon plus other benefits ended up being a bit too unbalanced for the boys at PFS.

Ok. I've thought about it. My thought process is that for 4k, getting +1 to hit and keen is a bit crazy, especially given that the traditional method would cost you more gold *and* make future upgrades to your weapon much more expensive. I can see why PFS banned this.

However, we're not playing an official PFS game or anything, so we can houserule it. I'm thinking it should be a benefit that you can use one time / day that lasts for 1 minute. Activating it is an swift action.

I won't buy anything then.

Actually, it's better than keen for a bow (not only doubling crit range, but increasing crit damage from x2 to x3). It's definately worth having for boss fights. Of course, it's a first level spell for rangers as well...but then you end up spending your first round casting if you don't get to prep.

Guys, I know we are already kind of overdue for the character updates, but I really think we should discuss this - Inquisitor can be built for maximum efficiency with a 2h weapon, but this means that the tanking capabilities are diminished.

What I wanted to ask was: what were Brandons' and Beppo choices for level up to 5? Are you guys going more or less tanky? We had some close calls before that maybe we need more coordination in this...

I took lightning reflexes for general utility/defense, with the idea of either (1) going 2H myself or (2) heading down the shield bash/saving shield/shield focus route to help block the road.

I think Brandon may have taken medium armor proficiency, but am not sure.

One thing I just thought of: since all three of us will be in the melee, it might be hard for any "tank" to position him/herself to draw the attention of all the bad guys.

I think I agree with you Beppo - as we've seen it is really hard to keep the bad guys pinned down and mowing who we want them to mow :D

I am thinking and hoping that between spells and bane, I will be able to put down some decent enough hurt even IF I go 1h weapon + shield, while keeping me on a decent AC level.

Most likely, I am pondering the Dodge > Mobility > Spring Attack sequence way down the road to be able to cover more ground in a fight and more quickly get to this or that menace.

Had been pondering the Step Up chain but I really don't know how useful it really is.

I decided in the end that the extra couple of points of armour class just weren't worth it. I took cleave in the end. With Correllon gone I felt we need to maximise our ability to lay down the flanked condition so I can sneak consistently.

My AC is terrible but I'm a firm believer that the higher you go the more irrelevant AC becomes. I might start maxing umd and get a wand of greater invisibility or mirror image. Miss chance is far more valuable.

Some thoughts, for what they are worth (probably not much, to be honest) -

Tessai:

I have considered the two-weapon + shield bash route, since I have the Dexterity for it, but improved two-weapon fighting only wades in at Dex 17 and I am not planning on increasing that stat anymore, so got divided on that one.

Besides, bane only applies to one weapon, so it wouldn't benefit me THAT much.

Also according with Brandons' decision, I am yes going to keep the 1h+shield - as you said we cannot keep up a wall of defense, but with level 3 spells, my AC can get quite uncanny - if the bane and spells manage some decent hurt, they may not get the opportunity to simply ignore me ;)

The mobility is just a way to try and make sure that no one is out of our reach in a fight, and of quickly getting to what we may perceive is a threat, so I guess I will stick to it.

On a different debate, and since the weekend is coming, and overall I should have more time in my hands during the next couple of days, if GM-JC allows it, I am going to ask to put that spellbook sell on hold, and review the possibility of going the wizard way - I think we are losing TOO much in not having a wizard in the group. I just hope he would reconsider the Conjurer possibility, but even if he doesn't I am going back and read up again on when we had that debate, and decide on that.

If Tessai would leave the group, it would be now.

I think it's already been sold and loot has been divided accordingly on the PDFs. You can find it at "Bob's Pawn Shop" found on the corner of Lucifer St. and Darkness Ave. at a slight mark up :P

Guess the book details are settled then - I'll see what I can do with the wealth that selling my gear would provide me...

In all honesty we COULD still be addressing all these issues, since we are kind in downtime still... Right?

How about that location. Is Bob's next door to "Needful Things," perchance?

Hmm...well, I have rules for re-rolling characters completely. I think. You typically don't sell your gear of your old character (that would only leave you with 50% gold value).

And what would those ruled be GM-JC? Thing is I would like, if changing to wizard, for that character to still be Tessai. I just like the girl too damn much :D

Hmmm...to change an existing character to an entirely different class...that's a different story. It's hard ...but I have done it before. Usually though extremely powerful magic items including trips to far off planes :P

Blank holiday today in my country. I will be out with the family most of the day. Will catch up probably only on the last posting period.

How about this bad girl here as a sketch for the groups' wizard? :D

Wow...it's awfully quiet on the posts today. Where is everyone?

Brandon can prepare infusions of healing extracts to hand out from the cage but that's literally it and I know Beppo would have the same issue.

Edmond's power level is greatly increased if he can flank with Kyle's summons however but his main problem is longevity. With an AC of 18 he will get hit pretty often so keeping him up long enough to deliver damage might be an issue.

On the other hand, with Beppo fighting with heavy armour, shield and defensively, he could tank it out pretty good in there but possibly with a limitation on damage.

I can see benefits to both but personally I think Edmond's extra 3d6 damage per hit, 3 times a round could prove a deciding factor as long as he has a summoned creature to flank with and enough healing to keep him alive!

If kyle can get some summons down for flanking then you are the better choice, a lot of burst damage. You can cast shield on yourself too.

As far as both Beppo and Brandon/Edmond go, Tessai can use Shield of Faith on them for AC, hit and damage and behold! Invisibility ;)

For sure one of you guys in there is the best option - I think Tessai could reach an AC of around... 28/30 by herself, and she benefits from the fact that her judgments last for a combat, so at least two summons would be guaranteed.

But then again, she can be more useful from the outside than both Brandon or Beppo, so I think she should stay out.

And no one has points in the skill UMD.

You'll want mirror image and shield for sure.

Agree that Tessai should stay out because of the utility from outside - she would be a good choice to be in the mix, though.

I guess our decision is between offense and defense, then? Particularly if Kyle can summon something (but for how long?), Edmond's damage output could be sweet, but Beppo's 22+shield AC gives me more staying power.

To be clear, you cannot use both a champion AND summons. You much choose one or the other. If you summon, you can only use one summon spell per combat.

Oh, and one other thing...if you don't have any spells or buffs, there is a way you will be able to contribute. By watching the combat carefully, and saying the right things at the right time, you can give your ally in combat a slight advantage over his foe. Example. George. George! Watch out for that... OHHH...treeee

:P

Well, I had been thinking that Beppo might be the pick, thanks to his combination of offense, defense, and lack of special teams play (i.e. utility out of combat). I'll be sure to sharpen my blades...

BTW...while you guys are thinking about that... we're talking about loot again on the other game...and it's something I know we've kinda gone back and forth here about... We're talking about trying to even out gear value as a method of loot distribution. here's what I said.

Yeah...I've seen loot handled a variety of ways. I've seen arguments both for and against your proposal, Zeriax. For example, if Kyle takes a wand of Cure Serious Wounds from a monster (which has a high value), should that really count as part of his gear value? After all, he's obviously going to be using that, more time than not, to heal other people.

The most fair way, from a Gold Value point of view, is also one of the more meta ways...which is...all items are sold and gold split evenly, period. Characters are then free to spend that gold to buy any item at retail price, or any item found in the past at 1/2 retail price. Certain found items, at GM discretion, may be available only in limited quantity, while most would have unlimited quantity whenever possible to allow fair and equal access to all players who want said item. Items that benefit the whole party, such as a wand of curing, would probably be something the entire party pools their gold to buy.

While somewhat meta, this insures equal party value among all members, without the constant need for math, micromanaging and/or re-evaluation.

To be honest, given the lack of instant communication inherent with Pbp, I'm kinda leaning towards this idea I just listed, as everything is automatically liquidated, and there doesn't need to be a conversation each time a new piece of gear is found. Such conversations happen quickly at the table (including where I occasionally review the party's gear value for reference), but in Pbp, it drags at best. If we did it this way, everyone gets sold value in gold automatically. Then, I maintain a spreadsheet list in the shared folder of those found items available at 1/2 price to the entire group. It requires the lest amount of conversation, management and insures fairness though the party. I think the only discussions you guys would need to have then is sharing costs for curatives and maybe overall gear strategies as a group...but individual things would be your own personal decisions. Mind you, with this method, I would strongly discourage borrowing/giving money to one another as well to maintain proper GP balance. Thoughts?

So it's kinda like PFS in that you get this gold chunk and then you can 'buy' what you find? My first thought is that that makes good sense to me.

A more detail point: I could see where it might be beneficial for us to combine resources for, say, a great wand that would help several or all of us, which would "upset" GP balance without upsetting party balance.

Also, FYI JCS, I just sent you an email about gear and feats.

Thanks.

Yeah, I think the only discussions you guys would need to have then is sharing costs for curatives and maybe overall gear strategies as a group. Splitting the cost for wands of curing totally makes sense. You may even split the cost of a res if needed, for example. Obviously, if one person absorbs the cost of a restoration, raise dead, etc, they will most certainly not be at an even gold level.

One thing to keep in mind, total gold parity never remains for long. If a character is constantly buying and selling gear, or if they re-roll a new character, their GP value is going to differ from others significantly. A character who buys and uses consumables will typically have less GP value than his friends, if all other things are created equal.

That's why I'm kind of a fan of the PFS method. It's probably wrong to try to keep everyone in a party at the same exact gold value all of the time as it could encourage sloppy spending habits. However, if the rules for loot distribution force an equal distribution right from the get go, like PFS does, then at least everyone has an equal chance, more or less, of being on the same GP level regardless of the behaviors of their others team members.

Concur.

This method involves somewhat less verisimilitude, but I would think it should work well mechanically to keep us relatively close with relatively little headache. Hopefully, the balancing that you did with our last GP distribution will give us a relatively level place from which to start.

That does seem like a simpler way to divide loot, I'm on board with that.

So, going back to the story for a second, did we decide on Beppo or Edmond for champion?

Edmond should be +12 to hit and 1d6+10 damage across three attacks before buffs but with a potentially sucky armour class, somewhere in the region of 23/24 (after buffs).

Beppo's AC should be about 25(?) with more damage on one big attack.

Brandon: is that 1d6+10 per attack?

Beppo has two options:

22 AC before buffs, with +12 to hit and 2d6+8 for the 2-hander, or
26 AC before buffs, with +11 to hit for 1d8+6 if I carry the keen longsword and borrow Tessai's shield.

Either one is a single attack and can take advantage of great cleave, so perhaps I should take up the champion mantle.

Yes, that's per attack so to summarise its;

12/12/12 1d6+10, 1d6+10, 1d8+10
AC = 22 (with an extract of shield)

or;

11 (probably more with great cleave depending on number of opponents), 1d8+6
AC=26 before buffs

or;
12 (again great cleave), 2d6+8
AC=22 before buffs