KM Devon's Kingmaker: The Maker of Kings (Inactive)

Game Master PirateDevon

Also:

"Er, "Cuddles" here has the right idea. The punishment for banditry is death, no matter how strict that sentence may seem. We are far from simple sellswords, sir. We are arbiters of justice. We will rid you of these bandits, sir, once and for all!"

[dice=Diplomacy to improve standing in Oleg and Svitlana's eyes]1d20-1

Cander strikes what he considers to be a heroic pose: beaming brightly with his fist raised righteously toward the sky.

In one short post you've just hammered home how naive Cander is. Nice work--it also helps that it made me laugh out loud. ; )

I'll have to look at the grappler archetype then. It might fit cuddles better. We'll see.

"Brown fur transmuter"? The heck is that?

And I was wrong, coming back with a clear head didn't really help me much >.>

Also, I should probably come clean here. A couple of you already know this (GM, Cuddles), but I have ASD (Asperger's, to be precise), and have been battling depression for... Close to eight years now. I like to think I'm getting better, but in reality, it's more of a plateau. I don't have a job, I live with my parents, and I have the most useless bachelor degree ever (visual arts), so my employment prospects are zilch. I have debts, and often don't go out at all because getting out of the house costs money, I dont exactly have friends, and my Paizo subscriptions are happiness in a box that arrives once a month and keeps my mind off all the crap for a few days.

On top of all this, I have almost constant feelings of obsolescence in my own life, as well as low self-esteem. I pour a bit of myself into each of my characters, as well as ideals of what I want to be. In Anton's case, he has my tendency to get ill often, and the ideal of study that's actually useful - because really, my BVA was a waste of four years and $10,000.

So this just provides a bit of insight as to what I'm dealing with, and probably why I'm so distressed here. I'm just hoping that as the game progresses, I can find a niche.

And when the ACG comes out, maybe that will help distract me for a while again.

*Offers a hug* (because that's probably what I'd do in real life if a friend said all that to my face)

Thanks for sharing, Ronnie. If you ever feel like you need to talk, feel free to PM me. While I have met a few people with Asperger's, every one of them has had different things that they struggle with, and has faced their own unique challenges.

And hey, playing RPGs is meant to be a fun place for you. So I echo GM Angel in saying if you're no longer feeling invested in your PC, go ahead and change him up. I'm more than happy to work through that with you if you like.

###

Brown fur transmuter is an arcanist archetype from the new ACG. The book describes it as:

Frequently called “brown-furs,” these transmutation-focused arcanists are known for transforming themselves into animals. What few realize is that these specialized arcanists excel at turning themselves--and others--into all kinds of creatures.

There are some wizard archetypes as well:

Hey Tassadan, does Cander wear any obvious holy symbols indicating his worship of Erastil?

Ronnie, you know we love you, and give you much hugs.

And if we have to, I will call an intervention. ;)

An E-intervention. I actually looked up the linear (on a sphere) distance from my town to hers and it's 10,000+ (10,004 from city center to city center) miles. :)

(16,099.88km)

In one short post you've just hammered home how naive Cander is. Nice work--it also helps that it made me laugh out loud. ; )

Haha, thanks! I'm trying to see how different I can make him from a young Oracle I'm also playing. They're both very green, but in different ways, and the characters in each campaign are reacting accordingly: Everyone in the Reign of Winter campaign loves the Oracle, and feelings about Cander in this one seem to be skeptical at best.

Hey Tassadan, does Cander wear any obvious holy symbols indicating his worship of Erastil?

I'm glad you asked! He doesn't have a pendant or anything like that, but carved on each side of his bow is an image of deer antlers stretching from the center to the tips. It's nothing masterwork, just something one of his more artistically talented siblings did to wish him well on his journey. Also, as a bow and arrow are Erastil's chosen weapon AND holy symbol, Cander will usually nock (but not draw) an arrow before beginning prayers. He hasn't had occasion for these yet, but once we start getting into a day-to-day routine it will come up more.

Also, my last gameplay post was not meant to be in double quotes. That's what I get for posting from the subway!

Back at a terminal! Real typing!

To catch up.

Me:

Devon
33
One preschooler with the power of a thousand suns.
Wife in non-local grad school on weekends (So we travel and I have the kid :p)
I live in Olympia WA, about an hour south of Seattle/Paizo Central. (A well worn joke about folks from the Northwest United States is we measure distance in time. I'm not native to here but I have been here long enough for it to rub off.)

That puts me at GMT -7 I believe.

I work at a college, I have fairly flexible ability to post Mon - Fri 8:30 to 5 and then I carry a handful of devices that I can at least attempt to post from. So I try to be as present as I can :) Some nights I even get to sit at my OWN computer...infrequent but known to happen...

@El Ronza, I am fighting against depression too, I worry about some of my educational stuff and in time I hope to say things that might make you feel better about the world in even some small way. For now, as a basic stranger, I will say that I think we have a great group, the dynamic will be fun and if I post anything that makes you think I am not operating in that spirit, feel free to e-slap me. :P Make a character you like. I honestly think we will find a groove no matter what mechanics we have going on.

I actually grew up in the Gig Harbor area of Washington. I still measure distance in time, but never realized that I did unti you said that. :P

Seriously considering looking for work out there in Paizoland, just to be closer to the source.

That said: Looks like subscribers got ACG overnight. Reveals coming out so far look promising. Especially the white mage. I'm kinda looking forward to that one. Looks like you can spend points to cast cure spells, breath of life, or give someone fast healing.

Yes, as a non-subscriber I still have to wait but I'm really looking forward to it. Not so much the White Mage though, that's not really a fit for Leandric. Eldritch Font and Spell Specialist to both look fitting though.

And Ronza, as someone who just managed to beat a depression a little over half a year ago I do understand where you're coming from, at least to an extent.

The really amazing thing, all told, is that it will all get posted to the PRD, which is really just...*wow*. But this book, out of all the other past the core is one that just has a really amazing flavor so I want to pick it up. I feel like it really points the way to how Pathfinder will well and truly be its "own" (not that it isn't now, it and D&D 5 taste pretty different from each other) and I think lays solid groundwork for version 2.0 if they ever want to go there.

I like the idea that they are willing to explore each class to the point of crafting new ones from parts of the old ones. I think what draws me to pathfinder more than 3.5 ever did was the archetype system.

Being able to be a specific class, and do something specially by replacing some of the class features is something that really looks attractive to me and seems wonderful.

1. Fixed my stats. Little hardier. Little more flexible...still a dwarf :p

2. Forgepriest sounds interesting. I would love to see what the swaps are off the cuff it sounds like a great tie to my backstory. The more I look the more I think I will multi-class into inquisitor. Maybe end up something like forgepriest/preacher. Sounds like good king material to me. *insert eye roll here* LOL

I find it hilarious that we all appear to have forgotten to respond to Harsk's entrance. Whoops! Sorry Devon!

I measure driving distances in time, but longer ones in km. Speaking of which, it's only 750km from my place to Adelaide, a mere 8.5 hours driving time. Australia is of a similar size to the US, but we're a lot more spread out: in all that 8.5 hours I'd only end up going through 9 towns of any significance. Point is, I guess I'm your intervention spokesperson. ; )

Gameplay post to come when I haul myself out of bed and get on the train to work. : )

PS: I have an emoticon problem. Sorry.

Emoticon problem? >.<

What do you mean emoticon problem? :P

I've never heard of such a thing before. ;) Are you sure it even exists? :)

Only 750 KM? That's from where I live to the centre of France, quite distance by European standards.

Oh lord, half my players are Aussies. *goes to grab rest of world to american converter*

Only 750 KM? That's from where I live to the centre of France, quite distance by European standards.

*chuckles*

That gets me to the furthest edge to the one state south of me. I would only hit 7 cities directly but one of them would be Portland which is to big for me to claim it of "little significance".

Pretty sure Angel could see a lot more for that same distance on the other side of the country. We got some big open spaces out this way ;p

No worries on not "noticing" me, I came late to the party as it were and it feels like a great way to introduce my character. "Hi I'm Harsk and I'm here to hammer things....for god...I guess."

I'm actually in the KC area. So that far going south Would get me to about Branson. Aka Vegas for people without teeth.

I'm in the central/eastern part of the US, so 466 miles (750km) can get me places. It's denser where I am, but densest out on the east coast. The further west you go in the US, the more sparse it gets until you hit the Rocky Mountains. Once you're over those it gets denser until you hit the pacific coast where it's dense again (though still not as dense as the east).

I'm actually in the KC area. So that far going south Would get me to about Branson. Aka Vegas for people without teeth.

Oh YEAH! Okay, I thought you were more east. I used to live in Colorado Springs so I know all ABOUT the extremely exciting terrain out that way.

GM Angel wrote:

I'm actually in the KC area. So that far going south Would get me to about Branson. Aka Vegas for people without teeth.

Oh YEAH! Okay, I thought you were more east. I used to live in Colorado Springs so I know all ABOUT the extremely exciting terrain out that way.

I've driven through that terrain. Thrice. Exciting is exactly the word I'd use...

Harsk Ironback wrote:

GM Angel wrote:

I'm actually in the KC area. So that far going south Would get me to about Branson. Aka Vegas for people without teeth.

Oh YEAH! Okay, I thought you were more east. I used to live in Colorado Springs so I know all ABOUT the extremely exciting terrain out that way.

I've driven through that terrain. Thrice. Exciting is exactly the word I'd use...

Same here, I did my time in the Springs, just south of the crazy capital of the US. (aka boulder)

And of course it is exciting. Choon, you should try the drive now. They have windmills. That don't turn. It breaks up the monotony of flat. And more flat. and occasional bump that they call a hill.

2. Forgepriest sounds interesting. I would love to see what the swaps are off the cuff it sounds like a great tie to my backstory. The more I look the more I think I will multi-class into inquisitor. Maybe end up something like forgepriest/preacher. Sounds like good king material to me. *insert eye roll here* LOL

Will send you a PM. I know this will end up in the PRD, but I feel odd about posting a whole archetype in a public forum for now. : ) If anyone else wants a copy & paste in a PM, let me know.

Emoticon problem? >.<

What do you mean emoticon problem? :P

I've never heard of such a thing before. ;) Are you sure it even exists? :)

>.>

<.<

If you can't see it, then neither can I... o_O

Only 750 KM? That's from where I live to the centre of France, quite distance by European standards.

Yeah, I lived in the UK for nearly four years when I was a kid, and we used to joke that you could get pretty much anywhere in the entire country just by driving for 1½ hours. We used to live in Sydney, and we'd get in the car at 8:30, visit my aunt in Canberra for lunch (a 3½ hour drive), and then drive home again in the afternoon. The entirety of Britain fits into Australia's smallest mainland state--Victoria--three times.

I expect that most Australians of my generation wouldn't baulk at driving for 8-9 hours to get somewhere. Since the advent of cheap air travel though, some of the younger folks might have a different idea.

Our biggest problems are at the city level, where we have this constant tension between people who think Australian cities should have e.g. public transport systems and urban character to rival European metropolises like Paris and London, but who simultaneously get on board the NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) movement and claim that any medium density development would 'ruin the urban character' of their particular suburb. Basically, rich people who want only poor people to have to see or live in high density development while they get to enjoy the benefits of increased population density. And then they will probably drive to work anyway because only they can afford to pay the exorbitant tolls and parking costs that come with taking a car into the city for work. So we end up with high rise CBDs, and then single-dwelling suburbs that cover a 10km radius from the CBD outskirts, then all the medium density development is in the outer suburbs. It takes me 1½ hours, door to door, to get to work every day. And I live inside the city boundaries. Plenty of people travel from as far away as Broadford to get to work in the city.

But I digress. I do that sometimes. ; )

Oh lord, half my players are Aussies. *goes to grab rest of world to american converter*

I loved reading Ann Coulter's article where she went off about soccer, especially because she brought up the metric system (see point #8). Overall, that one article has done more to explain US culture to me than any more reasoned sociological or anthropological text I've ever read. Not that I believe Ann Coulter represents every American. Thankfully!

[750km] gets me to the furthest edge to the one state south of me. I would only hit 7 cities directly but one of them would be Portland which is to big for me to claim it of "little significance".

The biggest one between me and Adelaide is Ballarat, with a population of around 95,000. After that it's probably Horsham at under 15,000.

Anyway, back to your regularly scheduled programming. : D

Also, on the topic of the ambush, GM Angel, can we talk tactics here in the Discussion thread? It might be a bit faster that way than trying to do it all in character.

Especially since cuddles would largely go ????? He's more of a point and shoot kinda guy, but don't be afraid to give him simple orders. He's smarter than an animal, after all.

Ah, the language matrix. The joys of having a bard with the Pokémon Trainer approach to languages...

Well. The question is, how will you know if an intervention is in order? :p

I can second everything Mike said. Also, I'm 23, and I regularly drive 6 hours to visit family in Mt. Gambier. It used to be every school holidays, but these days, it's about twice a year. I caught a plane once, but I actually like the drive. And my new Forester will handle it better than my Magna ever did...

Also, Mike, we have a lot of people in Adelaide who complain about Adelaide and how boring it is. "F@!+ it, I'm moving to Melbourne" is a common whine. Almost none of them actually do it.

And could you send me the spell sage? That sounds interesting!

I know some games like the "foreign" feel of posting alternate text with translations in spoiler and other games like it just all in English. I am happy to do it either way the group/GM wants to go.

I would like to see that brawler archetype. I'll see if I can find the class on my own (I doubt it).

Or you can just copy the whole class :P

My basic idea is to close one gate, then get Katya to hide behind the other and push it shut on the same round that Anton casts color spray on the bandits. Anton can hide in the storage shed (A4) while Oleg stands next to the door--that should draw the bandits in.

Cander can stand up on the palisade with his longbow (hiding behind some crates we move there, perhaps) while Cuddles can be in the shed with Anton, and Leandric and Harsk attack from the stables. We can all take 20 on our stealth checks if we get up early enough.

I've drawn it all on the map. Easy enough to delete all the lines when we engage in actual combat. : )

The reason I put Katya down near the doors is because I reckon she's the lowest damage-dealer, but also can hold her own if one of the bandits breaks off and attempts to escape. Let me know what you think.

Will respond to other messages in a bit once I've got some work done. : )

Looks good to me. :)

I've visited Adelaide once, for a weekend holiday. Did the whole Rundle Mall thing, as well as the zoo and the beach at Glenelg. I didn't see what people were complaining about--it seems like a perfectly nice place to live, and from what I understand/recall it actually has shops open on a Sunday (unlike Perth). In contrast, I find Melbourne a bit too busy/fast-paced, sometimes. Too many people out drinking at licensed venues until 3am and then suddenly they're shut out when the place closes down and there's no public transport to get them home unless it's a Friday or Saturday night and they can get on the pretty-much-hourly Night Rider buses.

###

I like representing imaginary languages as real-world languages. It gives me a little bit more verisimilitude. But everyone likes different things on that; I for one prefer 'you have indestructible horses that wait patiently while you spend a week in the dungeon' to 'there's a sprawling dungeon complex only fifteen miles from a fishing village that nobody has ever noticed over the last couple of centuries that houses a cult dedicated to Orcus'.

(Yes, I am GMing Rappan Athuk at the moment, how did you guess?)

Also, I speak Vietnamese, and I would never have thought to put it down as a good option for Draconic! (Which doesn't mean it's a 'bad' choice at all, I am just surprised and intrigued! Also, I am totally aware that my surprise and intrigue are 100% because of my ethnocentric viewpoint.) Are you familiar with the reasoning for choosing it that way, Choon?

As for the Pokémon trainer approach to languages (I like it! Never heard it referred to that way before!), I would prefer some finer control over language skills in the game too, but my players would probably riot (they don't even like it when I try to roleplay their shopping expeditions!), and I find there are rarely enough skill points to go around as it is. The one time I got my players to agree to play a game that involved significant amounts of time doing non-combat/non-rollplay stuff, I had to hand out two free skill points per level just to get them to invest in life skills. : \

Lastly, I have never seen any other option for Varisian other than Romanian. Has anyone else?

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Also, archetype PMs sent. : )

We chose Vietnamese mainly because of its script. Other reasonings were its linguistic proximity to Chinese for Tien and "that looks good, let's go with it".

And thanks for the PM :)

I've read the Brawler, and it's really a toss up. The feat flexibility is incredible, but Tetori just gets so many more nice things specifically related to grappling. Gah!

You has the book already? >.<

*is jealous*

I does not... Someone else does.

*wants to know where to read*

I got my subscription pdf last Thursday. It's a good read, in my opinion. : )

Sorry I'm late to the game, folks! I'm a New-Yorker with a full-time job, so between my hours and public transit my posting hours can be strange.

I like where the map is going in reference to tactics, the surrounding of the thieves is great, giving them nowhere to run and we can take advantage of flanking in melee.

One thing that Cander can capitalize on is his Ride By Attack feat, keeping the thieves off-balance with superior mobility, and then attacking with his bow when charges aren't possible. In such a situation, it may be best for him to start on horseback between Buildings A3 and A4 or A4 and A7.

And on Draconic, I've always visualised it using some sort of runic alphabet. : )

Sorry I'm late to the game, folks! I'm a New-Yorker with a full-time job, so between my hours and public transit my posting hours can be strange.

I like where the map is going in reference to tactics, the surrounding of the thieves is great, giving them nowhere to run and we can take advantage of flanking in melee.

One thing that Cander can capitalize on is his Ride By Attack feat, keeping the thieves off-balance with superior mobility, and then attacking with his bow when charges aren't possible. In such a situation, it may be best for him to start on horseback between Buildings A3 and A4 or A4 and A7.

Maybe...although what's a horse's Stealth modifier? And can a horse reasonably take 20 on Stealth?

For the rest of it...I'm busy trying not to metagame. ; )

You can attempt the Fast Mount ride check and then, if you fail, it's still only a move to mount, then you can still ride-by attack or move and attack, am I correct?

Ok, I'm totally jealous. Can't get mine till thursday, and I have lots of arcanist planning to do. so want to borrow someone's pdf.

I know I'm silly.

You can attempt the Fast Mount ride check and then, if you fail, it's still only a move to mount, then you can still ride-by attack or move and attack, am I correct?

So tether the horse to the outside of the stable using a slipknot, then have Cander mount if necessary? That sounds reasonable. The horse (Mina?) wouldn't need to hide then.

Okay gang. So, tell me if I've got this right:

Step 0 (before we go to bed tonight)
Leandric uses expeditious excavation to deepen one of the middens to allow us to hold our captives in it. How deep can you get it, Leandric? Or do we need to wait until tomorrow for you to memorise it?

Step 1

• Cander and Mina hide between the stable and storage shed.
  
• Leandric and Harsk hide in the stables.
  
• Anton and Cuddles hide in the storage shed.
  
• Katya hides behind the open gate.
  
• Oleg loiters in front of the storage shed.
  
• We all take 20 on our Stealth checks. That makes our lowest Stealth check 15 (Harsk), unless Harsk removes his armour and then uses mage armor cast by one of our arcane gentlemen. Then our lowest would be 21 (still Harsk!).

Step 2
Presuming the bandits rock up and don't notice anything (detecting the guys in the stable/shed would be at +5 to the DC because of the closed door, maybe a couple more depending on the distance), they should approach Oleg. Then, in the surprise round:

• Oleg opens the door to the storage shed (perhaps he can say that the stuff the bandits want is in there?).
  
• Anton takes a 5ft. step outside the door and casts color spray at as many bandits as he can hit.
  
• Cuddles uses his standard action to move in front of Anton and protect him. He won't be able to charge because Anton will be in the way.
  
• Leandric opens the door to the stable, then delays until Harsk's initiative count. Harsk charges if he can, otherwise he might be able to use a move action to get into combat.
  
• Cander comes around the corner ready to charge.
  
• Katya closes the door.

Step 3
Party time.

• Anton casts enlarge person on Cuddles.
  
• Cuddles goes to town. So does Harsk. Cander uses Ride-by-Attack. Leandric looks for targets of opportunity.
  
• Presuming there's a way to lock the gate, Katya does so then readies an action to attack anyone who gets close. If we need the extra help, Katya will join the fight.

In general, I would say just use lethal damage, but not e.g. Power Attack. We want to get them below 0hp but not completely dead. Then we can use Heal checks to stabilise if we need to.

Does that sound about right?

If it all goes to crap and they pass their Perception checks vs. our Stealth, then it's on for young and old and we just all pile in. Katya will still try to get that gate closed though. : )