Legends in the Making: Slayers of Renown

Game Master BloodWolven

Yvla "Eve" Djacksdottir wrote:

I'm assuming you'd channel Positive Energy.

Do you want her to be a healer? I'm planning on Negative Energy channeling with Selective Channel. I could do Positive Energy channeling if we need a healer instead but it's less useful for a necro-cleric.

Yvla "Eve" Djacksdottir wrote:

What happens if there is no one to raise? Can you control existing undead instead?

Animate Dead and Control Undead are permanent until the undead are destroyed so they can hang around for a while. As long as the party is in the field she can keep raising skeletons or zombies and keep them around until they die. She doesn't have to wait until the first enemy drops in a fight to raise them as a skeleton.

With the last PC I did this with she spent money on having a bodyguard skeleton in full plate that covered its whole body and face that just followed her around like a follower.

But she can control existing undead that she didn't animate herself, too.

Yeah, sorry. Your character is no fit for this party. I do not want to play with that. Find another campaign.

Direct and to the point. With that settled karlprosek, your options are to suggest another character or move along.

If you realize you can't work with something then it needs to be said. Thank you Flouncy for stating your opinion.

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Boerne sorry for your loss, take what time you need!

A necro cleric is really cool. I'd play one in the right campaign.

We could use a good-ish cleric, though.

A cleric/fighter would be fierce.

Was Eve's attack successful? 29 to hit, 29 damage.

@karlprosek: Rouqar definitely wants to meet you. Feel free to read his back story/history and you will understand why....

Hell, she can hook in with you as well as Loarin then. Backstory has her going to Ustalav to fight undead after leaving wherever Loarin's necromancer was. They could be from the same unit or maybe they met on the way back this direction from out west.

She's a Rostlander commoner, though, doesn't care too much about fancy noble titles from up north.

Funnily enough, I have her as an aasimar by way of a joke from her infernal patron when she was killed and Reincarnated. That puts 3 in the group.

If you channel negative that also means that you cast Cause wounds spontaneously instead of Cure, right? The down-side of that is needing wands or prepared spells to heal.

Yep, she's not a healer. She won't be healing anybody in or out of combat without a wand. She can Restore and Remove Curse and whatnot but it will be the kind of thing where she needs a day to memorize spells before she can do it.

HP: 6d8 ⇒ (7, 4, 7, 4, 8, 5) = 35

LOL! Rouqar hates undead. He's been hounded by them and necromancers that create them ever since he left his home. And before that they killed his family!He went to Ustalav to try and figure out why they were pursuing him, only to find out that a Pharasman stronghold was now held some force other than the Pharasmans that were supposed to be there!

OK, thanks for the answer Flouncy. That’s why I asked, I don’t want to bring in a PC an existing one wouldn’t be comfortable with. I'll go ahead and write up something else.

GM, how do you feel about Synthesist Summoner? Writing her up made me want to run a pet PC and now I’m imagining a gnome climbing into a steampunk suit. Thoughts?

Oh YES! Eve your attack was successful, I think my post was eaten... let me go make some notes!

Its all up to you, I am good with it.

Not a rules lawyer, but I had to look this up for a cleric character I was building.

I believe as long as the Cleric's holy symbol is presented (visible?) they can channel, even paralyzed.

And our guy has 2 holy symbols, I'd thinking one of them is out.

Channel is an SU ability. The only way to stop it is to take the holy symbol away. Or activate an anti-magic field....

Not a rules lawyer, but I had to look this up for a cleric character I was building.

I believe as long as the Cleric's holy symbol is presented (visible?) they can channel, even paralyzed.

And our guy has 2 holy symbols, I'd thinking one of them is out.

Oh nice! So he can do his last channel at least before falling rigid to the ground!

Replacement for the necro-cleric. This is a half-elf from Cordelon (River Kingdom near Kyonin), follower of Sarenrae (can link in with Loarin again), has traveled a lot and is coming back from Tian Xia through Casmaron so is coming through Rostland and could be in or coming out of Varnhold.

Synthesist Summoner//Sylvan Sorcerer with a pet elven hound (just reskinned warcat Animal Companion) who prefers talking to fighting and doesn't like having to use his warform.

This guy's done, along with an alter-ego profile for his fused form.

Rouqar, Renia's coming west out of Iobaria from Mirnbay and Kridorthrost along the Koloran Roads. He's headed generally west toward the River Kingdoms. If your guy is heading south from Issia they could easily meet up.

Just commenting to put the warform's profile on here too.

It looks like you are set to join the game. Let me know when you are ready to join. You will likely be fighting undead in Varnhold as they come upon you.

I'm good to go. If they've been fighting undead regularly Renia will already be in warform. Not much use trying to talk to undead.

Rouquar, you good with having teamed up with Renia at some point?

Sure! And destroying undead as they come on us works fine! I don't have area effect spells so a horde/mob of undead could be a problem....

How early will you be fighting undead? What are your tactics?

How early? As soon as we see any. Study them to try to identify what they are, relative strengths and weaknesses, and determine if we have sufficient strength to defeat/destroy them.... (and survive for the next fight!)

Renia? Can you cast your sorcerer spells while in your warform?

How early in the morning do you head out to find undead? They seem to be roving bands of zombies and skeletons.

How early in the morning? I guess it depends on whether we're actively hunting for them. Roquar, do you think you'd be trying to hunt them down? We've both got darkvision so waiting for sunrise isn't an issue if we have a reason to start the day early.

What's the situation with the populace in Varnhold? Are there any survivors anywhere or does it seem like the undead have gotten them all? That's probably important- whether they need to protect a bunch of civilians or whether they're just out in the countryside on their own.

Yeah, he can cast when he's fused but he's not much on offensive spellcasting.

Rouqar heard rumors that "hordes" of undead were wandering the lands. With his history he'd be actively hunting them, and looking for anyone else willing to join in the hunt.

Starting prior to dawn is fine. But he does have to take his morning break to pray for spells and perform his Deific Obedience.

Flouncy preps his spells in the morning, too.

I am going to say that you got to Varnhold the day before and you were able to scout it out pretty well. You did not see many signs of deaths, many of the doors just seemed to be ajar, and the undead simply wander in packs.

So Rouqar and Renia get out before dawn and get in a few kills before taking a break for prayers? Just a quick foray or enter the town/fort finding an open building?

Sure, that sounds good.

Start with a quick foray. Then scout the area depending on what we found. If we find any sign of survivors that would take precedent over destroying mindless undead.

You kill several packs of slow moving zombies, using a combination of magic and steel, yes? Between dealing with the zombies you look for survivors you can search a few houses before the next pack is upon you. After the third pack is dealt with you see a tide of skeletons seemingly unending wash towards you. both of you are hurt, -10 hp or so. Also a 1/3 of your channels expended and any other spells you would use for combat. You also see two of the large corpse lords lumbering behind the wave of undead, likely the driving force of the skeletons.

Do you want to hunker down in a house, get to the roof of the house, run, or attempt another way to retreat?

If they're only down 10hp and have 2/3 spells left and then they spot 2 clear major targets Renia's inclination would be to go after the corpse lords. Maybe hunker down and heal for a couple of minutes (since Infernal Healing is all Renia has for healing so it would take a few minutes) if they're not in immediate danger but definitely not run/retreat.

Roquar, what do you think?

Oh, also can we roll Kn:Religion to try to ID these corpse lord things? I'm not even sure what they are OOC, tbh.

Kn:Religion to ID corpse lords: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18

I agree. If we see what is possibly the commander of the horde I could cast Hide from Undead, Greater to make us completely invisible to the non-intelligent undead, like skeletons and zombies. Even if we attack they can't see us. Only the intelligent undead could see possibly see us, with a Wlll save DC19.

Know-Religion to ID corpse lord?: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (4) + 11 = 15

LOL! The dice don't seem to favor that plan!

Yes you can!

It sounds like you hunker in a house. Secure it and then get infernal healing going. The waves of skeletons smash upon the house and many move on. What do you do next?

Know-Arcana: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (18) + 11 = 29 That works!

"The skeletons are worthless except as hordes to slay any weaklings in the way. But those golems? They are constructs, not undead. Far more dangerous I'm sure. How about I make us invisible to the skeletons and we destroy the constructs? Then maybe their masters will arrive? If not, we can fall on the skeletons and destroy them!"

Add in whatever that knowledge roll gives. ??

You also mention that magic does have strange effects on Golems, these Carrion golems likely:
Gentle repose causes a carrion golem to become stiff and helpless for 1d4 rounds if it fails a Will save against the spell.
Animate dead causes the various parts of the golem’s body to shudder and tear, dealing 1d6 points of damage per caster level to the golem (no save).

So how do you fight the wave of skeletons from within the building?

First cast Hide from Undead, Greater. Then carefully move through the skeletons to attack the Carrion Golems.

I'll cast Divine Favor on myself as we approach the golems.

Sounds good! Divine Favor applied and any other buffs you might use. You find the golems have a 5 foot space between them and the skeletons. They also don't seem to see you.

What do you do? You may draw the attention of others more related to your cause depending on how you act. Also you are so close to entering gameplay!

I check twice a day, I missed that somehow... Apologies.

I think I checked right before bed, read it... and forgot. Totally my fault, guys.

Don't even worry about it Yvla.

Let's get the gameplay on the game page. That would help me keep things straight.

I'll be out of town next week. I'll try to keep up, but if I don't just bot me. Looks like Nov. 7-13.

Also, welcome again to our new players! I like your builds. Gestalt is a blast.

I'd like to discuss why we chose the classes we did. That would be cool. You want me to go first? Okay!

Somebody asked me why I didn't go Rog 7/Wiz 3, AT 4. That's a good question. Most of you know how much I like Arcane Tricksters. My favorite prestige class since 3.5. Not that I don't play other classes. Any class can be fun.

The math is just better going R/W: 8 skill points per level. Full sneak attack. He has Detect Magic and Vanish as SLAs, thanks to rogue talents. That's all really useful.

As an admixture evoker, he gets 7 levels of all of it, including bonus damage to his spells and bonus wizard feats. AT levels would turn that off for little in return.

The capstone for the Pathfinder AT is adding sneak damage to any damage spell, not just targeted ones. Super cool when you can do it. Doesn't happen that much in play, due to action economy.

Renia will drop Mirror Image and Magic Fang on himself and his doggo and Bull's Strength on doggo, then Haste on all 3 of them right before they start combat.

As long as they're not paying attention to us let's circle around the big guys and get to where we can move into flanking position when we start the fight. Take the left one first, drop it, then take the other one.

Sounds good. If they have 5' between them lets do one in front and one in back and strike together full out. The invisibility will stay in place, but intelligent undead will get a Will save, DC19 to be able to see us. I don't think the carrion golem is undead. But if it hasn't been ordered to attack that might be why they aren't responding. I'll gladly take a free round! Thanks for the haste! I'll study the target and attack, rolling for my attacks.

Add Bless Weapon to my buffs. Not sure if it will apply to this enemy, but it makes the weapon Good for purpose of DR, and I don't have to confirm crits....

Attack #1: 1d20 + 7 + 6 + 3 + 2 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 7 + 6 + 3 + 2 + 1 + 1 = 32 BAB, DEX, Divine Favor +1 Luck, Studied Target, Haste, Magic Weapon
Damage if that hits?: 1d6 + 2d6 + 6 + 3 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (4) + (1, 2) + 6 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 19

Haste Attack: 1d20 + 7 + 6 + 3 + 2 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 7 + 6 + 3 + 2 + 1 + 1 = 40
Damage if that hits?: 1d6 + 2d6 + 6 + 3 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (6) + (5, 2) + 6 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 25

Crit?: 1d20 + 7 + 6 + 3 + 2 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 7 + 6 + 3 + 2 + 1 + 1 = 34
Damage if that hits?: 1d6 + 2d6 + 6 + 3 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (1) + (1, 5) + 6 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 19

Attack #2: 1d20 + 2 + 6 + 3 + 2 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 2 + 6 + 3 + 2 + 1 + 1 = 23
Damage if that hits?: 1d6 + 2d6 + 6 + 3 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (2) + (3, 6) + 6 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 23

Weapon is a +1 Adamantine Rapier so I assume DR takes off some of that....

No worries Eve it happens, thanks for checking in and post any adjustments you think would need to have happened. Otherwise we will be in combat post haste!

Thanks Flouncy for putting yourself out there first!

Yes, yes, let us move the combat to gameplay. Remember you haven't met before and should be cautious... though I think some connections were made in your backgrounds! :D

So, Eve and friends see the skirmish below.... and there are "civilians" in addition to two resisters?

But, those in the sky are not in Initiative as yet/thus far.

Towards her new battle mates...

The other corpselords and other abominations are near the fort. Far enough away that you can see them coming. They do not appear to be coming.

I was sharing recon intel.

If I got it wrong, apologies... just ignore.

No, it was just hard to understand that. It took me three times reading it to figure out what you had meant. I would suggest adding more details in the future. How are you saying it? Who are you saying it to?

Example:
Eve smacks another skeleton with her whip and responds to Renia, "Closer to the fort..."

Trust me if you can add just a bit more detail it will go a long way!

I will be out of town for a week. Bot me if needed.

If they don't see him... He's not threatening them, he's being ignored. Their attention isn't spilt.

Was that statement about flanking? True. But if they can't see you they are flat-footed.

An intelligent undead that fails the save but has reason to believe something is there has the opportunity to attack but suffers the negative modifiers of not knowing where you are. Great spell for fighting a horde of mindless undead. But I think things are about to get interesting....

Hide from Undead, Greater

Was that statement about flanking? True. But if they can't see you they are flat-footed.

I just meant that an invisible person can't provide a flank because the enemy us unaware therefore their attention isn't split.

If I'm invisible and attacking doesn't change that, then yeah... Party Time!

Regular Hide from undead is just like regular invisibility. Any sort of attack ends it. The greater version is like the greater invisibility, except it lasts a LOT longer! But, it only works against undead, and only 100% against mindless undead. Intelligent undead get a DC19 Will save to see through it, and another every round if we are doing any threatening action.

Well my IdeaPad has failed me again. I will get the map up tomorrow sometime after I get my chromebook.