Luke's Crimson Throne Campaign

Game Master GM Crimson

If Background Skills are allowed, then I'll put points into Profession (Scribe) and Linguistics. That'll free up a skill point for me to spend elsewhere...

No. Being unfamiliar with the unchained stuff, I did not mean to just open the door for more of that content. I thought Kayleigh was making reference to some other character choice I saw that came from the unchained content (maybe a trait?).

It's all good. She removed the background skills already anyway. She was referring to the rules I linked.

Seeing as all Rakshasa speak Undercommon is it ok if I pick it despite it normally being allowed for tieflings?

Makes as much sense where Neziana is concerned as infernal would for a tiefling with that heritage. Yes, allowed.

Sorry to have been quiet the last few days.

Kayleigh's got a trait (Truth's Agent) from Ultimate Campaign and a starting spell (abstemiousness from some other source (a kind of 'feed the poor' spell choice that she'll likely dump when she becomes an adventurer).

One other question about an item from another sourcebook: If I dump Kayleigh's crossbow and bolts, can I spend the money on a masterwork backpack from Ultimate Equipment? Basically, the mwk backpack allows you to bump up your carrying capacity as though you had a Strength score +1 higher. I'm having issues trying to keep Kayleigh at a light load.

In a related note, I might end up swapping her Str (12) and Int (13) scores to give her more carrying capacity. Otherwise, I'm pretty set.

13 strength will also qualify you for power attack, which could be nice together with a guided morning star eventually if you plan to go that route.

When do we plan on starting? Are you waiting on something from someone?

It's also been a while since I chined in. Turns out much of what I said about Emileva's development doesn't hold for one reason or another.

I'd completely forgotten that she will not get a free slayer talent until 6th level due to the vanguard archetype. That makes two weapon fighting hard to justify, since it's coming too late.

If Neziana is going for arcane trickster, something I totally missed, and eventually ranged, that cuts down on the need for more ranged. I won't need to make a decision for a long time, but I could still pick up archery feats using the ranger combat style talent later on. But for now I'll leave archery alone. Emileva is actually better off using a sling than a short bow.

Since she's a strength based slayer I'll not worry about being roguish unless there's something in particular the party needs. I could pick up dealing with traps if Neziana doesn't do that for example. Otherwise it doesn't make much sense to try bridging the gap to being rogue oriented with her lower DEX.

Also, having looked at the classes again carefully, it looks to be advantageous for Emileva to remain in Slayer until 8th level or so at least. At that point she'll have gotten all the benefits from vanguard. I might still just stay in slayer, but if she switched to fighter with lore warden/martial master instead, she could be a really mean maneuvers specialist even at those higher levels.

But for the near future she will be a straightforward melee two-hander.

One other quick thing. Does anyone have any experience with feinting? If so, would it be worthwhile to look at feinting to get more use out of Emileva's sneak attack dice? There is a feat called Slayer's Feint that works off acrobatics instead of bluff. Is feinting as a move action too costly to bother with though?

Oh, two things not one. At 2nd level she'll be getting a teamwork feat that she can share with the party for a few rounds one a day. Any opinions on which one would be a good choice?

Emileva:
As already mentioned, i'll be trying to go for feinting with Neziana. I'm not sure it's worth it though, it's an awful lot of feats, but I want to try. I think it's worse for you though, since past level 6 you rather want to use your move action for an extra attack instead of feinting. You won't be able to make use of neither of two weapon feint nor moonlight stalker feint, so you got to give up your full attack if you want to do it.

For teamwork feats, Precise strike might be the only option available so early. Outflank is another one great for combat down the line. Feint partner sounds fun, but again I'm not sure how effective it'll be. Something like stealth synergy or lookout could also be really useful depending on what we expect to face/do.

Neziana will be quite excellent at disabling traps. I'm more worried about finding them. Her perception is ok, but certainly not amazing. I don't want to be caught in a trap while wandering off alone.

Won't staying slayer allow you to pick up advanced slayer talents though? Aren't they worthwhile? I haven't looked too closely at slayer though, so I don't know what else you get at high level.

Chakrams or Javelins are often even better than a sling until you get interative attacks.

I'm surprised to not see you pick up power attack already, but I guess you have a different plan. Nothing wrong with trying something different, I feel like I'm doing that with Neziana.

On further thought I think i'll take accomplished sneak attacker now. While it won't do anything yet, it means I can still change my mind about what to do with the rest of my feats.

There is the whole Ranger Combat Style tree of Slayer Talents she could look into...

On the topic of my character, I'm more or less happy with Tass the way she is. Battlefield control is something she can do pretty well.

Yeah, too bad feinting doesn't seem to work with vital strike. That might make it worthwhile. Otherwise probably not the route to go. I guess sneak dice will just be an occasional thing that's nice to have when they come up.

There are some good advanced talents out of the Rogue category, but nothing really worth it in the slayer one. The switch to fighter really only works well for maneuvers and a few extra feats. Martial Master would let me pick up a temporary feat like brawlers, I could double up on say trip and dirty tricks, so when one was no good the other probably would be. It makes maneuvers past about 12th level more viable, and the CMB bonus from lore warden keep them effective.

I don't usually bother with power attack until 3rd. Before then the trick is to hit reliably, not to do damage. It's not really worth the minus to attacks for the overkill on damage.

I'm not yet completely sold on dodge though. Honestly I have not idea anymore why I chose it back when. I might keep it but I'm also looking for a good replacement.

I know toughness is often viewed as a bad feat, but it's almost a superstitious choice for me. By 8th level or so it seems worthless, but it can keep you alive in the early levels. If you don't survive those it doesn't matter what toughness looks like later on. It's saved my bacon a few times.

Sling has a couple of advantages I like. It doesn't have to be in hand all the time like a javelin, and it's easy to carry plenty of ammo. In a single ranged attack then melee situation sling has no advantage, but when something can remain out of reach it's good to have.

There is the whole Ranger Combat Style tree of Slayer Talents she could look into...

On the topic of my character, I'm more or less happy with Tass the way she is. Battlefield control is something she can do pretty well.

Yes, I'll be taking that for 3 talents most likely. The two handed tree isn't very good. I'll either use those to pick up archery feats (probably) or otherwise maybe choose the menacing feat tree.

I think I'm ready to start. :)

Also, Emileva, Improved Initiative is always a solid pick if you'd like to switch Dodge out for it.

Yes, Improved Initiative is great. I could do that but with the Vanguard archetype I get +1/2 levels added to initiative. So if I want a stratospheric initiative it's something to take. If I just want a good init bonus I don't have to take anything. It's on my short list.

I'm ready to start whenever as well. Starting would force me to decide, which is probably what it will take anyway. Otherwise I'll probably just dither forever. :)

I got my physical copy of the revision today and am now trying to steam through the parts I hadn't gotten to in the pdf. I think we should be good for launch by the weekend.

Oh, of course, we were waiting on the revised versions of the books... Silly me.

And motteditor to come back from holiday. I have to say the revision is really very well done.

OK, I think Nebbin's ready to go now. I added a paragraph to flesh out his addicted friend trait (though if we wanted, I think I saw Tassira was a former addict, so we could replace that NPC I created with her to add a link to the rest of the party) and I think answered any other questions DM Luke had for me; feel free to let me know if you have any other questions, though.

He's pretty spare on equipment, as he's not really an "adventurer" per se at the start of this. Really, he probably wouldn't even have armor, though I found a way to justify getting him some. :)

--

Some other notes:
I really like that we're almost an all-female group. I don't see that a lot and think it's pretty cool.

Emileva, I really like the vanguard archetype. As for teamwork feats that might be good (these are ones I use for my inquisitor, but I think they'd extend well to a whole party), I'd probably most recommend Shake It Off, which could boost all our saving throws and be REALLY helpful.

Lookout might also be good. It would kind of depend on whether the DM would rule that you could activate it as your action during a surprise round and have it take effect for the rest of us for that combat (if not, it probably wouldn't be as useful).

Outflank is another one that's often good, I think.

Shake It Off: When you are adjacent to one or more allies who also have this feat, you gain a +1 bonus on saving throws per such ally (maximum +4).

Lookout: Whenever you are adjacent to an ally who also has this feat, you may act in the surprise round as long as your ally would normally be able to act in the surprise round. If you would normally be denied the ability to act in the surprise round, your initiative is equal to your initiative roll or the roll of your ally –1, whichever is lower. If both you and your ally would be able to act in the surprise round without the aid of this feat, you may take both a standard and a move action (or a full-round action) during the surprise round.

Outflank: Whenever you and an ally who also has this feat are flanking the same creature, your flanking bonus on attack rolls increases to +4. In addition, whenever you score a critical hit against the flanked creature, it provokes an attack of opportunity from your ally.

One last-minute question/request: Can I take the Fast Learner feat from Advanced Race Guide? I'm still trying to get Kayleigh's carrying capacity and skill issues ironed out.

Once we know each other, feel free to dump equipment on Nebbin. He'll be happy to be a pack mule. :)

Hi folks! The opening post is up!

Have a look - I've changed up the beginning of the AP just a tad for those of you who are familiar with the story. The challenge I present to you is to create an opening character post that introduces your character a bit by describing this uniquely bad day (the king is dead and the queen's a spoiled b@**!!) and an unusual discovery that occurs in the middle of that morning, perhaps leaving your character limited time to decide what to do and react. The discovery is a harrow card stuck in an unusual place. The back of each card is covered with the following handwritten message:

"I know what Gaedran Lamm has done to you. He has wronged me as well. I know where he dwells, yet cannot strike at him. Come to my home at 3 Lancet Street at noon. Others like you will be there. Gaedren must face his fate, and justice must be done."

---Cards---
Emileva: The Liar
Tassira: The Snakebite
Neziana: The Queen Mother
Kayleigh: The Carnival
Nebbin: The Crows

In case you've never seen the cards, I've posted an image of these cards here for your inspection. Please use me as you like for place names or details you might need from the city background (not sure what sources each of you has at your disposal).

Assume no issues traveling through the city other than it taking longer to move about. Crowds are gathering and agitating in the streets and the guard is already struggling to contain things. Leave your post somewhere on approach to the first location and I'll set the scene.

One last-minute question/request: Can I take the Fast Learner feat from Advanced Race Guide? I'm still trying to get Kayleigh's carrying capacity and skill issues ironed out.

yep. Sounds good to me. I'm going back through the character sheets today, so any other shifting that you want to do should be completed before we start rolling dice!

I kinda want to switch my first feat to Thoughness. Neziana is quite squishy and it doesn't matter what my future plans are if I end up dead.

Heh. This has the potential of being the shortest AP ever if none of us can find Lancet Street. ;)

Hey, I still rolled a 10 total. That SHOULD be enough to get by... right?

I'll have an opening post up soon.

@Emileva: There is actually a way to make feinting very viable as a slayer. However it's already explicitly forbidden in this game as it require that you follow Achaekek. The ranger combat style dedicated to Achaekek allows for picking up Improved Two Weapon Feint at level 6 while ignoring the rather impressive list of prerequisites. Not that it's an option for you, but at least now you know.

Hey, I still rolled a 10 total. That SHOULD be enough to get by... right?

I suppose...maybe...if Lancet Street's in the same city district Tassira lives in. If I can get the equivalent of an Aid Another from the three priests in my post, I might have a 10, too!

@GM: The final character sheet (I hope) for Kayleigh is now posted under this alias.

Are we using present or past tense?

I admit the opening challenge is a bit daunting. It's getting quite late here, so I might not get to finish it today and tomorrow is looking to be quite busy as well:(.

For these openers it doesn't matter that much - use the voice that feels best based on what you're describing. As we progress we'll certainly shift to present - only doubling back to past for flash-backy type stuff. But the character of that first post is a little different from normal posts.

And relax and write comfortably. There's no clock running, and weekend schedules are murder. Take your time.

New image of the city from the east.

The message boards log you out after a period of inactivity. So it's more likely that your post get eaten. To avoid it, just copy what you wrote to clipboard before submitting, then you can just paste it in again if it does disappear.

For long posts I usually type them up in notepad or wordpad and paste it into the browser for that very reason. You start a post, pickup a book to lookup a rule, get distracted or surprised and chase four more rules in three more books, then come back, finish your post and boom! Type the whole thing over again in angry voice. :)

Yeah, I always try to remember hit ctrl-c before I submit a post (even if it's not long). I do the same thing when I update a character profile. There's also the Lazarus plug-in, which has saved me a few times.

Walking the dog then I'm going to post. You guys set a high standard to try to meet!

Those opening posts were all awesome. However I wouldn't mind if we went with slightly smaller posts going forward. It's much less daunting to simply write a paragraph or two and much easier to find time for as well so we can post multiple times per day.

I want to encourage everyone to write as much as they like, but I'd imagine the openers were outliers. This form of the game is probably my favorite because it offers you the oppo to stretch out and write when you want to, and when you don't you can just play D&D (er... Pathfinder).

Anyway, I ended up taking the daughter and three of her friends to Howl-o-scream last night, so no Pathfinder or sleep for me. Gonna sneak a post in before work though...

Yeah, I tend to write much shorter posts in my usual daily posting (and I agree, super long posts constantly are actually not as good as short ones). :)

To answer a couple of questions/concerns:

I used the past tense at the start of Kayleigh's intro post because that stuff happened earlier in the day, hours before she approached Lancet Street. I'll use the present tense for most posts that aren't flashbacks or reflections.

As for length...I'll go long when I have the time or want to really go into detail about a subject. My latest post is much more typical for a normal daily post.

I think finding the shop in the order of the posts makes things play out much smoother than trying to retrofit in actions.

Very much agreed. Roll with it. :)

Sorry folks. I should have spent my evening posting, but instead I watched a monstrous s%*~show of a debate. I'm not going to be able to move us along until tomorrow night.

I don't blame you in the least, GM. I watched it too.

Such a nasty GM. :p

Such a nasty GM. :p

That was well done. You have my vote!

If you are going to add line separators to your posts, please make them shorter as they seriously f*!# up the view on mobile. Same thing fow long text (links primarily), use the url tag and a shorter description as the display name to aboid the page screwing up. Thankfully it was near the end of the page.

I seem to have lost access to the campaign site, I requested to be added again.

Not sure how much more harrow stuff there will be in this campaign, but I recently had another player do a number of cool harrowings in a reqcruitment followed by some more in the actual game. I thought you might look at them for inspiration. The first one is here and there are more through the thread as well as the discussion/gameplay of the actual game (we just started, but it's on table #2, , so not the same as the recruitment).

I'm trying to roleplay a low charisma without completely alienating the rest of the party. It's a fine line to thread, especially seeing as we are not tightly knit comrades yet. Hopefully our shared purpose against Lamm will be enough to prevent the others from throwing Neziana out head first.

@Nebbin: I've actually found that most groups I've been in recently have a majority of female characters. One is even all female. I quite prefer that the groups are more balanced personally.

Is it only me that have anything to discuss outside of gameplay :/.

Since the subject has been brought up, I guess I should mention that it will probably take a little time for me to get a feel for playing Em. Most of the time my characters have more, uh.. flair, than she does. I'm not used to playing an introvert who can be something of a sour lemon.

I've maybe noticed a shift in party composition too, but I'm not sure. Looking at the totally unscientific sample of the games I have, and without thin slicing the categories too much, I have 3 - mixed but favoring males, 1 - approx. 50/50 male/female, 1 - mixed but favoring females 3 - all female except for 1 male, and 1 - all female, which is the same one as Neziana's.

A total count of all characters in my games makes it seem more pronounced: 18 Male / 30 Female.

Seems like this is the year of girl power? :p

We're with her?

(I swear, I'll post more than political slogans at some point.)