With the heart of the Stolen Lands explored and the bandits who ruled there scattered, the long-contested realm finally lies open for pioneers and settlers to stake their claims.:
Amid the rush of opportunistic travelers, the PCs find themselves stewards over a new domain, tasked with the responsibility of guiding and guarding a fledgling nation struggling to grow upon a treacherous borderland. Yet the threats to this new nation quickly prove themselves greater than mere bandits and wild beasts, as the monstrous natives of the hills and forests rampage forth to slaughter all who have trespassed upon their territory. Can the PCs hold the land they’ve fought so hard to explore and tame? Or will their legend be just one more lost to the fangs of the Stolen Lands?
Stepping up to the wall to trace the unreadable magic words on the wall, Serena is enveloped by an expanding globe of light and fire. The blast wave sends dust and debris in all directions. The explosion buckles the corridor and brings down small stones and grit from between the ceiling slabs and chars black everything in its radius.
fire damage (Reflex save DC 21 for half):10d6 ⇒ (4, 1, 4, 2, 3, 1, 3, 2, 1, 3) = 24
Serena takes the full brunt of the blast, but manages to turn away in time to avoid losing her vision to the flames. Her hair is badly burned, and her eyebrows are burned off, but she is largely intact. Her flesh does not burn because of her divine connection to Serenrae, but the shock wave has left her reeling.
Hmm. I was afraid of that. I'll have to remember to always have a dispel spell prepared from now on... Fergus says, walking up to Serena.
If you need it, I have some healing, though it isn't the most pleasant experience. He says, motioning towards his wand of Infernal Healing.
though, it is exceptionally efficient.
"*Mwap*" Yeah, she could still hear things. Vaguely.
"Well, let's hope there's no further threats to your haircut..." Illthir mumbles, weakly hoping a joke would raise the mood. And if it fell on deaf ears, she'd blame the explosion.
"Once is a coincidence, twice is attempted murder. Do you think the 'lich' would be spiteful enough to leave us this? Silly question; probably yes. But could it have time and resources?" That was probably also a silly question. Usually evil undead was just the right people to have time and means in abundance. Darn it - couldn't they have ticked off some poorer opponent... The skald sighs. "There's probably even more tricks then. You said there were two auras; are they both gone or are we about to find out what number two does?"
With the help of Jhod's magical light, Serena can see into what appears to be a room divided by cage bars with a door set near the center. There's also a bunch of scattered wood and huge puddle of water, the remains of a couple of barrels blown to bits in the explosion.
Rounding the corner into the area proper the party finds a faintly glowing oval disk floating perpendicular to the floor a few inches off the ground in one corner.
Guessing that little bits of stuff can land anywhere in the room itself given that the the floor is covered in the debris of a couple exploded barrels Illthir tosses a bit of rock shifted from the walls in the same explosion into the intriguingly door-sized glowing magical disc rather than anywhere else in the room.
The stone passes through the faintly shimmering air and hits the stone wall behind it and tumbles to the increasingly cluttered floor.
"Weeeell the last thing didn't react to rocks either..." Illthir notes. As for what it was - and what to do - good question. After a few moments to think on it (and noting that Serena doesn't explode for coming close to it) she offers: "I could try Detect Magic too. If Fergus and I put our heads together maybe we can figure it out."
It's definitely something magical. The area of the distortion appears to be about 8-feet-tall and about 4-feet-wide. There are a couple of auras. One strong one matching the exact position of the disc and another emanating from the door in the southwest of the room. This second much weaker aura overlaps with the entire room.
Concentrating on the upright disc, there's nothing in Illthir's knowledge of spellcraft to help her identify what, if anything, it does, nor even what school of magic it belongs too. It is a strong aura though.
"Huh, I got nothing. Fergus?" The Skald ponders for a moment then turns her attention to the second weaker aura. "I wonder if it has anything to do with the Mephits?"
Assuming it's spellcraft for that one too! Might as well roll :)
Technically, it would be knowledge (arcana) to determine what school of magic the weaker aura belongs to as there is no readily observable attributes to that spell effect, unlike say a +1 mace or a shimmering disc-thing.
The weaker aura that emanates 20' out from the space containing the southwestern door and covers most of the room seems to be an abjuration to Illthir.
"Conjuration; that'd be what one would use to summon something like Mephits... Hmm." Illthir ponders out loud. "Maybe one spell to trigger it and another to call?"
But this wasn't really her area of expertise. She was all about the heroic deeds and good stories. *Glup* She grabbed her spare sidearm and reached out to poke the disc. "Maybe ... This will do something?"
Not sure if it is the best of ideas but it is an idea :p
But this wasn't really her area of expertise. She was all about the heroic deeds and good stories. *Glup* She grabbed her spare sidearm and reached out to poke the disc.
Her dagger? the silvered warhammer? Regardless of which weapon it was, it passes through as if the magical atmospheric distortion wasn't there.
Into the chamber rush the wizard Eldioceasan, Tamris and his large speckled wolf companion Rain.
"YOU!? What in the Nine Hells are you all doing here!?" shouts the wizard. "Well?"
"Woah!" Out of all the things she had expected, that wasn't it. Though she was, as a rule, more ready to deal with things in the verbal arena and quickly recovered. "The same could be said for you!"
"But since you asked so *nicely*; this place was a temple of Erastil and-" she gestures at Jhod "-it could be again. Better then an abandoned infested dungeon." The skald does her best to banish both sarcasm and accusation from her tone. These were supposed to be friends after all. Though - with recent events in mind - better be a little careful. She held her hands up, empty, but kept her eyes on the other party.
"Woah!" Out of all the things she had expected, that wasn't it. Though she was, as a rule, more ready to deal with things in the verbal arena and quickly recovered. "The same could be said for you!"
"But since you asked so *nicely*; this place was a temple of Erastil and-" she gestures at Jhod "-it could be again. Better then an abandoned infested dungeon." The skald does her best to banish both sarcasm and accusation from her tone. These were supposed to be friends after all. Though - with recent events in mind - better be a little careful. She held her hands up, empty, but kept her eyes on the other party.
"Yes. Well--" the wizard grouses for a moment before saying "Tamris, you tell them."
Tamris takes the Sage of Dweomervale's gruffness in stride and explains to the space immediately to the left of the party that he and his companions have been on the hunt for the lich, Szam Tass, again, at Eldiocesan's urging, and have been scouring the lands between here and Mivon, but have yet to find an further clues. They returned here a few days ago to look for anything they might have missed on their last visit, but found the dungeon overtaken by new monsters. They saw most of them off, with only the minor nuisance of the dust mephit cultists left to clear out. Determined to deal with them on the marrow, they made this chamber their base camp, and had gone out to hunt and forage when Eldiocesan's alarm spell went off forcing them to hurry back. They had expected to find a bunch of piles of dust thanks to the wizard's magic "but instead, we found you."
Tamris shrugs and the motion causes his long dark hair falls across half of his face, casting his handsome visage in brooding shadow.
"Ah, we encountered them. In mutual surprise... And the wards; similar story there." Illthir casts a quick glance at her singed paladin companion. Then she continues talking, sharing the cliffnotes of their current situation. "Fergus blew up most of the mephits but I believe a handful fled deeper into the dungeon."
"Did you find anything related to the Lich?" Let's avoid using that name, just in case.
"Ah, we encountered them. In mutual surprise... And the wards; similar story there." Illthir casts a quick glance at her singed paladin companion. Then she continues talking, sharing the cliffnotes of their current situation. "Fergus blew up most of the mephits but I believe a handful fled deeper into the dungeon."
"That passage leads all the way down to the Darklands. You'll stay away from it if you know what's good for you."
Illthir Winlowe wrote:
"Did you find anything related to the Lich?" Let's avoid using that name, just in case.
"No, we haven't. At least not yet. You haven't heard anything about him have you? We've been wandering the Narlmarches for a couple of weeks now and have had little news."
"I need no more reasons to avoid the Darklands." Illthir shivers. Nothing good came from that horrible place. Perhaps we could source enough mud to simply fill in the exits? Probably not, but it'd be a convenient way to deal with it all.
"As for news ... Have you heard of the debacle at Ser Richard Iannuchi Manor? A simulacrum of the lich wreaked havoc on the meeting." She'll skip the details for now, in case Eldiocesan already were aware. If not, he'd probably ask.
Eldiocesan moves over to the shimmer in the air and twisting an unseen knob opens it like a large door with creaky hinges. Beyond the strange oval hole in reality itself the party can see an opulent marble and stone foyer, like the entrance to a wealthy royal's palace.
The darklands you say?.. Yes, a dangerous place. But one just as abundant with hidden treasures as well. Though, that type of expedition would be better at a different time indeed.
After moving inside.
Yes, while causalities were limited, it seemed to take glee in just causing chaos. Splitting up everyone that had come to the meeting. There was a lot that happened. It would be helpful to know what aspects to focus on first. Or, are you wanting a full retelling of the entire event?
Illthir squirms and briefly wonders if their horses would serve as a good enough excuse to wriggle away. Probably not. Sigh. "We will try, though you will understand that this isn't memories we love to dwell on..."
She takes a deep breath and tries to recall as much as she can. The hedge maze, the burning stables. The demon? and the imp; the shapechanger and the pair of grumbling wizards. "Right, so the scene is this. The Lord Mayor called for a meeting about these lands ..."
Illthir will try to cough up as much as she knows. If you'd like me to type it out, I'll need more time :p
I think it may be useful/wise/interesting to ask his opinion on the other two wizards and - if he doesn't shoot ice from his eyes - see if he is willing to share his thoughts on them.
I'm not sure if I can think of anything at this very moment to be untruthful about. Thoughts team?
Just leting the GM know I'm still here. Just been waiting for when we actually meet the group.
Go ahead and post anytime (especially since Cyrielle has family matters to attend to). Besides, I like split parties especially for the "desperate battle" / "tea time with grams" juxtaposition that can occur.
"So dear, how are your little friends doing?"
"Oh, I'm sure they're getting on swimmingly. Is this Earl Grey?"
Meanwhile: In the laser-augmented shark tank....
FYI, I can't open the link to the new stolen lands map. The file is not public.
Seems to work now.
On a similar note, I've done some updating to the front page. I'll be posting readily gleaned info in the Knowledge (Kingmaker) section and Quests are now broadly divided by type--Wanted Posters (currently accessible at Oleg's), and Requests (made by by specific NPCs). The older stuff at the bottom of the Campaign info page might be slightly depreciated (I haven't had time to look at it in too much detail yet).
Thank you so much for bearing with me. My grandpa's in a pretty bad way, and I had the time to help out for a few days. I'm back, and will begin the catch-up process.
Gnome Sorcerer 4 | AC: 15, TAC: 13, FAC: 13, CMD: 11 | HP 7/23 | Fort +2, Ref +3, Will +6 | Init +5 | Perception +9, Sense Motive +2, Darkvision 60' |
Resources:
Spell Slots available: 1st: 5/8 2nd: 3/4 Claws: 8/8 rounds left SLAs: Dancing Lights, Prestidigitation, Flare, Produce Flame
Hey, Cyrielle!
I was looking over your character and realized that there is a mistake there but it is one that is easy to fix.
You have EWP in Aldori Dueling Sword, so you can use weapon finesse with the Aldori Sword. If you didn't have this feat, then an Aldori Sword would work like a normal longsword for you.
However, your champion's finesse can't be used with it.
your character sheet wrote:
At 1st level, a daring champion gains the benefits of the Weapon Finesse feat with light or one-handed piercing melee weapons...
An Aldori sword is not a piercing weapon.
Which means you use STR to determine to-hit and that puts you at only +4 to hit instead of +7.
BUT... if you replace the EWP with the Slashing Grace feat, then you get this:
PRD wrote:
Choose one kind of one-handed slashing weapon (such as the longsword). When wielding your chosen weapon one-handed, you can treat it as a one-handed piercing melee weapon for all feats and class abilities that require such a weapon...
In other words, this feat makes the weapon you choose work with your class ability. Which means you do not need EWP. In fact EWP gives you nothing since you can use an aldori sword as a longsword and the feat works with longswords too.
On top of that the feat also gives you DEX to damage so this switch not only fixes the problem but gives you an extra +3 to your damage per hit.
:)
EDIT: also, I noticed it looks like you paid gold for your sword, but the trait you took (sword scion) means it should be free. Also it looks like you have a mount (named "Eloi?") but it doesn't say what kind of mount it is or how much it cost.
Male Gnome Bard/ 3rd AC: 15 (T 12, FF 14), HP 20/20 5NL, Fort +2, Ref +6, Will +1; +2 Enchantment | CMB +1, CMD 14 | Init +3 | Perc +4
RPGGGM wrote:
Poshment Underhill wrote:
Just leting the GM know I'm still here. Just been waiting for when we actually meet the group.
Go ahead and post anytime (especially since Cyrielle has family matters to attend to). Besides, I like split parties especially for the "desperate battle" / "tea time with grams" juxtaposition that can occur.
"So dear, how are your little friends doing?"
"Oh, I'm sure they're getting on swimmingly. Is this Earl Grey?"
Meanwhile: In the laser-augmented shark tank....
Forest Gnome - Male Wizard/4: HP (22/22): AC (12): Saves (Str=-1/Dex=2/Con=1/Int=6/Wis=2/Cha=1): Initiative +2: Perception +0 (15 passive)
sorry for lack of posting. I'm out of town and now going in to memorial weekend camping. posting will be sporatic till probably tues or wed. feel free to bot me as needed to keep the game moving.
sorry for lack of posting. I'm out of town and now going in to memorial weekend camping. posting will be sporatic till probably tues or wed. feel free to bot me as needed to keep the game moving.
Yeah it's Memorial Day weekend here in the States so I kinda figured some of the yanks among us might have plans through Monday (or Tuesday if you happen to reside on the other side of the globe). Have a nice weekend everyone wherever you happen to be. And remember it's not a TPK unless you're all here for it. ;)
Gnome Sorcerer 4 | AC: 15, TAC: 13, FAC: 13, CMD: 11 | HP 7/23 | Fort +2, Ref +3, Will +6 | Init +5 | Perception +9, Sense Motive +2, Darkvision 60' |
Resources:
Spell Slots available: 1st: 5/8 2nd: 3/4 Claws: 8/8 rounds left SLAs: Dancing Lights, Prestidigitation, Flare, Produce Flame
Well guys... looks like we need some more horses. :(
Maybe we should hold off and wait until we can get combat trained ones. A combat trained heavy horse costs 300 gp, but is a lot less likely to become something's lunch.
In fact, I'm kind of tempted to go on foot at this point and sell the horses we still have before they all get eaten. :)
Discussion Topic: Critical Hits (and maybe Fumbles)
I'm a fan of scars and wounds. I know creepy right? Back in the day I played a lot Middle-Earth RPG by Iron Crown Enterprises. They had a the most awesome critical hit and fumble charts things that would outright kill or maim given the right roll. Often over the course of a lifetime a character could expect to loose an eye or scatter their crossbow ammo across a battlefield if particularly rushed. The critical hit and fumble cards that Paizo put out a while ago are similar, they introduce a bit of unpredictability into the game beyond double damage though the rules allow you to keep that as a outcome as well. I wouldn't advise using them more that once or twice a module (probably only while in the game's final climactic encounter against named Big Bad End Guys), but being that Kingmaker is a long-term campaign, built in part upon a Game of Thrones theme, it does make some sense. "See that scar along my cheek?"
Gnome Sorcerer 4 | AC: 15, TAC: 13, FAC: 13, CMD: 11 | HP 7/23 | Fort +2, Ref +3, Will +6 | Init +5 | Perception +9, Sense Motive +2, Darkvision 60' |
Resources:
Spell Slots available: 1st: 5/8 2nd: 3/4 Claws: 8/8 rounds left SLAs: Dancing Lights, Prestidigitation, Flare, Produce Flame
I haven't heard many good reviews of these products.
From what I can see, it creates a lot of results that are beyond the means of characters that are our level to normally do or deal with if they are done to us. Some of the cards result in ability drain! We will not have the ability to deal with that for many levels (until 8th, I think). The cards are not level-based and thus end up dealing some out-of-proportion stuff.
Zokon mentioned one of the wilder ones where you end up plane shifting someone after critting them with a ray of frost. Another gives you a free suggestion. A lot of the results are rather nonsensical.
I think that some people might try to exploit them and turn the game into a crit-fishing game.
Forest Gnome - Male Wizard/4: HP (22/22): AC (12): Saves (Str=-1/Dex=2/Con=1/Int=6/Wis=2/Cha=1): Initiative +2: Perception +0 (15 passive)
for the record, I'm back and available again. no need to bot me anymore. It would appear I've become an archer in my absence. Thank you for covering my actions GM.
If I were voting, I would vote against adding the new rules.
Although, I would argue that if we DO add unchained rules, I would like to the option update to unchained rogue. :)
Male Gnome Bard/ 3rd AC: 15 (T 12, FF 14), HP 20/20 5NL, Fort +2, Ref +6, Will +1; +2 Enchantment | CMB +1, CMD 14 | Init +3 | Perc +4
I know what you mean about Scars. I'd often do that rule for my own characters, noting down when I've been critted and making it into a scar of somekind.
I am going in for surgery tomorrow. It is a one-day out-patient procedure but I probably won't post much if at all tomorrow, at least until nighttime... depends on how I feel... bot me as necessary if required. Thanks.
Male Gnome Bard/ 3rd AC: 15 (T 12, FF 14), HP 20/20 5NL, Fort +2, Ref +6, Will +1; +2 Enchantment | CMB +1, CMD 14 | Init +3 | Perc +4
Sorry I've been unable to post for a few days. Due to work the only time I could see my BF was to go straight there from work and the following day I ended up being worn out and feeling ill.
Gnome Sorcerer 4 | AC: 15, TAC: 13, FAC: 13, CMD: 11 | HP 7/23 | Fort +2, Ref +3, Will +6 | Init +5 | Perception +9, Sense Motive +2, Darkvision 60' |
Resources:
Spell Slots available: 1st: 5/8 2nd: 3/4 Claws: 8/8 rounds left SLAs: Dancing Lights, Prestidigitation, Flare, Produce Flame
GGG - going to update the http://paizo.com/people/PartyLoot page. Can I assume the new stag amulet is the same as the last one we found? Also, the shiny shortsword - I assume it is not magical, but is it masterwork? And does it have any decorations that make it more valuable or is it just a plain sword?
If it is masterwork, who wants it? Probably would be best for Fronar or Zokon. For either character you lose a die type of damage, but for Fronar he only loses it on sneak attacks. In the meantime attacks are +1 to hit.
GGG - going to update the http://paizo.com/people/PartyLoot page. Can I assume the new stag amulet is the same as the last one we found? Also, the shiny shortsword - I assume it is not magical, but is it masterwork? And does it have any decorations that make it more valuable or is it just a plain sword?
If it is masterwork, who wants it? Probably would be best for Fronar or Zokon. For either character you lose a die type of damage, but for Fronar he only loses it on sneak attacks. In the meantime attacks are +1 to hit.
The amulet is the same as the other one. The shortsword is indeed masterwork and shaped a bit like a leaf (think of 'Sting' from the LotR and Hobbit movies) how much you think you can get for it is an Appraise check.
Gnome Sorcerer 4 | AC: 15, TAC: 13, FAC: 13, CMD: 11 | HP 7/23 | Fort +2, Ref +3, Will +6 | Init +5 | Perception +9, Sense Motive +2, Darkvision 60' |
Resources:
Spell Slots available: 1st: 5/8 2nd: 3/4 Claws: 8/8 rounds left SLAs: Dancing Lights, Prestidigitation, Flare, Produce Flame
Okay, Zokon passed on the sword, Cyrielle is better with a longsword, Celyne and I are not proficient, and Poshment is small (as am I) so will take penalty to use it. So Fronar, do you want it? Or just to carry it for now?
Celyne pointed out that she had played the beginning of this module on-line four times, and in each case the party went straight for the bandit camp and the attack on the bandits ended with a TPK. On the other hand I believe Zokon had played this before and said the encounter went smoothly. YMMV but we want to improve the odds if we can.
Nor do you know exactly what your devious GM has planned. Heh heh heh.
Cyrielle Rousseau (Gameplay thread) wrote:
Fair enough. If we'd rather explore a bit, I'm okay with that.
"I do, of course, bow to the will of the group. Do we have any idea what else is out there? Perhaps there's a smaller group we could hunt down, or something similar." Cyrielle frowns, unprepared for being denied a chance to be a hero. "At the very least, we could plan a rough route in advance."
As GM I agree with Cyrielle. The group should take this time to look over the previous week's posts, check out the current Quests on the campaign's front page, make note of your supplies, and come to some decisions as to your next couple of moves. This is a sandbox campaign so you, the players, will have a lot more to contribute to the game's direction than in a standard linear AP and as this is PbP that means you have a certain amount of responsibility to keep things moving too. Nearly anything is open for expansion upon. And yes, we will be delving into folk's backgrounds as well.
Hopefully I have provided enough threads to keep you interested. On that note, I was a bit surprised that you left the body swinging in the forested roadway. Normally when I leave something as unsubtle as a talking corpse people become interested rather than say: 'Eh, it's just a talking corpse'.
Be aware that time will pass in the background as well. Don't expect the bad guys to sit in the last room of the dungeon waiting for you to show up and kill them. NPCs have plans too.
Hey, guys. A few questions about supplies. (this is Numalar BTW)
1. GGGM - can you change the link to the party loot page? The one in question hasn't been updated for over a month and the correct page is the profile page of this alias: http://paizo.com/people/PartyLoot
2. Who is holding the healing potions? Numalar has claimed one of the CL1 ones (I have low HP and no healing). We have one more CL1 potion and two CL3 potions. I would suggest Cyrielle and Fronar for the CL3's as they are the most likely to be in melee. Not sure about the CL1 one... Celyne can heal so she probably doesn't need it, which leaves Posh and Zokon.
3. Does anyone want the other stag amulet? It is worth 20 gp but we will likely sell them when the Stag Lord is dealt with. In the meantime though they might be useful to bluff with (Numalar has one for this purpose).
4. Do we want to track provisions collectively? If so everyone could throw them into the pot and then deduct them from the party loot page when instructed by the GM. I asked this one a while back but got no real response, yea or nay.
I've left a message to see what Fronar's status is but have yet to hear anything. We can leave him at the trading post until we are sure. It's a better place to make potential underworld contacts anyway.
Since the votes at this point seem in favor of finding the bandits, bandits it is.
Which if any of the following Pathfinder/3.5 OGL modules have you played, read, and/or game mastered. And, would you be interested in seeing any particular elements from any of them that you are familiar with? (In general these particular modules seem to have the most mesh-able elements, though I may add more to the list as I think of them.)
__ Hollow's Last Hope
__ Crown of the Kobold King
__ Revenge of the Kobold King
__ Carnival of Tears
__ Gallery of Evil
__ Flight of the Red Raven
__ Clash of the Kingslayers
__ Realm of the Fellnight Queen
__ The Dragon's Demand
__ Second Darkness AP (particular module?)
__ Reign of Winter AP (particular module?)
__ Iron Gods AP (particular module?)
Depending on your answers I may or may not incorporate some elements of these (ranging from encounters or subplots to near-whole-cloth adventures) into our future games.
I am green with envy. I've been a fan of Baba Yaga since Roger E. Moore's "Dancing Hut" in Dragon Magazine #83. I even proposed something for it once a long time ago.
How's it been so far? I'm gonna run part of it for my in-person game group regardless of anything I might have thought about using here. Though trust me, there are witches, hags and hag goddesses aplenty in Kingmaker even with out Baba.
