PbP GameDay 2: PFS 05-07 Port Godless (5-9)

Game Master SwampTing

Opening thread for pre-game discussion

Howdy all.. This will only be my 2nd time to play this character as I leveled her with gm credit so just a heads up it might take me a minute to get orientated.. She's a party face and enchantment focused caster though.. Should be able to provide some decent CC and I have a magic missile or 2 as well :)..

'ello. :)

This character has mostly been GM credit as well, only played three games so far with him I believe, and he was pretty useless.. trying to give him a good offensive option this level. Conjuration focused wizard, Thassilonian Specialist of Sloth. (Let me know if you need to see a copy of the appropriate boon/sources and I'll scan it in)

If you don't mind, I'd like to see the boon (I'm guessing it's a boon legalising the Thassilonian specialisation?). I vaguely recall seeing something about a boon somewhere to that effect.

Could you also point me to the source? I know I have it somewhere, possibly Varisia Birthplace of Legends or one of the RotR books, but can't remember off the top of my head.

Honestly, it's partially for my curiosity as well, so if it's troublesome to scan the boon, I won't push for it. =)

The Archetype itself is from Inner Sea Magic, let me see about that boon.. It is from a certain scenario, I may have it scanned in already, I might not. Please hold while your boon is being connected. :)

Just sent you a PM with the appropriate boon linked so as to avoid spoilers. :)

Yep, all's in order. Thanks. =)

No prob. I can scan the book too if you need' though quality would be poor.

No need for the book, I've got it. Thanks! =)

Aram, I have completed leveling Aestrid up so she's good to go.

Chronicles are here:
http://www.myth-weavers.com/showthread.php?p=5716631

ITS is here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AhGLFvWnaGULdE9Nc3hmM2ZUcG13dn BNUmdxTTN3Mnc&usp#gid=0

'ello there Cthonic. :)

I forget, did you play Decline of Glory with Scrillion or with the other archer? Can't remember his name atm.

Yeah, that was Scrillion. Was Ranus on that one? The problem with multiple characters is keeping track of who knows who. I think I've determined that Scrillion doesn't know Aestrid, but I forgot he might have alreay toured with Ranus.

Hmm.. no, I thought it was Ranus, but apparently it was Beta! It does get hard to keep track, doesn't it?

Yeah, I need to keep a list. It never matters in FtF PFS gaming; the RP is too cursory. But PbP is a different kettle of fish.

Yeah. I've got a binder that I've kept all my chronicles in, but as I now have two characters that are being played FtF constantly and I need to reference things easily, I set them up with their own binders. I bet Decline was the one game I had the leopard companion in, before deciding on Beta's build as a wolf shaman.

I don't think I have crossed paths with Ranus either in any incarnation unless maybe he was in that Among the Living group...

I think the leopard sounds about right.

He did play Among The Living.. you were playing your greataxe guy I think?

I do have a greataxe guy - the half-orc savage skald whose run with Aestrid a few times - but he's never run Among the Living. Just ran Among the Dead last week, actually and I felt a little surprised to hear that there was another adventure that took place in a theatre. I think I did two other theatre ones with that skald.

Unless I've just entirely blocked it out, which with my memory is entirely possible.

I know of at least half a dozen adventures with theatres in them.

Chthon, that was pointed at me.

I had my barbarian/rogue Moltok in that Among the Living group.

Moltok and Pete's pouncing quadruped eidolon tore that one up, what with everything being blind and crazy debuffed all the way through. I thought it might have been Ranus in that group but that scenario flashed by so quickly, I wasn't sure.

Ranus couldn't really do much in that game.. hopefully he's a bit more useful now. Bel was in that group and showing me up with his three or four toppling magical missiles I think.

Could be.

All I remember was everything was blind, prone or blind and prone. It made Moltok's job easy despite playing up a tier.

Chthon, that was pointed at me.

Oops, what embarrassment. It's like when someone you don't know waves to you, so you wave back and then realize they were waving at the person behind you.

Lol, you know me. Shadowhntr7 from Myth-weavers. :)

Probably coulda put a @Aestrid/Grey or something there though!

Me: Noticing that it's just we three Mythweavers alums who are chatting in OOC...

My one and only other Paizo PbP game was also not chatty at all in OOC. I'm wondering if that's a pattern or a coincidence.

No idea.. I've only applied to one other Paizo game to date and didn't get in.

They may just be waiting for the game to start. =)

Interaction is more than simply viewing and more along the lines of touching or seeing the "Bracelets" used as a buckler, for instance right?

Yes, they will not get a save if they just look at you, but if they, say, decide they want to poke in your bags or even do a cursory frisk, they will.

Fair enough.

There is a lot of daylight between the extremes of how different GMs interpret illusions so I figured going for a little clarity early on would be appropriate.

Aestrid/Grey, if there's any scroll or something you'd like cast on you, Ranus can help on that. Has good UMD too, if it's not on the wizard list.

I don't really know of anything that I want to get beforehand, however, and considering the size of the town we can probably find things here if need be.

Yeah, not sure. Shrink Item seems like overkill to hide a holy symbol.

Maybe stripping down to no armour, with it being carried on the caravan (so as to not screw things up by making noise under her disguise) and then taking the form of something scanty enough that it leaves nothing to the imagination (and nothing left to search) could work, with the holy symbol being changed to look like part of the costume - a single pearl on a strand or something...

There is always Invisibility to slip by or bypassing the entrance altogether.

Ooh, just thought of something. Could use Stone Shape in the days before the gate to wrap some marble around the contraband item(s), giving the stone the appearance of an old, weathered bust or something.

On second thought, I'll just hide her hat of disguise and holy symbol in the open as jewelry. If she gets caught, she'll try bluffing, bribing, then invisibility.

She has an extra holy symbol on her character sheet - she'll leave that at the lodge before they leave or give it away.

If Aestrid gets to use Disguise, her DC should have been 27:

10 for taking 10, +10 for the spell, +7 for ranks etc. in Disguise

...not counting a situational bonus, which would have made it 32.

I'm not usually one to press these kinds of things but I'm feeling a bit wronged here - independent of the scenario, I invested in a magic item, I've invested precious (for a cleric) skill ranks, I'm playing a cleric of a trickster goddess and still had a 20% chance of being caught.

Is there a reasonable chance that she could turn back some distance, cast Invisibility and sneak through that way?

Aestrid, if the legionnaire had failed the will save, she would have needed to beat a 32.

The scenario specifically calls for the PCs to be searched for contraband by the legionnaires, who were given a +6 perception.

The way I saw it, your score was 32 with the hat of disguise, 22 without (this is with the circumstance bonus). So if the legionnaire rolled above 22, it meant that you needed to rely on the magic of the hat for the disguise, and thus she would get a will save.

The hat of disguise is useful, but it has its limitations. Usually a +5 skill item costs 2500gp, and a +10 skill item costs in the order of 10,000gp. An item that costs 1800gp and gives a +10 to a skill check naturally has limitations. As it happens, this is the limitation. This is why the hat of disguise always struck me as a dangerous item to use. Good for passing a casual visual inspection, but if someone so much as touches you, you run a risk of getting caught. =(

I really didn't want to endanger the mission with this and honestly thought it would work the other way (though I can see now that this is what you were trying to say in your Saturday post). Since the guard has no reason to frisk a neckline that appears for all intents bare, I didn't expect the will save to have come first.

Oh well, c'est la vie.

Aye, and in most circumstances she would not have touched it. "Flavour"-wise, I could conceivably see her paying particular attention to items at your neck, shoulders and waist since she can't see or feel through your breastplate. Mechanically, it's that she rolled a natural 19.

OK, I posted in character trying to cry my way out of it (again rolling badly). I can run without a holy symbol provided I'm not in jail.

You rolled badly? Not as badly as the legionnaire! ;)

Holy symbols aren't necessarily magical themselves, right? If not, Ranus could craft one.

I was wondering that myself. No idea.

Holy symbols are not magical, but the question is where you are going to find the materials and the time.

Wood works- Ranus is actually a jeweler as well.

If you're using wood, I don't think craft: jewellery would be the right skill since jewellery tends to be made using precious stones and metals. Hence the 'jewel' in 'jewellery'.

Profession: woodcarver or craft: wood carvings would work.

Alternatively, if you want to use metal, you'd need to find the right tools (forge, molds, tongs etc).

Leaving it up to the scatterbrained mage? No pressure!

We'll see how things go, making a holy symbol is certainly possible though.

Hm, I was going to give Aestrid some cover and try to Mage Hand (no material component) her hat of diguise over to Kline, but she's already disguising herself.. covering him would ruin hers.

This would be a good chance to ask the GM: As a Thassilonian Specialist, I can't cast Evocation or Illusion, and they don't even count as part of my spell list. However, I have a racial trait that allows me to cast scrolls/completions as +1 CL if it's on my favored class's list, or as a 1st level caster if I'm not already a wizard. What's your ruling on that, do I cast Evocation/Illusion as a 1st without checks as the spells are normally on the list? Or would they still require UMD? I assume the 2nd, but it can't hurt to ask.

The spells are removed from your favored class entirely because of your archetype. You're a modified wizard, but still a wizard, except that your spell list is shorter. So unfortunately, you still need UMD. Then again, you have 2 sorcerers in the party who can help.