RoW: Let's Thaw the Frozen Stars! (Inactive)

Game Master Daxter

I'm just waiting on the results of Sven's, Kalt's & Avora's rolls before I act.

They felled the beast :)

Welcome to the group, Gyrfalcon!

I think there's an archetype or two out there that negates the penalty. Maybe you could talk Rango into allowing a feat that does the trick.

What do you think, Rango? Should I attempt to talk you into this? I'm not necessarily committed to the idea, just exploring options.

I would allow additional traits and taking Giant Blooded (even though you already have a campaign trait). So only -1 to hit, and you get a second trait. Still makes it slightly worse then the Graetsword, hmmm.

Or, as Feral suggested, take Titan fighter.

Or pick up irongrip gauntlets next time you trade.

I would allow additional traits and taking Giant Blooded (even though you already have a campaign trait). So only -1 to hit, and you get a second trait. Still makes it slightly worse then the Graetsword, hmmm.

Or, as Feral suggested, take Titan fighter.

Or pick up irongrip gauntlets next time you trade.

Those are some great ideas, Rango. I think the gauntlets make the most sense, since Kalt is already rather fey-blooded, so it would be weird to add giant blood into the mix, and they actually reduce the penalty to 0. And I'd rather buy the gauntlets than take a fighter dip.

Thanks for thinking on it and coming up with a good fix.

Oh sweet. I agree, those gloves are a lot better than dipping a new class.

I happen to also be running Giantslayer, so I'm well acquainted with this particular topic.

By the way, two notes:

There will be a method to sell items starting early next book, but you can also spend a limited amount of time trading with the centaurs. You'll be hard pressed to get major items in the centaur woods.

You can all level to 10 and gain the usual hero point. All those Skill Focus feats getting their big bump this level :).

Yay, leveling! I'm thinking of continuing in Horizon Walker, I'd appreciate any input into good favored terrain ideas, Rango. I still think Cold would be a good one, and would make sense (more than picking Plane of Air, since I've never been there, for all that I like the fly ability later on) - but I'd welcome any input on the selection.

At Horizon Walker 4, I'd get one additional favored terrain and I'd need to pick one of my favored terrains for Terrain Mastery. Horizon Walker, if anyone wants to look at the implications of the choice.

Also - anyone know if those irongrip gloves are PFS legal? I didn't see them in Additional Resources, but I find that a fairly confusing resource, so I thought I'd double-check.

They are not PFS legal.

We can shop but with limited capacity? How limited? Do the centaur's have any trade routes with Irrisen?

I'll parse the thread and see what kind of loot we have to work with.

Very limited. I think I gave them stats before.

The camp itself is about the size of a village (500 base/2500 purchase limit/3rd level casting).

Vurnim, several days away, is (2000 base/10000 purchase limit/5th level casting).

Regarding Horizon Walker: actually, Air is appropriate. Not that you'll be traveling to the plane of air, but certain elements are in line with air-themes.

Astral is also relevant, mostly since the mutability of the dancing hut is essentially in line with the astral plane.

And would Cold still be useful? One aspect of Terrain Dominance, beyond the interesting abilities, is this: "When dealing with creatures native to that terrain, the horizon walker treats his favored terrain bonus for that terrain as a favored enemy bonus (as the ranger class feature) against those creatures."

So it seems that Cold would be very useful in this regard, since many of the things we've fought and will face should be Cold natives, more so than Astral or Air. (In fact, I think I should have applied my Mountain bonus to all the frost giant fights...)

I guess another way to ask the question about Favored Terrain - does Triaxus, in its winter cycle, count as Cold terrain or something else?

All of your existing terrains will continue to be useful, particularly cold. We are definitely not playing Reign of Early Spring.

Thanks Avora.

I'm still enjoying reading along, and looking forward to introducing Tiknesr, when the moment is right!

It took some doing (it turns out I haven't updated the loot sheet since Dec 2014) but I've catalogued all the loot.

Kalt
15,586.00 gold

Sven
15,586.00 gold

Avora
11,436.00 gold
giantbane longspear +1

Lana
15,586.00 gold

Shanya
15,586.00 gold

Potentially interesting items:

amulet of mighty fists +1 - Sven or Avora?
phylactery of negative energy channeling - Lana maybe if we could find a way to reverse it's polarity?
cookbook of arcane augmentation - we should probably hold onto this for our new witch =P
necklace of fireballs II - Who doesn't love a necklace of fireballs?
frost-thunder hammer - I know we discussed this one but I wasn't sure if Kalt would want to spend the bulk of his share on one item
belt of mighty constituion +2 - good for anyone
periapt of health - see above

Don't be shy folks. If there's something you're interested in or if you already nabbed it and I just didn't notice, let me know.

Thanks for doing the accounting, Sven.

Having thought about it a bit, I think I'd rather not spend so much on that hammer, especially since I'd need to also buy the Irongrip Gloves to make it workable. I could just make my sword +2 and buy a Strength belt for less than the sale price of the hammer. The question is, are we going to be in a place where we can get reasonable trade-in value for it? Based on Rango's figures above, it's outside of the price range for Vurnim.

In any case, I can't get either of the items I mention above in Vurnim if the max caster level is 5th.

You can get a belt. Caster level isn't actually a requirement to make magic items.

So, amusingly, Jadrenka meant to send you 15 miles south of Artrosa, where you'd have a nice, pleasant 50 mile stroll back to Korak Kaag's camp.

But, she misrolled on her teleport. "Nearest thematic place" - welcome to Vurnirn, home of cyclopean ruins and larges of the Iobarian centaur cities. I'm just rolling with it :) (Note your characters don't know where you are yet.)

For the purposes of introduction, Tiknesr could as easily be here as the Korak Kaag's encampment. The group is currently only about 25 miles from the dancing hut - maybe two days journey through the forest.

Avora levels up as a druid.

+5 HP +2 for Con = 7 new hit points (total: 76 hp)
+1 Reflex saves
Gains a new 2nd level spell and a shiny new 5th level spell
Skills: Know (nature) +1, Perception +1, Handle Animal +2, Spellcraft +1, Survival +1
Picks up favored enemies (humans), upgrade giants to +6

That is amusing. And, presumably, means we can buy some magic items once we sort out the encounter with the friendly centaurs. (Hmm, re-reading the info on Vurnir, I can't buy a Str belt anyway, since the base value for the settlement is 2000 gp.)

And if Tiknesr can join us here rather than there, that's great! Am pretty much done with leveling, will update alias soon.

Sven's done leveling too. I'm just putting off updating my alias until after we finish potential shopping.

I'm certainly happy to be here. Let me know if there's anything I should know and I'll pop out of some centaur's hut to see who these newcomers are.

Well, at the very least, you just heard an enormous commotion from outside.

Tiknesr does not bear Baba Yaga's mantle - but (like Ankih) effectively gets Blood of heroes and Hero's Fortune

I'm considering giving enemy bosses a limited number of villain points, on a case by case basis, to help balance things out a bit. I would like your next boss fight to be an actual fight, as Vsevolod's threat was remarkably underwhelming on account of a bad roll. This would probably be just a single villain point. My intent is not to kill PCs, but to help maintain dramatic levels.

I also have some interesting ideas about Tiknesr's patron (as may he) - but it's not Baba Yaga, certainly.

Looking at Tiknesr's statblock, it does look like he accounted for the extra feat.

Since Ankih appears to be gone forever, one of the children that you saved for being eaten in Whitethrone (the magically gifted child) I had set up as the daughter of Ankih's white haired woman of his backstory, although he never caught on to it. Just a fun tidbit.

Spoilers!

Fun to hear that you have ideas for Tik's patron. I love it (and left it intentionally vague on my end so happy to be surprised, to the extent it comes up).

I know we're using hero points. Are you saying we all get Blood of Heroes and Hero's Fortune for free? Does that mean I start with 3 or 5 hero points?

BTW, I think I never finalized his gear. I'll do that ASAP.

I'm considering giving enemy bosses a limited number of villain points, on a case by case basis, to help balance things out a bit. I would like your next boss fight to be an actual fight, as Vsevolod's threat was remarkably underwhelming on account of a bad roll. This would probably be just a single villain point. My intent is not to kill PCs, but to help maintain dramatic levels.

I think this is a good idea, Rango. There have been some tough fights, but a lot of them have been a bit on the easy side. I still think back with a mixture of excitement and dread to that moment when Kalt was torn in half by a troll, when the game was first getting started. I'm not advocating that we do that again, mind you (though Kalt could probably eat a troll for breakfast at this point), but it's always exciting to have a fight be really touch and go, and amping up the baddies would be a step in that direction.

Yeah, silly me using tactics as written. :P. Does make certain things a bit of a pushover.

Besides, some of the fights have been exciting this book. Sven taking a frost giant greataxe crit; caigreal seemed at least reasonably challenging.

Tiknesr:
Only Tiknesr gets Blood of heroes and Hero's Fortune for free. It's my attempt at balancing the fact that everyone else has higher stats from their Mantles of the Black Rider(it gives them all a free +2 to a stat). It this point, there are no new riders.

Yes, you can start with 5, you get an extra per level (2 total)

I have yet to actually give out "gm fiat" hero point. I've been aiming to limit their excessive proliferation.

There have been some tough fights...

We are on the same page, I do believe.

[Con Mode] I have a convention in less than two weeks (March 4-6) at which I am the Game Operations Director (presiding over the game room). I will try to keep a regular pace, but if I fall behind, that's why. These last two weeks are the most hectic. Just letting everyone know.

Whoof... sorry I haven't gotten around to updating Shanya's stats yet. I've been busy building a character to apply for a different campaign, and it's always the backstory that really bogs me down.

I also haven't managed to level yet, so thanks for making me not the only one, Shanya. :)

Level Up Summary

+6 HP

+1 BaB

+1 Reflex & Will Saves

Studied Strike +4d6

New Extract Slot: 4th

New Extract: Stoneskin

Skill Ranks: 10 (6 + 3 +1 from Favoured)
--+1 Bluff
--+1 Diplomacy
--+1 Disable Device
--+2 Knowledge (Arcana)
--+2 Knowledge (Planes)
--+1 Perception
--+1 Sense Motive
--+1 Stealth

Is Tiknesr interested in a scroll of threefold aspect? If not it's headed for the vendor pile.

Also, Rango, would you be okay with Sven adding monk of the four winds to his archetype list. Elemental Strike (cold) will represent his growing giantish heritage.

Sure,that's fine.

Sven, thanks for the offer but it seems like an underwhelming scroll for its cost. I'd say just sell it.

Alrighty.

Since Avora didn't seem interested in the amulet of mighty fists Sven's going to take it.

Kalt
15,750.58 gold

Sven
amulet of mighty fists +1
13,750.58 gold

Avora
giantbane longspear +1
11,600.58 gold

Lana
15,750.58 gold

Shanya
15,750.58 gold

I'm assuming Ankih's getting his normal share and it's going to pay for his retirement home. =(

With that much money he could probably buy a wish :)

I will probably fast forward to the next hut scene soon.

One of those minor dangling plot ends is the bound barbarian warlord acting as the house watchdog (in the huts current configuration). Did you want to free him with the arcane cookbook ?

There is also a house (hut?) fey running around that really doesn't like you. I believe it still has the Egg.

Freeing the barbarian guy is definitely on the list of things to do assuming that's within our power now. The fey would make a useful resource on the workings of the hut if we could get it to like us.

On the shopping front, Sven's finally ready to graduate into full plate and say goodbye to his level one armor.

75% chance of Str belt: 1d100 ⇒ 72

Well, I'll buy that for sure. Pondering items to bump my AC, possibly saves also. I'm considering selling my cloak of elvenkind to get a cloak of resistance, but I'd lose some fun flavor in doing so.

Rango - there's a PFS item that combines these two cloaks, at an increased cost. I'd have to look through my chronicles to find details and cost, but would you consider that as an option?

By the standard rules you can create/commision a combination of two items (assuming there's a crafter who can do it, and of course DM permission). The formula is to pay the normal cost for the most expensive piece, and 1.5x the cost for the other piece(s).

So a Cloak of Resistance +3 (9000 GP) combined with a cloak of elvenkind (2500 GP) would cost 9000 + 3750 GP....if it's available, of course.

Yes, that's OK.

Thanks, Tik and Rango. So a +1 cloak (normally 1000 gp) would add 1500 gp to the 2500 for the cloak of elvenkind, putting the total at 4000. That's a bit much to keep the stealth bonus, but having Kalt be sneaky has been useful as well as fun, so I think I'll go for it.

75% chance?: 1d100 ⇒ 4 = looks good.

Hmm, as I think on it, am I just paying someone to add the +1 resistance bonus to my existing cloak, which would require CL 5? In that case, I'm only spending the 1500 gp, which seems like a fine plan.

Were you reporting these Rango?

If so I'd like credit for book three to go to character 10774-20.

By the way, Tiknesr, the cookbook is a very nice item for you.

It is really good.

Chronicle sheet for Book 3

Sven reported. Give me a PFS number if you would like me to report your the sheet for a character. Let me know if you need me to make a 1st level/ half-pace version.