Ruins of Pathfinder: Road to Damnation (Inactive)

Game Master Crustypeanut

Thinking I'm going to pick up some geckos as well :)

Oh don't you dare...!

;-)

EDIT: to Gi'chak and anyone else.

what about having one of the others (Aluriel or Unafe or someone with a peaceful mind... ok maybe not Aluriel) stumbling upon these two and reprimanding them. I can see Sasbrek listening to a third voice as the one of reason...

What I need here is someone that makes Sasbrek understand "survive this hard mission with Gi'chak's help, then when we're done settle your scores with him."

I can even see Sasbrek becoming protective of Gi'chak "because you will die at my hands and my hands alone when this is done". Of course by the time this is done they could actually become friends. Meanwhile, we will enjoy the banter.

does this sound like a fun route to pursue? Or should I try a different approach?

RE-EDIT

Master, I will finalize my purchase as soon as the fight is over. I think Sasbrek's next post can be the "truce" one actually.

Sasbrek, sorry, your re-edit confused me. I think you just said "nevermind, you've got a good way to resolve it." If that's true, great. If it's not, I'd be happy to have Unafe stumble across them and break up the fight -- she'd likely use the "we're all from the Mwangi, and out here we need to stick together" angle (and/or "stop giving people from the Mwangi a bad name!")

That said, I don't want to intrude if y'all want to find your resolution on your own. I'll hold off for now, but if y'all prefer it I'm happy to have Unafe stumble on them.

Unafe's total gear (including what she started with + what she bought with her advance.

Cost : Item
700 : Breastplate, Ankylosaurus hide
1000 : +1 to breastplate
350 : MW chain shirt (barding for Yakini)
186 : Wand CLW (2/8 share) Assumes we're all going in on the wands. If that changes in Gameplay, I'll adjust
7 : Heavy wooden shield
50 : Backpack, MW
0.1 : Bedroll
0.5 : Blanket
5 : Carnivore feed x100 (500lbs)
24 : mules x3 (all looking a bit nervous, weighed down with dried meat and eyed by a hungry spinosaurus)
12 : sadlebags x3 (250lb each)
10 : silk rope
10 : small tent
15 : scimitar
1 : sling bullets x100
639.4 : gold remaining

Nexander, seems we're not talking about buying a collective wand of endure elements. Do you want to go halfsies on one instead?

Yes please! I currently have 500 gold sunk into potions so that's a much better option.

Okay, so here's what I ended up with. This only counts 6 people contributing to the healing wands, if Thorgrim and Ardeshir contribute as well I'll have a little more gold to kick around.

GP:0 PP 66 GP 4 SP 0 CP

Betty (revolver) 4 lbs. - 400 GP (purchased in Alkenstar, inherited)
Sling 0 lbs - 0 GP
Longsword 4 lbs. - 15 GP
Whip 2 lbs. - 1 GP
Masterwork Chain Shirt 25 lbs. - 250 GP

Backpack 2 lbs. - 2 GP
Hot Weather Outfit 4 lbs. - 8 GP
Sunrod x 2 2 lbs. - 4 GP
Masterwork Thieves' tools 1 lbs. - 100 GP

Bandoleer x2 0 lbs. - 10 SP
Cartridges, Metal x12 - 180 GP
Wand of abundant ammunition (5 charges) - 75 GP
Wand of abundant ammunition (50 charges) - 750 GP
Wand of cure light wounds (50 charges)x2 - 1500 GP (360 from myself)
Wand of Endure Elements (50 charges) - (split with Unafe, 375 GP)

Total Weight:44 lbs.

75 GP of trail rations and 6 GP of animal feed given to Pinkerton to hold.

Heavy War Horse - 300 GP

Location: On Horse
Carrying Capacity Light: lbs. Medium: lbs. Heavy: lbs.

Saddlebags 8 lbs. - 4 GP
Bullets (sling) x 10 5 lbs. - 1 SP
Survival Kit 4 lbs. - 5 GP
(a flint and steel, a mess kit, two waterskins (enough to hold water for 1 person for 1 day), very basic maps showing major landmarks of Garund, and a small utility knife.)
Blanket 3 lbs. - 5 SP
Rope, Silk 50' 5 lbs. - 10 GP
Sunrod x6 6 lbs. - 12 GP

Total Weight:31 lbs.

Looks good you two!

I still have some map-making to finish (Getting the hang of making it decent still), so everyone else has a bit of time. Luckily today, unlike yesterday, I didn't get an abnormally slow start. Damn Saturday's Oktoberfest making me sleep in the next day ;P

If approached in RP, Ardeshir may chip in for the Cure light wounds wand, though he may need some convincing in that department.

Crusty, will I be able to use my Craft: Armor skill to make some minor amount of money before we depart. If so -
1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7 Hah. Well, a whole 3 gold and 5 silver. Wonderful. At least that's one bad roll out of the way.

I really have no idea what I should purchase, aside from a Mule and/or Camel to carry any excess baggage. Is there something obvious that I am missing? Otherwise I just might convert it to gemstones or fancy jewelry / luxury.

I'd be happy to have Unafe stumble across them and break up the fight -- she'd likely use the "we're all from the Mwangi, and out here we need to stick together" angle (and/or "stop giving people from the Mwangi a bad name!")

I think this quoted part is the best resolution. I would like to see if Gi'chak agrees, though.

finished my purchases: bought a bunch of scrolls and, since I didn't find any other 1st level spell worth a full wand, I filled up my Silent Image one. (OTHER PLAYERS ARE INVITED TO POINT OUT A VERY COOL SPELL IF THEY THINK OF ONE WORTH A FULL WAND).

Sasbrek is only carrying 1 scroll per type on his person at any given time - the rest will be in a saddle bag.

with the coins left he will shop for jewelry and small gems, keeping just a few coins - like 3 pp, 10 gp and 10 sp. The Hoard is contained in a pouch as big as a baby's head.

Not including the equipment I have already purchased on my character sheet, here is the additional equipment purchased thus far.

2003 gold / 5 silver pieces.

Additional Camel: 150 gold
Pack saddle: 5 gold
Guard/hunting dog (Wind Drinker): 25 gold
Guard/hunting dog (Brilliant Eye): 25 gold
Scorpion anti-toxin (2): 100 gold
Small tent: 10 gold
75 days of Wander meal: 7 silver, 5 copper
75 days of Trail rations: 37 gold, 5 silver
Smoke arrows (6): 60 gold
Whistling arrows (20): 2 gold
Arrows (200): 10 gold

That leaves me with 1,578 gold, 2 silver, and 5 copper.

If approached in RP, Ardeshir may chip in for the Cure light wounds wand, though he may need some convincing in that department.

Crusty, will I be able to use my Craft: Armor skill to make some minor amount of money before we depart. If so -
1d20+4 Hah. Well, a whole 3 gold and 5 silver. Wonderful. At least that's one bad roll out of the way.

I really have no idea what I should purchase, aside from a Mule and/or Camel to carry any excess baggage. Is there something obvious that I am missing? Otherwise I just might convert it to gemstones or fancy jewelry / luxury.

Heh lets hope its one of the last bad rolls! And yeah thats fine, if you wanted to do that during the week.

Also.. should you have enough money left over, upgrading your armor to +1 armor is never a bad move.

DM CP, instead of upgrading my armor to +1 could I sell my masterwork studded leather and purchase Mithril armor instead?

If I can sell my masterwork studded leather, how much can I get for it? 175 gp, 87.5?

Would I be able to purchase mithril Kikko armor or scale mail? (1030 or 1050) - It would not be magical, but it would be very effective, light weight and could have the potential for enchantment later. Clearly mithril is beyond my characters meager armoring skills.

Ah, if Eastern Armor is available, I'd like to purchase Masterwork Silken Cerimonial armor too.

Lamellar(All Varieties) and Silken Ceremonial would be available, as Lamellar was quite common in the Middle East, not to mention Asia, while Silk is common enough in the region as well. More asian-styled armors though, such as Four-mirror, Kikko, etc, would not be available.

You may sell all non-damaged goods (Your Mwk Studded Leather, for example) for half price.

And yes, mithral armors would be available for purchase if you have the funds. Mithral Scale Mail, however, would be over 4000 gp, and out of your price range. Mithral Light armor, (Chain shirt, for example), is only +1000 gp due to the Mithral; Medium is +4000, while Heavy is +9000.

Also, I'd like to apologize for the delays; I should have given myself more time to work on the maps. This shall not occur again!

However.. I think I'm going to be quite pleased with the outcome once its finished..

Understood. I will sell my masterwork studded armor for 87.5 and purchase a mithril chain shirt for 1,100. I will also deduct the 186 gold pieces for the wand purchase pooling. I may purchase a few potions as well.

I think I will also pick up:
1 potion Aspect of the Falcon (lvl 2 caster) 100 gold
1 potion blend (lvl 1 caster) 50 gold
1 potion Deadeyes lore (lvl 1 caster) 50 gold
2 potions Aspect of the Falcon (lvl 1 caster) 100 gold.

Silver bracers/Armbands (set) with bloodstone inset (100 gold) Jewelry normal.

This leaves me with... 9 silver, 3 cp.

Working on getting the post up - the map will be up shortly afterwards, giving you guys time to ponder your actions!

I'm also merging the introduction of the NPCs into this post.

Ill ante up for the wands as well. Thorgrim is fond of Unafe, so he would accept her advice.

Things tend to bog down when you start dealing with shopping :p

Sorry for my slow reply, I like your ideas Sasbrek, and Unafe breakign it up sounds good too. I will try to get a gameplay post up today and list my purchases as well.

Make sure you note if the gameplay post was during the week - feel free to finish your previous roleplaying! (In spoilers or not, I don't care either way)

Going to have the map and combat rolls/initiative up shortly, as well as the instructions for how I do combat. For those aware, its the same as Rob's.

If you want to roll your own initiative, thats fine, otherwise I'll do it when I get the combat post up. LETS GET THIS PARTAH STARTED!

Why is there so much ooc discussion in the gameplay thread! Discuss here!

So, Gi'chak is ok with my idea of a third party moderator, and both Unafe and Ardeshir offered to break up the fight between Gi'chak and Sasbrek.
Since we already lost enough time, I'd say the first one who posts gets "the honor".

^

Thats usually how it goes. First come.. first 'break up the fight between the psychotic midgets'. :P

Posting this in the Discussion thread since I’m afraid it’ll just confuse the Gameplay thread at this point.

<< Streets of Eto | Several days ago >>

The logistics of making sure Yakini will be well fed on the desert desert journey made Unafe’s head spin. She ended up spending nearly an hour looking over the merchant’s shoulders as he scribbled calculations and as she did her best to estimate how much time they’d have to hunt for game. In the end she chose conservatively, purchasing 500 lbs of cured cat meat, and arranging for it to be delivered -- together with her 3 new mules -- on Sunday morning.

Mentally exhausted as much as she was worn down by the heat, Unafe and Yakini start walking slowly back toward Halib’s compound. As she nears the mansion she hears two familiar voices raise to a fever pitch, shouting over each other. Arghh, those fools! She runs around the corner to see the monkey goblin seemly chocking thin air...but with the clear sound of a squeeling, protesting, livid kobold beneath him.

”Gi’Chack, you will let go of that kobold right this this second!” The goblin looks up to see her stern eyes start to take on a saurian-like yellow, and her mouth get over-full with jagged teeth. ”That’s good, step back. Sasbrek you drop your spell.”

Unafe lets her face fade back to her human features but it loses none of it’s stern disapproval. ”Listen up you two. We are -- all three of us -- from the Mwangi Expanse. I know back home petty, bloody feuds between goblins and kobolds have gone on for thousands of years. Out here, things are different.” She pauses, her nostrils flaring. ”At this point our homelands are devastated by Ydersius’ serpentfolk and the cursed Nurgalists and Namane-knows what else. And here we are, in a world that expects to see everyone from the Expanse as foolish savages. And what do you do? Carry your petty squabbles out here. Well I’m sorry, but out here all of us from the Expanse need to stick together...and I will not put up with it. You’re both proud, I get it. Well, Dr Pinkerton seems to think you both have something to be proud of, or else he wouldn’t have hired you. I hope he’s right. Why don’t you both agree to cool off for now and we’ll walk back to Halib’s estate. You may not like each other, but I promise you that you each have bigger problems right now. We all do.”

I'm glad Unafe posted as Aluriel would not have broken up the fight until one of the participants went unconscious. It's not that she doesn't like either of you or anything, she just enjoys a good fight.

Aluriel's worldly possessions consist of:

MW Breastplate
Fauchard (+1)
Dagger
Hvy Crossbow
20 crossbow bolts
Backpack
Belt Pouch
Bedroll
rope
soap
Lamp
Canteen
Flint & Steel
Mess Kit
150 days of moderately decent tasting trail rations (5sp a day, not the waycake)
and 12 pieces of gold.

She decided she didn't need a donkey and is simply carrying it herself. 150 total pounds puts her halfway to med encumbrance which doesn't slow her down any more than her armor, which she refuses to remove.

She'll offer to carry an additional 55 pounds for Unafe, which will keep her still within medium encumbrance.

Alright guys.. map's done (and holy crap was it a doozy compared to the one I did for S&S - first time doing it, so hopefully they'll just get easier from here on out!)

Stuff will be posted soon!

Then you may all feast upon succulent bad-guy flesh with your blades.

I will have a running list of purchases and whatnot up by tonight. Thorgrim's will end up with the mulebacks. Guess I'll have to sell the yak and cart and pick up something else.

Encounter Map: Halib's Villa

And.. now that I woke up from a quick nap, the combat post will be up shortly!

This is my first done-from-scratch tactical map.. what do you guys think?

Looks good man, definitely better than my first attempt with Maptool. Did you use photoshop?

Yeah. I used This tutorial, which helped immensely.

I didn't take into account the pre-dawn conditions, but luckily the villa is lit up enough where it won't affect gameplay inside of the courtyard - so including it in the map wasn't essential.

I'll have to work on the lighting next time though.

With those two contributing to the wand I have a little more gold.

Also, everyone, I messed up slightly on the wand price, it should be 187.5 not 186. My bad!

So I bought sleeves of many garments and three 10 GP turquoise stones. Leaving me 8 GP.

....oops. Damnit! I rolled initiative first, but when I put the attack rolls above the initiative, everything got fuddled.

Putting the intiative back on top and then redoing all of their attacks. Ugh.

Xander gave one of the cure wands and the wand of endure elements to Unafe at some point during the week. He'll have told everyone that he has one, and so does she if they need healing.

Also, for combat, this is the preferred method, copied from Rob's games:

In-Character Content

_____________
ooc commentary
Specified Roll: 1d20 ⇒ 15
Move Action: Move to E23
Swift Action: Smite evil
Standard Action: Attack zombie kitten in square C23
End Location: E23

...You know I actually considered having zombie kittens in this campaign. Or more specifically, a swarm of mummified ones. THEY'RE CREEPY AS HELL.

Yes, that looks decidedly less cuddly than the kitty sleeping next to me right now :P

Okay, here's what I've got so far. Will update as I go; still need to buy an animal. I'll likely go for a horse (I'm sure there's a fine selection of Arabian-comparable ones to be found). Thorgrim, much like Conan, doesn't like camels.

Items Thorgrim is selling: (net gain: 64.5 gp)

I wanted a traveler's any-tool also, but was a little shy of having enough gold. Glad to see that you got one, at least someone has one :)

Yeah, they're super handy-nifty. Considering I aim to do some pretty involved legend-smithing over the course of the game, I figured it was worth the investment.

And more on the purchasing! I decided to go with a riding horse and a pack horse. Not combat trained, due to money constraints, but if the more animal-oriented among the group wish to teach the buggers how to fight, I surely won't admonish nor object. And yes, I named my horses. I have doomed them both.

"Vidar" heavy horse (200 gp) Carrying Capacity: [Light: 266 lbs. or less] - [Medium: 267-532 lbs.] - [Heavy: 533-800 lbs.]

Xander, I gotta say, you'd have had a hard time living it down if you'd failed to identify out assailants as humans. ;-)

Unless.. unless I was being a sneaky little turd and had them disguised as something other than human. Xander made the right call in at least attempting it, just to be sure. An action I approve of.

Ah stealth.. let see, I've been giving it thought but haven't figured out exactly how we should use it in this situation. I'm wondering what you guys feel about These New Playtest Rules regarding stealth.

In this situation, Sasbrek, taking a move action while stealthed, would need to roll his stealth check again in order to avoid not being noticed. His previous check was high enough that no one even bothered noticing him (Seriously, none of the guards could spot him on a nat 20 even)

With Sasbrek's natural +11, adding +20 on top of that, though -10 for moving at full speed (Would only be -5 if he moved faster than half-speed, but slower than full), he would still have a +21 to his check. After I roll his check, then I would roll the guards' - depending on how high Sasbrek rolls, though, I may not even need to roll, as if it is high enough, they may not be able to succeed even on a natural 20.

For further rounds, Sasbrek would need to make a Stealth check for each move, free, or swift he takes from there on; Should next round he take a double move, I'll only count that as one move action for this purpose.

Do these rules sound ok? I love stealth, but its certainly an annoying set of rules to work with. I think this variant playtest makes it much easier to use.

--

As a result, should we go with this, should the guard that Sasbrek walked by fail his perception check, he does not get an AoO - should he succeed, he would be aware of someone sneaking past him invisible, and may attempt an AoO, still suffering from a 50% miss chance.

Sorry I've taken so long. Good to see I haven't held up the gameplay, even if that was a terrible initiative roll :s

Okay, Gi'chak's purchases come to...

Endless Bandolier (1500gp), Jar of Honey x3 (1gp each=3gp), Goblin Pickles x6 (4sp each=24sp), Trail Rations x75 (5sp each=37gp, 5sp), Mule (8gp), Wand Contribution (187.5) leaving him with 28pp, 5gp, 8sp

-=-=-=-=-=-

The stealth rules have always been a bit weird. The blog version is more in line with the way I usually see it played, so yeah I'm happy to use those.

-=-=-=-=-=-

<< Streets of Eto | Several days ago >>

Though Gi'chak's arm closes uncomfortably around Sasbrek's neck he isn't applying enough pressure at the moment to significantly restrivt the kobold's breathing. He keeps his grip tight however, and still clinging with arms and legs sweeps his tail against the kobold's legs, sendign them both sprawling to the ground. Gi'chak it seems has some practice at such wrestling, as he ensures Sasbrek ends up with his snout in the dirt, and adjusts his grip to keep the kobold that way, arm still across his throat.

He is just opening his mouth to speak again now that he has properly established his superiority when a new threat appears. He lets go of Sasbrek in surprise, jumping off of him to ready himself against this new threat, hand straying towards his robes when he squints and realizes who this creature is before him. One of his fellow mercenaries.

He looks quickly back to Sasbrek as the kobold reappears, eying him warily. "Do not care what kind he is unless his neck grows. He insulted me to my face; I do not ignore insults..." he wasn't sure what a Nurgalist was, or who Namane is or why they would know, but he would treat anyone who disrespected himself or his family the same--or likely worse. He knew he had to work with Sasbrek, he did not have to idly accept his insults however. "He keep his tongue quiet, or I cut it off for him. See how he use his magic then." he says firmly, glowering at the kobold. He hadn't managed to get an apology, but rubbing the kobold's face in the dirt--made all the worse for being in front of one of their fellow mercenaries--would be good enough for now.

_________________________
Hmmm, I think I might need to take agile maneuvers... he needs a good, non-lethal response to insults... Getting tackled by an angry midget seems like a suitable humiliation :p
Grapple to pin: 1d20 + 1 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 1 + 5 = 18

Hm that new playtest mechanic has an interesting new maneuver for bluff/stealth.

As a swift action: Bluff for a distraction. "Hey, whats that over there?!"

5-foot move, moving to a different square adjacent to the same enemy you distracted. Add a stealth check to see if you are now concealed from him. Obviously, in this situation he would have lost your location for a moment when he turns back to look at you.

Standard Attack: Attack him! He is now flat-footed against you, and you may sneak attack!

It's always seemed to me that certain sorts of bluff checks like the one you mentioned (and intimidate and some others) could realistically be swift actions but got made standard for balance reasons.

The way Iron Heroes deals with that is by having fast completion penalties for skills (be it Disable Device or Search or whatever). By default, for every step down the chain from Full >> Stnd >> Move >> Swft you get a -5 penalty to your roll (so trying to Intimidate as a Swift action instead of as a Standard is a -10 to your roll).

Balance does tend to win out over realism in pathfinder. That being said, this seems to be the exception. If you can distract as a Swift action then that kind of removes the need for Feint and the associated feats :p

Mostly, yes, but not quite.

I've been talking it over with a friend of mine (Also a GM), and we've come up with how it works so that it actually does not remove the need (or want) for Feint.

First off, repeatidly using this tactic would earn you a -5 penalty per attempt; As per the bluff rules, it gets harder to convince them of a lie the more you do it (-5 from being unlikely, -10 from being far fetched, etc). You can only tell someone "Hey look! Over there!" a few number of times, unless they're particularly dimwitted or you're particularly bluffy.

Meanwhile, Feint, while it requires two feats to use well, only requires one roll - Bluff. This tactic requires two, one of which gets harder as you use it.

Mm, fair enough :) Will we also be using this in S&S? Cause Saranaja can definitely make use of that :p When she's not rolling nat 1s anyway.

Yeah, provided the others over there are fine with it as well. I don't like implimenting rules that my players don't like, even if I as the DM prefer 'em.

Alright so, for Sasbrek, I'm going to do a quick roll of stealth for him and perception for the guards. I doubt they'll spot him.

I'd be willing to give the alternate stealth rules a try. It shouldn't affect Xander too much either way.

They're not hugely different than the base stuff anyways.. but just better clarified.

Lets see how it goes!

We be just waiting on Jack and Ardeshir - Gi'chak can go now, or wait until the Captain goes.