Samnell's Gestalt, Mythic Wrath of the Righteous (Inactive)

Game Master Samnell

For Virtual Gearing, what about Automatic Bonus Progression?

Essentially, in addition to the usual +1 attribute score you get every 4 levels, you get automatic bonuses that replace the usual belts of stuff, headbands of the other and cloaks of resistance. In return, the loot you get is half normal.

Rules here. I'm using it in my PbP games.

Fight's over, so probably time to make some decisions. I didn't want to change anything mid-battle because that would be super-confusing and defeat the whole purpose of greasing the wheels, shaving the hair, and dressing in form-fitting, low-friction clothing.

This is still absolutely up for discussion and subject to revision, but let's move forward with Initiative Option 2b. That is: I still roll individual initiatives for everyone, but then those rules are averaged into the group init. I'll resolve actions within the party's initiative in their posting order as that seems most intuitive. You will still have the option to delay until after another PC if you want to. I will call for actions with a two RL day due date. Maybe not exactly 48 hours but I'll try to be reasonable. In the absence of a declaration I'll bot and generally try to have the PC do something either consistent with past actions or in general support of the party.

Skipping You like skipping; I like skipping; we all like skipping. Skipped fights will be handled in narrative, probably in no more than a sentence or so describing the foes before you put them down. Any expenditure of resources will be likewise handwaved. I'll try to keep skipping to mundane foes and foes you've already faced, so you get at least one for real fight with anything novel before we glide on by.

Minions Seems like a go. I'll look into implementation options.

Virtual Gearing I want to do this and don't see any objections yet. (If you have them, feel free to speak up.) However, I don't want to have to ask for re-geared PCs twice over. That would be annoying. I'm open to using Automatic Bonus Progression from PF Unchained, but don't want to mandate it without giving you player types a chance to weigh in.

How it would work is that instead of your full wealth by level allowance, you would get the bonus progression and half the GP value. Generic +X to stat items no longer exist. Magical arms and armor still do, but they have their +X stuff subtracted out of their value and you'd only pay for the snazzy special abilities like flaming, frost, brilliant energy, defenestration, aggressive manumission, tender moments, that horrible accident with the zipper, etc.

So let me know on that.

works for me.

Please update the new rules (e.g. virtual gearing) on the Campaign Info tab, so we remember.

thanks

Automatic bonus is not my favorite. It's inflexible and it charges twice for some things and not for others. I'll do it if everybody agrees, but it's not my favorite.

One thing that I would have to insist on is that you shouldn't halve treasure until we're 3rd level. We get no bonus and low level is hard enough as it is.

Please update the new rules (e.g. virtual gearing) on the Campaign Info tab, so we remember.

thanks

I put the initiative change on the tab. Waiting for more feedback on automatic bonuses before making a decision.

W00t, level 2! On gestalt no less! Hm, could take a while. I'll do my best to get up to speed asap.

Steave's ready

- Power Attack
- Intimidate 2 ranks, here comes Enforcer

Steave's ready

- Power Attack
- Intimidate 2 ranks, here comes Enforcer

"Before we get started, does anyone want to get out?"

Steave Rojerz wrote:

Steave's ready

- Power Attack
- Intimidate 2 ranks, here comes Enforcer

"Before we get started, does anyone want to get out?"

"I'm just here to kick ass and chew bubblegum; and there ain't no bubblegum on Golarion, far as I can tell."

OK, gestalt levelling-up time!

little does theran realize thy get have combat reflexes and Dex 30

and AC 74, 3,692 HP, saves in the mid-fifties, etc.

Dragonofashandflame wrote:

little does theran realize thy get have combat reflexes and Dex 30

and AC 74, 3,692 HP, saves in the mid-fifties, etc.

True story: the AP actually ends with these dretches. It just says "let the poor bastards slug it out for a few rounds and then kill then in the most horrific way you can think of." Instead of the other five books, you get a cassette of Paizo staff laughing. It's pretty cool. Toward the end it starts to get this desperate subtext like they're being held in a basement somewhere and tickled.

That was how I spent Summer of my senior year in college...

Hi all, apologies for the no-show: I fell ill and then now that I've recovered there's a mountain of work to catch up on.

I'll resume posting this weekend.

Thanks for your patience. Please bot me if I'm holding things up.

DM, can you increase the vision on the map, so Steave can see.

He can't reach the Dretch without the conga line moving, so Steave could move forward.

How did the wizard get into melee with the demon?

thanks

DM, can you increase the vision on the map, so Steave can see.

Sorry, thought I had. Done now.

How did the wizard get into melee with the demon?

thanks

Because he couldn't get his shot in otherwise and I figured the demon would be dead because Abelard would probably hit it too...and then I forgot to do Abelard's action, which I'm going to attend to right now. :)

Dude, Staeve, AWESOME!!! That was seriously great

Thanks. It felt cinematic. Glad the dice cooperated.

Cheers

He threw a sword and... No, let me start again. He threw his frakking sword! and killed her dead. That's so cool I don't mind how the party rolled over her. :)

Yeah, that was pretty awesome

That was brilliant. Curbstompfight ahoy!

And Yridrhennor, your "spank your inner moppet" line nearly made me spit out my coffee.

Falfaerel lives for the Wheedonverse

Falfaerel lives for the Wheedonverse

...does that mean he's going to die just as we're all starting to get fond of him?

ope, he last forever, even when he SHOULD be dead

I've read that scene in books and seen that scene in movies (throwing a longsword to kill someone, e.g. Ladyhawke, one of the Deryni books with Alister Cullen). I've never played one in an RPG. Just happy the dice cooperated.

cheers

Ahh ladyhawk... That was a fun movie Ya, it's nice when the RNG and Rule of Awesome coincide

*looks at map of ruined Kenabres*

*whistles*

They really did a number on the hometown, didn't they?

Falfaerel flies up, soon returning with word that the crusaders have emerged in the southeastern corner of Kenabres, not at all far from the walls.

And there'll be an image up top in a moment with a little red You Are Here triangle. Like at the mall.

But I don't see the icons for the restrooms, escalators and Starbucks.

This is the Worldwound - there's nothin' here but Chick-Fil-a and Hobby Lobby...

Oh, and Windows. As Orwell nearly said, if you want to imagine the future Abyss, imagine a boot - of Windows Vista...

...

...Forever.

Did my attack hit or miss?

Did my attack hit or miss?

You hit and floored the guy.

I'm away for the next few days at a wedding (not mine, I hasten to add) - back late Monday.

I'm away for the next few days at a wedding (not mine, I hasten to add) - back late Monday.

Noted.

I ended up a bit sick last night so no resolution yet. But I'll have it done tonight.

For the paladins among us, can you review the laws of the land and the crusade? Specifically, about attempted murder, destruction of property, worshiping demons, slavery, authority to dispatch that law, etc.

The only thing bad right here is killing an unarmed man.

thanks

...I'll grab the popcorn

For the paladins among us, can you review the laws of the land and the crusade? Specifically, about attempted murder, destruction of property, worshiping demons, slavery, authority to dispatch that law, etc.

The only thing bad right here is killing an unarmed man.

thanks

Sure.

Attempted murder can be a capital crime, depending on the circumstances. If the victim is a Mendevian official or otherwise holds a commission from the Queen, then the assault is an act of high treason and execution is mandatory. Most top-level city officials hold such commissions, as to big name crusaders. The same applies to victims who are ordained priests (who usually are, but don't necessarily have to be, divine spellcasters) of Iomedae. Assaults upon priests of other crusading religions are generally, but not always, treated similarly. If it's just private individuals (and the scholars are private individuals) then it depends on what was done to them. High treason usually gets you shortened by a head, though especially grave cases may call for drawing and quartering.

Destruction of property is not generally a capital crime, unless it's vital crusading property or religious artifacts. The library is in a gray area here in that the collection as a whole might count, but individual books probably do not. Aggravated destruction of property would bring a lengthy term of imprisonment that would be commuted to service in the crusade. (Mendev doesn't have much time for prisons and keeping prisoners at present.) Ordinary destruction of property would require making restitution.

Consorting with demons is a capital crime. Consorting is meant literally: you have had two-way contact with a demon. There's an exception for demons summoned for purposes of research, but it's rarely pleaded and even more rarely granted because demons are believed to be inherently corrupting. Even if you start out studying how to kill them, you usually end up doing their bidding. Consorting is punished by burning at the stake, though if someone involved in a major rite is captured alive they can expect drawing and quartering too.

Worship of demons is a slightly lesser offense. One can plead coercion or magical compulsion to escape conviction and occasionally succeed. Those who don't are executed, usually according to what they did in the cult. Someone who participated in extortion gets off easier than someone who participated in a human sacrifice or profaned an altar. Generally the trial and punishment of ordinary worshipers falls to the church of Iomedae, while ringleaders are tried in Mendev's courts.

Slavery is illegal in Mendev, but you're not going to lose your head for it. You'd probably be sentenced to serve the church of Iomedae or the crusade directly for a year or two. If it's a big operation, or you've used the slaves for something especially nasty, you can be banished from the realm or executed.

The authority to try, judge, and pass sentence ordinarily rests with a combination of the realm, the church of Iomedae, and military courts associated with the crusade. Ordinary offenses by crusaders usually face a court martial. The rest go to the Inquisition, which has a mixed royal/religious character. Its rulings are theoretically subject to appeal to the Crown but the Crown very rarely overrules them. The process should usually involve arrest and rendition to a competent authority for trial, but nobody is going to complain if you kill someone you caught in flagrante.

Mendev is at war with the demons and their cults and killing the enemy in war is not murder. In the Worldwound, the law explicitly allows officers of the crusade to be judge, jury, and executioner for a wide variety of offenses that would otherwise be dealt with in less drastic form, up to and including insubordination and cowardice in the face of the enemy. In the absence of an officer, the crusaders on the ground have the authority to elect one of their own number to carry out these judgments. When someone is elected like this, the crusaders who did the vote are usually expected to give their oaths that he or she rendered a righteous judgment when they return to civilization.

These laws, of course, apply to mortals alone. Undead, demons, and the like have no rights that anybody is bound to respect. Tieflings sometimes fall into the same category, depending on who makes the judgments. It's not fun to be a tiefling in Mendev.

The unarmed man is a difficult thing. He surrendered. By the law of the crusade, a surrendered mortal is entitled to have that surrender accepted unless it's clear that it's done as a ruse. Captors have the right to confiscate his arms and any thing of magic he has, but not mundane armor. They are further expected to allow a captive a minimal means of self-defense unless the captive has attempted escape. A dagger suffices. Captors are responsible for the safety of their charges, though it's likely that no one would ask questions if he had an "accident." Killing an unarmed man would be illegal and a serious sin, compounded by a good faith surrender. Chaleb need not be genuinely repentant for his surrender to be respected.

You are absolutely allowed, and encouraged, to use lethal force if Chaleb attempts to escape or attacks either you or some third party.

You could re-arm Chaleb and demand he finish things. That would remove the surrender issue, but puts you in the wrong by arming a known foe of the realm and servant of the Abyss. If he's repentant or gives a convincing oath that he will use his weapons to fight the demons and their thralls while your captive, then you have the option of rearming him but also can't go back on it and finish him off unless he otherwise breaks the terms of his surrender.

Isn't there a bit more to it than that, though? For a start, Chaleb isn't a 'captive' - he's the accused. He was found trying to commit multiple murders, he attacked us with intent to rob ("that's a nice shield, I'll take it"), he inflicted GBH at the very least on Steave, before finally surrendering to officers of the law.

(Whether there is still a law or not is probably another matter, but Abelard is Lawful and will act as if the law still applies even if there are no courts remaining)

He has been offered the chance to explain himself, and has done so (dropping himself further in it, but that's by the by). He has also been offered the chance to repent and turn from his path, and refused it.

Plus, Kenabres is a war zone: Chaleb is guilty of offering - or planning to offer - aid and comfort to the enemy (which is treason); and of refusing to take up arms and resist the enemy (which is desertion). In medieval times, both of these were capital offences (in some jurisdictions, they still are). Assuming Abelard is an officer of the law, Chaleb is also guilty of refusing his order to join them and take the fight to the enemy (but that's a much lesser offence).

So really, the question is not "are you killing an unarmed man?" (since in which case, every executioner ever would be guilty of this) but rather:

1) Is the accused guilty? (yes!)

2) Has the accused been offered a chance to explain/defend themselves? (yes)

3) Has the accused been offered the chance to show regret/remorse and turn away from their crimes? (yes)

4) Do the accused's crimes merit the death penalty? (yes)

*sigh* I'm not sure when Dungeons & Dragons became Courtrooms & Lawyers, but I don't think it was a welcome development.

He's a profeseed cultist who was going to kill people. He clearly means business with his sword. I say we defend ourselves with spell and sword until Chaleb finds himself unburdened by life.

It's meant to be a complicated situation, but not a fun-wrecking one. Since this might come up again, I opted to do a mostly general answer exploring options. And because I sort of dig thinking through this kind of thing. Even slipped in a little bit of nineteenth century history.* :)

But fair points, Chaleb is in an active war zone and was fighting for the other side. Nobody in Mendev would raise an eyebrow at your putting a traitor to the sword, armed or otherwise. Whether or not that's in keeping with a PC's religious or personal moral codes is a separate issue. I don't think anybody follows a deity big on second chances or who emphasizes redemption specifically rather than just as a general good thing.

To what degree one respects chivalry, Chaleb's word, and so forth are related issues. One can certainly be good and paladinny without any of that stuff.

However, you are absolutely entitled to a straight answer from me if concerned about what consequences your PC would expect for just killing the guy. It would be a massive jerk move to deny you one. Thus

Thanks DM. Sounds entirely fair. I don't intend Abelard to be either a murderhobo templar or a Lawful Stupid paladin, but the oath of vengeance plus the paladin code of punish evildoers means he's slightly darker than most Paladins.

If anyone is finding that a problem, please say - we're in this to have fun, after all. I'm willing to adapt flexibly to accommodate others*

*and you thought with Saito gone, the double entendres would die?! The double entendres will never die - not even with fire...!

Folks. I'm sick and busy with the family and haven't been able to digest or comment on this. As much as I want to lead, I don't have the time so am ready to follow.

cheers

Yridhrenor is good with following. But I think we should kill this guy. If we let hi go, he will do this again.

OK Read the stuff. Head's still fuzzy with cold meds. In addition to all the stuff Abelard listed above, he is both a coward and a traitor.

Steave has the experience of being a crusader (potentially an officer as a captain. His low level represents his skills returning to him as he thaws) and could nominate Abelard as the judge, jury, and executioner, since Steave wasn't conscious for everything. He probably knows of a similar instance when crusaders were far from a prison or behind enemy lines, right?

I'll wait for consensus from Abelard and GM before Gameplay posting.

cheers

Steave has the experience of being a crusader (potentially an officer as a captain. His low level represents his skills returning to him as he thaws) and could nominate Abelard as the judge, jury, and executioner, since Steave wasn't conscious for everything. He probably knows of a similar instance when crusaders were far from a prison or behind enemy lines, right?

Several, in fact. If you want, we can say he was even present for a few such occasions and voted to appoint a judge and/or served as one himself. :)

Thanks DM. Sounds entirely fair. I don't intend Abelard to be either a murderhobo templar or a Lawful Stupid paladin, but the oath of vengeance plus the paladin code of punish evildoers means he's slightly darker than most Paladins.

That's a tension I quite like, honestly. You're doing well with it.

Ya! It was fun to see people actually discussing the moral quandaries of a scene in terms of their character, rather than just going Woooooooooooooo Blood!!!

Gm. I would appreciate it if you want to narrate. I'm out of time tonight and a busy tomorrow.

Cheers

Gm. I would appreciate it if you want to narrate. I'm out of time tonight and a busy tomorrow.

Cheers

Will do.

Hey guys, just a heads up I'll be out of town until the end of the weekend starting tomorrow morning and wifi will likely be spotty at best, so if necessary to keep the game moving please feel free to bot me.

So let's camp, loot, heal, and head towards Gwerm Manor. Do the librarians have any extra healing?

Any objections?

Cheers