the loreweaver, in addition to the question about which language, of Abyssal, Celestial, and Infernal, is your Tongues curse, I also note that exotic weapon proficiency requires BAB +1 (unless there's some exception I'm missing). That will leave you with another feat to choose in its place at least until 3rd level, and you might want to buy something other than a bladed scarf with your starting gold until you're able to use it.
I don't see your favored class bonus factored in anywhere, either (I'm assuming oracle is your favored class): +1 hp, +1 sp, or 1 extra 0-level spell known.
Mark, you don't have a combat section on your profile: with your hit and damage with weapons, initiative, speed, saves, etc.
Pryllin, all your numbers add up fine; looks like you use Hero Lab. :)
Wander, are you going to select an ethnicity for Sarien? You also need two more starting languages.
ZetaGilgamesh, what's the source of the trait Merchant Family? I can't find it on d20pfsrd.com. Did you scribe your own scroll of color spray or pay full price for it? Is your cane a fluffed club like Ezren's, or do they actually have a cane in Ultimate Equipment or something? I haven't even flipped through that book yet.
Khaladon, I see you don't have Daynadrian's build up yet, but the stats you have in the profile right now only add up to a 16-point-buy; when you get to completing him, you can afford to be a little more generous.
Combat section added... tremble in it's inadequacy.
Celestial is the language of my curse.
Good catch on the feat - I forgot about that minor detail about the base attack bonus. I will swap that out for something else post haste, perhaps for Combat Expertise.
My favored class (yes, it's oracle) bonus was an extra skill point. I should have eight in total: 4 for the class, 2 for high INT, 1 for being human, 1 for favored class.
Oh, sorry, yeah, that was my bad math on the skill points. I see it now.
Fair enough, I missed the prerequisite for the Exotic Weapon Proficiency. Speaking of which, I've made the swap to Prophetic Visionary. Seemed well suited for the character.
Huh, I'm totally missing it. Could you possibly spell it out for me Joana?
13= 3
16= 10 (+2 for 18)
12= 2 (-2 for 10)
12= 2 (+2 for 14)
13= 3
10= 0
That's 20 points right? Or am I missing something? (certainly possible)
The sheets still not finished though, it's a paste (for the template, which I like) from another PC, so I still have to change some stuff. Will be done tomorrow For Sure
>_>
<_<
>_>
Gotcha: Those were the stats pre-racial adjustments. With the +2/-2/+2, it does work out to twenty. Carry on. :)
Malkith: 'Weal or woe': always so hard to predict with PCs! Should be interesting; I've never been part of a game where anyone's done much with divination.
Yeah, I feel it's a very under utilized school of magic and aspect of the game for PCs. This has been a character concept I've been dying to try out for a while now, so I'm looking forward to seeing how it works out.
I've always thought that divination has a lot of potential for good rp, especially in pbps. It'll be fun to see how that works out.
Joana: I think I'm pretty much set; Sarien hasn't purchased everything yet, but I kind of like the idea of him having not having a lot of equipment right now. It goes well with his background of having to get out of Magnimar in a hurry. So if it's okay by you, he'll anticipate buying more things once he reaches Riddleport and has a chance to scope things out a bit.
The only thing I have left are two languages to choose from and I honestly don't know what would be good choices. Any suggestions?
Joana- yup I gave in to the evils of Hero Lab, though I've only got Core and APG on it- another reason to skip warden :-)
The only thing I have left are two languages to choose from and I honestly don't know what would be good choices. Any suggestions?
You should get Common (Taldan) and Varisian to start with... might I suggest Orcish as one language? - might be useful dealing with the less savory elements. Shoanti would be a possible as well.
Both good language choices, and easy to have picked up in Magnimar; halfling would be another.
I'll likely be unavailable until late afternoon my time today. Here's a possible house rule to discuss: In my RL group, we've always had a rule of "No 1s on hit points; no 1s on healing." If you roll a 1 for hp at level-up or on a cure spell, you can reroll until you don't get a 1. Thoughts/objections?
Thanks for the language suggestions. Gives me something to think about.
Here's a possible house rule to discuss: In my RL group, we've always had a rule of "No 1s on hit points; no 1s on healing." If you roll a 1 for hp at level-up or on a cure spell, you can reroll until you don't get a 1. Thoughts/objections?
I've used the re-roll 1's on hit points at level increases for years. I'm fully in favor of that. Obviously doing the reroll for 1's in healing would be handy as well, but I don't really have a strong opinion one way or another on that one.
No objections to making ones less painful for us :)
I've used the no 1's for hit points in my own games, so don't have issue with it here. I don't necessarily have an opinion in terms of the healing. (I seem to recall there being a feat or ability available that essentially does the same thing - not that it has to have any bearing on our decision).
I'm all in favour of disallowing 1s. My only gripe is that 2s become the new 1s- but that's still twice as good.
My home game I let players roll twice for hp and take the best roll- still possible to get shafted, but much less likely and quickly balanced out again at higher levels if you survive the original misfortune.
Sarien- Goblin isn't a bad language- also used by hobgoblins and bugbears I believe. And I've always been partial to Draconic- language of high wizards and low kobolds. :-)
I'm all in favour of disallowing 1s. My only gripe is that 2s become the new 1s- but that's still twice as good.
Yeah, it's a slippery slope. You just have to put on the brakes somewhere. Every now and then, my players roll a 2 and look up at me and say hopefully and only half joking, "No 2s, right?"
I seem to recall there being a feat or ability available that essentially does the same thing - not that it has to have any bearing on our decision.
Mm, yeah, looks like a late-level perk of the merciful healer archetype, although it only applies to channeling.
It gives a bit of a bump to healers at low levels (where most of my RL games take place), but I can appreciate it narrows the band more and more from the lower end of the range as you add d8s to the cure spells. Do we want to say we can reroll one 1 per spell? That narrows the range from 2-9 to 3-9 hp cured per clw at 1st level without proportionately decreasing the range for higher-level spells (although cure moderates should be just barely coming into play by the end of this preliminary foray, anyway).
As we have two spontaneous divine casters and there are no actual rules in the CRB about how they prepare their daily spells (due to spontaneous divine casters not existing until the APG), I want to make sure we're all on the same page. Working from the relation between prepared and spontaneous arcane casters, my interpretation is that spontaneous divine casters have no rest requirements but must choose a specific time of day to prepare spells, as clerics do, and that it takes 15 minutes of prayer/meditation to do so. Does that sound reasonable to our oracle and inquisitor?
Wander, one of the nice things about running an urban adventure is that there's always shopping nearby; if you don't want to gear yourself up ahead of time, that's fine. Select your starting languages and you'll be good. Assume you're Varisian so will get that language for free.
Khaladon, still waiting to see your character sheet. I think everyone else's look set.
I've always assumed oracles to be the divine equivalent to sorcerers, so 15 minutes of rest sounds right. In addition, I'd also say that any spells cast within the last eight hours of meditation also counts against our daily limit, as is the case for spontaneous arcane casters and divine casters from the CRB.
Joana - no issues with the 15 minute 'prayer', and in a break from the normal dawn time... I'd characterize his 'meditation' as fifteen minutes of quiet introspection in the evening before turning in. Probably while ruminating with a goblet of fortified either alcohol or kahve.
Right, here's where my argument with the recent casting limit comes in: It makes any other Time of Day preparation other than the stereotypical 'first thing in the morning' untenable. If you prepare spells at, say, 9 PM, then any spells you cast after 1 in the afternoon -- usually prime adventuring time -- can't be renewed until the following day. Even if you stick with the boring 'prep spells at dawn' trope, all it takes is one midnight ambush to render low-level divine casters next to useless for 24 hours. The arcane casters can usuallly sleep in later so they get 8 hours of uninterrupted rest (assuming they're not on the clock) and then learn all their spells later in the morning, but the divine casters have missed their Time of Day and can't prep those spells until the next day.
As a player, I generally lobby for removal of the recent casting limit -- it allows my cleric of Desna to learn spells at star-rise instead of first thing in the morning like every other spellcaster ever. I think Time of Day preparation is a great mechanic to change things up and differentiate between clerics of different gods, but it's rendered moot by the recent casting limit since the only time it makes sense to prep spells is after rest; otherwise, you're likely handicapping yourself by giving away spell slots per day. The intent of the recent casting limit is to prevent high-level casters from casting all their spells right before their time of day, prepping spells for an hour, and then casting them all again, but when you're a low-level divine caster and only have a few spell slots, it can be crippling mechanically, in addition to interfering with flavor.
Anyway, that's my hobby-horse, and I'll let the divine casters discuss it among themselves. :)
Wander, I had a lurker point out that, coming from a once-wealthy family in the Silver Shore district, Sarien is likely of Chelaxian descent. It gets complicated in Varisia, as Varisians-by-ethnicity and Varisians-by-citizenship are two different things, and you end up with the odd situation of Varisians being somewhat discriminated against in Varisia -- although it's an analogue to Native Americans facing discrimination in their ancestral lands in America, I suppose. Anyway, he'd probably be more useful in his role with the Sczarni as a Chelaxian than as an ethnic Varisian, as his ethnicity wouldn't work against him as he interacted with the upper class. That means you'd have to use one of your two starting language slots to pick up Varisian rather than getting it for free.
Same goes for Tendal, ZetaGilgamesh: I'm fairly certain that the Deverins are ethnically Chelaxian as well.
I thought of that before I posted and still would stick to having a late evening 'communion' time - even if it restricted my available casts and what not.
As a halfway house - would you be willing to entertain that Phil's renewal of spells is tied to both his prep session and having a good night's sleep? So he would not actually have the spell slots back in action till he woke up in the morning, even though his 'prayer' was in the evening prior.
If accepted, I'd be fine with a midnight interruption meaning that his renewal of spells was affected.
Yeah, I hear you about the time restriction being a hindrance to casters and, in fact, agree with you about that completely. My inner rules-lawyer was just pointing the fact out. If you want to ignore the 8-hour limitation and just say 15 minutes of meditation at a given time of day is enough, then I'm all in.
Malkith usually does his preparation in the morning after he rises, meditating and conducting a general harrow reading to get himself focused before breaking his fast.
I thought about the issue of him being from a once-wealthy family but hadn't thought that'd be that big of a deal. However, it makes a lot more sense in context with his usefulness to the Sczarni so I'm cool with that. Good thing I hadn't gotten around to updating the language list!
Honestly, not a big deal, and much less so in Riddleport than it would be in more class-conscious Magnimar. Riddleport society is based much more who you know and who knows you than your ethnic background. I just had someone PM me and point it out. It basically comes down to a bit of fluff and a language slot.
If no one objects, I'd as soon disregard the recent casting limit. That will let Phil prepare spells at night and Malkith in the morning without worrying about whether most of the action takes place during the day or night (and, being in Riddleport, frankly, it's likely to be both).
Ok! Sorry for the delay (had a bit of a cold or something slowing me down this week) but he's Done!
If there's anything I need to fix/change please let me know, otherwise I'm raring to go!
Oh, and nixing ones is fine with me ; )
And speak of Varisian- Braddon doesn't. :-)
I'll give him Linguistics if he lives to second level. By then I should also have exhausted all my "What did he say?" jokes. :-)
Khaladon, Precise Shot has a prerequisite of Point-Blank Shot. You can only take combat style feats without prerequisites when using your ranger bonus feat slots. So you can take Precise Shot at level 2, but you'll have to select something else for level 1.
You seem to have spent 10 skill points when you only have 9. I'm seeing 1 rank in each of Acrobatics, Climb, Craft (bows), Disable Device, Heal, Intimidate, Knowledge (local), Perception, Stealth, and Survival. Your Armor Check Penalty applies to several skills, and you don't have it included; I'd assume you'd put down your buckler before using most of them, but the -1 from the studded leather is going to apply when you're in armor. (Also, see encumbrance below.) You need to spend 5 gp on artisan's tools to avoid a -2 penalty to your Craft skill. Also, you have Sense Motive listed as +51. :)
Okay, gear and encumbrance: You don't seem to have subtracted all the gold you spent on your gear, and, more importantly, you're well into Medium encumbrance if you're carrying everything, which is going to affect your speed, your effective max Dex, and your Armor Check Penalty. At Medium encumbrance, your maximum Dexterity that can be applied to AC and skills is +3, and your ACP is -3. One of the benefits of an urban adventure is that the party generally has a home base where excess gear can be stored when not in use, but until you've found someplace you feel safe leaving your stuff, you're going to be hampered a bit.
Here's my math on the amount of gold you've spent:
20 Blunt arrows (crafted) 1 gp (normal cost is 2 gp for 20)
Dagger 2 gp
Longbow (crafted) 37 gp, 5 sp
Longsword 15 gp
Light mace 5 gp
Buckler 5 gp
Studded leather 25 gp
Bedroll 1 sp (you have it listed as 5 sp)
Winter blanket 5 sp
2 Candles 2 cp
Compass 10 gp
Crowbar 2 gp
Fishhook 1 sp
Flint & steel 1 gp
Hammer 5 sp
Hammock 1 sp
4 Iron spikes 2 sp (You have 4 listed but the cost of 3)
5 days of Trail rations 2 gp, 5 sp (You have 20 listed but the cost of 5)
Hempen rope 1 gp
Sack 1 sp
Thieves' tools 30 gp
3 Torches 3 cp
Whetstone 2 cp
for a total spent of 139 gp, 1 sp, 7 cp.
That should leave you 35 gp, 8 sp, 3 cp.
And here's my math on the weight you're carrying:
20 Blunt arrows .15 lb
Dagger 1 lb
Longbow 3 lb
Longsword 4 lb
Light mace 4 lb
Buckler 5 lb
Studded leather 20 lb
Bedroll 5 lb
Winter blanket 3 lb
Compass .5 lb
Crowbar 5 lb
Hammer 2 lb
Hammock 3 lb
4 Iron spikes 4 lb
5 Trail rations 5 lb
Hempen rope 10 lb
Sack .5 lb
Thieves' tools 1 lb
3 torches 3 lb
Whetstone 1 lb
for a total weight of 75.3 lb or thereabouts. I'm not an absolute stickler about weight, particularly as you pick things up as you move through the adventure, but with a 13 Str, your light load is only 50 lb and under, so you're pretty far into Medium encumbrance, and if you purchase artisan's tools for your Craft, that's another 5 lbs.
There, now say you used someone else's tools to craft your bow and arrows in Crying Leaf, and you can buy your own set in Riddleport. You're right at the edge of Light encumbrance and only have to worry about the ACP from your studded leather and buckler (-2 w/ both, -1 if you drop the buckler). Or you could save 10 lbs and -1 worth of ACP by switching to plain leather instead of studded for the cost of 1 point of AC.
Pah, Tendal would never want to be confused with a Varisian anyways. (They aren't the brightest individuals)
Khaladon, wanted to point out that I'm using Hero Lab for prices, and they've been known to have bugs before. (It still doesn't seem to be making change from gold to silver or copper right.) So if you have a source with a different price listed, let me know about it. Still, looks like you maybe picked up the thieves' tools at the end and forgot to take it out of your gold totals. That's about how much your gold looks off by.
Oh, and unless everyone really clamors for it, I'm not planning to use hero points in this game.
I'm firmly in the no hero points camp.
oops, oops and oops!
Thanks for all the catches Joana : )
Ok, here we go:
-Changed Precise Shot to Point Blank Shot
-Fixed the skills. I'd dropped the rank in Heal, but forgot to change the total
-added ACP info
-going with the Borrowed Artisan's tools! If he needs he can buy, and should never be any need to carry them around.
-fixed the Awesome sense motive ; )
-Nixed Hero Points
-
Bold indicates changes
20 Arrows (crafted) 5 sp
20 Blunt arrows (crafted) 1 gp (normal cost is 2 gp for 20)
Dagger 2 gp
Longbow (crafted) 37 gp, 5 sp
Longsword 15 gp
Light mace 5 gp
Buckler 5 gp
leather 10 gp
Bedroll 1 sp (you have it listed as 5 sp) Gone
Winter blanket 5 sp Gone
2 Candles 2 cp
Compass 10 gp
Crowbar 2 gp
Fishhook 1 sp
Flint & steel 1 gp
Hammer 5 sp
Hammock 1 sp
1 Iron spikes 5cp (from 4 @ 20cp)
1 day of Trail rations 5 sp (from 5 @ 2.5gp)
Silk rope 10 gp
Sack 1 sp
Thieves' tools 30 gp
3 Torches 3 cp Gone
Whetstone 2 cp
for a total spent of 132 gp, 8 sp, 9 cp.
That should leave you 42 gp, 1 sp, 1 cp.
-
20 Arrows .15 lb
20 Blunt arrows .15 lb
Dagger 1 lb
Longbow 3 lb
Longsword 4 lb
Light mace 4 lb
Buckler 5 lb
Leather 15 lb
Bedroll 5 lb Gone
Winter blanket 3 lb Gone
Compass .5 lb
Crowbar 5 lb Gone
Hammer 2 lb
Hammock 3 lb
1 Iron spikes 1 lb 3 Gone
1 Trail rations 1 lb 4 Gone
Silk rope 5 lb
Sack .5 lb
Thieves' tools 1 lb
3 torches 3 lb Gone
Whetstone 1 lb
for a total weight of 47.3 lb or thereabouts. (shoulda asked what season it was)
Absolutely right on with all your suggestions. Thanks! Really appreciate your attention to detail Joana.
No problem, Khaladon. :) I play a lot of low-Str characters so I'm used to finding ways to minimize encumbrance. Character sheet looks good now.
I'm hopeful we'll be able to start after the long weekend. (Monday is a holiday in the US.) Does a Tuesday first post sound reasonable to everyone? I'll get some general introductory notes up about the game and how I hope to run it in the meantime.
Sounds good to me.
cool
Not a fan of hero points either.
Tuesday sounds good. I've been busy with Labor Day holiday goodness so I'm glad we aren't planing to start before that.
Ready and willing, though I've got a work trip late this week that'll cut me down to just once a day until next week.
Due to the nature of the plot and the fact that it will in many (but not all) cases be better advanced by talking and investigating than by outright combat, I won't be tracking XPs; instead you guys will be gaining levels as appropriate for the story. I figure I can either reverse-engineer the math to work out how many XPs to hand out as story awards or I can just level you up when you need to level up; given that they end up with the same result, I choose the one that's less work on my part. :)
Also due to the mystery genre, I'm considering rolling your Sense Motive checks in secret. I think it will add to the sense of unease if you're never quite sure who you can trust and who might be lying to you, particularly since Hunch is a set DC. Since you'd be waiting on DM feedback for a Sense Motive check anyway, it oughtn't to slow down the game; just tell me you want a Sense Motive roll, and I'll spoiler you your PC's gut feeling. Objections/concerns?
I'm fine with both counts Joana :)
Both sound good to me as well. I certainly prefer levels being granted when appropriate to the story, both as a DM and a player.
Updated profile, reorganizing all the information as I prefer to have it displayed. Changes are: Chose languages (Halfling and Varisian), got a better equipment list, included remaining coin on hand.
I should be all ready to go at this point.
All sounds good to me. While XP are fun for players to track, they're not fun for a GM, especially if everyone progresses at identical rates.
And Sense Motive is a skill I was intending to avoid for Braddon- while not exactly gullible, he tends to believe even his own lies.
I have some more background for Braddon, subject to your approval. Any suggestions?
Illiria Sheyliss was a naive young elf when she fell pregnant to Jory Ashworth of Ostenso, Midshipman aboard the Constant. There was just enough time for the two to be wed, before he left for his next voyage only to be lost at sea. Illiria was surprised to receive a small inheritance and, believing her child needed a father, was soon married again to Able Seaman Valedin Moresby of the Swift Return, which sank several years later in the Eye of Abendego with all hands. Again, Illiria found herself the recipient of a small inheritance, and chose for her third marriage Joss Cartwright, First Mate to the Cutter's Sweep. This marriage lasted 30 years until he died of old age leaving her nothing. She quickly married Midshipman Markos Hurst, of the Serpent's Kiss and was surprised to fall pregnant to him. She was even more surprised when he saved money and used it to spend more time ashore with her and their son. When Braddon was old enough to earn his keep, Markos offered to mentor him at sea, but the sea was not in Braddon's blood. Braddon much preferred the streets and alleys of Ostenso, every one of which was known to Illiria, and which he often prowled and explored. Now, with Braddon grown, Markos has returned to sea and Illiria has started scouting for potential future husbands. And Braddon, left to his own devices, decided to try his hand at the lucrative bounty hunting trade, to keep escaping slaves from fleeing to neighboring Andoran.
And we're up and running! Whoever posts first will be the first to enter; everyone after that assume the same set-up with the addition of those who have arrived before you. If anyone wants to stop and talk with the halfling rather than going directly into the tea room, feel free to; I just wanted to get all the introductory description up.
Both those work great for me. In fact, I'm of the opinion that, especially in PbP, many things should be rolled by the DM, both to save time and because its more realistic. Like Knowledge rolls, for example, for unless a PC is actively trying to think of something (which takes a standard action I believe) they should just know what they know (which the DM can put in a PM) also Perception rolls, others.
Also, re your (one more) logical PM Joana, I';; be changing up that spell. Thanks once again : )
And Whoo-hoo! : D
Sorry for missing the start of the party - I had that post written up 24 hours ago when the internet in the hotel I'm staying at crashed and burned. Phil would have entered with Sarien and then kept to himself more out of my absence than his own devices.
I'll be travelling again tomorrow, then back to normal service from then.
Sorry. It's been a busy busy day (starting at about 3:30 am) and I haven't had time to read, much less update. I'll do my best to do so tonight before passing out from exhaustion.
Don't worry about it, Wander. I'm assuming Sarien's been mostly keeping his mouth closed and his ears open to this point, anyway.
And no problem, Mark. You mentioned you'd be traveling. Hope you're back home safely now.
There's a link to a map of Riddleport up on the Campaign Info tab, if you haven't seen it yet. I'll try and figure out a way to annotate one for you as we go along; for now, the Publican House is the building on the west bank of the river with three docks in front of it. Most of you probably had to cross the river on the ferry to get there, but I skipped over it for the sake of a simpler narrative. Just be aware that the ferry is the primary way to get from one side of Riddleport to the other, unless you can catch a fisherman or other private citizen with a boat and convince them to take you; it's north of the Publican House where the little boat is drawn in the river and costs 2 cp per crossing.