So tied 1-1 so far on Svetlana. What say the rest of you?
For sake of discussion, Bannigan can you clarify the reasons you vote to keep? Thinking both from player and PC POV. Is Vissannica speaking up on behalf of Svetlana staying? If so, why? The idea to have Dox craft her a headband may take care of the stat piece, but the same could be said of Oleg and Kesten. Just wondering if there is a reason beyond status quo, and if that is Bannigan's opinion or what Vissannica would want. Given that Svetlana is a commoner I would think Vissannica would be fine to move on to someone with a noble lineage.
For Bannigan, it just makes sense story-wise, and I like the idea of some of the NPCs having their own story arcs and progression. I've seen Svetlana in various posts and roleplaying sessions seems to really embrace the role and succeed in it. I think her experience with the leadership of the kingdom at its various stages of growth and her understanding of the locals would be a great resource to us as foreign leaders, both in terms of legitimacy and first hand knowledge.
For Vissannica, it would depend on the alternative. If she could be replaced by a follower of Asmodeus, great. A Chelish noble might be preferred, but only if that noble was a known quantity and not a threat to her own designs. She'd have a sort of "devil you know" perspective.
So tied 1-1 so far on Svetlana. What say the rest of you?
Z really doesn't care. It is all politics from his perspective. As long as no laws are broken.
Bill also doesn't really care, but I could see from an RP perspective how Svetlana would come to Anastasia sheepishly to announce that she is pregnant and would like to raise her child in Olegsburg.
Army Stats Carried Forward:
Lion Army in New Westcrown (Large 200 units)
hp 22; ACR 5
DV 17; OM +8
Tactics: TBD
Special: Low light vision, Pounce, Rake, Scent
Resources ranged weapons, mounts
Speed 1; Consumption 4
Lemure Army stationed in tower in 1-7 (Huge 500 units)
HP 25; ACR 5
DV 25; OM +5
Special: Darkvision, Damage Resistance, Poison Resistance, Mindless
Speed 1; Consumption 2
The GM has ruled on a couple points from last session:
1) Dox can be reimbursed for the Lion General expenses. Troy: substract 2 BP from the Kingdom Treasury and Jason take Dox's gold back.
2) Anastasia can/will take Svetlana as one of her followers next level, so she'll stay on as Councilor.
Is armor of spell storing in our rule books? The SRD says it's ultimate equipment, but it says the same thing about bane weapons, dancing weapons, flaming weapons, etc, which are all pretty common.
I'm not sure we are doing attacks of opportunity on movement right:
"Combat Reflexes and Additional Attacks of Opportunity:
If you have the Combat Reflexes feat, you can add your Dexterity modifier to the number of attacks of opportunity you can make in a round. This feat does not let you make more than one attack for a given opportunity, but if the same opponent provokes two attacks of opportunity from you, you could make two separate attacks of opportunity (since each one represents a different opportunity). Moving out of more than one square threatened by the same opponent in the same round doesn’t count as more than one opportunity for that opponent. All these attacks are at your full normal attack bonus."
Bannigan recommended the Glass Cannon podcast a while back and I've been using it to pass the time during trips and commutes lately.
https://glasscannonpodcast.com/
I started at the beginning as they begin the Giantslayer Podcast. and am listening forward as they learn more about how the rules interact (they are really bad with some, better with others) and also for new perspectives on DMing and such.
There are varying layers of experience among the players, but they all have some acting background and really get into the roleplay. Highly recommend.
One thing that I like is the idea of "Bottlecaps" that they use. It is a DM reward for cool play. Bottle caps allow you to advantage a roll (Roll 2d20's instead of one and take the higher) or disadvantage a DM roll (DM rolls 2d20's and has to take the lesser).
I like it as it plays in well with the ideas of luck and misfortune in the game.
I think I will replace my prior "get a Hero Point for posting" and instead go with this and sometimes reward for in session daring deeds and good roleplay. So get posting and make me roll twice on those crucial monster saves!
Nate:
Great flavor for your wide array of followers. Thanks for adding them to the campaign. I think the story becomes richer with the additional personalities, including Dox's followers as well.
Getting along with Akiros - All of you would have been working with Akiros for a while now, and despite the natural idealism of his class, Paladins of Abadar are among the most practical. Ultimately, he is a strong voice for the role government plays in bettering the lives and preventing the corruption of authority for personal gain. Further, aside from Anastasia, he is likely the most invested in making Rasdovia a vibrant kingdom.
The only way I see the party having a fundamental conflict with him, is if they allow the Lawful Evil twisting of the law to reach the point of corruption - which is strongly against the code. "I will root out corruption wherever I find it, and if a system is fundamentally flawed, I will work to aid citizens by reforming or replacing it."
Paladin Code of Abadar
Of all the neutral gods, only Abadar supports and promotes a holy order of paladins. As the god of civilization and order, Abadar recognizes the value of holy warriors in advancing society’s aims. His paladins follow the standard paladin code of protecting the innocent, acting with honor and honesty, and respecting lawful authority. In addition, an Abadaran paladin upholds the following creed.
• I am a protector of the roadways and keep travelers from harm. No matter their destinations or goals, if they are peaceable and legitimate travelers who harm no others on the road, I will ensure that they pass safely.
• Bandits are a plague. Under my will they come to justice. If they will not come willingly before the law, where they can protest for justice in the courts, they will come under the power of my sword.
• Corruption in the courts is the greatest corruption of civilization. Without confidence in justice, citizens cannot believe in their countries, and civilization begins to disappear. I will root out corruption wherever I find it, and if a system is fundamentally flawed, I will work to aid citizens by reforming or replacing it.
• I am an aid to the markets. I ensure equitable trade between merchants and citizens. Theft and deceit on either side are intolerable.
• I make opportunities, and teach others to recognize them. When I aid others, I open the way for them, but will not carry them—they must take responsibility.
Getting along with Akiros...I'll continue the conversation from the call tonight.
I'm really excited about a paladin joining the party for a bit. I think it's a cool direction, and will stir up some interesting things for the party.
However, in the call tonight with Patrick, I felt that some of Vissannica's evil nature was perhaps being downplayed. Tywin Lannister is a good example of Lawful Evil, but he wasn't a Devil worshipping elf raised by a telepathic narcissistic ancient blade amongst a revolving door of aging and dying noble Chelaxians.
Vissannica is a Devil worshipper, and performs daily blood rituals, where she draws the blood of a preferably unwilling sentient creature(typically a slave or someone being tortured as an enemy of the state when not on campaign), paints a pentagram on the ground with it, and sits within that pentagram to meditate on the glory she will bring The Dark Prince, Asmodeus.
She does not respect any authority in the realm as greater than hers with the exception of Anastasia, and that is limited to direct orders from Anastasia herself. If Anastasia said take so-and-so's word as my own, Vissannica would not. Her relationship to her sister is very strong, and her loyalty to Rasdovia and its Queen is real. Anastasia is good at her job, and their clout is closely tied, so there is little reason to be disloyal.
She knows and obeys the laws, likely helped write many of them, and as a wealthy, powerful noble of the ruling house, the laws are very much in her favor. Sure, she cannot and would not outright murder a free citizen who had not been found guilty of a capital crime, but she is known to be the Minister of the Inquisition, a terrifying figure for anyone not well connected. Commoners accused by her or her Inquisitors are guilty until proven innocent. Confessions via torture are admissible evidence. Fear of her and her “Boneys” is the reason many commoners have a shrine to Asmodeus in their homes. She knows fear is a more reliable method of rule than love, and see’s herself as the backbone of the kingdom. Feelings of love by the masses are fickle, fear is deep.
Here are some excerpts of the Lawful Evil description from the SRD that resonate: “…they take pleasure in spreading evil as an end unto itself. They may also see doing evil as part of a duty to an evil deity or master.
Lawful evil represents methodical, intentional, and organized evil.
Lawful evil characters believe that law and structure mean power and safety. In their view, a strict, systematic hierarchy enables outcomes impossible for a single individual, so they seek power and security by positioning themselves advantageously within such systems. They may operate according to strict personal codes—private ethics or creeds that may not align with an observer’s concept of morality—but more often choose to operate within (and take advantage of ) the framework of the society around them….This alignment is particularly appealing to those who want to get ahead and don’t care whom they hurt, … don’t want to open themselves up to unnecessary risk. .. rarely make promises—and are invariably methodical and organized in their machinations."
So, while Vissannica will see some of the usefulness and appeal of Akiros, in that he is a powerful warrior and provides potent seed to the line, she will certainly resent any attempt by him to exert any sort of overt influence over her actions. She will see him as beneath her, in that he is not of noble blood. She is not the forgetful or forgiving type. She will not forget that she met him while he was a minion of the Stag Lord, a bandit, and that he fell once as a Paladin, and may prove faithless again, should someone more powerful come along for him to align himself with as a follower. She would not hesitate to let him (and if in a fit of rage, anyone within earshot) know this is her view, if challenged. She would understand that Anastasia does not and cannot see this truth, so would tolerate him for her sake. She likely tried to talk Anastasia out of the match, but failed, and didn't think it was necessary to take any stronger action, given his limited power as Consort. In some ways having a commoner and former bandit as a Consort kept Vissannica's station intact. Anastasia has her blind spots, particularly when it comes to pretty men it would seem, and Vissannica would see it as her role to protect her from the dangers of that blindspot.
She would see any tendencies of Akiros for mercy or the like as a weakness, and a potential danger to the nation if her were to gain too much influence.
It is likely Akiros is a skilled and wise diplomat in his own right, would understand Vissannica’s personality and position, and manage her accordingly.
But if Akiros's code demands that he step beyond his station and try to overtly influence Vissannica, she will be withering in her dismissal of his importance, bring up his past as a bandit(for which the appropriate penalty is enslavement, she would remind all in earshot), and likely double down on whatever action or stance he was objecting to.
So I see this relationship as being potentially fraught, depending on how Nate approaches Akiros's take on Vissannica's religion, tendency for cruelty, disregard for commoners, etc.
Let me end by saying I think this could lead to some really cool role play, and I like mixing things up like this. I don't know how this will play out, and I think that's great!
I’m typing on my phone, so I’ll be brief for now.
*Great update by Bill, love the detail! Did we just do one month’s worth of Kingdom Building? I didn’t see more that so wasn’t sure.
*Regarding the new University in New Westcrown: Anastasia would be a big supporter of that. However, keep in mind that she had placed one of her new arrivals (Sybyl) in charge of that. So I’d like to talk a bit more about the inquisitors role and the new professor mentioned before moving ahead.
*Regarding Akiros and the LE party members: Bannigan’s concerns echo a number of mine before deciding on making Akiros a Paladin. Good RP is fine and fun, but a lot of open conflict is bad and something Anastasia would avoid. We can discuss more, but I’m open to changing Akiros to another class and to LN to alleviate the problem. We should discuss this more.
For Vissannica's part, she was in favor of the University's funding as a scholar and former High Magister. She'll be hitting a 24 Int at 8th level, and will be foremost as a scholar in the realm in her specialties. Knowledge is power.
Her control of the University was color added by Bill...no problem with me on walking that back. It would more likely be that she would look to have a keen eye on what is being taught in history or any of the social sciences, to make sure it fits with the state's narrative and doesn't have any sympathy for fey, egalitarianism, or such included.
Oh, and we did 3 months. You can see the updates on the Kingdom tracker. I'm guessing Bill is still working on his write up for the other two.
Oh, and we did 3 months. You can see the updates on the Kingdom tracker. I'm guessing Bill is still working on his write up for the other two.
Yes, this...
This might be partially on me. I didn't really view Vissanica (and especially her sword) as someone who incorporates:
"they take pleasure in spreading evil as an end unto itself. They may also see doing evil as part of a duty to an evil deity or master. Lawful evil represents methodical, intentional, and organized evil."
I did see this (especially in the sword:
"Lawful evil characters believe that law and structure mean power and safety. In their view, a strict, systematic hierarchy enables outcomes impossible for a single individual, so they seek power and security by positioning themselves advantageously within such systems. They may operate according to strict personal codes—private ethics or creeds that may not align with an observer’s concept of morality—but more often choose to operate within (and take advantage of ) the framework of the society around them….This alignment is particularly appealing to those who want to get ahead and don’t care whom they hurt, … don’t want to open themselves up to unnecessary risk. .. rarely make promises—and are invariably methodical and organized in their machinations."
The latter can work with a Paladin. The former cannot.
And I will say, you have expressed the former with Vissanica in her trophies and blood rituals and her abrasiveness, I just though the latter fit more with her kingdom-oriented roles and activities.
If that is the case, it might be better if Akiros remains an ex-paladin (Cavalier? Barbarian? He was a level 2 ex-paladin level 3 barbarian in the book but build as you like) or a different alternate is chosen by Nate.
Her control of the University was color added by Bill...no problem with me on walking that back.
Just reading this as I am working on the next post. Please feel free to disagree with anything that I post and I will update it. I will try not to make assumptions in the future. I am having fun with the narration and might get a bit carried away as usual. :P
Hey Guys,
So this kind if adds to the timeline challenges...
The explorers do not return until the month of Calistril (February) but here is the raw text I captured. I will add this to the narrative after next week when "time" catches up...
Returns of the explorers:
(The Gundren River continues into a rolling hill (8-7) from the west to the east. The river continues through the hills (9-7) and then feeds into a giant lake called Silverstep. Continuing east up into mountains (10-7) where the lake continues and separate from the lake a riverhead emerges from the mountains and flows to the southwest. Following the mountain river, the mountains continues where the river splits from the northeast where the party came from and joins another tributary which joins the stream they are following from the east and flows into a larger river flowing to the west. The little Sellen River is what the explorers believe (recorded in their notes from hex 9-8: They thought they saw a drake or dragon flying high in the sky)
Following the river to the west the mountains abruptly end into plains (8-8) continuing to follow the river the plains continue (7-8) as the group reenters the borders of Rasdovia.
OK, no longer needing to try to post-by-phone. Recommend avoiding that whenever possible:
*Akiros: I'll drop Paladin and switch to something else. I don't believe that the party has collectively decided on a course of action that an Abadarian paladin would vehemently disagree with. That said, the "Associates" rules in the PHB specifically state that paladins avoid working with evil characters. What is odd is that there are paladin Hellknights. Anyway, I think a paladin in this instance could be more trouble than it is worth.
*University of Rasdovia: I believe I have a very good idea of how to incorporate Vissannica and Anastasia's interest in this new entity. It will involve some players being privy to information their PC's would not know. If you DON'T want information your PC's would not know, let me know before hand.
*Map: Yep, I see the 3-month update now (btw, Bill, AWESOME posts. You are permanently hired into the Notes job. You are not allowed to quit.). I have some map updates to do and will try to wrap that up before next session.
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Akiros is now a LN Cavalier (Luring Cavalier Archetype - so a ranged weapon PC), Order of the Lion. I still plan to play him as a passionate, paladin-like defender of his sovereign's lands but without the moral high horse. That said, he DOES have a horse and will effectively be a mobile artillery piece in combat with some minor party buff abilities.
What Akiros does *NOT* have is healing. Recommend we buy up some CLW and/or Lesser Infernal Healing wands before we head out.....
(btw, Bill, AWESOME posts. You are permanently hired into the Notes job. You are not allowed to quit.).
Thanks, I do want to make sure the I don't overstep, so everyone please let me know if I take too much creative license.
Also, things are pretty slow at work, so I have the time. I am not sure I will be able to keep up the same level of detail every week.
I think the descriptions are fantastic, add a lot of flavor and capture the essential facts. Appreciate it Bill!
What Akiros does *NOT* have is healing. Recommend we buy up some CLW and/or Lesser Infernal Healing wands before we head out.....
I'm not super worried about healing, though big in combat heals will be missed.
I'm more worried about restoration, remove paralysis, breath of life scrolls and the like. Druids can do some curing, but I don't think they can cover those sorts of things...Should be interesting.
@Bill: No worries on the creative license. The color is what makes in great! If you have a second, give my descriptions for Anastasia's new follower a read over, in the Gameplay thread. We'll be getting two new council members: Alexi for Kesten (Diplomat) and Glaucon for Oleg (Treasurer). Sybyl, who doesn't speak much at the Vault meetings, also attends.
@Bannigan: Agreed about the broader array of healing magics. Paladin-version Akiros had Mercies and decent in-combat heals with Lay on Hands, which was my reason for wanting a paladin. We'll need to lean into our strengths and kill dangerous opponents very, very quickly.
Ahh... the woes of an evil character. All those wonderful ways positive energy can be channeled... but the negative energy? Well... infernal healing with an extend rod is quite potent. And Vampriic touch is nice.
I didn't want to take up time during the session arguing rules, but I think low light vision works much better than giving 40-50 feet of sight at night outdoors. Even on a moonless/starless night, which we can say it was, I think Vissannica would be able to see 80'(if there were a moon or bright stars, she would see much better):
Characters with low-light vision have eyes that are so sensitive to light that they can see twice as far as normal in dim light. ...
Characters with low-light vision can see outdoors on a moonlit night as well as they can during the day.
Characters with low-light vision (elves, gnomes, and half-elves) can see objects twice as far away as the given radius. Double the effective radius of bright light, normal light, and dim light for such characters.
(So if a continual flame does 20' normal light and 40' dim light, Vissannica should be able to see 40' normal light and 80' dim light, right?)
Yes, Vissanica's token is set to see twice as far in the dark as other characters. The dynamic lighting effects have a bright halo that fades to a darker halo then black. The bright halo is the light radius of the light source. The darker halo is still considered within vision (line-of-sight), but creature have concealment (20% miss chance).
I clicked to view from Vissanica and from the other characters and can confirm she saw twice as far. That said, I will check Roll 20 to see if I have the light emanating from the characters with torch equivalent lighting set correctly. It is possible that I have miscalculated diameter and radius measurements, I will double check on Roll 20 between sessions.
Most characters should see 4 squares bright and 4 squares dim flowing out from all torch-equivalent light sources, for a total of 8 squares, surrounding all light sources.
Vissanica should see 8 squares bright and 8 squares dim from the same light sources.
Optionally, I could have judged that the entire map was dimly lit (a full moon and bright stars, no cloud cover) which would have made everything line-of-sight, and everyone without low-light vision would deal with concealment. I determined that the monsters would wait for the moon to set before approaching the party.
To follow on with a discussion of the Boogey-man encounter, the players seemed quite frustrated with the encounter. I wanted to lift the curtain a bit into my view and intention.
1) Hide Campsite - First, my mistake in that I thought Campfire Wall was still the spell being used. I'm sure it was discussed that the change was made, but I am human with a rather poor memory at times and I did apologize. Notably, the Hide Campsite spell's much smaller area of effect does need to be considered as it will not contain all of the party's mounts.
We had been "hand-waving" (eliminating from consideration/meticulous enforcement of the rules) night time wandering encounters since the party began to use Campfire Wall. I think that was fine overall when the creatures you would have encountered would likely avoid the Camfire Wall or be put off by hide campsite.
However, this encounter illustrated that Hide Campsite and Campfire Wall do not make you immune to night encounters, and as you grow more powerful and gain access to additional abilities - so do some of your foes. Many foes, especially animal types, will be fully put-off. You may be veiled/protected by the campsite, but you are still susceptible to both mundane (tracking) and magical (scrying) detection. Intelligent/persistent foes can still find you.
2) Impact of the above: My misconception of Hide Campsite vs. Campfire Wall had a significant impact on the combat overall. For one to begin the encounter, I had successfully dispelled the Campfire Wall spell to initiate the combat. This would have been surprising to you as you could not have seen the group approach, and they presented themselves fully knowing they would have the element of surprise.
When it was no longer Campfire Wall, but was instead Hide Campsite, the entire nature of the combat changed, as would have the approach of the Boogeyman and Red Caps. However, the beans had been spilled. Backing up, hiding and perception checks were done and we moved back into the combat.
3) Frustration: Jason seemed to be frustrated that his spell didn't prevent the combat, Nate seemed to be frustrated that his character was not effectively (partially due to a decision not to leave the protection of the Jason's spell which is ironic because it shows the spell was effective). I think this was exacerbated by the false-start on the combat.
This was an encounter where an intelligent, knowledgeable enemy attempted to set up the encounter on his terms. Night, surprise, sleeping opponents, he was prepped. However, he was ultimately ineffective and fled. While this wasn't a "win" for the PC's it was definitely not a loss. This was an encounter designed to advance plot, intrigue, and challenge the party - it failed to do those things and the only blood that was shed was fey blood. I should have been the one who was frustrated! (Just kidding, but really...)
4) Tone: I will say the encounter was designed to re-set the tone with the return to exploration of the wilderness and being outside of the party's comfort zone and kingdom. Even on the trip to Varnhold, only a few days were spent outside of Civilization. Now that you are openly exploring, the characters should feel a little bit out of their comfort zones. I have expressed in the past that the Wilderness is a character in this adventure, and as you extend yourself outside of your Kingdom the Wild needs to be reckoned with.
I did have an issue with the light settings. They were halved for everyone. I've set up a system to (hopefully) prevent this as people use light sources in the future
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No worries on the Campfire Wall/Hide Campsite mistake, as you said, we're all human. The lighting mishap played a role in the frustration, but it sounds like that is fixed now.
I suspect my frustration was different from the others, as I was trying to break in a new PC under not-ideal circumstances. Being a whiney b*tch because I was dog tired did not help. Mea Maxima Culpa for that.....
Few things moving forward:
*Hide Campsite is a "20ft cube" area. Does this mean 20' on a side? 20' total area inside the cube? Something else? If it is 20' on a side, then it should be sufficiently big enough for the whole party, including both Animal Companions to sleep inside. If it is 20' total area, then it would be a stretch for even just the PC's (forget about Cringer or Bounder) to sleep inside. If it is something else...could work but I have no idea how a 20' cube area could be anything else.
*Depending on the answer to the above, we may need to re-appraise the Hide Campsight spell in light of the mounts. Not saying we necessarily don't use it, but rather recognize that it does not really hide our presence when several tethered warhorses are nearby. It does prevent most/all foes from jumping us in the night, but they can jump our horses (frankly, Patrick pulled a punch here), which creates at a minimum an inconvenience. Additionally, from an RP perspective I am in a bit of bind with Akiros and his mount. He literally goes through a mourning period if it is killed. At a minimum I plan to have him do his watch outside the Hide Campsight spell on his mount. He might sleep out there too, just right by the spell perimeter.
*Completely fair that Hide Campsite no longer makes us "immune" to night time encounters. The enemies get tougher too. And it sounds like this encounter, especially the Boogie Man, were there as much to remind us of the "far enemy" aka fey as it was to be a legitimate combat threat. The party is tough, riding high, and almost preconfigured to be resistant to being scared by spooky things, but still a good reminder. It'll be interesting to see how things go if he shows back up when we have our proper line of sight range.....
Hide Campsite: Let's call the 20' Cube as 20'x20'x20' and if so I agree that the Party can be inside without issue, including the two Animal Companions - however the remaining 3 horses would be outside.
Campfire Wall: Notably this is 20' radius which would be enough to include the party and animals.
Wanted to throw this out there as an idea for the opening of the mint and the coin of the realm...
How about we make it a holiday. The 28th of Calistril is hereby known as The Day of Coin and is celebrated throughout the land. Here is the info on Holiday and there impacts (http://legacy.aonprd.com/ultimateCampaign/kingdomsAndWar/kingdomTurnSequen ce.html). I think we only have 1 holiday so far which is Coronation Day.
Thoughts?
Wanted to throw this out there as an idea for the opening of the mint and the coin of the realm...
How about we make it a holiday. The 28th of Calistril is hereby known as The Day of Coin and is celebrated throughout the land. Here is the info on Holiday and there impacts (http://legacy.aonprd.com/ultimateCampaign/kingdomsAndWar/kingdomTurnSequen ce.html). I think we only have 1 holiday so far which is Coronation Day.
Thoughts?
That would be a very Abadarian holiday theme.
That's an awesome idea Bill!
Rasdovia actually has 12 holidays a year based on our current +3 Loyalty/-2 Consumption setting. And I do think that Coronation Day is the only holiday we've discussed. Good to round these out!
Wanted to come back to the mounted combat issue we ran into last session. Specifically, in a surprise round, does the mount also get an action when both rider and mount can act in the surprise round. I think the answer is yes, especially when the mount is an animal companion.
If Akiros' Animal Companion was not being ridden, and the monsters were next to us, there would be no question that the Animal Companion (which is trained for combat) would get a single attack on the monster in the surprise round. Likewise, if it had moved away as a single move action on the surprise round, that would be permitted.
I don't see any rules that say that being mounted would take away either the rider or the mount's action. So there is nothing about being mounted that should preclude both Akiros and his animal companion getting a surprise action. There is the rule about completing an attack action mid-way through a mount's move, but this does not take away an action from either the rider or mount.
That's an awesome idea Bill!
Rasdovia actually has 12 holidays a year based on our current +3 Loyalty/-2 Consumption setting. And I do think that Coronation Day is the only holiday we've discussed. Good to round these out!
Cool, I will see about what other Holiday's can be added to the Calendar.
Here is a reference to Holiday's in Golarion: Holidays and festivals
I am working on the narrative from Monday and then I will post a suggested list of Holiday's for Rasdovia.
Wanted to come back to the mounted combat issue we ran into last session...
I looked on the rules forum and there were no official responses re:mounts and surprise round that I could find. The two threads I did find agreed with Nate's take.
"Your mount acts on your initiative count as you direct it. You move at its speed, but the mount uses its action to move." includes the surprise round, as nothing says it doesn't. (unless the DM does)
The drawback to this ruling would be that if Akiros is surprised, so is his mount. There is no separate perception check. Both would be flatfooted.
My two cents.
A miss from the fishing/silver eels quest. The quest is for 2 dozen when I reviewed it. (You can see it in the journal section on roll20, "A New Set of Missions 1") We only caught 15. Patrick, I think we would have taken another day or 2 to catch the additional 9 fish. If we can't backdate this, we will need to go back and catch 9 more eels.
That is fine with the eels. We will just advance the calendar.
As for the mounted combat, I am fine with that as long as we have a mutual understanding that mounts defer entirely to their rider when we are dealing with combat movement.
We will not be considering initiative or perception for mounts, they perceive and defer their actions to the rider. That means we will not be considering "Bounder would have sensed that there was quicksand there" or "Cringer wouldn't have let me move him there because he would have scented the zombies around the corner." When mounted, they simply obey instruction.
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Gents, here is what I recommend for Rasdovian Holidays. They are a mix of Chelaxian, Abadarian, Arodenian, and some that I thought just made sense and were cool. (I know it is 13, so we can cut one if folks think it is too many.)
1st of Abadius: Foundation Day
A civil holiday celebrating the foundation of the first city by the god Aroden. Milanites observe a minute of silence in honor of Aroden saluting Milani.
19th of Calistril: Loyalty Day
This national holiday commemorates the signing of the Treaty of Egorian which ended Cheliax's civil war and installed the diabolic House Thrune on the throne.
1st of Pharast: The Day of Coin
This holiday is unique to Rasdovia and commemorates the founding of the Kingdom’s first mint and the introduction of the coin of the realm. The ruling council (The Infernal Eleven) and other local nobility spend the day distributing coins to the masses, focusing particularly on those parts of the kingdom most loyal to the Crown.
15th of Gozran: Taxfest
Priests of Abadar accompany tax collectors on this holiday. After completing their duties, the church sponsors large (and free) public celebrations to help mend relations with common folk. Brigh's faithful help to confirm that the tax calculations are correct.
Last Sunday of Desnus: Breaching Festival
Yearly festival in which contestants try to break through the magical wards protecting the Academae in Kenabres . (In Rasdovia, it is the University) This odd holiday celebrated in in Korvosa has gained popularity in Rasdovia in recent years. There seems to be a growing kinship between the fledgling kingdom’s ties to Cheliax and other nations who share a similar lineage.
Sarenith, Summer Solstice: Days of Wrath, or Dies Irae
Contests and blood sports are held to honor and elevate those who are superior.
3rd of Ersatus: Archer's Day or Archerfeast
Holy day celebrated with archery contests, bartering for livestock, and the courting of women
6th day of Arodus: First Crusader Day
Holiday in celebration of the continuing crusade against the demons of the Worldwound.
Rova, Early Autumn: Market Door
Held on a different day every year in early autumn, during the Market's Door festival, Abadaran priests bless the markets where the first of the fall harvest is being sold.
Second Oathday in Rova: Signing Day
Festival marking the day these nations gained their independence from Taldor.
Rova, Autumnal Equinox: Days of Wrath, or Dies Irae
Contests and blood sports are held to honor and elevate those who are superior.
14th of Neth: Even Tongue Day
Day that celebrates when Andoran, Galt, and Isger were put under Chelish control.[8] Milanites celebrate the freedom from Taldor.[
Kuthona, Winter Solstice: : Days of Wrath, or Dies Irae
Contests and blood sports are held to honor and elevate those who are superior.
These are awesome Bill! We can say all but 1st Crusader Day is an actual celebrated holiday. Crusader Day is known, just not a day off.
Regarding Nightmare and protection from evil, my read is that it would give you a +2 bonus against the spell.
I do not see anything in the spell description that stops spells with the evil descriptor from functioning. If anyone else sees this in the spell, please let me know.
The ring of sustenance will likely work fairly well as the caster would have difficulty knowing when you are sleeping, and only needing 2 hours would make this even harder.
Aside from maybe Mind Blank, I don't see how you stop Nightmare from happening. If anyone has ideas, let me know.
Anastasia will still make the Ring (having 6 extra hours a day to plan speeches, do city planning, look over coin designs, etc. is great for her) and cast Magic Circle vs Evil each night.
On a practical level Nightmare is just about worthless against Anastasia as she can easily heal the damage each morning on a miss saved and fatigue does just about nothing to her functionally. It's just annoying on an RP level so she'll avoid it by varying when she sleeps (always at night, just different times).
Work this week has been crazy. I will post more tomorrow.
Couple thoughts on the Nivitka's Crossing episode from last session:
1) Wanted to emphasize the point that Akiros did his best to cheerlead/advertise/promote Rasdovia, without coming across as pompous or arrogant. He's got a +12 to Diplomacy, so not in Anastasia's league, but pretty good. As a non-noble, he might be better placed to sell this better. No specific short-term goal for this behavior; in part it is just his personality and style and in part because Anastasia would want him to. Anastasia does wonder if, down the road, Nivitka's crossing feel rather close to the burgeoning Kingdom and wants it to be good with that.
2) Wouldn't Nivitka's Crossing (and Restov for that matter) have to be fairly well acquainted with Rasdovia's prosperity? I say that because the main road into Rasdovia goes right through there. I fact, I say "main road", but "only road" might be the better way to put it, unless we are getting a lot of trade and new population through the southern route and the River Kingdoms (doubtful). Rasdovia has a population of over 20K, of which almost all were not in what would become Rasdovia before it was founded. That means ~17-19K people have trekked through Restov and Nivitka's Crossing over the last few years and have not come back. That could only mean they were all killed or, in fact, joined a flourishing Kingdom. The fact that extensive trade in lumber and mined metals specifically from Rasdovia has also come back through Nitika's Crossing and Restov (I'd have to assume those are going to Brevoy mostly, but other places after going through Restov too) would strongly suggest a flourishing Kingdom and not "all those thousands of settlers must have been killed off".
The upshot of the last point is just that I think Rasdovia might be a bit more well-known and respected (not as a Kingdom perhaps, but a very successful political entity) than I got the impression it was based on last session.
Rasdovia Geography Lesson
City Population Comparisons (rounded to nearest K)
*New Westcrown: 10K
*Westcrown (one of the 5 largest cities in the Inner Sea Region): 115K
*Egorian (Cheliax Capitol): 82K
*Korvosa: 18K
*Magnimar: 17K
*New Stetvan (Brevoy capitol): 33K
*Restov: 19K (2nd largest city in Brevoy, one other in far north is 13K, all others <6K)
*Mivon (River Kingdom town, about 75 miles SW of New Westcrown): 11K
*Pitax: 9K
*Brevoy is the northeastern most country in the Inner Sea region of Golarian. To its north is a large lake (Lake of Mists and Veils) and past that is the arctic. To Brevoy’s east is Numeria, a land of barbarians and weird “magic”. To Brevoy’s west is non-Inner Sea Region and a tall mountain range (not sure what is there). Rasdovia borders Brevoy on the western portion of it’s southern border.
*Rasdovia would be considered the northern most River Kingdom, while territorially smaller than most River Kingdoms (and the vast majority of other Countries in the Inner Seas Region), New Westcrown is roughly equivalent in size with the largest northern River Kingdom towns. New Westcrown is also larger than all but 3 Brevoy cities (New Stetvan, Restov and Port Ice, which is way to the north).
*The entire northern border of the Stolen Lands border on Brevoy (Rasdovia territory and Writ make up roughly the western half of the Stolen Lands, the northern-most section of the River Kingdoms). The entire southern border is “River Kingdoms”, specifically Mivon to the south/southeast and Pitax to the southwest. Past the Tors of the Levins to Rasdovia’s west is no longer the Inner Sea Region (not sure what is there)
*The northern road out of Olegston heads NNW until it abuts the north-flowing East Sellen River. Both then continue north to New Stetvan and Lake Reykal. New Stevan is about 30 miles north of Olegston. Restov is roughly 100 miles from Olegston.
*About 40% of our settlers come from Brevoy, most of these coming south from New Stetvan while others come via Restov. 20% come from southern River Kingdoms, 20% come from Cheliax (due to connection with Westcrown), 10% come from Numeria (west of Brevoy) and 10% come from somewhere else in the Inner Sea Region.
*About 70% of Rasdovia’s trade goes to Brevoy, with a slight majority going to New Stevan versus Restov. 20% of trade goes south to Pitax and Mivon, 10% goes through Brevoy, Numeria and then south to Cheliax.
*Additional GM Notes: As far as the "fame" of Rasdovia, I just wanted to point out that word generally travels between kingdoms in a matter of months, not days across the lands and as Rasdovia is only a couple of years old and has only been of its more relevant size and stature for a matter of months. It is not that the New Westcrown isn't the same size and complexity of these other cities, it is that those cities still may not know that New Westcrown exists. That will change over time and as larger events occur in the future. Pitax is smaller than New Westcrown but has been around for a long, long time... so it is known and on the maps. Everyone has heard of Pitax because it has a history. New Westcrown lacks history and is till kind of a secret just because of how word travels. And it has grown so incredibly fast that many probably think that the stories they do hear are exaggerations. The reality is that the only maps that have New Westcrown on it would be the ones made in Rasdovia, thought that is likely beginning to change and that change will accelerate over the months and years.
Crafting magic items
I followed these rules for pricing custom magic items:
https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/magic-item-creation/
I was thinking Vissannica would want to ask Dox to enchant her bone mask of office, then thought, it would be cool to get all the masks enchanted.
The ones for the Inquisitors and High Inquisitors are really just flavor.
Inquisitor’s Mask
A bone mask that gives the bearer a +2 to sense motive – 400 gp (200 gp craft cost)
High Inquisitor’s Mask
A bone mask that gives the bearer a +5 to sense motive – 2500 gp (1250 gp craft cost)
For Vissanica, what do you think of the following item and price calc:
Minister of the Inquisition’s Mask
An ornate bone mask that gives the bearer a +5 to sense motive (*1.5 as has other powers) – 3750 gp
Ability to see invis per the spell once per day use-activated (spell level 2 * Caster lvl 3 * 2000 gp / (5 divided by 1 charge per day)) = 2400 gp
Total: 6150 gp, 3075 gp cost to craft
Crafting magic items
I followed these rules for pricing custom magic items:
https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/magic-item-creation/I was thinking Vissannica would want to ask Dox to enchant her bone mask of office, then thought, it would be cool to get all the masks enchanted.
The ones for the Inquisitors and High Inquisitors are really just flavor.
Inquisitor’s Mask
A bone mask that gives the bearer a +2 to sense motive – 400 gp (200 gp craft cost)
High Inquisitor’s Mask
A bone mask that gives the bearer a +5 to sense motive – 2500 gp (1250 gp craft cost)
For Vissanica, what do you think of the following item and price calc:
Minister of the Inquisition’s Mask
An ornate bone mask that gives the bearer a +5 to sense motive (*1.5 as has other powers) – 3750 gp
Ability to see invis per the spell once per day use-activated (spell level 2 * Caster lvl 3 * 2000 gp / (5 divided by 1 charge per day)) = 2400 gp
Total: 6150 gp, 3075 gp cost to craft
I'm OK with that in general. Spells needed would be Discern Lies and See Invisibility so you have to account for those spells being cast as well.
I'm OK with that in general. Spells needed would be Discern Lies and See Invisibility so you have to account for those spells being cast as well.
Discern lies is 4th level, which means a caster level of 7, so one use per day would be adding 11,200 gp for a total of 17,350 gp. Crafting cost of 8,675 gp. That's almost three times the cost, and puts it out of my budget.
Discern lies is 4th level, which means a caster level of 7, so one use per day would be adding 11,200 gp for a total of 17,350 gp. Crafting cost of 8,675 gp. That's almost three times the cost, and puts it out of my budget.
I'm OK with that in general. Spells needed would be Discern Lies and See Invisibility so you have to account for those spells being cast as well.
Lets go with Zone of Truth then.