I wrote it down as "unidentified wand" on her inventory, so that's all I had to go on to describe it. ;)
Ha! I love the "gentlemanly shove" and how Alicia rolled with it. Oh man that's awesome. It's so "movie" like. Just greatness. :)
Casting disrupt undead from a scroll.
To hit 1d20+4
Damage 1d6+0.
Oh, come on!
That d6 is stuck.
If Mahath didn't have bad luck, he wouldn't have any luck at all!
If this were an RL game, that d6 would be out of the game now, in another room thinking about what it's done.
Sorry, Marikel; you cast bless here. Looks like you didn't cross it off on your profile (but I think you can give yourself back the scroll of ghostbane dirge? Also, at a quick count, it appears you've channeled four times "today").
It doesn't look like you have any buffs available at the moment, so I'm going to put you on delay and let you act later. (Unless you want to cast spiritual weapon? If so, let me know and I'll retcon it in before the Phantom Armor's turn.)
Sorry about that. I'm all over the place.
I'll just attack.
It's okay. It's hard to keep up with what you've cast when your adventuring "day" last months of real time. And it's a lot easier to mark through a spell on your character sheet with a pencil than opening and editing your profile.
Somewhat alarmed that the thing is closing on them without apparent harm to it,
Just to be clear, the enemy has been damaged, both by Alicia's weapon and by Marikel's channel in addition to the disrupt undead ray. I'm not sure if there's supposed to be any visible sign of that to the PCs. This is the first time I've run into this particular monster, which seems to be basically possessed armor.
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Somewhat alarmed that the thing is closing on them without apparent harm to it,Just to be clear, the enemy has been damaged, both by Alicia's weapon and by Marikel's channel in addition to the disrupt undead ray. I'm not sure if there's supposed to be any visible sign of that to the PCs. This is the first time I've run into this particular monster, which seems to be basically possessed armor.
As a player, I totally get that. Mahath as a character, new to this stuff outside of lectures and writings, is less sure. :)
Per the little-used cover rules, "When making a melee attack against an adjacent target, your target has cover if any line from any corner of your square to the target’s square goes through a wall (including a low wall)." Lines from the back corners of the phantom armor's square go through that wall at Z/AA63/64 so Marikel has cover and 23 AC. :)
Sweet. Thank you.
Aaand I got the rule wrong. Big Creatures and Cover allows a Large or larger creature to pick just one square it occupies to determine melee cover (though not ranged cover). I was getting that mixed up with Shooting into a Melee, where you can avoid the -4 penalty if your target is large enough that some of its squares are at least 10 feet away from an ally in melee with it.
So, if you're a stickler for rules text, you can take 1d6+5 damage retroactively. But you don't have to, since it was the GM's mistake.
Mahath, I moved you so you had a clearer shot at the enemy, since you had an action left over anyway.
This is half-plate which is heavy armor. If anyone wants to wear it, keep that in mind.
I don't know that I expected anyone to actually wear it out. But having Marikel do that in character reduced it from large to medium size, which should make it MUCH easier to pack out. I suppose I could have just narrated reducing its size, but that seemed like the right way to go at the time.
I'm amazed anyone put on magic armor that hadn't been identified yet. Y'all clearly didn't have DMs as mean as mine were! The fact that it was recently necromantically animated is just icing on the cake. :D
Marikel is trusting of his learned friend... so far. :-)
As Ali stabs the spider, she is surprised by the lack of resistance. "What the--I think this thing is already done! Like those beetles earlier!"
Dead, not done. Stupid autocorrect.
That was an easy encounter ... but it was meant to be part of the encounter with the phantom armor. If you hadn't turned back from the web-filled room but had approached the tomb from that side, the phantom armor would have barred the way and attempted to bull rush one of you into the chasm where they'd have to fight the undead spider alone in the webs.
For the two players that aren't part of Joana's Riddleport game :-)
(and those lurking readers- hi peeps)
So, now that we're getting to an exciting part (another exciting part... I mean it's all exciting but... anyway) I'm on holidays for the next 2 weeks. I'll have my trusty computer and will check in, but will be erratic.
Once again, Marikel is making decisions for the party.
Once again, stop him or disagree as you see fit and I can change his mind.
While Marikel likes to think of himself as a Paladin, he isn't. It won't be too hard to convince him sacrificing the girl would be the lesser of two evils.
Metaplotting- As Markovbane points out, hopeknives are big in this campaign. We may not get punished for refusing the deal. Still, Paizo are no strangers to placing nasty consequences in their adventures. Or having nasty twists, which includes maybe having the girl dead already or something. However, a party of good characters accepting the deal will definitely move the plot forward: Paizo will certainly take that option into account. (Again, small chance it may not save girl though they're usually not that cruel. Usually. :-)
Proof of the girl still being alive is great if we can get it; great idea.
As a character and the only one native to the town, I thought it important to make that declaration. If more compassionate outsiders have an opposing view, he could be persuaded. Also, I think he is twisting the meaning of the hopeknife just a little. I believe it is meant to prevent one's self from being captured, not others. And I think this girl is too young to have made the pledge that goes along with getting a hopeknife.
As a player, I'm actually more inclined to make the deal. It would show the townspeople the value outsiders can have. It feels like the right thing to do. And we can always track down the stone later if we need to. Its effects seem to be slow acting if I am interpreting the story correctly.
And I get what you mean about making the decisions. In my Kingmaker game, my character is the ruler. I usually try to solicit a consensus out of character and then act as the spokesman for the group. In character, he is making decisions as the ruler. It can be a challenge at times.
The campaign opened with Ruby's hopeknife ceremony. Ruby's the same age as Sawyer's daughter, so she probably already bwent through her hopeknife ceremony. If she hasn't, she's at least the right age for it.
And Alicia prefers sneaking up on the horc and stabbing him. She doesn't like Zola Sawyer, and while she doesn't want to kill her, she doesn't want to give up the stone in exchange.
But she's staying in the shadows and waiting for an opportunity to get closer if nothing else.
The campaign opened with Ruby's hopeknife ceremony. Ruby's the same age as Sawyer's daughter, so she probably already bwent through her hopeknife ceremony. If she hasn't, she's at least the right age for it.
Zola Sawyer did indeed receive her hopeknife within the past year.
14 August 2015... over 4 years ago. :-)
Have I mentioned how much I love gaming with you people? :-)
Thanks for a bunch of good times.
So, looks like we have 2 votes for make a deal and 1 against with Javell still to respond (no rush J- I dropped out for a week there- and may again).
If Alicia attacks, of course Marikel will rush to her aid. Not that it'll help much if he's a 10th level NPC. :-)
Well, let's see how things turn out.
A deal works for me. But Dorn is completely not opposed to double-crossing this dude. Like... at all. :)
How many people from town would have written her off, saying she was of age? These outsiders can show us a few things about compassion.
Heh. Mahath is NG, Marikel is LN. So much for respecting the ways of the natives :-)
It's Halloween week, which means that we have begun the unstoppable landslide through the holidays to the new year. For the duration, I will be less likely to post on the weekends, and I may be a bit slower during the week as well, though I will give notice if I'm going to miss any time entirely.
That is a very poignant way of describing the last two months of the year. Also kind of alarming, given the fact that it's a landslide. Someone might get crushed under the weight of it all!
Oh great GM. Should we do the time-wasting thing of coming up with a plan? Or wait for a dungeon that may appear tomorrow morning? :-)
You can just tell us what we did for four days. :-)
"There is a spell... Agrit may know it... that greatly increases how much someone can carry."
You know, that's a good idea. I'll have to consider that one in the future. That is always a handy spell.
Oh great GM. Should we do the time-wasting thing of coming up with a plan?
Depends on how much you trust Skreed Gorewillow, I suppose. :)
Sounds like Alicia is going to do some Gathering Information on him. You could try to find out more about Uskroth and/or his Eye with some research.
If you want to let me know what you're going to look into while you're waiting on Gorewillow's message, I can summarize what you learn and skip ahead to the next action.
That sounds like a great idea.
Marikel will ask Tyari about undead energies in the area, but referring to the undead beetles they encountered while investigating the caves where Kerst died.
He'll also chat with the friendly townsfolk about Skreed, including brother hound(?) from the rest house.
And do some research about the Twisted nail and their past allies.
Mahath is just going back to Agrit. He'll try to find the chance to talk to her alone. If the town has any sort of library or historical documents, he will try to look at those for any helpful information.
Been having a busy week. My daughter had to stay home from school yesterday with a cold, and my son had a dentist appointment yesterday and orthodontist today I had to drive him to, which has wreaked havoc with my routine the last few days. Should have time to get a summary post up by the weekend covering what the PCs learn.
More to come on everyone else's research -- and the rest of Marikel's. Too tired to type any more tonight, but I thought I'd at least get something up instead of waiting on a massive post with everything in it.
Thanks heaps. You must have googled every book Paizo published. :-)
Nah, just Pathfinder Wiki. :)
Markofbane, is Mahath going to show Agrit the Eye or just the hammer to identify? Is he going to mention Uskroth by name to her or research Uskroth privately? I'm not sure how much of what the party has learned you're intending to share.
I think he trusts and respects Agrit pretty thoroughly. And no one has given his cause to hold back. Unless he thinks she'll run to the full council with it, he'll show her the Eye and the hammer. If he thinks she'll go to the council, he'll just show the hammer and ask about the Eye. He will ask her about Uskroth.
I hope all American players had a happy Thanksgiving!
Are you looking for Silvermane at the Hopespring, markofbane?
Crud. Either I didn't post it or my post got munched! Sorry, I will go do that now.
My hope was that Skyreaver would be interesting enough to lure Silvermane into conversation.
I'll post that in character though.
Folks, this is my busy time of the year at work. So there might be a day here or there I don't post if the day's too long for me and I'm flat out beat. So if I don't get a post in, you'll know why. Just giving a heads up.
*bump* for Mahath. The ball's in your court for questioning Silvermane.
Is there anything I've forgotten that anyone else wants to have done before Gorewillow returns?
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This seems like an appropriate point to tell a story about an old campaign I ran. It was a two-person party, and the PCs had been tasked with making contact with a nomadic tribe that had been spotted in the region on behalf of a good-aligned temple. I rolled randomly to see which of the clerics would travel with the PCs on the diplomatic mission, and I happened to roll the one who had taken a vow of silence.
So the first night out, the priest volunteers (through charades) to take the first watch. I as GM am thinking that the players will realize this isn't a great idea, but no, they're fine with it. The PCs go to sleep and, sure enough, I roll a random encounter. They wake up with wolves at their throats and the cleric waving frantically in their direction while fighting off another wolf.
After the encounter, the players were all mad at the NPC for not waking them up. "He took," I reminded them, "a vow of silence. Did it not occur to you he might not be the best choice to keep watch?"
I have Christmas with one side of the family on Christmas Eve, with another on Christmas Day, and am finally seeing Jumanji the morning of the 26th, so I might not get a chance to post again until after that. Enjoyable holidays to everyone, in the meantime!
Merry to all.
Enjoy.
And hanging out already for the Wrath of the Righteous CRPG.
Running Marikel through my 4th Kingmaker CRPG run. (though still not finished 3rd run yet. :-)
Man I can't wait for that Wrath game to come out. I love that AP. And if they can get it as close as possible to the AP as they did Kingmaker, it'll be awesome.
Wait, what? They're making a WotR crpg??
Also, Merry (fourth day of) Christmas! And happy New year too.