The Forgotten God (Table 1) (Inactive)

Game Master Rednal

Sorry guys in the hospital should be home tomorrow

Yikes. Hope all is well, or at least will be...

Rednal and Ashe, I'm really sorry but I've had some stuff come up IRL and I'm going to need to step away from the boards indefinitely.

This has been a great game. Rednal, I know part of the reason you picked me for it was that I seemed so unlikely to disappear, so I feel extra bad about this but unfortunately there's no way around it. I can stick around for a few days if you want to work out a proper exit, or Grond can decide he's had enough of this BS and just climb a wall and take off running/jumping faster than any watchmen could keep up with- your call GM.

D'oh. XD; Well, real life happens, and I do understand.

What would you prefer, Hadran? I can get this done either way. The most effective method is probably opening the portal, having you go through, and realizing that Grond never followed.

That sounds good, Sorry to see you go Grond was good RP with you. I understand, my hospital visit was a heart attack and I'm only 34 so I get stuff comes up. Luckily it happened early and I can make the life changes needed. Down 10lbs in 2 weeks thus far no more sugar :) So take care.

Rednal are we staying level 2 for this next part. I know these men probably where not much xp but we only needed 200. I guess we should open up recruitment again. I don't remember any other stand outs. Staying level 2 is fine b/c I needed to retrain anyways remember I'm switching my bard and oracle level around. Taking the CR hit on bard.

You're close to done with this scenario, and my plan is for you to hit Level 3 afterwards. ^^ New recruitment it is!

Sorry to hear that Hadran. I need to lose weight for my health too, and am working on it (down 22 pounds since the beginning of February). Sadly that's only one small piece of the puzzle for me. I hope your weight loss goes well though, and I hope you can find a replacement even better than Grond to carry on!

Yay for apostrophes!

Ok, so I have a few things to decide before going too far into crunch, mainly Shaman or Oracle, and favored weapon. As far as favored weapon, I'm leaning with a heavy shield, and duel welding shields, or possibly some sort of custom shield weapon. And yes I realize rules as written there is no additional defensive benefit from a second shield.

Also, if I pick Oracle I need to pick a curse, and I think Oracle of metal fits better.

Also, I already nicknamed my character Beseth in her background.

Dot.

So far the plan is still Dwarf Goliath Druid/Aegis/Stalker. The character creation stuff is still the same as in the recruitment thread attached to this thread, just at level 3, right?

Also, "Stonebeard" is a lot easier to type than Makallun'abad, but "Mak" works fine as shorthand, too. ;)

@Beseth: Well, I can always give opinions if you want them. XD I'm pretty hands-off when it comes to class selection as long as the fundamental rules of the campaign are followed (avoid min-maxing, etc.), but I can always offer suggestions.

@Mak: Yeah, the rules are as listed in the original recruitment thread. Level 3, Tier 1, don't forget your campaign-based bonuses. Whiiiich were originally intended for someone in a solo game. *Coughs* Well, I plan to send well-above-your-CR encounters anyway, so I think it'll work out.

Meanwhile, it's a bit late now, but I'll be taking a closer look through the new backstories later. We may need to make a few small tweaks before you join the game properly, but that shouldn't be a big deal.

If you have a suggested curse that might be helpful, I was considering lame, and possibly reflavoring it as having some sort of shackles.

As far as the favored weapon, any chance this feat could be legal?

I think you should pick a curse that you feel is thematically appropriate for your character. If you plan on going Hierophant, you can pick up Overcome Curse at Tier 6 and entirely negate the drawbacks - thematically, this could be styled as "deity who suffers from X, but pushes past it through sheer force of will". Powers aren't just class choices - they should reflect who your deity is, what they believe, and how they'd approach solving problems. Build for flavor, not power! You're going to be challenged either way, so you may as well have a plot that you like.

Two-Shield Fighting is fine - note that I'll be ruling the "treat the second like it has an Enhancement Bonus of +1" to mean "Any Special Abilities that would normally qualify as a +X-equivalent bonus don't work, either".

Since shields can be enhanced as weapons as well, that wouldn't effect the weapon abilities of the shield though, right? Just the armor enhancements? Would hate for the feat to lower the shield's usefulness as a weapon.

Also for point buy, 16/16/14/10/10/16 isn't considered min/max, right?

Wait, I thought we weren't starting with the mythic tier?

Anyway, I've started on the crunch, but it'll probably take me a day or two to get it all in order.

Also, I went with 16/12/14/12/16/11 pre-race for my point buy. That's 16/12/16/12/18/9 after racial bonuses.

@Mak: Read the original Recruitment thread's first post. Read it CAREFULLY. There's a lot of important information there, and you should know it before you build your crunch.

@Beseth: For the points, nope. XD Rather, I approve of seeing fairly balanced arrays... and no, that feat shouldn't affect the shield's use as a weapon, though I may ask you to change something if your character's damage output starts looking weird. I do need to see the final output before making any final decisions. ^^

How do you feel about the merciful 3pp curse? I think thematically it fits the best, but it might be a bit powerful.

@Mak: Read the original Recruitment thread's first post. Read it CAREFULLY. There's a lot of important information there, and you should know it before you build your crunch.

I've got it open and I'm looking at it carefully as I work on slapping stuff together. I've got like 7 tabs open regarding this character right now. :D

Merciful works - minor drawback for fairly minor reward. ^^

ah so we went with both. Glad to have you both aboard.

Hi Hadran. Glad to join you. :)

I am also glad to be here with you Hadran, though being paired up with a dwarf among dwarves may trigger some racial angst (Especially with Aer'Besethir being Calistria's daughter).

A few more questions, is the extra hp from the mythic tier supposed to be *1.5 as well? I currently am assuming that like the con bonus it is not, but I wouldn't turn away an extra 2 hp. You mentioned building with appropriate WBL, that would be 3,000 right? Are traits that increase this (i.e. Rich Parents), or give you items without spending money (i.e. Signature Moves) allowed? There's no way that I can afford Mithral Full Plate at this level, so that is right out, but as I haven't selected traits yet, it might allow me to have a more powerful main shield. More Likely then not, Aer'Besethir is going to use a Heavy Shield in one hand and a Light Shield in the other, I may make the Light Shield Throwing for fun (and so I can free up the hand easier for casting), and at least the heavy shield will likely be spiked. Note the AC I have calculated right now is without any magical equipment.

I wouldn't try to push your AC any higher than that for now - being too hard to hit at low levels IS a min-maxing concern.

The only HP that receives the 1.5x multiplier is from Hit Dice - all other sources (Constitution, Mythic, etc.) are normal.

WBL is 3000 GP, yes. Note that as far as traits go, you don't have mortal parents providing money, and that would honestly be a bit of a waste anyway because this game will give you more than WBL over time. A trait that will provide significant benefits over time would be a better choice.

Double Shields is a big part of that, as my combined shield bonus is 5, 3 from the Heavy, and 2 from the light, though if you would like to rule that I only get the bonus from my Shield Defense ability for one shield, that would reduce the number by 1.

You only get the bonus from Shield Defense once - there's nothing in its text that would give an additional bonus to any creature with more than one shield.

Also, a feat only increasing your AC from an extra shield by 2 is reasonably in line with the power level of other feats - in fact, that seems to be what they were going for when they wrote it.

No worries, 2 AC is well worth the feat, so I probably won't change it.

*Rubs hands together* All right, time to get through those backgrounds.

Beseth: Other than a few easily-fixed typos (You used "weather" instead of "whether" several times, I think), it all looks fairly straightforward. The most important part I have to add is that Beseth probably ascended very soon after Aroden raised the Starstone, maybe even as the first to do so after him - she's been gone for thousands of years, and that's really the only practical way of making the timeline work.

Mak: I've said over and over and over that the characters shouldn't know which deity defeated them - it was a surprise attack and there are in-game reasons for players not knowing, so you'll need to edit that out. This could be as simple as saying that he was weakened by that battle and somehow managed to escape, but a while later, someone jumped him from behind. It was at that point that his divine essence was scattered - intentionally so, as a last-ditch attempt to keep power out of the hands of others. Droskar shouldn't have any of your character's soul - if he did, and it was since used up, you wouldn't be able to regain it.

Alright, no problem. I can make those changes later tonight.

Beseth, what Mythic path(s) are you considering? I'm not entirely sold on anything yet and don't want to overlap too much.

I actually do that quite often, I can never remember how to spell whether and always end up using weather. I have no issue with Beseth ascending shortly after the starstone was raised, just keeping in mind that she didn't fall until after Cayden Cailen and Iomedae ascended. I imagine that since Aroden was still alive when she fell, it would be quite the culture shock to find out about his death and what happened to Golarion. Cayden Cailen ascended in 2795 AR, Iomedae ascended in 3832 AR. Aroden died in 4606 AR, and I cannot find Norgober's year of ascension (for fun, I would guess 1758 AR, as that makes the # of years between Norgober and Cayden Cailen the same as Cayden Cailen and Iomedae), though it was before Cayden Cailen. Or are you saying that Are'Besethir should have fallen before Cayden Cailen ascended, meaning I need to remove the part in her relationships concerning the other ascended deities. The current year, in PFS, is 4715, 4710 is the default year as listed, so if Aer'Besethir fell after Iomedae ascended and recently awoken she would have been asleep for hundreds of years, but not yet thousands.

@Mak, I am going Champion/Hierophant. I choose Champion over Guardian because it still has some defensive abilities but I likely need the boost in offense.

Let me put it this way - she probably didn't fall after 1000 AR, and clearly had to have been raised before that.

Ok, so in Aer'Besethir's mind, aside from Aroden (and possibly Norgober) she is the only one who passed the test of the starstone.

Correct. Still, she should also know that others could have in the time she was gone, so I wouldn't expect her to flatly deny the successes of others or anything. ^^

Hmmm. I think I might just go Champion/Guardian, because it'll give me some neat options (like group Wild Shape, which I guess will probably work with my ability to turn into a giant) and will help me shore up both my offensive and defensive abilities. I don't think I'll be doing terribly much casting in combat that isn't summoning or maybe the occasional blast spell (Flamestrike fluffed as calling forth a volcanic eruption, for example~) so I don't think Heirophant is really what I'm looking for.

It's cool if I leave the rivalry/butting heads with Droskar in, right? Mak's just not aware that the Dark Smith may or may not be the cause of his fall.

Roger that.

Also, I hope this is ok, but I'm spending a good deal of Aer'Besethir's money on her main weapon/shield, it will be a +1 Spiked Masterwork Heavy Steel Shield, which costs her a grand total of 2,490 gp. Hopefully its clear, but the shield is a +1 weapon and only a masterwork shield. I'll still have enough for all her other nonmagic gear.

As far as gear goes, I'm kind of tempted to just spend most of it on a handy haversack. 3000 is too little to really justify buying anything besides some simple arms and armor, but I can't really justify running around with enough coins to swim in. D:

So, for 3k gold, I could buy three items, and be left with 1 gold. Those three items are +1 Spiked Masterwork Heavy Steel Shield, Masterwork Light Steel Quickdraw Shield, and Masterwork Chainmail, so obviously something is going to need to not be masterwork so I can atleast get a class kit.

@Mak: The rivalry with Droskar is fine. ^^

@Beseth: Spending it that way is fine. Still low-levels, after all, and most people are probably doing that anyway. Also, I'd go for non-masterwork chainmail, since shields seem more thematically important to you.

Awesome. Most people don't even know about Droskar, so he's a very thematically solid enemy for Mak. :)

Also, I have two questions.
1) I'm taking the Earth-Touched trait (DR 1/- vs. creatures and attacks with the earth type) because it's very flavorful, but I don't think it stacks with my suit's innate DR (which is currently DR 2/-). Would they stack because one is specific and the other is general, or is the smaller one just overwritten by the larger?

2) Thrashing Dragon stances all say that you need to be wielding two weapons to get their benefits. If I have a cestus + armor spikes, does that count? I'm going to be switching between those two weapons and my unarmed strikes, depending on what damage types I need. :)

1)

If a creature has damage reduction from more than one source, the two forms of damage reduction do not stack. Instead, the creature gets the benefit of the best damage reduction in a given situation.

2) *Glances over* Hmm... unfortunately, I don't think Armor Spikes would work. Thrashing Dragon is specifically called out as requiring one weapon in each hand, or one weapon and an unarmed strike, in order to function. If it's not held, it doesn't work - and in fairness, that does matter in this game, given the other things you might need a hand for.

1) I'll probably just replace Earth-Touched with Birthmark, then, because I doubt I'm going to be spending much time outside of my astral suit (which I am calling "Armor of the Mountain" for lack of something better). Birthmark is a pretty neat trait, anyway. On that note, Mak's holy symbol is a smoking snow-capped volcano.

2) Hmmmm. I have every intention to have a free hand at all times (not wearing a shield or buckler or anything) so I technically should be able to make an unarmed strike with my offhand, while having the cestus on my mainhand. Would this fit the criteria? This is the text for Thrashing Dragon:

The discipline known as Thrashing Dragon has a long standing tradition amongst both ascetics and daredevils alike, as its movements and style fit both the dedication and tenacity of more disciplined fighters, as well as the erratic and improvisational style of free spirited warriors. Practitioners of the style are often lithe and nimble, graceful and quick, as the style demands speed and the ability to correct one’s movements fluidly. Thrashing Dragon is a demanding style that requires both agility and athletic ability. Its disciples are primarily two-weapon fighters, skilled with weapons that are used for quick slashes and stabs. It is an acrobatic style, using the disciple’s natural speed and grace to avoid blows as opposed to blocking them with their smaller weapons. Thrashing Dragon’s associated skill is Acrobatics, and its associated weapon groups are close weapons, light blades, and double weapons.

Many Thrashing Dragon maneuvers require that its practitioner be wielding two weapons (one in each hand or one weapon and unarmed strike), wielding a double weapon, using natural weapons, or be unarmed to utilize them.

If it makes any difference, the armor spikes are from the Spiked Carapace customization from Aegis, and will be on Mak's shoulders and arms.

Also, I intend to refluff most of the maneuvers to be better related to his divine theme. Veiled Moon teleportation will be traveling through snow/stone/etc., Broken Blade will be striking with the weight of an avalanche, Thrashing Dragon will be like the explosive force of an erupting volcano. I think it'll be pretty cool in practice. :D

*Carefully reads over the various skills* Hmm... well, a fair bit depends on the individual maneuver, but Cestus/Unarmed should work for the majority of them, yes. ^^

Also, I fully support taking powers and abilities that somehow fit your theme. o wo/ Keep doing that.

I picked up the majority of spells for level 1 and 2 that have to do with stone and ice, and then grabbed a bunch of utility stuff. ;)

Incidentally, the beta versions of the Mythic Mania books are out, and they include mythic class options you can take in place of path abilities. Anything any of you are interested in hearing more about?

(It's mostly for the older classes - Core and Base - but might be worth considering)

What kind of stuff does it have for Druids? I don't know if I'll really need anything other than Pack Wild Shape (which is pretty much the reason I'm taking Dual Path for Guardian!) but it'd be nice to see what kind of new toys they're adding. :)

*Glances in* Not sure about PACK Wild Shape, but there is one for the normal power.

"Mythic Wild Shape: When the druid uses wild shape, she may choose to gain any one feat possessed by the form she takes, if she meets its prerequisites. She retains use of this feat only while in the appropriate form. At mythic tier 3, she gains two feats, and may use one as a prerequisite for the other. At mythic tier 6, she gains three feats, and at mythic tier 9 she gains four feats. Instead of a feat, a druid may gain a +2 inherent bonus to an ability score. She must select an ability score that is lower than that of the form she has taken."

That sounds cool, but I don't quite understand the last part. Does it mean that I can boost an ability score by +2 if MY ability score is lower than the base creature? (IE: If I have 20 Str and the creature has 40 Str, I could boost my Str by 2?)

That definitely sounds like something I'd look at. Turning into a big damn giant and getting some bonus feats and such is a very valid way to spend a path ability. :D

While I'm on the topic, I assume that the Improved Size customizations won't stack with Wild Shape's size increases, right? I mean, cool as it would be to be legitimately 4 sizes larger, I imagine it would be a little much. Not like I'd be able to fit anywhere if I was that big, anyway. D:

It reads what it reads - they may clarify it a bit for the final release. Your normal ability score must be lower than the transformed creature's score to get the bonus. XD Aaaaaaaand no, size increases won't stack. That's probably for the best - aiming for Medium in social situations and Large in combat is probably the limit.

Saves me customization points. :3

I should get to editing my background, but I've been working on putting Mak's sheet together. I'm kind of worried it's going to be even longer than Kei's and just won't fit in the profile. D:

Okay, I think the sheet's taken care of. I cut out the part about Droskar taking Mak's divine spark, but since Mak's not aware of how it got stolen, I'm not sure if I should write something up for his fall.

What do you think, GM?

You can add a note that he was taken down by a surprise attack if you want to, but I wouldn't get any more detailed than that.

Sounds like a plan.

I've got another crunch question: When I recover maneuvers, I get a pretty huge boost to my AC. A +4 insight bonus from recovering, and then another +4 dodge bonus from my Dodge Bonus class feature. The part that has me confused is if an insight bonus to AC is applied to touch and/or flat-footed AC. My google-fu has failed me in my search. >_<