Still here
Here. Hoping to actually roll about an 8 soon.
OK, so...I've heard from Gkirkhan. He's not returning. I haven't heard from Vertielle, so (for now) I'm assuming she's gone as well. I think Wood is, but I sent him a PM to confirm.
What do we want to do? I'm willing to continue, I think (I hope) I'm finally over my burnout/funk.
If we continue, do we want to recruit more people? If so, when should we bring them in? I can continue to NPC Vertiell & Gkirkhan for a bit, but I'd rather have them exit (with an explanation).
I am here. I suggest you recruit three more -- divine, skilled, and another martial (preferably paladin). Or Rova and I can get leadership early and bring two cohorts along.
Those are my 2cp
OK, so if nobody has any objections, I'll open recruitment.
Meanwhile, I think that last rust monster is dead.
If I got a quick list of each entry I'd help me start to look over them.
These are our options so far:
karlprosek: Garaile “Rail” Maedre; m-human Inquisitor of Desna
Hassan Ahmed: Andjela Daywalker; f-dhampir Paladin of Iomede
Alynthar42: Alynthar the Unchained; m-tiefling Wizard (Necromancer)
thunderbeard: Gerbault Swiftblade; m- “Halfling” (goblin in disguise) Duelist
PDXCook: Brother Ivan; m-human Cleric of Sarenrae
rorek55: Darien Cedric Espoir ; m-aasimar (angel-kin) – Paladin of Iomede
Feth: gnome Nightblade
Riuk: Draken de Thon; m-dhampir (nosferatu-born) Alchemist beastmorph/vivisectionist
arachnofiend: half-orc Life Shamen
gossamar4: Draylan Gossamar; m-human Hunter
I'm starting to look them over, and a number are incomplete.
Just an FYI; thunderbeard was kind enough to break the applications down into groups for us:
Spells:
-Alynthar (Alynthar42), Tiefling Necromancer Wizard (crunch not finished... CG, so alignment might be a relic?)
-Arachnofiend, Half-Orc Life Shaman (in progress)
-Brother Ivan, Human Cleric of Sarenrae, Fire and Healing Domains (crunch not finished)
Martial/Spells:
-Darien Cedric Espoir (rorek55), Aasimar Oath of Vengeance Paladin
-Draken de Thon (Riuk), Dhamphir Beastmorph Vivisectionist Alchemist (crunch not finished)
-Andjela Daywalker, Dhamphir Paladin with a bunch of archetypes, archery-focused
Skilled/Martial/Spells:
-Rail Maedre (karlprosek), Human Inquisitor of Desna, archery-focused (crunch not finished)
-Draylan Gossamar (gossamar4), Human Hunter, archery-focused (fluff not finished)
-Feth, Gnome Nightblade (in progress)
Trapfinding/Skilled/Martial/Spells:
-Gerbault Swiftblade (thunderbeard), Disguised-Goblin Investigator/Fighter (I realized my character's last name could be more halfling-y)
Potentially interested:
-Javell DeLeon
- Draken Caladran Valir Lorrimar -dhamipr Inquisitor/Gunslinger, from rorek55?
Just a quick note: Javell PM'd me, he's withdrawing.
Collected Recruitment Data.
karlprosek: Garaile “Rail” Maedre;
No Data on Paizo, external source; Passed over
Hassan Ahmed: Andjela Daywalker;
Pending Decision
Alynthar42: Alynthar the Unchained;
No Data;
thunderbeard: Gerbault Swiftblade;
Pending Decision, if no Alias by tomorrow passed over
PDXCook: Brother Ivan;
Pending Decision
rorek55: Darien Cedric Espoir;
Double Submission: passed over
Feth:
No Data:
Riuk: Draken de Thon;
Pending Decision
arachnofiend:
No Data;
gossamar4: Draylan Gossamar;
Pending Decision, if no Alias by tomorrow passed over
Quick note, Eva; Darien's wasn't a double submission; he accidentally posted with the character he built for the Runelords game.
I am just hoping for a good tank to back up Rova. Melee paladin was my preference. I could see a melee focused inquisitor.
dot
Thank you for having me!
Secret stealth dot! Thanks for picking my character, and welcome to the healingest party ever.
That is like a minefield for Andjela. With negative energy affinity, she respnds like undead to positive/negative energy.
She will not be healed by a healing burst, but will be hurt by a burst to harm undead.
You folks let me know how you want me to do this. I'd like to RP coming out and admitting to be dhampir eventually. And the more observant can guess or suspect without the need to roll knowledge religion, arcane, or sense motive.
I'd like that to be part of her story, along with her ancestry and would need everyone's help and suspension of disbelief.
What you do know is her stint at Lastwall, the last campaign which delayed her receiving the missive regarding the professor and her present arrival on the scene.
DM and Players... Comments, suggestions?
Also, I've switched from Iomedae to Desna...
More in flavor with Divine Hunter and her melee weapon of choice is Elven curved-blade, not longsword... so, that had always bugged me.
Well, we'll be here when the story gets to us.
And Andjela: I will I figure Gerbault being a Goblin is also not common knowledge, but he's fine keeping that a secret until the first time someone casts Detect Thoughts or True Seeing—Goblins are NOT well-loved, but with a party this monstrous they might not outright murder him. Until then he'll just be a very... excitable fellow, with an unusual love for fire.
Also, Iomedae does make a lot more sense, cool.
If you wish for a fairly accurate image of Darien, I have one in his profile.
Sorry, out of town guests in.
Also, I've switched from Iomedae to Desna...
More in flavor with Divine Hunter and her melee weapon of choice is Elven curved-blade, not longsword... so, that had always bugged me.
I am afraid that Desna is not a valid option for a Paladin, as your deity has to be 1 step from Lawful Good maximum, Desna is 2 steps from Lawful Good alignment, thus invalid.
Valid Deity list for Paladins
Lawful Good Deities
Lawful Neutral Deities
Neutral Good Deities
Oh, I misread that as "to Iomedae, from Desna," hmm.
I don't believe Paladins have a deity restriction the way Clerics/Inquisitors/Warpriests do. But they do have to be LN, which puts you quite a bit at odds with the teachings of Desna.
If you wish for a fairly accurate image of Darien, I have one in his profile.
Not too accurate—that looks like highly piecemeal armor, he's got the wrong type of sword, and the haircut screams "1990s"
Oh, and: Desna's favored weapon is the starknife. Erastil might be most appropriate, as the LG god of honorable hunting, and his weapon is the longbow—though his religion is rare in Ustalav.
Also: A heavy repeating crossbow has lower damage per round than a longbow at any level, provided you have at least Str. And you can't actually use an oversized heavy bow without laying it on a support like a ballista.
If you swapped out your weapon focus for Dervish Dance, and your elven blade for a scimitar (or Point Blank Shot, but bear with me here), you'd be able to deal 1d6+5 damage per hit (avg 8.5), which is more than your current 1d10+2 (avg 7.5), and you'd be perfectly set up to select Sarenrae as a religion instead. But if you want to focus on ranged combat, Rapid Shot is incredibly useful—and if you change up Weapon Finesse (since by level 6, no ranged-focused character ever has reason to actually use a melee weapon instead of just holding it menacingly), you'd be able to get 4! attacks per round, which would make smiting a whole lot more fun.
....
I don't believe Paladins have a deity restriction the way Clerics/Inquisitors/Warpriests do. But they do have to be LN, which puts you quite a bit at odds with the teachings of Desna.
......
Paladins DO have the same restriction as Clerics/Inquisitors/Warpriests, and they MUST be LG, with their deity being a maximum of 1 step from Lawful Good.
And reviewing every new comer's character sheet;
Gerbault Swiftblade and Darien Cedric Espoir are at 25 Point-buy, this is a 20 Point-buy game.
Hmm, where is that text in the Paladin class? It seems right, I just can't actually find it now that I'm looking for it, except for Paladins who do Variant Channeling.
ALso, I forgot to list my belt of Str/Dex +2... but it looks like I messed up and started with a 22 point spread, so I'm fixing that now.
Oh, I misread that as "to Iomedae, from Desna," hmm.
I don't believe Paladins have a deity restriction the way Clerics/Inquisitors/Warpriests do. But they do have to be LN, which puts you quite a bit at odds with the teachings of Desna.
If you wish for a fairly accurate image of Darien, I have one in his profile.Not too accurate—that looks like highly piecemeal armor, he's got the wrong type of sword, and the haircut screams "1990s"
I did say fairly, the armor isn't quite full, but it gets it across. the hair is a bit shorter and spikier then I would like, but it was pretty close for just looking around Google images.
also, the sword.... easily changed. Actually unsure why I had falchion instead. eh. lol
Here's a link from that thread, Evangeline, which I think follows the case I was trying to make—you can "worship" a deity who's not LG/NG/LN, but if your alignment is more than one step away from them, you're not actually worshipping that deity, just paying them lip service. Because Paladins don't get their spells from a higher power, they can do this—they're just effectively committing blasphemy in the eyes of anyone who legitimately worships that deity (and you're not a member of a paladin order devoted to them, because there are no such orders).
Darien: you picked the Falchion because some paladin guide suggested it, most likely. It's got a better crit range, which is useful when you're much higher level and having a keen weapon with a 15-20 crit range means your smites go a lot farther... but right now, it's not that important, and you can just get a new weapon later.
Here is a historical image and another one of a actual historical paladins, for the luls.
BRB... Work and taxes.
OK, this issue is partly my bad, I forgot Desna's alignment. (And kinda liked the image of a paladin of Desna).
Here's the quote from James Jacobs on the subject in reference to the 'One Step' rule:
Paladin deities
There's no rule for this because there shouldn't NEED to be a rule.
Paladins MUST be lawful good.
In order to worship a deity, you need to follow that deity's teachings and philosophies and do things that would make that deity proud.
If you don't worship a lawful good deity, you are increasingly doing things to impress your deity that are at odds with being a paladin.
Once an axis of your alignment drifts more than one step away (law to chaos or good to evil), maintaining a paladin's code and following a deity's philosophy and teachings become pretty much impossible to maintain for long. And without long-term maintenance, that faith simply cannot hold the order together.
To be devout, you need to adhere closely to your deity's alignment. To be a paladin, you need to be lawful good. That pretty much sums it up, as far as I can tell.
On Golarion, the following deities in particular are established in game canon as having paladin orders: Erastil, Iomedae, Torag, Sarenrae, Abadar. I suspect that both Shelyn and Irori have a few paladins worshiping them as well, but they don't have as many as the other five. There are no paladins serving any of the other deities.
BTW, if you want a Paladin of a non-LG deity, here are the tenets of Shelyn's paladins
Check the lists that Eva posted links to. I'd be willing to cut a break for you if one appealed to you more than the standard big 5. You'll just be unique, not part of an order.
Interesting. Of James' list:
Big 5:
Erastil (LG)
Iomedae (LG)
Torag (LG)
Sarenrae (NG)
Abadar (LN)
Options:
Shelyn (NG)
Irori (LN)
So, his own list goes against straight LG for deities with paladins.
Well, those are just the deities within one step.
A quick note: anyone who has multi-classed and wants to use the Variant Multi-classing from Unchained instead, may.
I don't know 'em yet - and I like the build I have, dipping master of many styles, so I'm good.
I'll wait a bit, until I can read the Unchained variant completely and not deal with second hand info that could be incorrect.
No, no... ALL my fault. The switch was last minute and unresearched. Also, I think the imagery of a Divine Hunter lead me to it.
She is Dhampir and an unusual/unlikely paladin. There is always that idea of the monster within, lurking, testing... Coaxing her to unleash her ire and submit to the beast inside, the baser nature within us all... Perhaps more so in Dhampir.
Soooo... Irori, self perfection in personality and prowess. From a pleasing the deity or doing their good works. She is drawn to situations where the natural or celestial order or balance has been upset.
When evil tips the scale, she is the equal yet opposite force.
Everyone OK?
One more point (after clearing up the point cost stuff): Gerbault, your profile says Inquisitor, not Investigator. Also, please list the cost of your items with them...easier to keep track of what's been spent.
Andjela, Irori is fine.
Ah, I always get those two class names confused. Atheish was intentional, the rest weren't. (Can you really be an Atheist in a world with such active gods? Gerbault just doesn't know most of their names, etc., or what exactly they do)
Funny story about that Gerbault:
Andjela, how are you able to use a Large Heavy Crossbow? A Heavy Crossbow is already a 2H weapon, meaning the large version would be too big for you to use.
Oh, forgot about that question! And I never got her third hand for a 3H weapon.
:)
But, alas, you're right. So as not to alter the character concept too much and lose the Van Helsing vibe, we'll say it's appropriately sized.
BTW, I apologize for the delay in getting the fight started. I got back from work, saw Gerbault on the bridge, went to get the module and...couldn't FIND the #@$% thing! so, I ran through the message boards to verify the type of critter you were facing, posted, went to bed, and found the stupid thing this morning in a spot I'd checked THREE TIMES last night!
It was a bad night in retail.
One more quick note:
Eva, Rova, Wood - update your equipment/wealth to 6K. This AP is particularly bad at keeping up with WBL.
You can use either of these options:
1: The newcomers brought packages for each of you, bearing the symbol of the Palantine Eye and notes saying; thank you for your aid, in recompense, since we noticed lack of significant types of and lower quality in your equipment, we hope these items will meet with your approval. Use or dispose of them as you will.
2: You've found upgraded equipment in the schloss by now.
Edit: third option (one I like better!)
You still get the packages and the notes; but no symbol and the notes are signed A.A. ;)
Yes, third option!
One more quick note:
Eva, Rova, Wood - update your equipment/wealth to 6K. This AP is particularly bad at keeping up with WBL.
You mean 6 level?
Oops. Darn typos.
6th level; 16,000 gp
Gloves of Martial Impetus!
Gravity Bow 1800gp x2 = 3600gp
Lead Blades 1800gp x2 = 3600gp
Command word activated!
7200gp, or x3/day each for 4320gp.
Andjela: this is to bring the ORIGINAL players up to speed, due to this AP's (and this module in particular) lack of treasure, not to upgrade the new folks; you should already be at 16K.
I know. Just your comment on being particularly bad at keeping up with WBL got me dreaming of a sweet drop.
Hint, hint.
Oh. OK, hmmmm. ;)