[AP] The Shackled City Adventure Path by GM Rutseg (Inactive)

Game Master Balacertar

"I guess my preference would be a new character, but it's your game and you are best placed to say what would fit for the group and where the game is currently."

Oooo, what if Ruben had a brother named Segundo...

A brother could be fun, but I think given the statue form and that Ruben had his parents killed, I think the stone to flesh will work better. But if you chose this way it definitely should be called Segundo edit: Lachance :)

Similarly, Ruben, I am kin for you to look to change as much build details as you need from the character, as long as you can preserve the sense of credibility. Ruben felt like a tough charmer to me, but the statue experience might have changed him considerably. For me it is more important here to keep the sense of continuity than to fill a missing role in the group. As such, I would like to preserve his background. Also, leaving Ruben in stone shape has been feeling like a missing errand from the party for some time now. RPing his cure would be a good way to 'refresh' some plots from early chapters and a perfect interlude between chapter 6 and 7.

Segundo LaChance... Get it? Segundo is Spanish for Second... ah, it loses something if you have to explain the bad attempt at humor...

edit:GM Rutseg has ninjaed me

Actually I kind of thought we had spent some party funds on getting him restored a while back. But I can't find the post.

@JJ: See my link - we set aside a cut of the coin for exactly that.

@All: Have a notion that might assist in the power-lag that a restored Rueben might experience... What about we grant him a Template (or Templates?) - essentially a residual of his petrification? Should provide inherent powers and up his effective level.

Of course the transformation could affect him in a number of ways?

I'm probably not quite as versed in figuring out how to balance power levels and such as some of you that have been GMing a lot longer so in regards to whether Rueben himself returns (albeit changed somewhat for his experiences) or we get a new face, I'm happy to go with whatever works best for everyone else.

I'm with Marigold on the power level management for Reuben, with a single GM'ing experience I can't guess all of the issues that could arise.

That said, bouncing off the GM's comment about Rueben's being petrified being a traumatic experience, if Reuben came back at normal level and had a penalty while fighting beholders or perhaps any batlike creatures who have spent the past months dropping who knows what on him down below.

Similar to the Dwarven bonus against giants and their kin only in reverse.....

Also, perhaps having been ostensibly left in a petrified state down in Jzadirune of all places for so long (it's been what, at least two or three months or longer in-game since it happened?) might affect Ruben in strange ways?

I kind of like the idea of some type of template. Maybe the stone to flesh wasn't quite fully effective. So he gets DR 5/- (for example) or something like that, and it can slowly wear off as he levels up.

I also like the idea of a trait that covers his experience, kind of like the one we picked up after our encounter down in the depths...

Nice, thanks guys.

I am working on a concept for Ruben which I think is pretty cool and fits what's happened to him. Will run it by GM in a PM and see what he thinks.

For reference, the traits we picked up after that underground battle that nearly saw us all turned into manure.

'Worm disdain': 'You have showed in the past successful foolish bravery when fighting worms. You cannot think on retreat when fighting a worm.'

'Worm slayer': 'You have demonstrated in the past to excel at killing worms. You get +1 to hit, +1 to damage and +1 AC when fighting worms. You also gain +1 to Knowledge checks related to worms

Ok so having reviewed the available classes I think I can retain continuity and also fill roles that could use some bolstering.

Essentially, looking at a ranged build.

I can either do that as a bard and be more support with a little ranged, or as an inquisitor and be more ranged than support.

I'm liking the idea of inquisitor at the moment. Ruben was already a follower of Calistria and after being trapped in a statue for months he would definitely be out for revenge.

Now I admit I haven't read through the circumstances of his petrification but even if the person/people directly responsible for that are gone, I'm sure he would be angry enough at the meta-situation of what's happened to Cauldron.

Actually Inquisitor of Desna fits well here. His name means luck and she has the Liberation domain which is perfect

Hell's Teeth... another of our number falls to the bible thumpers and pulpit rockers! ;)

Here I stand alone... a godless heathen and purveyor of fine liquor and tobaccos...

Well if it weren't for some divine intervention he probably would have gone insane. Which he may have anyway to some degree..

GM did you get my last private message about whether I should build to level 9 and if I should build with any wealth in mind?

I am writing a response, sorry for that.

Ruben will become flesh again with his past equipment. The party can probably help you gearing up, and I will look for an in-game way to provide you with at least one item of interest.

argh. I thought we had healed up, but just noticed JJs hp.

He has a slew of healing potions, and would certainly have taken several of them if we were tapped out of regular healing.

I know it is a bit of a retcon now we are in combat, but would that be okay?

He has:
Cure Serious Wounds; Cure Moderate Wounds (x3) and at half hp (or less with negative levels) I think it fair to say he would have chugged a few.

If using them is okay it would be
CMW: 2d8 + 3 ⇒ (6, 8) + 3 = 17
CMW: 2d8 + 3 ⇒ (6, 1) + 3 = 10

Which would take him up to three shy of his current maximum.

-- re FE and holy.

Would the extra +10+2-4=+8 to hit have been enough to knock out another two of Kaurophon's images? (remembering you need to get within five to dispel one of the images)

You had multiple days in between combats this time. I do know it is hard sometimes in PbP to keep track of those things though, specially when you cannot fluidly talk with your fellow players about how to manage these resources. If others are ok with it, for this time I will allow you to retcon that JJ used one of those potions just after fighting the lich.

Even after applying the +8 the other two attacks are not enough to shatter one of the images (even taking into account they have 5 less AC than the buffed up Kaurophon).

Thanks.

Internet connectivity has drastically reduced. Will hopefully be back to the boards by the weekend.

Do not worry Kikinnin we will wait a bit. Also, I know Marigold has been ill this past week.

Let's all rest a bit for the weekend.

Hey folks, I just wanted to update and apologize for my silence over the last several days. GM Rutseg's been aware of this but I've been suffering some PbP burnout and thus have been taking some time to slowly reduce my game load a bit in addition to just taking a bit of a break from posting in general.

Now the above actually has nothing to do with my most recent in-game post; all of that just seems to me to be a natural outcome of things based on Marigold's personality and everything we know about her. So while I'd actually rather not drop this game, we'll have to just wait and see what happens as events continue to unfold!

Thanks for your candor, Marigold.

You're welcome and I'm actually really sorry that I didn't post here about it sooner. Admittedly I've been a little more focused on getting new GMs for some of my GMed games that I need to let go of so my player games really got the shaft last week and over the weekend in terms of attention and proper communication. Not saying that as an excuse but more as a simple statement of fact.

All that said, I'll try and do better going forward about being more communicative if I ever find myself in a similar situation again.

I know how you feel. I have a gap and take on some more games and then get busy, and suddenly arrghhhh...

And Outpost II starts in just one week.

Cheers Lil'Miss - know what you mean - there can be a real ebb & flow to pbp. I've often found myself completely in a creative zone, then other times guilty at feeling I'm just "token posting" [caveat - this game is one I'm always up for lol).

You know we're here to hear :) Truly hope that Marigold (and your good self) grace this group for years to come.

Glad to have you back MG and hope you'll be around for a while. Fully understand the PbP overload at times.

Just got back from two days of training at work and have a ton of catching up myself it appears.

Just a heads up on Maxim's strategy - he's used a charge of See Invisibility Wand to now see our foe, next round plan to drop Glitterdust on him - then you heavy hitters can mete out some retribution for Lil' Miss.

*munches popcorn*

:)

@GMR/All: Just a heads up that I'm under the hammer at work with a bunch of ongoing offshore operations (I'm in O&G here in Scotland) - couple that with the additional headache of an internal audit this week means my posting may be intermittent/on the fly/limited.

In short please bot me as necessary until normal service resumes towards the end of the week :)

Thanks for the heads up Maxim. I will bot you and Ryan if I do not have input by tomorrow ;)

For the others around, how are you feeling about Kaurophon's treason? Where you surprised? Or did it feel more like unappealingly foreseeable?

It was pretty foreseeable. I was kind of hoping that they would spring a surprise and have him turn out not to be a baddie after all.

Now if Alex turns into a baddie, I'll be surprised... although now I think about it, after everything he has been through recently, maybe this is foreshadowing that.

JJ is a bit surprised though, he was really hopeful.

Admittedly I was kinda hoping that he might prove Kikinnin wrong in the end or at least be willing to let us talk him down but that's okay. Sometimes you really can't change a leopard's spots and not everyone in a story is redeemable!

Agreed with Margold, was hoping a diplomatic intercedence might help but .... everyone can't always be talked back from the edge.

<snorts>

Apologies for the delay; I had a trainee with me at work Friday night and then the rest of the weekend proved to be busier than expected!

Alrighty gang - I've update Juraan's Loot sheet - was a passel of stuff that we'd not distributed or claimed.

There is a Potion of Restoration in the mix (for those suffering negative levels).

Other stuff of notable interest is the +3 Cloak of Resistance, the Holy Bastard Sword +1, Headband of Inspired Wisdom +2, Headband of Charisma +2 & two Bags of Holding (1 x Type One, 1 x Type Two) - the type 2 has the scrying mirror as well (which we haven't messed with).

There is a shed load of spell scrolls - couple that to Maavu's spell book that I (ahem) acquired from him and Maxim has a tonne of spells to copy - more than he'll likely ever need, so think we should look at trading some of those also.

I'll get the values of the items listed (as/when) - bare with. However if anyone has claim on any item on the loot sheet our resting point would be a good time.

Am happy to revert back to my old role as quartermaster for the Watchers - only concern is if we lose access to Juraan's sheet... may need to copy over a version to my own Google drive.

Sorry, swamped my assessments at the moment, be a day or so before I can likely post.

I believe you can easily duplicate a spreadsheet in Google Drive. If you give me a new link I will update it in the campaign info.

Once you decide what you want to do Occipitus/Cauldron related, you *may* have some downtime for inscribing, selling, crafting etc... And saving Ruben from his petrification.

Cool - I'll get onto it and fire through the link. Might have to wait until I'm at work as I'm on a MacBook at home - some of the fonts don't translate over...

As for Ruben - been thinking... remembered that Lord Aslaxin offer me some coin for unique art... might trade Ol' Stoney LaChance ;)

Mighty Maxim Moneytraxum. Got the ring of true coin to it.

Once we're back in Cauldron (and presuming we have some time on our collective hands) am thinking of the following regards trading/loot:

- Selling off the art items to Lord & Lady Aslaxin. They deal in that sort of finery.
- Sell off the unclaimed weapons/arms to my Uncle as previously.
- Sell/trade the Large/Giant sized items to Dugobras, the Fire Giant smith.
- Sell/Trade any unclaimed small sized & magic items to Skie.

Maxim is happy to broker the above deals ;)

They may be also beneficiaries of our loot (Redgorge/Sir Aleks) that we could consider (I say we, I mean everyone apart from Maxim lol) assisting?

Thoughts/input on the above folks.

So, after certain thought, I think this is a good opportunity to hold Juraan out of the group but still inside the campaign.

Also, if you want to take a break Marigold, this would be a nice opportunity to stay away some weeks, months or an indeterminate amount of time. Just stay taking care of Occipitus, will have sense for your character I think.

Link to Loot Sheet (Maxim version):

Loot Sheet 2.0

Easy link text below:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12I8_4VapAs4pstRy3ZoaOV8iCCTBIWqDymV knCuOGWw/edit?usp=sharing

Loot sheet link at the top of the campaign info has been updated.

Thanks a lot Maxim!

Please everybody, help Maxim out and review the 'current loot' page pointing your names on anything you might be interested. You can later sort out the details of whom picks what in the Discussion.

No worries chief - I'll work on getting the loot values in there. Juraan's sheet is pretty comprehensive so I'm really just getting a handle on care taking it.

Going forward I'll just keep updating the items and be more proactive in flagging up what we have and what's unclaimed.

@All: Can you also flag up any claims here as well - just so we're aware :)

Was trying to throw values into the spreadsheet, and wondered about the total cost of a +1 Flaming Greatsword which is sized Large. I haven't found an entry which reflects a change in cost for a Larger or Smaller weapon/armor...