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

Game Master Balacertar

My condolences. :-(

Hey guys, work's been whooping my butt the last day or two. Please bot/delay/autopilot me as you see fit and I'll catch up either later tonight or tomorrow night.

Sorry to hear about Darby. I'm sure now he's free of the pain he'll be chasing rabbits in some great green pasture elsewhere.

And @Marigold glad to hear hubbie is back on his feet.

We got rained out on our trip and came back a couple of days early. I'll be doing a bit of reading up on what you all got up to and get a post in soon.

Well, congrats, you have finally managed to cleanse the Demonskar :)

The possibility the players would like to face the remaining demons of the Demonskar was hinted at the end of Chapter 5 when you defeat Nabthatoron. There was a paragraph only to explain how to expand on that, and I used some of the suggested creature types (Vroks, rutterkins, bar-lguras and fiendish giants) and borrowed the main villain name, Dreghakus, but made her a succubus instead of a hezrou just because I thought it would become more interesting with JJs past.

This was full original content, crafting all this stuff made me remember why I do buy adventures nowadays xD

Now, I guess you will like to have a rest in the Palace or somewhere else, so you can recover and prepare the breath water and other spells so we can resume Chapter 7 and proceed to Karran-Kural.

Well done, I say. A taste of the Skar, quite memorable.

Agreed that was great :-)

Much appreciated. Yet another notch (almost) in JJ's bedpost.

Poor Sara.

Regarding the negative levels that's something that Marigold can't fix since she doesn't have Restoration as a known spell.

Regarding the negative levels that's something that Marigold can't fix since she doesn't have Restoration as a known spell.

I think we get new saves on them the next day, regardless, Kythel can take restoration the next day.

I will be updating later tonight.

Okay, someone just let me know if I need to make a new save for the new day or if it's something that actually will require Restoration.

The death stealing ability of nabasu demon does not say these are temporal negative level. Unless I am missing something, that would mean no chance to a night's save.

I think you are right. JJ will also have a negative level (or is it two?) from the making friendly with the succubus. Will the lad never learn? Who makes those codpieces that Kikinnin was talking about? Inquiring minds want to know!

The death stealing ability of nabasu demon does not say these are temporal negative level. Unless I am missing something, that would mean no chance to a night's save.

Ok.

Restorations all around tomorrow then!

I believe I will need to take 3.

Upon a closer look I think Kythel might be right on this.

Other than enervation I have not found other attacks that call explicitly the negative levels are temporal. Even the energy drain monster rule does not talk about 'temporal' negative levels, but still says it can be removed after 24 h by a negative level.

The ruling that always causes confusion on me is the energy drain and negative levels in the Corerulebook glossary that introduces a sentence about temporal negative levels.

A creature with temporary negative levels receives a new saving throw to remove the negative level each day. The DC of this save is the same as the effect that caused the negative levels.

This negative levels faq states the energy drain negative levels are temporal.

It seems all comes from partial changes in the 3.5->Pathfinder transition that were not synced in proper wording between Core and Bestiary.

As a rule of thumb I would say anything not worded as a permanent negative level is in fact a temporary negative level even when referred just as a "negative level".

If you do agree with me, cross fingers and roll Fort saves for the night (one for each negative level you have). Nabasu stare DC is 22, while Dreghakus energy drain DC is 24.

Nice find on the FAQ.

fort DC 24: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (20) + 13 = 33 Nice time for a 20!

Does JJ have one or two that he needs to save against?

He only had one in fact.

Fort (DC 22): 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (3) + 13 = 16

Nerts, guess I'll be needing that Restoration after all ;_;

Fortitude DC 22 - 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26

OK!

So I need to take 1 Restoration to restore Marigold!

Been slacking in my duty to prepare a spell list for the day, apologies. Karran Kural is a different beast, so the dwarf has likely contemplated a slightly skewed set of spells to ask from Abadar. Will get that posted shortly...

Posting now, was sick most of the week :-(

^Hope you're feeling better now! This year has been a bad one so far for lots of things: flu, strep, RSV, and pneumonia :(

(I work a healthcare job.)

Posting may be a little slow for the next few weeks as I start a new job.

Congrats on the new job!(?) :)

I've been retraining as a teacher this year. I got sick and tired of being woken up by misbehaving computers/networks/data centers/etc at two in the morning.

So I start back at my old school, which is a bit unusual, but pretty neat. There have been a few changes in the 30 years since I left it...

Respects to the teaching profession. My brother-in-law stepped away from corporate engineering to teach science, but ran himself down with teacher politicking. He returned to his engineering only after the dust had settled on his previous crew. Teaching's not for the faint of heart...

+1 - as a former educator (I was a lecturer and support tutor in both Further and Higher Education here in UK before, Kikinnin's bror-in-law I returned to my original calling of Oil & Gas), I agree its a hard road, albeit a fleetingly rewarding one.

Don't get me wrong making a difference is very worthy and noble, but unfortunately here in UK its more akin to an educational sausage machine for the politicos to score points on.

That being said you take the little victories, and I wish you well in your new vocation mate. I do smile at the thought of you getting the class to open their copies of Beefinator Returns at Chapter 3, page 55... :)

I considered going back to school an then getting a teaching gig but education in the US has also become more political than it is about actually teaching.

So I just got a different job in my field where I don't need to deal with politics. :-)

Good luck with the change in career.

I think it is pretty political everywhere. My aunt-in-law was a principal in the UK and said that most "mature" teachers - those that come to the profession later in life last about two years :-(

We'll see. I'm bolshy enough and pretty keen on schools knowing I only want to work part time, that I hope I can avoid that burn-out.

Wow! Good luck on there JJ.

We all deserve to explore new horizons. As someone who has worked in many different fields and jobs along the years, I can only say you always get something new and good with each change.

Sometimes it is the only way to get new energy and motivate yourself with new challenges.

Teaching people is one of the most difficult arts, and one of the most consuming and keen to burn out, but if lucky it sure can be very rewarding I am sure.

So very much good luck and patience to you in this new life!

Actually... happy 4 years campaign anniversary everybody! :)

Four years, wow! I think this may be my longest-running campaign! Happy Campaigniversary, guys! :D

Nice going. It's easily my longest running one currently, although I ran one for more than ten years on dndonlinegames.com. (now rpgcrossing).

Happy 4th to all :)

Just a heads up gang that myself and my better half are heading over to UAE tomorrow for 3 weeks. My sister in law graciously paid for the ticket to allow us some time to relax, process the loss of our beloved boy and maybe heal a little.

I anticipate that by the weekend (and the weeks to come) I'll have plenty of time to post, but first few days I'll likely be off the grid as we catch up and fall into a routine.

If you could bot Maxim as/where necessary and I'll endeavour to get my head back in the game (literally) come time.

No problem, we will do as needed Maxim.

Enjoy the time around your loved ones!

I'm sure we'll roll with the punches here, but when I pointed out the creature rolling a 1 on the Hover Check, I was just picturing the Ice Devil doing some circles in the air, possibly picking up an AoO from JJ below, but still firing off that Wall of Ice.

Of course, I'm completely happy if the creature actually slips to the ground... :)

Since the devil didn't fail more than 5, the rules on Hovering got smoky for me, so I chirped. If the creature's base skill in Fly is +13, would he also get a +6 bump from casting the spell of Fly? Apologies for any confusion, as I rarely delve into the rules to flesh out contingencies...

I'd have assumed the fly spell bonus was built into the ice devils stat block based fly skill as it is a constant effect.

Quite how it gets the bonus of +13 is unclear.
+5 from dex, +6 from fly spell. Maybe two ranks put in. Outsiders don't automatically get fly as a "class" skill, and as they don't have a "natural" fly ability they may not have been given it as a bonus skill.

I do agree with JJ the bonuses are already built in, including a +4 for good maneuverability and a -2 for Large which renders the missing +2.

It's ok, with all the walls around, the web and the large size there was not much other space to land, and it would have provoked anyway an AoO from JJ if having to move 30 feet.

Enjoy your moment in the lucky side of the dice rolling :)

I had somehow expected the overcoming DR by a high magical enhancement rule would work only for a magically crafted weapon. For example the greater magic weapon specifically states "This bonus does not allow a weapon to bypass damage reduction aside from magic."

That said, the paladin divine bond does not call for such an exception and only says it "stacks" with current weapon enhancements.

I have tried to find some clarification in the FAQ but found nothing. As such I am inclined to think I was wrong and Kikinnin has it right that his axe can overcome silver, cold iron, adamantine, and any aligned damage reduction. Any insights or thoughts on that topic?

That is my understanding too. One of the reasons Paladins are so fearsome - and not just against evil foes!

Of course that is only when the divine bond is active.

I think Kikinnin has the right of it. The Divine Bond’s versatility feels different from the routine casting of spells. Of course the GM has the last say. I am but a pup.

Regardless - think a GM fiat would be in order if it wasn't as thematically its such a cool (and very fitting) ability.

How can a GM resist to poodle's diplomacy? XD

Please bot me for the next few days as I will be dealing with a few issues that will leave me unable to post. Thank you.

I will bot Kythel after Marigold's round. Suggestions on what to do are accepted.

You can go forward and make your Reflex roll before it is your turn. It might help to decide what Kythel shall do.

The encounter start might seem a bit unfair, but it is a scripted one and I am following that script here.

The man has an alarm spell at the lattices and buffs for two rounds before doing what he did.

I doubted if JJ has advanced forward before the group, but as he did not include Escape Artists rolls on his post, alas, I concluded he had remained behind the lattice shattering group.

I was thinking of JJ doing a set of 5' moves to avoid the laticework. But I'm happy with him lazing at the back too.

The Escape Artist DC drops to 5 in that case (moving 5' as a full round action).

Sorry, I was not clear about what happened with him, as Kikinnin and Marigold insisted to break the lattices.

No worries. I wasn't doing rolls because I misrememberd and thought 5' steps was no rolls at all.

JJ is fine taking a break at the back.

Happy Valentine's Day, friends! In honor of the occasion (and because I have it on good authority that I am a huge goober), here are some (internet-sourced) poems for you:

Roses are red,
Bacon is red,
Poems are hard,
Bacon.

Bacon sounds fantastic at nearly 1 in the morning. Yum.

Violets are blue,
Roses are red,
Hey hey hey,
Stay out of my shed.

Or else. *revs up the chainsaw*

Love is in the air
But so is influenza
Wash your filthy hands.

No, seriously, wash your hands. This is one time that sharing really isn't caring.