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

Game Master Balacertar

Merry Christmas one and all. Our living room is underwater in paper. And we wrapped a good half in reusable bags/cloths etc. Every year we say "this year, less presents"

To be fair, a fair number of books are "suggestions" for folk to read from our own shelves or from the library (in a vain attempt to slow the inevitable move toward yet more bookcases being required). - but even so...

Hey folks, I hope everyone had a good holiday if you celebrate or a good Saturday if holidays aren't your thing! We finished up the last of our festivities a short time ago so I'll get caught up on the game later today :)

Note to self for later - Marigold does have Greater Dispel Magic available so we can go back to the phantom-snake-room and try to get rid of it.

To one and all I say: Lang May Yer Lum Reek!

Have a great Hogmanay my friends and here's to an even better 2022 for us all.

Merry New Year.

Was out with the kids late... last night.

And boy is it hot today. Got all the windows and doors open and its still mid 20s. That is like high 70s for you imperial temperature folk.

Happy New Year! I hope your celebrations have been as wild or as tame as suits your preference :)

Ue! Happy New Year 2022! We made it through the 20-21! :D

This week is being quite mild 17ºC, but of course we are on winter in Barcelona, I guess you should be on summer in New Zeeland right now!

The New Year’s Day has broken here, now that my eyes have opened to it :) We tackled a handful of video game theme song quizzes, then successfully closed all gates in Pandemic- Chthulhu (a good omen?), while rewatching Spirited Away. A touch of reposado from a rare bottle of Tierra Sagrada, and I was out like a Cagewright unlucky enough to cross paths with the Watchers… :)

Hope 2022 brings us, well, hope.

Apologies for the low posting rate gang - hardly set the heather on fire since we hit the New Year.

Managed to catch myself covid on the 2nd January and have been stricken with it since. Been a real rollercoaster of symptoms and spells of feeling fatigued and fluey vs "okay I'm clearly on the mend" for both myself and Mrs Maxim.

Mental fog has been a blight, so I apologise for my lack of engagement.

Felt better on Saturday with full intent that Sunday would herald a symptom free day and first clear test... alas the covid curveball has had be coughing and spluttering like Maxim after a box of stogies. Can't sleep due to the cough and chest tightness - hence the odd timed post from me!

Fingers crossed I'll be back in the saddle over the coming week, but if I'm holding up progress you know why (and don't wait for me!).

Cheers

BD

I keep thinking of Edgar Allen Poe's Masque of the Red Death. Sorry, Prospero, for the Vid finally finding you and she out. Daughter's finally caught too, but she'd been boostered a couple weeks before, so she's just bored at home, basking in the glow of the New Year's Eve party that gave it to her in the first place :P

I still don't know how I haven't crossed paths with it here in Central Illinois, as there are a fair number of numbskulls who don't care to acknowledge. Just last night, wife and I took a chance at a local restaurant, where one of three servers were masking... ah well... such are the times we live in...

People are pretty good at masking where I live. And hard though it may be to believe in this current world-gone-mad, we (Wellington) have only just had our first case since about August last year.

That said, I got my hair cut this morning (starting to look like the pointy haired boss from Dilbert :-() and the cutter wasn't masked. Grrrr. I should have just left, but...

Hit-and-miss on masks around here but I honestly don't have the spoons to get angry about it at the moment.

Maxim, I hope you and your wife feel better soon! Same for your daughter, Kikinnin.

Yeah it's a weird one right enough regards the masks. We're 2 years deep into this and still common sense and good practice seems to be lacking in some quarters.

NZ's handled it very well (at least by the news feeds in UK).

Am pretty sure we got it from our god daughter, who visited then disclosed she'd had a sniffle past Xmas. We'd had our boosters but they'd not had enough time to really bolster us proper.

Been a rough one (convinced it targets burly beardy blokes worse!), but both on the mend - clear lateral flow this morning so another one the morn and I'll be happy to rejoin this strange world again.

On a side note I will get the Loot sheet updated with all the swag we've been garnering of late, apologies for the tardiness in my quartermastering :S

No apologies necessary, Grumblebreath. Get well with all speed. Here's hoping the rest of us have tamer stories to tell when the virus sneaks its way into our households as well...

Most understandable Maxim, do not worry, take your rest and get better :)

Masks are compulsory here, even on streets, a mild majority respects it in some way.

We are on our 6th wave here in Spain! We have tripled the cases compared to our worst moment and we are still spiking! Good news, deaths are kept at a considerable low level. It seems finally most people has made defenses, either by vaccination or natural exposure.

I really really have the impression the Spring will mark a new age. The virus will be still there and give a bad surprise from time to time, but we will start forgetting about all this mad two years.

Strength my friends! The only madness remaining will be Adimarchus one, and not for long should valiant Watchers prevent it! :D

I am unsure of Alakast's enhancement bonus now, I checked JJ's sheet but I did not manage to find the answer. I think you said upthread it was +5 now, if so it bypasses alignment DR and the slaad does only survive because of the temporal hp from the previous quickened vampiric touch ;)

Alakast is currently +5 enchantment. Which should overcome most DR short of epic (I think...).

Darn those quickened vampiric touches!

I'll update the sheet to make it clearer.

Mmm... it seems keen edge does not stack with Kikinnin's Improved Critical feat, and it does not work on Alakast either, because it is no piercing or slashing.

If you prefer, I will let you exchange keen edge for another spell in your daily preparations, as it seems your party does not have fitting weapons, Maxim.

Nah I'm good GMR - at this level and with the walls of rolls/ongoing headaches in keeping track of boons/boosts/buffs - let alone redacting them I'll just leave Keen Edge as a giving Endgammel a pointless untarnished edge :)

Bring on the light!!! Ooooo we need to pull that rat out of his darkness...

Loot sheet updated gang. Some sweet items up for grabs - Mantle of Faith is a standout

It seems your GM does not want you to be in peace with your bookkeeping, hehe, more loot is awaiting you in Gameplay! ^_^

Haha. Just saw that. No rest for the wicked mercantile :)

Happy 6th Anniversary Unshacklers! :)

We celebrate our 6th year of gaming concluding the 11th chapter of the AP and leaving behind more than 12k posts. Only the last installment lays ahead, in which you will have the chance to travel to the prison layer of the Abyss and face the powers of a true Demon Lord and the ultimate reason of all your troubles.

Your anniversary present? A level up to 19! :D

Wow, level 19.
Congratulatons everyone.
I think JJ has to continue on with ranger here. With the real benefit being... Evasion! Yes, I think the last member of the group to acquire that rather important ability..

I'm tossing up between improved iron will (All those pretty succubi making eyes at him) and improved critical (as Kikinnin seems to be lovin' it). General leaning toward IIW at the moment, as JJ is pretty good on the damaging side already, but a failed will save could be really bad for the party.

Six years!? Wow, my longest-running game ever :D

Congratulations, everyone. It feels weird to know that we're almost done.

Huzzah indeed!

@Marigold: Does indeed, feels a little melancholic knowing that we're on the last leg.

What Will the Whirlwind Boy decide, I wonder?

Plenty of stamina and grit to go around at this table. More than ready to make some more memories in our final chapter...

I hadn't thought of it, until I posted Kikinnin's recent post- one more book of Shackled, and maybe times have eased the burden on our fellow, previous players. I bring to our Discussion Thread the ask- should we try and get Juraan, Kythel, and/or Ryan to come back for the year, and finish this with us?

I hadn't thought of it, until I posted Kikinnin's recent post- one more book of Shackled, and maybe times have eased the burden on our fellow, previous players. I bring to our Discussion Thread the ask- should we try and get Juraan, Kythel, and/or Ryan to come back for the year, and finish this with us?

That would be great, but I do not think, except for Kythel maybe, the others visit the threads nowadays.

I have an email for Ryan, but I never managed to get an answer from him, which is admittedly worrying. For Juraan, I have his facebook and I can try to reach him out there once more.

My hope might be wee, but it's kept warm by the thought that my ember didn't wink out this year, and maybe others could use the companionship, headed into 2022...

I think it is a grand suggestion. This was a grand endeavour we started on six years ago. Be good to have some old-guard back to complete the circle.

I'm game for it if any of them can be reached and are interested!

Currently at work; will try and get leveled up properly tomorrow morning.

Back to Maxim's loot list..

In terms of the amulet of planes... in theory that is something JJ would love to play with. Does having 19 ranks in know(planes) help with its use at all, or is it really just a straight Int check to make the thing work. Looks like an item that didn't get properly updated when skills became a thing.

19th Level Up

+1 Hero Point

+1 Level of Arcane Trickster

Spellslinger 6/UC Rogue 4/Arcane Trickster 9

+1 REF & WILL Saves
+1 CL (CL15; additional 5th & an 8th Level Spell/Day)
Tricky Spells 5/Day
Invisible Thief
+6 HP (4 from class, 2 from CON)
+1 FEAT: Arcane Blast
+7 Adventuring Skill Ranks; additional ranks taken in: Disable Device, Fly, Knowledge (Arcana), Knowledge (Engineering), Perception, Spellcraft & Stealth
+2 Background Skill Ranks; ranks taken in: Appraise & Lore (Cauldron)

Back to Maxim's loot list..

In terms of the amulet of planes... in theory that is something JJ would love to play with. Does having 19 ranks in know(planes) help with its use at all, or is it really just a straight Int check to make the thing work. Looks like an item that didn't get properly updated when skills became a thing.

Mmm... I think giving the chance to use K. planes would have sense but will make the check moot if you have a high planes bonus or impossible if you have nothing else than your Int there.

As about going back to Redgorge, I think Maxim might be able to learn teleport from one of the books you have collected from the Cagewrights maybe? Also, I think he should be learning 2 known spells with each of his Arcane Trickster levels.

I'm heading off for a few days. Should be back Monday. I might get another post in before I leave, but not sure.

Enjoy! Looks like we're entering the last pause before the push...

Yes, I am basically waiting for you to find your way to Redgorge, then we are in downtime. Enjoy JJ! :)

Plan to learn Greater Teleport my new 7th Level spell. As CL15 think I can transport 5 additional persons with me.

Just need to learn the spell :)

Afternoon Watchers and GMR - just a heads up that Storm Corrie knocked out power and comms lines here in the bonnie North East o' Scotland.

As such posting will be limited to when I'm in work and not busy (which is rarer than hen's teeth). Please bot me as required til I'm back up and running (likely mid-weekish).

Thanks for the heads up and take care Maxim!

Eep, hang in there Maxim!

As for me, work's been a booger the last few days and the task of leveling Marigold keeps getting away from me. That said, tonight is my last shift (hopefully) for a few days so I'll get her updated tomorrow come hell or high water.

Power restored but comms are still down. We came through relatively unscathed, big fence that bridges our cottage and the next was flattened, some slates rattled loose, but nothing too bad.

Been catching up on life and games, so bear with as I get back in the virtual saddle :)

Kikinnin's been enjoying the Gauntlets of Ogre Power +2, and would happily purchase Gauntlets of Ogre Power +6, if he could acquire it. Belts, Gauntlets... :)

Those are good news Maxim! :)

The Gauntlets seem some 3.5 treasure that escaped my eye for conversion, I think the more handy stuff you have available is Skie's catalog which I fully converted, but enjoy the goody!

Of course, at this point, you might just teleport into Sasserine if you wish to find higher level equipment.

How much loot did we pick up from that last jaunt?

I'm eyeing up that +5 ring of protection if we scored enough.
And then there is the wedding...

Sorry JJ - haven't completed the update on the Loot sheet as yet.

Will try and get that done by end of today, been playing catch up work and homewise as we've had some storm damage to attend to.