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

Game Master Balacertar

Yeah, I read about a big storm up in Scotland - with several hundred homes still out of power a day or so later.

Sounded rather impressive.

Aye it was , here's Edzell Woods naught but a few miles from where I stay:

Edzell Woods Storm Damage

Pretty sad as its a lovely part of the region.

That's a tragedy. Nature snaps back, but nothing we'll see in our lifetime, sometimes...

That's heart-taking. This was a very exceptional event I can guess, I have not heard of such winds in Europe before.

On Gameplay: I will give some time for Marigold to answer JJ. Let's solve the wedding before we move on :)

Agree GMR, am hoping this doesn't become the norm in our distinctly abnormal world nowadays...

Back to matters here, have updated the Loot Sheet, and am mulling the following:

Sell his +2 Mithril Chain Shirt (worth 5,100GP) and his Amulet of Natural Armour (4,000GP) and claim the Bracers of Armour +8, then purchase Amulet of Natural Armour +5 (50,000GP) from Skie.

AC should improve by +5 overall but does hit the loot pot somewhat.

Am thinking that with the final chapter looming should we divv y up the Commons, or is this our "fund" to help renovate Cauldron?

I'm alright with either option laid out by Maxim. Either tank up on powerful magical items/crafting, so we can't say we left anything on the table, or become anonymous? donors to the reconstruction of Cauldron (and maybe Malachite...)

With the amount of cash we have, we can probably do a bit of both (magic and cauldron rebuilds).

Offensively we seem to be doing okay. Kikinnin is the core of our martial defences, he seems to get missed *most* of the time, although against big attacks at our level that tends to mean subsequent attacks rather than the first one.

JJ's AC is I suspect slipping behind the curve a bit. Which is to be expected as a TWF. Offensively he does pretty well, Alakast is a beast these days. At +5 it basically overcomes all DR apart from epic, so my big weakness against DR when I flurry and hit for 2 or 3 points of damage is now something in the past (hopefully).

At high levels though it is often the group that punches first that wins. We've been a little lucky that we have been mostly able to pick our fight locations and do okay in the init front- but that won't necessarily stay the same, and all we need is a few AOE's and big debuffs to land right on round 1 and we might be in a world of pain.

I suspect laying out cash on defences is the way to go in general.

Maxim will be using his 8th Level Spell slot for one of his many 7th Level spells - none of the 8th level appeal to be honest (high level spells are either WMD's or boring :S)

Marigold - may I suggest you trade in that Ring of Protection +2 for Ring of Protection +4 in the loot currently...

Great initiative on the Bachelor's party Kikinnin! :D

I see the knowledgeable love of a live ensemble there too.

Nice job!

I will wait still a day before proceeding with the wedding scene. Perhaps I will take still until Friday. No rush to finish the campaign indeed :)

It took a bit to come up, but here it is, I hope it is worth.

So, what have we concluded, regarding the Last Divvy? Some of both, like JJ suggests, to bleed off some gold from the community pot? I'm open to any and all final decisions ;)

Aye have fixed last divvy @ 4 way split this time. Selling everything now unclaimed amounts to 68,887 Gold each.

Have then added 22k each for Kikinnin, Lil' Miss and JJ from the Commons to bump that to 90,887 each.

Maxim got the +8 Bracers which we could have sold for 40k so I see myself quids in still.

Commons still sits at a healthy 106, 982 Gold.

That work for everyone?

Aye, works for me :)

Hmm, what gear do I have available to me?

You decide what you actually brought to the ceremony. It would be reasonable you do not walk around completely unarmored, and dressing your wealthy jeweled wondrous items and a weapon would not be out of place.

Of course, fully loaded backpacks and bandoliers fully stacked with potions do not probably make much sense here.

Had to play Cookies and Caches this morning, just to be able to sign into Paizo and Post... grrrrr

Likewise.

Same... :(

Forgot about the will save, and the site is not showing me my post now- suspect I will have failed it. So rather than jumping forward, JJ may slump, snoring, into Sara's arms. Oh, the ignominy of falling asleep at your own wedding! And before the drinking even starts.

Forgot about the will save, and the site is not showing me my post now- suspect I will have failed it. So rather than jumping forward, JJ may slump, snoring, into Sara's arms. Oh, the ignominy of falling asleep at your own wedding! And before the drinking even starts.

Better now than later?

*innocent whistling*

Yes, as a husband he got slept xD

So does Kikinnin have to make the Slow Ray Resistance? I'm happy enough to take the hit to be honest.

Oh, yes, I meant the slow ray to go after Maxim only if the first rays would render Kikinnin helpless.

Alright, having received the divvy, Kikinnin's activity would look like the following, pending GM approval:

Sell Gauntlets of Ogre Power +2
Sell Belt of Mighty Constitution +6
Sell Ring of Blinking (wish I'd used it more, for flavor)

Buy Belt of Physical Might Str/Con +6
Upgrade Eldgammel to a +5 weapon
Buy Ring of Sustenance

Seems all good, go for it! :)

JJ looks around the wreckage of his wedding.
Got flashbacks to Crisis on Earth-X now!

I had not watched that one, really see a parallelism there xD

Just a heads up gang - had a couple of rush offshore jobs land of my lap this morning, so might be mid-week before I'm clear enough to contribute. Please bot me as/when/if necessary.

Sounds like the prices raise is activating new offshore projects?

Good luck out there Maxim!

Yeah that's exactly what's happening - suddenly coin is available for those jobs to optimise well performance!

"Your eye also smokes. Tell us about that."

Those moments when the GM looks through pages for a while and looks around upset as the module author sold him out with an infinite blackness. Oh well :P

Oopse, sorry. You filled in the backstory with aplomb though.

So we have 2 votes for a deal and 1 for a no deal. Shall I assume the party is plane shifting to Occipitus with Byakala next and getting from her the location of Skullrot?

^I think so. Marigold knows it's not the best idea to take her to Occipitus but also doesn't want to drop her off anywhere she could cause trouble for innocent bystanders.

I could also be forgetting something but I think she'd have to both pass the test and successfully get rid of Marigold (whether by death or planar imprisonment like Adimarchus) in order take control of Occipitus.

So, only having Skullrot ahead, it is the time to hit level 20. So you have the chance to enjoy a bit the capstone of Pathfinder power level.

Have fun with it! :D

Well look at that. My first PbP 20th level character :)

Might have to multiclass...

Woo, Ranger 10... McFlurry it is, with a 7th attack (8 with haste) who needs to be a monk?

Ranger 10 gives
6+3(con)+1(FC)+1(toughness) hp (+11 total)
+1 to BAB
+1 to Fort and reflex (alas, not his will save!)
3rd favored enemy - suggestions? I'm thinking undead as they are a pain. and a boost vs evil ousdiers - just cause' not that it stacks for demons, but there are other evil types out there too.
Combat feat... Greater two weapon fighting. yes, yes, yes. Show me a demon. Go on...
0 level 3 spells, so one bonus spell
Oh, stat up... lets go for wisdom for another point on the will save.

Skills
6 base (acrobatics, geography, planes, perception, stealth, survival)
1 human - sense motive.
2 background - know (nobility), linguistics

I think quite possibly the first character I have genuinely leveled up from first to 20th - as opposed to making high level to begin with.

I'm pretty pleased with how he has turned out really.

Whee! Working tonight, so I'll try and get Marigold leveled up tomorrow :)

20th Level Up

+1 Hero Point (Maxed out at 3)

+1 Level of Arcane Trickster

Spellslinger 6/UC Rogue 4/Arcane Trickster 10

+1 BAB
+1 CL (CL16; additional 7th & 8th Level Spell/Day)
Sneak Attack +1D6 (7D6 total)
Surprise Spells (adds Sneak Attack to damage spells - if target flat footed)
+6 HP (4 from class, 2 from CON)
+1 Ability (DEX)
+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)

Just a heads up gang I'm positively slammed at work - had a couple of additional jobs land of my lap today in an already busy week and need to do my team's performance review by Friday... also have our works Xmas do on Friday (at the 3rd tilt - covid allowing).

Posting might be pretty spotty until the weekend so please bot Maxim as necessary.

Hang in there, friend!

Sorry Watchers - work is a grind at the moment, loads on and not much post shift energy for anything else.

Hoping this weekend will see the load lighten. Meantime please bot Maxim as necessary.

No worries, Maxim, I am away this week, limited to some phone posting each day and will not likely be able to push the combat forward until the weekend.

I've been preoccupied recently, too- got a Darkness concert tonight in Chicago which will bring some things to a close, and return my time to me to invest in our gaming again, hopefully by Friday/Saturday.

I'm pretty busy at work ATM as well, so slow is real fine with me.

Also fine for me :)

Hey folks, I know I've not been very responsive here the last week or so. Life has actually legitimately been a little busy the past few weeks between work and needing to get things done on my days off. But on top of that I've also been struggling a bit with a waning interest in PbP. Not actively avoiding posting but meaning to get to it after doing X or Y and then running out of time for the day/night or just never getting around to it. I've generally done a little better about keeping up with games where I'm a player but even those have been hit or miss.

While this doesn't *feel* like burnout as I've experienced it in the past I suppose it still is, just manifesting itself in a different manner than I'm used to. I know that I definitely don't want to give up PbP entirely but I think I'm reaching or have reached a point where just a couple of games at a time is enough to suit me - and I actually have been acting on this, opting to not sign up for new games when current ones wrap up.

But all of that said, I'm still committed to seeing our game through to the end. I'm about to head out of town for a couple of days starting tomorrow and won't be back until sometime Tuesday afternoon. Please feel free to bot or delay Marigold until then, as needed. General priority in terms of spell usage, as per usual, is healing/buffing first and damaging spells second; utility magics as needed.

Thanks a lot for the input Marigold! As a matter of fact, with good weather arriving and most restrictions lift my interest is also lower than through the winter. I legitimately enjoy the games I am in, but really try to invest less time on them. I have recently started a couple of games, but I finished 4 long running campaigns, one being an AP I was GMing, and I share the feeling for not wanting to pick up on anything else.

Anyway, we are just so close to finish Shackled City, I am confident we are going to succeed at it with a great final bang! :)

Hey folks, I know I've not been very responsive here the last week or so. Life has actually legitimately been a little busy the past few weeks between work and needing to get things done on my days off. But on top of that I've also been struggling a bit with a waning interest in PbP. Not actively avoiding posting but meaning to get to it after doing X or Y and then running out of time for the day/night or just never getting around to it. I've generally done a little better about keeping up with games where I'm a player but even those have been hit or miss.

While this doesn't *feel* like burnout as I've experienced it in the past I suppose it still is, just manifesting itself in a different manner than I'm used to. I know that I definitely don't want to give up PbP entirely but I think I'm reaching or have reached a point where just a couple of games at a time is enough to suit me - and I actually have been acting on this, opting to not sign up for new games when current ones wrap up.

But all of that said, I'm still committed to seeing our game through to the end. I'm about to head out of town for a couple of days starting tomorrow and won't be back until sometime Tuesday afternoon. Please feel free to bot or delay Marigold until then, as needed. General priority in terms of spell usage, as per usual, is healing/buffing first and damaging spells second; utility magics as needed.

This.

I'm in a very similar scenario to you Lil' Miss. Have dropped 3 games in the last few weeks due to a sense of burnout, but also an increasing malaise in motivation to actively participate in games. I'm lucky to have some long running and bespoke games on the go (including here) and these do me fine.

Like you this feels like something different than previously when RL stymied me and enforced a break. This creeping doom is more a lack of motivation to engage and be inspired (despite the best efforts from excellent players and GMs). Tis strange.

I'll be honest and say this is my first (and last) high level game - no reflection on anyone here or our most distinguished GMR, but high level play and the wall of rolls/boons/buffs/bonuses is something that my current headspace cares little for. I do find myself yearning for the halcyon days of pre-teen levels.

That being said I'm keen to see this one through to the end, but apologies in advance if my posts lack flair or come across as elementary, its most definitely the player not the game!

It may be just a time of the year. I'm finding the same for some reason. Certainly I'm aiming to drop down the number of games I'm GMing and in, as I find now even doing three scenarios at a time turns into a chore rather than being fun.

I share feelings with Maxim about high level play. Actually I have always enjoyed the most the lower level digits, the limitations create a scenario more prone to creativity and interesting situations I think.

On high level the time putting together all the abilities and numbers takes up from the creation part in my experience, and yes, high level games just take much more time to post, specially on the GMs side. It also takes up space in the adventure, and I feel there were way cooler ideas in the previous books than in the last ones.

That said, I really wanted to try a level 20 game, and I am happy we made it up to this level. Probably not going to make it this far again, the level 14-15 end of most APs is troublesome enough :)