Ah...awesome. Thanks, Amandine!
I was considering traits, but simply checked on d20pfsrd, then on nethys on the religion and faith pages, because I somehow had that one buried in memory.
Didn't realize it was a combat one, didn't find it. My thanks.
Yes, carefully hidden was a pure flavor choice, not a necessity.
By all means possible to swap it out. I suppose I may have convinced my father to let me train with the master-at-arms in return for doing my embroidery and dance lessons without complaints.
Problem solved.
Retraining would STILL be interesting.
Because shifting around a bit I'd consider going with the VMC, after all(rather than the individual Eldritch Heritage Feats) - and that could provide Deceitful as Level 11 Feat. But since it's a choice and not static, without retraining I would need to pick something else from the list and can not 'auto-replace'.
Welcome, Mira, :)
Welcome, Mira, :)
Hhhhhmmmm...
Maybe you like to fish in your spare time? AND...mabye you know a strange halfling by a large lake that takes orders from an enormous dire catfish?
Good to see you again Basil...um I mean Lia....no that's not it...Mira? Yeah good to MEET you Mira.
;-)
Is it a Halfling Synthesist Summoner? Or a Halfling Barbarian who grew up with the Shoanti?
That said, I don't think I'd be likely to run into you randomly and decide to just join up out of nowhere. I mean, it's possible, just unlikely :D
I'll leave it up to GM to find a good spot to insert me. It does seem you are not in the middle of a scene/action right now, so I may be lucky and not have to wait too long.
The most immediate way to introduce Mira that occurs to me is for her to be traveling along the nearby Dalaston Highway, which runs past both lakes, and spot the party and their carriage traveling towards Lake Pensaris. If she is the curious sort, she may be interested in why nobles would be interested in the lake since most local nobles look down upon the people who depend on the lake as their primary source of food (they view fishing for food as a "pedestrian practice.")
Alternatively, Mira might be aboard a boat touring the lake. One of the most popular tall tales about the General is that he sunk the pleasure barge of a visiting duchess about 50 years back, so there is precedent for nobles going boating on the lake. This option also presents the opportunity for the party to intervene as Mira's boat is attacked.
If we wait until after this fishy quest, Mira could be introduced as a potential noble ally who attends the party that you're planning to host. She might be brought along and introduced to you by one of the other nobles you've already befriended.
Oh, curious. I dotted into gameplay and received the updates there, but I suppose when I checked on phone i accidentally pressed the x for discussion - only saw that message just now.
I am fine with what fits into the flow best. Mira is curious but cautious. I doubt she'd randomly chat them up in a way that is not completely superficial and would feel constructed about then sticking with them.
Both the boat or the party seem nice and decent options. I can wait a bit for either :)
(immediate is good, but I feel better about the other entrance options - they seem more 'natural')
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
Hey y'all, I'm here, had to say goodbye to a beloved pet (moved away, not dead) and it's hitting me harder than I expected, haven't had the energy to write, I'll post in thread soon
I'm so sorry, Greenly. That can really sneak up on you because you don't always expect it to be so intense.
I will be gone for a vacation a couple days. Just saying :D
(In case my entry rolls around in the near future, wouldn't want you to make any assumptions about my non-responsiveness)
I will be gone for a vacation a couple days. Just saying :D
(In case my entry rolls around in the near future, wouldn't want you to make any assumptions about my non-responsiveness)
Thank you for the heads up.
Did we ever settle upon how you wanted to be introduced?
Just realized that a bunch of my various buff spells are all Enchantment spells, so that Spell Focus feat really is twice as good as I thought!
I'm certainly thankful, as inconvenient as Superstition can be, I just couldn't say no to it for this build
Definitely! It seems like a very marginal ability for a regular barbarian, since it's the same bonus type that barbarians get on Will saves anyway (though it does slowly ramp up), but it's very good on an Urban Barbarian that would otherwise lose the bonus entirely. Just gotta keep my DCs high so I can keep casting more spells on you, lol.
That also reminds me, though. Since you can decide to put all your stat boosts from raging into Dex/Con and none into Str, I could also cast blood rage on you. Unlike other rage effects, it doesn't have any of the stuff prohibiting you from using mental abilities and whatnot, but could get you a +10 morale bonus to Str on top of all your other stuff.
It's also an Enchantment spell so my DC boost applies here too, lol.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
That'd be an especially good combo if I put Adaptive on Greenly's bow since she is a switch hitter. When she specs into Ulfen Guard, she'll be taking blows for other PCs, could be a great way to dissuade attacks from range
Love theorycrafting together
I hadn't really looked at that prestige class before, it looks very cool! Were you going to go straight into it next level?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
No, I'd like to wait for level seven so I can get another rage power, another point on Superstition from my FCB and another point of initiative from my archetype (but also out of character I'd like to reunite with the Princess and have her announce me as a worthy part of her guard or something before I move into the PrC. We'll see if my dreams become reality tho! Who knows, maybe the General will eat me, hitting me for all 60 damage all at once)
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I'm loving this!
Dro'gan wants to boil Greenly in oil and serve her as a side dish with the General, but I'm LOVING this.
Dro'gan hates not having a plan, or do...anything...without setting some general ideas up in advance.
He's going to be stewing and chewing on this a while...especially if it WORKS!
=)
I'm hopeful; assuming everything has hit so far, it's already lost like 30 health and hopefully the barbed arrow has it pinned to the spot. Greenly's easy to hit but with her high high HP, the only concern I have is to stop Zeke from dying (although truly good riddance if he does, boastful little toad)
I think I am going to call this type of situation 'Going Greenly!' and I am really looking forward to when I can use that term again in the future!
=)
Oh, just noticed this in your will save against good hope, but Blessing of the Faithful only lasts for one round, so it wouldn't apply on the save. It didn't affect the result, but I wanted to make sure you knew.
I will be gone for a vacation a couple days. Just saying :D
(In case my entry rolls around in the near future, wouldn't want you to make any assumptions about my non-responsiveness)Thank you for the heads up.
Did we ever settle upon how you wanted to be introduced?
Back, and we did not finalize it, no - both a boat and a party were mentioned-.
It would seem with present developments, the former is not quite valid any more :D Unless said boat just happens to come along with impeccable timing.
I think the boat could still work.
On the way back from dealing with the General, the party could see Mira's boat sinking or even aflame. This could be due to an accident or sabotage from the Night Swan - or the Count, who would blame it on the Night Swan. If the Count is responsible, then it would give Mira motivation to join the party's campaign against him.
I was focused on the General attacking said boat, but aye, that would work as well, of course.
So Greenly, Amandine has two spell options she could use.
She could cast Liberating Command on you. But if you're actually trying to be swallowed, that's not likely to help much.
She could also telekinetically plink the fish with a rock.
Any preference?
I'm not gonna complain about either one happening, but at the same time killing a 20 foot fish by cutting yourself out of it is pretty metal. You do you
I think tonight might have spoiled Greenly on fishing for forever. Never gonna top that. Whew!
Hate to see that bad Diplomacy roll, ouch, I was gonna have Greenly challenge Zeke's worship of the now deceased catfish and his history of luring women out here for the General but you honor the dice as they fall
I think tonight might have spoiled Greenly on fishing for forever. Never gonna top that. Whew!
I'm more worried about Greenly thinking jumping in the mouth of monsters in order to kill them is the best method. Although I'm still looking forward to calling a 'Greenly' in the future...
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Dro'gan: [shoves boat onto the water and begins rowing with all his might]
Women of the party: [run right past him across the water using magic]
Dro'gan: "D'oh!!!"
Yay.
I'm on a boat. :)
But it's burning. :(
(I did see the post, just saying :) It's just very late today and I'm tired and I'll make sure to post tomorrow.)
Aye...whats that with the road to the abyss and good intentions?
Weekends are always slow for me, but my SO and 2 of our 3 little ones are currently ill, and that kind of shut me down. Sorry.
Ha, only nobles on the pleasure barge :D
Guess I went skinny dipping for 'nothing' then - well, IC with that few people she can't really try and pretend she is something she is not, but it still gives her the OC pretext to address the party for help beyond reaching the shore - (which was the second reason for doing it.).
Hey everyone, I'm going to be traveling for work starting tomorrow through Sunday (the 4th), so my posting will be intermittent at best.
Since it's part of her backstory, I'll let Mira fill in the details, assuming you're feeling up to it.
The only key detail I'd like to include for plot reasons is that the fire was started by a magical device planted by Count Lotheed, but he has attempted to stage it to look like an attack by the Night Swan.
I don't see it developing earnestly but Greenly/Amandine enemies to lovers would be hysterical
Yup! Where do you think they're at vis-a-vis each other at this point? Fairly open hatred? Buried mutual antipathy? Begrudging tolerance? Frustrated acceptance? I can't quite decide.
I think it changes moment to moment for the both of them.
If you've played DA2, it's like the Rival track with Carver or Varric, generally they push and prod and don't get along, but sometimes they're friends even, until one of their many disagreements comes back into play and then it's back to childish fighting.
They see each other as useful, certainly and they're both dedicated to the same cause, so they're stuck together and they know. I don't know if they've accepted it but at the same time I don't see either party going out of their way to remove the other from the group.
I also think they recognize the other's successes in arenas where they fail, there's this quiet mutual admiration, but sometimes that makes it worse. Because then there's jealousy in the way; rather than recognizing that the places where we do and do not overlap makes us a stronger house, it draws awareness on the skills and abilities they lack. They'll be met with their own insecurity, they'll lash out, or they'll feign disinterest.
It really would be ample soil for an enemies to lovers plot if they had chemistry (but they don't). Shame tho, the seeds for PC romance were largely dashed by circumstance, Photinè and myself, you and Olivia were the ones that seemed most natural and poof.
Still time tho, we ain't even out of Book 2 yet. Maybe they'll take some science lessons.
**A new challenger appeared**
Yeah I can see where Amandine's frustrations with Greenly come from. Amandine always works so hard at everything while Greenly just tornadoes around and things usually seem to work out for her. No discipline or sacrifice, which is Amandine's default. It's not about the physical stuff, Amandine knows she's not a fighter and never will be.
Besides, Amandine is in the mindset of being a professional and this being her job. She doesn't personally have anything of significance against Greenly. But, it drives her crazy that Greenly won't take what they're doing more seriously. Greenly's like the person you generally are fine with, but hate as a co-worker.
As for romance, it wouldn't be anytime soon. Amandine has it so bad for Okerra she couldn't possibly imagine alternatives. If I remember correctly, Amandine actually turned Olivia down way back at the beginning of book 2.
That's interesting, I think of Greenly as intensely disciplined.
Greenly's whole life before now has been discipline. Pulled in different directions by all who surround her, made to conform. She was Cinderella'd by her cousins, who agreed to bring her bastard branch of the family back into the fold only if they would work part time as servants, pushed through rigorous schooling by her mother, who wants her to buckle down and claim legitimacy thru the nobility and restore their honor, and then all she herself has ever wanted was to live up to the family legend, join the Ulfen Guard like her mother and grandfather and attain status that she's technically ineligible for.
And she's worked for it, even knowing she'll never truly join. She spent her youth training her skills in combat, and even left the family behind to seek work as a bodyguard to fulfill her ambitions in some small way. Whenever she enters rage, she goes quiet and cold and focused, and I think a lot of her life before the Gala was like that. Work work work, school school, train train train.
That's why I try to have Greenly's low INT translate as being willfully ignorant. She's not stupid, she speaks and reads six languages (but Galtan very poorly, I remember her greeting Photinè with "enchantee" with a long e), she cracked a spymaster's cipher for fun and knows basic spellcraft, she just doesn't care to learn or investigate or do things that don't interest her. She's vapid and absent out of rebellion for her expectations. Gotta remember, she's like 19.
But Greenly's privilege and inherited nobility I think stand in the way of a deeper understanding of Amandine, of recognizing any commonality.
Amandine's struggles have been quite larger than Greenly's, and she's also burdened with responsibility that Greenly couldn't imagine. Being a mother and provider for not only her brother but her parents before their passing is a stretch of poverty far beneath Greenly's notice.
She thinks she had it tough because she had to cook and clean with the servants, but she lived in the main estate of a major Taldan noble house and was respected as a member of the family in many affairs. Meanwhile, Amandine was forced to turn to sex work to support herself and her brother at only 17. Greenly knows what her service to the Princess means to her, it means a way to fulfill her ambitions in a real and direct way, serve the Crown as shieldhand as the Ulfen Guard do, and also a chance strike back at Pythareus, the force that removed her mother from command, but she could never understand what knighthood means to Amandine and Calix, what being Lady Betony means to them.
I also think they have very different ideas of what "taking the ruse seriously" could mean, because Greenly is all in, she's never lapsed the kayfabe, avoided telling direct lies (which she knows she's bad at), and striven to make bridges and headroads for their cause where she can. But she's also a born noble, so she thinks they should be pretending to be dilettantes, and thinks Amandine is taking it way too seriously.
Like, if Greenly was planning the ruse, she would be the party-guy knight in service to the party-guy Lady in service to the party-spider Baron in service to the party-guy Count they're secretly trying to depose. Easier to pass muster and fly under the radar if you're acting as expected, but instead they're doing all this good for the common folk which is important and Greenly supports doing she just thinks it's the wrong tack to take, that it draws an unwelcome eye on their demesne. I think she even threw stuff at the halfling charioteers back at the Jubilee to try and fit in.
It's funny you mention Amandine's attraction to the Baron cause wow did not even kinda remember, but yeah, I think y'all even danced at the Gala. When I think of Okerra the only thing I remember is that he did NOT get that I was playing the heel in the joust and just earnestly hates me. It also reminded me that Gul Guisarne has a crush on Greenly?
This was a lot longer than anticipated, I love character analysis.
One thing that probably isn't apparent is that Amandine is a bit different in Book 2 compared to Book 1. Partially I expect that the vastly extended time that PbP takes causes the old stuff to fade, and I may not have done a good job of making what I was trying to do noticeable. Of course there's been a bunch of turnover since Book 1, with most of us having entered the game in Book 2 now. But the Amandine of Book 2 isn't just who she is, she's acting.
She has to act, or take up a persona, because she's never been exposed to Taldan nobility the way Greenly has. This is also partially why Amandine doesn't understand Greenly. The two of them have never really talked much, so Amandine doesn't know much about Greenly's background. Greenly's background is what allows her to be loose about things, which Amandine interprets as careless and sloppy, that lack of discipline.
Greenly has been able to internalize all sorts of informal rules about what corners can be cut, or what can be ignored or altered regarding the formal rules of how to behave. Amandine has none of that. She doesn't know what really matters and what doesn't. That's why way back when we started Book 2 Amandine said she would be casting herself as the "ingenue", booksmart but innocent and not worldly. It's the best way she can cover the weakness.
Since she doesn't know what rules of behavior or manners, etc. she can bend or overlook, she never bends or ignores any of them. She has to play things straight down the middle. This is why when Greenly does the things she does, going off plan, saying edgy things, Amandine's blood pressure spikes. Amandine doesn't have the background knowledge to be aware of what might be disastrous versus overlooked or even considered the actual norm.
Amandine has been in character for months now, and she's completely exhausted. Her stress level is currently well past unhealthy. But that's another difference between Greenly and Amandine. Amandine knows this is her one chance. If she fails or messes up, she disappears back into the great unwashed masses to be forgotten. No second chances. Greenly has extra chances if she needs them.
Also remember that Amandine is a Milanite. She has almost no sympathy or appreciation for Taldor's nobility. She's not a revolutionary only because she's afraid of Taldor becoming a second Galt if things get too radical too fast. Amandine might be making a mistake in trying so much to assist and gain favor with Meratt's commoners like Greenly thinks. But since Greenly hasn't said as much to her, she doesn't know about her blind spot. It's her true attitudes peeking through.
Oh yeah, Amandine is totally in the tank for Okerra and has been for a very long time. As for Sir Gul, she tried being friendly back at the beginning of Book 2 and he practically spit in her face. He's said a couple of things here and there that lead her to suspect he's kind of on to her, at least about her being a fake. She sees him as an existential threat and wants him dead in the worst way.
Yeah, I love character analysis as well obviously. :p
Dro’gan is pretty straightforward. He has orders to help Amandine succeed. Regardless of his feelings or danger involved, that’s his goal.
That's pretty much where Greenly has landed as well. She respects the chain of command and views Amandine as the de facto leader of their insurgency. She just doesn't respect who is in command.
Hey everyone, I'm so sorry. I wound up being really sick, like "we have to send you somewhere else because we don't have the tools to diagnose you" sick, and so was not in a state to play games. I'm doing much better but also have finals starting today (lucky me) so I'm going to try and get caught up as soon as I can.
also, i'm 100% onboard with this ship
Wow! I hope you're much better finally Meraki! Good luck with finals!
Hey everyone, I'm so sorry. I wound up being really sick, like "we have to send you somewhere else because we don't have the tools to diagnose you" sick, and so was not in a state to play games. I'm doing much better but also have finals starting today (lucky me) so I'm going to try and get caught up as soon as I can.
also, i'm 100% onboard with this ship
Welcome back. I'm glad you're feeling better, and I hope that finals have been going well for you.
I managed to get sick again, almost immediately. I'm back on my feet, again, and hopefully stay healthy this time.
Woof! Hope you stay better this time, my condolences
Happy Hanukkah y'all
Yep, trying to stay healthy, especially as you get older and more stressed out gets harder and harder. Good luck and take care! Happy Holidays everyone.
Take an extra day getting back on your feet even if you feel fine.
I swear it makes a huge difference in staying healthy or relapsing(or catching something else while you are vulnerable).
Here's hoping.
Also happy insert whatever holiday you celebrate to all of you guys.