@Shalastar I take no offense. I enjoy the challenge of making unusual concepts work. A dual-wielding sneaky spell slinging assassin seems like an interesting concept that I would love to make work. Question is whether or not I can make it work.
@Mr. Swagger In general, I'm inclined to agree the Spellblade is the least effective Magus build on its own but I think that can be mitigated with the Rogue/AT levels that I was planning on taking anyway.
Burning a spell (or arcana point) to pull out a blade that doubles SA possibility for one minute vs. relying on a permanent -2 on combat and spell-slinging at the same time and burning a spell every round to accomplish the same end...what's more, spending the other arcana points I can bestow the same enhancements that I'm bestowing the weapon in my main hand to the athame...that seems like it can be pretty chill.
I love crunch, let me take a look.
Well, you still take the -2 to to casting spell and attacking with both blades but as I see it the knife master should function quite well with it as the at blade is a dagger through it is a force effect.
The ability to throw the blade is awesome, not to mention the d8s on the ranged sneak attaack, and the capstone ability of the AT to add sneak damage to any damaging spell is awesome as well.
All in all I'd say it looks awesome, plus the fact that the magus spell list and his ability to use armor with arcane spells I would say go for it.
+1
Heh...I hadn't even considered grabbing the Throw Athame ability but now that you mention it, that is pretty sick.
Koo...I am leaning towards doing it now as at least one other person thinks it isn't a completely fail idea XP
My only concern now is the Knife Master and whether non-dagger like weapons include spells. I did ask in the rules section of the forum and apparently the consensus is that the rules are supposed to apply the d4s to spells as well which is a major point to consider (I've accepted the majority opinion but I still think its wrong...but eh, that's why I play and don't GM).
I suppose I could just really focus on the melee and use the spells as 'gravy' and not the meat and potatoes of the build (which also makes sense).
BAH! Spellblade it is! And if I gimp us all, just know to blame Jack for supporting my silly build idea XP
Now hold on, Treize. Don't be so hasty, think of the party. I'm playing a necromancer, so in the event that any of the party die, I want them to be optimized.
loljk
I think your build, regardless of how effective it will be, ought to be a blast, so I'll recommend it. Also, if I were GMing, the spells would sneak attack for d4's.
Calling those with ranks in disable device to post IC please (Kyrul & Treize)...
I believe we have to wait for Flykiller. The patch might not turn into lock picks by simply ripping it from the veil or throwing it on the ground. I think it will, but we don't know that.
^ This.
Way I figure it, Treize can't see the veil well enough to make out what, exactly, Mordred is indicating when he asks for someone to use lockpicks. Thus, until lockpicks actually appear, Treize wouldn't know what's up. When they appear, he will obviously chime in.
That's sort of what I was going for as well. The delay in posting is to be expected, though - Flykiller warned all of us he had a lot on his plate.
Oh I have disable device. I forgot I had it.
Well, that was exactly what I was warning you about. While I was busy with the recruitment to this game, I had over 200 posts piled up in the other games I play. So I had to do some catching up. I plan to cut the number of games I'm in as time goes.
Wait, didn't someone else like Jack Cross plan to get the Knife Master archetype too? Or did that change after he decided to go for Duelist instead of Assassin? In that case, I have no objections to your build, Treize. However, ideally I'd like you to start as a knife master and pick up Magus later (so that we have a rogue in the prison). Does it work with what you had in mind?
Jack was going vanilla rogue and I don't mind switching if it's needed.
Just to let you all know, I will be out of town from Wednesday through Sunday. I will have my i-pad with me, so I should still be able to post, occasionally.
Yeah, I can go Knife Master first. I just picked Magus 'cause I like how the skills work out, but it isn't that important.
But Knife Master it is then. I'll amend the skill points appropriately.
Oh, and by the by, my char has an 18 INT and I have to put points into knowledge arcana as a class pre-req for the AT. So if you caster types would rather spend your points elsewhere, I'll pretty much keep knowledge arcana as my baby.
From the 4th to the 8th of November I may not have internet access. It depends on which hotel I get put into. I think there is a Mcdonalds nearby with internet service, if I get put into the hotel they gave us last time, so I will try to do what I can to at least get one post in a day.
This brings up a good question. What will we do if someone has to be gone for a while or just stops posting? I know if long enough passes, we'll just bring in a new guy, but for like a four day stint like Kyrul's planned absence?
If someone is on a long-time planned absence (say over 3-4 days), I would like them to give me lease to DMPC their characters when needed.
When we're not in combat, I will sometimes move the events forward if one or two players did not respond and all the others have agreed on something.
When we're in combat, I plan to give 24h allowance since last post made by anyone. So that in worst case one round of combat lasts for a week before I make any remaining actions myself and start a new round. Unless a player warns about his issues and asks to wait for him.
The provisional term for seeking a replacement is two weeks of unplanned absence.
This does not account for my own issues of course. I may occasionally have to disappear for 2-3 days. Especially around weekends. If I haven't posted for two weeks without explanation, then you can start seeking a new DM.
I'll go ahead and say that I'm fine with being DMPC'd.
Those rules seem fair. I hope we all stick together, though, because I'm pretty excited about this game.
If someone is on a long-time planned absence (say over 3-4 days), I would like them to give me lease to DMPC their characters when needed.
When we're not in combat, I will sometimes move the events forward if one or two players did not respond and all the others have agreed on something.
When we're in combat, I plan to give 24h allowance since last post made by anyone. So that in worst case one round of combat lasts for a week before I make any remaining actions myself and start a new round. Unless a player warns about his issues and asks to wait for him.
The provisional term for seeking a replacement is two weeks of unplanned absence.
This does not account for my own issues of course. I may occasionally have to disappear for 2-3 days. Especially around weekends. If I haven't posted for two weeks without explanation, then you can start seeking a new DM.
The DMPC works for me also. My time is over a weekend so hopefully it should not be an issue.
Oh yes please DMPC or NPC me as necessary. My apologies for not responding earlier. Funeral and family are taking a lot out of me.
Yay! The dots seem to have been fixed :)
That is good to know. I kept getting dots on thread with no updates. It was getting to be annoying.
Still need Kyrul's Stealth check to determine the guard's actions and response to Jack's bluff. I'll make the roll for him tomorrow if he doesn't respond. I hope everyone is unaffected by Sandi.
I did not see that. If you have not made it, I will make it now.
As a reminder my last post might be tomorrow until Sunday night.
Kyrul, I feel inclined to point out that the d20 roll that Flykiller made was (probably) the guard's perception check, not your stealth roll...you still need to roll a d20 + 6 to determine whether or not you you succesfully hide your freedom.
Assuming that is what you want your character to do, of course.
Treize's right, those +1 were for the guard's Perception, so you now make opposed Stealth checks.
Jack, on the subject of Gluttony and Blood drinker. How would you feel if I gave you Diverse Palate as a bonus feat, but made the bonuses apply only if you spend two consecutive rounds drinking the blood?
Well, some people might call it stupid. And I'll admit that the character will probably do a few "stupid" things (low Wisdom, low Intelligence). But hopefully nothing that will completely jeopardize the party. I'm pretty much playing him as a pretty boy moron, who is used to getting his way because of his... well, beauty (we'll use that). With the lust sin, he has a few disadvantages that are worsened by the low intellect scores, but so far he's been a blast to play. Morale penalties are enhanced, so I'm playing it as though pain and other negative morale penalties are actually enjoyable experiences for Shalastar (a well-trained masochist). That's one way to interpret that particular penalty, and it seems fitting for Shalastar's character.
I could have gone the stable route and used the 25 point buy, but I really like the other method and the character it made was interesting if devastatingly unbalanced. But it also makes sense to me that evil characters would be at least a little unbalanced.
Jack, on the subject of Gluttony and Blood drinker. How would you feel if I gave you Diverse Palate as a bonus feat, but made the bonuses apply only if you spend two consecutive rounds drinking the blood?
Sounds awesome, I'll add the elf subtype then. Seems most likely that we'll be dealing with those two subtypes, human and elf, unless you have a better suggestion. Btw, I'm not going to particularly focus on the blood drinking aspect build wise, it's mostly just for cool and options but I don't think Jack will be dropping any feats into grapple and such though I might take agile manuvers somewhere down the line.
So...do we wanna drop the guard? Or do we wanna just harass him until he leaves?
Only three of the seven are free of the chains, so that's 8 more minutes of take 20 lock-picking. More noise, or a guard not returning to their post within that time may draw more to investigate (note the fellow who stuck his head in when there was a bit of a commotion).
Heads up, I'm going out of town this weekend and I highly doubt I'll have access to the interent from friday evening to sunday afternoon GMT.
I'm thinking of grabbing the guy if he gets close enough, leving those free to take out the second one when he comes to investigate. I got a feeling we need to work fast before they call for help though.
I would normally say take out the guard, but I can't use any of my magical abilities to disguise the fact he's dead if others should peer in, not without falling unconscious.
I've put a map link at the top of the page. Now, my previous description slightly contradicts the map, so here's the layout:
You are currently in the area 18a, aligned around the west, north and east boundaries, spaced 5-ft apart. Areas 18b-e are empty cells. You don't know what's in Area 19 as there is a thick solid wall between it and your cell through which you can't hear or see anything.
The guards spend their time in Area 20, but currently one guard is in the cell block, while the other waits at the door between areas 17 and 18. When Shalastar provoked the guard, he unlocked your cell and entered inside - something the guards normally don't do alone, when they're in their right mind. He is currently about to exit your cell back into the main cell block and then return to Area 20.
Is the cell we're in 'see through' -- meaning, like just a solid wall of bars that offer no cover like in a modern day prison -- or are the walls solid stone with just the door available as a means looking in? Also, once this guy goes back to 20, the guard that is 'always on duty outside our door' does he usually stand between 17 and 18, patrol, or stand directly outside our cell?
On strategy: my stealth mod is a +9...so I am relatively confident I can beat the guard's perception checks. Given his back is turned (and he's shaken) I believe he is flat-footed atm which means either I can sneak attack him for a d4 of non-lethal (unarmed strikes deal 1d3, I've got a +1 STR mod, + 1d4 sneak...max damage output is 8, for me) and hope that Kyrul and Mordred can finish him off before he calls for help (though his friend will likely hear us anyway); or I can use the FF to gain a bonus to making a disarm check to take his club (or other more lethal weapon he might have on his person) and proceed poking him until he dies. I would then pass off the club to Kyrul to use to keep the other guard at bay while I take the lockpicks and make the effort to free everyone else.
I figure that Mordred, in the meantime, can be investigating that veil and giving daggers to the more burly among us to go keep watch.
Of course, the guard does have a friend just outside and it is...unlikely...that Kyrul, Mordred, and I could drop this guard before he gets a chance to call out for help; and even less likely we could drop both him and his buddy before they realized something was up.
Depending on DM's comments about barred or solid cell and where the guards usually stand, etc...this may actually be our best opportunity.
I've got command prepared, and I can give the second guard the command "Approach," which says it can't do anything but walk towards me. I don't know if that means it can't talk, that's up to Flykiller.
I've also got forbid action that can keep him from communicating directly, but he's free to move and stuff.
Also, yes, a high priority is getting the dagger(s) from the veil and also figuring out whatever else it can do.
I'll take whatever lead you guys want, just either act appropriately in character or let me know.
It seems I have internet access for the weekend. :)
The big Area 18 is surrounded with solid walls, but the individual cells are made of see-through bars.
Whenever one guard enters the cell block (area 18), the other guard keeps watch at the door to Area 17. The guards normally don't enter a cell alone.
There is no way for your characters to know what the guards are doing when the door to Area 17 is closed. You can assume they must be on duty guarding this door. Only Mordred has been to Areas 17 & 20 so far.
Also, every guard you've seen so far has a signal whistle tied around his neck.
And congrats on the internet access Kyrul :)
Is there a schedule that the guards seem to follow for when they enter area 18 (aside from when the prisoners get guests)?
When the guards bring in a new prisoner, or a food (the latter happens once a day), three guards come in. One guard comes into the cell, one guard stays at the cell entrance, the third one stays near the cell block entrance.
This is starting to sound like as good of an opportunity as we are likely to get. Three days to execution doesn't give us many opportunities for meal delivery.
You might have caught the guards at their lowest, but you're at your lowest too. It's not the end of the story if you pass this one up :)
Well, my vote is to drop the guard...and from the look of things, the majority seem to agree so I'll be posting the escape attempt sometime soon (an hour or so, problably) unless there are any vehement objections.
By the way, as was suggested in the gameplay thread, the unlocked manacles can be wielded as a weapon (improvised club).
If that was a finesseable weapon, that'd make sense. But to my knowledge, it wouldn't be and since my STR is only 12, my BAB is 0...yeah, basically, I would never hit the guy if I used an improvised weapon.
Might make sense for Kyrul though.
Didn't mean to frighten everyone off. :P
Hey...I'm still here. I just can't do anything else until everyone else takes a turn XP
I am just hesitant to kick off the Round 1 because it starts with the guards' turn, and Kyrul's surprise action has a potential to change what guards do (hell, even him failing to act will have its own outcome). I will be busy tonight so I might not move things forward until tomorrow night.