Huh. I checked my pm's that I've sent and yours didn't show up. Okay, odd. Maybe I dreamt it or something. I definitely pm'd Hama, though.
Glad you're here, William!
Lurker here. I responded too late during your last recruitment, but I have a character that was orphaned when the original DM had to step away from all of these. Happy to lurk, but I would also be happy to step in as a replacement should you determine you need one. The last thing I want to do, however, is poach a seat from a current player that’s just momentarily unavailable.
Posting with the profile in question so you can see what I have to offer. He’s obviously well behind those that were able to continue playing.
I'm here! Happy to keep going. I understand that things may slow down around the holidays, of course.
And would be very happy to take on Aerel as a replacement.
I continue to lurk and see that you might need a stand-in, short- or long-term.
Just so I'm ready if the time comes, what would I need to do to be prepared? It looks like maybe leveling up to third would be in order, but I will wait for DM Stalwart to give indication one way or the other. I'm not assuming I'm in, just preparing in case I get the chance.
Benedict wasn't kidding when he said you were left on a cliffhanger!
I definitely think that would be fun to allow your entrance to be in line with where you were left off. We could say that Lysander met his end at the ogres at a suicidal attempt at a rescue, leaving you stranded, hanging, and just in time for a rescue from a third party.
Aerel, I don't see a background for your character, so I'm unsure of what brought you to Phaendar in the first place. Obviously, your story will have to be tweaked some, since you didn't take part in the destruction of the bridge as before.
Thoughts on that?
Huh, I forgot he was a sub in that game, too! Here’s a post where I shared my mental image at that point - I think it’s still reasonable for a background.
https://paizo.com/campaigns/DMShisumosLinearFightersQuadraticHobgoblinsIron fangInvasion/discussion&page=4#169
As for the bridge, I suggest that he and his small group escaped the town across the bridge prior to its demolition, but went a different direction to find cover, so they never crossed paths with the others. I think the more likely outcome is that Lysander drew the ogres away and hopefully escaped. Bored with my as a toy and not wanting to go back for the relatively small amount of meat I represent, they went elsewhere for sport.
Lysander returned (or not) to the rest of the party. As a group, they felt the risk of returning to retrieve what was probably a corpse was not worth it and they continued to flee, leaving me barely alive and alone, but geared up and familiar with the area.
It’s possible that I’ve slowly healed back up and been ducking hobgoblin patrols in the meantime, even sending them on wild goose chases if I thought they were getting close to some survivors of Phaendar. Seems a very Erastil way of thinking.
Question: it appears the build I was working with had a different theme than the rest of the party. I’m not concerned if you aren’t, but I can adjust if you think I should.
I don't think your theme is an issue.
It's an all-fighter party but VMC and PrCs have always been fine. We had a VMC druid before.
Oh, Aerel/Pixie Rogue, my apologies! I didn't put it together until just now that you played Lamsfel and Chum back in the day! Tybus and Artevious say hi!
Welcome aboard!
It’s good to see you again, Stalwart. I was trying to remember where we crossed paths (without actually stalking you on the boards to figure it out). Happy to come aboard, captain!
Aerel is still second level. I have the work done to level to third, just let me know if I should.
Yes, go right ahead and level to three. I have a feeling the group should be relatively close to four, as well.
Aerel is now third level. He gained seven more hit points for a total of 9 at the moment. He was down to 2 when Lysander drew the ogres away and I'm not assuming he's been able to rest to regain any.
XP for the ogres?
I knew I was forgetting something. 1,600 xp for the ogres.
I'll put a post up tonight once I have access to the book.
Cool. Benedict's share of 320 puts him at 8,640 (360 from Level 4). Another couple of encounters and we should be there.
Do you want to put Aerel at the same XP?
Yes. Aerel should be at the same total as the rest of you.
Thanks for that.
A Necklace of Fireballs sounds good to me if only for dealing with swarms... like those stupid wasps...
A few items to appraise:
Vial of Poison from a victim's body in the trading yard
Fine Woolen Cloak
Assorted loot from the hobgoblins at the shrine (silver cup, hand-sized darkwood carving of a butterfly, gold dust, 27 small semiprecious stones).
And a bunch of things from the troglodyte caverns (highlighted in yellow - some of these are magic but unidentified, I think).
But... nobody has Appraise. I guess we'll take the trader's word for it (and rely on Sense Motive to tell if she is trying too hard to rip us off). We could try it untrained, but the basic DC is 20. I guess if we all tried independently we might get some 20's or at least 15's.
And a few items to assign:
Everburning Torch (we have 2 of these, not counting William's Ioun Torch, so maybe sell one or both)
Wand of Magic Missile (11 charges)
Wand of Hold Person (9 charges)
(Grum is currently carrying a second wand of Magic Missile, and also wands of Grease and Prestidigitation)
Aegis of Recovery (our sick NPC had it, but is he better now?)
Several potions
I'll try to do some more bookkeeping on this over the weekend and get it all straightened out - which items we already allocated but didn't mark it off on the sheet. I am pretty sure I've crossed out anything we sold or gave to the witchcrow. And I hid the rows with Jie's items.
I can attempt to identify anything that isn't. I'll make a few rolls for the first few items. I'm not sure how many total there are.
I will be happy to take any of the arcane wands no one can use. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea for anyone without darkvision to take an Everburning Torch.
Okay, William gets the Wand of Hold Person (9 charges) and the Wand of Magic Missile (11 charges, think it is CL 1).
Aerel, Grum, and Benedict have Darkvision. William has an Ioun Torch. Amkarang should take one of the Everburning Torches (even though it occupies a hand so is not normally a great thing for him to use). We should sell the other one - the gem one worth 250 gp.
The hunter's cabin had 20 regular arrows, and 5 exceptional arrows. I don't know if they are magic, but I would suggest 2 of these for William, 2 for Aerel, and 1 for Benedict. Maybe William can identify them.
We also have 5 +1 arrows from Aubrin, of which Benedict has 1.
Amkarang no longer needs his 3 Oils of Magic Weapon. We could re-allocate or sell.
I don't think I marked off gold for Grum's plate armor before. That is Masterwork, I'm assuming, so 1,650? I will mark that off now (the strikethrough rows and 6 gp taken from L7). We have about another 1,000 available, could be more if we sell more stuff.
How much bulk can the trader carry? We have a lot of wealth tied up in longswords, longbows, and armor.
Grum really wants to do that?
Benedict tries to avoid a fair fight (he'd rather stack the odds in the party's favor) but if Grum wants to go for it, go ahead.
In-character, Benedict would go ahead and attack. But I don't want "Just playing my character" to make the game less fun for you, Grum, so tell me what you want me to do.
Grum has fullplate (+9 AC) and +1 Dex and Draconic Defense for +1 NA? So AC 21, 23 vs goblinoids? That's not bad. You've also got a potion of Shield of Faith if you need it.
Amkarang got the Amulet of Natural Armor +2 and also the Ring of Protection +1.
I usually don't roll this well. I'm not sure what's going on.
Although Cayden Cailean (via Aubrin) has something else to say about that.
Epic! (Also, you threatened a crit on your final swing, not that it mattered.)
We will mop up the direwolf.
That.Was.Epic.
I go to work and a whole fight takes place. I was going to add some rolls into my prior post but since we hadn't rolled init I didn't.
Let's see if we can get rid of the wolf quickly.
Yeah, I was offline throughout the fight. Surprise!
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Congratulations on reaching Level 4!
Don't forget your ability score increase. Please list all your leveled-up goodies here in the discussion thread.
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Lvl4! And what a perfect time for a level up.
HP: +9
Saves: +1 Fort
Skills: +1 Perception +1 Survival
Feat: At 4th level, whenever the dragonheir scion damages a target with an attack augmented by Arcane Strike, the attack deals an additional 1d4 points of damage of the dragonheir scion’s energy type
So now Grum does 3d4 damage instead of 2d4.
Also for stats. Is there any NPC that can make Grum a butchering axe? If so, he’ll go Str19. If not, he’ll go Cha14.
Also I’m going to make Sir Kingston his own profile. Having one for both is too confusing.
Behold!
Most decisions are made, I think, but I'm curious if anyone has any interest in teamwork feats. I have plenty of choices that are not of that nature, but I'm willing to consider one if someone has one that makes sense for a archer.
Alright, level up!
Abilities: +1 dex
HP: +8
Saves: +1 fort, +1 ref
Skills: +2 survival, +1 perception, +1 diplomacy
Feat: Weapon specialization (meteor hammer)
Fair enough. Here are the feats I thought might be of interest. (Sorry, I get chatty when it's time to level up because - so many choices!)
Teamwork feats:
Coordinated Shot (ally in melee grants attack bonus to archer)
Covering Fire (archer grants AC bonus to ally in melee)
Volley Fire (attack bonus from allied archers)
Non-teamwork feats:
Deadly Aim (trade attack penalty for damage bonus)
Dedicated Adversary (gain favored enemy - thinking goblinoid)
Dodge (because - armor class)
Elven Accuracy (single re-roll of failed concealment roll)
Expert Sniper (halves penalty while sniping)
Far Shot (halves range penalty)
Focused Shot (add Intelligence modifier to damage roll)
Improved Initiative
Stabbing Shot (because - Legolas!)
Weapon Finesse (because I'm not going to avoid melee forever)
Weapon Focus (longbow, working toward Weapon Specialization)
I'd be just fine with taking the cloak and the breastplate.
Aerel, you have Lightbringer. “Elves with this racial trait are immune to light-based blindness and dazzle effects.” This means you should be immune to light sensitivity, right?
The cheese was a little too thick to have immunity to light sensitivity and have the darkvision trait which makes me sensitive to light, so Shisumo’s solution was that I’m immune except in bright light. I call it out specifically in the character sheet in the defense section so I don’t forget.
In other news, what’s this about a homeless +1 chain shirt?
Aerel: In my experience, Weapon Focus to get to Weapon Specialization is probably the best way to go (unless you can get someone else to take a teamwork feat -- those look interesting). Deadly Aim plus Rapid Shot will net you a -4 to your attacks, which may mean that you will miss more often than the net damage boost. But WF/WS is always on, always adding damage.
That’s strong reasoning, Stalwart, and why it’s on the list among so many archery-specific feats. I like Focused Shot taking advantage of my higher-than-average intelligence, but it can wait until my sneak attack comes online since they have the same restrictions.
Oh, and I should ask the basic question: what’s the allowed method of determining new hit points? I’ve seen a few and never remember which applies to which game.
I'm keeping it the same way that Shisumo ran it: Half plus one (six, for all you fighter types) plus your Con bonus. Then you could still add your FCB to either HP or Skill points.
Teamwork feats properly used are amazing - way better than most people think - and I would be more than happy to take one.
I'm playing a Ftr5 in a Teamwork Experiment table and he has AC and saves to take on almost anything. Once he gets a couple of allies around him (even if they don't have the feats, so summoned critters work), a human FCB superstitious Brb5 would sit in a corner and cry about his saves, And he has an AC the Barb can barely scratch, while still dishing out good damage.
Benedict gets a shareable teamwork feat at level 5. Lastwall Phalanx is probably the best option, but Broken Wing Gambit could also work. L
At the moment, here is my plan for Benedict:
+7 HP
+1 BAB
+1 Fort
+1 Str
+7 Skill Points (4 class, 2 Int, 1 FCB): 2 Bluff, 1 Sense Motive, 1 Survival, 1 Appraise, 1 Diplomacy, 1 Perception
Retrain bonus L2 feat from Skill Focus (Survival) to Unhindering Shield
L4 feat: I was thinking Barroom Brawler, but could be persuaded to take a teamwork feat. Or boost Cha to 15 and take Flagbearer.
Also: the Players' Guide says that if you are not using the Militia System (which gives bonuses to the PCs as they improve their Militia Rank), then "Game Masters who elect not to include this system may consider awarding PCs a bonus feat at levels 4, 9, and 14, selected from Alertness, Deceitful, Fleet, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Persuasive, Stealthy, and Toughness."
Can we do that? If so, I'd take Iron Will for Benedict (although lots of those are good options for him).
Re: gear:
We've found a few protective items and handed them Amkarang's way.
There was an Amulet of Natural Armor +2 here and also a Ring of Protection +1 here.
I don't mind giving him either the Breastplate or the Cloak from this latest haul, but Benedict could benefit from those as well and doesn't have nearly as many HP as Amkarang.
@Aerel - Amkarang currently has the +1 chain shirt, so if he takes the +1 Breastplate, that shirt becomes up for grabs.
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I’m trying not to look at it as WBL. Instead, keeping all of us roughly around the same level.
With the Breastplate Amk will have AC 10 + 7 (armor) + 3 (dex) + 2 (amulet) + 1 (ring) = 23
Grum will have AC21 with just his mundane plate.
Benedict will have AC20.
So it would indeed make the most sense to transfer the ring to Benedict. This will put front-line AC at 22/21/21.
WBL aside, that puts us all at a roughly equal ground to be on.
And Aerel, while an archer, gets his +1 chain shirt and +2 dex belt. So his AC will become 20. Which is just 1 point behind the front line fighters.
So all in all? Ignoring WBL and just looking at the party, we’ll be looking good :)
I’m trying not to look at it as WBL. Instead, keeping all of us roughly around the same level.
I agree with you on that, but with Benedict's lower HP (a consequence of him having to buy both Cha and Int and also devote his FCB to skill points) I wouldn't mind having a bit more AC.
If I could take the Amulet of Natural Armor +2, so I'd have the highest AC (but the lowest HP) of the front-liners, that would be my preference.
I would be happy to take the chain shirt if someone who has been with the group longer doesn’t need it. My intention is to stay out of melee as much as possible and certainly don’t want to take anything from anyone that has paid their dues.
I don’t remember seeing Broken Wing Gambit as one of my available bonus feats. Without looking at the Lastwall Phalanx, isn’t it melee-based? I’m not going to be using it much if that’s the case.
As Stalwart says, Weapon Focus May be my best choice, anyway, for always being ‘on’ and not needing the right circumstances to use it.
Yeah, I think Weapon Focus is probably the best choice for Aerel at this point.
I'll boost Cha to 15 and take Flagbearer. Get a smaller version of the Hemlock Banner. And with Unhindering Shield, I can hold it in my buckler hand and still get the buckler AC bonus.
Giving the party a constant +1 to hit and damage (and to saves vs fear) is pretty good.
And these are the skills: +7 Skill Points (4 class, 2 Int, 1 FCB): 2 Bluff, 2 Sense Motive, 1 Diplomacy, 2 Perception. I'd liked to have picked up Appraise, but I can use it untrained and I want to get the face skills maxed.
Unhindering Shield needs Shield Focus and either BAB +6 or Ftr4; however, if you have Armor Training (which Benedict does), you bypass the need for Shield Focus. This is true for all Shield Mastery feats. They all need either Shield Focus or Armor Training.
Probably the best choice for Grum at level 5 (I would say) is Advanced Weapon Training: Warrior Spirit. Add Bane to your weapon 2/day for 1 minute. Or Keen. Or Ghost Touch. Benedict will be level 9 before he can pick that up.