Reviewed as well - I agree, this was one of my favorites.
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Just finished my Segang Expedition review.
Please do check it out if you're interested.
Also, Deussu (of the one month - one combat for Gunari and Lort fame) has only given it 3/5 stars due to it taking too long (got a pretty good idea of why his game took that long).
In unrelated news... if you liked the scenario, give serious thought to giving it a positive review (same with all scenarios we play, really).
Well, almost all would agree how tough the fight was. I've been through a lot worse, but I've played a lot more.
Shall I start listing them? I don't think so :P
But for sure there were a couple of season 5 7-11 scenarios with worse encounters (and initial ones at that!)
Still, it was tough.
So I just got home - missed superstar but big thanks to papasteve for the offers! - and looked at the chronicle. Thank you to all - without your great role playing and combat skills I wouldn't have gotten the Sovereign court boons. Not sure when I am ever going to use a firearm - can I give that to someone? Ibid? The free 400 gp item is great - going to have to think about that one. Regardless - totally unfair that the boons were so one sided.
Due to the one-sided nature of the boons, I know that the next scenarios we are supposed to play have a faction assigned to them. Feel free to skip the SC one so you all can get some faction boons. That is 3 for me including Slaves ships.
As always - hats off to GM. We can only guess at what magic you add, but rest assured we know you do spin quite the yarn!
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Also, Deussu (of the one month - one combat for Gunari and Lort fame) has only given it 3/5 stars due to it taking too long (got a pretty good idea of why his game took that long).
Whatever has Deussu done to you to earn such ire :D
I think (but not sure) I was sitting next to his table in a con, and they seemed to be having a really good time... Agreed the pbp's might run a bit slow (at least compared to you)|
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Well, almost all would agree how tough the fight was. I've been through a lot worse, but I've played a lot more.
Shall I start listing them? I don't think so :P
Same here, there have been worse fights, and we were basically playing up here, which added to the difficulty. At least this time the BBEG wasn't one-shotting a player each turn...
Whatever has Deussu done to you to earn such ire :D
Also, Deussu (of the one month - one combat for Gunari and Lort fame) has only given it 3/5 stars due to it taking too long (got a pretty good idea of why his game took that long).
It's in my quote: mostly just the one month combat. I think he said it was his first (or one of his first) PbPs, so I can believe it if his actual games are fun. They are two very different ways of running things.
Oh, also, some ire will have been stored up from when I posted links to Doomed Hero and Painlord's (awesome) guides to PbP for the benefit of some of the players who were asking for tips, he dismissed the advice in the guides as "painfully obvious" and then proceeded to do many of the things the guides warned against, to the detriment of the game.
That said, I shall stop my griping about Deussu (though I will likely continue to disagree with him about what constitutes a good scenario). It's been ages since that game - and it introduced me to Gunari... who later turned out to be Jack, a pretty awesome bloke (I think we can all agree, though many may express the sentiments in a less Australian way).
So I just got home - missed superstar but big thanks to papasteve for the offers!....
Sorry we couldn't get your item in in time! You can still send it to me if you like though, I'd love to read it!
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It's been ages since that game - and it introduced me to Gunari... who later turned out to be Jack, a pretty awesome bloke (I think we can all agree, though many may express the sentiments in a less Australian way).
Aw... shucks!
Actually, I think we can all agree that this group has turned out to be pretty damned awesome! I am glad to have met all you ... blokes!
And I really look forward to the time when we get to roll the dice on a real table, together. I am sure we'll spend 8-10 hours playing a 4 hour scenario, but who cares?!?!
I think we should all get in a room and play a PbP on our laptops. See how long it takes.
So... Paths We Choose, ETA December 28-29. Happy to dot in as needed. I spent a good chunk of today updating my PFS character chronicles online and making sure their profiles were spiffy. I've even definitely decided upon a female character - eep! After all the things I said, too. She'll be leveling up as I run (or play) the low-level stuff like the Wounded Wisp, but you may get to see her in game here and there. We'll see how I manage to pull it off. Mostly it was the Sylph GM boon that did it - just couldn't imagine a male sylph sky druid... just couldn't do it. So, female it was. ;-) Gotta wait for the boon before I level her up properly, though! Thank Paizo for free pre-level 2 rebuilds.
As for all posting at the same time on our laptops: you thought we got Cyrus'd a lot before... man, those edit buttons would get one Hell of a workout!
I too spent a good chunk of last night with Finarin's crunchy bits. I just need to go catalog shopping. May throw out some questions here - you all have been an invaluable advice thread and I sincerely appreciate that.
In a photo finish I chose Arcane Accuracy as my arcana - but still vacillating on Wand Wielder and lots of people are suggesting Familiar, but I'd rather not invent another feat for Improved Familiar later on.
Photo finish? With what? It's clearly the best choice if you don't have it. Also, if you don't have it: spell shield. An immediate action to get a bump to your AC that could (potentially) stop you from being turned to pulp? Almost as priceless as +INT to all attacks for a full round. ;-)
Wand mastery is okay, but you need to invest in dem wands to make it worthwhile... and those wands will expire eventually, too. It's pretty niche. Familiar, on the other hand, is always around (though not always useful). That said, I don't really see Finarin as the "own a pet" kind of guy.
If you don't have Spell Shield, I say go with that. Otherwise... wand wielder has more thematic benefit than a familiar. However, familiar has more in-game benefit (in my opinion).
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+INT to all attacks for a full round. ;-)
Which is a +3 for me - so that is a +12/+9 to hit with my scimitar for 3d6 + 2d6+10 Spell Combat/Spell strike shocking grasp Arcane Pool point +1 scimitar w Miro's IC - which is actually not unreasonable.
So that was a 55 damage boys .... if only.
Just so you all know I just Favorited that. I will never roll that again but I will always look it up when I am feeling sad.
Oh, I just wanna give Finarin a big ole hug, pat him on the back and say, "there there".
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Photo finish? With what? It's clearly the best choice if you don't have it. Also, if you don't have it: spell shield. An immediate action to get a bump to your AC that could (potentially) stop you from being turned to pulp? Almost as priceless as +INT to all attacks for a full round. ;-)
Wand mastery is okay, but you need to invest in dem wands to make it worthwhile... and those wands will expire eventually, too. It's pretty niche. Familiar, on the other hand, is always around (though not always useful). That said, I don't really see Finarin as the "own a pet" kind of guy.
If you don't have Spell Shield, I say go with that. Otherwise... wand wielder has more thematic benefit than a familiar. However, familiar has more in-game benefit (in my opinion).
I don't know about Arcane Accuracy or Spell Shield, but I have seen Wand Mastery in action. It really does make the Magus that much tougher, with the right spells. Yeah, it can be expensive, but it is a great force multiplier (saving all those tasty spell slots for other spells!)
Oh, John(???), don't forget you can buy spells to add to your spell list. Cost if 50% of the scribing cost. Well worth it if you need to find just the right spell!
Heh. Hey, John, I have been meaning to ask why you are "the" Bob Jones...
Honestly - I don't really know. It was a High School joke with my friends - "Hi. I'm Bob Jones from Walla Walla Washington" when we wanted to be anonymous. When I had to make online alias , TheBobJones just came up in my head. And we should probably stop there before my 'mommy' issues come out.
Now that I reread that, I wish it wasn't such a lame story.
No, no. The story is perfect.
Here is the PFS Survival guide that Ibid linked to in our Segang thread. I wanted to make sure it was here in case people still wanted to reference it. I know I will be spending a nice chunk of change on this stuff.
(alas magical +1 weapon, you will have to wait...)
Ha, I just realized the symmetry of things. I know someone who goes by "Fake Ed Butler" (fakeedbutler) when he is actually Ed Butler (and published author of the classic and scary Australian books "Things Bogans Like" and "Boganomics").
So, the only two aliases I know that revolve around being "the" as opposed to just "<insertnamehere>", and "TheBobJones" is Fake Bob Jones, and "Fake Ed Butler" is real Ed Butler. Love it.
Ok, so the wife is at a cookie party, and my daughter had dance for 3 hours so what did I do - yeah I ran a spread sheet to see mathematically if Arcane Accuracy or Wand Wielder was a better choice. So I set some parameters, each 'combat session was to last 4 rounds against an opponent with 20 AC. I started with spellstrike shocking grasp, then proceeded to full attack each round. I factored in critical hits because they mean so much to a magus, and I factored in that you can 'hold the charge' so I still was able to apply the shocking grasp damage on a miss so if I hit sometime in the rest of the combat, I was able to apply that damage. They only thing I couldn't figure out how to do is to apply critical damage on shocking grasp if the first attack was a miss but the next hit was a critical hit. For the sake of my sanity, I just ruled that statically it would be even so that was not factored in. Each scenario used a Arcane Point enchanted scimitar. And if I am correct using a wand does not provoke an attack of opportunity? Also I factored in Casting Defensively so that was an auto miss if I failed the check. The wand is only a level 1 so I had to factor that it was only a 1d6 instead of 3d6. For Arcane Accuracy, I used it for the first spellstrike attack because that would carry the most damage. I also assumed that the creature I was attacking had metal armor or a weapon so each time I used shocking grasp I received the +3. I know the leucrotta did not, and I knew that demon thingy had DR/Electricity 10, but I needed a 'normal' baseline.
For Vanilla and AA:
Round 1 - spellstrike w/ Shocking Grasp
Round 2-4 - Cast Arcane Mark Defensively - if succeed, then I get 2 attacks, if I fail, I get 1 attack. So if I made the check and hit I was doing 2d6+10 damage per round.
For the Wand Wielder:
Round 1 - spellstrike w/ Shocking Grasp
round 2-4 used a Shocking Grasp Wand w/ spellstrike so one attack per round @ +3 and did 2d6+5 damage.
Here are my results:
Vanilla averaged 26 points of damage over the 4 rounds with a 0% of no damage.
The Arcane Accuracy magus improved that to 33 points of damage with a 2% chance of 0 damage.
The Wand Wielder magus averaged 33 points of damage with a 7% chance of no damage.
That was from a sample of 43 4-round combats.
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I created the campaign thread here, feel free to dot in.
Also, since the scenario involves some bar-hopping and socializing, I thought we could have the pre-game chat already within the scenario boundaries. Just an upper-class version of the taproom.
I'm not going to push the scenario forwards before 28th, so no rush to leveling up or buying equipment.
Ok so I am having some fun shopping, and since the plan is and has always been to keep the band together, I wanted to know what people were getting so we don't duplicate some resources.
So I have leveled up, but I am still at 1st level spells. I can prepare vanish and I am more than happy to devote a slot for Cyrus to use it if you want it.
Now that I have Dervish Dance, I not only add dex to my attack, but also to my damage. If someone has access to Cat's Grace and can cast it on me, I essentially get +2 AC, +2 Attacks, and +2 to Damage. Attacking 2x per round is .... pretty awesome. At 4,500 gp, I cannot afford a wand of cat's grace nor would I plan on saving for one as a Belt of Incredible Dexterity @ 4,000 gp is where I'd like to go.
Any other thoughts, requests ... Bueller, Bueller, Bueller?
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Not sure what I am buying for Gunari, though I am likely getting his rapier enchanted. Would like to hold out for an adamantine one, but at this level I get the ability to enhance my weapon by +1, which means that if I already have a +1 weapon, I can make it keen.
And, I finally get 2nd level spells! I also get Channel Energy, but don't count on me using that ability. Next level, I'll have Weapon Specialization (since he counts as a fighter for qualifying for fighter feats!)
Cat's Grace is not part of the Cleric's list, so I cannot help you. Gunari will probably be memorizing Resist Energy and something else. He tends to focus on spells he can cast with Fervor, but I am still debating. Since I have a scroll with 5 lesser restoration, I won't be memorizing that spell.
BTW, on that.. I would recommend everyone picking up scrolls like that, with good utility spells (especially targeted heals/restores) so that we can pool our resources, and keep everyone going as much as possible. Better to spend PP or cash now, and avoid the need for Raise Dead, right?
Oh, and all of us should have at least one Holy Water, and some alchemical splash weapons!
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Ok so I am having some fun shopping, and since the plan is and has always been to keep the band together, I wanted to know what people were getting so we don't duplicate some resources.
So I have leveled up, but I am still at 1st level spells. I can prepare vanish and I am more than happy to devote a slot for Cyrus to use it if you want it.
Now that I have Dervish Dance, I not only add dex to my attack, but also to my damage. If someone has access to Cat's Grace and can cast it on me, I essentially get +2 AC, +2 Attacks, and +2 to Damage. Attacking 2x per round is .... pretty awesome. At 4,500 gp, I cannot afford a wand of cat's grace nor would I plan on saving for one as a Belt of Incredible Dexterity @ 4,000 gp is where I'd like to go.
Any other thoughts, requests ... Bueller, Bueller, Bueller?
Looks like you've got a pretty good handle on where you are going.
You could spend 2PP to get a scroll with 5X Cat's Grace, giving you the ability to cast it when needed.As you can probably tell, as of late, I have been a big proponent of spending prestige, instead of hording it. Really, by the time you can save up 16PP, your party could throw in 1/6 of the cash for the raise and restorations. And, especially with this party, I would expect that no one would balk at paying for a raise!
John, on another note, which item is yours? Just curious, in case I come across it.
Looks like you've got a pretty good handle on where you are going.
You could spend 2PP to get a scroll with 5X Cat's Grace, giving you the ability to cast it when needed.
That is a fantastic idea! Would I have to make a UMD check to cast the spell?
John, on another note, which item is yours? Just curious, in case I come across it.
I did not get it in on time, and I looked at it again today and realized I had a calculation error anyways. Alas, mechanics were never my strong suit.
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Looks like you've got a pretty good handle on where you are going.
You could spend 2PP to get a scroll with 5X Cat's Grace, giving you the ability to cast it when needed.That is a fantastic idea! Would I have to make a UMD check to cast the spell?
Nope. Since it is on your list, you just need to make a caster level check of DC 1 + caster level (or DC4 where you get a +3 currently).
Merry Australian Christmas Eve everyone! I'm having a complete blast back in Oz. Thanks for a great 5-6 months of online gaming. Thank you for making it so much fun!
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I concur! This group has really helped push my enjoyment of this wonderful hobby! You guys are awesome!
-Posted with Wayfinder
Here! Here! Merry Christmas you guys! Hope everything is going well for everyone, and thanks for the great gaming over the past few months! Hopefully we've got a lot more gaming to be had with this group in the coming year!
Try as I might, I couldn't get Lort's post to be as Christmassy as the one I posted with Zart and Raamanti in Chris's game.
If you're interested, click here.
Merry (actual) Christmas (in Australia) to all you fine chaps!
Merry Christmas everyone. Sorry I have been afk the last few days. I will be back to regular posting tomorrow. In the meantime I raise a toast to the best online gaming group around. Cheers.
Merry Belated Christmas!
Happy New Years from US Central Time!
Not yet!
I haven't seen anything either. I'm not even sure how the process works, now that I think about it!
So far as I can recall, plans were to play "The Wounded Wisp" with some fresh characters (try out the new replayable "Confirmation-style adventure" and all). Then we were straight on to the Slave Master's Mirror. I've just picked up both! Can't wait to run them.
Following that, folk were pretty keen to try the new 3-parter (Scions of the Sky Key, tier 1-5).
For that, though, we need to avoid leveling up too much. Gunari will get to level 4[+1] after Paths. With Slave Master's Mirror that will be 4[+2], then 2 of the 3-parters and he'll be 5[+1]. So we can afford to play at most one other adventure before he's too high to finish off the 3-parter. It's one of the reasons for playing the Wounded Wisp (above). That, and to get us some more PCs to play with when lower-tier adventures tickle this group's fancy. We currently play faster than the release schedule (just).
During the 3-parter, I'd like to have a go at running By Way of Bloodcove (3-7). Looks interesting. Only 2 ratings, and the 1-star guy sounds like a bit of a douche, bitter at a near TPK. That is unless something more interesting gets released. That would take up our "one more adventure only" slot.
Beyond that, I think we'll just play every season 6 tier 3-7 and 5-9 that hasn't gotten awful reviews until we get high enough to play the 7-11s. Mmm. Juicy 7-11s. Some of those look very interesting indeed.
For the remaining 3-7, I think we'll be avoiding the Silver Mount Collection (I certainly won't be running it). So, I say feel free to play that if you get the opportunity! Reviews aren't always accurate.
Otherwise, if you're hanging to play something (especially something higher level) from season 6, just let us know and we can avoid it - or you can run it! ;-) I'll mostly be sticking to season 6 for this group, it seems, so earlier seasons are fair game.