Also, I'm feeling dumb: how do I get more info to show up with my posts (like more stats)?
I'll have time to look over sheets in more detail tomorrow.
Don't feel bad Topaz, it's not very intuitive how the headers work. You want to put those stats into the class/levels section.
Everybody may look at all of these spoilers, I'm simply organizing them so I don't drop a wall of text.
I want to premise all of this with an apology and a heads up: I'm sorry if this comes off as nitpicky, I just want to make sure everybody understands their characters. Also I know that you have limited internet right now, so please don't feel pressured to make any of these changes until it's more convenient for you.
With that said: What kind of human are you playing? I'm guessing that based on the amount of feats you have you're playing the "crossbred human", aka the standard human. However if that's the case I think you forgot to add the extra skill point per level a normal human gains, as well as potentially the additional "interest" ability that allows you to treat any one skill as a class skill. Or perhaps you would be interested in playing a low class urbanite human?
Also I see you're multiclassing into rogue. Very cool! However you should take the unchained rogue, which is basically a more powerful version to help balance them. With 1 level the only difference is that you would gain the following ability.
Finesse Training (Ex): At 1st level, a rogue gains Weapon Finesse as a bonus feat. In addition, starting at 3rd level, she can select any one type of weapon that can be used with Weapon Finesse (such as rapiers or daggers). Once this choice is made, it cannot be changed. Whenever she makes a successful melee attack with the selected weapon, she adds her Dexterity modifier instead of her Strength modifier to the damage roll. If any effect would prevent the rogue from adding her Strength modifier to the damage roll, she does not add her Dexterity modifier. The rogue can select a second weapon at 11th level and a third at 19th level.
Underneath the "Statistics" spoiler in the "OFFENSE" section, you list melee and ranged attacks. Try adding the entire effect of the attacks, such as like this:
Melee MWK Dagger +3 (1d4/19-20)
Ranged +1 Light Crossbow +6 (1d8+1/19-20)
That way we know exactly what's going to happen when you attack.
You actually have a 0 armor check penalty (ACP). All magic armor is considered masterwork, and masterwork armor has an ACP 1 lower than normal. Since studded leather normally has an ACP of 1, that means your armor has an ACP of 0.
I don't think you've added in your favored class bonus, which either gives you +1 hit point per level or +1 skill point per level.
Lastly, as a nitpicky thing, could you add your ability scores to the sections for them at the top of the character sheet? Such as how Draegar or Cass has them, so I can quickly look at your sheet and reference your ability scores without delving into your sheet.
But overall I'm very impressed, the sheet is very neat and organized! Well done :D
I've had some time to really look into it and I think I understand it now. For my own sanity, could you help order your character sheet a little to help me track stuff?
I would like you to list your implement schools somewhere, as well as what abilities are based off of what schools and where the focus points are at. I eventually did figure out exactly how your build works, but it took me quite a bit of reading and going back and forth with the occultist class and the archetype which alters it significantly.
Perhaps something like this:
Divination Implement School (2 points invested)
Third Eye (Su) The implement allows its bearer to notice that which can’t easily be seen. The implement grants a +1 insight bonus on Perception checks per 2 points of mental focus stored in it...
Sudden Insight (Su) As a swift action, Esdras can expend 1 point of mental focus to gain an insight into his immediate future. Esdras can use this foreknowledge as a free action before he rolls any ability check, attack roll, or skill check to...
Danger Sight (Sp) As an immediate action, Esdras can protect himself from harm by expending 1 point of mental focus. He can use this ability whenever he is the target of an attack or is required to attempt a saving throw against a special ability, spell, or trap...
Lastly, as a nitpicky thing, could you add your ability scores to the sections for them at the top of the character sheet? Such as how Draegar or Cass has them, so I can quickly look at your sheet and reference your ability scores without delving into your sheet.
But overall, a seriously fantastic job. The sheet is very clean and neat...and daresay I didn't find a single mistake, which is very impressive (although it took me a while between the new class, the strange archetype, and the VMC). The suggestion above to reorganize some of your class abilities is not a comment on you, but rather on me and my difficulty in getting my head around a new class :)
Based on my calculations, if you're putting all of your favored class bonuses into your health, your HP should be at 30, not 33.
Also, I have made a very, very bad mistake. When you were asking me questions about summoning, I failed to reference the rules I wrote myself for the setting.
******************************************************************
Magic
Only two types of magic are wholly off-limits: long-duration flight, and long-duration planar travel. The nature of the elemental planes that feed energy into the world makes it impossible for magic to create permanent flight. Powers that grant flight for never last more than five minutes and are harder to access, though flight with wings is fine. There are no flying carpets or brooms or other magical flying gear. Likewise, despite theories that suggest it should be possible to travel to distant planets via mighty rituals, all attempts to visit any foreign world never last longer than a few seconds before the traveler is shunted back to this plane. Even these trips are usually only possible when the moon and stars align properly. Mechanically, this means that no creature can ever leave its home plane for more than a few seconds, barring unique circumstances that are beyond the control of player characters. Such options may become available to PCs later in the campaign, but traveling to another world is never as simple as casting a single spell.
******************************************************************
This is my fault. I gave you approval to go summon crazy, and I see Cass is now built with augment summoning and the like, but the limits of magic due to The Separation make summoning and binding not really a viable strategy. Mechanically any summoning/binding/extraplanar spell is reduced in duration by an entire step (and capped at 5 minutes), which means minute/level spells last round/level, and round/level spells only last 1 round.
Again, entirely my fault. I apologize for unintentionally misleading you.
Besides summoning spells, it looks like two of your spells come into conflict with the issues with extraplanar limitations: secluded grimiore and create pit. Remember you can still use these spells, but create pit would only last 1 round regardless of level, and secluded grimiore would last 5 minutes.
Other than that massive mistake I made, the only other thing I would like to see is the full description of your special abilities copied over so I can reference them without having to open a bunch of other tabs.
Your sheet is very neat and clean, and the spreadsheet for your gear is incredibly impressive.
Based on your sheet, it looks like you're going with crossbred human instead of Skive, correct? That's totally fine, although since we know your mother was a captured Skive, that opens up the question: Who exactly is your father? You don't have to answer that question (unless you want to, I'm happy to figure it out for you), but he almost certainly wouldn't be a full-blooded Skive if Draegar is crossbred.
You have the trait vagabond child to make disable device a class skill, and have it properly calculated, but don't list it under your section that identified what skills are class skills. Also see the note below about the interest ability of crossbred humans. You might want to use it for use magic device since you picked up a trait to use your int instead of charisma for that skill? Or perhaps knowledge (engineering) which you have also trained?
There's a small formatting error in your defenses spoiler, you put [ooc...+2 shield[/ooc]. Also close the parenthesis around your flat footed ac after the studded leather.
But other than that, very neat! Well organized and easy to understand :D
As a note to everybody, keep in mind that crossbred humans have a slight bonus in this setting over normal humans: they gain interest, which allows them to treat any one skill as a class skill. This can help you be better at that one skill you're really interested in but your classes just don't give you.
Ok this is really bizarre. I can't find the Furious Draw rage power anywhere. It's not on the PFSRD, but I found it on Archives of Nethys being mentioned as a prerequisite for another rage power, but it doesn't actually mention it anywhere else.
Re-organizing Rage Power is on my list, not happy with the current state. Furious Draw is in the Miscellaneous powers area.
Re-organizing Rage Power is on my list, not happy with the current state. Furious Draw is in the Miscellaneous powers area.
Oh wow, thanks! What a quick response. Somebody must have an RSS set up if they're ever mentioned :P
Thanks for the notes! Re skill points: that explains something that had baffled me - the app I was using seemed to be giving me too many skill points, so I cut back, but I forgot about the bonuses. It was right all along. :)
Now that I reread, I think the low class urbanite fits best. I'll rework my profile to work with that. The wifi at this hotel is much better than at the previous one, so I can actually get something accomplished! I have a little time this morning and should have some this evening; tomorrow I'll be traveling much of the day and won't be on much.
Sounds good Topaz!
@Everybody - I'm getting the campaign info tab organized and was wondering what kind of information from the player's guide you all would like to see in there. The timeline? Race specifics? Nation descriptions? I have my own separate file where I reference the campaign setting (since there's lots of secret GM stuff), but let me know what information you would like copied over so you don't have to go off-site to reference and I'm happy to supply that.
Oh, noted! I saw your original write-up in the campaign guidebook which is why I asked about summoning. I honestly was struggling to figure out what to do with my feats so I went with that.
With the knowledge that summons only really last one round - I'm going to make some changes. I will also drop secluded grimoire and simply put the book in the haversack and arcane lock it for now.
As for HP: it actually looks like I should only have 27, I think I had toughness on my sheet at one point and never fixed the HP. Check my math! 6 hit points at level 1, 3 hit points from levels 2-4 gives me 15. The constitution bonus of +2 each level gives me 8 on top of that for 23. And then +4 for favored class.
I'll fix my sheet today and swap out the summoning/conjuration feats for something else. I am not building Cass to be a damage dealer so finding the right feats are proving challenging.
Yeah, I feel really bad about that. I can't believe I forgot about the magic limitations in this world. Especially since it's kinda important to the plot.
As for HP, you should actually be at 30 than. All of your math is good except the fact that at levels beyond 1 you gain half your hit die rounded up. That means as a d6 class you gain 4 per level, not 3.
Hmm, I can give you some player to player advice on feat choices for wizards. Improved initiative and toughness are feats that a wizard never regrets taking. Other useful feats are combat casting and defensive combat training. Of course you can always choose to specialize in a school with spell focus to pump up the DCs if you want to debuff or control people.
Okay, I've updated using low class urbanite. I think I got all the math re-sorted correctly. I dropped Lingering Performance since I'm losing the crossbred human extra feat.
I've picked some spells, but if anyone has advice for which bard spells sound most useful, let me know. I don't get to change them for a while, so making sure I've got a good mix will be important.
I've looked over everything and your crunch looks flawless Topaz :D
As for spells, I can give you player-to-player advice. Daze likely won't be useful since it has a 4HD limit and you're starting off level 4, although it wouldn't be useless for non-lethally stopping common people. Mage hand is always useful for light telekineses, and you can distract people with ghost sound.
Charm person is never bad, and cure light wounds is an excellent choice considering the difficulty in acquiring healing magic in this setting. As for the rest of 1st level spells...it really has a lot of variety. Disguise self for subterfuge, feather fall to save lives, ear piercing scream for combat, liberating command to help others, saving finale to save allies, silent image to trick others, vanish for short duration invisibility...quite a few very useful options on the bard list, and what I cited is hardly an exhaustive list of good spells.
@DM OMEN: Ok, I've rearranged the implements and made clear how many invested mental focus I have in them. Let me know if that works.
About the no mistakes, thanks! I'm kind of perfectionist about this, and since I use no software, it is kind of easier when you are used to it, since you always know where a bonus came from.
@Esdras - That looks much better, thank you. And now I have a pretty good grasp on how the occultist functions as well :D
Yep, Archives of Nethys, Misc. Rage Powers was where I found Furious Draw (apparently it's from the Golarion Villains Codex).
Yes, Draegar is Crossblooded. I'd completely forgotten about Interest, so that saves me a trait. Maybe even a feat.
I'd intended his "Crossblooded-ness" to be that he's a full-blooded Skive, who was raised by Urbanite Thanites. His cultural manorisms are Thaneish, hence the Crossblooded mechanics.
I'll fix those typos now.
Sounds good! So that does raise the question though: does Draegar have any idea who his father is? Or do you for that matter?
Updated everything. Crossblooded Interest allowed me to drop a couple traits. Now i just have to figure out what feat to take instead. EDIT: Went with Catch Off Guard. Now I should be able to pick up anything and use it as a weapon, and it will stack nicely with Impelling Disarm.
2ND EDIT: Swapped to the Hurler archetype.
GM, have you considered using the Automatic Bonus Progression rules? They work very well for settings where magic items are rare or restricted. Personally, I find that they also reduce the amount of bean counting I have to do as a GM to make sure the party stays at appropriate WBL.
I have to say this build sounds hilarious and entertaining. I can't wait to see it in action.
I'm familiar with those rules, and I so use them in certain settings. Usually fast paced combat heavy games. However I don't think I'll go with them for this campaign. I appreciate the suggestion though.
Alright I had a chance to look over your sheet Draegar and all seems in order now.
Right now Topaz, Draegar, and Esdras all seem to have their crunch ready to go. Cass has an idea of what needs to be changed and then he should be good to go.
Sevas, we haven't heard from you in a few days. I hope Disney went well :D
Also, as a note to everybody, any further thoughts on potentially knowing each other before the campaign starts? Some ideas:
Esdras and Sevas are both born to Briecan noble houses. They could easily have met each other at any point in their childhood, and they're both estranged from their families now.
Draegar and Cass both grew up in Thane. Draegar grew up on the most western city of Volistein, and Cass grew up in a town he named Foxglove Run that could very easily be placed near Volistein since it's a major trade center for Thane.
Topaz lives in the factories in Flint, which is not only the trade center of Almor but also the busiest port in all of Yundal. If anybody has ever visited Almor, they almost certainly would have gone through Flint. Cass got his education in Almor as well.
Sevas as a soldier of fortune could reasonably travel anywhere on various jobs, even into Skive and Ternock territory.
Esdras and Sevas are both born to Briecan noble houses. They could easily have met each other at any point in their childhood, and they're both estranged from their families now.
Actually Esdras is from Almor, from Treviri. If it is easier, I could relocate to Brieca, but I'd have to change a couple notable names, like his commander during the war and his once betrothed.
If the plot/campaign allows, I could easily change Treviri to Flint (thus his brother would be Flint's governor) so he would know Topaz from sight.
Oh I thought since he was from Treviri he would be Briecan. Of course you would have no reason why that is because I don't mention this anywhere in the player's guide.
Treviri is holy city within Almor's borders that is owned by Brieca/The Azgaarian Church. It is built atop the massive mountain sea that springs from the "water volcano" within their borders, which is essentially a natural hot spring of fantastic proportions. Treviri is not dissimilar to the Vatican, where only very special members of the church and their families are allowed to live, and outside visitors must go through security clearances and can only be present during the daytime and on certain days.
Perhaps changing to another city would be best, although Flint would likely be out of the question due to the current governor being lowborn.
One famous exception to the power of the nobility is Warney Shepley, the governor of Flint. Twenty years ago in the heart of the Berivian War he overthrew a Thane occupation of the city by inspiring a civilian rebellion, and to this day a half-destroyed Thane flagship resides in one of the city’s ports, as both a trophy and a warning. Ever since then he has gone virtually unopposed running as governor despite starting out as an industrial worker, and has been the longest running governor of any colonial city.
Slate would also be out of the question, but any other interior city would work. Weald was built as a fortress city to have a base of operations to fight the ternocks. Kath and Chert are "transport" cities that move goods between the inner and outer rings. Skarn and Tralt are "midpoint" cities to help facilitate the movement of goods to and from the Berivian Isles. Ra'an is Almor's secondary expedition city to the Berivian Isles (after Flint), and is also used to trade and facilitate relations with Brieca.
Hum... I believe Ra'an is the best choice then: It has strong interest in the Berivian Isles (and by consequence the war), is not far from Flint (to have seen Topaz perhaps once or twice) and is closer to Brieca, meaning that Esdras could have hired Sevas at least once in his own research.
If you are ok with it, I'll change Treviri to Ra'an.
Ra'an sounds good! Indeed it is one of the more interesting cities since it's closer to the border, and would make the political strife of Esdras' "illness" more poignant since that city is so important to relations with Brieca.
I don’t think Topaz will have ever left Flint, but she’s been lots of places in Flint. I could easily see her having crossed paths with Cass if Cass was the sort to go exploring town life while he was studying. And anyone who would have visited a tavern might have seen her perform.
Does Esdras carry the sword everywhere? If so, that would probably have stuck in her mind - most people in her world don’t walk around with greatswords. :)
Flint has a lot of tourism so it's conceivable for anybody to have visited. The booming economy and industry makes it have a lot of tourist attractions, as well as potentials for work (legal or otherwise). It is easily the most diverse city in all of Yundal.
Even more noticeable would be the full plate, if Esdras ever wore it around casually, since heavy armor has somewhat fallen out of use due to the warm climate and presence of water. That's not to say heavy armor is never used, but definitely less common than a standard setting.
Does Esdras carry the sword everywhere? If so, that would probably have stuck in her mind - most people in her world don’t walk around with greatswords. :)
Yes, he only lets his sword be out of his sight when in situations that are absolutely mandatory, like in the presence of the king or other high standing noble. Since he is himself a noble of quite high standing, few would have the authority to do that in most common places, like taverns, shops, and the like.
Even more noticeable would be the full plate, if Esdras ever wore it around casually, since heavy armor has somewhat fallen out of use due to the warm climate and presence of water. That's not to say heavy armor is never used, but definitely less common than a standard setting.
Esdras is kind of a 'relic of war', but even so would not walk everywhere with his armor, since it is actually not comfortable. When travelling to other cities/kingdoms, he would for sure bring it and store it somewhere safe, but would not use it when looking for a tavern to just drink.
I'm actually thinking about a way to ease people around him, since he would be carrying his sword at all times. Do you think some chains/locks would work? This way, when entering a tavern, he would lock his sword in its scabbard and handle the key to someone in charge of the place, for example the tavern keeper. Obviously he would have a copy of the key in his person for extreme emergencies, but that would give a 'sense of security'.
I wouldn't worry about freaking people out with your sword. This is still a fantasy setting with adventurers and soldiers and lots of danger. People arming themselves isn't out of the ordinary at all. Not only are their foreign threats with ternocks and Skives and pirates and the formless and the other nations, there are also domestic threats with thieves and drug dealers and slave traders and bandits.
I'm swamped at work today so I don't have time to add to the conversation about connections - but I -will- tomorrow!
I did, however, update my sheet with the requested changes. You'll notice my AC jumped up - I opted for Extend Spell instead of Toughness for my second feat to replace the conjuration stuff. My Mage Armor now lasts 8 hours and it's pretty much a: "wake up and cast" spell for Cass now. Should it ever not be cast (or dispelled/wears off) - I'll just remove it from the sheet until it is cast again.
Sounds good Cass!
You have a formatting error on quick study under special abilities.
Also don't forget that an extended mage armor will take up a 2nd level spell slot.
Dangit! I knew I forgot to update something. Spells are now updated and the formatting error is fixed. If you want a visual image of Cass - the hyperlink in my profile (just click his name) should take you to one.
Also, while researching feats - Sacred Geometry (and to a lesser extent, Arithmancy) are both PERFECT Cass feats for someone who sees the world in mathematics and engineering. But holy crap they are BROKEN.
Perfect, looks good now. And that image is very cool.
Yeah, I have an entire rant about sacred geometry. The feat is broken and asanine to play with. It deserves to be erased from existence. And Arithmancy looks like the exact same thing essentially.
Cass, any intrest in changing "Foxglove Run" to a suburb or outlying township of Volistein? Then Cass and Draegar could pretty easily know each other, perhaps even being students together or working in the same engineering sweatshop for a while. I'd love to be able to tie our backstories together more.
Awesome! Glad you guys had fun :) and congratulations on your engagement!
Congrats on the engagement!
What kinds of missions does Sevas tend to do? Mostly "go in and get this thing" sort of stuff? Maybe the Whispers needed something they either left behind during a rescue or that would provide evidence against someone?
Glad to see you guys brainstorming potential background connections :)
As a side note, I want to reiterate my earlier question about what information from the player's guide you all would like to see in the campaign info tab. I've linked each of the files from the g-drive. As an example of what you guys might see for the information you request, I've included the timeline and the languages. Let me know if that information seems unnecessary or if there is other information you would like to see there. It makes no difference to me since I use a separate document.
What about this: the Whispers hired Sevas to escort a rescued person out of town and back to where she came from? Topaz could have been involved in the handoff - maybe she was performing to distract people so it could happen. If the Whispers cell is local, I could see them needing someone to help if they needed to transport someone farther than the local area.
There's definitely a demand for smuggling people. Not only within the inner ring but also between the inner and outer ring.
Also I'm glad to see everybody dotted in the gameplay thread now!
Draegar, Sevas would almost certainly travel to anywhere close by if he heard of someone making headway with Ettunium experiments, especially in weaponry to pick something up. I'm perfectly ok with Draegar having made modifications to Sevas' pistol at some point while Sevas was nearby, and like GM Omen said, Sevas has been almost everywhere in his travels.
That sounds good to me. Draegar's "shop" is more of a mobile kiosk, so he could conceivably be anywhere in Skive territory that there's conflict happening. Skive techsmiths are rare, so he goes where he's "needed."
Also I'm glad to see everybody dotted in the gameplay thread now!
I see you've noticed my stealth-dot. :)
I am a user of the stealth dot myself :P
In terms of useful info: the links you have up are super helpful. For me, it might be helpful to have a cheat sheet/reminder of the things that are most notably (or most easily forgotten) different from a standard setting, to make it easy to check assumptions before doing or saying something. (I'm thinking of things like the summoning issue that came up.)
Exactly, I'm thinking the same things Topaz. However I'm unsure of what things I should include. I want to avoid dumping the entire player's guide in there (unless you think that would be helpful).
So for a start, the alternate magic rules would be good to include. Got it, I'll get that done later today. Anything else come to mind for anybody?
Alright! Back at it after an INSANE two days at work. First, regarding information – yeah, magic rules would be super helpful. I have the notes on the planets from the Player’s Guide which would be the other big thing that Cass uses – calculating and predicting the future using the orbits and rotations of the planets to “skysee”. For what its worth – Cass will not be dipping into that prestige class. His interest in skyseeing is only to see how the universe works – not something he would delve deeply into into. Of course, this may change depending on how events unfold during the campaign, but for now – I’m not planning on it.
As for connections, here are some thoughts:
I can easily see Cass having met Esdras during his studies at Hemming University. He wouldn’t be able to assist much with the sword – as he only lasted in formal education for about two years before he bailed. Cass is naturally curious and a sword like Esdras’, if he got word of it, would definitely have drawn his attention. I think Cass may “know of” and “remember” Esdras more than having had any meaningful interaction beyond maybe a quick hello as he listened in on his teachers examining the sword.
I’m 100% fine with moving Foxglove Run near Volistein. I think Draegar would have heard of the Abernathy’s – as I imagine one of Cass’ brothers would have set up shot in Volistein after finishing apprenticeship with his father. And Cass would most assuredly have visited his brother and his family at some point. While I don’t think they went to school together (he was schooled in his town and never had formal education after that) – I can see them having interacted as children in Volistein itself. Perhaps he took an extended winter there when his brother first set up shop to help – and it was then he met Draegar during his pre-teen years. Cass probably would have instinctively recognized that spark of intelligence in Draegar and became friends that way. He’d be especially curious about Draegar given his Skive heritage – but not in an offensive way.
I think of all the people Cass is likely to have met – Topaz would have been the most recent. While Cass is a wizard he also comes from a very blue-collar family. And when he travelled with his mentor selling wares (undoubtedly to Flint at one point) the bars and taverns he would have frequented would have been the kind of places Topaz did as well. He also only spent two years in the university and chafed under the didn’t care much for the elitism that many of the students probably had. There’s no doubt he would have spent more time with the Dockers than with his colleagues. He probably had a conversation or two with her and heard her perform. They’re probably acquaintances though and not friends just because they wouldn’t have had a whole lot of time to get to know one another. But Cass would definitely have a healthy admiration for Topaz – music is something he loves but also something he has absolutely no talent in.
Of all the characters – Sevas is the one I don’t think Cass would have interacted with much at all. I read through Sevas’ background on the recruitment thread. Cass’ formal education was next-to-nothing and he definitely is not religious at all. Cass also avoided the war and is not anywhere tied to nobility. Cass might know Sevas’ sister if she attended Hemming University, and may know of Sevas through her. But… other than that, I don’t see anything – but I’ll wait until you’ve finished . And I think its perfectly fine for there to be some characters that don’t know each other.
As far as I've read, if I've not missed something, it appears that the easiest place for us to start would be at Topaz's tavern. Even if a bit cliché, it works fine in this case, since everyone could find a reason to be there at a given time.
Cass, that makes sense to me. Someone who actually showed interest in the music more than the usual crowd would definitely catch her attention, and she might have been intrigued by his mechanica at least in a passing way.
I don't see an easy way for Topaz to have met Draegar, but as Cass said, not everyone has to be connected to everyone.
Actually in all likelihood with your distinct backgrounds you probably won't start off together. But that's fine, I anticipated as much with the loose background rules I gave. Just work on any connections your characters may have had (such as what Cass posted recently) and let me worry about getting everything started.
Cass, that sounds great to me. Childhood friends who run in similar circles and run into each other occasionally is a great way to start the game.
"I know a guy..." is a great way to pull other players into an adventure hook.
Very well, for Esdras, he would have met Topaz and Cass once or twice, vaguely remembering them. If Sevas is OK with it, Esdras would have hired him at least once to retrieve a rare book from Brieca.
It sounds like this is where we are for Topaz:
Esdras: She will have seen him in a tavern along the way, and would remember him because of the sword.
Cass: An acquaintance; he was a regular during his studies and they had some conversations.
Sevas: He was hired to help with a Whispers mission. She would know his face but not much else (no questions asked either side...)
Draegar: Probably hasn't met.
Sound good?