GM, is the SMC management position a plot hook or just an in-character we-can't-have-young-women-running-about thing?
It is intended as a story reward for Teleri, whether or not she actually takes the position. If you want to pursue it, it can be a plot hook, like most things. I can definitely think of ways for it to lead you further towards the center of my web. ^_^ err... uh... "benign web" that is...
There are so many things I want to do that require feats. It's hard to pick just one!
Teleri currently has no good way to contribute damage to combat. The best she has on offer is Acid Splash for a whopping 1d3 damage. She's got her light mace, but with only a +2 to hit for 1d6-1 damage that's not especially useful. And it only works in melee, which is a very bad place for Teleri to be with her AC of 11.
So I was thinking "What does a refined young woman of the Georgian era carry for personal protection?" And the answer is "A purse-sized flintlock pistol." Those are ranged. They do appreciable damage -- especially if you pair them with Deadly Aim which we've got for free thanks to the feat tax rules. And they hit touch AC which means Teleri has a fighting chance of hitting with them.
Then I looked into the mechanics and realized that guns are incredibly expensive -- 1,000 gp for a regular pistol, 1,750 gp for a double-barreled one. And I'd neat a feat for proficiency. And it's a standard action to reload unless I spend another feat on Rapid Reload. And ammunition costs 11-12 gold per shot. At this level it might be cheaper to bribe people to stop attacking us.
So that idea's off the table. I'm kind of leaning towards the custom feat Jason proposed that makes 1-round casting times into standard actions. Sleep is really all Teleri's got on the table at the moment, and she can't pass a Concentration check to save her life. Literally.
Lucky. Though had you considered some super-basic ones? Basic stat-boosters like Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Great Fortitude, Toughness, Improved Initiative. They're not especially exciting, sure, but they're useful in literally any build.
I've just realized I get to learn a new first level spell at this level! That makes me much happier. I was seriously thinking about taking Expanded Arcana just to get another first level spell. Eventually I may start taking the alternate favored class bonus that gets me an extra spell, but it's not really worth it before 5th level at the earliest.
Now, all I need to do is pick a spell. I'm leaning towards Mage Armor. On the one hand, that would improve my defenses a little bit. On the other hand, I'd still be stuck with little in the way of damage output.
I've been enjoying Teleri as a character, but I don't think I'm going to be playing any more low-level sorcerers in future. The limited options for doing stuff are seriously painful.
Yeah low-level sorcerers have it rough. That extra spell is REALLY helpful.
The idea of Teleri carrying a purse pistol is just so delightful... Maybe a purse hand crossbow for similar effect?
Agreed that a numerical bonus makes sense for Ives for now.
And feat taxes definitely help martials out more than casters.
Level up report.
Took a 3rd level in Sorcerer. Gained:
7 hp (4 from the d6, +2 CON, +1 favored class)
Feat: Quick Cast (the custom one discussed above, suggestions for a better name are welcome)
Woodland Stride
Entangle
5 regular skill points, spent on:
+1 Bluff
+1 Perception
+1 Sense Motive
+1 Spellcraft
+1 Stealth
2 background skill points, spent on:
+1 Perform (dance)
+1 Kn (Geography), because she's been doing a bit of travelling
Still no Knowledge (arcana). I don't think that's something she'd just spontaneously develop. She might need a textbook on magical theory for an apprentice wizard or something.
I don't think a hand crossbow is going to work, sadly. It doesn't have quite the same feel. Not to mention it would still cost a feat, deals d4 damage instead of d8, and rolls against regular AC rather than touch.
I've carefully reviewed every 1st level sorcerer/wizard spell and it's down to two candidates: Mage Armor or Coin Shot. GM, I have mechanical questions about how you would run Coin Shot.
1) It works like firearm ammunition: resolved against touch AC within the first range increment, deals both bludgeoning and piercing damage. Does that mean Deadly Aim would work with them, the way it does with guns?
2) It works on 3 coins at a time. Do I get to throw one of those the same turn I cast the spell, or is it cast on turn 1, throw on later turns?
3) Would they count as magical for purposes of overcoming DR/magic?
Does Ives know how to read?
Quick cast or quick casting is fine with me. My bad guys do quake in their boots now, knowing they'll be falling asleep a lot more often! XD
1). Yes to Deadly Aim.
2). I don't think you get to throw a coin in the round of casting. Paul, what do you think? I know Zeke casts this spell all the time but I didn't really pay attention to the mechanics.
3). Hmmm, seems reasonable that they would.
Ives, I really have very few ideas what kind of low-level equipment a shifter wants. Want to throw me some ideas? We'll see what the next murderer half-orc happens to be carrying.
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I don't think Zeke throws a coin in the round of casting. Usually he tries to cast it before going into a battle.
I do know how to read, but more on a lower than 3rd grade level because that is when I ran away from home, and I can't imagine the education system was great there.
Well I don't need weapons. MW hide armor, and eventually magic armor, and eventually wild armor would be good. Bracers of armor are useful because when I shape shift I don't get worn armor bonuses but I would get bracer bonuses. Though Teleri would probably like that too.
Ring of protections. Cloak of resistances.
So just numerical stuff, eh? Perhaps I'll come up with something with a little more flavorful...
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Yeah when it comes down to it, a shifter is just a martial class, and it is a number race.
There are always items that you could make or find that let you do 1 or 2 cool things per day.
edit:Oh! I suppose an important one to mention is amulet of mighty fists. It is really the only way for a shifter to get enhancement bonuses on natural attacks. That is pretty key, I would probably buy one with gold if I couldn't find one.
Notes on Mr. Owens' house:
It's three stories tall plus an attic.
The ground floor is given over to living and working space: kitchen, sitting room, Mr. Owens' office, etc. And a broom closet, apparently.
Floor 2 consists of rooms for the family: bedrooms for Mr. and Mrs. Owens, Prentice, two guest rooms, and Mrs. Owens' solar a the front with a balcony.
Floor 3 is where the house servants live. So that would be the two maids (Teleri's mother Rhosyn ver Owain is one), a butler, Teleri, and one empty room currently used for storage.
The attic is also used for storage.
The lot the house sits on is long and narrow. The house stands free of its two neighbors, but not by much. There's a (very small) front yard: a five-foot wide strip of grass between the sidewalk and the house, with flower beds along the front of the house.
The back yard is much roomier, extending almost 120 feet back, fenced in for privacy. There's an outhouse by the back door, tastefully hidden behind a privet, and the 60 or so feet closest to the house are a small formal garden, bounded at the back by a hedge. The final 60 feet beyond that hold a vegetable garden, a shed full of gardening and grounds maintenance tools, and a small one-room house where the groundskeeper Hal Twycross lives with his wife Cynthia (the cook).
Great description, Teleri. Helpful to know.
My gosh, you guys have me laughing so hard. Teleri's extremely serious demeanor provides the perfect foil for Ives... It's like you planned this...
I'll respond on behalf of Teleri's mother later today. I don't want to rush that during my lunch.
Shall I make up the rest of the house staff, GM, or would you like to do that?
Also note that I added a sheet called NPCs on the Sheets link, where I've noted down the named NPCs we've encountered so far.
Oh, and also I'm going to settle on Coin Shot for my spell this level.
I don't have any specific plans for them so go for it, Teleri.
Excellent. Very helpful.
Okay, so, we need to figure out where this big doohickey is. Teleri's immediate thought is that we should go attend an evening party. There's nothing quite like an evening party for gossip.
The problem being, of course, that neither Teleri nor Ives are sufficiently high class to be invited to a party, and anyway invitations for such things are generally issued 4 to 6 weeks in advance. Some good references:
How to throw a party in Regency London
On Morning Calls and Hosting Dinner Parties, Balls and Routs in the Late Regency (MUCH longer, and appears to be a direct quote from a period source which is therefore written in rather old-fashioned English).
GM, perhaps we could be presented as curiousities? It might be mildly humiliating, but it'd get us in.
Or, if we can wangle a normal invitation, it might be good to have some time to make some attempt at teaching Ives some proper manners, as detailed in certain points of good breeding for gentlemen.
Hahaha. Well that is an option you can pursue. You can attempt to diplomacy Mrs. Owens into bringing you along somewhere.
There's also the good old "Diplomacy: Gather information" roll as an abstraction of doing all the legwork. You have a couple of interesting situations you could try to investigate.
What ... you mean you don't want to create 500 elaborately detailed NPCs for an enormous ball? :-Þ
Hahaha. Well I'm actually completely fine with doing a social event with a modest number of sufficiently-detailed NPCs if that is what the party wants. I've got enough ideas about what is going on in Dinas Diwydiant to keep it interesting, I think.
Well maybe Teleri can convince Ives to come along. Ives wandering the city right now would draw... Unfortunate attention. But I will try to make sure there is stuff going on to keep both PCs occupied most all the time.
Besides, Ives would be at least as much use at a party as Teleri was in the woods. ^_^
Well I'll do what I can to make sure it's interesting. ;)
Meanwhile, I've been gaming for ten years and only had a party scene once. And that wasn't much of one considering all the guests turned out to be zombies.
I mean, that made it super easy to be the life of the party! But the conversation was lacking.
Hahahaha
Sorry I haven't posted - I've spent most of the day up to my ears in game prep for a session I'm running tomorrow. Correction, today. It's well past midnight.
No worries, Teleri. We're ahead of the expectation, 1/weekday and 1/weekend. I like to keep that the expectation so players can take a day off as needed and still be 100% above reproach.
Hahaha. Well this is a funny exchange. Just don't take too long deciding to go or I'll get antsy and throw a "random" encounter at you. "The Owens family has cursed furniture!"
You know, it's kind of spooky that cursed furniture comes up when I've been rumbling over a short adventure for an eight-year-old that involves helping a wizard who accidentally turned himself into a goat and animated a lot of the furniture in his tower...
Cursed furniture is THE fantasy trope of 2019. ;)
What's this about salt and gelatin? Clearly this is some prank that I'm unfamiliar with.
As a side note, because I forgot to specify it during my last post, Teleri does not mention her magical abilities at any point during her summary of the events in Pentrefan. Regarding the frog incident, she notes only that she retreated with the assistance of the two local guards, omiitting the spellcasting. With grippli fights, she describes herself as primarily serving as a cheerleader for Ives, at best serving as a distraction.
She's careful to avoid outright lies where possible, instead glossing over things with descriptions that are accurate but omit important details, primarily anything that might reveal that she can cast spells. She doesn't want that coming out, and although I thought of this complication immediately after proposing going to a party, it didn't occur to Teleri until they were sitting down at the table.
Feel free to roll a Bluff check for me if you like. It's at +8 now.
Yeah there will be on bluff roll in there but it won't take a lot to omit information compared to providing outright false information.
So far, I've made four Diplomacy checks at this party, rolling -- in this order -- a 7, a 6, a 4 and a 1 on the die. The worst part about PbP is that you can't ban misbehaving dice. BAH.
Indeed! It's been quite brutal!
Meanwhile, Ives has suffered too as I make him play a silly game of anti-chess with me. XD
And there's another 5 on the die. In theory, more than half of the numbers on a d20 are in double digits. But you couldn't prove it based on my rolls lately.
You know, sometimes it feels as though d20 games are basically about the slow reduction of variability. At low levels you are more or less at the mercy of the dice. The d20 is the biggest factor in whether you succeed or fail at any given task. Low levels just don't let you muster a modifier big enough to outweigh it. (Unless you hyper-specialize in one specific thing to the point where you're pretty much guaranteed to fail at everything else, which is not a good solution.)
The leveling up process then becomes about piling on bonuses and increases to slowly render the d20 less important. By mid-levels you're starting to get to the point where you can't fail some easier checks and have much better chances at passing difficult ones. By high levels, you're extremely unlikely to fail in your areas of specialty -- viz, fighters hitting on everything but a nat 1, rogues who cannot fail to disarm a trap, and so on.
It makes me wonder if the d20 might be too large a source of variability in the first place, since the system seems largely set up to fight against that variability.
It's official: Teleri rolls low. A bit. I went back and recorded all of her raw d20 rolls, omitting modifiers and rolls performed by the GM on her behalf.
She made 56 rolls at level 1. Average 9.821429, median 9.5.
She made 38 rolls at level 2. Average 9.121579, median 8.
So far in she's made 27 rolls at level 3. Average 8.037037, median 7.
Overall 121 rolls to date, with an average of 9.2, and a median of 9.
The dice are out to get me! I can prove it! I've got a spreadsheet!
According to my projections, Teleri will unlock the ability to roll negative numbers on a d20 at level 11!
If she survives that long, naturally.
Hahaha... Oh my...
You guys will have noticed that I allow failure to alter the plot but not derail it. So don't get too discouraged.
As far as plot hooks for you now, you can definitely try something else with this thug. Or you could:
1. Begin investigating a specific company
2. Further investigation of one of a number of specific locations
3. Head to a tavern and listen for rumors XD
This may be something of a pet peeve of mine, but it bugs me that the city guards in RPGs are universally incompetent and/or corrupt. I understand that there are good narrative reasons for it -- the PCs need to be the focus of the plot, after all. It wouldn't do to have the guards taking care of everything.
But it sets up this annoying situation where a character who has good in-character reasons to work with the law cannot do so because it doesn't fit the narrative structure of the RPG format. I dislike that tension between in-game and meta concerns.
As for going forward, I was thinking of sitting in the police station and refusing to leave unless they give us an escort, on the grounds that whether the sergeant believes it or not, that guy tried to kill us a few days ago, and is inevitably going to try again now that we've tipped our hand. But I don't think I will, because he'd probably just turf us out.
Ives, what do you hope to find at the place where we were assaulted?