Adventures in Oakstead

Game Master Foxy Quickpaw

I like the Mystic Theurge way if you have spellcasting from two sources. You can progress with the spellcasting, but nothing else from the classes.
If you are taking a different class then it's also easy. The other class doesn't advance.
Although, I "can" still gain a hex by taking the Extra Hex feat.... But I don't automatically get new witch spells when gaining a level. That will become an issue when higher level spells are available! The rules do allow another witch to help, but that would mean that Clara and I couldn't work together to get more spells.
The only Prestige class I can think of that gives fighting and spellcasting to both classes would be something like Eldritch Knight. ?? And it takes a level from the caster right away at level 1. Good example?

Clara grows an inverness coat, a cap and holds a pipe that blows bubbles.

"I got the feeling that I'll be able to solve this mystery."

Good example?

Not a bad example. Mystic Theurge also costs you three levels of your casting class to start with. It is just the special ruling that allows you not to have that. But you progress actually in the prestige class.

Another thing we could use is the Unchained Multiclassing, which lets you take stuff from another class instead of a feat. If we take that simpy in addition to the feat, this might also be an interesting way to go.

I decided for simple multi-classing for Clara, because that is easiest. Mostly because the one level dip investigator is probably good enough. We'll see how it works out.

I'll go with simple multiclassing too. We'll see how it goes!

+1 level Mystic Theurge of course. I'll try to get everything updated tomorrow.

I've updated my character sheet.

Quick question: do we consider that we already have all of our spells prepared, or do we need to rest first, as usual?

You're a skald. You don't prepare. All who prepare can do the "slots left open" stuff and prepare later.

You're a skald. You don't prepare. All who prepare can do the "slots left open" stuff and prepare later.

Oh, yeah... I'm a doofus.

Also I'll change Tarjun'S Performance skill to focus on singing rather than wind instruments, as it's going to be hard for him to play the flute and hit monsters at the same time...

I'll have him pick up wind instruments later.

CS undated except for taking a hex with the 3rd level feat. I can't see that Jewel would have taken the Fly hex before seeing the hole....

Seriously though, since I won't be advancing in levels as a witch, the usable hexes are a pretty short list. Keeping with Jewel's helping hands style, I was thinking that Protective Luck makes more sense. Is that OK?

You might have noticed that I cheated regarding the levels as witch.

I see no reason why not. We're stacking overpowered stuff here anyway. But I don't see how you are gonna make that work properly without cackle.

About the spellcraft to recognize the hex...

You can't. The skill states: Identify Spell Being Cast

Identifying a spell as it is being cast requires no action, but you must be able to clearly see the spell as it is being cast, and this incurs the same penalties as a Perception skill check due to distance, poor conditions, and other factors.

Now flight is a Supernatural Ability with no verbal, somatic or material components. But even if we say that you can identify it by the effect, you'd identify featherfall and levitate, not the hex.

Understood. I was thinking more about recognizing the spell effect, noticing that she didn't cast anything, and deducing that either she had an object (ring?) that gave her the abilities, (unlikely considering who and where we are) or that she had a new hex.

Or would that qualify more as Knowledge-Arcana? I get those mixed up. They seem to overlap a good deal!

Without Cackle the hex lasts 1 round. It only works against targeted attacks. So basically, in a fight I cower behind the meat shield (Tarjun) protecting him! Even with Cackle I have to stay within 30' to keep it active. Action economy for the Witch is really poor!

Cheated? I only glanced. I try not to examine other's sheets when I'm playing a game. I don't want to meta-game and it's easier if I don't know details of a character's abilities.

Even looking it over I don't see it. You have 5 hexes, but 2 are from the witch levels and 3 are from Feats. I see the alertness Feat from your Familiar and 3 extra hex feats. Level 1, Human bonus, and Level 3. ??

But cackle is a move action, using the protection hex is a standard action. That is a huge difference.

Yes. What other feats would I take as a witch?

Was commenting because you said you cheated on the levels as a witch. I don't see a cheat.

I was in a game a couple of years back with a higher level witch. Pretty much all of the battles were moving melee. So many of my turns were double "moves", being move and cackle. It did get better once I was able to "Scar" some of the people so I didn't have to stay within 30'. But, the GM ruled (perfectly within reason) that I did have to stay within hearing range for the Cackle to work. I don't remember what was decided as "hearing range", but it still really helped.

I cheated in regards to the levels as witch to get levitate. It was a - too subtle - hint that there is a way around your issue with the hexes being not useful for you.

Just treat your witch caster level as witch level for the purpose of hexes.

You still only talking to a voice. You don't see the drider.

I was more thinking alongside the lines of 'do we engage in combat or not'... Guess he could still cast some mind-affecting spell like Sleep or Cause Fear, but maybe that would be a little suicidal :P

I mean you have no one to attack. You could try area spells.

Let's check:
Sleep: max 4 HD. Yeah, no.
Cause Fear: Well, DC14? For one round per CL. What's your plan for when the fear wears off after 18s and the drider is still invisible?

XD

Hopefully she'll trip on her own legs in her panic, fall face first on the ground, take some falling damages, and turn visible! :P

She could run headless into the hole and fall to her death! You could be the hero of the day, but no one would notice. Because invisible.

See? My plans are actually genius! XD

@Tarjun
I'm not sure where the cleaning happened. In retrospect, it looks like you're still hobbling around entangled in webs. :P

Feel free to point out where the cleansing was performed. ;)

I had assumed that Will would not have left his child stay wrapped in spider web... Simple logical inference from the fact that he scooped him up, hugged him tight, and that Tarjun's mother did not immediately go "Oh my god what is this gigantic spider web on your leg" when she saw him :P

But perhaps I'm wrong?!

Who am I? What am I? I can't see myself! D:

Tell me what I look like, GM!

Of course it makes sense, that you would be cleaned by the earliest possible opportunity. If not by Will, then you'd have done it yourself. Or Clara would have offered to burn you clean.

But it was never mentioned explicitly, and the picture of you still walking around in spiderwebs and everyone ignoring it was just too hilarious to not mention it.

Side quest to find the spiderwebs, you were cleaned of!

Sidequest completed, you get a permanent bonus of +2 on any Escape Artist check! ;)

Of course Tarjun is still hobbling around, tangled in his spider webs... He's been that way from the very start of the campaign!

Ah, that's the reason for your limp? I was wondering.

Change his name to Tarjun (Webs) Branston. And once the curse of the webs is lifted his disability magically disappears too!

Of course then we also find out that Mom is a shapechanged Drider that kept spinning invisible webs to keep him hobbled!

So we don't need to search for web strings, but Tarjun can shoot new ones out of his ass?

Maybe he'd have to craft them instead, like Spider-Man.

Craft or Crap?

But that could be quite dangerous! If they tangle instead of shoot out, that could plug you up permanently....

Hi everyone!

I just wanted to let you know that I'll be on holidays next week, from Monday to Sunday. I should probably be able to get a few posts in thanks to the hotel's Wifi, but don't hesitate to bot me and move things along if I'm being too slow :)

Thanks for your patience!

The problem is more that I might be slow.

You LG good behaving kids make it really hard to keep the adventure going.

Don't look at Tarjun, he's Chaotic Neutral :P

But it's true that I played him as somewhat reluctant to engage with the dark elves at this point, since his near-murder experience

He's rash, but he's not *that* rash

I'm not talking about your behaviour towards the drider. That was well over the line and suicidal.

But towards your parents you act as the good boy. Chaotic neutral is when you have to go searching for your kids at night, because they left without telling you and don't give a shit about your worries.

For CN, you'd have to walk to the meeting, make known that you're there by asking questions, and afterwards complain to your parents that they didn't take you along.

I know that the alignments are not described very extensively in the CRB. Most people choose one either because it sounds fancy, or because you need it for your class.

From my point of view, you get neutral for free. Good isn't hard to achieve by being nice to most and only killing bad guys.

For lawful, you'd have to skip questionable opportunities, like keeping lost items and you'd need to oppose them who break the law instead of looking the other way. Like of Tarjun would really act chaotic, and Jewel were lawful, she'd try to stop him and if it didn't work, she'd snitch.

Evil is no topic here, so on to chaotic: You despise the law in any form. It is an annoyance that limits you in your freedom. Parents putting up rules would have a hard time with you if you were chaotic.

If you want to use my assessment, to think about Tarjun's alignment, you're welcome. If not it doesn't matter until someone comes along with a chaos hammer.

If you want to make your rp and your alignment match better, I'd prefer you'd change the alignment instead of changing Tarjun's acting to true chaotic. ;)

I mean, what's the fun of playing a kid with Wisdom 8 and little to none Knowledge skills if you can't let him underestimate an unknown threat once in a while :P

I tend to view Alignments as more of a general guideline that can be interpreted in several ways - as in, you can have a Lawful knight who is loyal to his order but deceitful with his personal relationships in the same way that you can have a Lawful farmer who is loyal to his family and community but wary of everyone else :) But it's true that I've initially envisioned Tarjun as more impredictible than he turned out to be...

Maybe it's Clara's influence. Nobody could be more chaotic than that kid.

That being said, I'm happy to change Tarjun'S alignment to True Neutral :) Perhaps tellingly, I even thought he was TN before I last checked... And it could highlight the tension between his wish live as freely as he can and the fact that he has learned to listen to his parents and elders more, given all the dangers he's faced!

To be fair, Branston's are followers of an LG deity. Gertrud - with Desna - has a more freedom oriented approach herself, and circumvents the L part of the village by being in charge and making her own rules where necessary.
To be rebellious in such a household takes a little more effort.

I definitely can't argue Jewel's alignment. LG is pretty much how I've felt she is, although I don't think she'd snitch on Tarjun for breaking a rule. She would try to stop him from doing so, maybe even going along with him to try and keep him out of trouble. I definitely can't see Tarjun as CN. CG more like it!

Clara.... CN with occasional Good tendencies, when convenient! Definitely the fun girl to be with, until you get caught! Then you need someone to blame!!

SLAs use concentration to do so defensively. If you can hide it, I don't know. Because is has no verbal, no material and no somatic component, but still provokes attacks of opportunity. What are you going to hide then?

Yeah, Tarjun turned out differently than what I had expected. But that's the joy of RP! ;)

I can't change his alignment right now, but I'll do it once I'm back from my holiday

I'm really sorry I can't make use of the rage song. I would have loved rage kicking the guy in the nuts and have him go down, but the numbers won't allow such an action.

No worries! It was mainly to give Tarjun a boost in melee :) With you guys being spellcaster, I know Raging Song will only ever be useful if you run out of spells

Protective Luck is a hex and SU. SU's aren't supposed to provoke AoO's.

Witch Hexes (I'm assuming the ones marked SU at least) "Unless otherwise noted, using a hex is a standard action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. The save to resist a hex is equal to 10 + 1/2 the witch’s level + the witch’s Intelligence modifier."

@Jewel
Maybe you should assume, that there is room to step away from the dwarf?

I had thought about that, but figured that a kids bedroom was probably tight space.

Next round I'm going to use my new Divine ability and punch him!

Wooden Fist (Su): As a free action, your hands can become as hard as wood, covered in tiny thorns. While you have wooden fists, your unarmed strikes do not provoke attacks of opportunity, deal lethal damage, and gain a bonus on damage rolls equal to 1/2 your cleric level (minimum +1). You can use this ability for a number of rounds per day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier. These rounds do not need to be consecutive.

On one side it is interesting to watch. How Jewel and Tarjun's questions are centered on Tarjun and Jewel. Of course there is a reason the dwarves chose this house and why they went upstairs. Because it is the only place they would meet with the PCs of the game. This is an out of game meta reason.

In game it would be just the first house on the way for two bad guys running away. Also there would be no way for them to tell where which room in the house is, and whom they'd meet. Could as well have been your parents bed room up there. Or an attic. Or a room of a woodcutter, if it were not your house.

They were missing information! For all Tarjun and Jewel know, there was a loud noise, then txo shady individuals burst into their room and started threatening them :)