GM Abraham's Emerald Spire

Game Master Abraham Z.

Hey everyone, we've had an inquiry from another potential player. I'm inclined to add them - any objections?

No objections here.

Onjatan wrote:

Do you want another entry for Onjatan's familiar on slide #2?

Yes please.

Done. Note that Araga has DR 1/- and tremorsense, and is mostly burrowing. I'm aiming for "crocodile swimming with the eyes just above the water", essentially. Staying fairly hidden, because personality, but also wanting to support Onjatan with her aura. I'd guess some level of cover, but that's your call.

No objection.

"B r o c h u r e s .."

Onjatan reaches into his pack and pulls out a few nicely-illustrated (but uncolored) brochures. Each shows several peaceful-looking rock gardens, along with contact information to request a consultation. He hands one to anyone who seems interested.

Not worth pulling out the masterwork tool IC

Hey everyone, we've had an inquiry from another potential player. I'm inclined to add them - any objections?

OK with me. He may not have a PFS account though. A cleric Monk sounds fun.

It's fine with me.

Sorry for the limited attention. I'm home with a sick kid.

GM Abraham wrote:

Hey everyone, we've had an inquiry from another potential player. I'm inclined to add them - any objections?

No objections here.

GM Abraham wrote:

Onjatan wrote:

Do you want another entry for Onjatan's familiar on slide #2?

Yes please.

Done. Note that Araga has DR 1/- and tremorsense, and is mostly burrowing. I'm aiming for "crocodile swimming with the eyes just above the water", essentially. Staying fairly hidden, because personality, but also wanting to support Onjatan with her aura. I'd guess some level of cover, but that's your call.

Unfortunately no cover without hopping in the satchel or similar.

Unfortunately no cover without hopping in the satchel or similar.

"okay... I'll just stay exposed anyway, I guess"

"I also checked. The Ten have ruled that I can't use weapons. Sorry."

Reminders for GM: Onjatan - Stonecunning; Araga - tremorsense;

One more thing that could possibly affect either the party or the enemies:

Araga's aura gives a +2 competence bonus on attack rolls and damage rolls to all creatures within 30 feet with the earth subtype, and to the DCs of all racial spell-like, supernatural, and extraordinary abilities of such creatures (polymorph doesn't count.) So that would include some summons, and potentially whatever's hanging around down here. If it looks like it's hurting us more than helping, Araga can hide in Onjatan's satchel to block the aura.

doesn't even work on oreads? ha! that's a missed opportunity by the devs!!

doesn't even work on oreads? ha! that's a missed opportunity by the devs!!

"U n f o r t u n a t e .."

It at least has some effect on appropriate kineticists, but apparently oreads just aren't earthy enough.

Thinking about it... I don't believe there was much discussion on what to do with Onjatan's Arrow Catching buckler? Off, to avoid friendly fire from the alchemist? Or on, to protect those nearby?

I'd generally prefer "on", of course, but I don't know how many ranged attackers we're going to run into down here. Or how much this party tends to group up on the front line.

Don't worry about Yanda. She has the selective feat and an admixture to deal with the hard to hit.

Don't worry about Yanda. She has the selective feat and an admixture to deal with the hard to hit.

Yeaaaahhhh... the splash damage isn't my concern. It's the fact that any ranged attacks targeting someone within 5' of Onjatan instead target Onjatan directly (unless the weapon has at least a +2 enhancement bonus.)

He's got AC, DR, and decent HP, so I figured it was a good way to protect the party. That was back in... looks like Lamashan 4721, and he hasn't actually gotten to use it yet.

Well, that is annoying! You are definitely going to want that turned off before you engage unless there are multiple mooks.

9d8 ⇒ (7, 1, 7, 3, 8, 6, 6, 2, 8) = 48 Let me know if HP is handled differently.

Here is what I have so far!

9d8 Let me know if HP is handled differently.

Here is what I have so far!

For Society games hp per level is always average rounded up. So a d8 class will always get 5 per level.

GM Wolf wrote:

9d8 Let me know if HP is handled differently.

Here is what I have so far!

For Society games hp per level is always average rounded up. So a d8 class will always get 5 per level.

Except level 1, which is max HP.

9d8 Let me know if HP is handled differently.

Here is what I have so far!

GM Wolf, it sounds like perhaps you are new to PFS? If so, I'll be happy to help you get oriented (and it seems like the other PCs are helping too). But I want to clarify, are you building a new PC for this game? And have you previously played or GM-ed Society games?

Thanks Shiva!

I played one society game years ago. I can't remember much of it.

I was making a character from scratch. If that doesn't work let me know. Also if it is too much work for you let me know and I will bow out.

Thanks Shiva!

I played one society game years ago. I can't remember much of it.

I was making a character from scratch. If that doesn't work let me know. Also if it is too much work for you let me know and I will bow out.

It’s not about it being too much work. It’s that in Society play you have to level up from 1, step by step.

Ok everyone we are back to a party of four but I've reached out to grimdog to see if they want the 5th spot. I'll continue to pause action until we find out if they are joining in. Hope we get going again soon!

Ok everyone we are back to a party of four but I've reached out to grimdog to see if they want the 5th spot. I'll continue to pause action until we find out if they are joining in. Hope we get going again soon!

"R o c k . i s . p a t i e n t .."

Please unsubscribe me!

here i am...this site has too many bugs...

Your post from Tuesday only just now showed up for me, so... yeah.

Everyone within 10' of Onjatan, remember you've got a +1 morale bonus on this.

What does Araga know about these guys, from those rolls?

Does she, for example, know about the standard mummy vulnerability? Or their propensity to curse? Either one of those would affect Onjatan's actions.

Just checked. Apparently, 1 point of Onjatan's bonus vs fear only applies to spells and SLAs. So if this is neither, -1. That would make the low roll 25, so still (hopefully) a success, but worth noting.

LOL. If that will save is over 20 we will all be running. Not likely, but that would be a hoot.

LOL. If that will save is over 20 we will all be running. Not likely, but that would be a hoot.

Running? you wish. Prepare for something much, much worse.

Firewarden Yanda wrote:

LOL. If that will save is over 20 we will all be running. Not likely, but that would be a hoot.

Running? you wish. Prepare for something much, much worse.

Yeah, I had the same thought.

"Good news, Yanda!"

Hey, it would not be the first battle Yanda spent the whole time paralyzed or dominated or screwed over in some way. Seems to be a bad habit with her.

What does Araga know about these guys, from those rolls?

Does she, for example, know about the standard mummy vulnerability? Or their propensity to curse? Either one of those would affect Onjatan's actions.

As noted in the gameplay, Araga gets one question about the automaton and one about the mummies. Anything else is not known by your characters (regardless of what you as players may know).

** spoiler omitted **

Araga also recognizes that the brown substance on the automaton is Brown Mold. One question

Hey, it would not be the first battle Yanda spent the whole time paralyzed or dominated or screwed over in some way. Seems to be a bad habit with her.

No kidding! She has really had some bad luck with saves. Hoping for better from here on out.

Araga wrote:

What does Araga know about these guys, from those rolls?

Does she, for example, know about the standard mummy vulnerability? Or their propensity to curse? Either one of those would affect Onjatan's actions.

As noted in the gameplay, Araga gets one question about the automaton and one about the mummies. Anything else is not known by your characters (regardless of what you as players may know).

Sorry, didn't see anything in the IC thread on how you wanted to handle information gained from Knowledge checks. I've seen GMs handle things in various ways.

Automaton: Let's go with resistances, or whatever you call the class of information that includes DR.

Bandaged guys: Hmm. Can't decide if she'd get "special abilities" (interesting facts), or would have come across "weaknesses" first (because elemental affinities). Or just "resistances", to match the other guy.
...dice to decide. 1 for special abilities, 2 for resistances.
1d2 ⇒ 1
Mummies: Special abilities

Araga wrote:

** spoiler omitted **

Araga also recognizes that the brown substance on the automaton is Brown Mold. One question

Given that there's pretty much one interesting thing about the mold (or maybe two)... I'll say her question there is "how do we kill it?"

Araga recalls that Emerald Automatons have resistance to weapons that are not adamantine.

Mummies have an aura of Despair (as Yanda has already unfortunately discovered) that can paralyze one with fear. They can also cause Mummy Rot (both a curse and a disease) with their slam attacks.

Brown Mold is destroyed by cold.

Araga recalls that Emerald Automatons have resistance to weapons that are not adamantine.

But not SR? Interesting. Of course, I guess it could still have Immunity to Magic.

Please note that Onjatan's main attacks are considered Spell-Like Abilities. However, only his fire attack allows SR - his rock attacks do not.

Waiting to hear the result of Jeydahvu's attack, plus waiting for Shiva to post since I'm not familiar with what you guys normally do.

@everyone, please do me a favor and write your attacks like this:

Attack 1, modifiers... result
Attack 1, modifiers... dmg

Attack 2, modifiers... result
Attack 2, modifiers... dmg

This is much easier for me to parse quickly, compared to when the attack roll and the dmg roll are on a single line together.

Thanks! My aging eyes appreciate it.

so for the parry multiple attacks, i took it with combat reflexes i get up to my Dex mod in AoO's...so i could use multple p/r's a turn...if i've been using this wrong, no one has corrected me...if i read that wrong that's my fault...

The parry uses an AoO and a panache. A successful parry allows you to use an immediate action to riposte and attack back.

In the playtest the parry and riposte were combined, but that lead to players walking through a group of enemies and getting to attack each of them with full bonus so it got nerfed.

well crap...guess i've been reading it wrong...thats on me...only one p/r from now on...thankfully it hasnt come into play too many times...

You can still have lots of parries, as long as you have AoOs and panacea available. It's only stabbing them back that's once per turn. So plenty of defense, but less offense.

Ah yes, the Bracers of heavy nerf.
Originally printed as a continuous effect before the got an errata down to once per day.

What a useless item to include as loot in a dungeon!

Ah yes, the Bracers of heavy nerf.

Originally printed as a continuous effect before the got an errata down to once per day.

When they were first printed, I had a low-level archer. I thought, "great, now I know what to get once I save up enough!"

By the time he had enough money, they'd been long-since nerfed to their current state.

What a useless item to include as loot in a dungeon!

Checking the review and errata dates, it looks like Emerald Spire was published before the nerf. The text that the author expected to be used was:

Now that would be useful. Now, it is just something to be added to the amorphous loot pile, like rings of protection +1 when you are 10th level.

Shiva Parashurama wrote:

Ah yes, the Bracers of heavy nerf.

Originally printed as a continuous effect before the got an errata down to once per day.

When they were first printed, I had a low-level archer. I thought, "great, now I know what to get once I save up enough!"

By the time he had enough money, they'd been long-since nerfed to their current state.

GM Abraham wrote:

What a useless item to include as loot in a dungeon!

Checking the review and errata dates, it looks like Emerald Spire was published before the nerf. The text that the author expected to be used was:

"They continually grant the wearer the benefits of the aspect of the falcon spell, though without the spell’s physical transformation."

Yeah, +3 perception, +1 to hit, & improving your critical to 19-20/x3 would be great for any archer.

shaventalz wrote:

Shiva Parashurama wrote:

Ah yes, the Bracers of heavy nerf.

Originally printed as a continuous effect before the got an errata down to once per day.

When they were first printed, I had a low-level archer. I thought, "great, now I know what to get once I save up enough!"

By the time he had enough money, they'd been long-since nerfed to their current state.

GM Abraham wrote:

What a useless item to include as loot in a dungeon!

Checking the review and errata dates, it looks like Emerald Spire was published before the nerf. The text that the author expected to be used was:

"They continually grant the wearer the benefits of the aspect of the falcon spell, though without the spell’s physical transformation."

Yeah, +3 perception, +1 to hit, & improving your critical to 19-20/x3 would be great for any archer.

What Paizo should have done was increase the price.

Objectively, I can see how they were probably overpowered in their initial iteration. The improved critical range is literally the equivalent of a feat, which is per guidelines supposed to be around 5k in a slotted item. The attack bonus isn't untyped, so it's worth less than a feat, and the Perception bonus is maybe worth 1500, based on Eyes of the Eagle. If you look at it by the bonuses granted and not as a spell effect, the guidelines would probably it it around 13k. That's probably too high for it to actually get used, but somewhere around that area.

Checking the guidelines... a 1/d command-word-activated slotted item that casts a 1st-level spell at CL1 should cost... 360gp. Which seems low, but that's still their own guideline. And that's not counting any discount from the "must be worn 24h to work" restriction.