Tyrant's Grasp for PFS Credit (Inactive)

Game Master DoubleGold

Discuss here.

Hail all. Let us find the minnions of the Tyrant ... and slay them all!
And find a bard and bribe him to make a nice story out of it! ;-)

Let us strive for victory, despite all odds. I may die but if I do I’ll take a lot of undead with me. (Grod can be a bit of a fatalist.)

Btw, Justus, I’ve just noticed that we’re both Paladins who wield butchering axes. This will be interesting.

Well I wanted a new weapon, something I have never used before. And with feat tax, it is worth it!

Starting the discussion about party composition. So far we have:

Dwarf Monk
Duskwalker Spiritualist
Half-orc Paladin
Human Paladin
Human Oracle
? (Is I'm Hiding in your closet still joining us?)

The biggest issue I see is a lack of ranged damage. Right now something could hover fifteen feet above our heads and laugh while Aranor, Grod, and Rali try desperately to hit it with light crossbows and shurikens.

Anyone have any ideas? I'm willing to switch concepts, but I'm fairly new to Pathfinder and not familiar with all the classes.

Just woke up and got the news; didn't expect this by this point, thank you!

I'll cook up my character immediately: It's a Dhampir Bard with an ever-so-slightly customized Archetype combination.

Cool! Aranor will go for the inflict spells rather than the cures so she can heal you if necessary. (I think the paladins/spiritualist will provide enough healing for everyone else.)

Good deal.

How much money do we start with?

Well I wanted a new weapon, something I have never used before. And with feat tax, it is worth it!

Any chance I could talk you into picking up the Divine Hunter archetype and trying out the Orc Hornbow? Since the GM has offered to possibility of switching up archetypes and we need range. I’d do so myself but that archetype doesn’t stack with mine, and the “dolorous half-Orc with a big axe” concept wont really work if I have to rejigger my stats to cast off Charisma (though I could switch to a greataxe and at least keep that, though I wouldn’t use it much). I can still pick up some ranged feats, but it’d be more effective if someone could pick up the archetype.

@DM: The Breadth of Experience feat does not specifically include Dhampir, but it was printed before the Dhampir race was. Would you permit me to take it? After all, Dhampir are the only Pathfinder race I know of whose official lifespan eclipses even that of Elves!

On the matter of Campaign Traits: I notice we have three characters with the same one - we probably want to fix that. The title-like names of the traits imply everyone should have a different one - and Akku seems to have a Campaign Trait from the wrong Campaign entirely.

That's intentional and was done with the GM permission.

I doubt an archer without good darkvision makes sense. Also hornbow will cost me my only feat, where as orc you are automatically trained in it.

Wait.

We start out in The Boneyard?

THE Boneyard???

The GM said it twice in gameplay already. :-p

The description for the first module says we wake up in the afterlife and the psychopomps don't know what to do with us.

I think it's safe to say we are in THE boneyard. I'm just trying to figure out if my character would know that or not. Since he is a Soul Shepherd he does know what the boneyard IS.

I'm just surprised (given that I thought the Player's Guide had us starting out in a relatively backwater locale) - what a way to START a campaign!

I doubt an archer without good darkvision makes sense. Also hornbow will cost me my only feat, where as orc you are automatically trained in it.

Fair enough. Archery is more feat intensive, so having to take the EWP is a bigger deal.

On that topic: GM, is there any way I could talk you into letting me have butchering axe proficiency for free? Granted, it doesn’t have “Orc” in the name, as my racial proficiency stipulates, but the fluff is pretty clear:

A creation of the orc smiths of Belkzen, this axe has an oversized head bristling with spikes and a long, thick haft that only barely counterbalances its weight.

That would free up a feat for me to take Precise Shot and begin down the road to help our ranged combat issues. I also wouldn’t mind giving up Shield proficiency in trade.

I'm just surprised (given that I thought the Player's Guide had us starting out in a relatively backwater locale) - what a way to START a campaign!

You might go there later on in the game, but the book clearly has you start out in the Boneyard.

Oh, wait a minute. I accidentally started on book number 2...just kidding, the first book really does start out that way.

I'll be pretty busy until probably next Thursday. I'm not sure what my posting rate will look like day to day. Don't hesitate to bot me if I haven't posted yet on a given day and am holding things up. There should be a Bot Me spoiler at the bottom of my profile but if there is not, recent posts should be indicative.

@DM: You still haven't told us how much gold/equipment we start with (or at least I can't find where you said it). That is kind of important.

Also, forgive my neuroses, but nobody's miffed with me for any reason, right?

You start with 150gp, per this post. To the best of my knowledge no one’s miffed with anyone. I think we just all missed your original question.

Like I said, it's neurosis (much worse than that, actually). I suffer from real-life haunts of my own. Triple-plus ungood.

Just checking: Is the Well-Provisioned Adventurer trait admissible for this campaign?

Also, would anyone particularly prefer I look for an avatar that looks more like the others? Don't be shy, I'd pick one with colors if I could only find one I thought otherwise fit as well.

I like your avatar. :-)

Since the DM said there's still time for us to shift stuff around:

Are we sure we want 2 Paladins? Would either of you object to shifting toward something else?

We could use someone more thief-like, or another arcane mage - maybe an Inquisitor, Magus, or Bloodrager could be a 'compromise' in one of those directions.

I also think it would be good to have a more diverse array of Campaign traits - as I mentioned before, we've presently got 3 'Pessimists'.

Since the DM said there's still time for us to shift stuff around:

Are we sure we want 2 Paladins? Would either of you object to shifting toward something else?

We could use someone more thief-like, or another arcane mage - maybe an Inquisitor, Magus, or Bloodrager could be a 'compromise' in one of those directions.

I also think it would be good to have a more diverse array of Campaign traits - as I mentioned before, we've presently got 3 'Pessimists'.

Personally I think we're fine; we may not have the "optimal" comp of fighter/cleric/wizard/rogue, but everyone has a cool concept. Obviously if someone wants to swap they can, but I don't think it's necessary.

In regard to arcane casters, is there something in particular you're worried we won't be able to do? With a little planning we could probably work it out between you, me, and our spiritualist.

For a thief-like character, as a bard you've got stealth as a class skill and high dexterity, so you should be able to sneak around. If we're worried about traps someone can put points into Disable Device. (My dex isn't fantastic, but I don't mind if that person is me.) If our GM is particularly kind someone (again, I don't mind if it's me), could even take the Trap Finder trait. It's a campaign trait from Mummy's Mask that gives Disable Device as a class skill and allows you to disable magical traps.

In terms of diversity of campaign traits, I will go ahead and swap "Pessimist" for "Reclaimer." It works just as well with my backstory.

On an unrelated note: GM, I'm sorry but I'm having trouble understanding the map. Do the yellow squares represent the skeletons?

For a thief like add-on your bard could select "Aram Zey's Focus" as a 2nd level spell. Quite useful.

Never mind, I don't know if you changed something but I can see the writing now. Thanks!

Yes, you can take the trait from Mummy's Mask, as this campaign is oddly similar, only without the Egyptian theme.

DM, Would you be willing to treat Soundstrike as affecting Undead like it does objects? It's unclear, but it would be consistent with how Undead react as a rule to spells, and the virtues of sonic damage in general. What about Constructs?

Yes, you can take the trait from Mummy's Mask, as this campaign is oddly similar, only without the Egyptian theme.

Thanks, that'll help a lot if we run into any traps. Do you want that to replace our campaign trait or a different trait?

Ivan: Undead is not a living creature, so it would deal full damage to undead and full damage to contructs (objects)
Aranor: Treat is as a campaign trait.

Thank you! I was partly worried it wouldn't work on them at all.

DM, could you please put another link to the maps/slides in your profile? That's a very handy trick.

Just an FYI, with our GM's permission I've changed character concepts slightly. I'm still an oracle, but I'll be focused more on casting than any sort of melee combat. Plus I've taken the Trap Finder trait and put some points in stealth so I can be a rogue-lite if necessary.

Hope everyone enjoyed Memorial Day weekened, update coming soon.

@DM: Could you please put an extra link to the maps/slides/etc somewhere in your profile? That's a very convenient trick, especially the further one goes down a given page.

If I did that for all my games, my profile might be crowded with links. urls take up a lot of space.

There's a couple options there; you could have a few different GM profiles and have different links for each one.

However, since all of your maps use the same Google slides doc, you could just have one link for that.

Hey guys, I put the maps link under my alias... so if you don't feel like scrolling all the way up, locate the nearest Akku post... LOL

Waaaiiit...do we get *3* traits, Campaign traits included?

I've presently only got 2, Campaign trait included.

I must have missed that, when I looked over characters, yes 3 traits with Campaign included.

2. Did forget about background skills and campaign traits. 2 traits plus a campaign trait please.

Oh by the way, GM, this is not correct:

Background skills is a no, it gets rid of class skills a bit, not fair to classes that are trained in all knowledge skills in whatnot.

The background skills rules say this about class skills:

In the background skills system, classes use their standard class skill lists. Any class that gains Craft or Perform as a class skill also counts Artistry as a class skill. Lore is always considered a class skill for all characters.

For example, a wizard has Appraise on his class skill list normally, so a wizard has the Appraise background skill as a class skill. Craft is also on his class skill list, so Artistry is a class skill for him as well (even though Perform isn’t on his class skill list).

So even though knowledge, geography, is a background skill, Rali does not have it as a class skill because monks don't have it in the regular skill system. So a class that is trained in all skills benefits maybe even more than other classes, rather than vice versa, since it means they have to more skill ranks per level to spend on those knowledge ranks. My two cents. :) If you don't want to change your mind, that's fine.

I certainly wouldn't object to Background Skills added in.

Ah, okay then. Yes I did away with background skills cause I thought it took away from class skills.

Background skills, add them.

I must have missed that, when I looked over characters, yes 3 traits with Campaign included.

Well then, have I got the tertiary pearl for THIS campaign!

Are we level 2?

Level 2, not yet, you won't have the experience until you are done with this dungeon as there is another floor.
Yes that trait is fine Ivan.

Thanks for the quick reply DoubleGold!

Here's my selections for the added goodness!

Background Skills: kn. engineering, kn. geography
Third Trait:
Internal Compass (magic): You maintain a sense of direction, even on planes where direction is relative. If you are on a plane that has no analogue to north, you automatically know the direction toward the plane’s major dominating feature (for instance, Pharasma’s Spire in the Boneyard, or the sun in Nirvana). If there is no such dominating feature, you instead know the direction of the closest feature significant to one of the plane’s divinities or demigods. [Ref Plane-Hopper's Handbook]

I think Aranor's been changed enough, and I'm happy with her build now. I did add background skills in Craft (traps) and K. History.

As for the mace, Ivan uses a heavy mace and Aranor uses a light mace, so we can decide who gets it based on that. If it's heavy it goes to Ivan, light to Aranor. (Assuming no one else wants to stake a claim.)