Hells Rebels (Inactive)

Game Master Daniel Penfold 351

Not the GM obviously, but I don't think you or Ryker played through any of it. The finale of Book 1 was us clearing out bluffing our way through Hocum’s Fantasmagorium. Pretty sure you two joined at the beginning of Book 2.

In that case I am still happy to report the game for those of you who did play and want a chronicle sheet. :-)

And I can report the game even if only one person wants credit. There is a convention to handle that.

Yeah, you two came in at the beginning of book 2.

Posting in all of my games. We made it to CA... but finding a home that meets my family's needs (while being in price range) is proving a bit challenging... will be off the boards for a bit. Please bot me as necessary (and possibly send good vibes/prayers my way). Thanks for your continued patience.

No problem, will do.

Hope all goes well for you.

This witch will definitely happily send good vibes/prayers your way. I know what it can be like to try to find a place, though I can only imagine what it’s like with a whole family to consider. I hope you find something marvellous!

If she's not knocked out in a round or two, she might use her pearl of power to recall the spell.

Oops! Never mind, her pearl is for 1st-level spells, of course. I knew that. :) Serves me right for posting late at night.

was about to cast blondness/deafness and then discovered it is not on the Magus spell list..... Not sure why I put it in my spells known and prepared. Probably not fair to switch it until after this fight, unfortunately.

Not wanting to disrupt Pellius's spell, Valekar casts scorching ray into his bow and uses his arcane skill to enhance his accuracy before stepping back and firing a pair of arrows at Lucalla.

I am including inspiration, but you can take it out if Pellius is unable to continue it and maintain the spell at the same time

FWIW, I think it's a free action to maintain performance, and Pellius has the Lingering Performance feat, anyway, which would cover us for this round at least.

Also, even if the devil and cultist take a dim view of launching arrows at their buddy, your bleeding warpriestess is grateful for even a round of them being distracted. XD

But what I started out meaning to say is, you're a hexcrafter, ain'tcha? Blindness/deafness is a curse under 7th level, so it's on your list. *Tosses naturally blonde hair.* Sorry, I loved the orthographic hiccup. :) Hexcrafter is one of my favourite archetypes: I've got one from a campaign on hiatus, and another in the works.

Ah-ha! So that's why I had it on my list. Too late to change my action I guess

What spell did Pellius cast? The status effects might alter Ryker's actions.

Tactics! My favourite thing! :)

OK, I checked: it is a free action to maintain a bardic performance.

Depending on how many HD and what Wis they have, we might get a round or two more of shaken out of the devil and the last cultist, but I doubt we’d be so lucky with Luculla.

Pellius cast enthrall, so it’s closest to fascinated on top, only if the targets are weak enough, they “ignore their surroundings” instead of just taking a penalty to skill checks, while tougher targets remain aware and get a new save if they see something that would annoy them, and a third party trying to break the spell gets one shot with a Cha check rather than being able to shake folks out of it.

Sorry. There’s a reason I angled for the strategist rebellion role. ;)

Not feeling well tonight (no COVID symptoms, just can't think and I'm exhausted). Please bot me as needed and thank you for your patience.

I am back... still catching up on in game items... and still in the process of unpacking. (Work also decided that it would be worth it to send me to another school now that I am in the area... yay.)

I will update Pels stat sheet for the rounds of IC spent soon.

Oh, I forgot to say, welcome back, Pellius! I hope you can get settled without too much hassle. Unpacking a house is a nuisance.

Wow, OK, so Adonara’s totally not actually evil, guys, really. ;)

She doesn’t actually have a preference for a cold-blooded execution, though she has no particular objection to it either.

If we want to be real bleeding hearts, especially if Laria can be convinced to babysit, I guess we could aim at conversion to lifelong penitence? Stealing another god’s worshipper seems spiteful enough to appeal to a Calistrian.

Or there’s basically catch and release, if Pellius meant it. In either of the less murder-y options, if we hold on to the cultist long enough to prepare new spells, could Ado prevail upon Valekar to prepare brand? A prominent holy symbol of Calistria on our cultist’s face for a few days might get the point across not to blab, I figure? All the really fun conditional curses are beyond our level for now.

Or, now that I think of it, we could just help ourselves to a focus for scrying, as an insurance policy.

Being both Good and rather naive, Kira would prefer the catch-and-release option. The scrying insurance is a good idea though.

Adonara’s good too, although hopefully not naïve. It’s just that given her talents/interests/whatever, her ideas of running a scene, a show, or an interrogation all tend to converge along similar lines. :)

I'm happy to go with the merciful option.

Sorry, couldn't resist the opportunity to angst it up to play with Ado's backstory. :)

Anyway, it occurs to me to ask - weird question, but still - could we ... I guess, redeem or purify unholy water by casting bless water, and not have to worry about material components?

And now I'm laughing at the idea of clerics shaking up vials blessed by rival faiths to re-energize them appropriately. *Cue Dr. Strangelove:* We must preserve our fluids! our purity of essence! :)

Otherwise, I guess we should just pour the stuff out, and whatever's in the skull cup.

I don't think Valekar knows *brand*? I'm down with the plan otherwise though

It's a cantrip-level curse, so I think it's a perk of being a hexcrafter. :)

But no worries! We've just helped ourselves to a focus component for scrying, and our victim helpful volunteer doesn't need to know that only Pellius is anywhere near being able to cast it anytime soon.

We need them to believe the threat of pursuit and retribution more than anything else, but for the else, that's what scrolls and friends in low places are for, I guess.

Out of character, Adonara would probably know as a "temple brat" ;) that Raise Dead has a CL/day limit on how long ago someone has died to work. In the case of what is presumably a Cleric's scroll of the spell, that's 9 days.

How does that fit into the timeline for her dead ?friend? / ?partner? / ?lover?

Partner/lover.

But the fun part is that this stuff exists. Out of character, assuming Adonara gets through this whole Chelaxian mess, the vague plan is that it would be a nice happily ever after and a tidy narrative arc, once her level is in the high teens, to get a pinch of necromantic pixie dust, some diamonds, and biff off back home to revive her girlfriend once she’s able to cast raise dead on her own.

Having a scroll in hand before then just allows for inner turmoil and drama. :)

Haha ok, got it! That's a cool item, I've never seen it before!

The more I play this game, the more I realize immortality is just a bunch of money away if you can't cut it as a wizard/druid!

I have a space for 1 player in my Carrion Crown game - please let me know if you are interested.

Sorry for my extended, unexcused, unexplained absence. I have been feeling burnt out. But not specifically on my games; feeling burnt out on pretty much all of my normal routines. I'm taking steps to snap out of it over the next few days and I hope to resume posting soon.

Good luck Valekar, I hope you're able to recover in the way you need to!

No worries, hope you feel better soon.

Ryker doesn't have that kind of knowledge!

We seem to have 3 players away at the moment - Kira, Pellius and Valekar - does anyone mind if we pause the game for about a week to allow for them to come back?

I think that's the best decision!

I agree. I was thinking of bringing it up myself – I thought I would say too that I have no objections to a bit of a longer pause so that folks can just settle in for the hols between next week and the new year.

I hope you all and your families are staying safe and sane out there! :)

Yeah that seems reasonable we'll put it on hold until after the holidays.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year all.

Thanks for putting the game on hold. I'm still really burnt out. I'm hoping it will pass, but this is still less important to me than getting some other things in my life sorted (hopefully those things will make play by post easier for me also).

Hi everyone.

I'm very sorry for disappearing like that. I've been pretty sick for the past few weeks, and at this point don't expect to start feeling better anytime in the immediate future. Therefore I'm dropping out of all my games. (Which I had unofficially done anyway I guess.)

Again, I'm very sorry I didn't say anything sooner, I just kept hoping things would get better and I'd be able to rejoin. It was great playing with you all, and I wish you the best of luck.

Feel better Kira, best of luck with your health!

Valekar, I feel for you, hope things get sorted soon!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!

@Kira - sorry to hear you're not well- hope you feel better soon. I'll be sorry to lose you but you need to focus on your health. Take care.

@ Valekar- no worries- hope you manage to get thing sorted.

After some consideration I have decided I need to take an indefinite hiatus from nearly all of my games. Please continue without me. If that means there is not a spot for me when I return, I will understand. You can bot me or just remove me from scenes as you see fit; whatever is best for the party. If my PC dies due to botting decisions I will not be too aggrieved.

My energy levels are just too low and my burnout and disinterest is just too high. I need to be able to focus on taking care of myself without pressure from myself to return to my games. Things will probably get better once I get into a habit of regular exercise, which could be as soon as a few weeks from now.

Don't worry about me, though. I am doing okay. I live with my wife and 3 kids and that helps keep me from being totally dejected. Taking care of them, spending time with them, etc. Continues to bring a lot of meaning and purpose to me life. I also talk to a therapist every two weeks and have some other friends I keep in touch with.

@ Valekar - No problems - take things easy, good luck with everything and I hope all goes OK.

Hello everyone, and as happy a new year, I hope, as circumstances allow, and a belated merry Christmas or such other holidays as your traditions may have celebrated in the past couple of weeks!

Kira and Valekar, I hope things get better for you both soon. It’s been a pleasure having been able to throw some virtual dice around and bandy words with you, and maybe our paths will cross again at some point. Either way, take care, and best wishes.

Take care Caps, glad to hear you have an expansive support system to help you through this :)

Hi folks. I hear you're looking for another player or three. How's it going?

Hello! I'm sure the GM will be around soon to speak with you! In the mean time, I suggest you peruse the gameplay tab to check out the game so far.

We've messaged back and forth a bit. I didn't drop in here until he gave me the green light. So...what's the party still got? I'm trying to come up with build ideas and I'm not sure what's still here.

Haha, I think that's the general feeling...

Ryker is a spring attacking slayer with a greatsword (hired muscle for the group).
Adonara is our all-rounder. I don't think we've ever discussed their build, so I'll leave them to elaborate further on it (she is our de facto ringleader).

I haven't heard from Pellius (Bard) in a while, but Kira (Heavens Oracle) and Valekar (Ranged Magus) have officially dropped out. So I think you're pretty open at the moment with building a character! With an all-rounder and melee character, you could fill any role and be useful here :)

Hi, Ouachitonian! We’re having fun! I think? Currently fighting off a xorn, while creeping around trying to put rival cults in their place while gathering resources and plotting to overthrow a tyrant. As you do. :)

Like Ryker said, the table’s pretty much open for any sort of build. His build is very good at melee, but the more the merrier!

Adonara is a theorycraft project of mine, trying to get as much sneak and skill out of a warpriest as possible (and eventually a whirlwind sneak attack), which means she probably plays closer to a social/support rogue than anything else. In particular, her build will actually give up a bunch of caster levels, so her spell contribution is more by way of being able to prepare weird low-level cleric spells, while in combat she focuses on intimidation and flanking. Less charitably, she’s the fifth wheel.

If roguish characters are your cup of tea, there’s a bunch of conceptual space left: Adonara is a tricksy elf, but more by way of Diplomacy than Bluff and fast-talk, and she’s not all that great at traps. (To date, I think she’s managed to flub every Disable Device check she’s made, but make every save to dodge the consequences, so decidedly mixed results. :/ Though her build will only really start coming together next level.)

TL;DR: Most anything goes, but a character comfy with a bit of subterfuge would probably fit best?

Well, one of my ideas had been a hellknight from the Order of the Torrent, but in a small party adding another Melee guy probably isn’t the best idea. That’s fine, because I was also thinking a Milanite would go really well in this AP, and a Milanite Hellknight isn’t a thing. So, possibly a Vigilante. I’ve long wanted to give the Warlock archetype a whirl. Also, if Adonara’s not really focusing on being a divine caster, maybe a Milanite Warpriest? Or Ranger, Milani was a Ranger. So many good options. At any rate, probably a tiefling. They fit this AP well too.

Oh, I don’t know. We’re hoping to recruit a bunch of folks, and there’s always the principle of overwhelming force, isn’t there? von Clausewitz or something?

A bunch of heavily-armed guys stomping around seems very on-brand for Cheliax, even a comparatively free-spirited place like Kintargo. An armoured legion trying to figure out how that agent of foreign powers (Calistria, Kyonin) innocent highly-experienced bit of fluff attached herself to them could be fun. :) Although a warlock vigilante sounds neat too, and if you go that route I’ll definitely be taking notes, since I still haven’t got around to taking the vigilante for a spin myself.

Basically, what I’m getting at is that I’m sure we can work with pretty much any party composition, so I wouldn’t want to discourage you from fleshing out a character you might really want in the name of some platonic ideal of the adventuring party.

Okay, so, which version of Til would the group prefer?

Rogue-light, with no trap capabilities but focused on a couple of combat maneuvers?
Rogue-forward, with full trap capabilities?
Full BAB light fighter, combat maneuver heavy?

The first is where I started, but I was trying to play something I thought was an AP specific character type.

I can easily play any of the set without serious rework to the background and character outlook, really. Just to how he is trained to deal with problems. <grin>

Functionally, Bran is a grapple monster for the seven hours a day that he is a tiger/hell-cat with a +18 grapple and 50' speed.

With a warpriest, a slayer, a monk/paladin and a shifter/bloodrager our melee seems pretty solid and very mobile.

And the dual warpriest situation should cover divine stuff.

I'm with Adonara though, you do you!

Thank you for the invite. This looks to be a melee intensive group. I would say play what will make you happy Tilorean.

For the record, I've been playing since 1979. I have long since stopped offering to play things I don't expect to enjoy.

Yes, sometimes I'll do a mechanics experiment as a curiosity, but none of these offers count as that.

I agree the group seems BAB heavy, so one of the Rogue builds is going to be the least duplicative, giving more people a chance to shine. Probably the traditional Rogue, actually, since focusing on a couple of combat maneuvers stays pretty close to the grapple shifter and Paladin/Monk likely capabilities. Though my maneuvers are Steal and Disarm.