TOZ's Hao Jin Cataclysm [Gameday VIII] (Inactive)

Game Master TriOmegaZero

@Ammensura - Yeah, I expect an 11th level Shaman has better options than casting a 1st level scroll. lol...but if you've got it, then you at least have the option.

@GM - So dude has nothing on the undead or the ruins?

Currently out shopping and limited in what I can post. Off the top of my head, they know undead and that the warriors sent below have not returned.

Well, hoping someone who has seen the undead might be able to describe them. Would be good to know if they are at least ghosts/spirits. Would think the Muckmouth spiritual leader/shaman might have an idea.

You forgot your haste attack Flyn. With the bard's buffs, Aericus is now +22, d6+15, (18-20, +28 to confirm) for AoOs/parry & riposte.

Thanks for that stat line! We will see if anything actually gets to attack you. :)

Thanks for that stat line! We will see if anything actually gets to attack you. :)

Hopefully that corpse king gets obliterated, before it gets too close. That death curse sounds nasty.

Thanks Aericus, I definitely missed the haste spell...getting old, not seeing as well as I used to...

GM, since it was less than an hour since my attack post, I edited it to add my haste attack, if you'll allow it (28 damage against blue). If not, no worries. Sorry about that...

Updated initiative tracker with the damage!

Hopefully Ajax had a chance to add Mage Armor to himself (with someone's aid) and cast the 80 minute Detect Snares & Pits.

Yes, there was a chance.

Cool. Also next time if there is a pause right before we know we are going into danger, I'll cast Gravity Bow as well.

I've noticed that GMs will often transition right from non-combat to combat without players getting a chance to take actions at obvious stopping points, so hopefully I'll get it in next time.

This is more of a challenge with PbP, where players can't naturally interject.

Thanks.

Yeah, the pause came at a bad time since I didn't get to post the update until near midnight local time.

Only if they don’t want to announce what it is to the enemy.

@GM - do I need to cast Spellcraft if I want to know what party members are casting?

@Ammensura - what is that spell? +21 to hit..wow!

Yeah, I'm confused as to how that didn't do anything. A 29 is pretty high to hit, no one ID'ed SR with a few high knowledge checks, and force damage isn't stopped by DR. Also, I think the Flagbearer feat does apply to the spiritual weapon, since bonuses to attack and weapon damage are called out in the feat and this FAQ calls out spiritual weapon as benefiting from those.

I must have read damage total not the attack roll. My mistake.

Not sure what just happened but looks like the cursed king died; the GM mentioned that these undead had tattered threads similar to the tapestry so maybe that played a part. Since everyone has to roll Will saves against the death curse, also guessing he moved to where we were all within 30’...

GM, from the checks we made at the beginning of the scenario, looks like we could apply two of the rewards here (Knowledge of the Weave & Someone’s Watching). One offers a D20 reroll to ‘the’ PC...the other offers rolling two Will saves and taking the highest for ‘one’ PC. I’m guessing ‘the’ PC means only the character that made the check gets the reward...is that right?

Regardless Laara, I think you’ll want to reroll as that death curse is nasty...

Here are the rewards you earned from the prep missions.

Assessing the Damage - Once during the adventure, when encountering undead opponents, the group gains +4 on initiative

Interrogating the Snakes - Once during the adventure, one PC can gain +2 to a Cha-based skill check and roll twice, taking the better result.

Knowledge of the Weave - Once during the adventure, one PC can reroll a failed d20 roll.

Something is Watching - Once during the adventure, one PC can roll twice and choose the better result.

Supply Check - Between encounters, PCs may purchase items from the CRB or Ultimate Equipment worth 1500GP or less.

Tales From the Tapestry - Once during the adventure, one PC may treat a Knowledge roll as if they had rolled a 20. Alternatively, they may gain the benefits of an Average roll for a Knowledge skill they are not trained in.

Travel Tips - Once during the adventure, every PC may reroll a failed skill check involving movement. (Acrobatics, Climb, Fly)

Laara could definitely use the roll twice and take better option as it doesn't mention declaring before the roll.

Not sure what just happened but looks like the cursed king died; the GM mentioned that these undead had tattered threads similar to the tapestry so maybe that played a part. Since everyone has to roll Will saves against the death curse, also guessing he moved to where we were all within 30’...

If he sunk into the ground wouldn't that have broken line of effect unless he emerged somewhere else, presumably with us all within 30'?

Do all abilities require line of effect or just spells? The curse just says everyone within a 30ft radius.

Thanks, GM.

Deno'thar: I'd guess the king made a double move and emerged in the middle of us to get us all within range of his aura (which is also 30')...if this was the case, then very unfortunately for us, looks like he somehow died in the attempt which left us all in range of his death curse...I'd think line of sight affects the aura but not the death curse...

All: Since the rewards for the prep missions are for one person only, if we fail the save, should we use merchandise rerolls first and try to save the prep missions rewards for later?

I'd think line of sight affects the aura but not the death curse...

I haven't found solid confirmation otherwise yet, but please let me know if you guys find it. As for the weird abilities, I thought we would let you discover them over the course of the scenario. If you prefer I would be happy to pull back the curtain on it.

Regardless Laara, I think you’ll want to reroll as that death curse is nasty...

Should we wait until everyone has rolled? I am not exactly confident either of my characters is going to save, either. I fear the DC is probably in the mid 20's.

I'd guess the king made a double move and emerged in the middle of us to get us..

Well, it did get toppled didn't it? So unless it's got extra moves, it would have had to stand up and then move.

Do all abilities require line of effect or just spells? The curse just says everyone within a 30ft radius.

My understanding was that all abilities basically required line of effect. Thats how I've always seen, say channel energy played. But it is entirely possible I'm wrong in that interpretation. Otherwise Familiar Satchels wouldn't actually offer much protection against say, breath weapons.

I'd prefer not to have the curtain pulled back so I'll go ahead and roll unless you can find something definitive on it :).

I'd prefer not to have the curtain pulled back so I'll go ahead and roll unless you can find something definitive on it :).

This is one of the few specials I'm playing and not GMing at the same time. So I agree with not wanting to knowing the meta.

Channel Energy specifically calls it out as a burst, and breath weapons reference cones and lines, which is a difference between those and this effect. I'm open to being swayed either way, just amused at how quick the fight turned around.

Everyone within a 30' radius sounds pretty definitive to me, GM. I think you made the right call...

Like Deno'thar and Ajax, I'd prefer not to have the curtain pulled back either...

Fair enough. My research on the forums has turned up 'rules aren't clear, GM call' so for now we will let the king get his one hit in. Once everyone has rolled we can see how things stack up and what boons you want to use.

All of the aoe rules are discussed under magic and reference spells as far as I know. I’ve always run PF essentially assuming these rules apply to supernatural, with the key difference being that SU ignore SR, don’t provoke (what’s mentioned in that chapter).

Most spells that affect an area function as a burst, an emanation, or a spread. In each case, you select the spell’s point of origin and measure its effect from that point.

A burst spell affects whatever it catches in its area, including creatures that you can’t see. It can’t affect creatures with total cover from its point of origin (in other words, its effects don’t extend around corners). The default shape for a burst effect is a sphere, but some burst spells are specifically described as cone-shaped. a burst’s area defines how far from the point of origin the spell’s effect extends.

An emanation spell functions like a burst spell, except that the effect continues to radiate from the point of origin for the duration of the spell. Most emanations are cones or spheres.

A spread spell extends out like a burst but can turn corners. You select the point of origin, and the spell spreads out a given distance in all directions. Figure the area the spell effect fills by taking into account any turns the spell effect takes.

None of those 3 can go through total cover, but the 3rd continues around corners where possible.

Fair enough. My research on the forums has turned up 'rules aren't clear, GM call' so for now we will let the king get his last hit in. Once everyone has rolled we can see how things stack up and what boons you want to use.

Crossing posts, fair enough!

The +2 resistance bonus only applies to mind effecting, so this is a mind effecting curse effect?

It is not, my apologies.

@Ammensura - what is that spell? +21 to hit..wow!

Spiritual Weapon with the toppling spell metatmagic feat added to it. Normally you use your BaB +wisdom modifier but I have the Spiritual Guardian feat so I use my shaman level +wisdom modifier. Wisdom is 30 as Ammen is a protoge.

Thanks. Yeah, that +10 modifier on Wisdom is a helluva thing at this stage in the game.

The normal maximum is 28 at this stage. Shamans are pretty SAD, the boon gives a 30 max.

I have to say, I love playing these high level games because I spend hours looking at people's builds and learning new things. I am totally using anointing oil. Didn't even know that was a thing, despite having the book and will be useful for Ajax's Barkskin. I also am thinking about picking up one of those lessor rods. 3 spells isn't that much for 3k, but I only cast a couple a scenario as it is.

Any other advice from one divine caster to another (1/2) divine caster?

Lesser extend rods are absolutely amazing for their cost, I buy them routinely on all sorts of casters.

I cheat and save money on enchanting armour by using extended magic vestment. Easier to do with the shaman as they can fall back on hexes. Sometimed I will also do it with weapons and greater magic weapon but that is trickier with the divine list as it is level 4.

Lots of it is being proactive with buffing. Loads of times I see people refuse to cast spells "in case they need them later" and then later never comes. I also tend to spend a lot of prestige on wands and multiple castings of scrolls. I rarely ever have the 16 needed for a raise dead, I would rather buy stuff which avoids death in the first place.

My PP limit tends to be 5 to make sure i can buy a body recovery if needed.

If you are a prepared caster then low level pearls of power are great. Fir spontaneous, loads of level 1 pages of spell knowledge work wonders as well.

A regular extend rod is also amazing once you have access to heroes feast.

Absolutely but that tends to be a seeker level buy. Its also great for life bubble, hunters blessing, overland flight and quite a few other spells.

Lesser extend rods are absolutely amazing for their cost, I buy them routinely on all sorts of casters.

I cheat and save money on enchanting armour by using extended magic vestment. Easier to do with the shaman as they can fall back on hexes. Sometimed I will also do it with weapons and greater magic weapon but that is trickier with the divine list as it is level 4.

Lots of it is being proactive with buffing. Loads of times I see people refuse to cast spells "in case they need them later" and then later never comes. I also tend to spend a lot of prestige on wands and multiple castings of scrolls. I rarely ever have the 16 needed for a raise dead, I would rather buy stuff which avoids death in the first place.

My PP limit tends to be 5 to make sure i can buy a body recovery if needed.

If you are a prepared caster then low level pearls of power are great. Fir spontaneous, loads of level 1 pages of spell knowledge work wonders as well.

Wand use - check

One of the reasons I love the PF1 Ranger is the ability to use spells (which really means wands). I think it's highly under-leveraged by most players. The challenge, however, is that we get so few spells that the buffing is limited.

The challenge with low level wands is getting the opportunity to use them, especially in PbP where you can't just say, "Wait, I want to use a wand before we take another step." The way the game goes, GMs naturally just transition from the non-combat to combat in the same post and then you've got all this meta-knowledge about what you're fighting and you feel conflicted about asking to have used wands with a 1 minute timer.

I'm very forgiving of after the fact requests for that reason. As long as we try to only use what the characters would normally use in those instances, it usually isn't a problem.

Have either of our successes met the conditions to auto-boost the aid token? If not, we should probably boost and pass.

I'm very forgiving of after the fact requests for that reason. As long as we try to only use what the characters would normally use in those instances, it usually isn't a problem.

Yeah, it's just an inherent challenge with PbP. The game was not designed with PbP in mind, so there are some constructs that are just going to be problematic. I'm noticing that is more true with PF2 and Reactions.

Laara, do you have a folio (or other) re-roll or do you need to use the Will save reward?

Yeah, I’ve been thinking about incorporating wands more with Flyn...the only one I’ve used thus far is to cure wounds...but seeing Ajax with a wand of gravity bow seems like a good idea. Also, I picked up a level of Investigator (Psychic Detective) and think I’ll be adding a wand of mage armor soon; since I picked up some Zen Archer levels, I think I’ll be dropping armor as I get an AC increase as well as a boost to my AC via Wisdom as long as I’m unarmored and unencumbered...also get a boost to speed. So wands look like something I should be leveraging more...

Laara, please use any available reroll, including the ones the scenario gives you!

Sure, if you guys are fine with it.

Just to add, if you don't want to wait to get the curse removed, you're probably much better off spending gold and boosting the caster level, because with a DC above 20, the odds of a CL 5 remove curse taking care of it are very low.

To boost allied offensive does someone (preferably someone who has a high attack bonus) simply attempt 1 attack roll (outside of combat?) as a skill check? Or when in combat do we declare an attempt to boost before making an attack roll? If it is the former we should probably do that now so we have it available to us (or we can pass the boosted token).

So I think I'm understanding the aid token's better now. Suceeding at the appropriate mission grants us the token, and the degree of success determines if we earn the "special" boost. We can then choose to boost the token further, and then are supposed to either keep it for our use or pass it to another table which can then use it.

E.g. if Ammen had a remove curse spell, we could now boost the provide spellcasting boon, and it would then contain a CL15 remove curse that we could pass to any table. Or we could hold onto the token, and any PC could use that at any point.

Laara foolishly splurged a bit on her last few missions and thus is temporarily flat broke :p