So, I, along with a friend of mine, am attempting to each get a character of ours to level 20 in PFS and this is one of the modules required to get there.
This is quite a level 15-17 module that doesn't really have much going on in the way of story. This is a combat heavy dungeoncrawl, so if you've got a character who thrives on social encounters or such, then I'd suggest turning away now.
I expect players to post as often as possible, with a bare minimum of once per day (with some leeway when it comes to weekends). I am a rather fast-paced PbP GM, so if your bandwidth or posting schedule can't handle that, then I'd suggest turning back now.
I'm probably going to place a hard limit on 4-5 players so that the encounters aren't absolutely steamrolled (but this is high-level play, so it probably will be anyway).
I'm horrible at writing these initial recruitment posts, so let's not waste any more time and get the recruitment underway!
My -1 is a 16th level Arcane Duelist Bard/Cavalier with a Racer archetype dog as a mount. He is combat and buff focused (don't ask him to make knowledge checks...). I'd have to dust him off and make sure he's leveled up properly, as it's been several years since he played.
My wife might be interested in joining with a 16th level Cleric / Freebooter ranger, if that doesn't double up too much with Xanaphia (I don't know what Herald Caller does; my wife's character is heal/buff/knowledge focused). I'll check with her this evening.
These two characters did Eyes, Academy of Secrets, Tomb of the Iron Medusa, and Pyramid of the Sky Pharaoh (the sanctioned section of book 6 of Mummy's Mask) and are level 16.2.
So a healing and buffing Cleric would actually complement you pretty well. She says she is potentially interested, but since she's teaching tonight can't make a decision just yet.
Xavier, please hold a spot for her unless you get enough other people that you feel you can't. She'll understand in that case.
Meanwhile, I will get The Great Rinaldo leveled and set up for PbP.
Duly noted.
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I've never played this character online. Monk/Zen Archer 12, Fighter/Weapon Specialist 3.
Tuwo shoots things. He has crazy high Perception (+44) though no Trapspotter. But his base speed is 70 so he can slow down and actively search for traps without slowing the party.
Minimal RP dungoncrawl is where he shines.
Looks like we need a melee front-liner still ... I do melee, but more support, not heavy damage.
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With self applied Barkskin and someone casting/wanding Mage Armor on him Tuwo has an AC of 38 and can fire without provoking. So not the ideal front liner but he isn't squishy.
I should have a profile for him by tomorrow.
And Tuwo did Eyes of the Ten (Failed to become a VC)
Academy of Secrets (That he now teaches at.)
and All for Immortality (Had VCness thrust upon him.)
As for damage Tuwo gets 5 attacks a round for about 20dmg a shot before Holy. Buffs increase that of course.
With self applied Barkskin and someone casting/wanding Mage Armor on him Tuwo has an AC of 38 and can fire without provoking. So not the ideal front liner but he isn't squishy.
Excellent. As a monk, you still have unarmed combat, so you threaten adjacent enemies if you happen to be on the front line?
As for damage Tuwo gets 5 attacks a round for about 20dmg a shot before Holy. Buffs increase that of course.
We have buffs. :-)
(During one encounter we had 3 rounds to buff. Our Hellknight needed a separate page to keep up with all the bonuses we gave him. ;-) )
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I threaten with my bow and can even take aoos with my bow. But since it is only vs adjacent enemies I didn't take Combat Reflexes. (Well, I did long ago but retrained out of it due to a feat nerf.)
My AC breaks down like this.
10
+9 from Wisdom
+3 from being a monk
+2 Deflection
+1 Insight from an ioun stone
+3 dexterity
+1 Dodge
and usually I add
+5 natural armor from my Barkskin
+4 from Mage Armor (I have a wand but can't use it.)
My bow is a +1 composite longbow with Holy, Impervious, and a little silver ring that helps me fire through wind.
And I have Bracers of Archery Lesser providing a +1 competence bonus to attacks.
Let me be frank: zen archers are something I never really want to be a GM for solely because of how ridiculous those characters can get when it comes to DpR and so forth.
That said, I also want to get through this module as quickly as possible because, honestly, I wanna run Passing the Torch as soon as possible without ruining my PC’s Road to 20, so I’ll make an exception in this circumstance. No offense to you, Tuwo, but I like to challenge my PCs—especially at these higher levels—and zen archers are some of the hardest to challenge, in my opinion (well, monks in general, but that's neither here nor there).
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No offense taken. Tuwo is my first character and I when I asked "What is the best archer?" I was told Zen Archer. I read up on One, created Tuwo and learned that yes Zen Archers can be powerful. Usually. There have been exceptions.
Up to you on if I play. I don't really want you to be miserable during this or to specifically target me to make things challenging for me. But I am an active poster and am currently creating a profile for Tuwo that will be ready by tonight/tomorrow.
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OK, just starting to get my profile together. Last time I played was at level 15 (All for Immortality—hard mode!) and I'm now 17 via GMing Tomb of the Iron Medusa and playing the last couple books of Mummy's Mask in campaign mode (slow-tracked one of those).
I still need to spend 200k+ GP and pick a bunch of spells (woo, 9th level spells!). But I'm getting there. I'm trying to make sure I have scrolls/consumables/etc. to deal with any possible problems/conditions that might arise.
Regarding lack of a frontliner, my summons do pretty well at taking lots of hits and dealing damage. And we don't even need to use healing resources on them after fights!
Anyway, I'm gonna keep working on shopping. I've only played this high of level once; a wizard, and only for the final encounter in Mummy's Mask.
True, if you can bring a summon or two into every fight, that does improve the melee situation. :-)
GM: If a creature is summoned while a bardic performance is active, would they get the benefits immediately, or not until my next turn? It's never actually come up before. I'd say immediately, since they act immediately and are considered "allies", but I figured I'd mention it so you can decide if you disagree.
I will be out tonight and Sunday, but should be around Saturday to get Rinaldo sorted and his profile set up. I'll also ask my wife to make a decision on whether she wants to join.
Up to you on if I play.
Like I said, I honestly want to get through this as quickly as possible, so I’m willing to make an exception. Frankly, this isn’t a very well-written module for this level (I kid you not, there’s a creature with an AC of 10), so the presence or absence of a zen archer really makes no difference to me.
True, if you can bring a summon or two into every fight, that does improve the melee situation. :-)
Trust me, Xanaphia’s summoning gets absolutely absurd. I’ve witnessed it first hand—even on the receiving end .
GM: If a creature is summoned while a bardic performance is active, would they get the benefits immediately, or not until my next turn? It's never actually come up before. I'd say immediately, since they act immediately and are considered "allies", but I figured I'd mention it so you can decide if you disagree.
That’s actually a—?! Sigh Some rules lawyer people are just too semantic . They’d get the benefits immediately, that’s my ruling.
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A note mostly for the healers. Tuwo doesn't own his own soul.
Breath of Life works fine but once he dies for good Raise Dead won't work on him. Only Wish or Miracle will work.
As mentioned, He isn't squishy but I thought you should know.
Also he wears a Goz Mask so spells like Obscuring Mist can be bad news for some enemies while being fine for him.
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Trust me, Xanaphia’s summoning gets absolutely absurd. I’ve witnessed it first hand—even on the receiving end .
I forget which scenario it was, but the GM and I were playing together and we were getting wrecked by a line of archers up on the edge of a cliff. So I summoned 1d3+1 (got a 3 on the d3) aerial (flying) wooly rhinos to fly up and trample the crap out of them. The GM's PC just happened to be unconscious up at one end of the line of archers. The wooly rhinos did indeed trample the archers into pulp...and as an unfortunate consequence, also the PC (he gave his permission for the tactic so it wasn't actual PVP). Besides me (cleric) we also had an oracle in the party with breath of life. It's the only time I've ever seen someone need two breaths of life in the same round to not die. I had a reach metamagic rod for mine, and the oracle was flying. Anyway, a very memorable moment.
But yeah, monster summoning is my Pathfinder specialty.
Trust me, Xanaphia’s summoning gets absolutely absurd. I’ve witnessed it first hand—even on the receiving end .I forget which scenario it was, but the GM and I were playing together and we were getting wrecked by a line of archers up on the edge of a cliff. So I summoned 1d3+1 (got a 3 on the d3) aerial (flying) wooly rhinos to fly up and trample the crap out of them. The GM's PC just happened to be unconscious up at one end of the line of archers. The wooly rhinos did indeed trample the archers into pulp...and as an unfortunate consequence, also the PC (he gave his permission for the tactic so it wasn't actual PVP). Besides me (cleric) we also had an oracle in the party with breath of life. It's the only time I've ever seen someone need two breaths of life in the same round to not die. I had a reach metamagic rod for mine, and the oracle was flying. Anyway, a very memorable moment.
But yeah, monster summoning is my Pathfinder specialty.
I remember what it was, but I won't say for spoiler's sake. Also, I was not unconscious, I was pretending to be. Failed every single reflex save against the rhinos and ended up at -71 hp. That story was Xanaphia's Talespinning during Eyes of the Ten.
OK, I have Rinaldo about done except for maybe one or two more purchases. I just need to get his profile set up and also one for his mount.
My wife would like to join with her cleric. I'm sending her the link to the thread now.
That’s actually a—?! Sigh Some rules lawyer people are just too semantic . They’d get the benefits immediately, that’s my ruling.
Like I said, it hasn't really come up before and I just thought of it. I've had enough rules-lawyer GMs and players in my career that I figured I'd mention it now and have it done with. ;-)
Messa is my -1, Rinaldo's nemesis cousin.
Messa's is cleric of Desna with a dip in Freebooter Ranger (cause wanderlust is more fun when you know where you're going). She's also the VC of the Flying Flutterfoot Family's Circus and Traveling Pathfinder Lodge. (I'll write up a complete profile.)
A couple of questions and character oddities that I like to point out:
The main question is whether Messa can cast Symbol of Healing on the barding of a medium-sized animal companion. The alternate question how big an area she would she need to cast Symbol of Healing.
Messa also carries a whole lot of scrolls. Do you want the complete list of those separate from her regular gear list?
For knowledge checks, Messa carries all the Pathfinder Chronicles in a handy haversack and a wand of Kreighton's Perusal in a spring-loaded sheath. When a monster appears, she pulls a book, pops the wand, and casts the spell for a +2 circumstance bonus on the check. (Not a lot of GM's are familiar with the spell, so I like to bring it up.)
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Just so the GM is prepared: With that quicken rod and my robe of gates I'll be able to drop 8 creatures from the SMVIII list or 12 from the SMVII list in a single round.
The main question is whether Messa can cast Symbol of Healing on the barding of a medium-sized animal companion. The alternate question how big an area she would she need to cast Symbol of Healing.
Considering you’ve got a dedicated support cleric with much better healing than that, I doubt you’ll need it, but I’ll allow it—if you want to activate the symbol (most likely by touch) I’ll call that a swift action to do so (assuming you’re adjacent to the animal companion, of course).
For knowledge checks, Messa carries all the Pathfinder Chronicles in a handy haversack and a wand of Kreighton's Perusal in a spring-loaded sheath. When a monster appears, she pulls a book, pops the wand, and casts the spell for a +2 circumstance bonus on the check. (Not a lot of GM's are familiar with the spell, so I like to bring it up.)
Huh. I’ve never heard of that spell, honestly. Good to know.
Just so the GM is prepared: With that quicken rod and my robe of gates I'll be able to drop 8 creatures from the SMVIII list or 12 from the SMVII list in a single round.
Excuse me.
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*Sounds of distant profanities screamed at the sky*
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I hate you. So much. And I will bring up something that 12 flying woolly rhinos or flying dire tigers could not help you with: All for Immortality. Not going any further from there ‘cuz spoilers.
Heh. We've been through All for Immortality on different characters. :-)
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Profile done.
Notes for the GM:
* Mount has Greater Overrun/Charge-Through, rider has Ride-By. We can blow through an intervening minion to charge a different target, then ride past to a point beyond that target.
* Mount has Lunge. If we charge a target and stop 10' away, rider can attack with Lance and mount can attack with Bite.
* Mount has Combat Reflexes and a +5 DEX bonus. He takes *all* the AoO's.
* Mount has the Racer archetype; once per hour he can charge or run at 10x his normal speed (50' base speed, so charge with a speed of 500', or 1000' total movement in a single round).
* Discordant Voice. While I am maintaining any bardic performance, allies within 30' do an additional 1d6 sonic damage with any attack.
* Disruptive + Spellbreaker. Threatened spellcasters attempting to cast defensively add +4 to the DC to cast defensively, and if they fail I can take an AoO.
Notes for party:
* Arcane Duelist trades out bardic knowledge. Don't expect me to make knowledge checks. That's what my cousin is for. :-)
* I have several Inspiration and Finale spells I can activate when needed:
>> If you fail an attack or skill check and think it was by a small amount, you can ask me to use Timely Inspiration to add +2 retroactively.
>> If you fail by what you think was a larger amount, you can ask me to cast Gallant Inspiration for +2d4 retroactively.
>> If you fail a saving throw while I am performing, you can ask me to cast Saving Finale to let you reroll it.
* I have the "Rallying Cry" performance that lets me use my Intimidate check (+26) as any ally's save vs Fear, including letting them re-save an effect that doesn't normally allow a re-save. Fear is not a problem (unless I roll a natural 1 on my own save ...)
* I can use my Tactician ability to give everyone the Escape Route feat for 5 rounds, 3 times a day.
* I have benevolent armor and weapons, Arcane Striking gloves, and my cavalier order increases my "Aid another" bonus. If you are having trouble hitting or are getting hit too often, I can use my action to Aid and give you large bonuses.
Ah, good ol’ high-level shenanigans. How I’ve missed the mental challenge you’ve given me.
I do ask that y’all know how to play your characters going into this—though from the sounds of things you guys are already about there. Seeing as how we have a table of four—at least three of whom have serious power game-iness—I’m gonna close recruitment and have everybody move to the Discussion thread.