Stunned usually includes a value, which indicates how many total actions you lose, possibly over multiple turns, from being stunned. Each time you regain actions (such as at the start of your turn), reduce the number you regain by your stunned value, then reduce your stunned value by the number of actions you lost.
M Gnome Bard 13 | HP 151 | AC 32 | F +21 R +21 W +23 (Success -> Crit Success) | Perc +22 (+2 vs Initiative), Imprecise Scent | Speed 25 ft | Focus 2/2 | Spells: 1st 3/3 2nd 3/3 3rd 3/3 4th 3/3 5th 3/3 6th 3/3 7th 2/2 | Staff Charges: 7/7 | Active Conditions: None
Also realized that I forgot to protest the injustice of a sonic effect that deafens those it affects somehow not being an auditory (as in, “we hear it”) effect. I would love to hear how something can deafen you without you hearing it. Thank you for coming to my TED talk. Again. XD
“Yes, fire is good, keep that up. Kolgradd, I’m so glad to see you‘ve got an axe to grind with this jinmenju. And Jevar, don’t eat… that. Oh. He ate it. He ate his own face. That’s a sight that’ll take a while to get out of my head.” Boodiddly decides to give the tree some space in case more fireballs decide to spontaneously appear. With some breathing room, he imagines his own burning orb appearing right in the yokai’s mouth.
Will, ID vs DC 20:1d20 + 18 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 18 + 1 = 32
Will, ID vs DC 20:1d20 + 18 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 18 + 1 = 21
Stride [A], Create Impossibility to “cast” true strike [A] and lvl 1 produce flame [A]. Should this thing have an AoO and knocks Boodiddly down, he’ll instead get back up [A] and finish his intended movement [A].
LG Male Medium Dwarf Fighter 13 (He/Him) | HP 205| AC 35 (36 with shield) | F +24 [Battle Hardened] R +21 W[+22 vs. emotion] +23 | Perc +23 (+25 for init) | Speed 25ft | Spells 1st: Sure Strike, Gentle Landing 2nd: See the Unseen 3rd: Time Jump, Blazing Dive| Class DC 31 | Resist: Slashing 4 | Helmet 2/2 Cape 1/1
Speaking the word for his arcane shield, Kolgradd is as ever amused how close it sounds to the very dwarven obscenity he'd like to shout at this moment. Stumbling to his feet, he barks out a quick "Axe, right!" in response to Boodiddly and does a rapid weapon change.
◆ Cast Shield
◆ Stand
◇ Drop Maul
◆ Draw Battleaxe
I said I'd give the axe to Kelvetta, but it might have been a bit late and she used a dagger so I'm going to assume that never happened. If he doesn't have the battleaxe he'd instead swap that action for a create impossibility on the maul to get flaming
Boodiddly tries and fails to light this tree ablaze.
Kolgradd Thunderiron wrote:
I said I'd give the axe to Kelvetta, but it might have been a bit late and she used a dagger so I'm going to assume that never happened. If he doesn't have the battleaxe he'd instead swap that action for a create impossibility on the maul to get flaming
I actually had her using both, but I’ll say that she gave it back to you.
Kolgradd stands up and pulls out an axe.
Jevar runs.
Botting Shakur: Shakur casts jealous hex.
Tree Will:1d20 + 25 ⇒ (13) + 25 = 38
He then Strides away and Sustains his spiritual weapon.
Shakur vs Tree:1d20 + 17 ⇒ (3) + 17 = 20 Force Damage:2d8 + 4 ⇒ (3, 1) + 4 = 8
The tree ◆ Strides over toward Kolgradd and swipes at the dwarf with a branch!
M Gnome Bard 13 | HP 151 | AC 32 | F +21 R +21 W +23 (Success -> Crit Success) | Perc +22 (+2 vs Initiative), Imprecise Scent | Speed 25 ft | Focus 2/2 | Spells: 1st 3/3 2nd 3/3 3rd 3/3 4th 3/3 5th 3/3 6th 3/3 7th 2/2 | Staff Charges: 7/7 | Active Conditions: None
“Whoops!” Boodiddly ducks under the whipping branches and points a finger at Kolgradd. “Don’t let the bastards keep you down, even if one of them has your face!”
Will, ID vs DC 28:1d20 + 18 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 18 + 1 = 30 Healing:4d8 + 32 ⇒ (7, 2, 8, 3) + 32 = 52
Then he trots after Jevar. Reaching up with all his three feet of height, he tries to pat the larger man’s back as though he were choking. “You can tell me how it tastes later, but let’s get that out now and get to work torching this tree.”
Here’s hoping this thing’s not too much higher-leveled than we are so the poison’s counteract level isn’t impossible to reach. Lvl 5 is the highest I’m down to go with one action.
Will, ID vs DC 31:1d20 + 18 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 18 + 1 = 33 Counteract lvl 5 vs Poison:1d20 + 17 ⇒ (18) + 17 = 35
Create Impossibility to “cast” lvl 4 heal on Kolgradd [A], Stride [A], and Create Impossibility to “cast” lvl 5 remove poison on Jevar [A].
LG Male Medium Dwarf Fighter 13 (He/Him) | HP 205| AC 35 (36 with shield) | F +24 [Battle Hardened] R +21 W[+22 vs. emotion] +23 | Perc +23 (+25 for init) | Speed 25ft | Spells 1st: Sure Strike, Gentle Landing 2nd: See the Unseen 3rd: Time Jump, Blazing Dive| Class DC 31 | Resist: Slashing 4 | Helmet 2/2 Cape 1/1
Watch the branch, keep your footing...
Kolgradd mentally curses as he goes down again, but takes a moment on the ground to focus on his axe.
BURN
◆ Create Impossibility for a flaming rune on the axe
He slams the axe home with less of the mastery he usually shows with his hammer, and just has time to think "I should've put some enchantments on this axe" before the counterattack
NG Methodical Mind ???Half-Elf??? Cleric of Pharasma (Multiclass Sorcerer) 9 | HP 107/107 | AC 25 (26 with shield) | F 15 R 13 W 19 [resolve] | Perc 17 | Stealth 2 | speed 25 | Active Conditions:
"Hang in there guys, I'm coming!"
Shakur bolts towards the party from his relative safety, ensuring to keep his spectral dagger active. (Stride twice.)
Boodiddly heals Kolgradd and then removes the poison from Jevar. And because of that, Jevar wouldn’t have taken the damage and wouldn’t be stunned.
Kolgradd makes his axe erupt in flames as he stands and chops at the tree! You also forgot that you, y’know, have a Str. mod and weapon specialization.
Tangent:
The way that weaknesses is written is a bit odd when it comes to activating more than one weaknesses at a time. Here, it says “If more than one weakness would apply to the same instance of damage, use only the highest applicable weakness value.” BUT, while the slashing and fire damage are both from the same source, they are different instances of damage, so they would apply weakness separately.
The quotation is more applicable to, say, if Kolgradd attacked something with a cold iron axe that has weakness to both slashing and cold iron.
Jevar uses the Dreamlands to set the tree ablaze!
Tree Reflex:1d20 + 15 ⇒ (12) + 15 = 27
Shakur tries, and fails, to damage the tree.
Being assaulted on all sides, the tree’s various head-fruits all glare at the guy with the flaming axe!
◆ Tree branch vs Kolgradd w/inspire defense:1d20 + 23 ⇒ (19) + 23 = 42 Damage (doubled from crit):3d10 + 8 ⇒ (2, 3, 7) + 8 = 20 plus ◇ Improved Knockdown
The tree then ◆ Strides over. Triggers an AoO from Kolgradd.
At the start of Boodiddly’s turn:Boodiddly Will:1d20 + 18 ⇒ (9) + 18 = 27 Success Ambiguity on whether or not inspire defense would apply, but it didn’t matter.
At the start of Shakur’s turn (assuming Boodiddly re-casts inspire defense):Shakur Will; inspire defense:1d20 + 19 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 19 + 1 = 28 Success
Fruits of Knowledge
Round 4
==============
Tree (-94)
Boodiddly (-7)
Kolgradd (-84) {prone; Flaming axe: Round 1 of 3}
Jevar (-38) {Deafened: Round 3 of 10}
Shakur (-7)
==============
M Gnome Bard 13 | HP 151 | AC 32 | F +21 R +21 W +23 (Success -> Crit Success) | Perc +22 (+2 vs Initiative), Imprecise Scent | Speed 25 ft | Focus 2/2 | Spells: 1st 3/3 2nd 3/3 3rd 3/3 4th 3/3 5th 3/3 6th 3/3 7th 2/2 | Staff Charges: 7/7 | Active Conditions: None
Boodiddly whistles cheerfully and blows his face hanging from the tree a kiss before imagining said face much further away from him.
Will, ID vs DC 28:1d20 + 18 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 18 + 1 = 26
But when he opens his eyes, his eyes are still there looking right back at him. The bard scowls, then walks away with only a slight stomp to his steps.
Cast inspire defense [A], Create Impossibility to “cast” dimension door [A], and Stride [A].
NG Methodical Mind ???Half-Elf??? Cleric of Pharasma (Multiclass Sorcerer) 9 | HP 107/107 | AC 25 (26 with shield) | F 15 R 13 W 19 [resolve] | Perc 17 | Stealth 2 | speed 25 | Active Conditions:
LG Male Medium Dwarf Fighter 13 (He/Him) | HP 205| AC 35 (36 with shield) | F +24 [Battle Hardened] R +21 W[+22 vs. emotion] +23 | Perc +23 (+25 for init) | Speed 25ft | Spells 1st: Sure Strike, Gentle Landing 2nd: See the Unseen 3rd: Time Jump, Blazing Dive| Class DC 31 | Resist: Slashing 4 | Helmet 2/2 Cape 1/1
Kolgradd smashes painfully into the ground, and lashes out awkwardly as the tree moves away. He gets up again, noticeably slower than before, draws the steel shield from his back, and raises it.
He spits a glob of bloody phlegm onto the ground and plants his feet.
Kolgradd stands up, takes out a shield, and raises it.
Jevar moves and summons another fireball!
Tree Reflex:1d20 + 15 ⇒ (1) + 15 = 16Oh dear.
The tree absolutely erupts into flames, causing several of the head-fruits to fall to the ground as charred messes. Unfortunately, though, the tree is still there!
Shakur does a phantasmal killer, letting his spiritual weapon dissipate in the process.
Kolgradd ↻ Shield Blocks, which helps him slightly, but absolutely shatters his shield in the process! Reduces damage by 5, but destroys the shield (it’s still fine in the waking world). He then gets knocked off his feet yet again! ◇ Improved Knockdown
Forgot about this, but Resolve made the previous “at the start of turn” saves into crit successes from Boodiddly and Shakur, and a crit success means that you’re temporarily immune. That’s my bad.
At the start of Kolgradd’s turn:Kolgradd Will; inspire defense (assumed):1d20 + 16 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 16 + 1 = 23
Kolgradd is affected by an impulse to ◆ Stand, ◆ pick the head-fruit with his face on it, and ◆ eat it.
Letting you, the player know, that this is a hallucination. The world seems to melt around you. It becomes difficult to concentrate on any singular thing.
”You did this.”
Kolgradd looks down at the fruit in his hands—the one bearing his likeness—and it seems to be talking. And…he can hear it.
”You joined Lowls. You chose to come with him. And look where it left you.”
The tree’s fruit—including the one in Kolgradd’s hand—all levitate and float around the dwarf, all the fruit suddenly bearing Kolgradd’s likeness. They all suddenly grow long, sinuous tongues that all lash out at Kolgradd.
”He threw you away like a piece of trash! You were lonely and wanted companionship, and look where it got you! LOOK WHERE IT GOT YOU!”
These floating fruits’ attacks distract Kolgradd from what’s really happening outside his hallucination.
Poison Damage:4d8 ⇒ (5, 7, 3, 3) = 18 plus flat-footed, stunned 1, and no reactions
I’m assuming that Kolgradd doesn’t want to reroll either of those saves. I’ll let you know that the Will save is 27 and the Fort save is 32, if you want to reroll either of them (probably the Will save so you can actually have a turn).
At the start of Jevar’s turn:Jevar Will; heartstone, inspire defense (assumed):1d20 + 15 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 15 + 2 + 1 = 32
Fruits of Knowledge
Round 5
==============
Tree (-169)
Boodiddly (-7)
Kolgradd (-121) {Flaming axe: Round 2 of 3; Head-Fruit Poison Stage 2: Flat-Footed, no reactions, stunned 1}
Jevar (-38) {Deafened: Round 4 of 10}
Shakur (-7)
==============
M Gnome Bard 13 | HP 151 | AC 32 | F +21 R +21 W +23 (Success -> Crit Success) | Perc +22 (+2 vs Initiative), Imprecise Scent | Speed 25 ft | Focus 2/2 | Spells: 1st 3/3 2nd 3/3 3rd 3/3 4th 3/3 5th 3/3 6th 3/3 7th 2/2 | Staff Charges: 7/7 | Active Conditions: None
Boodiddly continues to whistle, though the tune is somewhat soured by bits of face-fruit flying from above and landing on the shorter man’s head.
Will, ID vs DC 28:1d20 + 18 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 18 + 1 = 38
Produce Flame vs Tree:1d20 + 17 ⇒ (19) + 17 = 36 Fire damage:4d4 + 4 ⇒ (1, 3, 3, 1) + 4 = 12
With a snap of his fingers, he ignites the debris. “Oh, here, you dropped this!” he says helpfully as he tosses the smoldering mess back at the tree before walking away in slow motion.
Cast inspire defense [A], “cast” lvl 4 produce flame [A], and Stride [A].
LG Male Medium Dwarf Fighter 13 (He/Him) | HP 205| AC 35 (36 with shield) | F +24 [Battle Hardened] R +21 W[+22 vs. emotion] +23 | Perc +23 (+25 for init) | Speed 25ft | Spells 1st: Sure Strike, Gentle Landing 2nd: See the Unseen 3rd: Time Jump, Blazing Dive| Class DC 31 | Resist: Slashing 4 | Helmet 2/2 Cape 1/1
"Liar!" shouts Kolgradd after inexplicably eating the fruit while the remains of the shield hang off his arm.
"That wasn't me!"
I'll keep the saves because the hallucination is fun. Maybe I'll regret that later
NG Methodical Mind ???Half-Elf??? Cleric of Pharasma (Multiclass Sorcerer) 9 | HP 107/107 | AC 25 (26 with shield) | F 15 R 13 W 19 [resolve] | Perc 17 | Stealth 2 | speed 25 | Active Conditions:
Shakur moves towards the tree and whips one of his daggers at it.
When the tree finally falls, Shakur moves over to begin to treat the wounds of his companions like he always does. But he stops. He looks down and finds one of the tree’s charred face-fruits on the ground at his feet. The fruit bears his face, but the fire has charred away the left eye of the fruit. He is unsure why, but…it feels…different. Before he can fully comprehend it, he is reaching down to grab this fruit and takes a bite out of it.
Maybe it was cooking the fruit. Maybe it was the tree dying. Whatever the case, the fruit’s toxins seem to have been neutralized. But…it connects the Pharasmin back to…something.
He…remembers.
She remembers.
Shohreh:
”Shakur Hektat” was an alias. A lie. You didn’t want the church of Pharasma to know who you really are. Or who you really worshiped. The stars and constellations. Many would not care—worshiping celestial bodies is common and not controversial—but you didn’t quite worship the stars, per se. You worshiped something between them. The All-in-One. The One-in-All. The Lurker at the Threshold. Yog-Sothoth. The midwives of the Pharasmin church would certainly not take kindly to a worshiper of a god who encourages his followers to “curse or mutate unborn children.”
But no longer. The power of the Dark Tapestry still calls to you. But now? It is…softer. More caring. Your experiences as an amnesiac and Briarstone Asylum and beyond has changed your view of the Outer Gods. The Silence Between is what calls now. For she cares for your wellbeing in ways that the Lurker at the Threshold never did.
Shak—Shohreh stares at her hands, held straight out in front of her, so familiar and so alien at the same time. She brings her hands back to her face, feeling its contours.
"No," she murmurs, sinking to her knees. "It's wrong."
It only takes a few seconds. Her grip tightens. Her nails dig into her skin. Blood runs down her face and neck as she tears it all away. She begins to laugh.
When it's done, she finally looks up at the others, dazed. Her new face—her real face—is wet with her own blood, streaked through by tears.
Before the other amnesiacs have time to process the absolutely disturbing scene that unfolded by one of their own, they hear a voice speaking in a language that they do not understand. As they look over toward the hut on the side of the oasis, they see the hut’s door open. Walking out of the hut is a Keleshite man with a beige turban upon his head. The man’s fingers and sleeves are stained black with dried ink. Under his arm he clutches a massive tome that radiates an aura of…discomfort.
The man looks down at the amnesiacs with a clear look of recognition. He thinks for a moment before saying ”Taldane, yes? That is the language you speak.” A look of annoyance enters the man’s eyes. ”So the infamous Mad Arab relocates to a hut in the middle of an endless desert in the realm of dreams. Pray tell, what part of that indicates to you that I wish to have visitors?” He does not speak with anger or malice, but with the terse annoyance one might give to a buzzing fly.
M Gnome Bard 13 | HP 151 | AC 32 | F +21 R +21 W +23 (Success -> Crit Success) | Perc +22 (+2 vs Initiative), Imprecise Scent | Speed 25 ft | Focus 2/2 | Spells: 1st 3/3 2nd 3/3 3rd 3/3 4th 3/3 5th 3/3 6th 3/3 7th 2/2 | Staff Charges: 7/7 | Active Conditions: None
Boodiddly blinks. Twice. "Well that's... different," he whispers out one side of his mouth to Kolgradd, eyes still on Shakur. "You, uh... You think he's alright?"
As if suddenly realizing that he has an audience, the gnome turns to the man from the hut and bows as deeply as his two-foot something frame will allow. "The Madman Poet, gently dreaming, again I gaze upon your face." The softest hint of a rhythmic lilt colors his words, making them feel like spoken lyrics to a song. "Or so I guess, flailing blind, searching for what once was mine. Have you seen him? Courtly Lowls? My empty head does miss him so."
Yeah, Hero Point to Shohreh for making one hell of an entrance!
The Mad Poet Character Profiles Updated glances down at Boodiddly as if only just noticing him for the first time, completely unfazed by gnome’s honeyed words.
”Listen here, Boodiddly. I have spoken with entities whose names you could not hope to comprehend. Flattery means nothing to one who has gazed upon the form of the Idiot God. Speak your intentions.”
Religion or Occultism 30:
”Blind Idiot God” is an epithet for Azathoth, an Outer God of destruction and entropy that resides at the center of the Material Plane.
Jevar's jaw drops as their cleric... transforms? He watches him... her for several moments trying to convince himself that he saw what he saw. Dreams can be very disjointed and abstract sometimes. A flittering thought enters the mind and suddenly the thing is there, replacing an old subject as if it was always there. No continuity. No sense. Normally their trips to the dreamlands felt much like basic reality, but this wrenched him back to the feeling of a true dream.
He stutters a bit as he tries to speak about what he's seeing.
D-did you just start a separate dream? How will you resolve it with the body that currently sleeps on the boat?
He looks at Kolgradd and Boodiddly.
Does anybody else need to molt?
He seems still flustered by the time the Mad poet emerges.
"No," Shohreh says, climbing to her feet and shaking her head. "No, it was the end of one." She already seems more lucid, even just a few seconds later. She turns to face the Mad Poet, rubbing at her eye.
"We've been here before, haven't we? We brought you gifts. You told the Count something, and it broke us. He left us behind." She trails off a moment, refocuses, and speaks again in a voice much stronger, more assured. "We've returned. We've brought more gifts. We need to know where the Count has gone. Around and around it goes."
M Gnome Bard 13 | HP 151 | AC 32 | F +21 R +21 W +23 (Success -> Crit Success) | Perc +22 (+2 vs Initiative), Imprecise Scent | Speed 25 ft | Focus 2/2 | Spells: 1st 3/3 2nd 3/3 3rd 3/3 4th 3/3 5th 3/3 6th 3/3 7th 2/2 | Staff Charges: 7/7 | Active Conditions: None
Occultism vs DC 30:1d20 + 16 ⇒ (18) + 16 = 34
“Hon, if I can remember all twenty-six names of my great aunt Arglwyddesgydagenwhirfellymae'nrhaideifodynbwysig, something with three syllables isn’t going to be a problem.” The gnome straightens and points at Shakur - or the person who used to be Shakur? “That’s what I was saying, though apparently my poetry is not up to your standards.”
“Hon, if I can remember all twenty-six names of my great aunt Arglwyddesgydagenwhirfellymae'nrhaideifodynbwysig, something with three syllables isn’t going to be a problem.”
The Mad Poet’s eyes dart onto Boodiddly. He holds his gaze for but a moment before he says, without a hint of hesitation and glowing with arcane power, ” D̙̤͈́͜i̸̡̜͕̺͓̤ͅḙ̵͙͓̪̤͉͢.̵̡̲̰͎̰̭́ͅ “
In the blink of an eye, Boodiddly’s entire head violently explodes, spewing viscera in every which way! The now-headless corpse of Boodiddly slumps to the ground. Still in pure shock at the sight of their companion suddenly being eviscerated right before their eyes, the Mad Poet uses his thumb to riffle through the corners of the pages of his large tome. And as he does so, the spewed viscera immediately begin to reverse, as if time itself had been put on rewind. And just as suddenly as he had been killed, Boodiddly is back to life, more than a little bit frazzled at having suddenly been killed and revived in the span of a few seconds (and with several new patches of white hair on his beard).
”Hmph.” is all the Mad Poet says in response.
Shohreh Kassar wrote:
"We've been here before, haven't we? We brought you gifts. You told the Count something, and it broke us. He left us behind." She trails off a moment, refocuses, and speaks again in a voice much stronger, more assured. "We've returned. We've brought more gifts. We need to know where the Count has gone. Around and around it goes."
The Mad Poet raises an eyebrow. ”Really?” He turns his attention once more to Boodiddly. ” P̫͟r͍̮͟e͈̰̤̤̪͢s̩̩̺̝̤̙͘e̟̪̙̗̫̘̥n̦̟t̯͓̩̝̜ͅ ̦̳̩̣̭̲t̸͕͓͈͔h̥e̜̻͍̖m͇͎̥̝̺͈ ̴̬̺͎̣̙̻̪t̼̻̯̻o͉͔̲̠̞̳ ̞̟͟m͏̤̰͍͖e̳͙͞.͏̭ ͙͓̲͝W͔̳͓͠i͇̤̭̥͖̼̥t̨̮̥̥̫̬h̴̰ ̰͢p̝͕̻̗̣͙r͏̗̞̜͎̱͍̘o͕̩̼̤ͅp̼̬̗e͙̣̞̟̞̣̯r ̫̣̘͝ͅṛ̛̰e̟̠̮̰̥̞ͅs̜͇̼̝p͙̦e͕̘c͎̬͍̼̻̣̲t͏̘͔͚̳ ̲̳̣͚̪͠t̹̱͎̜h͖̲̠̘i̞̺̞s͇̤͖̣̘͢ ̡t͝i̘̳m҉͉̪͇̯e̳̪.͙ “
Boodiddly suddenly jumps up to his feet and wordlessly begins to gather the seven gifts that the amnesiacs have procured. The gnome then sets them down on the bench next to the Mad Poet. Before finally feeling the man’s powerful enchantment leave his mind.
Jevar, please delete “(+2 in the Dreamlands)” from your hotbar, as you no longer have the heartstone.
The Mad Poet gazes at the gifts given to him and, for the first time, looks mildly pleased. But then he glances back at Shohreh. ”Shohreh Kassar. For the first time in your life, speak the truth: you are merely petitioning for information on your former employer?”
Before she has a chance to answer, the Mad Poet shakes his head. ”Such measly information for such gifts? For Haserton Lowls it made sense, but for you? No.” The Mad Poet beings to move towards Boodiddly once more. The gnome flinches, having already fallen under the man’s spells twice, but is surprised to instead find him offering the gnome the massive tome.
Boodiddly unconsciously takes the book, his eyes locked onto the cover. The leather binding of the Mad Poet’s tome is that of some kind of humanoid, their facial features immortalized in a disturbing scream upon the book’s front cover. As Boodiddly’s eyes rise once more to the Mad Poet, he finds that the Poet has another tome under his arm that seemed to appear out of nowhere—an exact duplicate of the book he just barely gave Boodiddly.
”What do you rely upon most: might, quickness, health, clear thought, understanding, or influence?”
When Boodiddly gives his answer, something happens. The exact description of this something I’ll get to soon; I’m setting it up this way for convenience in PbP. The Mad Poet then walks over to Shohreh and does the exact same thing: give her his book, inexplicably have another duplicate already under his arm, ask the exact same question, and something.
He then moves on to Jevar and does the exact same routine as the first two times: give book, ask question, something.
Then the Mad Poet finally moves to Kolgradd and does it one last time: give book, ask question, something.
I need everyone to answer the Mad Poet’s question before I can post next.
M Gnome Bard 13 | HP 151 | AC 32 | F +21 R +21 W +23 (Success -> Crit Success) | Perc +22 (+2 vs Initiative), Imprecise Scent | Speed 25 ft | Focus 2/2 | Spells: 1st 3/3 2nd 3/3 3rd 3/3 4th 3/3 5th 3/3 6th 3/3 7th 2/2 | Staff Charges: 7/7 | Active Conditions: None
Eyes sparkling, Boodiddly takes a moment to savor the experiences of death and un-death and movement without thought before answering - and to collect his thoughts. You ask what you already know, do you want to see if we know ourselves, it was like watching from outside myself but also from inside, maybe, what is music if not something that brings people together, it's like it hurt so much I couldn't feel a thing, even a performer and an audience, but I knew it should have hurt, even if that audience is just the performer themself.
"Influence." The word is spoken carefully, as if the gnome were using the opportunity to verify that his lips and teeth were in their expected positions once again.
Having mused at the transformation of the cleric, Jevar's attention is finally wrenched towards the Mad Poet and the sudden death and rebirth of Boodiddly. He eyes him curiously as the gnome seems to... almost be smiling after the experience.
Clear thought... he unconsciously responds when his turn is up, to bring my tools to bear against the problems we face. He thinks of his own spellbook and formula book.
LG Male Medium Dwarf Fighter 13 (He/Him) | HP 205| AC 35 (36 with shield) | F +24 [Battle Hardened] R +21 W[+22 vs. emotion] +23 | Perc +23 (+25 for init) | Speed 25ft | Spells 1st: Sure Strike, Gentle Landing 2nd: See the Unseen 3rd: Time Jump, Blazing Dive| Class DC 31 | Resist: Slashing 4 | Helmet 2/2 Cape 1/1
Kolgradd's stunned gaze didn't change from the moment of Shakur's transformation until the Mad Poet asked their intentions, one mad hallucination that doesn't seem to want to end.
"I just want to remember" he finds himself muttering to the question.
When it's his turn to face the Mad Poet's attention he recoils from the question as much from the questioner.
I am more than a strong arm, but the even the best plan will fail if the execution is weak
"Might."
He speaks the word slowly and clearly, standing straight and gathering his will.
"Influence." The word is spoken carefully, as if the gnome were using the opportunity to verify that his lips and teeth were in their expected positions once again.
The tome in Boodiddly’s hand violently flips open, the pages turning with rapid-fire flits. The book’s pages seem endless, as far more pages pass than what should be in the book. All the while Boodiddly cannot take his eyes off of the rapidly moving pages.
Shohreh Kassar wrote:
"Understanding," she says, her gaze fixed on the sand behind the Poet. "Knowing the strengths...and weaknesses...of those around me."
Likewise, the book in Shohreh’s hands open of its own accord and flies through the pages within.
Jevar Shadowmantle wrote:
Clear thought... he unconsciously responds when his turn is up, to bring my tools to bear against the problems we face. He thinks of his own spellbook and formula book.
And just like before, the book in Jevar’s hands flips open and rapidly goes through its contents.
Kolgradd Thunderiron wrote:
"Might."
He speaks the word slowly and clearly, standing straight and gathering his will.
The book opens one last time, flipping through the pages quickly.
All at the same time, the books in the amnesiacs’ hands slam the back cover shut, spraying the amnesiacs’ eyes with desert sand. As they regain their sight, the amnesiacs find that they are no longer holding identical copies of the Mad Poet’s tome, but instead various other items. And they do not know exactly why, but the amnesiacs are immediately aware of the exact item that they hold.
Jevar finds that he holds a set of simple spectacles, but he knows they are so much more. See below
Artificer Spectacles | Item 17:
Apex, Divination, Invested, Magical Price 15,000 gp
Usage worn eyeglasses; Bulk —
-----------------------------------------------
These seemingly ordinary rectangular eyeglasses feature clear lenses framed in copper. When invested and worn, they rest perfectly on the bridge of the nose and can only be removed by the wearer. You gain a +3 item bonus to Crafting checks and any skill check made to Identify Magic. When you invest the spectacles, you either increase your Intelligence score by 2 or increase it to 18, whichever is higher. You must select the skills and languages the first time you invest the item, and whenever you invest the same artificer spectacles, you get the same skills and languages you chose the first time.
Activate ◆◆ Interact; Frequency once per hour; Effect You cast a 3rd-level mending spell on an item you touch.
Kolgradd finds that in his hands are a pair of fur-lined snow boots that have an exterior appearance of a mound of stones. See below
Avalanche Boots | Item 17:
Apex, Invested, Magical, Transmutation Price 15,000 gp
Usage worn boots; Bulk 1
-----------------------------------------------
While the insides of these boots are comfortable, fur-lined leather, the outsides are a jumble of slate plates, giving the impression of a rockslide. You gain a +3 item bonus to Athletics checks and a +2 circumstance bonus to Force Open and Shove. When you invest the boots, you either increase your Strength score by 2 or increase it to 18, whichever is higher.
Activate ◇ envision; Frequency once per hour; Trigger You succeed or critically succeed with a Shove; Effect If the Shove was a success, you push your opponent up to 10 feet instead of 5 feet. If the Shove was a critical success, you push your opponent up to 20 feet, and you can then choose to knock them prone.
The ragged, grey'ish mage places a new pair of copper-framed spectacles upon the bridge of his nose. His clarity of thought does heighten as they familiarize themselves with his resonance.
As he reflects on his experiences his mind gathers the fragments of gnomish he's heard spoken over time and weaves them together into the knowledge for basic fluency. Learning gnomish from increased INT.
Similarly he remembers back to all of the forceful presences and personalities they've encountered in these strange dreams, thinking on how they were all likely able to read the introverted wizard a little too easily. Jevar is not one to actively lie, but perhaps social stealth would be helpful to situations similar to those they've come across in the past. Trained in deception from increased INT.
LG Male Medium Dwarf Fighter 13 (He/Him) | HP 205| AC 35 (36 with shield) | F +24 [Battle Hardened] R +21 W[+22 vs. emotion] +23 | Perc +23 (+25 for init) | Speed 25ft | Spells 1st: Sure Strike, Gentle Landing 2nd: See the Unseen 3rd: Time Jump, Blazing Dive| Class DC 31 | Resist: Slashing 4 | Helmet 2/2 Cape 1/1
"Thank you..."
Kolgradd's look of fear and confusion gets tinged with a little awe.
"Can you tell us what happened to us? To Lowls?"
Character sheet updated. That's a very cool item, Kolgradd's very good at shoving now \o/
M Gnome Bard 13 | HP 151 | AC 32 | F +21 R +21 W +23 (Success -> Crit Success) | Perc +22 (+2 vs Initiative), Imprecise Scent | Speed 25 ft | Focus 2/2 | Spells: 1st 3/3 2nd 3/3 3rd 3/3 4th 3/3 5th 3/3 6th 3/3 7th 2/2 | Staff Charges: 7/7 | Active Conditions: None
Boodiddly is rendered uncharacteristically speechless by the whiplash of everything happening all at once in so many different directions. Slowly he looks up from the mask in his hand to the Poet. It takes him a few tries to get the words out, but eventually he squeaks “…ank you.”
What is the price of these gifts? What agreement do we enter into, here in the dream world or the waking?
The Mad Poet raises an eyebrow. ”You bring me these gifts. All to learn information that you should already know. It is like a starving beggar giving you a copper coin in exchange for a bread crumb. Would you rather I take it back?”
Basically, this is the reward for bringing all seven of the gifts. Seriously, there’s no strings attached or anything.
Kolgradd Thunderiron wrote:
"Can you tell us what happened to us? To Lowls?"
”Long ago, powerful entities of the Dark Tapestry marked two locations on your world of Golarion. These locations were marked by monoliths that came to be known as Star Stelae. One of these locations is your home of Thrushmoor. The other is a lost city known as Neruzavin somewhere in the continent of Casmiron. Lowls wished to know of Neruzavin’s location to research the Star Stelae found there. I do not know where Neruzavin is—I do not account for every grain of sand in this desert. But I knew where he could find it.”
The Mad Poet holds up his thick tome for the amnesiacs to see, the screaming face upon its cover very clear. ”The book that I penned in Damascus while seized by visions from Nyarlathotep: the Kitab Al-Azif. But that is its original Arabic title. It was not until Theodorus Philetas of Constantinople translated it into Greek that it would be known by its more infamous title: Necronomicon. Philetas hid a copy of the Greek translation here in the Dreamlands, where it would eventually be found and taken by Geir of the Whispering Way. Geir translated the tome into Necril, a process that proved to be the way he attained lichdom. Geir burned the stolen Greek translation and moved to present the tome to the Whispering Tyrant, but was intercepted and the book was taken.
“Unfortunately for Haserton Lowls, the copy in my hands is of little use.” The Mad Poet riffles through the pages, showing them to be completely blank. ”As such, he needed to procure a copy of the Necronomicon in the waking world. I told him that the Necril translation resides at a university of the occult known as the Mysterium in the Qadiran city of Katheer. If you wish to find Haserton Lowls, that is where he will most likely be.
“I must warn you, however. Haserton Lowls’s initial goal was simply that of foolish scholarly pursuit, but it has since changed—even if he did not know it at the time. Haserton Lowls has been infected by an entity of the Dark Tapestry—simply by knowing this monster’s name, he has allowed the infection to gestate within his mind. Haserton Lowls now seeks to awaken the Star Stelae, unleashing an evil upon the world that will raze it in an instant. He seeks to revive this Great Old One and become its champion. If he is not stopped, he will hasten the inevitable doom of your world.”
M Gnome Bard 13 | HP 151 | AC 32 | F +21 R +21 W +23 (Success -> Crit Success) | Perc +22 (+2 vs Initiative), Imprecise Scent | Speed 25 ft | Focus 2/2 | Spells: 1st 3/3 2nd 3/3 3rd 3/3 4th 3/3 5th 3/3 6th 3/3 7th 2/2 | Staff Charges: 7/7 | Active Conditions: None
“…Huh.” Boodiddly blinks several times. “You, uh… wouldn’t happen to also know how to protect ourselves from this entity, would you? Or where our lost memories might be hiding? I’d thought they might be here in the Dreamlands, but…” He holds his small hands out helplessly.
Shohreh's mind stumbles as the Poet reels off the names of such unfamiliar places and languages, but she seizes upon the mention of Katheer. Like so much of her life, what she remembered was a jumble of confusing images and emotions, but she knew it was a place they had once been familiar to her.
She lifts her gaze to look directly at the Poet for the first time. "Do you know what is waiting for us there?"
LG Male Medium Dwarf Fighter 13 (He/Him) | HP 205| AC 35 (36 with shield) | F +24 [Battle Hardened] R +21 W[+22 vs. emotion] +23 | Perc +23 (+25 for init) | Speed 25ft | Spells 1st: Sure Strike, Gentle Landing 2nd: See the Unseen 3rd: Time Jump, Blazing Dive| Class DC 31 | Resist: Slashing 4 | Helmet 2/2 Cape 1/1
Wow that is wild seeing stuff from Earth. I've not read much Lovecraft and I didn't expect it to tie in so directly!
"Raze the whole world?"
Kolgradd looks pained.
What if I knew the name too? Getting my memory back might doom the whole world. At the least it would change me, maybe make me unwilling to stop Lowls.
"We're the only people who know about this. We have to stop him"
Obviously the scope of this threat causes Jevar to pause for several moments. He then begins to think on Lowls' journey as described by the mad poet.
Is Lowls the first to attempt this? Has the Great Old One attempted to infect another prior to him? Perhaps Geir? If any had been able to resist it, they might be worth talking to.
Wow that is wild seeing stuff from Earth. I've not read much Lovecraft and I didn't expect it to tie in so directly!
Allow me to spell some stuff out: The Mad Poet is actually the split consciousness of Abdul Alhazred, a fictional character created by Lovecraft as well as the author of the Necronomicon in the mythos. Theodorus Philetas is also a fictional character of Lovecraft’s that did indeed translate the Necronomicon into Greek. Everything about Philetas putting a copy of the Greek translation into the Dreamlands and Geir taking it was Paizo adding on to the mythos and tying it back in to the Lost Omens setting.
And yes, canonically Golarion exists in the same universe as Earth, which was solidly codified in Book 5 of Reign of Winter (Rasputin Must Die!). And it is also touched upon in more recent Lost Omens books, especially because Anastasia Romanov and a handful of Russians were whisked away to Golarion and now live in Irrisen (which Anastasia now rules). And they brough with them some Tesla coils, which have been “re-dubbed” as Stasian coils.
Some people are put off by the canonical connection between Golarion and Earth, but I’m pretty okay with it. I mean, our elves are literally from another planet, so this isn’t THAT weird.
Shohreh Kassar wrote:
"Do you know what is waiting for us there?"
”No. Perhaps angels wishing to destroy the tome. Perhaps temporal entities wishing to hide what secrets the book holds to the Dimension of Time. Perhaps simply the Mysterium’s own defenses.”
Jevar Shadowmantle wrote:
Is Lowls the first to attempt this? Has the Great Old One attempted to infect another prior to him? Perhaps Geir? If any had been able to resist it, they might be worth talking to.
”He is the first in your lifetime. Perhaps in Golarion’s. Do not assume that Great Old Ones are desperate to enact their plans—they are patient, willing to wait until the birth and death of a star to act. But I assure you, if there were any who has resisted the infection, they would not deign to speak to you.”
Boodiddly wrote:
“…Huh.” Boodiddly blinks several times. “You, uh… wouldn’t happen to also know how to protect ourselves from this entity, would you?
”Do not learn its name. And if you do, pray to whatever god will listen that you will be able to resist its infection. And if none will listen, accept that you will become its seeded servant and hasten the end of this world at its command—assuming Haserton Lowls has not doomed you already.”
Boodiddly wrote:
“Or where our lost memories might be hiding? I’d thought they might be here in the Dreamlands, but…” He holds his small hands out helplessly.
The Mad Poet glances over at the seven gifts the amnesiacs brought to him, as if debating whether or not the offering is sufficient.
”Perhaps I can offer you a taste of your past—and perhaps your future—by allowing you to speak to the King of Neruzavin. Please,” The Mad Poet makes a grand gesture with his free hand over the clear waters of the oasis.
The amnesiacs slowly move toward the oasis and wade into the shallow water. As they look down, they do not see their reflections—at least, not in the conventional sense. They do not see a reflection of what things are, but rather what things were
They see Boodiddly, Jevar, Kolgradd, Shohreh (as Shakur), Urzok, fighting against the head-fruit tree, with Count Lowls standing by the oasis’s edge. It’s as if the oasis is “remembering” what was reflected in its surface from the last time the amnesiacs were here.
As the fight is dying down, they see Lowls turn his back to the not-yet-amnesiacs to face toward the oasis. He pulls out a packet and pours out some kind of powder into his hand. The not-yet-amnesiacs approach him, beaten and bloodied, and begin to patch up their wounds. Lowls quickly turns around to face the not-yet-amnesiacs, blowing the powder—clearly some kind of inhaled toxin—into their faces. The not-yet-amnesiacs quickly succumb to the toxin’s effects, growing lethargic and fugue.
Lowls turns to his side and gestures grandly as he speaks to some unseen individual—clearly the Mad Poet. This proceeds for several unheard minutes. Count Lowls then turns around and faces the fugue not-yet-amnesiacs. Lowls grabs Boodiddly-from-then by his hair and swiftly plunges him face-first into the water of the oasis! Boodiddly-from-then suddenly realizes what’s going on and desperately struggles for his life. Unfortunately, the toxin has already taken hold and hindered his abilities. The gnome is helpless as Lowls forcefully keeps his head below the water, until Boodiddly-from-then falls limp, floating in the water.
Lowls then grabs Urzok-from-then by his breastplate, kicking away the half-orc’s sword, and plunges his face into the oasis’s water. Urzok-from-then’s visage fills with furious rage, but the toxin proves too much, and he too falls limp in the water.
Lowls then pulls Shohreh-as-Shakur and plunges their head into the water as well. Shohreh-as-Shakur coughs beneath the water—which certainly does not help their airflow. Unfortunately, the cleric perhaps struggles the least as they are drowned by Lowls.
Jevar is next. Lowls rips the wizard’s spellbook from his grasp and grabs Jevar-from-then by the neck. Flying in from an unseen location is Oreb-from-then—she was not with her master when he was poisoned. The familiar desperately attacks Count Lowls to protect her master, but the count pulls out a dagger and angrily slashes several times at the bird before finally striking true. Lowls grabs both Jevar- and Oreb-from-then and plunges both into the water. Both struggle as much as they can, but the effort proves futile.
Kolgradd-from-then’s dwarven blood helped him to resist some of the toxin’s more immediate effects, and he crawled away as Lowls was fighting Oreb-from-then. Unfortunately, it proved less than effective, as Lowls walks out of sight, eventually returning to view with a struggling Kolgradd-from-then. Lowls manages to disarm the dwarf of his maul and toss it aside, dunking Kolgradd’s head into the water. But the dwarf does not go down so easily. Kolgradd-from-then manages to struggle in Lowls’s grip enough to spin around such that his back is now in the water and he is facing Count Lowls. Kolgradd-from-then unsheathes a peridot-encrusted clan dagger form an onyx-encrusted sheath and desperately fights against Lowls. The dwarf manages some slices, and breaking the count’s dark spectacles, but Lowls finds an unnerving rage within him as he grips Kolgradd-from-then by the neck and pushes his head down into the water. The dwarf’s attacks grow slower and slower before he finally falls limp.
One by one, Count Lowls drowns—or rather drowned—the not-yet-amnesiacs in the Mad Poet’s oasis. The count stands straight up and looks in the direction of the Mad Poet’s hut, a smile slowly growing across his face. He then exits from view.
From the not-yet-amnesiac’s orifices slither out a thin mist, a mist that begins to seep from the reflection within the oasis into the oasis as it is now. Within the mist the amnesiacs see visions of distant events that tug at the amnesiacs’ minds: Lowls greeting Jevar in a busy market, Kolgradd standing by idlily as Urzok kills a Varisian man with his bare hands, Boodiddly with patches of white hair frustratedly interrogating a woman in funeral attire, Shohreh (as herself) wearing an eyepatch and crying as Lowls presents her with a glass eye.
These…these are the amnesiacs’ memories. They’re here. They’ve always been here. Lowls…gave the amnesiacs’ memories as payment to the Mad Poet.
Thud
The amnesiacs suddenly turn around and find the Mad Poet is gone, having taken his seven gifts and retreated into his hut.
Suddenly the mist—the one showing the amnesiacs’ lost memories—violently retracts, returning beneath the water’s surface into the reflection of the past. At the same time, water erupts from out of the oasis. As the amnesiacs’ visions clear, they find themselves face-to-face with…themselves. Boodiddly, Jevar, Kolgradd, and Shohreh find themselves facing Boodiddly, Jevar, Kolgradd, Shohreh (as Shakur), and Urzok, all suddenly wielding their weapons.
These beings, the amnesiacs realize, are to them what the Yellow King is to Lowls. They are splinters of the amnesiacs’ minds. They are what have been missing from them for so long. They are the amnesiacs’ psyches, desperately trying to suppress the memories taken from them. They are the last obstacle. The amnesiacs pull out their weapons. I’ll let y’all have your weapons out when combat begins.
Urzok’s Psyche Delays until after Shohreh’s Psyche.
Shohreh’s Psyche places a hand on the back of Urzok’s Psyche and ◆◆ Casts a Spell that Shohreh immediately recognizes, since she has it prepared herself: a 3rd-level heroism. They then ◆ Stride to get some distance
Urzok’s Psyche shouts ”Hru Ka!” ◆ Activate an Item and the strange steel shield begins glowing. Urzok’s Psyche then becomes surrounded by an energy bubble. Urzok’s Psyche now has resistance 5 to physical damage for 1 minute.
Urzok’s Psyche then unleashes a mighty war cry as he ◆ Rages! The half-orc then ◆ Raises his Shield.
Gonna mention this for the sake of clarity: the tokens with boxes around them are the Psyches. If there’s anything y’all want me to do to make this combat run in a way that’s less confusing, please speak up. Otherwise…good luck.
Your Own Worst Enemy
Round 1
==============
Shohreh’s Psyche
Urzok’s Psyche (+12) {Resistance 5 to Physical: Round 0 of 10; Rage: Round 0 of 10; Heroism +1}
Kolgradd
Boodiddly’s Psyche
Kolgradd’s Psyche
Shohreh
Boodiddly
Jevar
Jevar’s Psyche
==============
LG Male Medium Dwarf Fighter 13 (He/Him) | HP 205| AC 35 (36 with shield) | F +24 [Battle Hardened] R +21 W[+22 vs. emotion] +23 | Perc +23 (+25 for init) | Speed 25ft | Spells 1st: Sure Strike, Gentle Landing 2nd: See the Unseen 3rd: Time Jump, Blazing Dive| Class DC 31 | Resist: Slashing 4 | Helmet 2/2 Cape 1/1
Kolgradd starts moving immediately, sparing no time for thought. He has seen Boodiddly bring too many proud warriors low to give his psyche a chance to do the same to him.
Kolgradd charges at Boodiddly’s Psyche and hits him (it?).
Boodiddly’s Psyche does a tried-and-true first action: ◇lingering composition and ◆ inspire defense. Doesn’t trigger an AoO because they don’t have somatic components.
M Gnome Bard 13 | HP 151 | AC 32 | F +21 R +21 W +23 (Success -> Crit Success) | Perc +22 (+2 vs Initiative), Imprecise Scent | Speed 25 ft | Focus 2/2 | Spells: 1st 3/3 2nd 3/3 3rd 3/3 4th 3/3 5th 3/3 6th 3/3 7th 2/2 | Staff Charges: 7/7 | Active Conditions: None
Unexpected Shift vs DC 16:1d20 ⇒ 20Success - Resistance 9 to that damage and Dazzled for 1 round
Boodiddly blinks, and it’s like the whole dream vanishes for a moment. Literally. He pops back into existence just in time for his foot to interrupt not-Kolgradd’s hammer as it makes its way to the ground. He stares at the not-dwarf for a few seconds before whistling innocently.
Performance vs DC 26:1d20 + 21 ⇒ (6) + 21 = 27
“Boy, that sure was a close one, wasn’t it? I feel positively… hammered.” The gnome smiles innocently, and the strange new mask on his face twists into a kind, gentle expression, as if inviting the not-friend to join him in laughing at the joke.
Flat Check vs DC 5:1d20 ⇒ 19 Diplomacy, Mask vs Not-Kolgradd Will DC 27:1d20 + 22 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 22 + 4 = 29
But he doesn’t wait for the other to join before breaking out in peals of joviality that echo unnaturally off the walls of the Poet’s hut.
Flat Check vs DC 5:1d20 ⇒ 14 Will, ID vs DC 23:1d20 + 18 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 18 + 1 = 28
Unexpected Shift [R], Lingering Composition [F], cast inspire defense [A], Bon Mot [A], and Create Impossibility to “cast” hideous laughter [A].
Recognizing the fear of these dark reflections for what it is, Shohreh decides to amplify it beyond all reason. In her mind's eye, she stands beside each of them, whispering a single word into their ear.
"Run."
◆◆ Cast 3rd-level fear (DC 28 Will), targeting each Psyche (though not Oreb's Psyche).
◆ Stride.
First off, *Inhales!*For some of the NPCs there is sometimes no image given so I have to improvise using Google and my own lackluster editing skills. If there is a discrepancy between the image and what I write as a description then that is why. All credit to the original artists, etc. etc. etc.
Okay, important stuff:
Once again, I expect posts as frequently as possible, but bare minimum of once per day (with some leeway for weekends).
I frequently use spoilers to keep things organized and not too crowded, so for future reference, any spoilers in any of my posts contain public information that can be viewed by everyone with three significant exceptions: Any spoiler labeled with a specific check along with the DC (i.e. "Perception 30"), any spoiler specifically directed toward a particular player, or any spoiler labeled "GM Screen." Additionally, I sometimes put spoilers inside of spoilers, but I have to get creative with the labels for spoilers inside of spoilers (you can't label it normally or else the coding breaks), so I put such labels in bold and ooc; if there isn't such a label directly above such a spoiler then don't open it unless prompted to do so. Example that uses 1e skills because much of this was pre-written:
Perception ##:
You find a thing!
Knowledge (history) ## to open the spoiler below
Spoiler:
You know about the thing!
Spellcraft ## to open the spoiler below. If you exceed the DC by 10+ then also open the spoiler two below. If you fail by 5 or more, instead open the spoiler three below
Spoiler:
It's the MacGuffin!
Spoiler:
The MacGuffin is Cursed!
Spoiler:
You get magical backlash of energy!
Three other miscellaneous things:
Finally, I believe that Pathfinder is a game of remembering, so if you forget an ability, a bonus, or anything of the like and don't correct yourself of said mistake soon thereafter and I as the GM don't call you out on it, then we continue onward; I'm not going to do a fleshed-out retcon to satisfy a single mistake and if you expect that of me, then I'll shrug and say "Sorry! Remember next time." Likewise, if I make a mistake and am not called out on it in time, then I will say "Welp, the players reap the rewards of my lack of remembering" and move on. There are exceptions to this, such as when a retcon would be simple ("Just heal X damage since you didn't take it because the attack missed.") or if PC death is on the line.
First and foremost, yes, I am converting an adventure written for 1e into 2e. It is largely work done on my side of the screen, so for a good number of things the conversion itself is largely irrelevant. I am doing this primarily because I feel that this would be a good way for folks to learn how the system will be for them—from both sides of the screen. If, for some reason, I feel that people are not having fun because of the edition, I will take a vote and if people want to switch to 1e, then I will not hesitate to do so.
Second, yes, this is indeed being run in Campaign Mode for PFS 1e credit.
Thirdly, there are two subsystems that I’m converting over: sanity and research.
The sanity subsystem was easier to port over. The system will be ultimately the same as it is written here with a few exceptions, mostly for differences between systems, some for making the system run smoother and more logically.
Sanity Subsystem Exceptions:
Replace any reference to ability damage with the stupefied condition.
Replace any reference to CR with level of the creature.
If your total sanity damage equals or exceeds your sanity score you gain the insane condition. This functions as the confused condition except that succeeding at the flat check only allows you to act normally for the round—it does not end the condition.
Ignore the second paragraph of “Reducing Sanity Damage” as well as any reference to a spell that does not exist in 2e. I have an addition to the 2e restoration spell.
Sanity checks happen more often and are less...stupid. The exact specifics are more for my side of the screen, so I won’t bore you with the in-depth details (unless you’re really curious). DCs got an overhaul to scale better with levels. Generally, creatures that force a check against sanity damage are aberrations, fiends, and undead, but it is not limited to those three. Basically, I as the GM will determine whether a situation or creature should invoke a Will save against sanity because not all things that tears a a person’s psyche are aberrations or fiends or undead (bogeymen, for example, are fey). My point is that it’ll basically be a case-by-case judgement if it would require a save. Said saves are also basic Will Saves.
Madnesses got an overhaul; ignore the “Curing Madnesses” section in favor of what’s written here.
Madness Overhaul:
Rather than have the madnesses have a set DC, I’m having them have DCs based on your level (as per that table in the Gamemastering section) when you encountered it—lesser madnesses have a DC of a level 1 lower than when you encountered it, and greater madnesses have a DC of a level equal to your level. If you succeed at the initial saving throw, you’re unaffected. If you fail it, then you take its effects.
You can spend a week of downtime resting and perhaps seeking guidance and therapy to attempt a save against the madness’s DC with the following results:
Critical Success: reduce the madness’s DC by your Charisma modifier plus the intelligence or wisdom (whichever is higher) modifier of the person who gave you guidance and therapy
Success: as a critical success except the DC decrease is halved
Critical Failure: increase the madness’s DC by 2
Once a madness’s DC is reduced to 0, the madness is cured
Dormant madnesses simply do not affect you (there are no lesser effects when a madness is dormant)
Madness Effects:
Delirium: stupefied 1
Delusion: no change
Hallucination: -2 status penalty against and to disbelieve illusions; no other change
Mania: change “exceed the DC by 5 or more” with “on a critical success.” Otherwise, no change
Melancholia: -2 status penalty on Initiative rolls
Night Terrors: affected by nonmagical nightmare each night; DC same as the madness
Paranoia: halve bonuses/penalties and make them status bonuses/penalties; no other changes
Phobia: instead of shaken, scared, and frightened, replace with frightened 1, frightened 2, and frightened 3 and fleeing. Frightened condition doesn’t decrease each round.
Amnesia: stupefied 2
Catatonia: immobilized
Cognitive Block: anytime you take an action with the concentrate trait you must make a DC 5 flat check. On a Failure the action is lost. Afflicted creature cannot speak.
Dissociative Identity: Stupefied 1; otherwise the same
Moral Insanity: no change
Psychosomatic Loss: no change
Schizophrenia: Stupefied 2 and chance of becoming confused
In addition to the regular choices for the spell Restoration:
Heal 1d4 sanity damage or reduce the DC of a madness by 2; once a madness’s DC becomes 0, the madness is cured. A creature is then temporarily immune to either of these uses of Restoration for 1 day.
Heighten (+2):
Increase the sanity damage healed by 1d4 and the reduction to a madness’s DC by 2.
Most of the Research subsystem is the same except for libraries don’t add their circumstance bonus on Recall Knowledge checks to checks to reduce a library’s KP, how you deal damage and the DCs for the libraries are different (the latter I won’t get into because it’s on my side of the screen):
Dealing KP damage:
Characters deal KP damage based on their proficiency in the skill used to research the library—1d4 if untrained, 1d6 if trained, 1d8 if master, 1d10 if legendary. Characters state how many downtime days are dedicated to a specific research session prior to rolling the check, to a maximum of 5 days dedicated at a time before a new check must be rolled.
Critical Success: as success, but deal an additional proficiency die of damage
Success: deal an amount of KP damage equal to your proficiency die, plus an additional die for every two days spent beyond the first (2 dice for 3 days, 3 dice for five days)
Failure: the downtime is wasted and no progress is made.
Critical Failure: You go down a wrong avenue in your research and find it difficult to get back on track. The library heals KP equal to half the damage that the primary researcher would have been dealt on a success during that research session and the primary researcher takes a -2 circumstance penalty to checks against specific library (whether to be the primary researcher or to Aid) until they spend at least one week not attempting checks related to that library.
All common character options are available to everyone. Characters start with 15 gp to spend on items. Otherwise, everything about Character creation is the same with one exception: backgrounds.
Due to the amnesiac storyline in Strange Aeons, backgrounds are going to be very different: I’ve personally created ten special backgrounds based on the campaign traits from the Strange Aeons Players’ Guide. Your background must be chosen from one of these backgrounds.
Driven by Guilt:
You awake after your ordeal with a lingering feeling that you have taken part in something outside the normal bounds of your morals. Whether you were corrupted at one point or compelled to perform some forgotten actions, this guilt drives you to fight against those forces in the world that prey upon the good. You see your present condition as a chance to redeem yourself and banish this unsettling emotion.
Choose two ability boosts. One must be Dexterity or Charisma, and one is a free ability boost.
You’re trained in your choice of the Intimidation or Stealth skill, as well as the Underworld Lore skill. You gain a skill feat: Group Coercion if you chose Intimidation or Experienced Smuggler if you chose Stealth.
Enduring Stoicism:
Even though your pulse is pounding in your ears when you awake in the asylum, you feel strangely nonplussed. You can recognize that the situation you find yourself in is horrific, but you refuse to let that fear control you. It doesn’t feel like it’s worth worrying over too much. You know that when you face unspeakable forces, keeping your cool will keep you alive.
Choose two ability boosts. One must be Constitution or Wisdom, and one is a free ability boost.
You’re trained in the Intimidation skill and the Thrushmoor Lore skill. You gain the Intimidating Glare skill feat.
Foe of the Strange:
You awake feeling emboldened after a terrifying nightmare. Instead of being frightened by the bizarre creatures from your nightmares, these experiences have steeled you against these startling alien beings. You know that you fell victim to strange circumstances and loathsome forces, but you refuse to give in to a creeping sense of helplessness. Instead, you vow to fight back against whoever or whatever is responsible for your current situation. The creatures of your nightmares won’t hold fear over your head. You’ll take the fight to them.
Choose two ability boosts. One must be Strength or Intelligence, and one is a free ability boost.
You’re trained in the Occultism skill and the Eldritch Horror Lore skill. You gain the Dubious Knowledge skill feat.
Formerly Mind-Swapped:
You awake with a strange sensation beyond the frightening experience of extensive memory loss. Full recollections of the experience—like so many others—have been wiped from your mind, but at some point in your past your mind was swapped with that of a yithian, an alien being from beyond time and space. You don’t remember details of your experiences wandering the yithians’ peculiar city in a foreign body— and even worry whether this might be some strange hallucination—but every so often, a flash of insight strikes you as a result of this experience. You know that you can rely on these alien flashbacks during your investigation into your current situation, as it gives you greater perspective into an otherwise confusing world.
Choose two ability boosts. One must be Constitution or Intelligence, and one is a free ability boost.
You’re trained in the Occultism skill and the Yith Lore skill. You gain the Oddity Identification skill feat.
Methodical Mind:
When you awake with nothing but hazy memories, you begin carefully cataloging your thoughts to determine the reasons for your condition and where you might be. This comforts you, and you know deep down that you have always relied on your ordered mind and pragmatic approach to face challenges. You use this focus and sensibility to your advantage as you investigate your current dire situation.
Choose two ability boosts. One must be Intelligence or Wisdom, and one is a free ability boost.
You’re trained in the Society skill and the Thrushmoor Lore skill. You gain the Assurance skill feat in a skill with the Recall Knowledge action.
Pugnacious:
You awake in the asylum with sore muscles and bloody knuckles, as if you were recently in a fight. You even have a vague feeling that you won. You can’t explain it, but you know that you’ve always been easy to set off, and your first instinct when pressed into a corner is to lash out. Stuck in the asylum sets you on edge, and you not only want to figure out what happened to you, you want to free yourself and find whoever did this to you—and make them pay.
Choose two ability boosts. One must be Strength or Constitution, and one is a free ability boost.
You’re trained in the Intimidation skill and the Thrushmoor Lore skill. You gain the Quick Coercion skill feat.
Ritualistic:
You awake with a sense of purpose and a tingle of magical power. Though it’s unsettling that you can’t recall your past, you have a hunch that if you and your companions do everything just right—follow the correct steps and order—the answers will reveal themselves and you will be free of your condition. You get the feeling that you’ve always fallen back on careful planning and time-tested evidence in the past, but a nagging sensation also tells you that you used these skills in less-than-kind ways all too recently.
Choose two ability boosts. One must be Intelligence or Charisma, and one is a free ability boost.
You’re trained in your choice of the Arcana, Nature, Occultism, or Religion skill, as well as the Ritual Lore skill. You gain the Quick Identification skill feat
Sensitive Mind:
You awake in the asylum horribly aware of dangers lurking nearby. While your memories are hazy and indistinct, everything around you looks vibrant and clear. You have an inkling that you have always been perceptive and can tell a lot about a person even in a quick meeting. This sensitivity can overwhelm you at times, especially in your current situation.
Choose two ability boosts. One must be Wisdom or Charisma, and one is a free ability boost.
You’re trained in your choice of the Deception or Diplomacy skill, as well as the Thrushmoor Lore skill. You gain a skill feat: Charming Liar if you chose Deception or Group Impression if you chose Diplomacy.
True Devotion:
You wake from your recent ordeal with a sense of shame, as if you had sinned deeply against your morals and beliefs. However, you feel a bit of relief as well, as if your god had granted you a second chance. You not only have a drive to figure out what happened to you, but an urge to fight back against the unspeakable forces of evil. If, during the course of your investigation, you discover that you took part in unsavory activities that would normally be opposed to your faith or alignment, this event no longer has any impact with your standing in the eyes of your god due to your renewed righteous convictions.
Choose two ability boosts. One must be Strength or Wisdom, and one is a free ability boost.
You’re trained in the Religion skill and a Lore skill associated with your deity (such as Sarenrae Lore, Iomedae Lore, etc.). You gain the Student of the Canon skill feat.
Twitchy:
Your first thought upon awaking in the asylum isn’t confusion over why you can’t remember anything clearly—it’s a sudden urge to find safety. You feel like everything around you, aside from your companions, might threaten you and you’re always ready to react. You have a hard time staying still, and you’re constantly surveying your surroundings. Maybe you are paranoid, or maybe it’s just an overactive imagination, but whatever it is, you know that keeping these feelings honed will help you stay alive.
Choose two ability boosts. One must be Dexterity or Wisdom, and one is a free ability boost.
You’re trained in the Survival skill and the Thrushmoor Lore skill. You gain the Forager skill feat.
Not particularly related to character creation, but everybody gets a Hero Point. I will be handing out Hero Points based on, honestly, doing really awesome stuff that I deem worthy of it. Hero Points reset back to 1 at the beginning of each book.
Also, due to the fact that I can't use the cool symbols Paizo uses to indicate actions, I'm going to be using a carry-over from when they were teasing the playtest and use [[A]] for an action, [[R]] for reaction, and [[F]] for free action.
I think that’s everything, but I could very easily be wrong. Anyways, happy gaming, all!
NG Methodical Mind ???Half-Elf??? Cleric of Pharasma (Multiclass Sorcerer) 9 | HP 107/107 | AC 25 (26 with shield) | F 15 R 13 W 19 [resolve] | Perc 17 | Stealth 2 | speed 25 | Active Conditions:
Pharasman battle-cleric Shakur Hektat, at your service. Focused primarily on beating things bloody enough to meet the Lady of Graves, and on healing my allies such that they have no need to meet her.
PaleDim, are you leaning towards playing anything? With a cleric and a bard, a rogue-type and a figher-type seem like logical choices (not that I'm suggesting we have to choose one of those options!).
I'm leaning more towards the melee combatant side of things, tbh. Unless you'd rather bring that sort of character to the table, PaleDim, I'll start building one up and see what happens!
GM, idk if I'm being dense, but what does "common character options" mean?
PaleDim, are you leaning towards playing anything? With a cleric and a bard, a rogue-type and a figher-type seem like logical choices (not that I'm suggesting we have to choose one of those options!).
I'm leaning more towards the melee combatant side of things, tbh. Unless you'd rather bring that sort of character to the table, PaleDim, I'll start building one up and see what happens!
GM, idk if I'm being dense, but what does "common character options" mean?
PF2 introduced the rarity system for many things. Basically, the rarity (Common, Uncommon, Rare, Unique [keeping these capitalized for this post for clarity]) of the thing tells you how readily available the item is in shops, how sparse a specific creature is, etc. Uncommon stuff are not unheard of, but it's usually more known within a specific region, among a specific group of people, or among a specific ancestry, and you sometimes have to make some kind of character choice to gain access to an Uncommon option.
For example, a katana is an Uncommon weapon because it is used by specific individuals (samurai, etc.) within a specific region (Tian Xia), so to see it outside of there would certainly be strange, but not unheard of. Focus Spells (used to replace cleric domain powers, Paladin Lay on Hands, etc.) are also generally Uncommon because it is specific to a certain discipline, in this case being a class.
For a more meta-example: antimagic field is a Rare spell, both because the idea of using magic to absolutely negate magic is rather unheard of in-game and because the spell is rather game-breaking and forces both the GM and players to recalculate everything, so the availability is limited so that cavaliers can't just casually use scrolls of it in the middle of a scenario and break absolutely everything about it!!!
Sorry, poor previous experience with that spell.
With respect to creatures, an Uncommon creature isn't unheard of, but is native to specific regions or are otherwise less known-about by the average joe. Major devils, for example, are Uncommon because they largely are not seen on the Material Plane, but in Cheliax, the argument could be made that those creatures would be Common. Liches, to use another example, are Rare because the ritual to become a lich is so esoteric and specific that liches are the stuff of legend, not something seen by the everyday farmer. DCs to identify Uncommon, Rare, or Unique creatures/spells increase by 2, 5, and 10, respectively, because information about them is not readily available.
It's also used to diminish game-breaking stuff, such as discern lies being used in a primarily investigative adventure. It also allows GMs to make more interesting treasure troves by putting some Uncommon or Rare in there.
That said, if anyone would like to work something out with me to try and get an Uncommon character option for something more than just maximizing character optimization (such as having a katana if you wanted to be a Tian samurai), I'll see if we can work something out.
A feat, spell, item, etc. will specifically say if it's Uncommon or Rare or Unique with its traits; in the absence of a rarity trait, it's considered Common.
Also, I know that Shakur was talking about being a warpriest (one of the cleric disciplines), so she could very well double as a frontliner.
On another note, while rogues are still very good at being trap disablers, anyone with the Thievery skill can do fairly well at filling that role, rogues only get an ability that let them treat their proficiency rank as being higher for the purposes of what kinds of traps they can disable.
What I'm saying is that fulfilling the roles for the "classic party of four" does not mean that someone is forced to be a rogue to be the trapfinder, or a fighter to be the frontliner, which I personally REALLY like! A druid of the wild order, for example, can make a surprisingly good frontliner.
Not trying to shoot down what you want to play—if you want to be melee-oriented then go right ahead—I'm just saying that the areas for what classes can fulfill roles is a lot more open now than just saying "we need a rogue or investigator to be able to disable magical traps."
PaleDim, are you leaning towards playing anything? With a cleric and a bard, a rogue-type and a figher-type seem like logical choices (not that I'm suggesting we have to choose one of those options!).
I'm leaning more towards the melee combatant side of things, tbh. Unless you'd rather bring that sort of character to the table, PaleDim, I'll start building one up and see what happens!
GM, idk if I'm being dense, but what does "common character options" mean?
Well, I'm going to try to do the good thing where I start with the background/backstory and fit the class to it, instead of the other way around (to not restrict my creative juices, lol),
BUT I generally tend to gravitate towards arcane spellcasters. I'm vaguely thinking of trying out their initial offerings of archetypes (which are really just all of the classes as multi-class addons) to do something like an "arcane trickster" or "arcane archer."
So, in short, I'm unlikely to stomp on your melee space.
Oddly enough, I'm going to advise against starting with the backstory because, again, this has an amnesiac story element, so you as a player AND as a character don't actually know what your backstory is.
Okay...it's technically "recent memory," now that I'm reading through it again. More specifically it's, at the very least, 2-5 years that has disappeared. But it's purposefully kept vague about the timeline to allow it to be up to the group as to how much memory the PCs have.
That works perfectly PaleDim! Then as long as I'm not stepping on Shakur's toes, I'm considering a fighter with the barbarian archetype. I have no problem with adjusting if this is an issue though! Frankly, I don't get how archetypes work, so I haven't included it in my outline below. I think it costs me feats starting at level 2, I just don't know which feats it is costing me.
I think I did this right, but I'd love for someone to give it a once over!
Half-Orc (Str and Con)
Pugnacious (Con and Str)
Fighter (Str)
That works perfectly PaleDim! Then as long as I'm not stepping on Shakur's toes, I'm considering a fighter with the barbarian archetype. I have no problem with adjusting if this is an issue though! Frankly, I don't get how archetypes work, so I haven't included it in my outline below. I think it costs me feats starting at level 2, I just don't know which feats it is costing me.
I think I did this right, but I'd love for someone to give it a once over!
Half-Orc (Str and Con)
Pugnacious (Con and Str)
Fighter (Str)
Looking over things, the ability scores you’ve got are definitely possible, I just think you mentioned the wrong ones. The ability score building process is as follows (Slightly different and more streamlined than what the Core presents, but is functionally the same):
Step 1 Key Ability Score (depends on class—sometimes classes give an option between two scores [like fighter or monk], the choice must be made at character creation and once made cannot be changed)
Step 2 Ancestry Boosts* (depends on ancestry—generally two set boosts and one free boost; humans are the exception)
Step 3 Ancestry Flaws (depends on ancestry—generally in one ability score; humans are the exception)
Step 4 Background (depends on background—generally gives a boost in the player’s choice of one of two set ability scores as well as one free ability boost; I’ve yet to find an exception)
Step 5 Level: 1st (four free ability boosts [meaning they can be put in any ability score of your choice as long as it hasn’t been boosted already during that step])
* The Voluntary Flaws option would also occur during this step, but that’s an optional rule that I don’t want to force on you guys (but I did use it when creating some NPCs)
Well, technically…:
I present Ancestry Flaws as a separate step because I think that you can put a free ability boost from your ancestry into your ancestral ability flaw—but it’s not explicitly said in the Core. It was explicitly said that you could in the Playtest and it’s heavily implied on pg. 20 of the Core (“Dwarves, for example, receive an ability boost to their Constitution score and their Wisdom score, as well as one free ability boost, which can be applied to any score other than Constitution or Wisdom.” Emphasis: mine. Quote makes no mention of dwarves’ ability flaw in Cha., so it’s implied that they could put the free boost into Cha.). That’s how I’ll do it, but I just wanted to put all my cards on the table about it before anyone called me out on a technicality.
This is how I’m reading your process, Gummy Bear:
Step 1 Sounds like you’re trying to max out Str., so you picked that for your key ability score instead of Dex.:
Str. 12 Dex. 10 Con. 10 Int. 10 Wis. 10 Cha. 10 Step 2 Humans (of which half-orc is a heritage) get two free ability boosts, you picked both Con. and Str. for your Ancestry:
Str. 14 Dex. 10 Con. 12 Int. 10 Wis. 10 Cha. 10 Step 3 Half-Orcs, as a heritage of humans, don’t get an ancestral ability flaw:
Str. 14 Dex. 10 Con. 12 Int. 10 Wis. 10 Cha. 10 Step 4 You picked Pugnacious for your background, and it sounds like you picked Str. for your fixed boost and Con. for your free boost:
Str. 16 Dex. 10 Con. 14 Int. 10 Wis. 10 Cha. 10 Step 5 For your four free ones you definitely picked Str. and Dex. And Wis., but I think you got a bit confused about how ability boosts worked (they have to all be in scores that haven’t already been boosted during that step) so you applied two of the boosts into Wis., which you can’t do:
Str. 18 Dex. 12 Con. 14 Int. 10 Wis. 14 Cha. 10
Now, if you switched around your ability boost choices (such as by switching your Ancestry boost to Con. to be in Wis. and putting one of the two free ability boosts that you put [but shouldn’t have] in Wis. into Con. instead) you could certainly get the above set of ability scores. All I’m saying is that the specific ability boost choices you presented would not result in that set of ability scores.
The process of building ability scores can be quite confusing the first time around, but after you get the hang of it it’s actually pretty simple and elegant.
EDIT: Archetype feats can be taken in place of Class feats.
Quick aside: If you gain access to an uncommon thing from a normal character choice you’ve made (such as picking Elven Weapon Familiarity or Domain Initiate [since all domain Focus Spells are uncommon]), then it’s fine that you have it—the thing about “working something out” with me about gaining access to an uncommon thing was more about gaining access to uncommon options that you didn’t already gain access to. You need to “gain access” to an uncommon option in order to choose it—if you gain access to it from a character choice, then you’re golden!
As another thing with Lore: the Core presents a subcategory of Lore to be a “specific kind of creature, like Demon Lore, Owlbear Lore, or Vampire Lore,” but I’ve seen some backgrounds that give more broad things like Undead Lore or Dragon Lore, so how I’m gonna run it is that, based on how general the Recall Knowledge skill you’re using, the higher the DC would be (i.e. IDing a vampire would be an “eh” DC when using Religion, a lower DC when using Undead Lore, and an even lower DC when using Vampire Lore).
There are rules in place to allow me to do that rather easily.
This is great, thank you! I followed the development only a little bit, so I’m pretty fresh and this sort of information dump/step by step walkthrough is very helpful!
You’re spot on in seeing how I developed my stats. I’d like to keep those stats, so I’ll use the method you’ve described above!
Class feats for archetypes, got it. Do I get to choose to spend the feat every time, or does it become compulsory if I decide to take the archetype?
Every time you get a class feat you choose how to spend it. If you want to just take the Barbarian Dedication (dedication feats are always the first feat in an archetype feat tree that you take) and never touch the Barbarian archetype again. The only downside is that you wouldn’t be able to take any other dedication feats until you met the requisite...feat number? for the Barbarian archetype—Which I believe is two more Barbarian archetype feats (it’s written at the bottom of every dedication feat that you have to obtain a certain number of feats in that archetype before you can pick another dedication feat; no more picking and choosing that kind of stuff—you have to follow through with your archetype).
M Gnome Bard 13 | HP 151 | AC 32 | F +21 R +21 W +23 (Success -> Crit Success) | Perc +22 (+2 vs Initiative), Imprecise Scent | Speed 25 ft | Focus 2/2 | Spells: 1st 3/3 2nd 3/3 3rd 3/3 4th 3/3 5th 3/3 6th 3/3 7th 2/2 | Staff Charges: 7/7 | Active Conditions: None
Alright, Boodiddly is (mostly) fleshed out and ready!
Gnome Bard with the Enigma muse, a lover and connoisseur of food, and a master of the occult - Boodiddly is cheerful and talkative, yet just mysterious enough to be irresistibly intriguing to those he meets.
If someone can invest proficiency in Society and Thievery, that could help cover our bases nicely as far as skills go. Boodiddly will focus on Deception, Diplomacy, Occultism, and Performance, as well as buffing compositions (it will be revealed that his muse is multifarious) and supportive spells.
I used Herolab's "BB code statblock" output for these two. Clearly they left out a lot of detail on the Raven, but I think it's a reasonable format otherwise (it just didn't give the status line markup).
BTW, in case any of you didn't know, Herolab online lets you create first-level characters for free (Pathfinder 2e, Pathfinder Playtest, Starfinder): https://herolab.online
Given your conversion, how relevant do you think the Player's Guide for this AP is? Will it still give some useful ideas about how to play the characters, and/or preview the subsystems (research, etc.) that you're converting over?
Sanity came out immediately after Strange Aeons. And I think research is only lightly touched upon in any way other than "check it out in Ultimate Intrigue" in the Players' Guide.
I'd still give it a once-over, even if only for the lore aspects of it.
EDIT: Also, reviewing Jevar, I don't see where it says your arcane school (I can imply that it's Universalist since you have hand of the apprentice), your arcane thesis, or what skill is keyed to Assurance.
CN (Male) Half-Orc (Human) Fighter 5 | HP 73/73 | AC 23 | F +12 R +11 W +12 | Perc +12 | Stealth +2 | 25ft | Active Conditions: None | Sanity 22/36 Threshold 3 Edge 18
This is the alias for my Fighter/Barbarian! GM, would you mark Gummy Bear as inactive as well, please? Getting his profile written now.
EDIT: Profile done, except for some fluff in the top spoiler. The sheet suggests I get another feat? I doubt that is correct, but could someone verify that?
Urzok, you put your first level ancestry feat under "Heritage." Your heritage is Half-Orc. And by the way, 2e added a "Strength" to armor. If your Str. score is greater than or equal to that number, then you don't take any of the penalties from that armor (armor check penalty and speed reduction). A breastplate's Strength rating is 16, meaning that with your 18 Str. you can carry it easily—you don't take a speed reduction or an armor check penalty.
Also, I ask that everyone puts their sanity into their profiles.
Sanity Score is equal to the sum of your mental ability scores minus your stupefied value.
Sanity Threshold is equal to your highest mental modifier minus your stupefied value.
Sanity Edge is equal to half of your sanity score.
Also, upon review some of my modifications for the madnesses, I figured it unfair to have them deal the stupefied condition since that directly affects the sanity score/threshold/edge when the subsystem in 1e didn’t deal ability damage with madnesses. So in the name of fairness to the players I’m re-re-modifying some of the madnesses so that none of them give you the stupefied condition:
Re-Remodified Madnesses:
Delirium: -1 status penalty to Wisdom- and Intelligence-based checks and DCs.
Amnesia: -2 status penalty to Will saves and skill modifiers.
Dissociated Identity: -3 status penalty to Wisdom-based checks and DCs. I’m aware that this is a greater penalty than in my initial posts, but at the time I didn’t want to make it give you stupefied 3. Plus I’ve been halving the 1e penalties given, so this makes it more consistent.
Schizophrenia: -2 status penalty on Wisdom- and Charisma-based checks and DCs. Each time a character afflicted with this madness finds himself in a stressful situation (such as combat), he must make a Will save against this madness’s DC:
Critical Success: Character is unaffected
Success: Character is confused for 1 action
Failure: Character is confused for 1 round
Critical Failure: Character is confused for 1 minute
I’d also like to modify the basic will save against sanity damage to be different when you’re encountering a Great Old One, because flavor-wise a Great Old One melts away the sanity of anyone and everyone who looks upon it:
Will Save vs. Sanity Damage Against a Great Old One:
Critical Success: Sanity damage is equal to half of the Great Old One’s level.
Success: Sanity damage is equal to the Great Old One’s level.
Failure: Sanity damage is equal to double the Great Old One’s level.
Critical Failure: Sanity damage is equal to quadruple the Great Old One’s level.
Sorry if I’m seeming fickle, I just want to get these rules set before we actually start, which will actually be fairly soon. Talked to Shakur’s player and they should finish up their character by later today, and I need to check in with Boodiddly’s ability scores. From there, we should be good to begin!
Okie, Jevar and Oreb have been fairly well updated. Sorry the initial output of herolab was so scant. Status lines are there too, and sanity on Jevar (does the raven need sanity?)
Yeah, the details on familiars actually are kind of slim :/ There aren't stat blocks for each choice of familiar, it's actually just some generic stats and the choice. I do think I did some of the bonuses wrong (saving throws, skills, perception, AC), but yeah they don't really have ability scores or attacks from what I can tell in the Familiars section of the book (unlike animal companions, who do have full stat blocks, attacks, etc.)
Anyway, familiar is corrected. But yeah, understood it's just an extension. Just a bit confusing that they don't even get stats as the basic animal. Here is the text that makes "no stats" clear.
Familiars, Modifiers and AC wrote:
It doesn’t have or use its own ability modifiers and can never benefit from item bonuses.
Well, there was something one of the devs (I think Mark Seifter) said that was along the lines of "Now you don't have to wait for Ultimate Wilderness to get a mole familiar."
Also, double-check your numbers. Your spell attack roll should be +7 (trained level 1 +3, +4 Int.) and your DC should likewise be 17. Next to "Arcane Wizard Spells" it says "DC 14; attack +0," which is flat-out wrong.
NG Methodical Mind ???Half-Elf??? Cleric of Pharasma (Multiclass Sorcerer) 9 | HP 107/107 | AC 25 (26 with shield) | F 15 R 13 W 19 [resolve] | Perc 17 | Stealth 2 | speed 25 | Active Conditions:
Finally working on getting my automatic sheet to export things. Expect stats tonight.
Okay, I’ve been talking with Boodiddly’s and Shakur’s players and from the sounds of things they’re close (read within the next 24-48 hours) to completing and putting up their characters’ profiles (a server problem just happened with Shakur and Boodiddly has had a lot of stuff going on at once).
For the sake of not keeping everyone waiting (and because I’m absurdly impatient) I’m going to get the ball rolling in the Gameplay thread.
CN (Male) Half-Orc (Human) Fighter 5 | HP 73/73 | AC 23 | F +12 R +11 W +12 | Perc +12 | Stealth +2 | 25ft | Active Conditions: None | Sanity 22/36 Threshold 3 Edge 18
Just for my own reference in the future, are characters conscious of classes? Like if Urzok mentioned a Paladin, would that mean anything? Some people say yes, some no, which is why I ask.
Depends on the class, honestly. A “cleric of Iomedae” is fairly obvious. A “fighter” is just a generic term for “one who fights” and could apply to a Barbarian, champion, or even a cleric or rogue, depending on the build.
As another example, a “psychic” (a 1e class) could describe a sorcerer with an occult bloodline.
Basically, I lean towards that characters are not conscious of classes, but that certain out-of-game words connect to things in-game (like the rogue’s Racket or a cleric’s Doctrine, which give an in-game way to describe your character), if that makes any sense.
For future reference, frightened and fleeing are two entirely separate conditions. Not saying you played incorrectly, Jevar, just saying that that was a mental connection that I had to make myself.
