GM Kate's Extinction Curse [closed]

Game Master Kate Baker

I am totally cool with using different skills in your act without taking the feat for that, too.

I'm so happy that Niksi's big moment had such great rolls! Wow!

Hey, we have finished Book 1, and you all get to level to 5!

Rova, Level 5 ranger
+1 to everything (man, 2e is EASY!)

Ability boosts: Str, Con, Wis, Cha

Ancestry feat: Halfling Luck [free] Frequency once per day
Trigger You fail a skill check or saving throw.
Your happy-go-lucky nature makes it seem like misfortune avoids you, and to an extent, that might even be true. You can reroll the triggering check, but you must use the new result, even if it’s worse than your first roll.

Skill increase: Survival (to expert); I'm open to other suggestions. I think I'm currently the only one with Survival, so figured I'd boost it in case we need it (and since I think that still fits with Rova's concept that she'd be continuing to work on that).

Trackless step: When you move through natural terrains, you are difficult to track. You always gain the benefits of the Cover Tracks action in such terrains, without moving at half your Speed.

Weapon expertise: You’ve dedicated yourself to learning the intricacies of your weapons. Your proficiency ranks for simple and martial weapons and unarmed attacks increases to expert. You gain access to the critical specialization effects of all simple and martial weapons and unarmed attacks when attacking your hunted prey.

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Note: Kate, my new Medicine macro is as follows (since it got the Wisdom boost):
[ dice=Medicine (expert, inc. +1 item bonus) ]1d20+12[/dice]

I had some time this afternoon, so I just updated the loot sheet with everything from the tower.

I have a number of question marks next to some of the weapons, etc., since I don't know that we would have actually brought those with us. It doesn't feel like we would in our roles as circus performers, but I didn't want to just decide myself to toss out loot.

Some other things seems more likely we'd have taken, and should figure out how to disburse:
* +1 full plate - Mukluk was wearing. None of the rest of us wear plate, so we can bury him in it (unless we think he wouldn't like that?), but do we want to harvest the rune off it?
* Fear gem - This requires a melee strike. I think it makes the most sense for prism.
* 2 thunderstones - maybe one each for Niksi and Rova? Not sure either are proficient. Also are they lesser thunderstones, Kate?
* Rova would take the 2 poisons, if no one objects.
* The shark tooth charm seems to make the most sense for Prism
* Someone needs to hold the lesser elixir of life
* We have +1 striking runes we can harvest from Cavnakash's maul. Not sure whose weapon we want to put those on? (see below)

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I'm thinking I'm going to leave my slingstaff at home. With the reload 1, it feels like it takes too long to use in combat, since I have Thkrull also requiring an action. If I focus more on my bow, I think the striking might make sense there. Otherwise, I think Prism's weapon makes the most sense, since she's using it most consistently (except I just checked and looks like she already has that on her sickle! Which makes me think my bow makes the most sense). (I have +1 already on my bow, so either way can add +1 to another weapon; I could put it on my backup melee weapon, or give it to Niksi).

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Prism, don't forget you need to pick up thieves' tools. (Also, I owe you 5 gp that I should be able to repay now.) I also need to replenish my ammunition.

As evidenced by her new ancestry feat, Niksi is going to be picking up an elven curve blade for melee, as I think she will take Mukluk’s death as a sign that she needs to take fighting more seriously. She also realized that with her ancestry feat she can get it to count as a simple weapon for her. She’ll be wanting a striking rune eventually, especially because of the curve blade’s forceful ability. Also, the crit specialization effect makes people flatfooted, which will synergize well with Prism.

Prism has a +1 Striking rune on her weapon already so one of you two should take it. She can take the fear gem and shark tooth though.

Thanks for the reminder on the Thieves' tools. I'll make a post on that now and do a small bit of shopping before we leave. Though she will need the gold from selling this equipment first :)

Yeah, I'm assuming we'll have time to do some shopping.

So, thinking about it, I don't think Mukluk would actually want to be buried in his armor. Which I think means we should harvest the +1 rune (for Prism) and sell the armor itself.

I'll hold the lesser elixir of life, since I'm usually out of direct melee combat. (I think Niksi has the wand of heal? Actually, I'm not sure if she can use that?)

I think let's put the striking rune on Rova's bow for now, with the +1 rune on Niksi's sword. I'm sure we'll get a striking rune for Niksi soon enough.

That works. Niksi’s sorc dedication gives her access to the primal spell list and thus Heal, so she can use the wand

There is a chance for downtime here before you move on to the next location, and I remember Niksi being interested in doing some crafting. Let's go with two weeks before your audiences start to thin out.

Excellent. I will just need to refresh my memory on how crafting works in 2E and then I'll give you some rolls.

Also, if Prism and Rova have anything they want to do with their downtime, please feel free!

Prism will help around the circus as she doesn't have any specific downtime activity to craft anything useful.

She will need to know what we have from selling the loot once we know on the list as she only has 3 gold to her name.

OK, I'm going to assume we didn't take all the regular weapons. We didn't mention that and -- while I know looting corpses is part of Pathfinder economy -- I don't feel like that's something our characters would have been doing at this point.

So by my accounting, we're going to sell/divide the following items:
Full plate (15 gp)
4 emeralds (60 gp)
Golden statuette (11 gp)
Crystal vials (16 gp)
That's 102 gp, which divided into three is 34 gp each. Rova will repay 5 to Prism, so she gets 29 and Prism gets 39.

That leaves the following items to be distributed, with my suggestions on who gets it:
+1 armor property rune (160 gp, Prism)
Fear gem (20 gp, Prism)
2 Thunderstones Kate, still need to know what level these are (?? gp, 1 each for Niksi and Rova)
1 dose cytillesh oil (10 gp, Rova)
Shark tooth charm (23 gp, Prism)
Elegant clothing (16 gp, Niksi?)
Belladonna (5 gp, Rova)
Lesser elixir of life (Prism)
Demon mask (85 gp, Niksi)
Reflection of life (everyone!)
+1 striking weapon runes (100 gp, Rova)
Wand of heal (2nd) (160 gp, Niksi)

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Note that this goes up 5 gp each (plus 1 more for party loot) if we sell the elegant clothing.

Lesser Thunderstones, sorry!

You can get rid of the clothing. That's money that can be better spent on keeping us all alive, in Niksi's eyes.

Sounds good. So 39 gp each (+5 for Prism, -5 for Rova).

Party loot has 1 gp stored away.

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Once we start the next book, I will wipe out the loot sheet (unless someone objects) so we can start it fresh, so please transfer your gear to your aliases/character sheets.

I think I'd actually prefer to sell the demon mask. Niksi has her own masks to wear and it's a lot of money. She could afford to make her new elven curve blade low grade cold iron if she sold it.

That's fine. I'd say once it's allocated to you, it's yours to do with as you'd like. Considering we've already fought some demons, cold iron makes some sense.

Coolio. I think it also makes flavor sense as since Kyonin fights Treerazer and his minions often, finding an elven curve blade of cold iron would be easier than first expected

Thanks for figuring all of that Rova! Will get those items added to Prism's character sheet now.

And we have a new player!

The rest of you will meet the new PC in Escadar. I will get things moving on Monday.

Nice! Awesome

Yay! Welcome, new player.

Hi everyone!

I'm the aforementioned new player. Really looking forward to jumping in and gaming with all of you!

Right now I'm listening the the soundtrack from The Greatest Showman for inspiration and reading through the player's guide to figure out what exciting and totally fleshed out character you'll be meeting in ~48 hours.

Yay! Welcome :)

Welcome to the circus! Literally and figuratively! I will be your bard on this venture *bows*

Welcome! We hope you will be here until The End. Though you should know that may be coming sooner rather than later. Just look at how close Groetus is getting!

Oh, slight comment so everyone's backstories gel: Niksi, Rova, and Prism left the Celestial Menagerie a while ago. You know some of the people there still, but many new people started since you left, including Marilus.

Marilus, can you add your stats to Slide 2? Everyone else, can you make sure that your stats on Slide 2 are updated to your level 5 values?

Updated mine!

Also, for Marilus's benefit, Niksi's ex (Danica the lion tamer) is still with the Menagerie, so he might have met her or know her by reputation.

Ah yes, Danica. We might be seeing her again. :D

If a little bit of ret-conning is okay, Marilus would prefer to sit out the meeting with the constable. One because he's trying to avoid current members of the Celestial Menagerie before he's able to jump ship, and two because he avoids law enforcement in Escadar due to some unresolved issues in his past. He's happy waiting back at the inn to see how things go, unless there are reasons for him to maybe be waiting in the lobby or right outside.

Either way.

Makes sense! I'll represent Marilus's insider information with some bonuses for the others.

I don’t know if I’ll have a chance to write the post up properly tonight, but Niksi is going to attempt to discredit by bringing up the abuses she and her fellows suffered and witnessed there

Whew. Dice are on our side in this one. (He says, hoping he's not jinxing us.)

Exposition that's a little tough to fit into Gameplay:

As former employees of the Celestial Menagerie, you all know the following things.

Mistress Dusklight is the charismatic catfolk ringmaster and owner of the Celestial Menagerie. The Celestial Menagerie’s ever-changing roster of performers combined with its interactive circus grounds makes it popular with Escadar’s citizenry.

Mistress Dusklight employs a variety of performers, including magical monsters and creatures of legend under her firm control. Audiences cheer for cavorting azatas, juggling giants, and mammoth riders.

Mistress Dusklight uses dubious means to keep her performers in line. Nebulous rumors of blackmail, withholding wages, and outright abuse surround the Celestial Menagerie. No evidence has ever surfaced to back these claims, however, and disgruntled circus employees tend to mysteriously disappear.

Marilus, as a very recent employee, also knows the following:

Mistress Dusklight uses magic and drugs to control her more dangerous acquisitions. Creatures like azatas and giants don’t willingly perform in her big top; she either magically binds them to her will or doses them with powerful opiates to keep them docile.

You can try to get more dirt whenever you'd like with a Diplomacy check to Gather Information or a Circus Lore check to Recall Knowledge.

I would like at some point to Gather Information about the Celestial Infernal Menagerie, though doesn't necessarily have to be right away if others want to head back immediately.

Diplomacy (trained): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24

I forgot to say it, but Niksi's Circus Lore check didn't uncover anything. She can try again the next day.

Marilus, you start with one hero point! I like it when PCs have their hero points listed on their tag line.

Oh, hero points! I award a hero point to Marilus for centipede smashing and one to Niksi for clever problem-solving.

And not to be too coy, the adventure kind of assumes that you'll fight the wolves, but I wanted to give you a chance for alternate solutions. It's also fine to just fight them.

Hero Point to Rova for excellent effort in not killing wolves!

Prism earn a Hero Point for this line, which made me laugh: "She slowly lowers the free tickets to the circus she was about to offer and instead draws her sickle"

Prism earn a Hero Point for this line, which made me laugh: "She slowly lowers the free tickets to the circus she was about to offer and instead draws her sickle"

Thanks! :)

I've been busy with wife stuff this valentine's weekend, so sorry for being slow to post! I'll get one up in a bit.

Looking at the loot:
* I suggest Prism or maybe Marilus take the invisibility potion.
* Rova has halfling luck, so can take the beckoning cat amulet, which hopefully she can get affixed to her armor overnight. Then I'll just have to remember to use it next time several of us fail some Reflex saves.
* The clear spindle means you don't need to eat or drink, and the resonant power is to cast air bubble 1/day. Not sure who would like that, but I feel Niksi makes sense. She can be even more doll-like if she doesn't have to eat/drink.

Look, she has art on Slide 15!

Yay! If Rova dies *Groetus forbid*, I'm going to be a pyrotechnic ratfolk.

Thoughts? I can try peaceful again, but I feel like they're a problem we're going to have to deal with, unfortunately.