GM Foxy's Legacy of Fire

Game Master Foxy Quickpaw

Ok, I upgraded my sheet to level 5. I put a +1 weapon, but that can change based on what the GM said.

@Party: Another thing, I picked Glitterdust because we're at a level where we should be able to easily counter invisibility. But I haven't prepared it.

Also, we should consider Teamwork feats. I have an extra feat at level 5. Shall we consider outflank or something like it?

I’m willing to consider it, though I think Aith’s the odd one out as the de facto (short) ranged person in the party, unless one of the spellcasting teamwork feats appeals to you.

At the moment, I’m torn between Craft Wondrous Item, Extra Arcanist Exploit, and Arcane Strike, though leaning towards the latter: I could pick up the one if there are small trinkets that folks have their eyes on already, while the others would either allow for ever more magical freakiness or play nicely with some character/backstory beats and work towards the Spell Cartridge feats I’ve got half an eye on for later.

I’ll work on leveling up later this afternoon. Aith and Antarah would probably (Aith definitely) raid each other's spellbooks too.

As to plans for downtime, I guess Aith would divide her time as reasonably as possible between drawing up plans for rebuilding Kelmarane, magic and spell research, and some herbalism/alchemical crafting.

To redure the tear and to get the crafting going, I'd say everyone gets one free crafting feat. That's the item creation feats like scribe scroll, brew potion, craft magic arms and armor, craft wonderouns items, as well as stuff that allows you to craft nonmagical stuff. Like skill focus on alchemy, craft(something). There might be other feats for that, that I'm not aware of.

But you still need to fulfil the requirements.

Wow, that's very generous!

I guess I have two feat choices now. They could be one teamwork feat and one other. I'm also thinking about Arcane Strike, which will be sometimes better value than Weapon Specialization. But Extra Arcane Pool is something I'm eyeing too. I get way too few points and its uses are waaaay too good.

Not saying glitterdust is a bad idea Antarah, but if you’re thinking of taking Teamwork feats, have you seen the spell shared training?

I'm not sure which Crafting feat to take. I think one of us should have Craft Wands, for cure light wounds if nothing else. That might be a better choice for Tariq though because he can make a wand from anything on the cleric list. Craft Wondrous Item would make sense for Yasmeena if Aithaloessa takes something else, like Scribe Scroll or Brew Potion or something that boosts her alchemy crafting.

Thanks Yasmeena, that's an interesting thought. At this level, I would only be able to share one TW feat to only one ally, but next level it would be two allies.

I thought of Glitterdust thinking of the group. If I don't take it, how do we plan on dealing with invisible enemies? It would be sort of ridiculous if we encounter one invisible CR2 quasit and it kicks our asses because we haven't picked glitterdust or see invisibility or anything like that.

BTW, Aith, feel free to raid my spellbook.

Why not both? :) We can probably buy a scroll of glitterdust so that you or Aith have it available. On a scroll or wand any of us three could cast it.

To redure the tear and to get the crafting going, I'd say everyone gets one free crafting feat. That's the item creation feats like scribe scroll, brew potion, craft magic arms and armor, craft wonderouns items, as well as stuff that allows you to craft nonmagical stuff. Like skill focus on alchemy, craft(something). There might be other feats for that, that I'm not aware of.

But you still need to fulfil the requirements.

That's very kind of you, and makes it much easier. :)

So, Arcane Strike and probably Wondrous Item it is, unless that's stepping too much on Yasmeena's toes. Even if we both take it, that means we can have more than one knick-knack in the works at once, and possibly shore up gaps in creation requirements. And, honestly, Aith is probably going to be tempted by the sorts of stuff that earns questions like, "Why would anyone even have such a thing?" Somebody's got to account for the weirder stuff that gets found in dungeons. :) But I could swap it out for something like Master Alchemist if folks would prefer.

On a spells known note, trying to go for something characterful, as always, so pyrotechnics, and, given the stuff that grows on Aith when she uses her pepperbox, garden of peril.

... She should really get on figuring that out, huh? I mean, at least finding a way to make it something prettier than fuzzy fungus. Some normal, planty type of greenery.

I'd rather not double up on Crafting feats if we can avoid it, simply because I doubt we'll do much when we are not in downtime, and downtime crafting is basically limited by money instead of time. If you really want Aith to have Craft Wondrous Item, I'll try to find something else for Yasmeena. Unfortunately, Brew Potion, Scribe Scroll, and Craft Wands all would be kind of wasted on her, since most of her spells are bard spells that no one else can use. :)

NO offense, but... Aithaloessa, Chief Warden of Kelmarane... lends itself for quite some funny situations :P I'm itching to know about them! XD

From what we know there are splattered brains and burned down areas to expect. :D

@Yasmeena: Frankly, I haven't found a single interesting Teamwork feat I qualify for. They mostly rely on stats I don't have (Dex 13 for Precise Strike or BAB 4 for Outflank) or adjacent allies, which wouldn't happen so often as we try to flank opponents. I think I'll go in a different direction.

I'll probably go Arcane Strike and Iron Will. I got scared from failing both the confuse and the fascinate.

Tariq rolls his eyes at the prospect of Aithaloessa leading the guard.

:p

Unless you've got another trained policemanofficer in your back pocket... Though I imagine Aith normally stayed in the lab working up tests to identify poisons and run ballistics and such. Not the usual route to head of the guard, so who knows how that will affect her decisions. (Spoiler: Lots of science detectives, if she has her way! ;) )

I'd rather not double up on Crafting feats if we can avoid it, simply because I doubt we'll do much when we are not in downtime, and downtime crafting is basically limited by money instead of time. If you really want Aith to have Craft Wondrous Item, I'll try to find something else for Yasmeena. Unfortunately, Brew Potion, Scribe Scroll, and Craft Wands all would be kind of wasted on her, since most of her spells are bard spells that no one else can use. :)

No worries, I'll swap it out for Scribe Scroll, then, and keep out of minimize the crafting trouble Aith gets into. Expect a series of weird requests for trinkets, though. :)

Okay, Chief Inspector Aithaloessa Lestrade, then :p

By the way, now that you mention scribe scroll... Antarah, there's a Magus Arcana called Spell Scars which I've always found out a superb way of having access to on the fly scrolls without the need to actually produce and read a physical scroll.

Interesting... I'll consider that next level.

Which crafting feat is Tariq taking? Craft Wand (I hope I hope)?

I'd think hope that Aith would double down on alchemical stuff, rather than avoid crafting altogether. :)

Oh, also: Yasmeena is unlikely to have her own magical laboratory, so maybe when she is crafting items for the party, she will visit Aithaloessa and do the work under the arcanist's supervision? No mechanical reason, but an opportunity to interact and for Yasmeena to demonstrate her deference to Aith on arcane matters.

No deference necessary. Or to be desired, probably, unless unpredictable surges of primal magic are also your idea of fun. I can imagine the look on Tariq's face now:

"Well, Aith said..."
"..." (Familiar look of a prayer to Sarenrae for patience.) "And that wasn't your first warning?" :)

Anyway, I'm definitely going to keep mucking around with alchemy too, but I think scrolls are absolutely going to make more of a difference going forward. The herbal stuff has other time constraints built into it, and I don't think I have my eyes on anything for Aith that would really benefit from speeding up the process. I'll save that for a character I've got on the backburner more reliant on alchemical weapons.

Tariq isn't probably going to take a crafting feat. He ain't got the brains nor the patience for it.

This 'what job are you going to do' is mostly RP to see how much money you make at the end of the day. This is not Kingmaker, you're not going to rule anything in this AP. There are supposedly some boons throughout the AP to some paths you can choose here, but so far I've seen none of them.

So it's totally fine to just have a shop for magic weapons and be done with it. If you decide to take more jobs, that's fine with me too, but it is on you to fill that with RP for the downtime.

Also feel free to try talking Aithaloessa out of the guard job. She seemed the logical option, as she always does this salute and report stuff. But I have one more business that would fit her well.

Yup! Aith's got the background, and she's willing to make the best of it, but if Antarah (or anyone else) wants the job, she would be far from heartbroken.

@Tariq: Even if it's free? Did you miss that we all get a free Crafting feat?

@Tariq
Craft Wand. For CLW: Spellcraft DC to create that is 6. You can take 10. Take 13 days with no adventuring to cast all your 1st level spells into the wand at the end of the day and tadaa - CLW Wand for 375 gold.

To put it into perspective, if you haven't dealt with the item creation rules yet.

But if you say it doesn't make sense for Tariq to pursue this RP wise, then so be it.

Well, it makes more sense in terms of stats for Antarah to be a guard (strong, large and with swings that hurt), but it's most character growth for him to try to deal with the merchants. It's his legacy, what his parents did, even if he doesn't think about it much. The fact that he doesn't have Profession merchant is the mechanical impediment, but he does have craft...

Thanks for the consideration BTW

@Tariq: Even if it's free? Did you miss that we all get a free Crafting feat?

Not only that; apparently, I missed a complete page full of posts here in discussion. So I wasn't aware that we had a free crafting feat, that we are now 5th level and that we'll be having 1 year of downtime.

So:

Re: crafting feat, I'm torn between Craft Wand and Scribe Scroll, because there's no better quality of life than having scrolls of Remove X and Restoration without needing to have these spells prepared. I'll give it a thought and stay open to suggestions.

Re: downtime, Tariq is really set on restoring the monastery to its former glory, so it seems his activity will cost instead of earn him money. Let's hope the new wave of pilgrims contribute to the repairing works...

Of course he will consecrate the temple in Kelmarane, he actually had the spell ready when we went down for the best. Just that, reading it, it seemed to deal only with undead, and for a limited amount of time.

Back to the monastery, Tariq will also learn all he can about the amazing genies that fought in ancient battles and ended up forgotten or corrupt like the poor Kardswann. Maybe there's more of them around!

Heh, maybe we should reorganize our feats in that case! :)

What do people want on a wand? I think cure light wounds is essential, but what else? I've had wands of resist energy and lesser restoration in the past, but as Tariq says those are just as good on scrolls, and possibly better because it's cheaper to make only a couple of them.

If the only thing we want on a wand for sure is cure light wounds, Yasmeena could handle that. Also heightened awareness is a pretty good wand, for those of us who can cast it. Also heroism is a great buff to have up often. Maybe haste too, though that's getting pretty expensive in wands.

Anyway, maybe Aithaloessa should take Craft Wondrous Item after all, and Tariq Scribe Scroll, and Yasmeena will take Craft Wand. Does that sound better?

@Yas: Endure elements is a safe pick as well, both the individual version and the group one. Remember that we're in the desert and I'm pretty sure I remember the player's guide commenting on the hardships of the desert.

Whatever buff spells you can think of are good in wands I think.

Well, it makes more sense in terms of stats for Antarah to be a guard (strong, large and with swings that hurt), but it's most character growth for him to try to deal with the merchants. It's his legacy, what his parents did, even if he doesn't think about it much. The fact that he doesn't have Profession merchant is the mechanical impediment, but he does have craft...

Thanks for the consideration BTW

Sounds good! We can fake visitors out this way: “No, he’s the head of the chamber of commerce, and she’s the captain of the guard, actually.” :)

Anyway, maybe Aithaloessa should take Craft Wondrous Item after all, and Tariq Scribe Scroll, and Yasmeena will take Craft Wand. Does that sound better?

As for the distribution of crafting feats, I’m more or less fine with whatever, but I think we can skip wands, if no one’s really feeling them, especially with this stuff out there. It’s not as flashy, but I think on average it works out about as well as wands of cure light wounds (I might be wrong: the girl playing her is much less mathy than Aith herself.), and I’m happy to dedicate a fair chunk of Aith’s crafting time to just churning it out by the cauldron.

And Aith could handle at least a few of the Remove spells, especially if she dedicates some of those she gets by way of halcyon spell lore. With three of us being (semi-) prepared casters, I think scrolls and alchemy should see us through the bits where we get blindsided, unless we’re ever on a really tight schedule.

Aith, does that mean you don't want Craft Wondrous Item any more? Looking at it again, I think Aith is a better choice for that feat because a lot of the items need pretty high craft totals to make, and Yasmeena's score is basically nothing unless she's using her masterpiece to fake it.

Perish the thought! If you think that's best, and if Tariq is leaning towards Scribe Scroll, we'll do that, and you can take Craft Wand or whatever you please. I just don't want to get in the way of anyone really getting their character where they want them, while trying to keep an open mind as to where Aith can go.

Sorry for all our hand-wringing, GM. :")

Well, not leaning towards to, just putting under your eyes that both Wands and Scrolls have their advantages.

Re: healing, Tariq is taking the Signature Skill for healing as his 5th level feat, or maybe Incredible Healer, thus augmenting seriously his amount healed by the skill. 5 times a day they could be just full round actions instead of taking 1 hour.

Thus said, I don't mind taking either wands or scrolls, as you prefer. Woundrous items I think should go to the one with the broader spell list (Aith, that's you), since it's quite a broad category with varied requirements. Unless you can manage to work together with whoever has the feat to provide the spell requirement, of course.

Edit: Anyone else needs the Periapt of Wisdom? If not, Tariq wouldn't mind having it. Foxy Quickpaw, is it finally an amulet or a headband?

Edit 2: I had forgotten Tariq is a proficient cook. If any of you have ever undertaken "El camino de Santiago", you might get a glimpse of what a nice monastery with historical features and high quality food can be for a foreigner ;)

Well, the problem is that Craft Wand and Scribe Scroll both require the person with the feat to cast the spell. So if there's arcanist spells that we want to have on scrolls, Aith should take Scribe Scroll. Likewise for Tariq. Yasmeena can take Craft Wondrous Item if no one else does, or Craft Wand if Aith does. I think Tariq should definitely have one or the other of Scribe Scroll or Craft Wand, and I think Scribe Scroll might win out on reflection because even spells like protection from evil, lesser restoration, or resist energy that we are likely to want to cast a lot are probably better in the two or three copies range rather than 50 like in a wand. And really expensive but useful spells like neutralize poison, death ward, or freedom of movement-- or even regular restoration-- would be prohibitive in cost for a wand, but quite doable on a scroll. And while there are buffing spells like divine favor that would be nice for Tariq to have on a wand, they are far better as spells for him to cast with fervor.

What spells would Aithaloessa put on scrolls if she didn't take Craft Wondrous Item? Arcanist spells for buffing and circumstantial situations that are not also cleric spells are pretty rare. Maybe some things like invisibility or mirror image, or enlarge person or shield? These seems like the sort of spells you prepare every day, though.

We will all have tons and tons of orders for wondrous items, enough that I can almost always think of something else I'd want more than a wand of heroism or a wand of haste, considering how expensive they are! But one wand of cure light wounds for emergencies will never go to waste, and maybe Yasmeena could retrain it into Forge Ring at level 7?

So in conclusion we're talking a wand of CLW that you could save 375 gold on. That looks a lot like skipping create wand and take scribe scroll for more than one character. As those 375 gold become more and more irrelevant the further you rise in level.

Divine Favor in a wand would soon scale too high in price, because CL is important once you reach 6th level. Spells which need a high CL are better in scrolls, because the monetary impact is lower.

I can live with whatever you decide.

GM: any words on the Periapt?

I answered that one already but here, have it again in detail:

Periapt of Wisdom

Although it appears to be a normal pearl on a light chain, a periapt of wisdom actually increases the possessor’s Wisdom score in the form of an enhancement bonus of +2, +4, or +6 (depending on the individual item).

Moderate transmutation; CL 8th; Craft Wondrous Item, owl’s wisdom; Price 4,000 gp (+2), 16,000 gp (+4), 36,000 gp (+6).

As for the distribution of crafting feats, I’m more or less fine with whatever, but I think we can skip wands, if no one’s really feeling them, especially with this stuff out there. It’s not as flashy, but I think on average it works out about as well as wands of cure light wounds (I might be wrong: the girl playing her is much less mathy than Aith herself.)

I don't know why, but your wording made me want to do the math.

Prob(2d4 > 1d8+1) = 0.375
Prob(2d4 = 1d8+1) = 0.125
Prob(2d4 < 1d8+1) = 0.5

Also, those of you who want a magical weapon +1, go ahead and purchase it for half price, as I'll make it for them. Sadly I cannot go beyond that. A +2 bonus requires CL 6. And special properties require high level as well (keen requires level 10, for instance).

Also, what are we going to do with Kardswann's axe? I say sell it but I'm not sure how much it's worth.

...

A +2 bonus requires CL 6. And special properties require high level as well (keen requires level 10, for instance).

Also, what are we going to do with Kardswann's axe? I say sell it but I'm not sure how much it's worth.

If only your casting stat was a little bit higher and you had combat casting as a feat. But I guess no one has the money for a +2 weapon anyway.

As for the axe: A +1 lawful outsider bane greataxe has a market value of (... counting magic bonuses on fingers ...) 32,000gp, sellable for half.

I do have combat casting... What am I missing?

Nothing yet. But being able to constantly pass a DC15 concentration check will come in really handy and would help with the CL6 issue in a way you'll see soon.

1d20+2+2+4+5=14 to 23.
Maybe someone has a headband of vast intelligence on their shoppinglist?
Just wait until you see. I'll throw the next adventure episode at you before the full downtime. I just want everyone to settle into their business first.

Well, I need to roll 2 or more to make my concentration check at DC 15 in combat. 6 or more to make it for a level 2 spell.

Anyway, the intelligence bonus is nice for me, but I think the first one will go to Aithaloessa to whom it is a primary stat. I think (I don't understand the Arcanist class too well).

What spells would Aithaloessa put on scrolls if she didn't take Craft Wondrous Item?

Anything that catches her eye, basically, or that you all ask her to? She’s a bit of a scatterbrain, with the Wis penalty, and I’m not much better.

Joking aside, I’m funnelling my favoured class bonus into Aith’s arcane reservoir, and I could keep an eye out on the Quick Study exploit as we gain levels, which would give us a fall-back for those situations where only Aith knows the perfect spell, at the expense of using her own spell slots. Or I could just take Scribe Scroll too, later, if it keeps happening a lot.

And, between at least the three of us (all of us, if Antarah takes the celestial healing spells at some point), the skill feats Tariq’s thinking of, and alchemy, basic healing doesn’t look like it will be a problem.

So we’re back to Scroll for Tariq, Wondrous for Aith, and whatever sparks joy for Yaz. :) Shall we go with that?

Edit: Anyone else needs the Periapt of Wisdom? If not, Tariq wouldn't mind having it. Foxy Quickpaw, is it finally an amulet or a headband?

Edit 2: I had forgotten Tariq is a proficient cook. If any of you have ever undertaken "El camino de Santiago", you might get a glimpse of what a nice monastery with historical features and high quality food can be for a foreigner ;)

Young crone answer: In 3.5, periapts took up the equivalent of the neck slot (throat).

Not yet, but one day, maybe. My mum’s gone on a couple of pilgrimages, but not to Spain yet, and we have different destination ideas. Speaking of proficient cooking, though, and noting Sarenrae’s focus on redemption, expect to be inveigled into Aith’s harebrained idea to reform Undrella. If we can find a way to replicate the umami or whatever she’s after without, you know, eating people, that might make the ‘no cannibalism, m’kay?’ an easier sell.

I don't know why, but your wording made me want to do the math.

Prob(2d4 > 1d8+1) = 0.375
Prob(2d4 = 1d8+1) = 0.125
Prob(2d4 < 1d8+1) = 0.5

Thanks. That fits my intuition that on average it’s at least as effective per dose/charge (remember, troll styptic grants fast healing 2 for the duration): the catch is that wands are much cheaper per dose/charge. I think the wand works out to (very loosely) a bit less than half price per hp.

(2 hp/round * (Average of 2d4: 5) rounds/use) / 33.33… gp/use = 0.30 hp/gp
(Average of 1d8+1: 5.5 hp/ charge) * 50 charges/wand / 375 gp/wand = 0.73 hp/gp
But since we don’t get any bonus points for carrying spell slots over from one day to the next and some measure of spontaneous casting is a thing for most of us… *Shrugs.* Still better than potions. Bah, in the grand scheme of things, I’m a starving artist, not an accountant. ;)

About the periapt: Neck Slot. As it is a DnD 3.5 Item.

And for practicability it doesn't matter. As you only pay the crafting price anyway you can create a new headband from scratch for the same price. But if you want added charisma, you can have that for a quarter of the price by keeping the periapt and adding a headband.

Well, I just wanted to know which slot I had compromised in case the super dooper item of apocalypse appeared. I should know by now that it will always be the one which I have already covered, the same as the line which goes faster is always the one you're not in or the key you're looking for is always the last one you try.

Not a headband of Charisma, but maybe of Intelligence... I'm skill starved!

Do the math experts have an estimate on how much gold we're each of us getting after selling loot, etc?

The axe nets us 16/4 = 4k gold each. In fact, I think I'll buy myself some masterwork armor and enchant it with +1 as well! Anyone else can do the same, buying the masterwork and paying me half the enchant prize.

Anyway, with this 4k, plus the 100 pp (1k gp) from the princess, and selling the +1 mace which we sell for 1156 (289 each), we net 5289 gp each.

"hrumph, hrumph"

16k/4 without further comment? Bold! :P

On a not unrelated topic: What shall Haleen's role be in the future of the AP?

I suppose... Haleen is entitled to a share...

Do we really want to sell the mace? Aith’s got her guns to do bludgeoning damage, but what about everyone else next time we run into bony undead? Or are we happy brute forcing through DR?

And I don't think we ever counted out this:

(A while ago) Looting Kardswann's stash, even with a share for Haleen, we each got what works out to 611.8 gp, and a 400 gp garnet, last I checked.

Other than that, I think I’ve added the last unassigned gear to the list at the end of the map slides. I’m sure the periapt and the prayer beads go to Tariq, but as for the rest? Anyone care for the phylactery of faithfulness?

I think one of you three should get the ring of protection +2 (Tariq could swap out the ring he’s got now with someone).

And I guess I could take the necklace of fireballs? Maybe carefully restrung as a series of individual pendants, knowing Aith’s luck and the likelihood that she’ll take a blast of fire to the face at some point.

Yasmeena would never hit with a mace, since her melee style is based exclusively on her scimitar.

It would benefit us all if Haleen had upgraded equipment too. :)

Often groups establish an extra share for "communal items" like healing wands that everyone can benefit from. Haleen's equipment might come from this pool OOC?

Sounds good, at least through such time as she decides hanging around with us is bad for her life expectancy.

Sense Motive: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (18) - 1 = 17 Also, umm... apropos of nothing, and certainly not a discussion a certain mage is having with our GM through secret notes, quick poll:

Right, so, the treasuries of goodly temples are a no-go, but how do folks feel about the antiquities market as a general rule? Again, no reason.

I don't really mind about the ring. Maybe Antarah or Yasmeena want it, as they're also melee heavy.

As for whatever's in the Battle Market, Tariq either doesn't care of doesn't have money enough to buy it, probably, so...

If you want to keep the mace just in case... I guess that's okay. Tariq is scimitar focused, but could use the mace if absolutely required.