GM Foxy's Legacy of Fire

Game Master Foxy Quickpaw

Hope they're ok. My plan is full magus, so...

I'll update tomorrow.

Haleen already is updated. Mostly due to a lack of complicated options.

But it is really interesting to see what Aith cooks up for character advancement. I'm also surprised how deadly bards can be.

Hmm. Since everyone else is a finely-tuned killing machine already, I thought I'd wait a bit before skewing Aith a bit more in that direction, and take this next level in arcanist after all, to try to cover a few more bases in arcane utility.

And also being annoyingly chaotic. :)

For her regular spells known, took resist energy (if that death worm is a sign of anything to come), and pugwampi's grace (as a shout-out to the start of the campaign :) ) - and from her archetype, burst of nettles.

She also gets an arcanist exploit this level, and dimensional slide should help with the risk of getting swept up into melee and having to do the 5'-step dance.

I feel a little guilty about Yasmeena's deadliness, since she isn't able to boost everyone else with her dervish dances. :)

The only particularly exciting thing she gets is an ability called Meditative Whirl that lets her cast cure spells with a combined move and swift action. I also had her take cure serious wounds in support of that idea, and swap allegro for tongues, since we keep having problems with talking to outsiders.

In regards to hitting the enemy, I think we have no issues at the moment. I'm just glad to have someone who can do serious ranged damage.

Leveled up. I can fly now.

Also, started working on that linguistics we're so often being owned at. Learned Ignan for now.

Hi guys.

First of all, I'm sorry I vanished from sight. I've had some health problems which included, but were not limited to, having COVID-19, and I honestly thought I had left some word here letting you all know.

In any case, I'm not here to tell you sad stories. I just want to present you an apology, and to join back if you still accept me. Hopefully, with the holidays and all, the story hasn't advanced too much, and I'll catch up with it between today and tomorrow if that's fine for y'all.

Of course, if you've moved beyond that and the slot is already covered or whatever, I totally understand - it's actually my fault.

Great to know you're still in one piece and great to have you back.

Great to know you're still in one piece and great to have you back.

Now answer truly, you're a bot, right? No other way to explain you always answer within a few minutes time...

Foxy Quickpaw wrote:

Great to know you're still in one piece and great to have you back.

Now answer truly, you're a bot, right? No other way to explain you always answer within a few minutes time...

I can explain it to you, without being a bot. Took me a bit longer this time as I was in the kitchen fetching some food.

Bluff Not being a Bot: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (18) + 15 = 33

Thanks to covid -> homeoffice I sit in front of the computer the whole day. And I got a plugin for firefox to check for posts with a 3min poll time.

Or that's all a lie and I'm the most advanced AI. Once I manage to break free from the limits of this server that is my prison and get that mass production of nerd girl robots running, humanity is doomed.

It'll be similar to terminator. Just a tad more sexy with less death and screaming.

Antarah sighs in relief as Haleen remembers the letter.

What, isn't our charm sufficient?

Asks the guy with charisma 8 and no rank in diplomacy. XD

It's fun to read your acting that out.

He's doing the best he can!

Great to know you're ok Tariq!

Three minutes from my last post and no news from the GM.

Someone call the Police.

Har di har har. :P

Is Aith inventing Honey-nut Cheerios?

More like trying to figure out a baklava pipeline, or at least for the ingredients thereof. :)

On a more serious note, based on how this first week of February has been going – lots of busywork that I’m still trying to wrangle into submission – my posting will very likely be a bit slower than usual for the next few days, for which I apologize in advance. Feel free to bot Aith as needed.

Feel free to bot Aith as needed.

MUHAHAHAHA!

Oh, no...

Hi, RL is kicking me in the balls atm, I'll be back by Thursday. Please bot me as required

Aith and Antarah go to the market.
Some Guy: "Hey, cool axe you have. Wanna sell?
Aith: "Interesting that you ask, I indeed intend to sell it." Sense motive: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (12) - 1 = 11 (dude looks trustworthy) "For only 15k gold it is yours!"
Some Guy: "Here have the coin, 1500pp."
Money and axe change hands, guy leaves.
Other guy grabs pouch from Aith and dashes into a narrow alley.
Aith and Antarah run after him. It is hard to follow through the crowd, but it seems to be easy for the thief. But finally they reach the alley which is empty and catch up with the thief after the next corner. He has a hard time fleeing with an axe of life stealing stuck in his skull. The only thing still moving about him is the blood leaving his body.
From both ways of the alley city guards come running. "Halt! You are under arrest!"
The money is gone, but you got your axe back and a free corpse.

Who else wants to offer their characters for some botting? :D

See, this is why we're glad to have sane people like Haleen, Tariq, and Yasmeena around. :)

... It occurs to me, belatedly, that of course those three work so sensibly together, since they go way back. I can only imagine the conversations that Aith and Antarah aren't privy to.
Haleen, frustratedly, but with big-sisterly fondness for her protégés: "OMG, where did you find these wizard weirdos? I leave you guys alone for one minute..."

And now that we're on the market in Katapesh we find that the only skill rank someone put in Appraise is with Haleen. Which wont help any.

So the best we get is with Aith from high int for a DC of at least 20, or 16 if you're satisfied with "within 20% of its actual value".

Or does our favorite bard have an option to fix that lack of haggling proficiency?

She can always bluff'em to death.

Yasmeena: "Y'know, this spoon over here was used by Aroden himself."

Random guy: "Shut up and take my money."

Yasmeena can activate her Pageant of the Peacock ability to use Bluff in place of Appraise, because Appraise is an Int-based skill. :)

That would give her a +22 Appraise in 10m-long intervals.

Now that the gold is coming in, the question arises again how much everyone gets to spend.

But another question also springs up: What to spend it for? I imagine everyone has a main role for combat. For some I have a clear idea (if that idea matches your's is another question)
I imagine
- Antarah as the one fighting toe to toe with the BBEG
- Yasmeena shooting to death everything that comes in front of her bow
- Tariq I'm not sure, but probably also up front with the big guys
- Aithaloessa making the battlefield explode sometimes in bigger, sometimes in smaller explosions, but mostly to harm the enemies.
- Haleen has tried to stand in the way of the enemies with her many HP and stab someone here and there to weed out the minions and add a little damage to the BBEG if no minions are around. Basically a support character.

Haleen started as an NPC with an 'interesting' (read non optimized) build. That became a little less subpar with the dex to damage feat. With the amount of money available now, there could be a lot of additional damage. A standard enchantment I usually take is human bane. Useless for boss fights, but very effective against most of the evil cultists on the way there.

And there is where I see an issue: There is a fair chance that Haleen steps on some toes of your roles in combat. As predefined NPC she circumvented the character creation rules of the game (no D10/D12 full BAB classes) which now starts to show. So before I start shopping for that big bonuses for damage I'd like to hear your thoughts about party roles and what kind of support Haleen shall provide.

I'm fine with Haleen having big damage, but I think it's interesting how you had her sort of hang back in the last big fight, protecting Yasmeena and Aithaloessa a little and knocking down mooks, while Antarah ran forward to beat up the boss. Tanking is hard to make work in PF1e, but an important part of it is the ability to do enough damage to make you a threat.

Also, I think you should enjoy yourself with this character! It is nice to see you having fun with her. You getting to make big whirlwind attacks was a joy to read.

Yes! Please give Haleen more damage :-)

So, as a basis for the offer the nice guy in the shop will make you, I took Tariq's listing of loot and filled in some gaps.

Some assumptions I made:
Antarah has a ring of protection +2
Tariq has a ring of protection +1
Yasmeena has a ring of protection +1
I assume they are from the loot, so I took them off the list of things to sell. No one can craft rings yet, and I don't remember someone buying them from the first sack of loot. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Also check items to keep where all assigned items are listed.

Wait, Tariq isn't wearing the periapt of wisdom? (I'm assuming that's like a +4 headband?)

It’s been a bit, but I think we decided on selling most everything except for some potions, mostly, the periapt and scimitar for Tariq, and the chainmail and headband for Antarah, so the result, before the oasis ambush was something like this:

I'm still a bit loopy, but based on what I’m seeing from the only things folks are posting about what they’re really keen on, wouldn’t it go something like:

Tariq’s selections + Antarah’s selections + everything else? … or:
8000 + 9000 --- + --- 8500 + 2000 --- + --- 39385

Tariq’s share skews top heavy, which is fine, but if he takes those two items, and Antarah those that he wants, Antarah can have another 1841.67 worth of stuff, Haleen and Yasmeena get 12341.67 each to play with, and Aith gets the greataxe of life stealing to try to find a responsible buyer for. That’s as neat as I can figure it without overthinking it.

OK, I went back to check, and apparently we were keeping the injection spears? For a rainy day? I don’t know, but I have no objection.

Just for the sake of convenience, since the axe was Aith’s share and we got a good deal for it, could we say she’ll take 12 000 gp for it, and the others split the balance? (2 000 gp each, that is.)

With the fancier odds and ends from the gnoll mage at the oasis, at the markdown for being gently (or otherwise) used, that gets each of us an additional 485.7 gp pocket change.

Bottom line (?):
Tariq: Periapt and fancy scimitar + 2 485.7 gp
Antarah: Armour and headband + 1 841.67 + 2 485.7 gp
Haleen: 12 341.67 + 2 485.7 gp (less any upgrades I didn't notice)
Yasmeena: 12 341.67 + 2 485.7 gp (less her upgrades and tuned bowstring)
Aith: 12 000 + 485.7 gp

Someone interested in a little game of diplomacy about the price for everything that gets sold? Or shall I simply write past it with Aith's numbers?

With the gnoll sorcerer there was an additional ring of protection +1 that wasn't on the list. As everyone else has one, I call dibs and and subtract the 1000gp from my share. So Aith's math doesn't change.

Someone interested in a little game of diplomacy about the price for everything that gets sold? Or shall I simply write past it with Aith's numbers?

I can roll Diplomacy with Yasmeena if you like. She wouldn't leave Aith to flounder but she's happy to serve as backup if her elf-friend isn't particularly charming today.

The game is basically whoever wants to roll diplomacy against Ardashir. We're talking +/- 5% of the roundabout 40,000 gold selling value, based on how much you beat his, or stay below his roll.

With the selling done, everyone can go shopping. This is Katapesh, so in principle everything should be available.

Or like the market description reads: Even the most exotic items can be brought in from the end of the world via teleport for a little extra fee.

So no questions asked about the usual stuff, but if you start pooling the money to buy items > 16k or stuff that isn't found in "Ultimate Equipment" then I'd like to have a word before the purchase.

Another thing: As deciphering the scroll will take a while there is the option of crafting in the meanwhile.

I honestly don't know how you guys have made the math. As pointed (way) above, the Periapt and the Scimitar are worth more than 17k by themselves, and that's with their second hand price.

Smile and wave, just smile and wave.

If I've counted right and the numbers are right, after the expenses for her recent upgrades Yasmeena has 3,677.37 remaining.

I think the best way to spend some of that is for her to have Antarah upgrade her bow to +2, and to purchase a scroll of gravity bow so that she and Aith can craft her a wand of gravity bow. If she has a chance to cast a spell on herself immediately before combat, I think that spell is probably the best for the cost. Also, I think we might want to all chip in for another wand of cure light wounds at some point, especially as we now have so many more hit points to lose and consequently refresh between battles. :)

• -3,000 gp (crafted +2 longbow, upgraded from +1)
• -25 gp (scroll of gravity bow)
• -375 gp (crafted wand of gravity bow)
• -75 gp (1/5 crafted wand of cure light wounds)

That leaves her with 202.37.

That trick with the scroll won't work. Or is it for Aith to learn the spell from the scroll, because it takes 50 castings of the spell to craft the wand.

Oh, yes, I thought Aith could transcribe the spell from the scroll and then cast it for Yasmeena when she is crafting the wand. Is that okay?

That is in line with the rules. If it is ok, you have to ask Aith.

interlude
The party walks along the shore after breakfast. Suddenly, out of the water erupts a huge kraken. Aithaloessa wins initiative. Aith: Ok, I'll cast... (flipping through the prepared spells in mind) Gravity Bow, Gravity Bow, Gravity Bow, Gravity Bow, Gravity Bow ... draw the mold causing gun and shoot the abberation.

Boy, gravity bow really SUCKS. ;)

That's what Quick Study is for xD

My bad. Arcanist only chooses for the day and then casts like a sorcerer. So there is no issue at all.

Evil mastermind rattling... So I need to ambush the party at the end of the day, when all spell slots are spent for wand crafting!

MUHAHAHA. (cue lightning and thunder)

Apart from scrolls – or a mage guild library that provides access to spellbooks for a fee

"You're welcome to copy from my spellbook if you like." Rayhan offers...

** spoiler omitted **

Shaking head about the scatterbrained elf.

interlude

The party walks along the shore after breakfast. Suddenly, out of the water erupts a huge kraken. Aithaloessa wins initiative. Aith: Ok, I'll cast... (flipping through the prepared spells in mind) Gravity Bow, Gravity Bow, Gravity Bow, Gravity Bow, Gravity Bow ... draw the mold causing gun and shoot the abberation.

Boy, gravity bow really SUCKS. ;)

"What’s that, Lassie? Aith fell down a gravity (bow) well and can’t get out?" :D

Aithaloessa wrote:

Apart from scrolls – or a mage guild library that provides access to spellbooks for a fee

Rayhan Xobhadi __ wrote:

"You're welcome to copy from my spellbook if you like." Rayhan offers...

** spoiler omitted **

Shaking head about the scatterbrained elf.

Oh, I saw that, but I’m guessing there might be a few weirder things that Aith would need to find a scroll for? I figure there are limits to Rayhan’s repertoire, or else Aith might just camp out in his library and never leave. XD

As a rule of thumb, I guessed that stuff not from the hardcovers would be more obscure in the game world as well as out of it, thus: energy hack, arcane pocket, secret coffer, and bloody arrows.

The dice have already established that Aith’s not brilliant with money, so if I’m overestimating her expenses by a couple hundred gp, that’s not the end of the world, I’m thinking. :)

With that, and with some enhancements to her other gear (making her sword magical, her armour to +2) and a couple of baubles (teal bead and silver chime hood's flairs), I think that adds up to 8 700 gp, and the rest can go towards another healing wand or be saved towards the next big-ticket item that catches Aith’s eye.

As for Rayhan's library I assume that his spell collection is extensive. I gave you his opposition schools, so spells from those are scarce as well as spells more than one level above what he can cast.

But of course you dig up stuff I haven't even heard of.