Let's set this forward, shall we?
Definitely! :)
For my part, the first issue to deal with will be how to build Terexaltherin as a pseudodragon. I have a 3rd-party pdf (Dreamscarred Press's Monster Class: Woodlands) that makes being a pseudodragon a two-level class, so that's one possibility. By the Monsters as PC's rules from the original Bestiary I think being a pseudodragon would replace his first level. Or we could just build a race for him.
Dreamscarred does good work, go with that.
All right then! Let's see... here's the racial stats:
Pseudodragon Racial Traits
• –4 Strength, +4 Dexterity: Pseudodragons are quick
and nimble, but their small stature makes them
weaker than other races.
• Tiny: Pseudodragons are Tiny creatures and gain a
+2 size bonus to their AC, a +2 size bonus on attack
rolls, a –2 penalty to their Combat Maneuver Bonus
and Combat Maneuver Defense, and a +8 size bonus
on Stealth checks. Their space is 2-1/2 feet and their
natural reach is 0 feet (5 feet with tail).
• Dragon: Pseudodragons are dragons, gaining the
following traits as a result:
• Pseudodragons are immune paralysis and sleep
effects.
• Slow Speed: Pseudodragons have a base speed of
15 feet.
• Darkvision (Ex): Pseudodragons can see perfectly
in the dark up to 60 feet.
• Low-Light Vision (Ex): Pseudodragons can see
twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.
• Scales (Ex): A pseudodragon’s scales grant it a +2
natural armor bonus to its AC.
• Languages: Pseudodragons begin play speaking
Common and Draconic. Pseudodragons with high
Intelligence scores can choose from the following:
Abyssal, Auran, Celestial, Elven, Gnome, Halfling,
Infernal, and Sylvan.
Hit Die: d12.
Starting Wealth: 5d6 × 10 gp (average 175 gp.)
As you can see, a lot of their actual abilities are tied up in their class. I think I'll PM the class info to you in order to not go posting all of their hard work on a publically-accessible forum.
The single irritation that going with this method leaves me is that he won't have any Rogue abilities (in particular Sneak Attack) until 3rd level, to make up for the actually surprisingly large array of useful things their race supplies. This would leave him only dealing 1d2-1 damage... but I think I can get around that with my planned dip into Spheres via Basic Magic Training.
Here's my draft for Terexaltherin. I'm debating what I'll do for starting equipment, but other than that I think he's mostly complete.
That is a good question... There's not much you need in the way of equipment, is there? I wonder if there's a gold equivalent to investment so that at X total, you get an inherent stat/skill bonus, or something?
I do hope Dwilhelmi is okay... This kinda won't leave the ground without them.
That would be an interesting idea. Almost like an Automatic Bonus Progression kind of deal, perhaps? I do have a few ideas, but it's hard to carry much (before being rich enough to afford a custom Handy Haversack, at least).
I am worried that Dwilhelmi has disappeared. Given current events it's always worrisome when someone isn't online for a while.
As Automatic Bonus Progression would halve wealth gained— especially relevant in this case– if you want to halve any wealth gained, whether it be spent, lost, or otherwise used, you can advance on that chart.
Quite agreed. Hopefully they are well. I will scrap this Friday without any word from them.
Perhaps feels compelled to hoard half his wealth but being dragony like that somehow strengthens him? :D That could work as a reason for him getting ABP.
Since it seems like ArthurDent may have vanished, as well... I could probably bring my brother in as a potential partner. Probably if I had a choice I'd bring him in as a partner with Kichiro, since that's already planned to be two brothers in-game.
I could always re-purpose this Campaign tab. Have them post in the Recruitment with their concept, and we'll go from there.
I'd better make sure I've fully made up my mind on my build. :D
By all means. We've gotten pretty crunchy in the recruitment, so any of the finer points I'm happy to discuss. You seriously stacked so much against you that anything I would have thought of as a "Bargain" would have been negligible, by comparison to what you already lined up. Hence the +4 to the stats because (besides the rolls) you hit several points that I was considering before I could.
Let's see, things I'm still thinking about:
*I dropped the Innate Curse (Hunger) part from his casting tradition. I like it thematically, but the effect of being sickened until he bites something didn't quite mesh with Kichiro's very... peculiarly specific hunger. Honestly it's probably fine without it, as the Madness Mantra covers him having to hold back his hunger fairly well, even though it triggers only when he spends spell points--that suggests he can hold back well enough as long as he's not drawing on his power, which works. So I guess I'm not debating about this. XD
* I'd still like something more long-term for his corruption... not sure if an actual Corruption like in the Corruption rules is quite what I want, but I do want there to be a feeling that he's having to hold something back even when he's not in combat/using his magic. I still like the idea of him having to regularly overeat/take a potion/both to keep his Hunger in check, so that there's a possibility of some time-sensitive story if for some reason we get cut off from supplies.
There's a good few options on the Wild Magic Tables, that could have a chance of triggering depending on the sphere- where prolonged use or repeated failures can force saves to trigger the Hunger (for an organ? tied to humors? Alchemy?)
Though, consuming a specific organ can give benefits depending on the organ, and the amount... (sentience required)
Say that Satoshi's potion allows a bonus to the save (24/48/72h per dose?), which allows for some composition experimentation. That would introduce some uncertainty and exploration into the origin of his affliction, as well as be motivation to wander and explore.
Hmm, some interesting thoughts. It does remind me, we should nail down exactly what 'sentience' is for Kichiro's hunger. Is it having an Intelligence score greater than 3? Being able to speak a language? I kind of like the idea of it not necessarily being tied to it being a living being, so that he might find himself hungering for vital gears from an intelligent clockwork construct or discover that the thought of digging out a rock from an earth elemental and swallowing it makes him salivate...
Also thinking we should specify that the Antagonize effect from his Madness Mantra drawback only targets sentient beings.
Kichiro's going to be pretty exclusively Alteration and Life magic, I think. Maaaaaybe add in a bit of Enhancement at some point, but only if I find I'm out of Alteration and Life talents I want, basically. How would he trigger these options you're thinking of? Or maybe I'm misunderstanding just what you're saying.
Oh, and we should definitely change the name of their home village if it can means something bad. XD
Hello!
Was a bit distracted yesterday, but I'm here now.
Hmm... not sure I have much to add at the moment. I'll try to think of something. Just dotting for now.
Hmm, I should ask, do we want this potion to work with Satoshi's Alchemy sphere? Is it a bonus formula talent, does it occupy a formula slot to have it ready? Can he boost it's power by increasing the craft DC, like with many other formulae?
Hmm, some interesting thoughts. It does remind me, we should nail down exactly what 'sentience' is for Kichiro's hunger. Is it having an Intelligence score greater than 3? Being able to speak a language? I kind of like the idea of it not necessarily being tied to it being a living being, so that he might find himself hungering for vital gears from an intelligent clockwork construct or discover that the thought of digging out a rock from an earth elemental and swallowing it makes him salivate...
Also thinking we should specify that the Antagonize effect from his Madness Mantra drawback only targets sentient beings.
Kichiro's going to be pretty exclusively Alteration and Life magic, I think. Maaaaaybe add in a bit of Enhancement at some point, but only if I find I'm out of Alteration and Life talents I want, basically. How would he trigger these options you're thinking of? Or maybe I'm misunderstanding just what you're saying.
Agreed on the "nonliving" aspect, as that just sounds interesting, but maybe "discernable anatomy"? While the idea of consumption definitely sounds good, if he's unable to tell which part is which, it'd do no good for him to just pull random pieces out— though that would make for a sight.
Agreed on the targeting sentient beings.
There are d100 tables for just about every sphere on that page, and not all of them are negative. That might just be a "play by ear" thing, too. Maybe a tough line to balance? It could be possible that Satoshi's potions can stall the curse that is imposing the hunger on him, but rather than resist it, it shunts it outwards (internal vs external), where if Kichiro has resisted for too long, it starts to manifest outside of him in the sphere wild magic table, since no curse likes being ignored, perhaps.
*does some looking around* Say the Madness Mantra forces that enraged state on him if the potion for this 24?48? hours fails, and forces a roll on the wild magic table if the potion creation check was successful? Since that way, the curse is always active (as it should) but it is manifesting differently.
Hmm, I should ask, do we want this potion to work with Satoshi's Alchemy sphere? Is it a bonus formula talent, does it occupy a formula slot to have it ready? Can he boost it's power by increasing the craft DC, like with many other formulae?
I would say "Yes", in that it would definitely fall inside the Alchemy Sphere. No, it is not necessarily a talent point sort of thing, though the idea for its creation was certainly inspired.
It would be an item that can be created. Knowing his brother helps keep the check somewhat reasonable, whereas someone else trying to go by the formula if it were shared would produce something that... did not quite work, or would not work as intended.
I'm thinking that it would function as a measurable target for his skill, as well as give impetus to the "help my brother" hook.
You can definitely boost the power by increasing the craft DC— the DC threshold would let the effects continue for another 24 hours. Same thing for rare materials. They'd let you raise the effect without necessarily affecting the DC.
Alright, to settle this in crunch...
The suppression potion is *not* a talent, and as such does not provide the benefits of having an extra talent.
It *is*, however, a formula, and as such follows the normal basic rules for Alchemy sphere formulae:
It takes 30 minutes to craft (15 if Satoshi has access to his crafting kit)
If Kichiro were to try to resist it for some reason (or something else tries to suppress it or something), it uses Satoshi's Alchemy save DC.
By base, it doesn't take any costly materials as long as Satoshi has had time and opportunity to search for ingredients. It is worthless to sell.
It occupies a formula slot when prepared, but the slot is opened again once it has been consumed, even though the effects linger longer.
---
Base crafting DC is 20 (failure to meet the DC still creates a functional item, but always at the minimum potency, even if better materials or higher skill would normally have increased the effects.)
The base effect suppresses Kichiro's hunger in some fashion for 24 hours. (I like the wild magic idea; it gives the impression that the potion isn't really curing the curse so much as venting in a hopefully-less-harmful fashion, giving Satoshi encouragement to try to improve the formula.) Increasing the craft DC by 10 increases the duration by 24 hours for each increment. Costly/rare ingredients might improve the effect, either in what it does or how long it lasts. Having a high number of ranks in Craft(alchemy) (probably 10 and 20) might improve the base duration or effect.
All this sound good?
Some possibilities for improved effects for materials/high skill I can think of:
Vastly increase duration
Give the ability to shift the wild magic roll by a few points up or down after rolling, giving limited control over its manifestation
Ignore the first X times Kichiro would normally succumb to Madness Mantra
Give Kichiro a save bonus against Madness Mantra for the duration
And of course, the first target we're probably hunting for:
Totally suppress Madness Mantra for the duration
And the long-term goal:
Actually start weakening the Hunger Curse, eventually dispelling it (probably over a long treatment time, and removing many of its benefits as well)
Hmmm... I suppose you as the GM can always just re-roll if a wild magic result comes up that doesn't make sense. I'd kind of like it if, when he's not under the effect of the potion, Kichiro *seems* fine until kinda just randomly the Hunger strikes and he goes and tries to eat someone. So there's always an edge of uncertainty, like "Is the suppression effect just being quiet today or am I suddenly going to attack someone?"
I do still want the curse to get worse in some way over time, but that can probably be handled as we come to it. In fact me not knowing what will happen could be part of the fun. :D
So where do we want to start? In a small village in Minkai, just after we've fled home?
That start is possible. What does the timeline look like? How long is this after the ruins? Did someone already die from the Hunger? Who was it?
Just so I don't over-tune, what would a combat look like, say against three wolves or six goblins? I'm thinking that Kichiro is the front, since soak and (potential?) regeneration, or at least healing would be possible, while Satoshi is mayhem around him, but I don't want to overestimate capabilities.
Well, it's level 1 combat so a lot depends on individual die rolls, but Kichiro would definitely be taking point because he is not only capable of healing himself, he could also shapeshift so as to have four different natural attacks at present. He'd still be a bit of a glass cannon as his HP and AC aren't enough to soak a lot of attacks if an enemy gets lucky, but he can certainly dish it out if the dice favor him.
Satoshi's strategy can be context dependent. Satoshi is more dangerous if he has time to set up some traps before the combat, and said traps also mean he's more dangerous in a narrow corridor than an open space. If he can arrange for the fight to take place in a narrow hall that he's had a few rounds to litter with traps, the first enemy or two might fall before even reaching the brothers.
Offensively, his main damage-dealing attacks are his acid flasks, which can also deal a little splash damage, and then crossbow bolts after he's thrown both. Satoshi prefers to fight at range, but does have a pretty good AC for first level and some limited ability to heal if needed (he usually keeps one healing salve prepped).
Understood.
Regarding the timeline... How long has it been since the incident in the ruins? Has Kichiro killed anyone from the Hunger? Which way are you headed?
I was thinking not long. Maybe about two weeks total, a week of thinking everything was okay, and then a week running after Kichiro killed that kami. He hasn't killed anyone else yet, though there have been a couple close calls.
My thought was that we'll start not long after we crossed the Minkai border, in a small village. We're discussing just what to do but in general planning to keep getting further from the Forest of Spirits, which means heading south deeper into Minkai.
Sounds fine. Satoshi is clever enough that at this point he might add that keeping on running blindly without a plan, destination, or even a mule cart might not be the wisest idea, and may have suggested that this is a decent spot to try to remedy some of those problems.
Any thoughts on family? Neither of you have indicated any particular trauma regarding family, so I was intending on at least outlining your village just for the sake of solidifying your beginning.
Gameplay up.
Hmmm, good question... their parents could be the proprietors of the inn/tea house in their village. How about we call their village 森の家 Morinoya? Seems like it's a much more, er, innocent meaning... it could be the name of said inn, too. Perhaps the village grew up around the inn, which has been in the family for many generations?
I'm thinking the village is somewhere in the 50-60 people range, with a good chunk of the work in the village related to catering to travelers.
It's all good. The region could be called "God's Hand", where the village itself could have been quite literally some travelers (your ancestors) opening up a tea shop and tending to the shrines of the village/area. That also lets you either "find" the ruins, or have the ruins be that "You shouldn't play around there" area that had been grown over and forgotten before the village sprung up around the teahouse.
That sounds good to me. :)
Oh, also, I’d been realizing that, while we’ve covered Kichiro randomly *attacking* things well, he mechanically doesn’t have any reason to eat anything afterwards. So how about we add something like this to his Madness Mantra?
While under the effects of Madness Mantra, if there is a nearby fresh corpse of a sentient creature (that he killed? Not sure if we want to force him to be the one who kills them or not. May also want to include unconscious creatures.), Kichiro will tear out and eat their vital organs. This takes two rounds, the first to tear out the organ in question (killing them if they were only unconscious), and the second to eat it.
Making it take two rounds gives Satoshi time to try to stop him, and Kichiro time to get control of himself just as he’s yanking out someone’s heart, both of which have good dramatic possibilities.
Satoshi's going to want to keep one of those suppression potions readied all the time, isn't he?
Though the other option is regular daily dosing.
I'm not sure I have too much opinion on the village plans, but that sounds good. Satoshi may have been just starting to get a role providing repairs and alchemical items to travelers before this all happened... though there may have also been hints of wanderlust and not wanting to get bogged down in a small village for his whole life.
While under the effects of Madness Mantra, if there is a nearby fresh corpse of a sentient creature (that he killed? Not sure if we want to force him to be the one who kills them or not. May also want to include unconscious creatures.), Kichiro will tear out and eat their vital organs. This takes two rounds, the first to tear out the organ in question (killing them if they were only unconscious), and the second to eat it.
That is reasonable, but I'm worried about over-complication. I was taking it as part of the Madness Mantra was the Hunger, and it would follow that if the target of the attack is downed, he would attempt to eat the organ(s). All of this assumes that he is able to devote the time and is not under attack.
I'm considering the mechanics, as ending the Madness requires a check, and a successful consumption (of an organ) would reduce the check to end it by... 5?
I do want to assert the sort of inevitability of the infection/curse/thing, to not diminish the— quite honestly, "heroic"– efforts taken to keep it under control.
Satoshi's going to want to keep one of those suppression potions readied all the time, isn't he?
Though the other option is regular daily dosing.
I'm not sure I have too much opinion on the village plans, but that sounds good. Satoshi may have been just starting to get a role providing repairs and alchemical items to travelers before this all happened... though there may have also been hints of wanderlust and not wanting to get bogged down in a small village for his whole life.
That is the question. How do you want to go about utilizing the potion? I will say that I do think it may be difficult to force a potion onto a raging individual.
You could prepare one to be taken daily, or challenge the DC to have successes extend another 24 hours. The key part in that is that I want there to be intent behind the crafting rather than just fading into the background, as part of the creation will allow him to narrow down the causes of what is afflicting Kichiro.
Greater success carries the potential for greater failure, maybe? Mastery rules should definitely apply, much like skill unlocks. I do like what you've set forward so far, though.
As for the effects, I was thinking that a successful potion would grant:
• Alchemical bonus of +2/+4 to the Will save to resist being enraged.
• Consecutive successful saves have an increasing chance (2%?) of triggering Wild Magic effects.
I do agree that greater successes of the potion should shift the Wild Magic effects up or down to potentially diminish the effects.
In regards to the Alchemical bonus, should it be a flat +2 if taken daily, or +4 taken directly to counter the onset?
True, I may be starting to be over-specific on the rules for eating things. Leaving it more like your loose description may be better.
Hmm, maybe the potion gives a +4 for the first hour or so, then falls down to +2 for the remainder of the duration? Or we could even establish a gradual degeneration scheme, like +4 for the first hour, +3 for 3 hours after that, +2 for the next 8, and then +1 for the last 12? Could even scale it to increased durations.
Oh, and what if Wild Magic effects are triggered when the bonus from the potion is what allowed him to make the save? I.E. if Kichiro's save was high enough to resist Madness Mantra anyway, there are no side effects, but if the bonus from the potion was the deciding factor in actually making the save, then a Wild Magic event occurs?
But it is also true that leaving things a bit more vague can
And applying the potion during a fit of Madness Mantra could allow a new save to throw it off. With the difficulty that convincing a berserk Kichiro to take the potion is hard. Maybe make the potions liver-scented or something...
Hmm, maybe the potion gives a +4 for the first hour or so, then falls down to +2 for the remainder of the duration? Or we could even establish a gradual degeneration scheme, like +4 for the first hour, +3 for 3 hours after that, +2 for the next 8, and then +1 for the last 12? Could even scale it to increased durations.
Oh, and what if Wild Magic effects are triggered when the bonus from the potion is what allowed him to make the save? I.E. if Kichiro's save was high enough to resist Madness Mantra anyway, there are no side effects, but if the bonus from the potion was the deciding factor in actually making the save, then a Wild Magic event occurs?
I like that idea for the Wild Magic. That makes a potential effect possible every time he has to save, which would be every time a spell point is spent, so no more than 3/day... Which may be a bit much, but it does make any interactions substantive.
I'm not sure about tracking potion potency, though. Online, time seems to be hand-waved unless specific things are happening or are on a timeline, and I don't want things to be prohibitive just because of a hand-wave.
Digging into the magical effects, and sphere abilities, it is looking like if it is a daily potion, it could add +2 at base for every save, with the chance for additional effects every +10 to DC, chosen by the creator (or depending on the recipe?). The effects could include:
• +2 for every iteration above minimum potency
• A shift up/down on the Wild Magic chart from the roll
• Ignore one failure of the check (expends "Dosed" state?)
- Which is to say, you've pretty much nailed it on your first post above. Excellently done!
All of that seems reasonable, though I would say if it allows him to ignore one failed roll, any other rolls in the same 24 hours will have to be made as if he did not take the potion.
Applying during the maddened state could force a save, though I feel like it contradicts the 1/day limit of the formula, since many of them seem to be single-use?
...Does the potion have a name?
Alchemy formulae are slightly unusual. For most formulae, there is actually no hard cap on how many can be made and used in one day (restorative items are an exception, with a per-target use limit). What is limited is how many you can have prepared at once [# of alchemy formulae talents +1/2 # ranks in craft(alchemy)(min 1)]. There's actually nothing stopping Satoshi from filling all of his formula slots with copies of one formula, aside from the benefits of versatility.
Yeah, the degradation might be too hard to track. How about if it's just +4 for, say, 10 minutes (1 combat length), then goes down to +2 for the rest of the duration?
Hmm, need to name the formula.... Should we go dramatic, or plainly descriptive?
I'd say just leave it at always +2.
Huh... guess it has been a few days since we posted here. XD A lot of stuff on my mind right now, I suppose. Not sure if Satoshi has noticed that the gameplay tab is open.
Oh, I hadn't. I'll have to go look at that now...
Still need to think of a good potion name, too. Just can't seem to come up with one that fits.
Kichiro has Survival and Geography, not to mention Nature, so taking ten will help you two get where you're going provided that you are not under duress.
Likewise for finding food, so Satoshi may just have a list of ingredients for Kichiro to find that can be acquired along the way. So in that case, the only thing that needs to be specified is whether or not a rare or varied ingredient(s) is/are included, and what it is. I'm going to say that so far, it's been a standard list.
Kitsune are not unfamiliar sights, so you do not have to disguise yourselves if you do not want to.
I will say that as of right now, Satoshi probably recommends dialing morning potioning. It lets him keep a slot clear for a different item.
I think you meant daily. XD
Given Kichiro's unusual tail(s), he'll probably be sticking with human form most of the time (mechanically it's the *only* form his Witchmark won't manifest in).
This is all still you two. I'll interject when necessary, but conscious, non-reflexive checks are your province. Just include the roll with how you're going about it-- or the skill that you want me to roll, depending- and I'll include it with my post.
Feel free to add small details as you think they should fit, since there are several things that I am holding, and not especially keyed to any triggers.
All right. It'll probably be Monday, this has been a busy weekend.
I'm thinking Kichiro hasn't discovered his new shapeshifting powers yet. This scene is supposed to clue him in that something more than just being stronger, smarter, and tougher happened when he got 'corrupted'.
Any actions that either of you want to take in the next twenty minutes or so of in-game time?