Curse of the Crimson Throne (complete) (Inactive)

Game Master Whack-a-Rogue

I am strongly considering whether it's time to bust out that harrow bonus. DR 3/- might not be a ton, but we look like we're in pretty deep at this point. Is it an action to invoke that? (I'm not saying I definitely am doing that, but I at least want to understand my options.)

Good idea! If possible I’ll invoke that as well.

Also I see that I forgot to confirm last round. That’s on me! I’ll be more on it in the future.

Finally the daemon has -2 natural armor and bleed 2. Is that taken into account?

@Torsten: It will be now that you've reminded me. XD

@Yhrrilka: Activating the harrow bonus is a free action.

I take back everything bad I ever said about martial flexibility. Being able to grab pummeling style as a swift action really changed this fight

Mr. Dictator, a question for you!

If someone else ran this campaign with these build rules, what character would you submit?

Mr. Dictator, a question for you!

If someone else ran this campaign with these build rules, what character would you submit?

OoooooOOOOOOOooooooohhh, that's interesting!

(leans in, listens intently)

That's a crazy hard question, Torsten. I'm a forever-GM, so my submitting characters is a rarity to begin with. I'm very flexible, so it would depend on what the party's lacking. Assuming I had complete freedom of choice, someone INT-based with full casting and a TON of skill points. I have bardic knowledge IRL, so I gravitate towards know-it-all characters. XD Investigator//Witch? Alchemist//Wizard? Rogue//Sorcerer? Something like that.

EDIT: Alternately, a Malefactor//Fey Adept would be super fun to roleplay in a darker, more "shades of grey" campaign.

We'll be spending Christmas with the in-laws, so posting will be sporadic until Tuesday.

Fair nuff. Apart from the actual holidays, the only bad days for me might be the 29th & 30th (anniversary and son's birthday).

As to the other topic, I liked the look of the Malefactor archetype, Luckbringer.

That's a crazy hard question, Torsten. I'm a forever-GM, so my submitting characters is a rarity to begin with. I'm very flexible, so it would depend on what the party's lacking. Assuming I had complete freedom of choice, someone INT-based with full casting and a TON of skill points. I have bardic knowledge IRL, so I gravitate towards know-it-all characters. XD Investigator//Witch? Alchemist//Wizard? Rogue//Sorcerer? Something like that.

EDIT: Alternately, a Malefactor//Fey Adept would be super fun to roleplay in a darker, more "shades of grey" campaign.

Interesting answer! And a good one. It’s funny, I gravitate away from high Int characters because I fear that I can’t do them justice.

Interesting answer! And a good one. It’s funny, I gravitate away from high Int characters because I fear that I can’t do them justice.

For the past 35+ years, my favorite superhero OC is very much in that mold and I have the exact same reservation. I feel like I'm holding Generator back. (He feels the same way.)

I have returned! I hope the holidays have been good to you and yours.

YBD again: I have a compulsive need to "know all the things," so high-Knowledge characters are a near necessity for me. My all-time favorite is this one: the forgotten deity of information-gathering. I played him in a ridiculously high-powered solo campaign a few years back.

So, not that I won't pick up Combat Reflexes, but I don't think one can use the SOM version to be a Mass Parry machine, because the first time you flub a parry roll, there goes your martial focus, and the show's over. No way around that apart from getting more martial foci, right?

YBD again: I have a compulsive need to "know all the things," so high-Knowledge characters are a near necessity for me. My all-time favorite is this one: the forgotten deity of information-gathering. I played him in a ridiculously high-powered solo campaign a few years back.

Very cool PC. A good choice for a PC deity on knowledge, as skill checks for knowledge can be pumped up and the divination focus is solid. And a sylph is a good race choice, as breeze-kissed and wingless flight are thematic options. The picture in the profile doesn’t work. If you still have it, I’d like to see it.

@Torsten: The picture is of Jace Beleren from Magic: the Gathering.

@Yhrrilka: I don't think so, unfortunately. The best option I could find for mass parrying is actually the Shield sphere. It's just an AC boost, but there are some fun combos to be had.

Hmm, I did some looking, there's also a feat that lets me spend 5 stamina instead of focus, but I don't have that now anyway.

I'll look at the Shield sphere, I get a little slack now that I'm getting more Combat Talents from Fighter, but I don't want to run right out and kill the slack this puts in my build. :)

As I peruse the Shield sphere, I am seeing something that might have some use, maybe, if I can work it in.

The Smashing Counter talent says , "Whenever an attack misses a creature benefiting from your active defense..."

If an attack misses from miss chance (like Ablative Aegis), Smashing Counter still triggers, as long as I used Active Defense, right? I'm not sure I'm gonna go there, though, because it's 3 talents to get there (Shield sphere base, then Bashing Shield so I can bash with a buckler, then this one). As I said yesterday afternoon, I have to see if I have the slack for that. But the idea of getting in some off-turn attacks (even with a half-a#$ed shield bash) has some appeal.

Battered is battered to everyone, right? If Torsten makes someone battered with his antics, I can play along, yes?

As I understand it, yes

Yes, the battered condition applies to everyone.

Next question for today.

The Fighter AWT, Weapon Specialist. Under normal rules, I get what this does. Lets you use some weapon-specific feats for any weapon in the associated group. But the EITR rules already let that happen. Does this AWT have a role?

Also, after this has made me think about it, shouldn't this be called "Weapon Generalist"? Hell, it's the opposite of specialization. :D

Now that you mention it, I don't think that AWT does anything anymore. Combined with the unfortunate choice of name, and I think those are sufficient grounds to remove it. XD

Happy almost New Year!

Nice job enduring that very long combat. That wasn't the boss fight, but it was definitely one of the significant foes. You also dealt with most of the people from the rooms you bypassed, so hopefully further exploration will be relatively simple. XD

Thanks, to both of you too!

The daemon felt like the centerpiece of the whole thing. The cultists and doctors seems like the sort of guys that would only get the best of us if we had an abundance of bad rolls and/or carelessness, but the daemon had me scared s#&+less.

Happy new year!

In anticipation of the current Gameplay events coming back to bite us in the ass, I intend to find a good Russian equivalent to "told ya so". :P

In anticipation of the current Gameplay events coming back to bite us in the ass, I intend to find a good Russian equivalent to "told ya so". :P

But why? Mr. "knife-games" seems like such a nice guy.

Got to love when priorities clash. :)

It’s even funnier when it’s for a tattoo that will cost all of his gold for almost no mechanical benefit! (Well, extremely high fluff benefit, which is arguably much more important)

(Felix realizes his big plan for Ril's build forgot to include the Steadfast Personality feat, takes big sigh, dives back into spreadsheet)

If Torsten can reach her with lunge, then the plan goes like this:

(1) Move up to her.
(2) Lunge and hit her. Hopefully reposition her down to ground level.
(3) Which in turn will hopefully trip her, making her prone on the ground.

And having a caster prone on the ground should be exactly where we want her. This is, of course, if he can reach her with lunge. Because otherwise we need Ril to blast her, as T has nothing ranged.

I'd just like to say that I frickin' hate this new trend that seems to be developing, with me proned early in every boss-fight.

:O

@Torsten: Nice work making her burn her last highest-level spell slot. XD

@Yhrrilka: Nice work getting all your low rolls for the year out of the way right off the bat. I'll be anticipating a long streak of crits in the near future.

@Torsten: Nice work making her burn her last highest-level spell slot. XD

@Yhrrilka: Nice work getting all your low rolls for the year out of the way right off the bat. I'll be anticipating a long streak of crits in the near future.

It's a question of who runs through spells first, her or Torsten. She pings away at his health and he heals himself back up. :P

This is a genuinely incredible streak of crappy rolls.

I think that Ril's dice have decided that failing these saves is just going to be the narrative for the fight.

I did not okay this plan!

Custom Tattoo Request: Bolka's Touch
This rune was originally created to go onto clothing, with leather being the material of choice. Created by a priestess of Bolka, the idea was to make dwarven men more desirable by fixing an ever present problem: the stench of sweat, soot and old beer. This rune slowly cleans the entire body of the person wearing it in a one foot square every six seconds, prioritizing the dirties of areas first. It is a popular rune for wealthy merchants and nobles, man and woman alike.
* The bearer of this rune is under the effects of constant prestidigitation, only for the purposes of cleaning himself, including foreign scents.
* Cost: 1000 gold
* Tattoo Slot: Arm

(For the cost, gloves of the cheating apprentice costs 1100 to make for at-will prestidigitation and mage-hand. This is self-only prestidigitation and is a tattoo. So 1k sounded about right to me)

Custom Tattoo Request: Torag's Grace
This rune was created for well-to-do masons and artisans who regularly had to work at great heights. When one falls, this rune takes effect, bringing them down at a much reduced speed, so that the worst that they might suffer is damage to their dignity.
* Function's like the ring of feather-fall.
* Cost: 2200 (Same price...usually half-price for making it himself, but double price for being a tattoo)
* Tattoo Slow: Leg

(Trying to avoid tattoos that are really useful but cost 10k gold. Would much rather have useful utility tattoos which are attainable in price, so that he can eventually move on to armor and weapon tattoos.)

Those look fine with one adjustment. You're only using a portion of prestidigitation's capabilities, so the cost can be reduced. XD

Bolka's Touch: 400gp to craft

Thank you, I appreciate it. :)

You’re totally right I should say where I reposition. For now on I’ll add directional info like “reposition NW” so the Gm can move the enemy if the roll succeeds.

Things I have to be better at, Vol 8.

If a ranger deals sneak attack damage to a target, he can study that target as an immediate action, allowing him to apply his studied target bonuses against that target (including to the normal weapon damage roll).

The part I have to figure out is: that Immediate Action could also be used as a Swift action, for Feint Strike. So it's really the same question I've always struggled with, is a bonus now worth putting off an attack until later?

However...

If I really want to get baller and drop someone ASAFP, I could put all my eggs in one basket for something like this:

Move: Feint
Std: Energy Strike
(If ES hits and applies SA/FT) Swift/Immediate: Apply Studied Target
Then, use Feint Strike by expending Focus and 1 AOO.

The downside to this way is the expenditure of martial focus, which I've been holding on to like my life depended on it. I have to start figuring when it's worthwhile to expend focus (like when I have a Fort or Ref save where I absolutely don't want to blow the roll); a little variety in how I do my turns won't kill me. ;)

For the record, Torsten, IDK if rushing this guy was a good/bad/terrible idea, but I figured even if it's a bad idea, it's no worse an idea than letting him do whatever while we plow through the zombies.

That said, at some point maybe make an overrun or two and get over here, y'know? ;)

Let’s see how it goes. Depending on the dice, this might be Ril’s time to shine. :)

Depending on the dice, this might be Ril’s time to shine. :)

Have you seen what I've been rolling? I'm so dead! :0

Felix Thinks About Martial Flexibility, Chapter 8:

Although I suspect Rolth Lamm might not survive even to the next turn, I had a shower thought of a feat package to keep in mind, should we find ourselves in a more protracted struggle with a spell caster: Step Up and Disruptive, aka "Here's what I think of your five-foot-step-then-cast bull$#!+."

Nice work! We'll handwave the last zombie. With that, you now have everything needed to create a cure for blood veil. XD

Poor Larry the Zombie. Nobody believes in him.

And woo! That was a lot of fun. Fights left me feeling like we were powerful, but they were still dangerous. Ran out of martial flexibility and healing was getting low.

Getting loot in order...

Loot
Onyx unholy symbol of Urgathoa (worth 200gp)
27gp
vicious scythe
Silver-covered candelabra made from human hands x2 (worth 150gp apiece)
Exotic incense (worth 450gp)
Wand - remove disease (8 charges remaining)
Scroll - restoration
Scroll - raise dead
incense of meditation x3
Scroll - teleport
unguent of timelessness x6
MW Thieves' Tools
MW Mortician's Tools (worth 100gp)
Spellbook
Extensive notes on blood veil
50gp
plaguebringer's mask x2
Healer's Kit x4
Potion - cure moderate wounds x3
Midnight Wine x12 bottles (worth 14gp each)
Rune-etched Onyx Sculpture of a Skull (worth 35gp)
155gp

--------------

Anything Ril wants?

Also, because it’s fun, I used Hero Forge to make Torsten. Well, as best as I could. But if he had a model, it would be like that.

——

And good idea for step up and disruptive! Well worth taking against future spellcasters.

Yeah Hero Forge is fun to fool around with. I worked up a version of Ril one time, didn't have the hair quite right, and at the time they didn't have tattoos, but it still got the idea across.

The only things that strike me are the wand, scrolls and potions, which we should split up for future use (I can UMD that stuff as necessary). The Incense is interesting but my magic isn't defined as divine, otherwise the idea of a day's worth of Maximized Searing Blasts would be totally hilarious.

As for the practical matters of how to proceed, whatcha think? Do we take the survivors to the Citadel, get them to corroborate the story of what went on to Commissioner Kroft? Or is it better to stay here and keep things secure until the Guard arrives? Thoughts?