Curse of the Crimson Throne

Game Master Whack-a-Rogue

nice reenactment images, wouldn't a handy haversack work as well, the only weapons I'd put in it are the hammer and klar, then the rest of the space would be for regular gear.

I’m also a fan of Glamered. Make it change into any shape you want. I have a character who wears his hammer as an arm torc.

Sadly, it doesn’t work for hammers. But with ABP a bladed belt is amazing.

Might be a dumb question, but if my assumption is wrong I may have to move a feat or two.

The description under Klar says "A traditional klar counts as a light wooden shield with armor spikes. A metal klar counts as a light steel shield with armor spikes." Since it counts as a light shield with spikes, when I use it in two weapon fighting, it counts as a light weapon, right?

Not a dumb question at all! The klar falls in a really weird spot where it's sort of a weapon and sort of a shield. After some digging, I found an official FAQ. XD

This means you'll take a -4 penalty (-2 with the Balanced Blows talent) when Dual-Attacking.

But you have thunder and fang
“ Benefit: You can use an earth breaker as though it were a one-handed weapon. When using an earth breaker in one hand and a klar in your off hand, you retain the shield bonus your klar grants to your Armor Class even when you use it to attack. Treat your klar as a light weapon for the purposes of determining your two-weapon fighting penalty.”

So even though it would usually be -4, it counts as light

That's what I get for not checking the build before posting. XD

muha haha Thanks Torsten!

one more, possibly dumb question, the + 2 Attunement from the ABP does count on both armor and shield (klar) correct?

It isn't applied to any of your equipment, actually. My version of ABP differs in that you don't select anything to attune to. Instead, you gain a bonus to attack/AC/etc. Your gear (or lack thereof, in Torsten's case) doesn't affect this in any way.

EDIT: I do it this way so you're not locked into specific armor or weapons. Special properties are tied to specific equipment, but when it comes to attack/damage/AC, you're equally skilled with anything you pick up.

Noted. I will not add attunement to both the armor and the Klar :)

Ok, I've got the basic gear done, I need to add some consumables. Do you mind if I purchase partial wands to infer he's been doing this a while, or are only fully charged wands ok?

I'll wrap up his backstory and get caught up with relevant in game posts tomorrow.

Looks great! Except for HP. Either I’m doing it wrong or you are. It looks like you did max per level?

Partial wands is fine.

Torsten's right: unlike the solo S&S game, we're doing average HP per level.

mmm, I probably should ask if we get 'toughness' for free then also.

That's a negative, I'm afraid. Solo games have slightly different rules for character creation to account for the increased difficulty.

Was doing another audit, and I have a question

AC
* Base: 10
* Armor: 6 (unarmed training)
* Dex: 3
* Natural Armor: 2 (bloodline)
* Deflection: 3 (ABP)
* Enchantment: 2 (ABP armor)
- Total: 26
* Shield with spell point: 3
- Total: 29

For ABP, does it give an enchantment bonus to natural armor like vanilla ABP?

And for our Shoanti friend, does it give him an enchantment bonus to both armor and shield?

Answered that a few posts uptrend. XD My version of ABP gives enhancment/deflection bonuses to AC. They're tied to the character, not items, so they're only applied once.

Alright so my statline is correct. Thanks for making it clear to my monkey-brain

Ok, started reading when Torsten and Yjrrilka headed to the Skoan-Quah. Could Usawoti have witnessed Torsten the dwarf answer the challenge of the sredna from the shadows? How do we integrate Usawoti into the story? Wait unitl Torsten finds the Thrallkeeper's Mark?

Even though Usawoti uses 'negative energy he is definitely against the animation of the undead and would want to see the Midnight's Teeth returned to the Shoanti for safe keeping. How do we get him in touch with Torsten? Wait until he exits the acropolis? Or should he go in looking for him? Either way, I assume Usawoti will travel with Torsten to speak with the Sun Shamans of the Sklar-Quah.

One possible option is for you to be Thousand Bones' apprentice. When he eventually dies, you'd replace him as the new Skoan-Quah shaman. Regardless, if you want Usawoti to have observed the sredna match, feel free. You'll also know that part of Krojun's hostility is due to the fact that his family was murdered by orcs fairly recently. As such, he's naturally going to take a dislike to Yhrrilka and any perceived allies of her. XD

Easiest way to get in touch with Torsten is for Usawoti to be the Shoanti who guided him to the Acropolis of the Thrallkeepers. You may or may not have undergone this trial in the past (up to you). I'd say it's best to be waiting outside for him - but feel free to go in if trouble arises....

There are three Shoanti following him around, right? Could he be one of them?

I don't think Usawoti would follow Krojun around.

Basic backstory. Normal shoanti upbringing, when he goes through his adulthood 'trials' out in the wilderness alone he kills a giant, probably an ogre. So, they give him the adult name of one of his ancestors "Usawoti" the name means 'salt' which was appropriate for his ancestor, but he is named after the ancestor because the original 'Usawoti' killed giants.

So, young and arrogant, marries his childhood sweetheart Yeye. Soon they have a son named Inarus. Being young and overconfident he takes his family along with him when he travels, whether into the desert to hunt or going to other shoanti camps.

He leaves Yeye and Inarus alone one morning to hunt and comes back to find them dead and ... fill in the R rated version of this. Again, One of the characters I'm basing him on is the outlaw josey wales...

He hunts down the five chelish Korvosans outlaws who did this and kills all of them. It takes a couple of years, the last two he tracked to Kaer Maga. When he returns to the tribe he's alone and humbled. Its then that he begins to study the traditions of the Skoan-Quah Bone Caster.

Part of the reason for Kaer Maga is so he can delve the lower bowels hunting the two men. Thus the 'Dungeon Rover' archetype. The other is that he would be able to purchase some of his 'magical' gear there. The rest he would take off of the bodies of the men he kills. I'm not sure he wouldn't spend a fair amount of time hunting tshamek just because they are there.

I would be very happy if he were 'Thousand Bones' apprentice. If Thousand Bones' sent Usawoti along as a guide and then to the city it could be to test if Usawoti would help a Korvosan and eventually return with the crown for safe keeping. It would prove he was over his hate and willing to focus on what was best for the tribe instead of his own revenge/feelings.

Just a thought.

Oh, his horse 'Mope' was his wife's, he road his into the ground chasing the men, Mope followed along. Now Mope is all that he has left of his wife. The Raven would stay near, when he called it, it would land on the skull part of the Klar.

I am working on appearance: Around 30, average height, and wide shouldered. His hair would be long and unkept (like the icon image), his facial hair thin enough that he doesn't shave but wears the traditional skull mask, which in his case is a tattoo. He wears traditional shoant garb, covered by the mithril armor, which is covered by the Robe of Infinite Twine. The robe would be belted, shortsword on left hip, heavy blade on right hip, the Klar practically glued to his right hand and the Hammer tucked through the belt horizontal across his back (Like the picture, I really liked it) Handy haversack high on his shoulders. Everything else in it.

alignment is neutral I think. Need to finish languages...

@Torsten: Krojun and his followers are Sklar-Quah (Sun Clan). Usawoti's Skoan Quah (Skull Clan). They typically don't mix.

@Usawoti: Your profile icon is actually that of Thousand Bones, so you made a good choice there. XD

Ah, that makes sense.

Also, for awhile I had regretted going brawler. Loses out on AC and other fun monk abilities in exchange for martial flexibility. But this is proof of why it is worth it. Being able to (on the fly) punch one's way through stone as if though it was paper, and to push up to 70 tons? No way that could be done without having martial flexibility.

And while that might have burn up 6/7 points for the day, it's worth it. When one doesn't have high intelligence, disable device, or the usual magical tools, then brute force is what is needed!

I knew you'd end up enjoying the switch to Brawler. PF has so many weird situational feats that there's usually something fun you can do with martial flexibility. Adding Spheres is just icing on the cake - as you've just shown. XD

While the loot was given up, the reaction was worth it all. :)

Out of curiosity, what would a more evil character have gotten?

About 40,000gp worth of "long-term survival in an emergency bunker" magic items.

Coolness. While 20k gold-ish in loot would be great, I think that things have worked out well enough.

Now would be a great time for Usawoti to make an appearance. XD

Sure, can he just pop around the corner and start swinging at folks?

Edit: I was not paying good enough attention to know which direction the entrance is, would all the doors be open so Usawoti can see?

Welcome aboard!

All the doors are open, so you're good to go. XD I believe I'd mentioned earlier that Torsten had a Shoanti guiding him to the acropolis. If you don't want to start completely from scratch relationship-wise, feel free to assume you've spent the last couple days together. In other news: it's "Necril." XD

mmmmmm, I'm not sure about the DC. I assume your right, I don't remember anything that would bump it. I'll look more tomorrow and let you know if 15's not right.

I'll also include anything he would prepare daily. Probably only spending a spell point on dark vision.

Normally, it's (10 + half your level + CHA), so I'm assuming somewhere around DC 20.

sorry yes it would be 20, 10 plus half of 10 plus 5 for charisma.

I'm going to go ahead and post a combat action in game and then head to bed.

I was trying to get the numbers crunched on Mope and Inyoni, the horse is fairly straight forward, but the raven has gotten a little confusing. I thought he was going to be more like a 'Familiar' but his designation is Pet is there a talent, or something else, that would make him more like a Familiar? If so I would use him as a scout and spy, if not he will just be some fluff. As a per, he can still speak, but obviously not really communicate.

No problem! I typically play mages, so I've built a lot of familiars. Inyoni functions exactly like a regular familiar except for the adjustments listed in the talent. Here's what I'm seeing:

47hp
AC 19, T 14, FF 17
F +6, R +9, W +9
bite +14 (1d3-4)
Perception +18
INT 2

Alertness, Empathic Link, Improved Evasion, Speak with Master
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If you're looking for the "magical" aspects of a familiar (share spells, INT increase, speak with animals, etc), you can take THIS FEAT.

Cool, I'll go with those numbers, might take the feat later so Inyoni can be more like Archimedes.

Hey Torsten until I get a little better feel for the game, Usawoti will follow your lead; in decision, actions and posting. I don't want to overwhelm the game thread just because I can.

Not a problem. Hopefully we'll get through the last trial pretty soon, and by then both Torsten and Usawoti can share equal light on the same stage.

would Usawoti need to make a concentration check to channel energy?

Bulettes don't deal continuous damage, and Supernatural abilities (like channeling) don't provoke AoOs, so there's no need.

With a day of relaxation comes something else - Level Eleven. XD

Lvl 11!
* Attunement +3
* Saves: +1 all
* HP: +6 (class) + 4 (con) +1 (ABP)
* Feat: Improved Vital Strike
* Monk: +1 Flurry Strike!
* Combat talents: 1 TBD
* Incanter...

"Magic Talents
An incanter gains 1 magic talent every level, according to Table: The Incanter. The incanter also gains a bonus magic talent at every odd incanter level."

I realize now that I've been taking 1 magic talent every level but completely missed the bonus talent. This means that I've got...1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11...7 magic talents to pick. :P

I'll get to thinking about this.

I'm pretty sure you traded away all the bonus talents for your domains, bloodline, and familiar. XD

Traded bonus feats

Will work on getting Usawoti to eleventh level today

Combat Talent:

Greater Trip
You gain a +1 competence bonus to your trip combat maneuver checks, as well as to your CMD vs. that maneuver. This bonus increases by +1 for 4 points of base attack bonus you possess. This bonus does not stack with the bonus to this maneuver provided by the Improved or Greater Trip feats. Associated Feat: Improved Trip.

Getting +3 trip is pretty nice. Just need the reposition one and Torsten will be set on his wombo combo.

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Magic Talents:

Alteration - Permanent Transformation

For the other 6...

(1) Time Sphere with Personal Time (You may only affect yourself when using alter time abilities that affect creatures. You cannot gain the Ranged Time or Mass Time talents. You must select a (time) talent) and 2x Altered Time (lose both haste and slow)
(Bonus from drawbacks) Rapid Response x3
"You grant the target a competence bonus to initiative checks equal to 1/2 your caster level (minimum 1) and the ability to act in the surprise round even if they fail their Perception check to notice the presence of foes. You must concentrate to maintain this effect, but may spend a spell point to allow it to remain for 10 minutes per caster level without concentration. You may take this talent up to three times; the second time you take this talent, affected targets also gain evasion (or improved evasion if they already have evasion) and a +2 competence bonus on Reflex saving throws. The third time you take this talent, affected targets also gain uncanny dodge (or improved uncanny dodge if they already have uncanny dodge) as a rogue of your caster level and increase the competence bonus on Reflex saving throws to +4."
(2) Retry (time)
"As an immediate action, you may spend 2 spell points to force a target to redo their turn (Will negates if unwilling). The target is returned to where their turn began, and any skill checks, attack rolls, movement, attacks of opportunity, etc. that occurred during their turn become as if they never happened. The target may perform the same actions again (remaking any rolls required by such actions), or they may choose completely different actions. If you choose to redo your own turn in this manner, you do not recover the action or spell points spent using this ability."
(3) Second Chance
"As an immediate action, you may spend a spell point to allow any creature currently benefiting from one of your alter time effects to reroll a saving throw they just failed. They must accept the new result even if it is worse than the original roll."

Enhancement Sphere
(4) Ascetic Control
"By spending 10 minutes and 2 spell points, you may downplay the needs of your body until they vanish entirely. While Ascetic Control is active, you do not bleed, and do not need to breathe, eat, drink, or sleep. Ascetic Control lasts 24 hours."

(5) Spectral Enhancement
May give ghost touch armor/weapon enchantments

(6) Alternative Energy [Jester's HB]
Prerequisites: Enhancement sphere (Energy Enhancement (enhance)), caster level 5th. When enhancing a weapon with Energy Enhancement, you may choose sonic damage. At 10th caster level, you may choose force damage. Treat these choices as though they were the flaming weapon special ability, but instead dealing sonic or force damage respectively.

Thought Process:

Torsten is swimming in magic points. He buffs and heals, and I'm trying to avoid anything that is too "flashy" like multiple images, flying, destructive blasts, that kind of thing. What these do is allow him to spend 2 spell points to redo his entire attack sequence. That's pretty awesome, in that with 2 characters in the party, a few bad rolls could be horrific.

I also went with 3x rapid response, because acting in a surprise round could save his life. And improved uncanny dodge is great when he will be outnumbered, especially by enemies with sneak attack. Denying them the ability to catch him flat footed or flanked condition means fewer hits and fewer sneak attacks. This goes great with his improved evasion from the monk class.

Second chance is great in conjunction with rapid response. So long as Torsten has that up, he can spend a spell point to reroll a failed saving throw. If he gets charmed/paralyzed/whatever, it's game over. This is great insurance against that.

There is ascetic control. I see this as something which he has been thinking about and working on while he spent his days with the totem. If all of this is allowed, I will get a post up about how he spends his day off making this tattoo on his body. 2 spell points each day to not have to sleep, eat, drink, breathe? That's perfect for him.

Finally, if allowed...spectral is great for fighting ghosts. And I really like alternate energy, so that he can do force and sonic damage with his fists. It just feels right for a brawler like him to do that kind of 'physical' damage instead of elemental damage.

So all together? He can now bleed through his spell points quite quickly. But the chances of him being taken down by rolling a bunch of 1s becomes much less.

Wow, that's a lot of thought process. I'm going to feel silly sitting here flipping coins to decide what traits, feats and talents Usawoti will take...

Ok, I think I've got Usawoti figured out, Added @ 11th lvl

ABP:
feat:Channel Ray
Attunement +3
Ranger
+ 9 HP
+1 BAB
Quarry
Skills @ 9: + 1 to Acrobatics, disable device, heal, influence, Knowledge (dungeoneering), (nature), sense motive, stealth and survival.
Soul Weaver
+ 2 spell pool
+ 1 base caster level
+ 1 magic talent: Crafted Blast
Channel energy 6d6

Edit: I just realized that Usawoti does not have skill points in divine, but does in engineering. I'm not sure how I missed that, YBD do you mind if I switch the two?

That's perfectly fine. XD

"Wow, that's a lot of thought process. I'm going to feel silly sitting here flipping coins to decide what traits, feats and talents Usawoti will take..."

Just to show that I do put *too* much thought into this, I've planned this out to level 17

Lvl 12 (Brawler Monk: This gets him DR3/adamantine and the ability to get a feat as an immediate action or 3 feats as a swift action)
Lvls 13-17: Weapon Master Fighter (For bonus combat feats, as these levels do not add much of anything with brawler monk. While permanent Tongues is really neat, it doesn't feel necessary. Plus, for my build plans, it opens up my general feats at lvls 13, 15, 17)

Combat Talents

Lvl 12: Greater Brute (better reposition)
Lvl 13: Hostile Movement (reposition can put foes into "intrinsically dangerous positions" with example being up in the air and dropping)
Lvl 14: Perfect Attunement (30ft tremorsense, to go with his 25ft lifesense)
Lvl 15: Break Defenses (reposition provokes AOO for allies)
Lvl 16: Iron Fists (Your unarmed strikes ignore an amount of hardness equal to 1/2 your base attack bonus (minimum 1) (this stacks with similar effects). You can take this talent a second time, instead allowing your unarmed strikes to ignore an amount of hardness equal to your base attack bonus.)
Lvl 17: Mystic Fists (Fists already will be magic, cold iron, silver, good and lawful for DR. This adds adamantine, which is the only thing that he would really be missing from staying monk)

Sphere Talents
Lvl 12: Restore Capacity

Lvl 13: Restore Health
Lvl 13: Restore Senses

Lvl 14: Restore Spirit

Lvl 15: Make Whole
Lvl 15: Lingering Resilience

Lvl 16: Restorative Cure

Lvl 17: Transfiguration (As a full-round action, you spend two spell points to transform an adjacent creature into a more perfect version of itself, one step closer to divinity than before. The transfigured creature is superior to its old self spiritually, and is free of many of the burdens of mortality. Any penalties for old age are suspended, and it gains immunity to all diseases, including supernatural and magical diseases, and poisons of all kinds. Most importantly, its current and maximum hit points are raised by 5 hit points per caster level. This can not bring a creature’s maximum hit points to more than twice its normal maximum hit points. The transfiguration lasts a number of hours equal to your caster level, or until they drop below 0 hit points. When the transfiguration ends, if a creature’s current hit point total is greater than their original maximum total, their current hit point total becomes their original maximum hit point total, but they otherwise do not lose any hit points from the reduction in their maximum hit points.)

Feats
Lvl 13: Improved Familiar
Lvl 13 Fighter: Weapon Focus Unarmed
Lvl 15: Weapon Specialization Unarmed
Lvl 17: Extend Spell (so that Transfiguration can last 24 hours)
Lvl 17 Fighter: Greater Vital Strike (great to have with 1d10 fists)
Lvl 17 Fighter Advanced Weapon Training: Freehand Training (+5 precision damage)

So, by switching to fighter, it will give him +2 hit (weapon training and weapon focus) and +8 damage (weapon training, weapon specialization, freehand training) and on top of that he gets steel soul and extended spell. Very much worth switching classes, I'd say.

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The basic idea here is building up to a "capstone", so to speak, as I seem to recall that this campaign goes to that level. I think that Transfiguration is a good capstone for Torsten, in that it transforms him into a more "perfect" version of himself. The 5 HP per caster level is kind of crazy, though. It's +85HP! So I'm alright with that being lowered. I just really like the flavor of it.

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For the lvl 13, I'm probably going to take Improved Familiar. This would change Torsten's Pet Rock from being an Ioun Wyrd to being a Cassisian Angel. Why? Because it takes the form of a Steel Helmet with Toragian design. It would have Truespeech and Perfect Memory. The one thing that Torsten loses by going Fighter from Monk is permanent tongues. While this isn't as good as that, it would give him the closest thing. And I like the idea of getting as close as possible to the lost class features.

Plus, if he wears it, he would look like this sans axe.

Anyways, that's my basic build plan moving forward. :)