Gravedigger Investigator is amazingness, especially once you combine it with that one style that uses improvised weapons. Get yourself a traveler's any tool and things can get very silly.
That is a fun route, and hitting people with whatever is handy does work for Hilda and for a Worm that Walks. If one discorporates you drop your stuff, so being able to pick up anything works miracles then.
I'd combine that one with Extemporaneous Channeler Occultist, doubling down on the improvisation.
Speaking to the more drastic version, the Gravedigger Investigator seems very focused towards fighting and killing Undead, particularly with regards to its Kill the Undead ability. Investigators tend to suffer a bit as far as combat effectiveness goes until they can use their studied combat/studied strike ability, so not being able to use that against non-undead opponents until level 6 could lead to you still feeling ineffective.
I also don't know if an Investigator would count as a Spellcaster for the purposes of the Worm That Walks template, which would make the Haunt Collector Occultist mandatory on the other side of the Gestalt, preventing you from using the Slayer's Studied Target to make up for the switch.
Of the two options presented, I think leaning towards the first one of just swapping your Mystery around would be the better choice. The Dark Secrets mystery giving you access to the various "Shadow Conjuration/Transmutation/etc." spells gives us access to something the party doesn't really have, and provides a great deal of versatility for you. Swapping out Fighter for Slayer, if Hilda was arrested for grave robbing when she was actually disposing of the bodies of her victims, the Cleaner archetype may provide some good flavor for that aspect of her character.
Have you considered going full "Queen of the Undead" and going with the Bones Mystery? While admittedly cliché, it would play well into the theme you are looking for.
Good point on the spellcasting and qualifying for the template.
I don't think the "Queen of the Undead" would fit her as she's rather ambivalent about the whole thing. She doesn't mind the undead but she surely doesn't feel any proclivity towards raising the dead. I could see her with an undead servant to do her laundry or carry her belongings, not with an army of the undead.
As for her crimes, she actually did both the graverobbing and the murders. Basically she robbed graves to sell the corpses and when demand was high she supplemented the trade with murder victims, picking the people that picked on her and, more importantly, her father.
That's cool. Since you don't see "Queen of the Undead" as a direction for her to go, I'd say that, from my point of view, Shadow Mystery and Slayer (archetyped or vanilla) on the other side of the gestalt is the way to go, mostly because I think the Gravedigger/Occultist option will still leave you feeling like others do what you do and they're better at it for a few levels. Ultimately, however, if you like the Gravedigger/Occultist option more (and it sounds pretty fun, don't get me wrong), I think you'll find at least some opportunities to make it work.
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Decided to stick with Oracle and swapping out the mystery for Shadow. In addition I'll swap Fighter out for Slayer using the Ankou's Shadow archetype to double down on the shadow part. I'd drop the official flavor of that archetype, but that's almost entirely in the name anyway.
She'd be the death that lurks in the shadow.
I'm also convinced she'll have a skeletal servant at some point which she'll name Betsy or Lucy or something along those lines.
Doing quite a bit of shuffling on feats as well, not in the least because I'm losing 2 of them due to swapping out Fighter.
That sounds good Hilda. Make the changes when you can and if there is any gear you would swap let me know. Don't forget to get back in gameplay too.
I'm going out of town tomorrow for the next week and posting will likely be intermittent. Please bot as necessary.
I'm back and catching up on life/work. Sorry for the radio silence - turned out I didn't have internet after all, which was pretty lovely actually. I hope to get caught up today/tomorrow.
Sarela seems to know Gildevar and Ceres seems to know Sarela.
Does everyone know Sarela?
Yes she is ret-conned into being hurt and knocked unconscious and left at the prison, you would have thought her dead or as good as dead.
Does the lantern burn oil? If so, would dumping the lantern out through the floor pour burning oil on the cloud? Or could I smash the lantern on the floor to cause fire to fall on the cloud?
Sorry for the quietness on my side folks, bad migraine these past few days. I'll get a post up tonight.
Hey guys, so we haven't had a post from Hilda in over a month. Perhaps they just couldn't find a way to rework their character satisfactorily. In any case, I have offered Eowithe a chance to return to the game. Would all of you be ok with her replacing Hilda in the group?
The lantern oil would burn yes. The oil would seep through onto the creature if you target the square above it.
I'm okay with it, but as the newcomer, I feel that the rest of the group's opinions should count for more weight.
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Hey guys, so we haven't had a post from Hilda in over a month. Perhaps they just couldn't find a way to rework their character satisfactorily. In any case, I have offered Eowithe a chance to return to the game. Would all of you be ok with her replacing Hilda in the group?
I am fine with that. I had messaged Hilda's player awhile back but never received a response either. Keeping fresh blood in the game will be good!
I'm Ok with it as well.
That works for me. It's a shame Hilda couldn't find 'that' what was needed to enjoy the character, but I think we've all been there, when a character refuses to click :(
Tawg is always up for new friends! Shame about Hilda, but I'm glad we have extra characters to keep a full roster.
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alright guys. I will get Eowithe caught up through pms and it will be easiest just to swap her with Hilda to be right there in the action with you.
Hi guys, thanks for having me along.
Going to finish up updating my profile, then I'll join the action!
Hi, Eowithe! Good to play with you again.
Greetings, Eowithe! Looking forward to playing with you.
Glad to be hear!
Thanks, GM , for the opportunity!
Welcome to the group! Glad to have you with us. I am back after my momentary bout of sickness.
Aura of Cowardice does give it a -4 on the Will Save versus Eowithe's Fear Aura. It is untyped so I think it stacks with Sarela's as well?
Hypnotic Stare is untyped, as well, and the description specifically calls out the penalty as not stacking with the hypnotic stares of other mesmerists or the witch's evil eye hex. It says nothing about any other penalties, so I believe it should stack with Aura of Cowardice.
However, if this creature is immune to mind-affecting effects, then hypnotic stare will have no effect at all.
Eowithe! I checked out your template and it gets some cool abilities! Welcome to the team!
I had a death in the family and will be leaving town, trying to tie up some loose ends at work, etc. over the next week. Posting may be slow going for a bit.
Ok Ceres, take time if you need.
I am still fighting sickness and getting ready for a trip starting this weekend. I will be slow here.
My condolences Ceres, take the time you need for sure.
So sickness kicked my butt all to the last day here really. Feel free to bot Araton until I am back from my trip on Wednesday. Have him calmly watching the others in this situation, it gives him a chance to see their natural..."tendencies" :P
Turning him into a 'friend' sounds like the way to go!
Sarela's very much a face character, especially once I start using her social identity. Coaxing information out of characters without using violence or magic should be one of her strengths.
Of course, she isn't out to befriend the NPCs, and will have no trouble betraying them or sacrificing them once she's gotten what she needs out of them if the party prefers.
Timeon might have to die anyway - in order to advance my template features, I'm going to need to complete my astral legend, and it occurs to me Timeon probably would probably count as an innocent for those purposes.
Having a crazy week. Been struggling to focus and make posts this week. Hopefully pick up the update pace now.
Life continues to be crazy. Definite update coming later today though.
Getting walloped over hear too. Hope things calm down for you, GM!
Happy holidays folks! Hope you all have an exquisite weekend!
Happy holidays all!
Happy belated holidays!
Happy 2022 y'all! I feel like Tawg in that I ate waaay too much. Christmas is a great excuse for my wife to bake dozens of cookies, but it's no good for my diet haha
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Happy new year, Christmas and everything to you all. I haven't eaten too much or gotten sick thankfully, though I have been super busy (supposed to be on holidays tho??).
We are returning to regularly scheduled updates today once I'm home from work. Let's keep this adventure going.
As a holiday bonus, everyone receives a bonus hit point per level, like the toughness feat(and stacks with it too). I will also be rolling on the minor magic item tables to secret santa up some mystery gifts for everyone as thanks for playing and sticking with the game. I hope we can progress a ton further this year together.
Wooo! Extra hit points and mystery gifts!
Minor Magic Items
Haven't done it this way before but there we go. A random santa sack of magic items for the group to share. You possess these immediately and can work out fair use between you.
Protection from Law is the perfect scroll for this campaign haha Thank you GM and Dice Gods!
Apologies for my absence this week.....my family joined the covid statistics. Nothing serious, just a really bad flu-like thing. Feeling better, will get a post in soon.
Hope it stays minor and everyone is well soon, glad to still have you here.
Looks like at least 1 post from everyone now. I will be updating everyday if we get enough player posts going.
You too? My family caught it over the holidays. Most of us are dealing well with it but my girlfriend is hit pretty hard. I am here, just playing catch up.
Hope everyone gets better quickly.
Waiting to see if Eowithe is able to post before I update.
(if Sarela's trick worked, it has no DEX to AC)
The Mesmerist Tricks class feature doesn't say it's a mind-affecting effect, and since Misdirection is an Illusion (glamer) effect, it isn't considered mind-affecting, either. If the metal cobra is immune to mind-affecting effects, Misdirection will still work on it. It all comes down to the Bluff check.
Nice! And I was indeed referring to the bluff check. I doubt a 25 won't be enough, but you never know.