Way of the Wicked Group 2

Game Master Diamondust

I am in the same vein as Hilda; breastplate would be an amazing step up until we can get out hands on proper heavy armor. Then I think for myself would be a heavy shield that doesn't have the marked symbol and a longsword. All of that is easily purchased with the split goods though.

MW Concealable Thieves' Tools (190gp)
Lamellar Cuirass (15gp)
Rapier (20gp)
Silver Holy Symbol (25gp)
Pocketed Scarf (8gp)
Scroll Case (1gp)
Bandolier (5sp)
2x Potion of CLW (100gp)
1x Potion of Reduce Person (50gp)
1x Potion of Ant Haul (50gp)
4x scroll of CLW (100gp)
2x scroll of Disguise Self (50gp)
(639gp - 609.5gp = 29.5gp left)

I understand if not all of this is purchasable/accessible! And yes, with Gildevar having only STR 10, I really don't want him to be encumbered. It does mean his AC sucks :\

Ceres is pretty gear independent. If we can get access to scrolls and potions, I may want to pick some up.

Regarding Grumblejack, Ceres can go either way with him. She's fascinated to see what is in her mind essentially a mythological creature. She would have never expected to see an ogre before (or a goblin for that matter) before her transformation, so she's curious to see more of him (and Tawg). But she totally gets that they are duplicitous creatures that would just as soon eat her as befriend her, so it won't bother her in the least if he disappears.

GM, wizards can prepare spells from other wizards' spellbooks, but there's no exact analog for witches that I can see. Could we use the rules for witches using scrolls to learn spells for the warden's spells and extracts that are on the witch list?

I'm a sleepy dumb dumb. Gildevar has scribe scroll and if the facilities and materials are available, he can pen down those scrolls of CLW and Disguise Self for half the cost instead. If not, he'll try to buy them instead.

Ceres - if there are any cleric spells you want/need, Gildevar can scribe them down so you can feed it to your crab! He also has the Trickery and Fire domains :)

Hilda wants her breastplate and after that it's masterwork stuff.

For the latter, what could be done is if Gildevar would prepare the Masterwork Transformation spell during one of those days then I could get myself a reagent worth 300 gp and he could cast the spell on Hilda's Spiked Gauntlets.

Depending on if the test was in 3 days or after 3 days we could, theoretically, have either 4 or 6 castings of the spell.

As for Grumblejack, Hilda wouldn't mind either way. If she'd be smarter she might have suggested bonding him closer to us, not to make him part of the team but to make him a secret weapon for us.

Ha, I had never heard of that spell before, but sure, that can be done!

You have 3 days to prepare. 3 sets of daily spells that you can use.

GM, two questions:

Can we use our money to buy scrolls?

Wizards can prepare spells from other wizards' spellbooks, but there's no exact analog for witches that I can see. Could we use the rules for witches using scrolls to learn spells for the warden's spells and extracts that are on the witch list?

Ceres - if there are any cleric spells you want/need, Gildevar can scribe them down so you can feed it to your crab! He also has the Trickery and Fire domains :)

OK, this is excellent! I'll take a look at the overlap and make a list :)

Thanks, Gildevar!

Ceres: Want to go splitsies on a wand of Mage Armor?

I'm going over what other equipment I want. I feel like Tawg wouldn't know what to get or do with the money, but the rest of the party would guide him in the right direction.

For Grumblejack: Tawg has seen ogres in the fighting pits, and is interested in having one on his side, but understands their ferocity and "unreliableness" in trying to keep them around.

Araton's expenses shall be...

mwk breastplate - 350gp
heavy wooden shield - 7gp
longsword - 15gp
shortsword - 10gp
longbow - 75gp
(anti)paladin's kit - 11gp
upgrade to mwk backpack - 48gp
upgrade to silk rope - 9gp
two manacles - 30gp
two simple locks - 40gp
traveler's clothes - 1gp
courtier's clothes - 30gp

That leaves me with 13gp leftover.

Araton is ready for the trials ahead.

Araton would be willing to talk with Grumblejack more and espouse why he is receiving better treatment...because Asmodeus wills it, of course. The ogre is a wrecking ball and completely lacks subtlety but there may be times when we really need a wrecking ball. Araton will likely notice Grengar's disappearance but make no mention of it; maybe someone had different ideas of who the master was.

Tawg, yes, let's sit a wand. Great idea!

Ah! I keep forgetting I lose a lot of Monk things if I'm wearing armor (Wisdom AC bonus, fast movement, flurry of blows), so I'm going to have to ditch the Chain Shirt and rely on the wand.

I'll have my equipment list by the end of the day (busy weekend).

Shopping List for Tawg:
• Splitting wand of Cure Light Wounds (375gp)
• Potion of Enlarge Person (50gp)
• Potion of Magic Fang (50gp)
• Wrist sheath (spring loaded) (5gp)
• Barbarian’s kit (9gp)
• Monk's outfit (5gp)
• Traveler's outfit (1gp)
• Mug (2cp)
• Ale (gallon) (2sp)
• Longbow (75gp)
• 20 arrows (1gp)

Remaining: 67gp, 7sp, 8cp

I'm thinking I should get some sort of disguise. I think the traveler's outfit will be good going from place to place (I can pull the cowl up and over my big head). But if we all need to go through a checkpoint or something, a scarred-up Goblin is going to stick out.

My plan with the wrist sheath and Enlarge Person potion is, first round of an important combat: Swift, pop out potion; Move, drink potion; Free, rage; Standard, bite/punch anyone I can reach.

I also figure I should replace the Branderscar marked longbow with a generic one.

I don't think there's anything I can afford that benefits my unarmed strike or bite right now that isn't a one-use item.

Haven't heard from the Cardinal in a bit. Everything going OK, GM?

Still here, just slow at the moment. Ceres and Hilda haven't finalised the equipment they want.

I missed your question about buying scrolls. Yes that is allowed, all magic items you can afford are allowed.

Still here, just slow at the moment. Ceres and Hilda haven't finalised the equipment they want.

I missed your question about buying scrolls. Yes that is allowed, all magic items you can afford are allowed.

Great, glad to hear!

I also asked question about witches spells and how the familiar interacts with spellbooks. I didn't see anything RAW that allows for copying spells to familiars like with wizards, but there are rules for copying scrolls, which consume the scroll and require a spellcraft check. Can I do the same for the wizard's spell and formula book? There's one or two spells IIRC that I'd like to attempt to add to Ceres' familiar.

Sorry to hold things up - whether or not this is allowed will effect what Ceres spends on equipment and how she spends the three days of downtime.

She's for sure spending:

1/2 share of a wand of mage armor (375 gp)

@Hilda - Ceres is pretty gear-independent: she'll happily give you 11 gp if you'd like it.

@Tawg, I've put the wand on my gear list. In combat, just call for it and if possible I'll get a charge on you. Out of combat, just let me know when you're buffing and I'll make a charge off.

Thanks Ceres! Just looked back at my post. Not sure why I wrote wand of Cure Light Wounds on it. Definitely meant Mage Armor. Obviously, buffing pre-combat would be preferred, but we'll make it work if things go down unexpectedly.

OK, Ceres will spend the 375 gp on her share of the mage armor wand and another 100 gp on scrolls of charm person and identify, which she will then consume to add to her spellbook. Total of 475 gp. She'll keep the rest.

Ok guys, we're ready to move forward. Add you equipment to your sheets and we will get the the Cardinal's test soon.

Work and life have been busy, and now we unexpectedly have friends in town for the weekend. I should get a post Sunday night EST.

Over the three days, we would heal 9hp naturally. Can we assume either castings of CLW or foods with that affect would bring us back up to full hp?

Yes you will all be fully recovered now.

Is Hilda going to make a post before I move you guys forward?

Had a rough week and wasn't up to posting. Apologies for the delay. Let's forge onward!

I've got a bit of a migraine right now tonight so I will aim for a post tomorrow. Sorry for the delay.

Getting walloped at work - hope to be back tomorrow.

The basement at my house isn't the greatest. Like, I can't stand up fully in it and it's got crap lighting.

But at least it doesn't have 9 seemingly deadly rooms with cryptic poetry lol The Cardinal needs to talk to a contractor.

Haha!

I live in California. What's a basement?

why is no one posting? The lessons have begun.

My sincerest apologies! I think I clicked on the gameplay posts and read what was there and meant to do a post at a later time and time got away from me. I'll have one up ASAP.

I will post in the morning tomorrow. Weekend and Monday has been crazy.

Hey guys, due to players dropping out, I am merging the other two groups. Sarela(Psychic Lich) will also be coming here to join you as you lost Grengar so the groups will be 6 and 6 still. You have plenty of melee capability so she will do well with more ranged abilities. She will catch up to you in the dungeon soon.

Sounds good! I'll have a post up soon, things have been a bit hectic here.

Sounds good, GM. Welcome to our band of misfits, Sarela! Looking forward to gaming with you.

Just realized I had not declared an action in my gameplay post, and I'm out of the edit window. Ceres is casting the light cantrip.

Hello everyone! I'm actually melee-focused, as well - I just grabbed a bow from a guard so I could have a ranged option.

As a Mesmerist (Vexing Daredevil)/Vigilante (Cabalist), I provide a lot of enchantment and debuff spells, along with some light battlefield control and strong single target damage once per round, including bleed if I can get it. If necessary, and with the GM's permission, I can do a bit of a rework to a ranged focus, but I'll still need to be within 30' of our foes and I'll have to find a way to feint at range.

Our crew had just finished escaping the prison and made it to the Manor. I know you're a bit ahead (looks like you're in the Manor's basement), so I just need the GM to let me know if I need to make any updates to my character and I'll get rolling.

EDIT: Out of curiosity, what templates did everyone choose?

Super happy to have you in the group! Araton won't mind having another front-liner with him.

Araton is taking the slow but destructive path down intimidation build. Tanky while low on hit points, his oracle provides some healing and buffing support for the team. Things open up at 6th level with the good ol' classic Cornugon Smash.

My template is a Haunted One. He'll be able to make obscene knowledge checks, some both to mental abilities, and shore up his weak Constitution. It isn't the most impressive template but it fit what story I had in mind for him.

Hello and welcome! Tawg is a Barbarian/Monk with basically a negative AC, so enchantments are very welcome! It will be fun to have someone from a different group and see the cohesion.

Ceres' template is Broken Soul, which also isn't terribly impressive, especially for someone that has tanked charisma. but it worked with her backstory. She'll be a decent tank and excellent grappler, with some utility from her witch spells. She has a thing for priests and she's looking forward to strangling lots of them, so she'll be a focused caster killer when needed.

Like Araton, I'm not worried about the melee focus of our party. It worked fine in Brandescar (great even, as we could fall back as needed when low on HP and others could step up). And we had two size L creatures then to boot (Grumblejack and our departed player).

Ah, my bad then. And it isn't a problem if everyone is melee. I'll just have to give some enemies a whirlwind attack right?

That said, I do allow changes to characters this early on if there is something you're not enjoying or unhappy with. So let me know if anyone wants to take advantage of that.

I'm fairly happy with my character - this is a thematic concept I've really wanted to play, so it's working out pretty well.

It looks like the rest of the party is level 3, so I'll have to level up. Do I need to account for any other changes, GM, to make sure I'm on par with the rest of the group? I noticed a list of purchases up thread.

Is Grumblejack still with the group? He died early on in our prison break, unfortunately.

I didn't choose the most optimal template for Sarela, either - Vampire would have been the perfect fit, with the Cabalist's focus on blood magic and the Mesmerist's mental abilities. Psychic Lich just spoke to me - a person so vain and egotistical in becoming a lich that their phylactery is basically their ego.

EDIT: How were we doing hit points again?

Yes you are now level 3 upon reaching the Manor. You will get 639gp to spend (from looting the prison+recruitment stipend from Thorn) on gear and things, same as everyone else in this group had to keep things even.

Hitpoints are max at every level. Check the campaign tab for all the build rules.

Post here what you buy (the slaves take your orders to Tiadora who handles purchases while you stay in the manor avoiding recapture) and what you gain on level up.

Level 3

HP: 10 (8+2 Con)
BAB: +1
Saves: Fort +1
Automatic Bonus Progression: +1 Resistance bonus to saves

Skills: 6 + Int Mod (3) + 1 FCB = 10
Acrobatics +1
Bluff +1
Diplomacy +1
Disguise +1
Intimidate +1
Knowledge (arcana) +1
Sense Motive +1
Spellcraft +1
Stealth +1
Use Magic Device +1

Background Skills: 2
Linguistics +1 (Language: Aklo)
Perform (dance) +1

Level 3 Feat: Dodge

Mesmerist (Vexing Daredevil) Features:
Painful Stare increases to 1d6+1
Bonus Feat: Deft Maneuvers
Dazzling Feint: Piercing Strike
+1 1st level Spell/day
Additional Spells Known:
0-level - message
1st-level - hideous laughter

Vigilante (Cabalist) Features:
Social Talent (Entrepreneur (Perform))
Unshakeable, +1 bleed damage
+1 1st level spell/day
Spells added to spellbook: touch of blindness, obscuring mist

Psychic Lich:
resist cold, electricity 5
touch attack 3+Cha mod (6)/day

Purchases:
Masterwork Scimitar (315 gp)
Chain shirt (100 gp)
Shortbow (30 gp)
20 arrows (1 gp)
Dagger (2 gp)
Mesmerist's Kit w/ masterwork backpack (85 gp)
Bandolier (5 sp)
Potion of Cure light Wounds (50 gp)
1 x Acid flask
1 x Alchemist's fire
5 vials
22 gp, 5 sp remaining

Sorry for my absence, live has been complicated and ridiculously busy the last month or so.

Combine the end of one job, start of a new job and job interviews for an even newer job with a dog that is hitting puberty and some health issues in my family and you have a recipe for a big mess.

As for Grumblejack, he's alive but not with the group anymore.

Hilda is prepping up to become a variant Worm that Walks, one consisting of beetles instead of worms.

And to be honest, that and her personality are also the only parts about Hilda I'm really happy with. Beyond that she actually feels rather superfluous within the current group (a factor that did not contribute to my motivation to post despite the situation mentioned above) as everything she can do somebody else can do better. The fact she still has Fighter on one side simply because I didn't have any better ideas also doesn't help.

Perhaps we could find a way to revise your character to a point you’re happy with it? I’d be willing to be a sounding board for you to bounce ideas off of, as well as offer suggestions if you’d like.

Now is the time for change Hilda while you're low level and builds are easier to adjust. This first time too it will be free, so let me know what you would like to do and as Sarela said, we can go from there.

For changing Hilda I have two different paths in mind. One is more drastic than the other but both strive to keep her core intact (somewhat naïve and deranged girl that lived on a graveyard her entire life, convicted for graverobbing but actually also committed several murders).

For both version I want to ditch the grappling aspect while keeping her large sword. Only thing I can see her swapping it out for is a scythe.

The not that drastic approach would see me swapping out her Mystery, which currently is Reaper, for Shadow. I'd want to swap out Fighter here as well, or at least change it so it fits better with the theme, but I'm not sure how or for what yet. Swapping with some kind of Slayer would probably be the best fit.

The more drastic version would actually require changing ability scores, to be precise the swapping of Hilda's Int and Cha score. As for her classes, one would be swapped out for the Gravedigger Investigator. For second class I'd be looking at Occultist, possibly using an archetype for which I'm mainly at Haunt Collector.
Another option here is to go for Slayer as well.

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.