DM Brainiac's Abomination Vaults Table 1 (Inactive)

Game Master Brainiac

I'm assuming that Vengis is talking about the area to the southeast. The southwest room had the giant fly.

Curse the maps that don't face north! Yes, southeast.

Beyond the far doors, a 15‐foot stone walkway spans a narrow stretch of swamp water, connecting the ruined keep to a large stone outbuilding. Double doors block each end of the walkway. Standing before the southeast door is a seven-foot-tall skeleton dressed in armor made of gnarled roots, bones, and rusted metal. The skeleton clenches a morningstar in one weathered hand with the weapon’s heavy, spiked tip resting on the walkway at the skeleton’s feet.

Peering closer, Grem can see the wooden struts and crude lashings that keep the skeleton together. Though it looks imposing, it is little more than a statue.

Vengis detects a magical aura nearby, and searching the morningstar reveals a rune inscribed upon it. It is a +1 morningstar.

"Wow, this is quite the find!" Bella declared. "A light weapon is better for me, but someone should use it; an actual magic weapon is not to be taken lightly!"

After they had finished examining the statue, she opened the door leading into the bastion on the other side of the water.

"Wow for sure. That skeleton's biiig." Zetty glances at the weapon, but stares for far longer at the massive skeleton in its unusual armor. "Even if its just an art piece, the bones came from a pretty huge person. And considering where it is, its kind of like someone wanted to ward off people who didn't look too closely. That might mean the mitflits haven't wandered in to this room beyond. Assuming they weren't the ones who built it in the first place."

Does the whole skeleton statue look recent or old in broad terms?

As for the weapon she suggests "A backup weapon for you Grem?" before joining Bella in heading across the bridge.

The statue looks pretty new.

With your new prize in hand, you head through the next set of double doors. Splintered framing in the ceiling and floor hint that thin wooden walls once divided this stone building’s interior. With those walls demolished, only a single, large chamber remains. Rubble, swamp vegetation, and mud pile in heaps like foul nests, while a larger stack of rubble, sticks, and bones looks almost, but not quite, like a throne. A flattened mound of sand with a few dozen bits of wood and stone stuck into it covers the floor before the throne. It seems to represent a crude map of Otari.

A pudgy mitflit sits at attention on the throne. Two other mitflits are nearby--the same ones you encountered in the keep's entryway. By the side of the throne stands a giant solifugid.

The mitflit boss taps the haft of his trident on the floor before addressing you in Common. "I am Boss Skrawng! I demand to know why you have come to bother me before I have attacked Otari!"

As for the weapon she suggests "A backup weapon for you Grem?" before joining Bella in heading across the bridge.

"Ha," the dwarf rumbles. "I don't plan on losing my weapons any time soon, but thank you for asking. I have heard that such enchantments can be transferred to another weapon, if someone where so skilled."

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

Grem bristles at the self-possessed king of the mitflits when it mentions attacking Otari. "Attacking, you say?!" the usually composed monk seems to actually be getting angry. "And what would you gain from doing such an act?"

"So you would have been alright with us coming to bother you after you attacked Otari?" Zetty murmurs. She wastes no time in starting to sketch out Skrawng's pudgy visage, beginning from his chin. As she works she says "How about instead of attacking Otari, you don't bother the town? We might even be able to get along."

She positions herself next to Bella and slightly behind, ready to provide some magical boons to the halfling should it come to a fight.

(If there *is* a fight, I've got a magic weapon spell with Bella's name on it)

Bella replied to the boss, "I live in Otari, so I don't think I'd like you attacking it! It wouldn't be a very good idea anyway; the town was founded by a member of the Roseguard."

The other mitflits wince in the face of your angry responses as the boss pathetically backpedals. "Did I say attack? No, no, no! I have no plans to attack Otari! I am harmless! Friendly! Let's talk!" He punctuates this reversal by using his trident to scatter the map of Otari at his feet.

”So, what are you doing in this place?”

"Well, at the very least I'm here to draw you and everyone else in this place." She shows the boss her current progress on his true to life, and therefore not particularly flattering, portrait. "We've also heard there's some strange things going on here recently. Strange lights. Ghosts. You wouldn't know anything about that?" She frowns, noticing a detail off on her writing slate and turning it back around to fix things.

Bella added, "Indeed, as my friend says, spirit lights have been seen in the lighthouse, something new! We're here to find out what they are."

Trying to aid Zetty or Vengis on a Diplomacy check. +5 trained.

Zetty Diplomacy, Make an Impression: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9
Bella Diplomacy, Aid: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

Boss Skrawng's eyes widen when you mention Gauntlight's eerie glow. He shakes his head. "We have nothing to do with that! There are many bogeys in the keep. Hauntings and glowing ghosts, but the light is the creepiest haunt of them all! Every night, the light glows. I am too afraid to look, but I bet there is a really big ghost up there!"[/b]

The gremlin shifts impatiently on his throne and takes a deep breath, summoning the shreds of his bravery. "I have tolerated your intrusion in my domain. But you have killed some of my subjects, and that must be punished!" He shouts something in Undercommon, and the two other mitflits and the giant solifugid rush forward to attack!

Grem, Vengis, and Zetty may act!

"There goes being friendly." Zetty hadn't been expecting much, but the mitflit had managed to let slip some interesting details. And his speechifying had provided an opportunity to get a good initial sketch of him and his coterie.

She begins adding Bella's outline to the picture, shortsword first. As she does, a glow begins to surround the halfling's weapon.

◆◆ Cast magic weapon on Bella's shortsword, ◆ Inspire courage (+1 atk, dmg, saves vs. fear)

Despite his usual calm demeanor, Grem seems to be going red with fury. "I will not stand by and watch some wannabe king make plans on Otari. Not gonna happen!" He steps forward gets into the fight with more aggression that usual. " Stand back, kids," he growls out as he punches at the targets. "This mountain's about to blow."

◆ Step
◆ Mountain Stance
◆ Flurry of Blows (vs. Green)
Falling Stone: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12
Bludgeoning Damage: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13
Falling Stone: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14
Bludgeoning Damage: 1d8 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

With negotiations breaking down, Vengis can only shake his head.

Perhaps I will need to speak next time. Most usually, a carefully crafted falsehood is better than the truth.

Tendrils of darkness abruptly curl out from his fingertips and race through the air, grasping at some of the blue creatures.

grim tendrils ◆◆ (30-foot line; DC 17 Fort save): 2d4 ⇒ (1, 2) = 3 plus 1 persistent bleed I'm not very particular about which targets the line hits, though I would like one of them to be the leader.

Critical Success The creature is unaffected.
Success The creature takes half the negative damage and no persistent bleed damage.
Failure The creature takes full damage.
Critical Failure The creature takes double negative damage and double persistent bleed damage.

Fortitude: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 191d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24

Grem’s attacks come up just short. Vengis unleashes tendrils of darkness, but the mitflit resists the spell and Boss Skrawng is completely unaffected!

The mitflits stab at Grem, scoring several hits. Then the solifugid pounces on the dwarf, taking him down with its jaws and a critical hit from its claw! Boss Skrawng takes cover on his throne and fires a poisoned dart from his blowgun into Vengis’s neck!

Shortswords: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 271d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 111d20 ⇒ 31d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 271d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 241d20 ⇒ 1
Damage: 1d6 - 1 ⇒ (6) - 1 = 51d6 - 1 ⇒ (2) - 1 = 11d6 - 1 ⇒ (4) - 1 = 3
Pounce (Jaws, Claws): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 261d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 141d20 ⇒ 20
Damage: 1d10 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 51d8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
Blowgun: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29

29 Damage to Grem. He is down at dying 2. 2 damage to Vengis and he must make a DC 15 Fortitude save against spear frog poison. Everybody is up!

The battle started disastrously, with Grem going down right away. Bella grimly drew her sword and advanced to strike at one of the mitflits with her newly empowered blade, hoping to hold off the enemies while the others had a chance to revive her dwarven friend.

◆Draw Sword
◆Stride
◆Strike

Short Sword, Magic Weapon, Inspire Courage: 1d20 + 7 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 7 + 1 + 1 = 28
Damage, Magic Weapon, Inspire Courage: 1d6 + 4 + 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 4 + (1) + 1 = 11

Bella needs to spend at least one action attacking every round, to make good use of the Magic Weapon spell. Next round, she may use one action for Battle Medicine on Grem.
Don't forget the option to spend all of you hero points to avoid death.

As the leader puts a dart into Vengis's neck, the sorcerer recoils.

"No! Stay away from my face!" he shouts, and then he feels the poison entering his bloodstream.

"I told you we should have left!" he exclaims. With his previous spell failing spectacularly, he falls back to one he knows cannot miss, targeting the leader.

Fort: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8
poison dmg: 1d4 ⇒ 3

magic missile ◆◆◆ (120 ft; 1 creature): 3d4 + 3 ⇒ (1, 4, 2) + 3 = 10

Eyenia gets next to Zetty and Bella and takes a deep breath, releasing an aura of calm and reassurance for a second time.

Casting bless.

Uhoh. Yeah, keep attacking Bella. Since bless doesn't stack with IC, I'll drop it this round.

Zetty blinks, hardly believing the sight as the solid dwarf falls to a flurry of attacks. She quickly pulls out her emergency healing scroll and invokes the spell to bring Grem back to consciousness. (I assume that means he gets to act before the enemies)

Soothe healing: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

◆ Draw scroll, ◆◆ Cast soothe from scroll

I should have been placed into the initiative right before whichever one dropped me. Unfortunately, I won't be in the range of Bless, this round. :p

Grem shakes his head to clear away his blurry vision as he gets up from the ground, not entirely sure what happened a moment before. Determined not to give up, though, he gets back to his feet and resumes the fight.

◆ Stand
◆ Mountain Stance
◆ Flurry of Blows (vs. Green)

Falling Stone: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13
Bludgeoning Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
Falling Stone: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10
Bludgeoning Damage: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

... I think this thing wants me dead...

Bella moves in to help Grem. With a brutal stab of her enchanted blade, she impales the solifugid, dropping it in a single critical blow! Eyenia blesses the group. Vengis batters Boss Skrawng with magic missiles while Zetty uses a scroll to get Grem back on his feet. The dwarf attacks again but once more the mitflits dodge his attacks.

The gremlins try to take the dwarf back down while Skrawng angrily shoots more blowgun darts at Vengis!

Shortswords: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 191d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 191d20 ⇒ 21d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 191d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 71d20 ⇒ 4
Damage: 1d6 - 1 ⇒ (6) - 1 = 51d6 - 1 ⇒ (3) - 1 = 21d6 - 1 ⇒ (1) - 1 = 0
Blowgun: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 281d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12

7 damage to Grem, 4 damage to Vengis! He must make another DC 15 Fortitude save against the spear frog poison. Everybody is up!

Bella could tell that Grem's condition was still disparate. She quickly applied some healing salve to his wounds with one hand, and stabbed at the enemy with the other!

Medicine (Battle Medicine: Grem): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21
Healing: 2d8 ⇒ (7, 4) = 11

Shortsword, Magic Weapon, Bless: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19
Piercing Damage, Magic Weapon: 1d6 + 4 + 1d6 ⇒ (5) + 4 + (6) = 15

Shortsword, Magic Weapon, MAP: 1d20 + 7 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (8) + 7 + 1 - 4 = 12
Piercing Damage, Magic Weapon: 1d6 + 4 + 1d6 ⇒ (4) + 4 + (4) = 12

Bella's first strike kills a mite, swiftly turning the tide back in your favor!

Everybody else may still act!

Zetty takes her writing slate in both hands once more, relieved that Grem is looking much more healthy after Bella's attention. She delivers several abstract lines to her page to represent poison leaving Vengis' body, then points her pen at a second mite, raising a nearby rock and tossing it at the creature.

Telekinetic Projectile, bless: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17 Damage (B): 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

◆ Cast Guidance to Vengis (for your Fort save!), ◆◆ Cast Telekinetic Projectile

"Thank you," Grem says to Bella, but includes Zetty as well. He continues his assault, hoping to make up for his recent failures. He moves in closer to the king, but attacks the remaining mitflit.

◆ Step
◆ Flurry of Blows
Falling Stone: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 21
Bludgeoning Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12
Falling Stone: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21
Bludgeoning Damage: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6
◆ Falling Stone: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (11) - 2 = 9
Bludgeoning Damage: 1d8 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

If the mitflit dies, transfer any remaining attacks to the king.

The second mitflit falls to Zetty's projectile and Grem's first blow. The dwarf whirls on Boss Skrawng, delivering a punch to his midsection! Skrawng groans and doubles over, badly hurt. "Okay! Okay! You win! Please, have mercy on me!" He drops his trident and raises his hands in surrender.

When Boss Skrawng surrendered, Bella tried her best to save the fallen mitflits. They had paid the price for their leader's decision to attack, which wasn't really fair.

Medicine (first aid): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22

I realize that they're probably dead, but she has to at least make the attempt.

She admonished the boss, You should have thought of their lives before you attacked us!"

After she had done all that she could, she told their captive sternly, "Time to talk! Was the plan to attack Otari your idea, or is someone else trying to put you up to it?

"And I want to know who has moved into these ruins recently."

Intimidation (aid): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19

Aiding someone with a higher bonus than her.

I'm assuming that someone is searching Skrawng.

Zetty relaxes as the boss gives in, returning to her art without the threat of imminent bodily harm. She draws the boss' trident next to the edge of the frame and suddenly the weapon skids over the ground and ends up next to her. (Mage handing it!)

She studies the trident to avoid engaging verbally with the mitflit leader. The thought that the mitflit had been planning on attacking Otari made her nauseous. And she had no idea how to face someone who'd admitted to it. In stories sometimes it was all about 'exacting justice', but that was something for people with swords to do, not the artists that were chronicling events.

(No intimidation here. If there's something other than the trident that Zetty can mage hand away from the mitflits, she'll do so)

The standard mitflits have more darts and shortswords, while Skrawng only has a blowgun, trident, and his crown made of mud and bug parts.

”Nobody put me up to it. It was my brilliant plan to train the giant maggots we found in these ruins. When the insects were fully grown, I was going to lead the whole Mudlicker tribe, mounted on trained giant fly war steeds, down to Otari to raid and rule. It would have been glorious! But I suppose it was not to be.”

Boss Skrawng sighs. ”We Mudlickers used to live in the dungeons beneath this keep, but a bunch of mushroom-eyed people chased us up here many nights ago. Their king is a magic priest mushroom-eyed guy who can hurt your brain just by looking at you!

“That’s all I know!”

Bella followed up, "How deep are the dungeons below the keep?" It seemed this place was bigger than they had thought!

”Deep deep!” Skrawng declares. ”There is at least one more level beneath the one where we lived. That’s where the mushroom-eyed people came from! Who knows how many more levels are further down?”

Zetty ponders the descriptions, trying to think about what the "mushroom eyed people" might be.

Recall Knowledge? Or do we need more to go on first?

Bella spoke to her comrades about what Boss Skrawng had told them, "The mushroom-eyed people could well be the reason for the lights that Wrin saw. But we need to find out more about them. The king sounds like he could be dangerous.

"It sounds like the upper part of the keep is only the smallest part of this complex. I would assume that the Roseguard would have explored the whole place, but maybe there's areas down there that they didn't find."

Grem stands back while Bella questions the mite king, his burly arms crossed over his chest. His brief loss of emotional control nothing but a memory at this point. The halfling woman seems to have covered all the pertinent questions for the time being, but he waits a little longer, just to be sure.

Eventually, he says to Skrawng, "You, and the rest of your minions had better leave and never been seen anywhere near Otari again, on pain of death. Am. I. Clear?"

To Bella, he responds, "I still believe that clearing this level is our best course of action, for the time being. But it is good to know what lies ahead of us."

Bella asked Skrawng for a more detailed specific physical description of the "mushroom-eyed people". She wanted a better description to give to Vandy when she asked her about them later.

She also searched Skrawng and the other mitflits for valuables. She wanted to buy a better healer's kit; since he had attacked the party, it was only fair that he contribute towards the cost.

Skrawng is unable to provide any more details besides that the people are pale and gaunt with gangly limbs and stringy hair. The mites don’t have any valuables beyond their meager weapons.

Zetty scrawls down some notes in the margins of her page as the mitflit provides quite a lot of information. "So underneath the keep we have people with mushrooms for eyes. Doesn't ring any bells for me, but maybe if I see them in person..." A hint of yearning enters Zetty's voice thanks to the prospect of truly unusual creatures. "You're right though Grem, I wouldn't want to go check down below if there are more people and monsters up top here causing problems. And we haven't even climbed up to the lighthouse yet!"

"And what was that about a swamp dragon under a boathouse? People came to visit its lair and didn't leave? This is getting more and more interesting. Dangerous too, of course. But-" She flips to a new page "-not many artists can claim to have gotten a live draconic subject to draw!"

So current leads are: Basement with mushroom-eyed people, the lighthouse, and the boathouse presumably to the north?

"Mushroom eyes. How do they see then? Strange. The mysteries build without end."

"So umm, do we just let him go?" Zetty points her pen at the mitflit leader "He didn't promise to leave like you asked Grem." More than a little out of her depth, Zetty looks to the rest of the group to decide how to handle the mitflit.

(I also just highlighted a door on the map in white, if we want to check that out next.)

Bella attended to Vengis' poison damage and commented, "Looks like I'll have to bandage you up again, Grem."

Medicine (Treat Wounds: Vengis): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19
Healing: 2d8 ⇒ (7, 2) = 9

This assumes that he's not still taking ongoing poison damage. If he is, she would use Treat Poison first. She'll have to wait a while to Treat Wounds again on Grem.

”Yes! Yes! I’ll go! I promise! I won’t come back!” Skrawng insists.

"My wounds can hold out," Grem responds to Bella, but turns to Skrawng. "Be sure that you do. I aim to keep my promise."

I'll assume Vengis's poison runs its course before Bella patches him back up to full health.

After Skrawng scurries off and Bella tends to Vengis's injuries, you head back into the keep and through the double doors to the north. The ceiling of this room has fallen in two places. A smaller collapse destroyed a flight of stairs that once led up to the now-ruined upper floor. A larger collapse mostly buried the southern double door, leaving a hole in the roof partially blocked with several crossed timbers. A second double door to the north has a stone face carved with skulls caked with tangles of moss.

The symbol is a rare one, indeed, but Zetty's bardic lore allows her to recognize the mossy skull as the religious symbol of Nhimbaloth, the Outer God of ghosts, despair, swamps, and will-o’-wisps.

Now bandaged up, Vengis looks better prepared to go on. Still, he says "I have utilized all of my more powerful magic on the encounters we have had so far. In the event we run into anything more powerful, I will be unable to help as much. I suggest we rest for a while--preferably back in town."

When Zetty points out the bizarre religious symbol, Vengis raises an eyebrow. "Is this an old carving, or something new?" he wonders.

Zetty clambers over the rubble until she can plant her feet in a clearer spot "Wow! Now that's a bad sign. Nhimbaloth-" She points her pen at the skulls carved into the northern door. "-that's the sign of an outer god of ghosts and swamps and will-o'-wisps and general despair. I'd guess this was once-upon-a-time a hideout for their followers, Vengis."

"The mitflits sure didn't seem like they were following Nimby, so that's a good sign at least." She pauses for a moment to detect magic, trying to suss out of there's any uncouth magic still lingering on the door before her allies open it.

"Could it be they still linger below?"

She pauses, "I am in a similar situation to Vengis. My powers are have waned, and I must recollect on the distant voices for them to wax once more."

Bella conferred with her allies, "I think we should stop here and at least heal up Grem. We're rather depleted; I wouldn't want to run into anything nasty. We likely should head back to town soon, in any case."

Grem looks a little reluctant to turn back, but after a few more voices are added to the chorus, he relents. "Better to err on the side of caution, I suppose. My masters would be proud." He ends that last thought with a slight huff of air before he turns around and heads for the exit.

It may be a good idea to report in to Wrin with our current findings, as well."

You decide to head back to Otari, making the twenty-minute journey back to town without issues. It is just after noon when you arrive, having been in the ruins for close to three hours. Wrin is likely at her shop if you want to fill her in on what you have discovered so far, and the town’s shops are open if you wish to purchase anything before resting.

Welcome to the Abomination Vaults adventure path! I am looking forward to a fun game. Some notes before we begin:

Your characters will start off with at least a passing familiarity with one another. Feel free to forge stronger bonds before we begin if you desire!

I will roll secret checks for your characters in a separate dice roller when the situation calls for them. To speed things along in combat, I will roll initiative for everybody. Those whose initiative scores are higher than the enemies can post their actions, I'll summarize the results and the enemies' actions, then everybody can post for the following round's actions.

During dungeon exploration, I will let the lead character dictate which direction to go when there is a choice of paths. When it comes to other party decisions, I will usually wait until two or more characters agree to a course of action before following through with that action.

Please let me know your characters default action during exploration mode. I will assume your character is performing that action unless specified otherwise.

I am usually online weekdays between 3:00 AM and 11:00 AM GMT -5:00, and can check in sporadically the rest of the afternoon. I can usually post a few times each day during the week, but my access is limited on the weekends.

Let me know if you have any questions!

The gameplay thread is now up!

Glad to be part of the game!

I'll admit that I'm not familiar with Exploration Mode. My Fall of Plaguestone GM didn't seem to be using it.

Thanks for having me! Just working on getting the account squared away in between work calls and finalizing some minor details.

@Bella - Archives of Nethys has some great reference material for stuff like this. Check out the Exploration Activities section.

Hey all, looking forward to playing with everyone! Thanks for the selection Brainiac!

@PW: Looks like we're playing together in another game :)

All those speed-along ideas sound great to me. Dungeons are often rather tricky when it comes to not getting bogged down, so I'm all for anything that'll keep us zipping along. I think we'll be able to work out default actions during exploration mode pretty quickly too.

As far as post timing, I generally get my posts in around 10-12 PM (GMT-5), though considering that we'll be getting updates in the morning my time, I may try to sneak some posts in there as well when I have the chance.

Exploration Activities

Here is the list to choose from, Bella.

I took a peek at the characters we've got. We're rolling a lot of CHA and social skills right now, so maybe we've got a bright future of tricking dungeon denizens coming up :). I think I'm going to make some minor tweaks to give Zetty a bit more INT since we don't have any INT primary characters available.

As far as character bonds are concerned, I think Bella and Zetty would definitely have spent some time together. Zetty was nursed back to health by Vandy Bandernash, but maybe it was Bella that was the primary caregiver? Or at the very least they would have had a chance to get to know one another while at the Dawnflower Library. I can imagine Bella's adventure-lust and Zetty's own drive to capture the strange and unusual in art would have bounced well off one another.

Hey folks, looking forward to getting started!

I'll probably be searching or investigating during exploration mode, depending on what others are doing.

Eyenia's a lifelong resident of Otari, so I imagine anyone who's spent some time there would be at least familiar with her.

Grem is definitely not a native, but has probably been in town for 1-2 years at this point, so it probably wouldn't be hard to say that he's at least see everyone in passing, as some point.

While he's not a bad guy, he is definitely not the one to be making first impressions. :D

If you want to take a look, I've gotten my background mostly fleshed out now.

Edit: Also, let me know if you're okay with the attached Character Sheet, or if you'd rather have it all in text in the Profile.

Thanks for the selection! I'm really looking forward to playing with this group! I've heard great things about you, Brainiac.

Cellion, definitely looking forward to another game with you. Perhaps our characters could have a connection of some kind?

If it's alright, I may also be making some tweaks to my character--I'm mostly considering my Bloodline, but I'll make any changes by the end of today.

Grem, the attached character sheet is fine.

Vengis and anybody else, feel free to make any tweaks to your character that you would like to before we begin!

@Brainiac: I was planning to use one of my two familiar abilities to have it speak a language I speak (Infernal).

Do you have a preferred Google Translate font if I run that through it occasionally?

Whichever you prefer!

Just out of curiosity, Vengis. What are you considering for a different Bloodline?

@Bella - If you work in the lumberyard, perhaps the two of us have a working relationship. Chat during lunch break, etc. :)

I've actually decided to keep Shadow bloodline, so no other changes for me. I had been looking at Hag or Infernal, but I think I like Shadow best overall.

Bangla it is for Infernal.

"তুমি কীভাবে শিগগিরই মারা যাচ্ছ"

@Grem: Sounds good. Bella is fairly chatty, while I assume that Grem is a man of few words.

@Grem: Sounds good. Bella is fairly chatty, while I assume that Grem is a man of few words.

Kinda, in a Mr. Miyagi kind of way. He speaks, but tries to make sure that his words are meaningful. Probably a little bit of Captain Obvious syndrome, to boot.

I am usually online weekdays between 3:00 AM and 11:00 AM GMT -5:00, and can check in sporadically the rest of the afternoon. I can usually post a few times each day during the week, but my access is limited on the weekends.

I just realized that I should probably add to this.

Being GMT -7:00, I work a call center job from home, so I'm pretty much in front of my computer nearly all day. That said, my ability to post during work hours is dependent on what my call volume is like. Worst case scenario, I usually play catchup after my shift is over, which is usually mid-afternoon. Weekends are hit or miss, but whenever possible I try to get at least one post in during the weekend.

Still trying to figure out Grem's standard Exploration action, but I'm most likely going to wind up sticking to Search, or maybe Scout.

Also, I'm GMT -5:00 (Utah).

I am a self-employed attorney, and am on my computer all day and this is my outlet to not hate my job so much. Though I'm typically able to post multiple times throughout the days, periodically I'll have hearings or mediations, and on those days I'll be more unavailable.

My exploration activity will probably be Detect Magic for now.

@Bella: Any thoughts on the connection I mentioned here?

@Zetty: That sounds good. I imagine that Vandy would hand over some or most of Zetty's routine care to Bella. We should know each other fairly well.

@GM Brainiac: I guess I need to bring up a controversial subject: how many hands are required for Battle Medicine? :)

Not sure what Brainiac would say, but I would assume it would be the same as Treat Wounds.

Lol Bella.

Since it has the Manipulate trait, you need at least one appendage free to use the action. :)

Our first combat begins!

On an unrelated topic, I have a Discord server where I usually post about updates for my other games. I can create a channel for this game if people are interested. Let me know!

@Brainiac: This won't affect my position in this combat, but please note that I have the Improved Initiative feat.

Thanks, I'll update the macro!

I'm down for the Discord server, if everyone else is. It's a nice little tools for such things.

Me too, I already use discord quite a bit, so I'd be glad to have the extra chat location. Especially if the Paizo forums go down, as they're often wont to do.

Alright, you can post your Discord handles here or PM them to me. I’ll set up the channel tonight or tomorrow morning.

Dumb question, but how do I find my Discord handle?

It’s your account name followed by a # and 4 numbers. On the mobile app you can find it in the bottom left corner I believe.

My discord handle is bees#6869.

Mine is Blaydsong#4913

Alright, all the invites have been sent out.

By the way, I forgot to mention that everybody begins with 1 Hero Point. :)

@Vengis, I generally assume there is some sort of debris around with which to use telekinetic projectile, except under unique circumstances.

@Bella, you will have to accept my friend request in Discord when you have a chance so I can invite you to the server and the game's channel.

I think I've successfully accepted the invite now.

OK here's a loot log:

LOOT LOG LINK

It should be editable by everyone with the link.

I've used this format for previous campaigns and I'm happy to track loot for this one as well. I'll add items into the log and if there's something you'd like to keep, you just write your character's name into the Claimant column. When we go to sell stuff, the claimant's share of the gold is reduced based on what they claimed. It's a pretty fair system and the calcs get done automatically.

There's also tabs for logging the history of stuff we sold and a tab for listing group resources like healing items that can be used multiple times - basically stuff we share in the party because it benefits all of us.

Nice. Mad props to people who can do this kind of thing. My brain just doesn't process it. :p

Technically, we could wait an hour (50 minutes) and try again.

Probably what we need to do. Pressing on with Bella and Grem down a total of 19 hp seems risky.

Thirded! Lets take that hour.

As posted in Discord, go ahead and take the time to rest and try again. Nothing will attack you in the intervening hour.

All,

I'll be travelling Friday through Sunday. I may be able to get on and post sporadically, but please bot me as necessary.

Do we want to heal up here at the ruins, or return to town? How are people doing for resources?

When we reach 2nd lvl, Bella is going to increase her Medicine skill to Expert, and take a Medicine-related skill feat. Any opinion about Assurance vs Continual Recovery? Assurance would give a 16 on her checks, so Treat Wounds would be guaranteed to succeed. Continual Recovery would eliminate the wait time between Treat Wounds attempts. Her regular modifier will be +8, or +9 if she can afford Expanded Healer's Tools (50 gp).

Assurance gives you a result of “10 + your proficiency bonus (do not apply any other bonuses, penalties, or modifiers).” So it would only be a 14, not a 16.

IMO, Continual Recovery is the better choice.

Wouldn't her proficiency bonus be +6 (4 for expert +2 for level)?

So it would! Apparently, I have been doing it wrong this whole time. Thanks for pointing that out.

In that case, it’s a toss up as to which is better.

I think you'll want both eventually Bella. But I like Assurance because I'm risk averse :)

I'm pretty sure that I'll ending up taking Assurance, Continuous Recovery and Ward Medic. It's just a matter of the order.

Continuous Recovery looks to provide more raw healing, while Assurance reduces variance. I just don't have the experience with higher level play to judge how much raw healing is needed.

Bella will also be taking Cleric Dedication at lvl 2, primarily for the Shield cantrip. Not sure when to take the Basic Spellcasting feat; there's plenty of good rogue feats as well.