War for the Crown

Game Master PJP

Unless someone wakes him...

She didn’t know how bloodthirsty her companions were, but the idea of murdering the guard in cold blood made her feel nauseous.

Not to worry - I'm all for taking enemies alive instead of killing them if we can avoid it.

Good to hear. She isn’t a goody two shoes, but outright murder is..bad.

I am going to be offline until Monday.

No, I didn't fire. Just loading a bolt. I thought we were all back where the guards didn't see us. Otherwise I'm sure they'd notice us carrying around the sleeping count.

We know, we're just queuing up the actions for the order things will go off in. You fire, Capricia and I charge, Aerith does a sleep thing, and Sara does her thing.

I finally queued up my action!

You forgot to bold names on the list. Who's up?

I believe it's everyone! Seems like the bad guys rolled bad initiative.

Falcatas rock when you confirm a crit!

They really do, but an AP set in Taldor is the only way they really make thematic sense to the game - otherwise they're just a straight up superior finesse weapon to anything else, and using them is viewed as a bit of a cheese move.

Reign of Winter starts in Taldor--a fact that was very convenient for my own falcata-wielding swashbuckler!

They’re amazing, yes. But they are also exotic weapons. When a feat is spent, it’s nice to get something for it

Hello all - sorry for going silent with no warning. My wife's mother passed away this weekend, and between that and the holiday season, we are scrambling to get everything in order. I am posting this same note to all of my groups, so some of you will likely see it more than once.

I suspect I won't be only until after Christmas, and maybe not even until after the new year. I will try to catch up on games where I can, but I don't expect to be very successful. If I am a player, please feel free to bot me or drop me as needed. If you bot me, all resources are available to you - I am not worried.

For those I am running, I certainly won't me able to organize combat as I will be remote. But feel free to continue RP if available and I can answer questions as I get a chance.

Thank you for your patience and understanding, and for those of you that celebrate, Hanukkah Sameach, Happy Kwanzaa, and Merry Christmas!

Sorry for your loss.

Take your time getting life straightened out again; hopefully we'll all still be here when you're ready to resume things.

Happy Holidays, all!

Sorry to you and your family for your loss. Please take care of each other. Promise we won’t do too much damage to your game by the time you return.

Thanks all. I will still have a few days coming up where I am likely to be offline, but am starting to get back into a more normal schedule.

Did we loot any keys from Bartleby?

Yes, you did.

And a special thank you to Sara for providing the link to Martella's letter that referenced Panivar, which also said we needed to get that document.

Yes thanks!

I skipped down to the part about the wizard, so great job actually reading all of it!!!

Great work all around!

So, um...have we killed that Sir Dingleberry Guisarme or whatever his name is yet? I honestly can't remember.

Gul Guisarn? No, we haven't found him yet.

Gusairne still lives (and has keys that you really could have used!), but the main bad guys has been subdued, and the documents you have found basically give your side the proof they need to let Princess Euthropia take control of the Palace with legitimacy.

At this point, clearing the rest is not truly necessary, but makes their take over easier, for sure. Plus some of you may have personal reasons for hunting down Gusairne.

I don't think we really do, apart from seeing him at the gala. We didn't agree to execute him for the leaders of the Beggarwood.

Let's deal with the teleportation circle and any other major threats.

Actually, I am referring to a couple characters back-stories, not anything you were tasked with. I could be wrong, though.

Ah, okay. I haven't read some of our newcomers' backstories, so there may be reference to him in there, I guess. My character has a different target in mind.

I don't think Sara has any particular hate for the guy, but she could suddenly have a burning need to see him dead if that is good for a story. Murder hobo but for very literary reasons :)

Is that the Tower to the right of the map?

From when you were outside, you would guess the tower is on the left.

Cool. I think we hit the stairs and then head toward the tower.

Oh hey, I think I never leveled up to level 6 with everyone else! Mind if I do that right now?

Yah, you should. You are about to level up again anyway, I think.

Alright, here's Level 6 anyway, and look forward to Level 7!

Wizard 6
+1 Fort/Ref/Will
+1 BAB
+6 HP
New spells: Communal Resist Energy, Fly
Skills: Craft (propaganda), K. Arcane, K. History, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, K. Planes, K. Religion x2

Will my attack go off before the sleep spell, since I would technically act before Aerith?

Whew! Thank the dice gods that slumber worked. Have some ideas but it feels like cheating to say it ooc when ic she can’t talk due to cackle (at least by my reading of how it should work). Look forward to seeing what the party does.

Eregos - yes, I almost always respect init order.

So this is going to sound weird, but I am recruiting for another AP I am currently running.

I took over a Carrion Crown game back at the end of book 2, and we are just about to start book 4. If you aren't familiar with it, each book seems to explore a different "classic horror" theme. Book 2 was Frankenstein's monster, Book 3 was Werewolves. Book 4 will be HP Lovecraft flavored.

The group we have is good and solid, but they are down to 3 and need a frontliner. The pace won't be any better than here (same slow-ass GM), but as you all have been so steadfast, I thought I would offer the spot here first.

If you are interested, the link to the campaign is here.

You will be creating a 7th level character. Also, while it is a rather dark theme, a fun personality would be preferred over a gimmick character. Especially since some times the players fill GM absence time with banter... :)

Just PM me if you are interested.

Whew! Thank the dice gods that slumber worked. Have some ideas but it feels like cheating to say it ooc when ic she can’t talk due to cackle (at least by my reading of how it should work). Look forward to seeing what the party does.

I definitely hate having to literally cackle. The Shaman "chant" is much more civilized, and I prefer to reinterpret the Witch ability that way too.

Does "Cloak of Protection" equal "Cloak of Resistance"?

Easy level up. +6HP. No saves or BaB. Learned mount, false life and fly. Got the feat Kirin Style.

KS doesn’t do much of anything right now. But at lvl9, when she will likely have Int22, for 2 swift actions she can get +12 damage in close combat. For a witch, being able to do roughly 1d4+1d6+20 damage makes me smile. Sure it would probably be better to grab extra hexes or feats that make enemy saves harder…but this is more fun.

That sounds amazing! Good choice.

I made a mistake on Sara's path to Lion Blade. The archetype Wit for bard gets rid of inspire competence which is needed for Lion Blade, so as long as our GM doesn't object she will retool to get rid of the archetype, just vanilla bard (and slayer(cleaner) and unchained rogue of course).

If that is acceptable she'll pick up a level of rogue with accomplished sneak attack as her feat, making her ready to pick up Lion Blade next level or wait a level and start doing dex damage, but that might not be needed since Aerith is becoming our melee fighter :)

A lion blade! I’ve never seen someone make that before. Can’t wait. :)

@Sara--Woohoo! Lion Blade! Very appropriate for this campaign. Wit is also super-appropriate, though.

So in case you want to keep both the archetype and make a Lion Blade, there's a trick to make this work--the Rogue Talent Bardic Pretender:

The rogue knows enough about music and performance to survive in a bardic college and can fake what she doesn’t know.

The rogue qualifies as having the inspire competence bardic performance class feature for the purpose of meeting prestige class requirements, although this talent doesn’t grant her the bardic performance ability.

To be honest, it's probably a trap to take this, because you'd need to go Rogue 2 or Slayer 3 to qualify for a Rogue Talent and burn said talent on this. Your plan to retrain out of Wit seems much more sane. I'm just amused by the fact that there's a Rogue Talent whose sole purpose in life is to help a character qualify for the Lion Blade prestige class.

Here's my proposed Level 7:

Wizard 7
Feat: Spell Penetration
New spells: Dimension Door, Rigor Mortis
Skills: Craft (propaganda), K. Arcana, K. History, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, K. Planes x2, K. Religion

Level 7
HP: 7
BAB: +1

Skill Points: 6 + 0 Int +1 Human + 1 FCB = 8
Acrobatics +1
Bluff +1
Diplomacy +1
Disguise +1
Knowledge (local) +1
Perception+1
Sense Motive +1
Stealth +1

Background Skill Points:
Linguistics +2 (Languages: Dwarven, Draconic)

Feat: Double Slice

Class Features:
Social Talent - Quick Change

CAPRICIA LEVEL 7 UPDATES

7th level in Swashbuckler
8 hp (6 + 1 Con + 1 FC)
BAB +1 (now +7)
Swashbuckler Deeds: swashbuckler’s grace, superior feint, targeted strike)
Swashbuckler Class Ability: nimble +2
Feat: Combat Reflexes

Skills (6: 4 class + 1 Int +1 skilled; +2 Background)
Acrobatics +1
Climb +1
Escape Artist +1
Perception +1
Ride +1
Stealth +1
BG1 Knowledge (nobility) +1
BG2 Perform (carpenter) +1

PALACE OF BIRDSONG TREASURE LIST
Post #470: magical horseshoes (snagged by Capricia in #473)
Post #513 (more or less): Count Lotheed and 2 lackeys (not sure about treasure here)
Post #532: Count Lotheed’s gear: Two potions, two wands, a belt, his clothes, and a circlet on his forehead. In addition, he seems to carry keys to the palace, the Lotheed signet ring, a spell component pouch, and a spellbook.
Post #577: Thalasou loots guards (no treasure given)
Post #590: The lockbox contains 342 cp, 812 sp, 44 gp, and 18 pp, as well as a mummified pinky finger.
Post #599: a bottle of gin, five potions of cure moderate wounds, two scrolls of sending, and a sustaining spoon. The spoon’s enchantments are unique, producing not flavorless mush but a rotating assortment of rich soups; this unique adaptation increases its value by 1,000 gp.
Post #653: 127 gp, a circlet of persuasion (claimed by Hargus in #658), and a wand of lesser restoration (charges?).
Post #668: a variety of birth certificates, death certificates, newspapers, royal announcements, and travel documents dating back 300 years. You identify the birth certificates (for men named Panivar Lotheed II–VI) as forgeries, while the other papers all feature announcements and sketches related to six men bearing the same name and very similar description.
Post #680: Spellbooks within hold every 1st- and 2nd-level arcane spell, as well as a number of higher-level spells to be studied by advanced students. The space also includes an alchemist’s lab. (Not taken but of interest to Bimble.)
Post #683: wand of dispel magic (13 charges; #690)
Post #718: Lord Titus Lotheed-Casava & two sycophants (not sure we looted them)
Post#751: a set of marvelous pigments, a scroll of alter self, a scroll of animate object, a scroll of deep slumber, a scroll of gentle repose, a scroll of speak with dead, and a scroll of summon monster IV, a belt of mighty constitution +2, boots that are mundane footwear left over from an era when it was fashionable to enchant clothing with a magic aura spell to make them seem more extraordinary.
Post#754: The various bottles and jars here contain 1,500 gp worth of miscellaneous expensive spell components. (We may have left theses behind.)
Post#759: Princess Eutropia thanks each of you personally for their bravery and resourcefulness. She offers payment of 1,000 gp apiece, in addition to letting you keep the Betony estate, if you like. Martella thanks you privately for your discretion in not looting the palace, and rewards you each with a cloak of protection (resistance?) +2.

I went through the Gameplay Thread to compile a list of possible treasures we may have accumulated during our raid on the palace. I guess it’s up to the GM to decide which items count as ‘estate property’ (which, I assume, we’d return to Martella) and perhaps fill in some missing stuff (like minions/guards loot).

I also checked the Discussion Thread but didn’t find any item identifying or the like.

Okay, I think I have Sara done.

Thanks to Tazo's excellent advice I get to keep Sara pretty much how she was but still on track to become a Lion Blade.

So rogue unchained level 2, bardic pretender as the talent, and accomplished sneak attacker as her feat.

Okay, I think I have Sara done.

Thanks to Tazo's excellent advice I get to keep Sara pretty much how she was but still on track to become a Lion Blade.

So rogue unchained level 2, bardic pretender as the talent, and accomplished sneak attacker as her feat.

I don't know if my advice was "excellent," but I'm glad you enjoyed the alternative!

If it matters, I am ok with you re-working it as well. But this seems like a reasonably decent approach.