Not sure why I didn't just start the sell/keep discussion here since that's what the Discussion tab is for. Probably because I am a derpberger.
Anyway transferring a rune takes one day and 10% of the rune's market price in reagents. A +1 potency rune is 35gp, so transferring to a new weapon would cost 3.5gp, a DC 16 Craft check, and a day of work. Now, that does mean I have to roll, but I only need to get a 5 or higher and I'm willing to burn a hero point if need be so as not to waste any materials.
My apologies, everyone. Been quite a week. I managed to get myself leveled up but haven't kept up with the thread - I'll catch up now.
Btw, we were supposed to spend gold on stuff? I've done the leveling up but didn't buy anything. Honestly, I'm not even sure what I should buy at this point.
Anyway, I should be ready to go now.
No worries! Life comes first!
As far as purchases, we're still sorting out what to sell and what to keep. Once we do that we can mosey over to Otari and sell stuff. I dunno about all o' y'all but I be mostly broke at the moment so I can't do any buying until we do some selling. :P
If you had the gold for it I'd suggest an armor potency rune but that's a level 5 item so we probably won't be able to afford it until basically the end of the adventure. You're pretty well set in the weapon department with that Sparkblade though, that thing is dope!
Akimi is definitely picking up a light crossbow when we hit town and focusing on ranged combat; they're kinda squishy and their AC isn't the best. Also they keep biting things that taste terrible. Time to poke it from afar instead.
Ellen's goal is gonna be Handwraps of Mighty Blows, when she can get 'em. 35gp ain't the worst but it's a good first hurdle!
Okay, if you all sell the non-used items (including the MW tools and fishing tackle... because honestly you don't need them on this adventure) then you all make a whopping 29.7 gold plus the 12 gold Finley gave you is 41.7 gold to spend on upgrades. This includes the assumption that you remove the rune from the dagger to put it on something else (which will cost someone 3.5g).
So split four ways that is 10g each so nothing could be really done, at least regarding nice weapons or gear. But there is enough to pool it and buy Ellen or Akimi a +1 striking rune or the handwraps. That would give 3/4 of you striking weapons essentially.
I've already got a magic weapon from Finley so no need for me to take a share at this point. I agree with the idea of using the gold to get one of the others a magic weapon. Thanks for working out the math, GM.
I'm torn because usually I'm the one to let others get theirs first-- and it'd be in-character for Ellen, too-- but given how Ellen is one of our primary damage-dealers and Akimi is more useful in out-of-combat situations... I mean, her hitting more often would be helpful.
Could technically then move the rune from the +1 Dagger to Akimi's weapon and just let Dev toss or stab with a mundane variety of weapons.
Handwraps and runes aren't the same thing, unfortunately. I could probably just hold onto the rune and slap people with it, but I don't think that would have the same effect ;P
Well...
Firstly I read 'fistacles' as 'fish-testacles' first... so... uh yeah.
Secondly, I was mainly thinking Ellen would BUY handwraps with the gold from the stuff being sold and Finley's stash. Then the group would drop 3.5g of the remaining funds to allow Akimi to move the +1 rune onto whatever they want to use from range (which probably also needs bought).
But however you all figure it out, let me know!
Yeah, what GM said!
Okay so handwraps of mighty blows actually have no gp cost themselves. They're basically just strips of cloth that have been specially prepared to accept runes, they don't come with one on them unless you buy them that way. The 35 gp price for handwraps of mighty blows (+1) as listed on AoN would be for the +1 potency rune it comes with, which we already have. We can split the sell money, then use 3.5gp for Akimi to transfer the rune from the dagger onto Ellen's handwraps.
I think you might be misusing the word striking here, GM, as it specifically refers to striking runes, which add an additional weapon die to your damage. They're separate from potency runes, which grant a bonus to attack rolls to hit with the weapon. The sparkblade and the magic dagger each have +1 potency but neither have a striking rune, meaning the damage is unaffected.
A striking rune is actually out of our price range even if we used all our money from selling the loot, because a striking rune is almost double the price of a potency rune at 65gp. I don't mind using it to pick up another +1 weapon for Akimi to go with Ellen's handwraps but that does mean we'll be down to 7-ish gp for the group. Personally, Akimi would rather take their 10gp share, buy a normal light crossbow, and spend the rest of their share on food supplies for the fish camp.
Ah, I see what you found. That striking statement I made Tuesday was a typo. I corrected it in the rest of my posts, only referring to things as +1 after that.
You all have enough money to buy a +1 set of handwraps (35g) and move the +1 rune (3.5g) from the dagger to Akimi's new Crossbow (3g) and buy 20 bolts (2s) for them.
That would spend all your money from selling things. It would also be a DC 16 (level 2) crafting check to move the rune over (Weapon Potency +1 is level 2).
You all don't have to do this at all. But it is a pretty clean way, in my mind, to get the most possible upgrades for the group.
Oh, it's level 2, not 3. My bad. I was probably getting it confused with the returning rune.
I feel bad asking for a +1 weapon when Akimi's not particularly effective in combat, you know? Not like the other three, anyway. But I suppose it couldn't hurt. I'm okay with it if everyone else is. As to foodstuffs, I guess we'll have to survive on hardtack until we get some more cash. ;)
One, I'm like 100% sure that you were the most effective or second most effective during the fish camp adventure, so don't sell yourself short. That setup with extra damage investigators get is quite nice.
And since the 'food' stuff is mostly flavor (heheh), I just want you all to go into the next part as well equipped as you all can be.
I definitely agree with adding the +1 to Akimi's weapon. This way three of us have magic weapons. And if it means we can't afford the fancy asparagus, well I'm sure we can find some ways to rp the fun of that. Maybe Jacques will resume his hunt for spider caviar!
Alright, you convinced me. I'll throw a +1 light crossbow on my character sheet. :)
Busy weekend for me, but I’ll try to move us along when the youngest takes their first nap today.
I'll be playing online games at GenCon this weekend, Thursday night through Sunday so my posting may be a bit sporadic.
We had another discussion about crits being rolled or doubled.
There had been some allowances of choice before, but I think for consistency sake we will just make it the same for everyone.
Crits will be doubled, NOT rolled twice. This applies to me and y'all.
All good with that?
Yep, thanks for the reminder/clarification.
That’s what I was doin’ anyway, so I can hardly object now!
Dev, can you walk me through your 'magus-y actions' you take each round?
I'm thinking maybe you are using spellstrike and then recharging, but want to make sure. I don't know a lot about maguses honestly. I'm not seeing anything that allows a ranged spellstrike but I'm also not seeing why you are taking a -5 Multi-Attack-Penalty on each attack.
Others who may understand the class can pipe in with answers too. I definitely don't want you to handicap yourself. These encounters are pretty well balanced, even a bad string of rolls can cost the group.
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So, as far as I can tell, I take an action to cast the spell, then a second action to attack with the now enspelled weapon. Because it is a second action, there is a -5 to the attack. Then a final action to...look pretty? Seriously, I think that is when any refocus happens. Going off the Archives of Nethys, but it seems like a two action process. I will reread it to check on refocusing.
There is a magus ability that allows them to add spells to ranged weapons. On my phone at the moment, so it's hard to go back and forth, but I may not have it listed correctly. Essentially I can add a spell to a weapon and it will go off as long as it is in the first range increment. So, Dev could even use a bow or xbow. The shuriken fit the 'Crescent Moons thing pretty well though. Hmm...now that I think about it, I need to double check the range on 2e weapons. I have a Far Strike magus in 1e and have just been on autopilot when considering distances.
Two Actions
Magus
Source Secrets of Magic pg. 37Frequency until recharged (see below)You channel a spell into a punch or sword thrust to deliver a combined attack. You Cast a Spell that takes 1 or 2 actions to cast and requires a spell attack roll. The effects of the spell don't occur immediately but are imbued into your attack instead. Make a melee Strike with a weapon or unarmed attack. Your spell is coupled with your attack, using your attack roll result to determine the effects of both the Strike and the spell. This counts as two attacks for your multiple attack penalty, but you don't apply the penalty until after you've completed the Spellstrike. The infusion of spell energy grants your Strike the arcane trait, making it magical.
After you use Spellstrike, you can't do so again until you recharge your Spellstrike as a single action, which has the concentrate trait. You also recharge your Spellstrike when you cast a conflux spell that takes at least 1 action to cast; casting a focus spell of another type doesn't recharge your Spellstrike.
So, no, you don't apply the Multiple Attack Penalty to your Spellstrike. (For the record, you only take MAP's if you attack; if you move twice, your third action in the round doesn't take a penalty at all.)
No worries!
Rule of thumb in 2e is generally: if something takes 2 actions but makes 1 attack, it only increases the MAP after it's done.
Yeah, that's what I saw too. But that ability does specifically apply double MAP to any actions taken after the spellstrike.
So essentially Spellstrike happens, 2 actions used up, one attack made which includes the spell effect, then -10 on any attacks made after, right?
And I see "Starlit Span" gives you your ranged spellstrike, that makes sense now.
To further clarify, actions that count as attacks (for the purpose of the MAP) have the attack trait. So a Strike counts, but so do combat maneuvers such as Trip, etc.
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That clarifies things up. I was worried that I would seldom hit with an attack.
While we're are at it, does Stalit Span limit the weapons I can channel magic through to ranged? Or as a magus can I use spells with all handheld weapons and Starlit Span allows additional range for spells (like those with a range of touch)? I was not certain, but it would be nice to have options.
I wrote a whole long post and the internet went out right before I could post so I'm just going to do the TL;DR.
You can use any ranged weapon with Starlit Span, and you use the weapon's range increment instead of the spell's normal range. The target must be in the first range increment of the weapon. Starlit Span does not replace your ability to make melee Spellstrikes, it simply gives you the option to make them at range. That's the entirety of that particular Hybrid Study. Where the other Hybrid Studies allow you to do different interesting things with your Spellstrike (like gaining Reach with a staff from Twisting Tree) this simply lets you make them at range in addition to its normal effects.
Interesting that failing the save vs the Basilisk didn't turn me to stone. I'm guessing that maybe that only happens if you crit fail but of course no need to tell me while the encounter is still going on.
I'll mention in passing that I returned to RPGs in 2014, after a 30 year hiatus, when I stumbled across some folks playing Pathfinder at DragonCon. One of my first inklings of how much things had changed from the old D&D that my high school friends and I had played, was when my -1 PFS PC, Yuri the barbarian, was turned to stone from a failed save vs a basilisk in his second adventure. Of course we had basilisks back in the old days, but no one ever actually died from them!
Yeah, basilisks in PF1 are scary because a failed save is instant stone, but on the bright side if anyone survives you can just rub the basilisk's blood on them and they're fine. But a few bad saves and you're facing a TPK. It's always hairy facing that kind of stuff.
Fortunately PF2 has far fewer abilities/spells/etc that take you out of play with a failed save. Most of the time you need a crit fail to make that happen, which really does take a lot of the sting out of it.
As to old school games, I had a 2e AD&D session that ended with a pack of wild dogs (effectively a CR like... 1/2 encounter) slaughtering five PCs. Then we made five new PCs who were hired to find out what happened to the last party... and I was the only survivor because I ran away. Four dogs vs 10 PCs ended with 2 dogs and 1 PC. XD
If I recall correctly, you failed the save on a bite, not a gaze, so that might be working in your favor, too!
The save was most definitely on a gaze, though I may not have made that clear. The creature has a two-action gaze and followed that with a 1-action bite.
That said, I won't say what needs to happen to turn to stone, but your ooc guess is not correct.
Akimi, what was incorrect about how you were doing the Follow a Lead technique? I'm planning to add the investigator archetype to my alchemist and would like to know if I've misunderstood how it works. Thx!
So basically Pursue A Lead is a 1-minute activity that opens a "case" on a specific subject, which is usually a person, object, or small area like a room. It's not meant to be broad-scope like I've been doing (Akimi's case #1 is still "what happened at the fishery?" which is actually much broader than the ability is meant to entail). You can have two "cases" open at a time. If you open a new case by using Pursue a Lead again, the oldest "case" immediately ends.
So, what I should have done was investigate the picked mushrooms for 1 minute and designated that I was using Pursue a Lead on it. Then, any checks I made while investigating the whereabouts of the mushroom picker would have gained my +1 bonus, and any enemies we faced related to figuring that out would have let me use Devise a Stratagem as a free action instead of 1 action.
For example, Top could have ruled that while the skeletons were tangentially related, they were not directly related to the case and thus, my DaS against them would cost 1 action, but the shadow, who actually kidnapped the mushroom picker, was directly related and thus my DaS would be a free action. What enemies are and are not directly related to the subject of your Pursue a Lead ability is exclusively the purview of the GM, and they can be as rigid or as generous with their ruling as they wish. The ability is left purposefully vague to allow room for discussion between player and GM.
That said, going forward, Akimi will be using Pursue a Lead a lot more often on specific areas, and will probably require at least a little back-and-forth between Top and me to determine what enemies in a given fight, if any, relate to an open case with Pursue a Lead.
Sorry for the extra work, Top! :S
Hmm, very interesting. But you are not limited to two cases/day, just two at any given time, right?
No worries. I was wondering why you stopped using the ability. A smaller scope would be wiser.
@Jacques: That is correct. You can only have two open at any given time, but you can switch them out as many times a day as needed.
@Top: Well the reason I stopped using it was because I forgot to make "package drops" a case, but it doesn't really matter because that wouldn't have fit the scope of the ability anyway. :P
I'll be using it much more often now that I understand how it works, don't you worry!
I'm taking my kid to the beach for a few days. Likely won't be able to post again until Thursday. Please bot me as needed. Thanks.
Must be nice to be able to go to a beach that isn't frozen D*:
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Kirk[/s] Ellen]"Honestly, calling it 'martial arts' seems a little... embellished," she admits with a chuckle. "It's a hodgepodge of experience, instinct, and half-remembered lessons that were probably more suited for someone with a sword in their hand."
She considers a moment, then grins: "If you'd like, I can show you some of my workouts. No matter what technique you use, it helps to be a little more fit."
"And hey--you're no slouch out there, yourself."
<<eye roll>> At least Captain Kirk saved his flirting for people not under his command. :)
If Ellen saved her flirting for people not under her command, she couldn't flirt with anybody! She's royalty!
Must be nice to be able to go to a beach that isn't frozen D*:
Indeed. It was great. Quite a few people there from Michigan so I think your sentiment is shared. Here in Georgia spring is well underway. I miss lots of things about living in the north, but six month winters ain't one of 'em.
Fam and I aren't that far north, we get about 2-3 functional months of winter a year which seems to be about the right amount for us.
We had more snow/ice storms this year than normal and while we were inconvenienced a few times, only one activity got rescheduled from it.