GM supervillan's Fiend series (Inactive)

Game Master supervillan

Thank-you for the info, GM sv!

Peeps,

I want to have a think about Aeliah's spell loadout in particular.

I have a day off tomorrow, so should be able to get to that.

Initial thoughts are to buff Daedîn, Thoriel and maybe Nina (sorry Nina, I might run out of spell slots ): with stoneskin, freedom of movement and possibly fly. I also have life bubble to share with the entire group.

Also, I'd like to have some dispel magic spells available and some healing spells.

On first thoughts still, I'm thinking it might be better to sneak through the morlock tunnels (Tiddles will be in statue form) but I don't have a strong view on this.

If anyone wants to coordinate spell loadouts, let me know!

Looking forward to hearing everyone's thoughts :)

EDIT: Looks like Daedîn could benefit from another +2 to dex from cat's grace, and similarly for Nina with a +2 to str from bull's strength.

Looks like Thoriel already has a +4 to dex :/

Ugh. Enemy golems and demons resistant to cold and immune to electricity. Plus probably spell resistance. Not going to be a good fight for Teric.

There may also be enemy morlocks, right?

Teric can't change his spells, but you'll probably be seeing more fireballs and burning arcs than his usual Ball Lightning. Maybe a Ball Lightning if there are a bunch of morlocks though. Cold Persistent Rime Fireball can mess things up pretty good. He'll probably fly up somewhere and throw up a mist to keep himself hidden. Actually, he can throw out a fog cloud or wall of ice to do crowd control too if needed.

GM, Karn's Naturalist ability applies to everyone, yes? Demons or Constructs will be the obvious choice based on the number of them. How many rounds can she give that out? We also may want to use the Dismissal early to get rid of a non-boss demon. I'm guessing the kalavakus can save against it easily.

You can expect Karn's Naturalist ability to last for the duration of the battle. If something peculiar happens that might change that, I'll let you know. Her ability will affect the whole party.

The combat uses the common PFS mass-battle conceit of not adding all the NPCs and enemies to the map, only the ones that the party must contend with, so you don't have to worry about your allies' positioning. They will be wherever you need them to be.

I can dump an enemy golem into a pit and throw around a dispel magic or two, but I’m not in a great position to do too much either.

Thanks, Aeliah, that sounds good to me!

GM, are we allowed to take both approaches, i.e., some go with the morlocks via stealth and others with the Hellknights head on, or do we have to choose one or the other?

My arrows should be good against both Demons (cold iron & holy) and most constructs (adamantine or blunt)…I have only 12 adamantine arrows though so if we face more than one or two constructs that are DR/adamantine, I may be limited…

I see no reason why you couldn't split the party and use both routes.

I think Pai would be better served with the morlocks in the tunnel.

I think the stealthy route would suit Daedîn best as well…

I think stealthy is the smarter route regardless of the fact that Teric is poor in stealth. Actually, he can cast Invisibility Sphere from a scroll if needed. He can also Dimension Door in if needed.

Will the Hellknights agree with a stealth approach? Will they still go head on if none of us accompany them? Just curious…

The Hellknights categorically refuse to follow the morlocks through the tunnels. Agajprak and her golem are also unable to take the tunnels because the golem is too large.

Can we say the Hellknights and Agajprak do frontal assault while the morlocks and us infiltrate via the tunnels? I'm uncertain as to how this will manifest mechanically since it seemed that most of the battle will be abstracted. Does that mean we won't get the use of the boons for parties not physically with us?

All other things being equal, I also vote to travel the morlock tunnels.

@Daedîn I have a +5 cloak cloak of resistance, I believe yours is +3. What do you think about swapping cloaks? I can also give you my cracked pale green prism for another +1 to your saving throws.

Nett effect: Aeliah’s saving throws -3, Daedîn’s saving throws +3

I am nearly finished fussing with my spell list. Here’s my pre-buff plan:

All except Tiddles: life bubble lasts nearly 3 hours

Aeliah: longstrider (10 hours), stoneskin (100 mins), owl’s wisdom (10 mins), Totemic Transformation (move action – lasts 10 mins), potion of fly (5 mins)

Nina: bull’s strength (10 mins)

Thoriel: stoneskin (100 mins), scroll of freedom of movement (70 mins), fly (10 mins)

Daedîn: stoneskin (100 minutes), freedom of movement (100 minutes), scroll of magic circle against evil (50 mins), cat’s grace (10 mins), scroll of fly (5 mins)

☤

@Pai and Teric, can I get some help with the short term buffs before combat please? I believe both of you can cast:

☆ scroll of magic circle against evil on Daedîn (Aeliah can’t cast this spell)
☆ scroll of fly on Daedîn

✨

@Pai, pits for golems and dispel magics sound grand!

If in doubt, do you have a magic missile wand? If you can get past SR, this will work against demons.

Thanks, Aeliah…but I have a +3 Ring of Resistance; my cloak is a cloak of Elvenkind and I might be needing that going the stealth route…

I really appreciate the spells, Aeliah…as a rogue, I don’t get a lot of magical buffs. I wouldn’t mind borrowing the ioun stone for +1 resistance as my will save is not so hot…but I also don’t won’t you to weaken yourself too much…

I do have the wand of magic missiles with a bunch of charges.

Nina agrees that taking the morlock tunnels would probably be the best bet - that said, she'd be willing to go with the Hellknights and Agajprak if it'll help with morale/alliances.

It’s all good, Daedîn!

I am a firm believer in ‘if the team wins we all win.’ It’s kind of a personal philosophy, as well as the way I have evolved into playing Aeliah.

Take the ioun stone by all means, Daedîn and I am thinking about hitting you with an owl’s wisdom as well, to give another +2 to your will save.

Does that mean we won't get the use of the boons for parties not physically with us?

You may expect all of your allies to converge on the plaza; but you don't know exactly how or when. As long as your allies are in the battle you will benefit from their abilties.

Today's my daughter's third birthday, so I am happy to leave you to finish up strategising and move to the battle tomorrow :D

Happy Birthday, li'l supervillan!

She'll be in kindy, then big school b4 you know it, sv!

Sorry for joining the deliberations a bit late. I think Thoriel would favour the frontal assualt. She is not particularly stealthy and it seems we get more allies with us that way...or at least more of the time? Totally happy either way, though, and it seems like most of us already prefer the tunnels?

As for buffs, Thoriel picked up a Stoneskin (110 min) and Fly (11 min) spell of her own when she levelled up after the last game so that should free up some of Aeliah's spells for more of the team.

She will also be planning on casting Heroism (110 min), Greater Invisibility (11 min) and Bear's Endurance (11 min) on herself if there is a chance before the battle.

Excellent!

Aeliah will shift a stoneskin onto Nina, and a 10 min fly spell onto herself.

I hope those who celebrate it had a Happy (US) Thanksgiving or a Happy Thursday if you don't. There are many things that I'm thankful for and one of them is all of the great people I have the privilege of playing Pathfinder with - like you guys :)

Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving, Nina. We had a good ‘un, it’s always my favorite meal of the year; hope yours was good as well. I smoke a turkey every year and I experiment a bit each year; this one turned out to be the best I’ve ever done…at least until next year, I hope!

Minor point of order, GM sv

Aeliah has also hit Daedîn with owl's wisdom, which should give +2 to his Will saves (and +1 to Aeliah's Will saves, because she also has this buff up)

Assuming I've got the benefits of the spell correct?

Will add to the buff tracker, Aeliah :)

Sorry, long day, I will post in the morning…

It didn’t make a difference but I forgot about cat’s grace as that adds another +2 to my ranged attacks…

I might be wrong, but because of your +2 belt of physical perfection, I think cat's grace only adds +1 to your ranged attacks, Daedîn :/

Ah, yes, thanks, Aeliah. I forgot to add anything at all in that attack but I’ll note to add just one for my next…

Should we use Agajprak's Transmute Rock to Mud?

My only thought in not is that there could be more golems later, and we have this one fairly well in hand.

That was my thinking too, Teric.

I think we should wait to see if any more golems come out of the temple(?) door.

Having said that, Aeliah is not directly in the stone golem's line of fire, so if Nina or Thoriel have a different viewpoint, I'll support any decision they make 😉

Leaving this morning to get on a cruise ship. I’ll have wifi so I’ll try to post once a day while I’m gone. Get back on Friday.

Shameless Plug time!

I am recruiting for Season 1: #32 Drow of the Darklands Pyramid (Tier 7-11) for Flaxseed's PbP NostalgiaCon 2022, which kicks off on January 10, 2022.

The game will be run in Conventional (non-core) mode on a First Come, First Served basis.

If you are interested, please allow me to direct you to the Recruitment Page. 😺

Very tempted YiM, even though that scenario is on the docket for a couple of my long-term campaign groups. They're both PbP though, and it won't come up for a loooong time yet.

Anyway, here's my NostalgiaCon plug while we're at it:

3-03 The Ghenett Manor Gauntlet, tier 5-9

I'm going to be picky, assuming I get enough applicants :D

(But anyone at this table would be a shoe-in).

Oh, a supervillanous Ghenett Manor Gauntlet would be so good!

I've played and run it unfortunately.

I change my mind on favourite scenarios all the time, but Ghenett Manor is right up there.

I’ve run Darklands Pyramid twice on VTT with pretty good feedback for the flavour additions I made (encounters and game mechanics are run strictly as written of course)

Time to bring it to Pbp ;)

So tempting, especially since I enjoy playing with both of you as GMs! But alas, I think I'm going to sit NostalgiaCon out as both a GM and a player, mainly for scheduling/time reasons.

You might see something from me for OutPost, though :)

(And speaking of work, it's been a booger but I finally have a few days off. I'll get caught up on the game shortly.)

Oh, taking some time off for yourself is never a bad idea.

I haven't run a game since early November, and feel all the better for it.

I'm ready to jump back in the New Year though ;)

Very tempted YiM, even though that scenario is on the docket for a couple of my long-term campaign groups. They're both PbP though, and it won't come up for a loooong time yet.

Anyway, here's my NostalgiaCon plug while we're at it:

3-03 The Ghenett Manor Gauntlet, tier 5-9

I'm going to be picky, assuming I get enough applicants :D

(But anyone at this table would be a shoe-in).

I might try to join in that one, sv…haven’t played Mythryndyr in a while and that scenario is in his wheelhouse…

Uh, doesn't that talisman just make you understand Common? Teric has mastered that!

It gives a morlock the ability to understand Common. If you're curious what it might do for you, try Detect Magic + Spellcraft or ask Marianix Karn ;)

Hello hello!

I understand we're discussing what scenarios to run next? These are the ones I suggested to GM Supervillain when he and I chatted earlier this year

5-05 The Elven Entanglement

5-10 Where Mammoths Dare Not Tread
5-25 Vengeance at Sundered Crag
7-04 The Ironbound Schism
4-26 The Waking Rune

I'm not super picky about the order. I am thinking I will do at least 4 of those on Slow Track. If I do all 5 on Slow Track I have room to do one more scenario related to season 4 content (or the content of the above scenarios). Given the choice, I'd play these in numerical order with Waking Rune last, but as I said, I'm not super picky about it.

We are nearing the end of the Fiend series, so I dropped Quiella a line to say it might be time to think about what's up next.

Not all of you have enough wriggle room to do so many scenarios and finish up with Waking Rune (even if you slow track), and some of you will have already played some of the other high tier scenarios on Quiella's list.

I am game for running any of these, and I'd like to run all those interested through Waking Rune whenever you're ready for it :o

I'm also thinking that after Waking Rune I would like to run Eyes of the Ten, although I'd want no more than 5 PCs for that series really.

I *think* Nina will hit 10th after this scenario so she might need to do some slow-tracking as well depending on how many scenarios we want to try fitting in before Waking Rune.

Daedîn is at 31 xp…if I I slow track this one, I could slow track three more…I’ve played The Elven Entanglement and Where Mammoths Dare Not Tread (both great scenarios) but not the other three…

Teric is at 28xp after this scenario. I have played Where Mammoths Dare Not Tread, but none of the others. I'm not sure if I need to slow track at all. I think I'm lower on the xp chart than most everyone else.

Hey all,

From Quiella’s list (Hi caps!) I can play:

• 5-25 Vengeance at Sundered Crag
• 5-05 The Elven Entanglement

If you decide to go with something else, or don’t want to proceed with 7 PCs, Aeliah’s had an awesome run and I’m happy to sit out :)

I’ve played all except Mammoths, but I have a zillion replays to burn. I’m higher on xp than most, so I could sit out a scenario or two and be ready for Waking Rune.

Thoriel has played Waking Rune a few years ago, so happy to sit that one out unless we need numbers to fill up a table. I remember it being pretty tough on hard mode.

Thoriel will be 31xp after this, but I have Seldanna at 33xp. Would definitely be up for Eyes of the Ten with one of them.

Haven't played any of the other games on that list with any PC, and would be interested in any/all of those at some point.

Okay, I have two proposals for you all:

Series one:

Elven Entanglement: Quiella, Nina, Thoriel, Teric, Aeliah (1 spot free)
Vengeance at Sundered Crag: Quiella, Daedin, Nina, Thoriel, Teric, Aeliah
Ironbound Schism: Quiella, Daedin, Nina, Thoriel, Teric (1 spot free)
Waking Rune: Quiella, Daedin, Nina, Teric (2 spots free)

OR series two:

Elven Entanglement: Quiella, Nina, Thoriel, Teric, Aeliah (1 spot free)
Mammoths: Quiella, Pai, Nina, Thoriel (2 spots free)
Vengeance at Sundered Crag: Quiella, Daedin, Nina, Thoriel, Teric, Aeliah
Ironbound Schism: Quiella, Daedin, Nina, Thoriel, Teric (1 spot free)
Waking Rune: Quiella, Pai, Daedin, Nina, Teric (1 spots free)

(But Pai doesn't have enough plays left to do both Mammoths and Waking Rune, even on slow track).

Either option needs some of you to slow track some or all scenarios, and gets everyone who's going into Waking Rune up to level 11 before the attempt.

For those scenarios with free spots, players in this group with replays and/or alternative characters are welcome to join or we can recruit additional players.

I like series 2 best (since it covers all the scenarios I requested) but am happy to do series 1 instead if that's what y'all prefer. Quiella could always do Mammoths with another group afterwards (or just skip it).

I’m good with either…and I do have replays I could burn if needed…

Slight Preference for #1, but honestly either are fantastic for me. Thank-you, GM sv

If it’s OK though, I might bring my Ranger archer 10, Gervase for Elven Entanglement.

She is less in your face than Aeliah, and does more raw damage (though she’s not quite in Daedîn’s league ;)

Thanks GM sv. I'm also more than chuffed with either option, and am pretty sure I've got some replays to burn if needed for a 2nd run through of Waking Rune (think it was 2015 when I last played it so I don't remember the finer details).

I've got one more PC at Level 11 that can step in for Thoriel for one or more of the scenarios in lieu of going slow track, as well. He's a cheeky tengu two-weapon fighting swordmaster rogue.