Protectors of Golarion (Wrath of the Righteous AP)

Game Master Sensen

Sorry to hear that. Life definitely has a way of feeling like it piles things on at times. Hopefully things start turning around for you and your SO soon.

I'm definitely happy to keep you in the game as well as you have the chance to post.

My sympathies to you and your SO, Azira, and I'd like for you to stick around.

In other news, I'm feeling a bit off today. I may not be able to post today or for the next few days. Sorry, but it's just something off.

Sorry to hear that Azira, and my condalances to the two of you, again :( Still, please stay! It wouldn't feel the same without you. I like your character and you as a writer/person and I'd much prefer to have you with us over recruiting someone new.

Also, please take care and rest, GM. We'll be here when you're feeling better.

Same as everyone, Azira: please stay if you can. And take care of yourself, GM. We'll be here.

Thanks everyone.
I'll read through the posts I've missed and start posting again as soon as I can (hopefully this afternoon).

Okay, I'm back. Posts forthcoming shortly.

EDIT: I'll hold off for a bit until Azira posts.

If you have time to post before I do, go ahead. I'm almost caught up on reading but I have a busy afternoon/evening, so I may not get a post up until my family is in bed tonight.

Thanks for your offer, but I was so happy to wait, so I don't have to worry about juggling all of your mechanics. :P

Yay, welcome back Azira! And yeah, good to get some of the burden off your shoulders, GM.

I should note that how Verene feels about fighting is not at all how I feel about the combats! It just seems like the sort of thing she would feel, as a mid-thirties woman who thought she had her life figured out and it was mostly going to be in a comfortable library solving interesting puzzles.

I also feel I should add that her 'you' was a general you, not just directed at Elliot.

I feel like it took me three or so rounds to finally get into a more tactical mindset for the demons, so I'm hoping to take some of that insight forwards, too. The targeted dispel probably should've been their first reaction to seeing you all tank fire, but there you go.

Welcome back Azira! Good to still have you around.

Thesius is like, "If you can dodge half a fireball, you can dodge a full fireball."

Hey, I was out celebrating my birthday today. I'll try to get a post up tomorrow.

Happy birthday, Merixia!

Congratulations!

Happy Birthday Merixia!

Happy (belated) Birthday!

Happy belated birthday, Merixia! Hope you had fun!

@Verene It's just that if i look at the geographic map and where the ice walls were located, the most logical outcome seems to be that we only captured the southeastern part of the ouder courtyard. So i'm not sure what Irabeth is refeering to. I guess it's possible though that the demons abandoned the ouder xourtyard of their own volition and withdrew into the citadel entirely?

Thanks for the birthday wishes, everyone! (I thought I replied yesterday, guess not :P )

@Verene It's just that if I look at the geographic map and where the ice walls were located, the most logical outcome seems to be that we only captured the southeastern part of the outer courtyard. So I'm not sure what Irabeth is referring to. I guess it's possible though that the demons abandoned the outer courtyard of their own volition and withdrew into the citadel entirely?

I got the impression that GM Worldwound mostly wanted to skip ahead and move on from this mass battle segment. ;)

But also, the second and third ice walls didn't entirely block the path through the courtyard - I realized when I was measuring that no matter where I put them, their maximum length of 90' would not suffice to do that. So I was picturing, with my description of each of them, that there would be a wall that was solid almost all the way across, but with a small gap at the fortress end, hanging over the (dry?) moat. That would impede the enemies, but not entirely block their way. It would be tactically disastrous for them to try to come through the small gaps a few at a time and have to climb out of the moat while fighting our forces. But they would also have no choice but to do so if they wanted to try to kick us out.

The walls are not dismissable, but they also are not permanent. They would disappear after nine minutes. Even if some of the smarter/more cowardly enemies chose to try to stay on the 'safe' side of each wall, what would happen is that first our army picks off everyone that does go through (e.g. the dretches, which we know are extremely stupid), and then, in a few minutes, the walls disappear and the battle comes to the rest of the enemies anyway.

Alternatively, someone could have had the bright idea of trying to break down the walls. Per the spell description, surprisingly, it's not that difficult to break each ten-foot segment, since they have no Hardness and only 27 hp per segment (pretty pathetic, for nine solid inches thick of ice!) But even if a segment breaks, there is still a nasty surprise of 1d6+9 no-save cold damage for every single creature that tries to go through the resulting gap. That would outright take down a lot of the tiefling/human enemies we've seen, seriously injure the rest, and on average would even somewhat hurt dretches, with their cold resistance 10.

Overall, I'm fine with the decision to skip ahead to the end of the mass battle here, even if it should take a bit more time to resolve the combat under these circumstances.

Ah, right. I'm fine with either explanation. Also I guess it's not really needed so long as we have a clear idea and reasoning of what to do next.

Verene is correct - I skipped to the end of the mass battle, and assumed that the ice walls were taken down in sequence to allow a series of shorter skirmishes. I don't have any major way to represent this sort of a fight without relying on the mass battle mechanics which wouldn't be very satisfying for anyone, I think.

Works for me. I read the mass combat mechanics on Archives of Nethys and it looked like more trouble than it was worth.

Oh, this is going to be a fun dungeon, I think...

I like how Team Hero's plan is to teleport straight into the BBEG's personal chambers and expect it to go well :D Logically, if, like, ANYTHING goes wrong and he backpaddles, the entire unscathed dungeon is primed to come help. But then again this is mythic tier, and the daringness is epic, so... I say we go for it :)

Ah, the level up:

Magus level 8:
-Improved spell combat (+2 to concentration checks with spell combat)
-+1 level 2 and level 3 spellslot.

+1 BAB (first iterative!)
+1 fort, +1 will

+8 HP (FCB)
+6 SP: +1 intimidate, +5 ranks UMD, +2 knowledge: history (background).

I'll get my adjustments up later. We get an ability score boost this level too.

Ah, thanks for reminding me Thesius. That's another 1 into dex I guess which adds +1 to most of Elliot's combat stats.

Also, I need to pick two more spells for the spellbook. I chose Blur and Dispel magic. Though Realistically I'll just stick with giving everyone Keen Weapons for the entire day with my level 3 spellslots for now.

How are you giving everyone Keen weapons for the entire day? Trying to figure out if my future plans might be stepping on toes as I was looking at giving everyone Mythic Heroism for the entire day in the future.

Sorry, for some reason I thought the Keen Edge spell lasted hours per cast. Instead, it lasts 10 minutes per caster level. Which is still very good, but I probably won't be able to put it up the entire day on everyone for lack of spells.

Of course, there's always the option of everyone just getting a cheap +1 enchant to permanently make their own weapon Keen, if they like the critical hit/teamwork feat synergy.

Hurray level 8! More spells and spells per day is always good.

I wasn't sure whether or not "artifacts" is a category that locate object works on. Mind you, I don't have any reason to see why it wouldn't, so... go for it! And... yes, Radiance does, in fact, count as an artifact....

I hoped it would be okay, since that was how Verene confirmed the location of the broken Wardstone last time. It's a good point about Radiance, though. We also have minor artifacts in the form of the Wardstone shards and actually even Terendelev's scales to consider. I imagine the Sword of Valor is a major artifact instead of a minor one, but Verene will still make sure all of the scales, shards and Radiance are out of range of the spell before casting locate object.

Verene changes, level 8
Initiative +1 (now +13: 2 Dex, 4 Improved Initiative, 4 Forewarned, 2 Amazing Initiative, 1 cracked dusty rose prism ioun stone)
HP +6 (now 54: 4 from half 1d6+1, 1 Con, 1 favored class)
BAB +1 (now +4)
Will Save +1 (now +6 base)
Fort Save +0
Ref Save +0
CMB +1 (now +3)
CMD +1 (now 15)

Caster Level +1 (now 8; +12 on caster level checks to overcome demons' spell resistance, from Riftwarden Orphan trait)
Concentration +1 (now +17 - 8 caster level, 7 ability score, 2 trait; +21 when casting defensively or grappled, from Combat Casting)
Cantrips no change
1st-level spells no change
2nd-level spells no change
3rd-level spells prepared per day +1 (now 6: base 3, 2 ability score bonus spells, and 1 school bonus spell)
4th-level spells known +2 (choosing greater invisibility, stoneskin)
4th-level spells prepared per day +1 (now 4: base 2, 1 ability score bonus spell, and 1 school bonus spell)

+1 Ability Score Increase (choosing Intelligence, now 25)
+0 Feat

Skill Upgrades: 12 (new total 103 ranks: 2 class, 7 Int, 2 background, 1 human)
+1 Craft (weapons) (now +11: 1 rank, 3 CS, 7 AS)
+1 Diplomacy (now +24/+19: 8 rank, 3 class skill, 7/2 ability score, 3 familiar, 2 boon, 1 trait)
+1 Knowledge (Arcana) (now +18: 8 rank, 3 CS, 7 AS)
+1 Knowledge (History) (now +18: 8 rank, 3 CS, 7 AS)
+1 Knowledge (Planes) (now +18: 8 rank, 3 CS, 7 AS)
+1 Knowledge (Religion) (now +18: 8 rank, 3 CS, 7 AS)
+2 Linguistics (now +18: 8 rank, 3 CS, 7 AS) (choosing Necril, Giant)
+1 Perception (now +11: 8 rank, 1 AS, 2 Alertness [familiar])
+1 Spellcraft (now +18: 8 rank, 3 CS, 7 AS)
+1 Stealth (now +10: 8 rank, 2 AS)
+1 Use Magic Device (now +15: 8 rank, 7 AS)

Thamyris changes, level 8
HP +3 (now 27; always have half the master's HP total rounded down)
BAB +1 (now +4)
Will Save +1 (now +6 base)
Fort Save +0
Ref Save +0
Natural armor bonus +0
Intelligence score +0

Thamyris Impt. Skill Upgrades
+1 Perception (now +16: 8 [Verene] rank, 3 CS, 2 AS, 3 Skill Focus [Perception])
+1 Stealth (now +25: 8 [Verene] rank, 3 CS, 2 AS, +12 size)

I haven't done wand bookkeeping in a while, so I might as well do that too. I looked and looked for Verene's Rova 13 wand chargeup numbers before realizing that was the vescavor cave/first brimorak battle day, and Verene was totally out of MP by the end of the day. So no recharge for that day. On 9/14 she charged the endure elements wand again, putting it back at 25/50 charges after its use on the morning of 9/15. On 9/15 she will have charged it again and on 9/16 there were the normal 6 uses and no recharge as of yet, so:
Wand recharge 9/15, endure elements: 1d10 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10 + 25 - 6 = 29/50 charges remaining after morning use on 9/16

I need to make the adjustments to my profile, but I believe I have have the changes recorded correctly below.

+1 Str - New Total 15

+7 HP (+5 HD +2 Con) - New Total 72

+1 BAB - New Total +5

+1 Reflex - New Total +12

Skills - 11 Ranks (6 Class + 3 Int + 2 Background Skills)
+2 Ranks - Diplomacy - New Total +14
+1 Rank - Disable Device - New Total +18
+1 Rank - Knowledge (arcana) - New Total +16
+1 Rank - Knowledge (religion) - New Total +16
+2 Ranks - Perception - New Total +24
+1 Rank - Profession (gambler) - New Total +13
+1 Rank - Sleight of Hand - New Total +14
+2 Ranks - Spellcraft - New Total +14

Special Ability
Divine Boon 1 - Darkvision (Sp) - 2/Day CL 8th

+1 Caster Level - Total 7th

Spells Per Day
+2 3rd-Level Spells (+1 Class, +1 Ability Score)

Spells Known
+1 1st Level - Identify
+2 3rd Level - Blur, Gaseous Form

Isn't Blur a 2nd-level spell, Thesius? Or can you choose a lower-level spell at any time you could choose a higher one?

You are correct. I meant Blink, not Blur. I figure both of those spells will be really handy for infiltration. Mythic Blink has some interesting applications.

Nooooooooooo!!!
Verene's initiative modifier is officially higher than mine (again).

@Elliot: Did you add your +1 to a stat (for 8th level) yet? If not, are you going to put it in Dex or Int? I've been hemming and hawing over whether to put mine in Dex or Cha, but if you're leaving your Int at 18 as a caster I could probably leave my Cha there too as a non-caster (plus, I don't want to get passed on a 2nd thing this level, lol).

My changes (other than my stat bonus) are pretty straightforward:

+8 hp (6 +2 Con)
+1 BAB
+1 to Fort and Will

+1 to acrobatics, diplomacy, and knowledge [religion]
+1 to knowledge [nobility] and perform [dance]

lay hands: +1 use/day (8), +1d6 healing (4d6)
+1 damage from precise strike and smite
extra +1 bonus from divine bond
aura of resolve: immune to charm, grant allies within 10' +4 to save vs charm

Stat bonus: ? (either Dex or Cha, neither of which will have an immediate effect on anything)

@Elliot: Did you add your +1 to a stat (for 8th level) yet? If not, are you going to put it in Dex or Int? I've been hemming and hawing over whether to put mine in Dex or Cha, but if you're leaving your Int at 18 as a caster I could probably leave my Cha there too as a non-caster (plus, I don't want to get passed on a 2nd thing this level, lol).

Haha, well, I went and put mine in dex, which was the only stat that had an immediate impact as it was at an uneven 23 prior. To be fair it's by far Elliot's best ability score to improve on its own.

That said, I have been strongly considering putting it into Str instead, or to get the next one at 12 in str. At base 9 str, Elliot could take one mythic ASI and a Str-Ioun stone to get 13 str, which would open up power attack and mythic power attack. I've kinda noticed that Elliot's to hit bonus is a bit superfluous and that he'd probably benefit a lot from the option to exchange that for more damage.

Alternatively, it's also a consideration to instead retrain Elliot's secondary archetype into Kensai at some point and just go full crit focus + evasion tank. While Elliot's flight hex is very good, it's also the only thing he gets from Hexcrafter, and I don't foresee other hexes being that useful. Meanwhile, Kensai gets lots of crit and evasion focused things and probably suits him better thematically. Also, as an archmage he gets access to Archmage armor as a scaling AC replacement with no max Dex cap, and losing one spell per level does't hurt as much with every mythic point being an additional spell of any castable level.

Yay, level 8! It's RAGE TIME!

I'll try to get my leveling up adjustments done tonight or tomorrow.

@GM: Are we still doing the dream retraining thing?

Bard 6 changes:

+8 hp (5 +2 con +1 fcb)
+1 BAB
+1 to all saves

+1 to intimidate, knowledge [local, planes, religion], perception, perform [dance, oratory], and umd

+1 to knowledge [geography, nobility]

+1 to bardic knowledge
bardic performance: +2 rounds/day; fire break (from flame dancer)
versatile performance: perform [dance]

2nd level spells: +1/day, +1 known (eagle's splendor)

Note: It looks like I probably screwed up my hit points last time we leveled... 8 at first level, plus 20 for four levels at average rounded up, plus 10 from Con bonuses, plus 5 from favored class bonuses, would have been 43, but I had myself at 39... I think maybe I forgot to apply the extra Con bonus to my first 4 hit dice when my Con went up (at 4th)? So, I gained 8 hp, but my hit point total is going to increase by 12 because of the mistake. (Unless I'm forgetting/missing something?)

Given Wulfric's spell choice, I'm going to go ahead and put my +1 in Dex (up to 25). That should make me completely leveled (and I'll restore my banner to completely unbuffed numbers as soon as I'm sure we aren't getting into any more trouble right now).

@Elliot: hexblade and kensai are both amongst my favorite magus archetypes. The flight hex alone is a fairly solid reason to look at hexblade, and there might be some potential for using other hexes in rounds you can't full attack (or can't get to a target in melee at all), especially if you took coupled arcana. Enduring armor is a pretty nice combo with a kensai though.

@Meri: yay!

Grats on rage, Meri!

@Azira Yeah, maybe you're right. It seems as though with coupled arcana, Elliot could technically use a hex as a standard action and then use Wild Arcana to cast any spell as part of the same ability. I'm not entirely sure that is worth it over going Kensai and I.E. a legendary armor/robe with permanent flight along with enduring armor to just keep focussing on melee damage dealing and tanking, but the option is definitely there.

Verene: I'd forgotten that! Then yes, locate object on artifacts would indeed work. I'll try to update the stat line later.

Merixia: Yes!

@GM: Okay, cool. Just making sure since I didn't see any mention of it last time we slept.

I want to take a rank in Linguistics with one of my background skill points to learn Celestial. Can we say Elliot's been teaching her?

Cleric 8

Stat increase: Str +1

HP: +7 (half+1 d8 = 5+2 Con)

BAB: +1
CMB: +1
CMD: +1

Saves: +1 Fort and +1 Will

Skills: +4 (2 class, +1 Int, +1 FCB) +1 Perception, +1 Sense Motive, +1 Knowledge (religion), +1 Heal
Background Skills: +1 Craft (weapons), +1 Linguistics (Celestial)

Class Abilities: 8th level domain
Destruction (Rage) - Rage
Good - Holy Lance 1x/day

Spellcasting:
0 - 2nd level - no change
3rd level +1 spell/day
4th level +1 spell/day

Channel Energy: no change

Oops, I missed replying to Azira about Wulfric's HP. I'm definitely going to say "yeah, oops." I've added the +12 to his HP.

Merixia: We can definitely say she's learned Celestial from Elliot, sure.

I think I've adjusted everything properly - tell me if I'm missing something:

My auras grant everyone in range +4 vs fear & charm (not +2), and Wulfric is up to 17 rounds of performance, but everything else looks right for me.

I don't have anything else to add atm, just waiting on the results of Verene's magical scouting.

Merixia's status should show Rage and Holy Lance. She has 8 rounds/day of Rage and one use/day of Holy Lance.

@Elliot: Are you okay with retconning so that Elliot was teaching Merixia to speak Celestial? She wants to know his language, since he already knows hers. It's also an excuse to spend time with her boyfriend. ;)

I think I've adjusted everything properly - tell me if I'm missing something:

Thanks for posting this, GM, because you made me double-check her number of Prescience uses per day and thus not miss this extremely important L8 Foresight school power I had forgotten about! It's in her profile now.

Foretell (Su): At 8th level, you can utter a prediction of the immediate future. While your foretelling is in effect, you emit a 30-foot aura of fortune that aids your allies or hinders your enemies, as chosen by you at the time of prediction. If you choose to aid, you and your allies gain a +2 luck bonus on ability checks, attack rolls, caster level checks, saving throws, and skill checks. If you choose to hinder, your enemies take a –2 penalty on those rolls instead. You can use this ability for a number of rounds per day equal to your wizard level. These rounds do not need to be consecutive.

So we should maybe add an entry before Prescience, for Foretell 8/8. Between this, stoneskin, and communal protection from energy, her buffing capabilities are ramping up from just haste. Verene also now has 10 uses of Prescience per day - it's 3 + Int modifier. She has had 10 for a while, ever since we hit Mythic 2 and got that ability score increase. Before that, it was incorrectly at 8/day for quite a long time when it should have been 9/day. I updated it at L4 when our first ability score improvement took her to Int 20, but missed changing it for the +2 ability score bonus granted by Iomedae. It's correct now at 10/day.

Other than that, your spoiler looks right for her unbuffed stats. She'll have mage armor up almost all the time now, though, since one cast lasts 8 hours and she can stop relying on the wand.

Hey all, my keyboard is dying on me. Two letter keys no longer work. I ordered a new one (albeit not the same kind, because Microsoft sucks and discontinued the keyboard I've been using for the last 20+ years) but it'll take about two days to get here. So if my posts are short, it's because I'm on my tablet and I hate typing on a touchscreen.

Thesius AC is AC 20, touch 14, flat-footed 16 and he has evasion.