Coldwater's Abomination Vaults

Game Master Quentin Coldwater

We're all ready to go shopping. Unfortunately, two of the more important items on the list are:

3.5 Transfer Weapon Potency (+1) to Handwraps of Mighty Blows - Lough
3.5 Transfer Weapon Potency (+1) to Shortsword - Kka

And it appears that Transferring Runes takes 1 day. So that part at least won't happen in 30 minutes, but we can take care of the rest of the shopping right now. Taking out the rune transfers, it looks like this.

A: Cash or equivalent
2.0 - Peridot bead
5.0 - Cash (3 gp, 20 sp)
5.0 - Silver Ring
4.0 - Gold Tooth
A TOTAL: 16.0

B: Equipment that we're cashing in at 50%
1.8 - Shortsword (2 @ 0.9)
3.0 - Caltrop Snare
4.0 - Wolf Fang
6.0 - Black Adder Venom
7.0 - Comprehension Elixir (Lesser)
0.8 - Daggers (4 @ 0.2)
4.0 - Skeptic's Elixir (Lesser)
6.0 - Darkvision Elixir (Lesser)
56. - Channel Protection Amulet
12. - Scroll (L2): Restore Senses
8.0 - Lough's Breastplate
B TOTAL = 54.3 (108.6 @ 50%)

C: Purchases
0.5 - Crowbar - Lough
2.0 - Repair Kit - Lough?, Kvit?
5.0 - Healer's Tools - Cherry
5.0 - Healer's Tools - Lough
1.0 - Formula Book - Kvit
0.3 - Arrows (30) - Sam
35. - +1 Shortbow - Sam
0.0 - Shortbow - Kka (Sam's old shortbow)
13. - Splint Mail - Lough
C TOTAL = 61.8

GRAND TOTAL = 8.5 gp (A+B-C)

That leaves just the following outstanding:

3.5 Transfer Weapon Potency (+1) to Handwraps of Mighty Blows - Lough
3.5 Transfer Weapon Potency (+1) to Shortsword - Kka

With 8.5 gp in the party kitty to take care of it. Until that happens, Lough has the use of a +1 Morning Star and Kka has the use of a +1 Rapier.

Kvit, we should get the formula book while we can. You never know when we might get a chance to rest.

Sound good?

Under the assumption that we're going to the market, I've updated the loot list to gray out those items that were sold as part of our shopping spree. Do we want to add the stuff we bought to the loot list or just add them to the gear of each of our individual profiles? I prefer the latter so as not to dirty up the loot list any more than necessary, but will happily go add them in if a majority feels otherwise.

Shopping (Lough):

Sold Items to Party Funds
Breastplate (8.0gp @ 4.0gp)

Donated to Party Funds
2.5gp

Purchased w/ Party Funds
Splint Mail (13.0gp)
Healer's Tools (5.0gp)

Sounds good, including adding stuff to our individual lists instead of the shared loot list.

I made my enemies to have round tokens, but I see someone changed them to have square borders. Is that preferable? Then I'll keep doing it like that to prevent confusion. Sorry!

Guilty!

I am firmly in the "Allies Circles, Enemies Squares" camp of thinking.

+)

I made my enemies to have round tokens, but I see someone changed them to have square borders. Is that preferable? Then I'll keep doing it like that to prevent confusion. Sorry!

"Waasn't me"

The undead images look round to me, but the colored borders are square. This tells me that the images haven't been masked to a circle and that the circle effect is probably being achieved with the use of image transparency. The town guards are also still squares with their "borders" being part of the image (add a colored border and you will see what I mean). On the other hand, our tokens have all been masked to circles, so the colored borders are circles.

I personally don't mind either way, though the border color matching the image shape seems like it would be a cleaner look to me.

Guilty!

I am firmly in the "Allies Circles, Enemies Squares" camp of thinking.

+)

Cool, good to know. Previously I just shrank down images, but if I'm going to make more custom stamps, I know to just make them square from now on.

Where do we update our initiatives? I thought I did that in his profile and I don't see a link or a table in the slide deck.

As long as you've updated it in your bar/profile, it's fine. It's where I get the initiative in the spoiler bar from the top from.

rainzax wrote:

Guilty!

I am firmly in the "Allies Circles, Enemies Squares" camp of thinking.

+)

Cool, good to know. Previously I just shrank down images, but if I'm going to make more custom stamps, I know to just make them square from now on.

Never knew about that one. Out of curiosity, I've seen a lot of people turn pictures into golden-ringed pogs. Is there some sort of online program that does that for you or do you have to finagle with paint or some other graphics program?

There's several:
https://rolladvantage.com/tokenstamp/
https://tacticaltokens.com/token-creator/

I know the first one is popular in my circles for online play as well. Upload image, drag it around and you have the perfect Roll20 token.

Never knew about that one.

Yeah I discovered this recently and adopted it. Lots of PbP players play using their phones with tiny displays squinting like cowboys with the sun in their eyes at high noon.

This facilitates "map threat assessment" especially for those folks but also for everyone else too!

As long as you've updated it in your bar/profile, it's fine. It's where I get the initiative in the spoiler bar from the top from.

Thanks. Don't know how I was missing that. It all looks correct though.for Kvit.

I also use the rolladvantage token maker. It's real quick to make and download a new token on the fly. I use it while DMing a lot.

I didn't know about the squares v. Circles thing but it makes a lot of sense. Especially with playing on mobile more. It does help

Kka: Where's the +2 from the healing coming from? Isn't (Battle) Medicine just 2d8?

Whoops! Yep, you're right. I cut & pasted the Assurance:Medicine template from my Forensic Medicine investigator PC who gets to add his level in additional hit points to the healing... and forgot to take out the +2.

I will fix my template for next time. Regardless, Kka was only down 12hp so should be back up to full with the 14hp of healing.

So, where do you want to go now? Back to the swamp? Back into town? It's about 2-3 in the afternoon, so there's still plenty of adventuring day left.

Also, will people be unavailable during the holidays? Don't want people to feel left out if they miss a day or two of posts.

I'll be available.

Kvit has like 1 magic missile left but is otherwise good to keep going for a bit though I wouldn't mind a rest and reset.

I will personally be available over the holidays

available over the holidays here.

I'm also available through the holidays.

It might be best to head back into town to see what the situation is there and to get at least a night's rest. If the Gauntlight lights up again, then all bets are off, but otherwise I think we're probably okay not rushing back to the Gauntlight. If possible, we should also take the opportunity to transfer the +1 runes to Kka's shortsword and Lough's handwraps, which takes a day.

I'm here.

Looks like we are 2 and 2, and need a tiebreaker?

I'm available, but probably busy Thursday and Friday.

I do think we need to check in on town and transfer the runes.

10gp isn't enough to buy anything Kka needs, so she'll hold onto it for now.

With the runes transferred, Kka now has a +1 Shortsword and Lough has +1 Handwraps. Since the Rapier and Morning Star were part of +1 Magic Weapon bundles, they are worthless on their own and were probably destroyed as part of the transfer process; regardless, Kka no longer has the rapier. The transfer cost of 7gp brings the party funds down to 1.5gp

Unless there is an objection, we can cash in the stuff we found on the undead and Scalathrax at the graveyard, namely:

A: Cash or equivalent
5.0 - Scalathrax Oil
A TOTAL: 5.0

B: Equipment that we're cashing in at 50%
5.0 - Scimitars (5 @ 1.0)
9.0 - Shortbows (3 @ 3.0)
B TOTAL = 7.0 (14.0 @ 50%)

GRAND TOTAL = 12 gp (A+B-C)

The remaining 60 arrows we can store in Otari in case we need to replenish supplies between levels. The 12gp added to the party funds brings them up to 13.5gp. I've updated the loot sheet accordingly.

I agree with Kka above. While Kvit could use the Scalathrax Oil to make it easier to make fire/oil based things, it's only a +1. I think we need the gold more.

I saw Lough's earn income, do we get downtime? How much? I doubt I have time to do anything much, but I'll try.

Keeping the (formerly +1) Morningstar - having the Potency Rune transferred to Handwraps!

Profile Updating...

That satisfies his "wishlist" for now - donating his 10 gold to party fund.

I saw Lough's earn income, do we get downtime? How much? I doubt I have time to do anything much, but I'll try.

You have about half a day of downtime, if you want. I said it was about 2 in the afternoon, so you can work 4-5 hours, then have a relaxed evening. I think a full 8 hours would put you way past your bedtime, especially if you plan on adventuring tomorrow.

I'll skip the half day of downtime. I just rp'd learning his alchemist dedication.

Speaking of

Mutagens anyone? I can pick 8 formulas I picked quicksilver already, might help me or Kka with some thievery checks.

Lough? Want Juggernaut Mutagen?

Kka, I also picked Giant Centipede Venom for you to try out.

This is my current list of formulas but I could tweak it:
Antidote (Lesser), Antiplague (Lesser), Bottled Lightning (Lesser), Elixir of Life (Minor), Ghost Charge (Lesser), Giant Centipede Venom, Quicksilver Mutagen (Lesser), Tindertwig

I get 3 reagents, so I can make 2x of three formulas
2x Elixir of Life, 2x Giant Centipede Venom, 2x ???

Will there be opportunity for longer downtime in the future? Like 4+ days?

Narratively, the best times for downtime are when you've cleared a floor. But too long a pause and I'll start repopulating the dungeons with new inhabitants. :P

But the tempo is up to you. If you want to prepare for the next level, or a specific encounter, that is entirely possible. Though I'm personally not a fan of giving you all the time you want, as that can lead to some degenerate stuff.

Mutagens anyone? I can pick 8 formulas I picked quicksilver already, might help me or Kka with some thievery checks.

...
Kka, I also picked Giant Centipede Venom for you to try out.

The Quicksilver Mutagen might come in handy, though the side-effects are a literal pain.

I've never tried poisoning a weapon before so I had to look up the Alchemical Poisons rules. Looks pretty straightforward. You apply the poison to the weapon, which depending on the poison usually takes 2-3 actions. But as there appears to be no expiry date on the poison once applied to a weapon (the poison only being consumed during a successful Strike or a crit fail), this preparation can be done at anytime, not just during encounter mode. Might be fun; I can't think of why Kka would have a problem with using poisons.

If we run into undead (which has happened several times already), then a Ghost Charge (Lesser) bomb might come in real useful.

@Lough, does that mean you want them? Or no. Otherwise I'll pick something else, maybe ghost charge or maybe bottled lightning for the flat-footed. Though with your snagging strike we seem to do well with that already.

Down to try it - trust your judgement

Kka can have both unless she wants to share

Going, going, and... gone!

I've added them to Kka's Party Loot spoiler. If someone else wants to give it a try, just ask her for one.

Buying basic Crafter's Book and Level 1 formula for Juggernaut Mutagen for 1.5gp total

Kvit, I see you took Protect Companion as one of your cantrips. Unless you plan on putting Sneakers in harm's way, I'm not sure that's the best use of a cantrip slot.

I love RPing familiars and have a couple of PCs that use them. In all the many adventures I've played with them, only once did one of them take any damage in an encounter; it was due to an AoE attack that caught my sorcerer. This surprised me mightily because my familiars always dive into the safety of their respective PC's backpack at the first sign of potential trouble.

Except for that one GM, every other GM I've played with has taken the standard view that as long as the familiar is not an active participant in the encounter (with a token on the board like an animal companion) and is under shelter, then much like your other possessions, they are not in danger of being harmed.

Not sure where our GM stands in this regard, but if he takes the standard view, then there should be no need for the Protect Companion cantrip. I'd pick Telekinetic Projectile instead for that sweet 2d6+4 damage.

I just realized that Kvit wouldn't be heightening Telekinetic Projectile to level 2 yet, so it would only be 1d6+4 damage until he gets to level 3.

I'll rule that unless you actually send Sneakers out to interfere on the battlefield, he's safe from harm. If he's a token on the board, he might be a target, otherwise I'm not going to harm him, intentionally or otherwise.

Thanks Kka and understood GM Kwinten.

I took familiar conduit so I could try out using him as the point of origin for spells. I found it real hard to get into position to be able to use something like burning hands. I also found I didn't have much to do with my third action, so a 1 action cantrip could fill it in. I'll try it out and see how it goes.

I could swap out Acid Splash for Telekinetic Projectile. Every time I wanted to use it the splash damage would have hits friendlies. So I haven't gotten any use out of it.

Hey Lough, want to spend 1 hour so Kvit can learn Telekinetic Projectile before we go?

Ready to head back out?

Kka is ready to go.

Giyozara is also good to go.

Did we take a long rest?

If so, I think Cherry is going to switch out Disrupting Weapon for ....Huh, maybe another copy of Bless?

Otherwise, Cherry is ready to go.

Yes, we can do our daily prep.

Kvit is also ready after his failed attempt at understanding Lough...

...

I took familiar conduit so I could try out using him as the point of origin for spells. I found it real hard to get into position to be able to use something like burning hands. I also found I didn't have much to do with my third action, so a 1 action cantrip could fill it in. I'll try it out and see how it goes.
...

I messed up somewhere. Familiar conduit is a 4th level wizard class feat.

I also screwed up by not taking deception as one of my trained skills. I'll spend some downtime retraining sometime between now and level 6 so I can get expert deception and then get the convincing illusions class feat.

Remember, there is the Skill Training feat you could take at Level 2!

Remember, there is the Skill Training feat you could take at Level 2!

Hmm, that could also work as long as I don't have to take Magical Crafting in order to upgrade my Staff Nexus. I'm trying to figure that part of the rules out.

Is the current lack of activity still due to the holidays or is it because we haven't decided where we want to go next? If the latter, then it seems that our decision is whether to explore the remaining outbuildings on this level or go directly downstairs.

My guess is that if it were not for the GM mildly discouraging us from doing so that we would have naturally proceeded to explore those areas. Then again, perhaps the decision has already been made; since we've levelled up and those outbuildings were presumably designed for level 1 PCs rather than level 2, they're not going to be as challenging unless the GM elitifies (is that a word?) the encounters in some fashion.

My orderly nature tends to dislike leaving things unfinished, but Kka doesn't care that strongly about it. We're apparently okay with leaving the Slurk alone, so we should also be okay with leaving these outbuildings unexplored, especially since the GM has assured us that they contain nothing of much interest.

In the interest of moving things along to more interesting parts of the vaults, I'm going to have Kka vote that we go straight down the stairs, but if enough of you feel otherwise, then that's fine with me too.

I'm fine with going straight down. Also we could have the mitflits or Sneakers scope out the outbuildings so we don't have to?

I can beef up the remaining encounters of the outbuildings, no worries. That shouldn't be a factor in deciding whether to tackle them or not.

I'm tempted to start the new level on January 1st :P

Also, it took us about three months to clear one level. Since there's ten levels, if we keep up this pace, it'll take us about two and a half years to complete this adventure. I hope you don't have any plans in the meantime. :)

Sorry folks. It's a long weekend here (since yesterday) so I'm a little distracted... Christmas is a large part of the Philippine culture; the city literally shuts down close to the end of the year. It's normally a longer weekend except that New Year's Day fell on a Saturday...