| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
** spoiler omitted **...
Nice display! Kind of want to use my lady as well so
"FOOLISH MORTALS, YOUR LITTLE STRUMPET CANT SAVE YOU NOW!"
Roared the Lord of Beast as he descended upon the group of heroes that dared to invade his labyrinth and steal his herald .
"Little strumpet?" Liliyashanina wispered into her psychick link, as she stealthily observed the situation from her concealed position "Dissappointing, I would expected more imaginative insults."
"Ones degree of interaction with Baphomet is directly linked to ones degree of dissapointment with him. And his imagination is as underdeveloped as his genitals." Awnsered a melodic, coy yet authoritative voice in her head.
"To the subject of Mocking well :)"
Liliya smiled as she sent a suggestion the way of her currently most favored mortal murder hobo.
"What Father of Minotaurs are thee, who cannot Slay a Hedgehog with thy own naked arse?" Shouted the suddenly inspired Barbarian back in defiance,
"Asmodeus s$+*s and your army eats, Nocticula spits and your army baths! Thy member is as flacid as thy breath is pugnent, you abomination where Lamasthu confused where to put head and arse!" Continued the Barbarian, finishing with the good old "And father of minotaurs are thee not, cuckhold, a greater bull then thou plows they wives in thy stead, or how would thee explain that thee are but a sickly a goat, while thy sons have the shape of bulls!"
"In terms of insults, I would give it a 8 out of 10, thy pet mortal has some talent my dear, I wonder from where he got that totally accurate information about Mr. B. private parts though."
Spoke the voice in her head.
Adjusting her aim somewhat downwards, Liliya opined
"Hmm, you make that sound like a challenging target."
"It is also a target that is sickly, flabby, and utterly pointless for anything but beef farming programms. Why dont you make use of that conveniently placed inverse pentagramm on his brow? Looks a lot like a target sign, does it not?" Awnsered the voice.
Well, it was not in Liliyas interest to ignore such a direct suggestion from our Lady in Shadow.
"This should be good, Shamira, hand me the Popcorn!"
She heard through her link as she fully focused on her aim.
hit
hit
hit
nope
nope
hit
122 damage to Baphomet, Cold Iron. Clustered shots if DR is effective inspite of Cold Iron.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
... Okay figuring out what characters to pick is actually really damn difficult. There are so many quality submissions...
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Going off the lists last page plus additions that have been noted since then (but I didn't check the whole thread...), it looks like the listed characters included:
By alignment
4 evil characters (2 CE, 1 NE, 1 LE)
4 neutral characters (0 CN, 3 TN, 1 LN)
6 good characters (1 CG, 2 NG, 3 LG)
Slight bent towards Good but overall very diverse.
By (primary) mechanics (noting that as mythic characters and monsters, a lot of us have broad capabilities; e.g., several of the martial characters have 4-level casting, monster/Divine Source SLAs, etc.)
10 martial, martial-skilled, or martial-with-some-casting characters:
Liliya, the CE succubus gunslinger | trickster
Azrielan, the NE legion archon bloodrager | champion
Lohkir, the LE psychic vampire fighter/monk/antipaladin | champion/psionic archmage
Draco, the CE antipaladin/bloodrager | archmage
Sabrina, the LG half-celestial paladin | marshal
Hadrhune, the NG shabti ranger/horizon walker | champion
Bizan, the TN zen archer monk | champion
Dar'Tenleth, the LN fighter/monk/swordlord | champion
Daniel Beatty, the LG paladin | marshal
Peace through Vigilance, the LG gold dragon | champion/archmage
2 full arcane casters:
Rahlmaat, the TN Sphinx wizard | archmage/champion
Britta, the NG android wizard | archmage/trickster
1 full divine caster:
Radamare, the CG ghaele cleric | hierophant/champion
1 Other:
Marcos the N bard | marshal/archmage, who seems to be a specialist in skills and bardic buffs
Lotta mythic martial firepower hanging out in this thread! Even two of our three characters in 9-level-casting classes are also dual-path mythic champions.
My actual alignment of course is chaotic fun.
It's my experience that high-power games tend to draw a lot more martial builds. I could theorize as to why, but I think I'll refrain.
I'm tempted to write up a scene of Rahlmaat telling her daughter she's leaving... hmmm... we'll see if I have time before selection happens (if I don't get picked I suppose it will be a scene of her daughter convincing her to stay :D).
In my case, well, I think I am susceptible to option paralysis, so I have consiously chosen something that keeps the option paralysis in check.
Wild Arcana Caster is peak option paralysis, while my char, its actually quite easy.
Full action= Strong Pew Pew Pew, possibly via dead shot, or strongish debuff (prone or disarm without CMD is good).
Move and standard action= Debuff removal and mobility, probably make someone flat footed for easier slaughter by party members.
+ A lot of get out of Jail cards, meaning that Liliya is kind of forgiving to play concerning positioning, tactical and scouting mistakes. Which should greatly reduce angsting about scouting ahead on my part.
The easier, mechanically, the actions, the more time I have for quality banter.
"Dragons and Vampires stuck in a pile
and fallen archons searching their style
while naughty half Orcs looks with great guile
at charming maidens with celestial smile
From Zens archers lips do the Koans fly
to ears ears of a bard, his form quite spry
to awnswer the Sphinxes riddle so dry
while a monkish swordlord looks on feeling sly
While Androids dream of electrical sheep
and Shabtis wish to make maker theirs weep
the azata of freedom guards all their sleep
Sure that the Paladin is never a creep
Above all them a drunk Succubus flies
Beholding them, selecting her lies
to entrap them all with her many wiles
and shoot the impolite ones dead from ten miles."
"Dear Liliyashanina, most excellent, If I ever feel the pressing need to murder either Myrrtu, Findeladhra, Shelyn or any other poetry associated deity, Ill just have you read your poems at them.
Signed, Nocticula"
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
So I did write a little scene between Rahlmaat and her daughter... and when I say 'little' I mean 'it ended up being 1 1/2 pages on Google Docs'. XD
”What a riddle.” Rahlmaat’s whisper is quiet only in relation to her normal voice.
Her daughter Akila, watching with her, looks up sharply to recognize the gleam in her mother’s gaze. ”Mother, it’s not your problem.”
”What a short-sighted view, my daughter,” the huge sphinx replies, looking down to her daughter. ”Should the Qlippoth overrun Golarion, they would undoubtedly overrun us and the temple we guard.”
”You could have said that about the demons of the Worldwound,” the younger sphinx shoots back, ”Or the revival of Hakotep, or the escape of the Whispering Tyrant, yet you didn’t bestir yourself to face any of them. Why now?”
”You talked me out of that last one,” Rahlmaat points out, grinning. She enjoys when Akila stands up to her. It helps her forget her disappointment that her daughter has never quite had the drive she had when she was younger, and so seemed likely to never be a match for Rahlmaat herself.
”Yes, because your duty is to guard this temple, which is exactly why you’re not going this time, either.”
”You are forgetting the time I destroyed that mummy cult.”
”No I’m not, you shouldn’t have gone then, either,” Akila answers crossly.
”It would have been trouble by now, just like this will be trouble,” the larger sphinx argues back.
”Didn’t you later find out some Sarenites were tracking that cult? They would have taken care of it without you.”
”Trusting random bands of plucky humanoids to solve every problem hardly seems responsible.”
”What’s responsible is staying here and doing your job, not running off and leaving me here every time you get bored!”
Rahlmaat smiles. ”Why daughter, are you volunteering to go instead?”
Akila rises to her feet just so she can stamp a paw on the ground. ”This isn’t a joke, Mother!”
Rahlmaat’s smile disappears, and she rises to her feet as well and turns her gaze towards the sky. ”Akila… I know I have sometimes left simply out of boredom, but this time is different. This is a serious threat, one I do not feel we can just leave to fate to bring some lucky group of adventurers in to solve.”
She turns her gaze back down to her daughter. ”Fate can only bend things so far. Sometimes, the powerful must unsheathe their claws on their own initiative, before it is too late.”
Akila is silent for a long moment. ”You really think it’s that bad this time.”
The larger sphinx nods her head. ”Yes. The scale of this, and the speed with which it is worsening… a second Worldwound would be easier on Golarion. That the demons themselves are struggling against those they once crushed bodes ill.”
Rahlmaat turns from the pool and begins to walk towards the temple. ”I shall not leave you defenseless, my daughter. There are treasures within that will aid you and your daughter should an attack come while I am gone.”
The smaller sphinx follows her mother, until Rahlmaat stops and looks back at her. ”And if I do not return… I know you shall be a wise guardian of the secrets here.”
While they would talk more before she left, it was her daughter’s shocked expression at Rahlmaat’s acknowledgement of the danger before her that stayed with her.
I'm not sure if I got the combo of "ancient, brilliant philosopher" and "bored cat" that I'm going for with Rahlmaat down, but it always takes a bit for me to really find a character's voice.
"Well comrade Khrabrov, on a scale from 1 to 21. June 1941, how f%+&ed are we, in your estimation?" Liliya asked her Soviet captain, after presenting current reports of the overall military situation.
"If you compare the situation of the abyssal armies to the opening stages of on the receiving end of Operation Barbarossa, there are similarities, but also differences. I think the degree of f&&!ed up ness is overall comparable and am prepared to go into more detail."
He answered, absentmindetly twirling his "Hero of the Soviet Union" decoration.
He refused her entreaties to stop wielding it because every second demon he met regarded him as an Asmodeus worshipper and frequently attacked, but well, she would not forbid him to wear it as long as he won the fights it caused. So far he was 14:0.
"Proceed, start with the things that in your estimation are better."
"Well, first, communications and mobility. The Red armies communication capabilities were completely annihalted in the opening stages of the war, and its mobility greatly hampered by total German surprise, and then by constant interdiction via the Luftwaffe. My understanding is that the Qlippoth are somehow interfering with teleportation as well, else their would be more survivors of lost battles, but the effect does not seem to be as great as that of the Luftwaffe."
The notion of aerial forces made Liliya wince.
"In theory we should have crushing aerial superiorty, as quite many Qlippoth are incapable of flight. For some reason, whenever they face an abyssal host with an abundance of fliers, a f+#$ing warpstorm erupts which forces us to fight grounded."
"So they can control the Abyssal weather? Should it not be within your capabilities to undo their effects?"
"Theoretically yes, practically, you see, the warpstorms are not caused by some cunning manipulation, they are caused by a partial destruction of what some call the "basic sanity of reality". A Warpstorm is akin to an inflammation, reality tries to reassert itself, convince the various protons that they are supposed to interact with electrons in the appropriate manner and all that. And additional manipulation of reality would further, rather then reduce the warpstorms size and effects."
"You are essentially stating that the Qlippoth are gaining offensive advantadges by being willing to break more laws, in this case not laws of war but elementary laws of reality and physics, then you demons are?"
"Yes, I can certainly see the parallel."
"So do I, comrade Shanina, returning to the original question, your advantadges comapred to the RKKA in the opening stages of the great patriotic war lie in communication and mobility. As to your disadvantadges. Well, there are several." He began.
"First, while you do have communications, my impression is that what is communicated typically degrades, rather then improves, combat efficiency. In the Soviet Union, attacked units typically reported somewhere between 10 to 15 times as many German troops as were actually attacking, which in time allowed high command to correctly guess how many German troops where actually attacking, and then formulate appropriate responses. From the transcripts you gave me to make my assesment, the relation between actual Qlippoths and reported numbers can range between 1:5 to 1:243, and that can come from the same Demon, just at different times of the same day.
Needless to say, this rather complicates high commands task.
Furthermore, the Soviet Union, even in its darkest times, fought. Defenders on the border fortress of Brest Litovsk only yielded weeks after the initial invasion, and tied up considerable German forces while doing so. The Qlippoths are apparently bypassing fortified strongpoints, as did the Germans, but any encircled demon strongpoint seems to fall to [b]fractricide in a manner of days, to maybe a single week.
Taken together, these 2 aspects make me suspect that the Qlippoth have some way of intercepting, altering, or not-so-subtly infecting telepathic messages that your kind exchanges with each other. This could explain both the speed with which the Qlippoth take bypassed strongholds suffering seemingly no losses, and the extreme degree of error inherent in any Demonic messages. Perhaps we should actually build Radios or telephones? If the Qlippoth read your mind mail, your forces need to switch to different forms of communications like, now."
It slowly dawned upon Liliya that Demonkind may be in even deeper s##* then she thought. Radios would be of limited utility in the Abyss, and explaining to a Demon how a Radio worked... well, it could be done but it would not be easy.
"There is of course a 3rd, massive drawback." Captain Khrabrov continued
"Tell me, which?" Liliya replied
"You do not have one centre of authority, or one "Stalin" who can make a plan, even if it is a shockingly bad one. You have 30 or so Stalins who all hate each other, and at least half of them seem to be mostly planning how to screw over those who are currently shouldering most of the fightings burden. I mean, the forces of this "Orcus", whose undead legions should be well suited to fighting Qlippoth, are still mostly occupying the rasping rifts and clashing with "Nurgal", who contests this claim yes?" the captain said.
"Welcome to the Abyss my dear"
Was all Liliya could awnswer.
"F#$* me..." Said her captain, somewhat exasperated with the overall situation.
"As a matter of fact, I kind of intend to."
She awnswered with a smile.
"I dont believe my advice or report was particulary pleseant to you?"
"No, but it was honest, accurate and informative." She awsnwered as she grabbed a Litheria blossom. These flowers were really usefull, and could apparently actually be grown in the Abyss, or at least they could after Nocticula left. Funny coincidence that, some type of parting gift perhaps?
Always a beacon of efficiency, comrade Khrabrov walked with her to the bedroom, fully undressed, lay on the bed and only then breathed in the flower stating "lets make the most of the 10 minutes we have yes comrade Shanina?"
"You mortals and your silly notions of efficiency"
Liliya replied as she descended upon him.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Some questions,
Under your Mythic Nerfs, Guardian's Call is listed as one of the abilities that can no longer be used as a swift action.
However, two of the abilities(Absorb Blow & Sudden Block) are immediate actions as they are defensive in nature. Are there action types changed as well?
Are we allowed to buy magic items that boost AC/saves, provided the bonus types are not the same as we get from ABP, or are those items fully banned? Ie, a profane bonus to AC or a luck bonus to saves?
No, and yes.
Bump?
Casting ressurrection on the thread is sadly not within my capabilities :(.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
This isn't dead, just... hibernating while I sort some stuff out.
I figured as much. Looking forward to the end result.
I had suspected as much. It's a lot to go over even in the best of times.
Best wishes to your grandmother, Monkeygod.
Karaoke contest perhaps? As she gracefully kicks a weird demonic music making machine which makes it spit out strange noises, takes a microphone, I mean magic wand of clarion call and starts singing
From the Abyss´s depths in silence
Cast their spells, explosive violence
Lady´s night time strike perfected
Flawless vision, undetected
Pushing on and on, their strikes are growing strong
Abyss's number one
Somewhere down below they're looking for the foe
Witches on a run
You can't hide, you can't move, just abide
Their attack's been proved
Raiders in the dark
Silent through the night the witches join the fight
Never miss their mark
[Chorus:]
Leather wings of death
Prepare to meet your fate
Make your testament
Reach your final state
Undetected, unexpected
Wings of glory
Tell their story
Aviation, deviation
Undetected
Stealth perfected
Foes are losing ground, retreating to the sound
Death is in the air
Suddenly appears, confirming all your fears
Strike from witches lair
Target found, come around, barrels sound
From the battleground
Axis aiming high
Victory awaits, defeat them at the gates
Live to fight and fly
[Chorus]
[Guitar solo]
Beneath the starlight of the heavens
Our Lady´s champions in the skies
Witches to attack, witches coming back
As they appear on the horizon
The wind will whisper when the Night Witches come!
[Chorus]
From the Abyss´s depths in silence
Cast their spells, explosive violence
Lady´s night time strike perfected
Flawless vision, undetected
Sounding roughly like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjPkW06NY-E&list=RDxjPkW06NY-E&star t_radio=1
Totally forgot:
Liliya sings well enough to hopefully make Shamira not question her loyalties.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Okay. I'm finally ready to announce the people I will be selected for this adventure. Sorry for the long wait everyone, stuff was hectic IRL with the Holloween season, college, and there was a lot to go over. There was a ton of good characters, but I'll list what tipped the scales for each as I go through them.
Liliyashanina (Really only stealthy character, provides the party an in with Abyssal factions, and put in a lot of RP effort during the recruitment)
Rahlmaat (Unique build, not too busted but good. Also it's a SPHINX! That's just cool.)
Britta (Another unique build, not too busted but good overall. Good backstory as well, included all the separate mythic trials. Player was the one who directed me towards the original thread in the first place.)
Radamare (Like the backstory, and they're the only full divine caster in the group. Gonna need one to keep people alive. Not too broken either.)
Sabrina (Not too broken a build, first real solid front line presence. Plus, to be entirely honest, I'm just a sucker for the character art. I'm a bit of a weeb, sue me.)
Garthok (Defensive tank, but not too busted offensively. Takes up the role of a second front-liner. The player made the original thread. I waited TOO LONG on this character to not have them involved, it's sunk cost fallacy at this point.)
This seems like a fairly balanced group in terms of power level, and in terms of RP. Don't see any major issues arising between them all. After all, who cares what happens to Qipploth? To everyone who wasn't selected, you all made good characters. Literally, any of them could have made the cut. I took into account builds relative to each other in terms of strength, backstory and character development, involvement in the thread, and even what I could tell of player history in previous campaigns.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Have fun everyone!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Rahlmaat was back at her divining pool, dressed in enchanted treasures from the depths of the temple. A pair of huge bags hangs from her sides, bulging with tablets, scrolls, books, and a few assorted useful trinkets.
"Now, I cannot be the only one intrigued by this riddle..." she murmurs to herself.
She keeps scanning the area around the biggest Qlippoth incursion. There should be...
Oh.
Oh, that must be it.
A wide grin spreads across her face. A succubus with a ghaele? At the thought of what was to come, a sudden chuckle bubbles up within her leonine chest, soon growing to a booming laugh.
"Mother..." Akila complains, rising to her feet and walking over.
Still laughing, the huge sphinx waves a paw at the pool and the beings shown within, not even caring that they can no doubt detect her scrying.
The younger sphinx takes one look in the pool, closes her eyes, and sighs. "Well, if I wasn't able to convince you before, I'm definitely not going to now..."
Rahlmaat masters her laughter well enough to turn her guffaws into another grin. "How well you know me, daughter," she says. "How could I not be part of this riddle?"
Akila groans and rolls her eyes. "Just go, mother. Save Golarion and all that. Don't get yourself killed."
Rahlmaat's grin fades. "I will be careful, Akila. Trust me."
She looks down at her daughter for a long moment, until the younger sphinx meets her gaze. They hold that position for just a brief instant--a silent acknowledgement that, in spite of their species's territorial instincts, they still care for one another.
And then the ancient sphinx pops out a claw and carves a rune into the air, commanding arcane energies with her powerful voice... and vanishes.
Rahlmaat appears far from her home, at the edge of the bizarre collection of unlikely allies against the Qlippoth. Smiling at them, she booms, "What could make a succubus, a ghaele, and a paladin work together? Quite the riddle, were the answer not before us."
************************
Huzzah, I get to play Rahlmaat! Now I just need to finish finalizing her spell list and equipment.
Liliya was furiously pacing in her command center.
Established a deal with Cyxiron for a continuous supply of Earth Realm Weaponry because even Daemons hate Qlippoths? Check.
Gave her favorite mortal murder hoboes explicit order to shoot or stab the crap out of anything who is not Shamira and who gave them lip? Check.
Not that it would have been needed.
Ammunition? Check.
Rangefinder? Check.
Sidearms? Check.
Oh right, diplomatic offering. Pancakes? Check.
Booze? Check.
Litheria blossoms? Check. Maybe I should seduce the Ghaele first so she freely casts death ward on the others!.
Cheeky riddle for the Sphinx? Check. Well, the Sphinx would either know it instantly or not for a long time, but it should get a laugh or two.
Ok Liliya thought I honestly have only a limited idea of how to effectively cooperate with a Paladin and a Ghaele, the sphynx and the drow probably being easier to get along with, but pancakes and booze make everything easier. Into the bag of holding they went.
She stood before her swollen ranks of assembled mortals.
Dosvedanija comrades, I am off to remove tentacles. Communications with captain Khrabrov are established, in my absence, you are to follow him as you would follow me. She spoke.
Should we not be with you? I believe for firepower is always better? Da? Asked Comrade Pavlov, who for some reason had 4 additional clockwork arms, which wore an extra flamethrower and a Panzerfaust to accompany his MG 42.
Well comrade, If I f%%$ this up, there is still hope, meaning you. If we are all there and f$~% this up reality is done for. So friends, dont die on me, ill be back and think of me when you are alone! Liliya awnswered, to their laughs, with her eyebrows flashing.
Through the portal she went. At least her newly aquired demon isle was in good if occassionally distracted hands.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Sabrina (Not too broken a build, first real solid front line presence. Plus, to be entirely honest, I'm just a sucker for the character art. I'm a bit of a weeb, sue me.)
LOL
Thanks for the acceptance :)
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Awesome and thanks
Will need to update a profile.
On a side note, Sabrina isn't to shabby at healing either. Just not a primary healer but can keep people alive.
I also need to swap out a feat as it was identified as being a redundant feat.
Greetings,
in these strange times, their are strange allies to be found against even stranger foes.
I am fully aware of how problematic our cooperation can become for either of us, as such, I am proposing to make a covenant based on the following blood pledge. Initially between us, as our alignments are the least compatible which makes joining such a covenant more compelling, and then between all members of our unlikely alliance.
"I, Liliyashanina, Slayer of the Malebranche Mussolini, Hero of the Soviet Union and Lady of Luralune, hereby pledge that I shall, for the duration of joint operations against the Qlippoth invasion and a decent intervall of a year and a day thereafter, respect the life, the dignity, the possessions and the secrets of Lady Sabrina De´Foe, and others who may join this covenant, and that I shall furthermore, within reason, protect the very same, provided that Lady Sabrina De´Foe and others who join this covenant pledges the same unto me and unto all other covenant members.
May the Savored String, whose mighty name of Callistria the All Avenging one I hereby solemnly invoke with my mythic might and blood, strike me down should I willingly violate this pledge.
"
Should you deem a pledge in Callistrias name as unacceptable, I am willing to consider Gozreh or Gorum as substitutes. I would prefer to make the pledge in Callistrias name, as her vengeance is the most certain, and she likely looks favorably unto our joint enterprise, and she is furthermore more diplomatically inclined and more hostile to Qlippoths then either alternatives.
I am open to revisions of the proposed clauses, provided that the clauses are equal for all members of the covenant.
Best wishes,
Lady Liliyashanina of Luralune
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The discussion room and roleplay thread are open now.
Have fun all.
Really only stealthy character
Excuse me? :P
Anyway, good luck there :)