GM Mauve's Cradle of Night (1e) (Inactive)

Game Master MauveAvengr

The discussion thread!

Dotted and deleted in Gameplay. Thanks, looking forward to it!

Hey all! Welcome to the team. So tried to create a diverse group. This may be a good time to finalize your builds and craft a good back story to your character. Remember, you have 33,000 gp to spend on various items. And also, background skills are in effect so don't forget those either!

The idea is that you're all Pathfinder agents of some sort - but again that's not necessary. It's just an easy way to get you all together. A caligni bard by the name of Aiyana will be recruiting you for a mission. I'm still debating where the best place to start would be. Maybe the Grand Lodge in Absalom?

Once everyone is settled in, I'll begin the meeting between you guys and her.

Look forward to gaming with you all! Let me know if you have any questions.

I still need to pull together an actual profile. No time for that now.

For background coordination, my preference is for the party to have worked together before, probably recently & maybe on a project leading up to this one in some way. If a character doesn't work with that, it doesn't have to be everyone. (Or anyone but I'm still hopeful)

My character is Leon Volens, a paladin of Ionedae that is using an archetype that works very well in dark conditions & is stealth capable. (+21 in low-light)

His current background suggests he fought at Lastwall before joining the Pathfinder Society after a previous run-in with Whispering Way cultlists.

Dotted and deleted. Thanks for the opportunity to play in this module GM Mauve. I look forward to adventuring with this new group here!

Background-wise, Akku has basically just arrived on this plane. Or so he thinks. In reality he's been around the multiverse for centuries, but his body had been possessed by some mysterious alien entity which he has no recollection of. During this long period of time, the phantom of his sister was trying to reach him but was unable to pinpoint his location due to Akku's possession. She developed a deep-seated anger borne out of that frustration. She's been angry for so long that hatred now suffuses her entire being to the point that it defines her.

My preference would be that either one of the heroes here comes across Akku in a long-abandoned cemetery out in the wilderness, but the Pathfinder Society could be doing this discovery in one of their mission, and bring Akku back to the Grand Lodge for observation due to his strange powers. Whatever the method of introduction, it would work best if this was very recent, like a day or two at most, due to the other part of his background: the fast-growing young Akku who matures to adulthood in a matter of days, his duskwalker body catching up with centuries of trauma and experiences under possession by the alien entity... Upon completion of his maturation I will change his avatar.

I should get the avatar for Kal Drak put together this evening.

GM, is there a particular color or metal type for the dragon bloodline that you believe fits well (or poorly) with the adventure or region?

GM, are we going to be pre- or post- Worldwound closure in the timeline? I doubt my character will have the Worldwound as part of his background, but it keeps coming up as a data point when I'm writing this up.

@Revolving Door - feel free to choose a bloodline you want to play! Umbral dragons do have some connection to the Darklands and Nidal. Other than that, any can work as long as you have fun.

@Nathan, this was the last module written for 1e in late 2018, which would mean this scenario starts sometime in late 4718 or early 4719. Don't know my Worldwound Lore, but looks like it was closed in 4718 AR according to the wiki. So this starts roughly the same time as the Worldwound closure.

Would it be beneficial to have a date of the adventure in the header?

Hi all, as a member of Liberty's Edge, Farrar could have rescued Akku and brought him to Absalom...

Aleks is from Nidal originally, but he escaped with the help of a Pathfinder years ago (which is why he joined the Society). I had originally figured he volunteered for the mission to get a chance to 'pay it forward', and maybe even help lay groundwork for a Pathfinder Lodge in Nidal (I don't think there is one currently). If we were an existing group, I suspect he'd have been the most vocal member telling the others we should take this one.

Interesting, so Farrar has been working in Nidal, and dodging the authorities there for some time. It might make sense for him and Aleks to know each other and have worked together in the past?

Interestingly, there's a PFS scenario that details a foray in Nidal, where you go rescue a bunch of imprisoned people in the shadow plane, which have been cruelly tortured by a lunatic belonging to the Aspis Consortium. Alek could be one of those poor souls, and Farrar could be associated with the NPC Pathfinder contact that helps sneak the Pathfinder rescue team into Nidal! :)

What's that scenario? I haven't played that one yet.

However you guys want to know each and how well you know each other will be up to you. Once you're all ready to go, let me know. I can then post an intro!

Same scenario I discussed earlier, which is why I'm remaining vague. The one good thing it's got going for it is that it explains how one would even be able to sneak into Nidal.

One of the Hell's Rebels book also has some (minor) info on Nidal.

I haven't read the actual campaign setting supplement on Nidal, but those supplements usually amp up the fear factor on certain regions (Nidal, Ustalav, etc.)

Galadhan’s background mentioned tracking his prey to Nidal so he could be familiar with several of the party that are there…

@GM: having an answer on the state of the Worldwound is more important than what the answer is. Probably it would be interesting if word of the victory is just starting to reach our area? Maybe as unconfirmed rumors.

A date for the game in our header would be neat. If the Worldwound date & time is roughly what you said it was before, we could be in winter or adjacent to the season.

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Starting to get Leon's profile together. It still needs work, but I've got some basics down at least.

Leon's background didn't mention Nidal itself: I focused more on having him active & existing in roughly the right area without being in Cheliax, so the west-to-south region of Lake Encarthan.

The one big event that got him involved in the Pathfinder Society I came up with was a fiasco with the Whispering Way that I had the Society helping with. I put in in Ustalav out of laziness, but one interesting answer could be that others in the party were involved & that the incident happened in Nidal.

Leon would have been a soldier with Lastwall at the time and they generally try to stay clear of Nidal issues, but a Whispering Way presence just outside their borders could probably pull some attention.

A more ambitious take could be that the cult wasn't Whispering Way at all (perhaps a case of mistaken cult identity) but were related to the goings-on of our coming adventure. That would depend on whether having any before-adventure interactions would cause problems for our GM.

Leon's Wealth by Level expenditures:

237g remaining

The consumable list especially is flexible if people want me to get other things.

Ok, here is Kal Drak.
I might do some slight adjusting of the the spells and gear, but it is at least very close. Will also expand the backstory / personality / appearance a bit.

Kal joined the PFS just because they go everywhere investigating magic. Seems like being paid to find the magic that can change him 'back' into a dragon. He may have met some of you previously, but if you don't know anything about dragons, he probably doesn't remember you.

Since he is in PFS and is trying to find a specific magic, Kal has a complete collection of the Chronicles. Just in case anyone wants to borrow them.
I do have a wand of infernal healing and an oil of daylight.

@Farrar - if you are set on Haste, I will pick something different for my 3rd level spell.

@Kal - cool dropped Haste for Confusion!

Updated gear to 33K. Ready to roll! :)

Should be good with my gear…

I'll post a basic intro sometime tonight! Will also set up some slides later tonight as well.

My big ticket purchase was a Robe of Arcane Heritage. It just fits in under the 50% mark. Everything else is fairly minor.
My claws count as magic.
I have a silver and a cold iron cestus if necessary.
I also have mostly cold iron arrow (with a few silver).
I try to keep Mage armor up most of the time.
Kal is primarily a caster, but occasionally he losses his temper and charges into the fray.
Ok, since I don't have darkvision, I better have the light cantrip. Is anyone going to be casting Darkness a lot? If so, I might take the Darkvision spell instead of Mirror Image.
My battle cry will stack with the attack roll portion of Farrar's inspire courage, but will overwrite the save vs fear.
Farrar has an excellent bluff, diplomacy, and sense motive.
I have a pretty good intimidate.
I have a rank in all the knowledge skills (and most of the others), but I'm not great at any of them.
I'm a sorcerer, so not a huge spell selection. But I do have some of the best classics. Haste, fly, dispel magic, glitter dust, resist energy, liberating command, etc... I do not have summon monster, because then he ends up being too close to another PC that I am running.
I do have Silent Spell to occasionally throw up a buff prior to the fight actually starting without the bad guys hearing me.
Two of us have an Oil of Daylight. In Nidal, it seems like we might need even more of those. {shrug} Not certain.

Kal Drak is a tall, broad shouldered, athletic man. Relatively handsome with rather long red hair. Over the last several years his skin has taken on a burnished hue as if he was starting to get a bad sunburn. He is quite vain and expects to be the center of attention.
He wears a noble's outfit of light brown with dark red thread highlights. The thread is supposed to suggest the outline of scales. However, it fails to do so and just looks ... high-quality odd-ish. He really wants to get an outfit that appears copper colored with the look of scales. But the cloth dyers are unable to get the hue he wants. It always ends up looking just orange or a hideous cherry red. And the patterns usually end up looking like overlapping flowers. {long suffering sigh}

If anyone were to look into the antecedents of Kal (we can assume the VC's have), the would find he was born as Gruingar de'Morcaine in south central Garund. He comes from a large ordinary family that runs a moderately successful apple orchard.
At some point something went 'click' in his mind and Kal Drak entered the scene. He doesn't acknowledge anything of his past prior to that point. He IS a dragon. Not only that, he is an avatar of Apsu. Somehow some unknown servant of Dahak trapped him in this human form. When he finally manages to break that curse, he will be able to properly take up his mantle and duties as an Avatar of Apsu.

Regarding the Oil of Daylight Leon bought, his intent is only to use that for Deeper Darkness style emergencies. His archetype allows him to hand out darkvision to allies, though only at great expense in Lay on Hands.

Darkvision is critical for sneaking around in many environments & Leon's archetype is all about sneaking & darkvision. So to the extent that we want to engage in that style of play, some darkvision support from the casters would be good.

I think the Battle Cry won't stack with Heroism if anyone is brining that. The fear segment also doesn't stack with Leon's paladin aura, though that only has a 10' radius.

Kal Drak, are the two custom feats on your character sheet supposed to be Favored Prestige Class & Prestigious Spellcaster? I couldn't otherwise figure out how you were getting to L7 sorcerer casting.

Seems like we're good to start, right?

are the two custom feats on your character sheet supposed to be Favored Prestige Class & Prestigious Spellcaster? I couldn't otherwise figure out how you were getting to L7 sorcerer casting.

Correct. I forgot to re-type that in. Will correct.

Ok, I will switch the mirror image for darkvision.

And yes, I am ready to go.

Working on making some slides and posting an intro right now!

@Leon, sure, let's say rumors of the Worldwound closure are just starting to circulate. Maybe a few crusaders have made their way to Absalom and/or Nidal proclaiming victory.

Meant to say this earlier: daylight won’t be great for me, in dim light or less I have a 55% miss chance. I fully expect most foes will cut through that with darkvision, but occasionally it might be a loss for me. If I had any spellcasting I might be casting darkness, but I don’t so I won’t.

Akku also has darkvision, so I think the daylight will only be in case they throw Deeper Darkness on us (which blocks Darkvision if I remember correctly)

Kal only has lowlight vision. But if it is just normally dark he would just use a light spell.

Galadhan has darkvision as well…

Kal only has lowlight vision. But if it is just normally dark he would just use a light spell.

The Dimdweller alternate human trait can give you Darkvision 60ft. at the cost of the Skilled human trait, if that's something you'd be interested in.

Also there's a few items that could work.

10 min/day darkvision for 5k
Standard option - permanent darkvision for 12k
3 rounds, one-shot item darkvision for 350gp
Cadillac option: +2 CON *and* permanent darkvision for 15k

For 6K you can also gain Darkvision via Darksight Eyes fleshcraft (Horror Adventures), but I'm not sure how these work and it sounds gross... lol

Leon and Farrar are also human. So casting light or the occasional Darkvision spell should be good enough.

@Kal Drak: absolutely! that was just me making a semi-deep dive into ways of getting Darkvision, but yeah feel free to ignore if that's not what you wanted for your character! :)

PS: I just realized you now have darkvision on your list of spells so yeah, Kal Drak should be off to the races! this spell last 1 hour/level, 2 hours/level if you have a rod of lesser extend metamagic...

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.

Enjoy the waves Galadhan! (or the absence of them, if you're on a massive ship! :) )

Leon and Farrar are also human. So casting light or the occasional Darkvision spell should be good enough.

Leon is human, but he has Darkvision via his archtype.

Hey - sorry! Had to go out of town. Ended up not bringing my computer and had no time to update from my phone. Will push out an update very soon.

Regarding character development in the woods, Leon still needs some work.

There weren't any objections to an earlier proposal I made for Leon to have previously gone into Nidal in pursuit of the Whispered Way, or at least a cult he thought was them. This would have been while he was still serving with Lastwall, but he's supposed to have encountered Pathfinders in one of Lastwall, Ustalav or Nidal around this time. If anyone wants to match up backgrounds on that point, let me know. It could also be generic Pathfinders.

If anyone wants to otherwise have worked in the Society with Leon before, let me know.

Leon, I'd be happy to have worked with Leon before in Nidal. Seems like an excellent reason for Farrar to have been to Nidal before and interact with the people there.

Was a bit unsure on group marching order. Made my best guess. Let me know if you don't like it and feel free to rearrange yourselves.

Sorry, for the delay folks. I seem to have come down with Covid over the weekend. I am sleeping a whole lot and coughing the rest of the time. My posting may be erratic for a while.
If you want to bot me during combat, a magic missile or acid arrow is always reasonable.

Get some proper care if it's COVID! best wishes of health and recovery!

I had COVID back in September. For me it was a flu. Best of luck managing things.

Sorry to hear that! Rest up. Let us know if you need anything.

If we think we have any chance of being sneaky, I can cast Darkvision on Farrar and myself. Otherwise I can put up a Light cantrip.

Do any of the PCs or pets have use for a 7 hour Mage Armor?

I will also cast Heightened Awareness on myself.

Farrar's also got a Wayfinder, so he can cast light as well. His stealth is +9. not sure what other folks have got.

I have darkvision and Stealth +22 but I’m good with whatever everyone decides…I can also scout ahead of the group if needed…

And yes, Kal Drak, if you can spare it, I wouldn’t mind Mage Armor for 7 hours…

Galadhan all your weapons are considered ghost touch when I activate ghost hunting team feat; I didn't do a good job explaining that in- character so up to you whether you want to reconsider using the salt arrows or not.

Ah, my bad, I overlooked that, thanks for the reminder.