DM Fang Dragon's: War for the Crown

Game Master FangDragon

Welcome! Please check in here and say hello :)

I'd like to do a little session zero stuff before we start, to make sure we're all on the same page and that we've got a good spread of skills and that I fully understand your characters. If based on party composition you want to make any changes to builds or backgrounds or to purchase equipment (maybe some of you know each other) now's the time!

I'm going to try and build each of your characters in hero lab, so I may ask some questions here or in PMs. You don't have to use the herolab format in your profile but I'm more than happy to provide it (and the save files) for you if you'd like.

Some of you have already made profiles which is great, could everyone please try to get that done soon. Also could you please put hp, ac, skills and saves in your status lines for quick reference. Here's an example.

In Llewellyn's profile he has this (without the spaces for the tags)

Race: Half Orc Chelish Diva Bard 7 | HP 50 / 52 AC 23 T13 FF21 | CMB +9 CMD 22 | F +8 R +10 W +8 | init +2 | [ url= ...]Resource Tracker[/url]

Classes/Levels: [ spoiler=Skills]Bluff +13 Diplo +13 Intimidate +14 Kn: Arc +8 Kn: Geog +8 Kn:Hist +8 Kn: Local +13 Kn: Nature +8 Kn: Nobl +8 Kn: Plan +8 Kn: Relig +8 Perc +10 Perf: Oratory +13 Perf: Wind +12 Sense motive +13 Spellcraft +12[/spoiler]

Some of you have already made profiles

In fact you all have made profiles, which is great!

Now onto some business, before we get started there are three items I'd like you to vote on. To vote please respond with a clear yes or no, you can do this here (if you're comfortable) or sent me a PM with your choices.

#1 Beards
Originally Taldor was described as having a law stipulating that only the ruling class are permitted to grow beards and the masses where referred to as the unbearded. Paizo later walked away from this. Do we want to keep this fairly odd bit of lore in the game?

If a minority want this gone, it will fade into the background but still be there. If a majority want it gone, it's gone. If you all want to keep it, it's there in full force.

#2 Garden of delight
The level 8 ability of the seducer witch archetype has flavour text that some people may object to. Do we want to reflavor this? E.g. perhaps as an elaborate tea ceremony (channeling the Geisha Bard)?

Given the nature of this, if anyone objects we'll reflavor.

#3 Spell casting emanations
Paizo's position is that all spellcasting is accompanied by noticeable emanations, sounds, flashing lights, etc... So if for example you tried to cast glibness in a noble's gala before giving a speech you'd get noticed and called out. To get away with casting spells in a social situation you have to take a feat tax, or be really inventive. In some quarters this is controversial.

Do we want to keep this rule? I'm going with the majority here. Please bear in mind that if you vote to remove this rule, NPCs will 100% use this too, sometimes to your disadvantage.

Hello everyone!

Just wanna start off by thanking DM Fang for inviting me along for this game. Been wanting to take a stab at War For The Crown for awhile now and really appreciate the opportunity to do so! As for your player questions...

#1. The whole beard thing was there to make Taldor seem more ridiculous and dominated by the ruling class than it already was and I gotta say it worked. To well in fact. I think the beard thing is funny but it does sort of go to far in wacky territory even with Grand Prince Stavian III being a major wacko himself. I say we ignore but it doesn't bother me immensely.

#2. I'm fine with some more adult themes surrounding sex and sexuality in our story though I also think stuff like the aforementioned Seducer ability should probably be kept in spoilers or only vaguely alluded to. Once again, not a dealbreaker for me at all, especially if rdknight really wants to use it for their character.

#3. I will admit it was kind of annoying trying to figure out how to somehow avoid flashy lights going off whenever I wanted to be subtle and sneaky while playing a Enchanter wizard lol. Getting rid of that would be welcome for my Bard and probably rdknight's character as well even if the NPCs can do it too.

Hi all, I am very much looking forward to this game. As far as builds go Valeria is meant to be a face character combined with a bad touch/support caster. I'll get cure spells automatically as we level so I will be a pocket healer (though if someone else is covering that I may swap that to gaining inflict spells for free).

1.) I was completely unaware of this until it came up during the recruitment so I have no real feelings either way plus, lady of the night here (not that kind perverts) so it doesn't really make a difference to me. I'm good with doing away with it or just fading it into the background.

2.) A Seducer Witch!? I have tried to play them before but the games always die on me early so I don't get to do much with them. The adult themes don't bother me at all ( I rather enjoy them) so I am fine with keeping it. Anything dealing with them can be kept in spoilers or in PM if needed.

3.) I am good with everyone being able to do this as it adds a lot of intereting challenge. Alternatively we could just say anyone who casts spells gets the Conceal Spells feat as a bonus feat. I would still follow the rules as laid out in the feat to successfully do it if handled this route.

Hi everyone!

Thank you for choosing me Fang Dragon! I'm thrilled to be playing with you all!

1. I don't have feelings about this one way or another. I suppose, as someone who's likely to be kissing some number of those faces, Pelligrina would say "yuck" to the beards. There is also a middle course we could take. Maybe the laws have been repealed, or maybe fashion has changed to such an extent that only older people might still keep up the tradition. It's a thing grandfathers or younger arch-traditionalists keep to, while everyone else has abandoned it. Maybe beards among the elite are now a political statement?

2. I'm actually the one who brought this question to Fang Dragon. I'm fine with either keeping the ability as is or modifying it to make it less explicitly sexual as the party members prefer. I didn't want to force anyone to leave buffs on the table if they weren't comfortable with the method for getting them. It's an 8th level ability so there's plenty of time yet to revisit the question if anyone wants to before it will matter in game.

3. I'd like secretive casting to be easier than Paizo makes it, but not necessarily so automatically easy we can just cast our way to success in social situations. The social aspects of the AP are what makes it special, and they should remain a challenge. But as the rules stand now, some spells are rendered almost useless because they're rarely good outside situations where it would be used to influence social situations, and can't be cast in social situations without automatically being known to have done so.

I'm very tempted to add Conceal Spell as a free feat, assuming you meet the skill prerequisite.

I'd like to hear everyone's opinion before making a ruling however.

How will Hexes be considered to work? Most of them are Su abilities so is it correct that unless there is a component in their use, like verbal for Cackle, they are not detectible?

I'm tempted to say there is an effect but it's subtle in-comparison to verbal spell casting. E.g. evil eye involves a hard stare plus a sort of aura that can be felt. The victim has a pretty good idea that something has happened but they or an observer would need some kind of check to figure out what happened and who did it. Observers woild need a perception check too to realise anything happened.

How about to identify: Kn: Arcarna (or Spellcraft) DC 15 for regular hexes, DC 20 for the next tier and 25 for the tier after that?

As for who did it, would perception (similar DCs?) plus an opposed sense motive check make sense?

Thank you again for the selection DM! I really know nothing about this AP and my exposure to Taldor is limited to the research I did while creating my character profile. Looking forward to an immersive pbp experience.

For my fellow adventurers: Triphylla is a social chameleon of sorts, although limited by her not-human-ness in Taldan society, she can be charming or aloof; she may attempt to assert herself at times and at others she may go with the flow or stealthily slip into the background. She can be triggered when disregarded or overlooked, but she isn't quite Napoleonic about it. If she is quick-tempered and rash she just needs a few minutes to calm down and then she will seek forgiveness. She inherited these two facets of personality and I will play them true but try to not be random or annoying about it.

She is the party rogue when necessary, and fights like one, and she will occasionally attempt to affect the disguise of a human child to better blend in.

To the questions at hand:
1) IRL I think (hope) we're at the 1974 tipping point with beard chic. While my personal opinion is that a beard can make the man, too often they are poorly-kept, and there are few things less attractive than a really bad beard. Applying that to the game, I appreciate the attempt to create a further distinction among classes, but imposing a thou-shalt-be-clean-shaven edict on the underclasses seems preposterous. Where do they perform these daily rituals? Are we to assume everyone has clean water to prevent infection and disease? And for that matter, there must be an expectation that each beard-capable person keeps a sharp, clean blade and soap on person or nearby, lest they capture the wrong kind of attention from the local constabulary. I would think that we can dismiss this by acknowledging the mistake of this law, revealed through the terrible plague of poor dead males who didn't boil their shaving water for the required eight full minutes and thus perished in shame from gangrene of the face. Who would otherwise care for all those widows and fatherless children?

2) Triphylla is a young, sexually active female. She will be bawdy at times as a young reformer in this story has a right to be. The Garden of Delight causes her no shame, and if our Seducer chooses to create it, Triphylla will certainly rest there assuming no one objects to her presence. No need from my perspective to tame this at all.

3) Who am I to say that spellcasting should not be a stealth action? Have at it. Although we may expect rival NPCs to have the same capability. The free Conceal Spell feat makes sense to me.

By-the-by, I've always felt a little uncomfortable with Alchemy, although I keep drinking from that well. It's more to do with the actual kit: lugging around this complex collection of glassware in a backpack... My experience has been that DM's do not unfairly burden alchemists with these details. That being said, an alchemist is more or less a spellcaster except that the fruits of her talents are not innate. Triphylla will need to carry her backpack everywhere, and leaving it behind while stepping into a gala is not the same as leaving behind a sword that can be easily replaced with another. Her mutagens and extracts are not the same as vials of oil or potions of healing. They are as critical to her character as any feat and perhaps more-so.

I'm not suggesting she be allowed to carry a sack on her person into such formal engagements - I very much prefer to adhere to realism - but it will be at the top of my list of concerns that she be able to recover it when needed. I don't foresee this being overly problematic; we are adventurers, afterall - we all need our gear.

I am interested in DM's (and other PCs) thoughts about this.

As for Pelligrina, she's the party's snake, or better complete chameleon. She's an ear-whispering shmoozer who can befriend people she detests given the right reasons. She's good at getting people to do what she wants them to by telling them what they want to hear.

While she always uses her charm and beauty to her advantage, Pelligrina knows there are many different routes to a person's desires. If she can figure out what they want most, she can offer them a path to getting it that just happens to benefit her or her causes first and most.

Being a witch just makes all this easier for her. But meat and potatoes, Pelligrina will be good at debuffing and using enchantments. She can use divinations for recon well due to the Mirror Witch archetype. She'll also help with battlefield control and utility spells when she can. If needed she can also act as a pocket healer, though more pocket than Valeria.

Re alchemy as far as I understand it, a full alchemist's lab is not easily portable due to lots of fragile glass wear and it weights 40lbs.

However there is a Portable alchemist's lab which I assume is inside a wooden box small enough to carry, presumably with a strap.

Generally I intend to handwave how bulky/fragile that is, but unless you get a portable hole or the like you'll need a base of operations to use the full lab. Still many towns have labs you can rent for a small fee.

I've opted for the Alchemy Crafting Kit so as not to be absurd given this a halfling lugging the thing across the world. Thanks!

Also, I did make one tweak so far, exchanging the hp for the skill point as fcb.

And since we're on the topic of bulkiness, I've often wondered why the Weight associated with items does not vary by size class. Leather armor alone weighs half as much as your stock halfling. For all the tiny details in pathfinder this seems like an oversight. Perhaps I've missed some errata. Conversely, I am taxed when wielding weapons larger than my size class, so my chances of finding useful treasure are significantly reduced.

A further note on Valeria is that while she is very good socially she is heavily tainted by the Abyss and this causes good and lawful characters always mistrust her even if they don't understand why because that taint. It's intrinsic and unavoidable but once everyone understands it could eventually prove as a useful indicator as to whether someone is a good person or not based on their initial reaction to her.

Hmmm, I wonder how this interacts with detect alignment spells? Or things like smite evil or alignment based damage. As written it is just a mechanical penalty to certain skills but that doesn't make a lot of sense to me in some ways..

1. I like Pelligrina's suggestion that its a fading thing amongst the aristocracy - although its probably still on the law books.

2. I'm not fussed by 'adult themes'. Cyrene is going to be rocking the full succubus look quite a lot of the time she'll be absolutely getting 'adult' as and when it suits her. That said, there's a pretty well established level of forum content and I don't think there's any need to go more detailed than that.

3. Not fussed by spellcasting. Unsurprisingly. As a non-caster I'd like there to be at least a chance to catch someone casting if they start but I think it makes sense that Taldanes would have come up with more 'civilised' methods of casting. ;)

Mechanically Cyrene is pretty much a rogue right now. Once she hits level 7 onwards she'll start being a one-hit wonder as long as she can draw the start of combat out for at least three rounds. Given the time she's also an insanely good scout - as long as she can be in one form and then switch to the other no-one would recognise her. I'll take the talents to support that when I get the chance.

Once we get to the right level I think she and Pellegrina could be a wonderful double-act. Pellegrina sets them up and Cyrene knocks them down. ;)

@Valeria My bet is the designers didn't fully think that one through (although it's not like detect alignment is super OP). Let's play it by ear and see how it goes.

Ah good our 6th player Cyrene has joined us, she has a fairly colourful past too! PS Valeria (Drogeny) and I have a history with tieflings ;)

So while we're doing session zero stuff, let's also talk about skills. I had a look at party skills over the weekend, I was tired when I did this so it's quite likely I made some mistakes!

Anyway it seems nobody has points in kn: dungeoneering, survival or appraise. All of these crop up a bit although no way near as much say diplomacy or perception.

Now's a good time to make any adjustments!

Also I noticed some of you have leather armour on your sheets, that's fine if you want it for RP reasons but I expect most of you can afford better since we're starting with max gold for your class.

I'm tempted to say there is an effect but it's subtle in-comparison to verbal spell casting. E.g. evil eye involves a hard stare plus a sort of aura that can be felt. The victim has a pretty good idea that something has happened but they or an observer would need some kind of check to figure out what happened and who did it. Observers woild need a perception check too to realise anything happened.

How about to identify: Kn: Arcarna (or Spellcraft) DC 15 for regular hexes, DC 20 for the next tier and 25 for the tier after that?

As for who did it, would perception (similar DCs?) plus an opposed sense motive check make sense?

Yeah, this was more what I was meaning. Not so much that Hexes would be completely undetectable, but that they don't produce visible and audible effects that make them obvious.

The witch would still have to focus on the intended target though, which means "tells", a stare (Evil Eye), a slightly unusual behavior, or change in demeanor might potentially be noticeable.

Oh hey I just realized I forgot to include Julia's combat and noncombat roles and capabilities. Might as well do that now and share with the rest of the class. Basically Julia's your typical Bard with the supporting buff abilities and Face skills that come along with that. She's good at keeping the party inspired and kicking ass and can be good at sweet talking people on our way as well. Speaking of kicking ass she's a decent melee front-liner or will be as she levels up. Might actually tweak her build a bit to make her more formidable at level 1 but either way you can expect her to be whirling her rapier in front instead of just singing in the back.

Question: for me this campaign shows up in my list, does it for you too? I was going to wait until we've got session zero sorted before making the gameplay thread, but I could make it now if needed.

re. Skills. Cyrene has linguistics because otherwise she couldn't speak languages that make sense to me. :) She'll pick up appraise later. Likewise I can accumulate some Knw Dun if people would like.

Long term my original plan was to take Master Spy prestige levels from 8 since they will stick stack onto my death attack and I've never played said prestige class. If we think that would lower my DPS too much I could stick vigilante though.

@Fang It won't show up until you make a gameplay and we all post in it. You can delete the post again immediately, but there has to be a thread and we have to post. Until then it won't show.

Very much looking forward to rp with all of you. This seems like a very interesting and dynamic group! Happy that Cyrene made the party!

Edit: forgive my question about Weapon finesse. Sometimes I read things too fast.

Julia one thing to mention at level five your archetype gets an arcane bond to your weapon, that's pretty neat and all but it means you have to be wielding it (i.e blade drawn) in order to cast spells.

Were you aware of that?

Could Pelligrina refluff a haramaki as a protective corset?

Yes weapon finesse is a free feat and if you're class/archetype grants it you get weapon focus instead.

@Pelligrina yes absolutely.

@DM as for better armor, maybe if it didn't weigh so damn much. Are you open to a house rule for small size class that reduces armor weight, say by half, rounded up?

Full disclosure, I would probably improve my outfit instead of my armor.

I'm good with playing the interactions of the curse with spell effects by ear as we go. Just thought I should bring it up to put a bug in your ear about it.

It likely shows up for you Fang since it is a game you are GMing, the rest of us need to post in gameplay first. Fortunately if you are in the root RP forum and set it to focus it will show the discussion/recruitment threads there if new posts are made.

@Triphylla as far as I can tell that's an official rule, small characters have half weight weapons and armour and for large size the weight doubles.

So yes you can have half weight armour.

Hello everyone! I am happy to be part of the cast and looking forward to have fun with all of you!!!

1) Beards Indiferent.
2) Garden of delight Reflavor. Lope is in favor of sexual relations, but I would rather prefer the ability is free of such conditions, I do not want anyone feel pushed to a behavior for a mechanical advantage. Perhaps flirting with the seducer should be enough.
3) Emanations Remove. If the spell has a material/somatic component though I would expect a Sleight of hand to conceal its use and avoid a Spellcraft/K. arcana to know what is going on. If it has a verbal component I expect some kind of Bluff or Linguistics to conceal the casting with other words. But if there are no components and no effect associated, it kind of ruins the fun of a social adventure if everyone knows who is casting.
Edit: Seems kind of what Conceal Spell proposes, I am fine with that.

And since we're on the topic of bulkiness, I've often wondered why the Weight associated with items does not vary by size class. Leather armor alone weighs half as much as your stock halfling. For all the tiny details in pathfinder this seems like an oversight. Perhaps I've missed some errata. Conversely, I am taxed when wielding weapons larger than my size class, so my chances of finding useful treasure are significantly reduced.

For the specific case of armor there is in fact table for armor size that cites reduced weight! So half weight for your leather :D

Changes
I plan to exchange human bonus feat and skilled for Dual Talent racial ability to get a +2 Int, as Lope receives freely Weapon Finesse.

Will do later.

Skills and more
Going for dinner, more on this later, but I did not want to miss the chance to greet everyone!

@Triphylla as far as I can tell that's an official rule, small characters have half weight weapons and armour and for large size the weight doubles.

So yes you can have half weight armour.

Color me red. In all my travels I have somehow missed that very germane piece of information!! I'm sure it says so in a very obvious place that I looked at a hundred times and did not see. Once again, I read things too fast, although this is quite a miss on my part.

Anyway, thank you!

As for Party Skills, please add Triphylla to Craft Alchemy, KNO Arcana, Perform Oratory, and Sleight of Hand, and although she is "untrained," her Acrobatics and Stealth skills are pretty good. Her Background skills are Craft Alchemy and KNO Nobility.

I'd be willing to move a skill point out of KNO Arcana, since it seems we have that covered, and into Appraise, which is also a class skill for me.

@All I've created the Gameplay thread please dot and delete. I'll make a proper gameplay thread post soon.

OK vote results:

1. Beards: Lets adopt Pelligrina's suggestion that its a fading thing amongst the aristocracy - although its still on the law books, it just isn't enforced.

2. Garden of delight: Reflavor, so that relations are not required. Got a long while before this becomes a thing anyway.

3. Emanations: Removed, Conceal Spell is a free spell if you have any of the skill pre-requistes. Hexes are hard to notice (requires a perception check), requires Kn: Arcarna to identify (DC 15 for first tier, DC 20 for second tier, DC 25 for the third tier of hexes). Requires an opposed sense motive check to work out who hexed somebody.

The switch to Charisma for casting means Pelligrina won't be quite so good at skills, especially knowledge skills, as a typical arcane prepared caster. Besides, Witches don't get all of the knowledge skills in class anyway. I'll also be putting points into UMD, there just aren't quite enough to go around just yet.

I can put some background points into Appraise starting the next level if nobody else is going to do it.

Not having K Nobility in-class is something I consider to be a flaw with Pelligrina's build. She should have it if she's who she's supposed to be. I just couldn't manage to work it in though. Oh Well. I did still put a point in.

I can put some background points into Appraise starting the next level if nobody else is going to do it.

No worries - I made a switch and now count Appraise among Triphylla's skills.

Let's discuss who knows each other at the start? E.g. Valeria might well know of Cyrene, and vice versa, maybe they met already?

Let's discuss who knows each other at the start? E.g. Valeria might well know of Cyrene, and vice versa, maybe they met already?

I'll look through tomorrow and see, but odds are that anyone who knows Cyrene would only know one of her faces - probably the social one. She advertised herself to Martella, but she isn't going to let just anyone know who/what she is.

DM Fang Dragon wrote:

Let's discuss who knows each other at the start? E.g. Valeria might well know of Cyrene, and vice versa, maybe they met already?

I'll look through tomorrow and see, but odds are that anyone who knows Cyrene would only know one of her faces - probably the social one. She advertised herself to Martella, but she isn't going to let just anyone know who/what she is.

Cyrene, might you have any connection to the Brotherhood of Silence? If so, Triphylla could have heard of you, although it's less likely we know one another.

After a quick scan through the other backgrounds I don't see any obvious personal connections for Pelligrina. On the other hand she's been making it her business to circulate and get her name out there. She might know any of the "Child of Oppara" set or other nobles by family name if not personally.

Skills
Disable Device <- Lope will leave a single rank there, as Triphylla covers this better
Fly <- No rank, just good Dex for now
knowledge (dungeoneering) <- Will allocate ranks there when possible
knowledge (planes) <- Will allocate some ranks there when possible

Who knows who
Lope just arrived to Oppara, so unless they know each other when they were kids, there is little chance there yet

It's possible you have all heard rumors of Martella's "curious little doll," but unlikely Triphylla knows any of you personally.

Julia one thing to mention at level five your archetype gets an arcane bond to your weapon, that's pretty neat and all but it means you have to be wielding it (i.e blade drawn) in order to cast spells.

Were you aware of that?

Oh I know but I figured wielding could also mean that Julia just needs to have it on her person instead of it being drawn. Also, in a pinch, I could always try to make the concentration roll if my rapier is unavailable.

As for who Julia knows or has at least heard about...

Lope de Vega: I would assume that through the grapevine Julia has at least heard about the tragedy of the Vega family and how they fell from grace. Highly likely she would not believe the claims about them being corrupt given that arch-conservative Maxillar Pythareus made them. Furthermore, even if Eduardo was corrupt she would hardly think it just to exile his whole family for the sins of one man. Since Lope has a talent for poetry maybe he knows Julia through Taldan art scene?

Pelligrina Revay: Given that they are both minor nobility its quite possible or even likely that they've been in the same circles even if Pelligrina is not a native of Oppara. Perhaps they even both went to Lady Breau’s Academy for Young Women together? I didn't really detail what arts institute Julia went to so maybe that's their connection.

Triphylla Achlys: Unlikely to know her personally but Julia may heard about her epic logic barroom throwdown lol. In turn Triphylla may have heard of Julia's feminist plays or the duel she won against her betrothed.

Valeria Turanor: Like Pelligrina they may have known each through the nobility, especially since Valeria is a native of Oppara. Perhaps they also meet each other at the Temple of the Upheld and Golden Rose, since Julia is a big time Shelynite. They likely lost touch once she left for the Worldwound though... and Julia probably would be terrified what she experienced there if they were friends or even acquaintances.

Cyrene: Almost certainly knows nothing about her but she may have heard of Julia and her antics.

DM Fang Dragon wrote:

Julia one thing to mention at level five your archetype gets an arcane bond to your weapon, that's pretty neat and all but it means you have to be wielding it (i.e blade drawn) in order to cast spells.

Were you aware of that?

Valeria Turanor: Like Pelligrina they may have known each through the nobility, especially since Valeria is a native of Oppara. Perhaps they also meet each other at the Temple of the Upheld and Golden Rose, since Julia is a big time Shelynite. They likely lost touch once she left for the Worldwound though... and Julia probably would be terrified what she experienced there if they were friends or even...

I like the idea of them having been friends before Valeria went to the World Wound. She was a Shelynite Paladin then and it makes a lot of sense they might have known each other.

I doubt they have seen each other since then, even after Valeria's recent return to the city. I imagine you would have heard that she had gone missing when things fell apart at the Wound (think the beginning of the AP) and maybe that she had recently turned up again and was no longer a paladin.

Triphylla Achlys: Unlikely to know her personally but Julia may heard about her epic logic barroom throwdown lol. In turn Triphylla may have heard of Julia's feminist plays or the duel she won against her betrothed.

Now that would make for some juicy gossip among the upper crust clientele of the pubs Triphylla likes to crash. Yes, she has most definitely heard of you, probably first among the jeering men who scoff at such a pathetic creature that would lose a duel to a song bird, and then among the women who cheer your name. Perhaps you were there that night the unlikely halfling engaged in a battle of wit with the nobleman. Perhaps we've enjoyed a conversation over pints.

Julia and Pelligrina could have both attended Lady Breau’s Academy for Young Women. It would be a nice connection. But... the idea I have of the place is it's very specifically a finishing school.

The curriculum is devoted to teaching social graces, complex manners, what to talk about in conversations, what to wear when, how to wear it, how to speak, how to manage household servants, etc. The goal is preparing the students to nab the best (rich, well-titled) husband possible. Of course music would be one of the things taught, but only to the extent that a quality wife would be able to entertain at social gatherings. Scholarship is not encouraged, very bad for one's prospects.

So that's what Julia would have been signed up for if she was there.

@DM, may I begin with pre-crafted alchemical items? Some small quantity of Sunrods, Acid, Alchmist's Fire, Antitoxin, Bloodblock, or Thunderstone, at your discretion. I have 86 gp remaining for raw materials.

Craft, Alchemy: 1d20 + 6 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 6 + 5 = 30 Using Crafter's Fortune extract

That roll feels like a good omen.

Edit: Including raw material costs:
Acid: 4 gp
Alchmist's Fire: 7 gp
Antitoxin: 17 gp
Bloodblock: 9 gp
Sunrod: 1 gp
Thunderstone: 10 gp

Given the prerequisite crafting time in advance of the events of gameplay, I propose having crafted the following:

1 Antitoxin
1 Thunderstone
1 Bloodblock
4 Alchemist's Fire
4 Acid
4 Sunrods

That leaves me with 2 gp to rub together. If it pre-crafting is not allowed I'll just include the raw materials in my equipment and work on them as time permits during the campaign.

Valeria Turanor: It would certainly be a shock for Julia if she saw one of her friends be gone for so long and suddenly show back up having gone through such a transformation of character and religion. Definitely would be doggedly curious about what went on in the Worldwound.

Triphylla Achlys: Ha! Yes that totally works for me. I could certainly see them having a good nice chat if she actually saw you win that debate. Maybe even becomes friends or at least acquaintances after that.

Pelligrina Revay: Ah that makes sense. Well with that being the case I suppose it better to simply leave as Julia and Pelligrina as people who meet at a few parties in Oppara if at all.

@Triphylla yes you can craft some items before we start.

@All, I'm going to update my hero lab versions of your character sheets tonight. There's a few archetypes / traits / feats from the villain codex I can't figure out how to get. They consolidated a lot of the packages and it's not obvious which one is needed now. This isn't a big deal but it does help me understand your characters. Level 1 characters are simple, but by level 10 that'll no longer be the case. I'm hoping that future me will be glad I did this.

Once that's done we can start.

Thank you, DM. I did also change three (of my four) extract formula selections to try to be more well-rounded and less situational. I'll put together the resource tracker later today.

@Julia: Do you want to go with that idea then? Both Julia and Pelligrina have seen each other around at meetings or events for Princess Eutropia supporters or other reformist causes and are familiar? It works for me.

Cyrene wrote:

I'll look through tomorrow and see, but odds are that anyone who knows Cyrene would only know one of her faces - probably the social one. She advertised herself to Martella, but she isn't going to let just anyone know who/what she is.

Cyrene, might you have any connection to the Brotherhood of Silence? If so, Triphylla could have heard of you, although it's less likely we know one another.

Cyrene knows about the Brotherhood but isn't involved with them - she works strictly for Nocticula and what she perceives as Nocticula's interests. So Triphylla will probably have heard grumbles etc around the Brotherhood about some sort of 'independent' who's been poaching on their turf, but wouldn't connect that to Cyrene - at least not yet.

Cyrene thinks that anyone who needs a team to kill someone isn't good enough at their job anyway. ;)