Violant's Iron Gods

Game Master Violant

Here's the discussion thread. I figured I should get this done before I take a short nap or whatever my body decides to do.

Dot! Thank you so much for picking me - what a delight to play Zinli again :)

Nice to meet everyone, and to see some familiar faces as well!

Does any tweaking need to be done so the group fits well together?

What worries me a little is that it looks like we have no melee-based character?

Yeah, I wasn't admittedly thinking of party balance when selecting characters. I will, however, adjust a few encounters to compensate for that.

Hi all! Happy to make tweaks, especially changing Zelv's Skill Focus to something other than Diplomacy since we have another face (Zenser -- three Z's in the group!). You're right, Zin, Zenser looks like the only melee character, but when Zelvin gets his first level of magus I had been considering giving him a sword cane pistol so that he can fight in melee if necessary. We'll see how it goes!

Ah! I'm excited to finally try PbP - I don't usually frequent forums so this is fairly new to me. I'm also willing to change things up if we need. I did grab a machete just in case I ran into some misfires, so I'm hopeful we'll be able to handle any melee mishaps we get into!

Hi everyone! Thanks for choosing Penka Violant!

Well, I suppose if there's not front line, throwing bombs will be easier. Maybe we can spray out enough in ranged attacks to stop everything short of us. On the other hand: Watch the doors and corners. That's where they get you.

10 (figurative) bucks for anyone who gets the reference there.

We'll also need to be careful about healing. Zenser can cast CLW a couple of times a day, but that's it at first. Penka won't be able to share extracts until 2nd level. It might be worth it for us to chip in to buy a healer's kit if anyone has some spare gold left.

Penka can take the non-magical healing line of feats. Those are really good but take a while to come online.

Once we have a little money under our belts from all our adventuring together, we'll definitely want to invest in a wand of cure light wounds or two, since both Penka and Zenser can use them without having to make a check. Hekau is basically our only source of divine removal spells like lesser restoration, and we'll really be in trouble once we start needing breath of life-- scrolls in spring-loaded wrist sheaths and high Use Magic Device scores, I guess! Fortunately that's a long way off and maybe there's some technological equipment that we can lean on instead... :)

Yeah, I wasn't admittedly thinking of party balance when selecting characters. I will, however, adjust a few encounters to compensate for that.

Let's hope we won't get TPK'd early on then! :P

I agree that we're kind of missing a designated healer and a tank right now. Since we don't have to invest in Weapon Finesse, Zinli can do a bit of close range, but being a gnome, she won't be hitting hard.

(And also it kind of takes the fun away of being a Gunslinger if you have to do all the melee tanking :( )

However, since Penka and Zinli both have the Technologist feat, I can switch Technologist for more combat-oriented feat if that's necessary. It can be something Zinli picks up later.

And if there's too many gun-wiedling, range-based characters around for the party to work out, I can step down so you can recruit someone who fits the bill better.

@Penka - I believe that reference would be Miller from The Expanse. Also good point on healing - the Healer's Hands feat becomes amazing with either Incredible Healer or Signature Skill (Heal).

@Zelvin - First Aid Gloves are a good option for emergency Breath of Life casting.

Glad to have Hekau selected, and especially glad that Zelvin is alongside him again!

I tend to not post very much in Recruitment threads after my submission - no banter or RP'ing and very few comments on other submissions - and so I kept my mouth shut about how cool it would be to have the Baine brothers back as a team. Glad it worked out.

Hekau was originally built under 20-pt buy. I was sort of debating what to do with the extra 5 points. I have settled on boosting Str - not that it is particularly needed, but I really don't think any PC needs a starting casting stat better than 18. And it opens up the door for shapechanging-type offense later in the game, which Spell Sage can do quite well at.

Wizard, Alchemist, Wizard (mostly to be Magus), 2 Gunslingers, and a Bard. Knowledge and ranged combat through the roof, I think.

@Hekau: Ding ding ding! 10 (symbolic) bucks to you Sir! I'm currently rewatching the show slowly so it's at the front of my mind.

Yeah, I think Penka can afford a couple of feats for healing. One thing I could also do is swap her Pragmatic Activator trait for Precise Treatment. That would give her INT to healing rather than UMD. She'll also get Skill Focus Heal as a free feat at 5th level. If I did that could someone else handle UMD?

I'm not sure how essential UMD will be, to be honest. Zenser could be decent at it, with good Cha and UMD as a class skill.

Penka and Zenser can use CLW wands without UMD. Hekau can (at level 2) cast Cleric/Druid/Bard spells a limited number of times per day. The Alchemist list (with Infusion) includes most of the key cleric status-removal spells.

While Zelvin had referenced UMD for Breath of Life scrolls, First Aid Gloves do not require UMD (and as he said there may be technological items that do similar things). Hekau can also cast Breath of Life into a Ring of Spell Storing as another option - his regular casting time for that spell is too slow to be useful, but Storing the spell works.

Yeah, this may not be a big UMD AP like others with the technology aspect in play. In any case it's a very mid-levels+ skill, can't use it reliably until then and there's not many things to use it on until then. I think Precise Treatment is the more practical choice. I'll make the swap if that's alright Violant?

Yeah that's fine, yeah UMD isn't as useful as in most campaigns. I'll have to check for how often they appear, but there are technological equivalents to some cure spells and healing in the nanite hypoguns and hemochems.

Good to know! So it might be worth keeping the Technologist feat...

I've just arrived at my family's house for a week-long holiday. I'll try and have a look at what can be tweaked with Zinli tomorrow - right now I'm too tired.

Yeah, I'm waiting on Zenser to start the campaign, going to make sure they're still able to participate and all

I've given it some thought, and sadly, I've kind of reached the same conclusion as Zender. I don't really see what Zinli could bring to the party other than being an occasional Face. Penka, Alyn and Zelvin combined would fill her role and more.

I'm going to withdraw before we get into the campaign proper so you can pick a Charisma-high character who can disable traps, or a healer for the party. I hope that's no trouble.

I was very glad to participate anyway, and everyone's character looks awesome :) It would be a pleasure to play with you at a future table (good to see you again, rdknight, I had missed Paquen!) I'm sure you'll make a great team!

Thank you again for giving my character your consideration, GM, and for running a table.

Non-traditional parties can work with a bit of resourcefulness.

I am in an all-fighter Ironfang Invasion party, and an all-paladin Wrath of the Righteous (which is proving the greater challenge of the two). It's actually a lot of fun to figure out how to solve problems without the "default" party.

So I think the GM should pick whoever they want. I don't think we necessarily need a high-Cha face nor a dedicated healer (there are workarounds in both cases, although there are a couple of high-Cha healers in the recruitment), and we already have a trap disabler in Penka (Crypt Breaker Alchemist).

Interestingly, Zelvin and Hekau's previous party had nobody with better than an 8 Cha if I recall. It's manageable at low levels, and if it proves a persistent gap then you look at something like the Orator feat.

Apparently there have been withdrawals, and I have been asked to step in...

Yes, I can (and will) handle healer. And I can do a lot more than that... Unsworn Shaman is really extremely versatile.

Hello, glad to be here!

I can hit things and be hit. Might make some minor adjustments depending on what's more important.

WRT to skill coverages,
I have heal, perception, K Nature, K Planes, Diplomacy and Spellcraft. I have a sage familiar who has limited K Arcana (although that will become much more potent over time; it will also add other skills).

I have Climb and Intimidate :)

So Wizard, Wizard/Magus, Alchemist, Gunslinger, Shaman, Fighter. Penka has trap finding so we should have most bases covered pretty well.

How should we all meet? I guess those close to khonnir might be wanting to go find him and be finding people to join them. Grezzag is in for the prospect of smashing up some robuts

Well, WRT to meeting up, let's see what Violant's going to put on the table for us..

I plan on hopefully pulling off something similar to how the ill-fated campaign of Hekau and Zelvin started off, but I'm welcome to hear ideas.

Well I'm sorry to see Zenser and Zinli go, but welcome Grezzag and Khoran! I think I'll just stay where I'm at with changing the trait and taking the two healing feats. It might not be so needed with a Shaman in the party, but I've been wanting to try them out for a while and I doubt they will go unused. I may push back the levels I take them at depending on how things are going.

It looks like Hekau, Zelvin, and Penka are townies to a greater or lesser degree so I expect they would all be previously acquainted.

Well I'm sorry to see Zenser and Zinli go, but welcome Grezzag and Khoran! I think I'll just stay where I'm at with changing the trait and taking the two healing feats. It might not be so needed with a Shaman in the party, but I've been wanting to try them out for a while and I doubt they will go unused. I may push back the levels I take them at depending on how things are going.

It looks like Hekau, Zelvin, and Penka are townies to a greater or lesser degree so I expect they would all be previously acquainted.

Fair warning, Healing Hands and Signature Skill (Heal) are my plan for my lvl 3 and 5 feats respectively...

Oh! Alright, I'll change out that trait and use my feats for alchemy instead. No problem.

Makes it easier to get Brew Potion and a regular mutagen back down the line.

I plan on hopefully pulling off something similar to how the ill-fated campaign of Hekau and Zelvin started off, but I'm welcome to hear ideas.

Whatever you have in mind is fine with me, Violant! I don't remember exactly how we did it last time-- wasn't it some kind of council meeting at another tavern in Torch, since Khonnir's is closed? I imagine Zelvin is in a bit of a snit after arguing with his sister and hasn't been paying much attention to Hekau or the newcomers in town for the last couple of days. Also, I'd guess that while he's on nodding terms with Penka, he might see her as his sister's friend and thus is usually a bit distant. (Gives us a reason not to know each other that well to start?)

Why was it that you and Val were fighting again? Because Val got adopted first or something? But yeah I could see that.

Why was it that you and Val were fighting again? Because Val got adopted first or something? But yeah I could see that.

Zelvin thinks it's Val's fault Khonnir wouldn't let him come with him on his expedition. Val thinks it's Zelvin's fault that Khonnir wouldn't let her come with him on his expedition. I don't remember how Hekau fits in to that dynamic, but I would imagine he's been just trying to stay out of everyone's way the past couple of days. ;)

Hekau is rather oblivious to interpersonal dynamics.
(He has a racial -4 modifier to Sense Motive).

Hekau does not have a very forceful personality; if Khonnir Baine told him to stay behind, he would have accepted that.

If he is even aware of any friction between Val and Zelvin, he won't be able to discern the reason for it.

Ah, that makes sense. Does it seem there are any more issues that need to be resolved in terms of party composition and dynamics before we head into things?

And yes, I plan on having the party essentially meet up at another bar before getting called to a council meeting, call me unoriginal (going with something safe instead of flubbing it)

Penka's an occasional visitor to Khonnir's place, not a resident. She's friendly with Val, and would support her if she was complaining to Penka. But, Penka isn't exactly a firecracker personality-wise, there's no way she'd want to get mixed up in the dispute between Zelvin and Val directly.

I've also decided on using Google Slides since it won't require anyone creating an account or anything. I'll work on getting a few things set up before we properly start anything.

Anything urgent that needs to be resolved among the party first?

I might look to make a couple of last-second changes to Hekau if that is okay.

I think I would switch the Deep Cover trait to Magic is Life (the Nethys religion trait), and the 1 rank of Disguise to Appraise. Disguise just isn't going to be a thing for him.

And, I'll swap Magical Epiphany for Skill Focus (Knowledge - Engineering). He'll need the latter feat for Technomancer, and Magical Epipany is really hard to use at level 1 (he has only 2 1st-level slots, and keeping 1 open is a major hardship).

Yeah that's fine by me, Hekau

I've sorted out my equipment, didn't need to make any character changes, so I'm good to go.

Alright, first actual campaign message posted. Looking forward to this, everyone!

@ Penka
and
@ Khoran,

would you be okay moving the plot forwards, or would you like to introduce yourselves and RP a bit more?

IOU 1 (or more) post of RP, but move the plot forward when it's convenient for you.

Are we good to move on to the Foundry?

I have no idea, is the foundry Khonnir's place?

Yes, it is, Khoran.

I believe we're okay to start combat soon, unless I'm missing an incoming amount of RP on the mosey to the Foundry that just hasn't come out yet.

As a result, I'll need some kind of token from the six of you on the map linked on the most recent post, if that's okay.

It won't matter to Hekau as he doesn't get Morale bonuses, but what is Khoran's flag? What affiliation does it represent?

As we weren't a party until maybe an hour ago, it could perhaps have been scrawled on a tavern napkin...

It won't matter to Hekau as he doesn't get Morale bonuses, but what is Khoran's flag? What affiliation does it represent?

As we weren't a party until maybe an hour ago, it could perhaps have been scrawled on a tavern napkin...

... As he does, he shakes the lonspear he had been using as a walking staff, to unfurl a banner, adorned with a snarling bear skull...

So that would be his tribe, then, and only members of that allegiance would get the bonus.

I did have a PC who had the feat; he had a flag made with a symbol for the party as they were a well-established militia by the time he started using it.

Not exactly, the Bone Bears fell into the dust of history at the hands of the Black Sovereign; the symbol is unclaimed... So PCs can be inspired if they so choose...

Yeah I'd be fine with the PCs adopting the banner for the bonus (since there are no more bone bears), otherwise the feat would be essentially pointless. But the idea of it being scrawled on a napkin is hilarious, I'm not going to lie.

Oh, @ Zelvin, I noticed you for some reason have a revolver on your character sheet? Is that correct?

Zelvin has the gunslinger’s gunsmith feature, which means he starts with a battered firearm, either one-handed or two-handed. I wasn’t sure if our elevated guns setting makes that a choice between a revolver or a rifle rather than a pistol or a musket. Revolvers exist, right? Are they common enough that a gunslinger would begin with one of them instead of a pistol?