Mummy's Mask

Game Master Whack-a-Rogue

The required spells for agile and undead bane enchantments aren't commonly prepared, so it'll take a day for Sebti to prepare the castings. Normally, enchantment requires one day per 1,000gp of the cost, but I typically skip that since we're playing an Adventure Path.

In other words, Aerith and Tribim will have the weapon enchantments at the end of the next in-game day. Aerith's enchantment tattoos and Tribim's MW Gladius will cost 2,000gp each. Tribim's Kunai will cost 2,300gp because Sebti will also have to cast masterwork transformation.

I’m not at my computer until next week, but does Mahmoud have enough money and the ability to get his dagger enchanted to a +2 agile weapon?

Tribim's MW Gladius will cost 2,000gp each. Tribim's Kunai will cost 2,300gp because Sebti will also have to cast masterwork transformation.

Sweet! So the kunai are silver/bludgeoning in case those are needed. He actually would request the magic to be cast on both gladius. Which is his choice of weapon.

Mahmoud: My system doesn't have straight +X bonuses as that's integrated into character leveling. Upgrading something else to your agile dagger will cost at least 6,000gp.

Tribim: You can get any weapon you want enchanted as long as you have the gold for it. The only limiting factors are the specific enchantment, as Clerics won't necessarily have access to the spell prerequisites.

Tribim: You can get any weapon you want enchanted as long as you have the gold for it. The only limiting factors are the specific enchantment, as Clerics won't necessarily have access to the spell prerequisites.

Cool, So have we ran the numbers on how much we have to spend?

Also, the gladius are cold iron, is it still just 2,000 gp each?

Ah, missed that. Adding enchantments to a cold iron weapon costs an additional 2,000gp.

I'm not sure of the current party funds. Who's been in charge of the loot tracker? If its Mahmoud, we'll have to wait until he gets back.

Ah, missed that. Adding enchantments to a cold iron weapon costs an additional 2,000gp.

Once we determine the loot I may just purchase a couple regular old MW blades to magic :)

Yes, it’s me, sorry! I’ll be back on Tuesday!

Since this has the potential to be a challenging fight, we'll wait for Mahmoud to get back and leveled before we begin. :-)

As a heads up. I’ll be traveling for 2 months. Will have an eSIM, WiFi and my phone. So I’ll be posting regularly, but if I’m slow please forgive me.

All right, I've updated the loot sheet and leveled Mahmoud up.

I marked the treasures that I imagine we don't want to use as sold, so that we have a sense of how much treasure we have.

We have 10,333 gp marked on the coin part of the sheet. I assume that's gold left over from the last time we sold stuff? We will get 14,609 more gp if we sell everything I marked. That is approximately 24,000 gp to divide between the three of us, or about 8,000 gp each.

Aerith: Safe travels!

Mahmoud: Welcome back!
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I wouldn't be surprised if the gp marked on the coin part of the loot sheet is correct. If I remember correctly, most of your wealth was spent on magic gear for Epperson. Since he had to bow out shortly thereafter, all of that was refunded. :-)

So it looks like Aerith's tattoos will cost 2,000 gp, and Tribim's gladii are 4,300 each? If that's right, I'll deduct 10,600 gp from our coins. Do they have those things for this fight?

Probably the best thing for Mahmoud to aim for is gloves of dueling, which costs 15,000 gp. We'd have enough for him to buy it if we also sold that adamantine flail that no one is using... ;) but if we still want to carry that around just in case, I'll wait until we get more treasure.

Aerith and Tribim will have the enchantments at the end of the next in-game day as the priests need time to prepare the appropriate spells.

and Tribim's gladii are 4,300 each? If that's right,

Tribims present cold iron gladius'/gladii? are masterwork so 4,000 each, or two new non-cold iron for 2,315 each. Probably will go with the 4,000 each and just bite the bullet on the cold iron weapons.

But not for sure yet, any ideas otherwise anyone see Tribim needing?

We'd have enough for him to buy it if we also sold that adamantine flail that no one is using... ;)

Crap I forgot we still had the flail, we should sell it, maybe use it for this fight if Aerith can flail it around with her magic.

Tribims present cold iron gladius'/gladii? are masterwork so 4,000 each, or two new non-cold iron for 2,315 each. Probably will go with the 4,000 each and just bite the bullet on the cold iron weapons.

But not for sure yet, any ideas otherwise anyone see Tribim needing?

I'll update the loot sheet to deduct 10,000 gp for everyone's purchases, though we won't get them until after this fight.

Crap I forgot we still had the flail, we should sell it, maybe use it for this fight if Aerith can flail it around with her magic.

That's a great idea!

Mahmoud, can you double-check how many points of stamina you have? Each use of martial spontaneity costs 3. ;-)

Mahmoud, can you double-check how many points of stamina you have? Each use of martial spontaneity costs 3. ;-)

The martial spontaneity ability reads: "At 4th level, a fighter can take a move action to tap into his stamina to gain the benefit of a combat feat he doesn’t possess. This effect lasts for 1 minute. The fighter must meet all the feat’s prerequisites. He must spend 3 stamina points from his stamina pool in order to use this ability, and the benefits of any feats that he gains using this ability immediately end whenever the fighter drops to 0 stamina points. The fighter can use this ability again before the duration expires to replace the previous combat feat with another choice. If a combat feat has a daily limitation, any uses of that combat feat while using this ability count toward that feat’s daily limit."

I was thinking that this meant it didn't cost stamina to change the feat once the ability has already been used; that spending a move action is enough, since it still only lasts 1m total. It sounds like that is not the case? :) If so, Mahmoud has enough stamina to use the ability once more (the first use of Dedicated Adversary), and since he doesn't have enough stamina to use it again, he'll use his Barroom Brawler feat instead. That's basically the same thing 1/day with no stamina cost.

Sounds good. Martial spontaneity has the same limitations as a Brawler's martial flexibility - it just costs stamina instead of daily uses. The sentence you're referring to just means that you're not locked out of using the ability if you want to grab a new combat feat before the 1min duration expires: you can pay the stamina cost to select a new feat and reset the duration.

Good catch Tribim. The +10 got cut off, so it’s a 28 to hit

Nice work, everyone! All of you have been fully healed, and any negative conditions affecting you have been removed.

Sebti can enchant your weapons as previously discussed. They'll be ready at the end of the next in-game day, which is convenient as I imagine you'll want to do some information-gathering and other preparations before entering the necropolis. Because you defeated Nakht's champion, your enchantments will be discounted by a total of 2,000gp. This could be used to fully pay for Aerith's agile weapon, reduce the cost of one of Tribim's ghost touch enchantments, or split between the two of you. :-)

I did some more housekeeping on the loot sheet and removed all of the items we sold. I put the natron fang and adamantine flail on Aerith's tab, and the discount on crafting means we don't have to sell the flail for Mahmoud to have enough money to commission a pair of gloves of dueling. So, I've added our purchases to our tabs on the loot sheet as well!

(Also, I realized that I had mistakenly set the access to View only for anyone who wasn't me. I fixed that.)

Current Gold: 9459.5 + 2k discount (free agile). I’ll spend 9k on Wild enchantment for her armor.

Rather than having “retain ability” for Aerith’s alteration talent I’ll take “lingering transformation.”

This gives her everything she needs to use her transformation feat regardless of spell points. Which is perfect as her going into a dragon form should be a go-to when magic fails.

So the current gold for each of us to spend is 9459.5?

Mahmoud you have a agile cold iron gladius on Tribim's spreadsheet, I'm not sure where that came from but Tribim wouldn't need agile on his weapon of choice due to Finesse training. Do you mind if I alter the spread sheet so it reflects the items he's carrying?

YBD you mentioned ghost touch enchantment, I was thinking undead bane, I'll figure out what tribim is spending the money on in the morning, still considering purchasing regular blades and spend some money on other stuff.

Did anyone claim the haversack?

8k, + her left over gold and trading in the elven curve blade as per her old writeup on getting the enchantment. Left her with just enough gold to get the Wildshape build fully active without relying on spell points. :)

As for future plans…while undead bane and ghost touch are certainly the way to go for power, I plan to save up for corrosive. Because it just feels more fitting for a black dragon transformation.

Also finally dropped the dragon transformation on the party. Glad that the build has finally come online enough to allow it to happen.

Current Gold: 9459.5 + 2k discount (free agile). I’ll spend 9k on Wild enchantment for her armor.

So the current gold for each of us to spend is 9459.5?

Apologies, I had thought you had both decided what you wanted to buy before the fight (enchanting two cold iron gladii with bane and enchanting Aerith's tattoo with agile), and I was proceeding based on that. It sounds like we need to go back and deal with these purchases more clearly, so I will revert the loot sheet to how it was before.

I think the 2,000gp discount is one-time only, not 2,000 for each of us.

We now have a total of 26,225gp (about 8,740gp each) to spend after selling our recently-acquired treasures, which doesn't include the adamantine flail, the scarab shield, the talisman of beneficial winds, the handy haversack, or the natron fang. (With those, our haul would be 33,247gp, or approximately 11,000gp each.) Mahmoud can only commission gloves of dueling if he has 15,000gp to spend, so he can't if Tribim and Aerith together spend more than 13,000gp (11,000gp plus the 2,000gp discount). I suppose he could also put undead bane on his dagger instead, but I think I'd rather he hold on to his share until we get enough treasure for him to buy the gloves, which is kind of a waste but it's okay. :)

Mahmoud you have a agile cold iron gladius on Tribim's spreadsheet, I'm not sure where that came from but Tribim wouldn't need agile on his weapon of choice due to Finesse training. Do you mind if I alter the spread sheet so it reflects the items he's carrying?

My bad, I remembered you were enchanting it with something and I mistakenly put 'agile' instead of 'undead bane'. But I removed that, so feel free to update it going forward when you decide what you want to buy.

To clarify, as Mahmoud said, as a reward for defeating the psychopomps, the party collectively gained 2,000gp that can only be used toward the cost of enchantments from Sebti. For example, it could be used to gain a 1,000gp discount on Aerith's agile enchantment and a 1,000gp discount on one of Tribim's undead bane enchantments.

On a side note, the clerics don't have access to the required spells for the wild armor enchantment, and Menya the Whip is too low-level to craft it. That'll have to wait, unfortunately. That's assuming I haven't previously okayed it, of course, but I don't remember discussing it previously. :-)

We now have a total of 26,225gp (about 8,740gp each) to spend after selling our recently-acquired treasures, which doesn't include the adamantine flail, the scarab shield, the talisman of beneficial winds, the handy haversack, or the natron fang.

Thank you for the information and doing the spread sheet.

I tried searching for the items in the game thread and only the Scarab Shield shows up....

Unless Aerith wants to use the adamantine flail as a second weapon to telekinesis (or whatever it is she does) or Mahmoud want's it as his melee weapons, I think we should sell it.

It looks like the natron fang is on Aerith's page, and the scarab shield is on Mahmoud's page. The haversack and talisman of beneficial winds are on the party loot page, does that mean no one has claimed them? I would think we would want to keep both of them, if neither of you want either of them tribim would use them, but he has claimed the circlet of persuasion so if we want to sell them that's ok too.

Speaking of the spread sheet, I find it a little confusing. I don't know if it's because I don't understand the difference between equipped, stashed and personal items. Or that some of the items are regular font and some are italicized. Or that the magical items we found and kept aren't separate from the ones we've purchased. Or if it's that the list isn't updated.

Here is a list of the items Tribim carries, if he purchased or found them and what they weight. Do you mind if I just put that information on the spread sheet and then keep it updated?

Gear
Hot weather outfit: N/A, N/A
MW cold iron gladius @ 2: (2nd Purchase) 6 lbs. 1d6, 19-20 x2, P&S
alchemical silver Kunai @ 2: (2nd Purchase) 4 lbs, 1d4, x2, 10 ft. B or P
Chakram @ 5: (Beginning purchase) 5 lbs. 1d8, x2, 30 ft. S
Ioun Torch: (Beginning purchase) N/A
Filter Scarf (1st P) N/A
Sub-total: 15 lbs.

MW backpack (1st Purchase) 4 lbs
Items in pack
bedroll: (Beginning purchase) 5 lbs
mess kit (Beginning purchase) 1 lb.
waterskin: (Beginning purchase) 4 lbs.
Sub-total: 14 lbs.

belt pouch (Beginning purchase) 1/2 lb
Items in pouch
chalk @ 10 (Beginning purchase) N/A
flint and steel (Beginning purchase) N/A
mirror (Beginning purchase) 1/2 lb.
MW thieves’ tools (1st Purchase) 2 lbs.
Sub-total: 3 lbs.

Consumables:
trail rations (Beginning purchase) (5 days/ 5 lbs.)
mother's mercy' (1st Purchase)
Wand of CLW (2nd Purchase): 50/50 charges
Sub-total: 5 lbs.

Magical Items:
'Force Hook' (1st Purchase)
circlet of persuasion (found)

Total weight of all gear: 37 lbs.

Edit: Mahmoud/Aerith, let me know if we are selling the adamntine flail, the talisman of beneficial winds, or the handy haversack. I probably will just add bane to the cold iron weapons, but may do something else if we have more cash...

The haversack and talisman of beneficial winds are on the party loot page, does that mean no one has claimed them? I would think we would want to keep both of them, if neither of you want either of them tribim would use them, but he has claimed the circlet of persuasion so if we want to sell them that's ok too.

Yes, no one has claimed them. Technically, no one claimed the adamantine flail either, but I moved it to Aerith's tab because we thought she could use it with her Telekinesis. Unless Aerith says she will definitely not use it, I don't think we should sell it. I mean, we are pretty likely to face more constructs, am I right? I must have missed the circlet of persuasion, but I think Tribim wearing it is a good idea.

Speaking of the spread sheet, I find it a little confusing. I don't know if it's because I don't understand the difference between equipped, stashed and personal items. Or that some of the items are regular font and some are italicized. Or that the magical items we found and kept aren't separate from the ones we've purchased. Or if it's that the list isn't updated.

There is no mechanical difference between items that are equipped and items in someone's personal inventory. But Aerith's a good example for that-- she is carrying the flail but it is not equipped. Stashed means an item is not being carried but has not been sold or discarded. Like maybe we left it at our camp?

I try to always italicize the names of magic items.

It might be smart to add a note to items we found or purchased if that is something you want to know. :)

I just look up new items and add them to the party loot sheet when we receive them (using the sell price as the value), but I haven't updated anyone's personal tabs, except that I consolidated all of our gold on the Party Loot page. I only just realized that you couldn't update them, and I had been assuming that we'd each take care of our own inventory. I think Mahmoud is up-to-date, but he hasn't gotten anything new in a while.

One caution: I have been adding and subtracting our purchases in the cell that has all our gold totaled. If we want to add or subtract from this value, it works much better if we put the total amount of the operation into the formula, so we have a record of the purchase. I do the same when we sell stuff, adding the total to that line.

Here is a list of the items Tribim carries, if he purchased or found them and what they weight. Do you mind if I just put that information on the spread sheet and then keep it updated?

Nope, I don't mind at all!

Thanks Mahmoud,

Aerith, should we sell the haversack, talisman of beneficial winds and the adamantine Flail? I think we should keep the haversack but I'm ok selling it also. What are your thoughts?

We should keep the haversack. Never know when we can something bulky to be hidden away. ;)

As for the Adamantine flail…sure I can hold onto it.

GM: Can Aerith sell her Mithril elven curve blade? Far too many weapons for her to carry right now, especially with the transformation.

But I’m not sure what else we can spend gold on. I’ll probably not go with wild in the future as I’m taking retain ability. No need to spend gold when there has already been sphere talent investment.

Thinking out loud…could this be added?

https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/magic-armor/magic-armor-and-shield-spe cial-abilities/brawling/

And would that work with the natural attacks? If so it seems like it would be well worth the gold. And if the group needs the funds and okay’s it, I’d be happy to see the flail sold for that. :)

Gameplay post later. International travel with 5 kids is exhausting. :p

The wearer of brawling armor gains a +2 bonus on unarmed attack and damage rolls, including combat maneuver checks made to grapple. Her unarmed strikes count as magic weapons for the purpose of bypassing damage reduction. These bonuses do not apply to natural weapons. This special ability does not prevent the wearer’s unarmed strikes from provoking attacks of opportunity or make the wearer’s unarmed strikes count as armed attacks. The brawling ability can be applied only to light armor.

Selling the mithril elven curve blade is perfectly fine. :-)

Bah! That’ll teach me to be illiterate. Alright. Last question. Can Aerith get corrosive? The acid damage feels thematic. Much more so than undead bane or the like.

Yes, Aerith can get corrosive tattoos from Menya the Whip.

I've been struggling with this decision since January.

I've been on and off the board over the last eleven years. I've loved my time here, but with changes in routines it's harder and harder to find the time and motivation to post. I was planning on staying in the six games I cut back to, but things are picking up in RL and it's only going to get worse when classes start again in September. So I feel like it's time to step away from all of the games.

I apologize for the inconvenience and I hope it doesn't disrupt the game too much, Take care everyone, good luck and good gaming.

Oh, no! Aw, Robert Henry, we're going to miss you. Real life comes first of course, but it is sad to see you go. Take care of yourself! If the time comes in the future where you'd like to come back, I'd love to see you again!

GM, how can we continue this game? Maybe we can bot Tribim until we get to a point where we can recruit another Shadow? Or would you be willing for us to try to hobble forward with only two players?

I posted my condolences to Robert Henry in Carrion Crown, so I thought I'd use this thread to discuss options since eriktd and Grumbaki are both here. :-)

I'm still processing, but for initial thoughts, I have a few ideas to bounce off the two of you. I'll preface this by saying that I think Carrion Crown is off the table. It's right at the end of an arc, so that makes for a good time to stop.

1. Continue Mummy's Mask after recruiting another Shadow or two. They can be adventurers who were still in the necropolis when the mass rising happened and have been hunkering down in hopes it would blow over quickly.

2. Start up an entirely new campaign (gestalt) for the two of you. My thought was this would be an opportunity to revisit former characters of yours and potentially play though an Adventure Path that you've previously started but never got the chance to finish. Looking at your game histories, I see that both of you have at least started multiple Kingmaker campaigns, for example, so it might be fun to pick up where you left off.

3. Add an extra player or two and start up an entirely new campaign. This option is inspired by the existing Zeitgeist recruitment on the boards, as I've previously run the first Book and had a lot of fun. That's a very lengthy AP, but you're both consistent daily posters, so it's possible. I also have Savage Tide, Way of the Wicked, and several PF2e APs - in addition to all of the PF1e adventures.
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On a somewhat related note for eriktd, I'm probably going to end the Strange Aeons game once the party's escaped the asylum. The overall pace has been very slow, and there's been minimal inter-party roleplay, so I've been waiting for a natural ending point.

Of course it's up to you, YBD, what you want to run! I'd like to help make whatever you feel inclined to do fun for all of us. I really enjoy the games you steward and I've felt lucky to be included in all of them.

Of course it's too bad that Carrion Crown is ending, but you're right that it makes sense with where everybody is right now. I will try to reconcile myself to that sad fact. :)

I'd really like to continue playing Mummy's Mask. I've been really happy with how our characters have been maturing, and I think both Aerith and Mahmoud have reached a point where they are functioning as they are supposed to in their chosen areas of expertise. I've played in multiple games of this adventure path that never got past the House of Pentheru, and even though I've run the first book myself, I've never read ahead to learn what is happening, so I'm super excited to learn more as you reveal bits and pieces of the story to us.

Of course I'll happily play in anything you want to run. That said, I'm kind of over-saturated with Kingmaker, because I've played it so many times. (I played through the video game on multiple occasions.) If you're looking for suggestions for APs to run, I might suggest Iron Gods or Hell's Rebels as games that I've played some of but never enough? :)

If you're saying you're considering starting a new gestalt game for us and ending Mummy's Mask, hear me out-- what about continuing Mummy's Mask as a gestalt game? As much as I'd love to make a new character for an exciting new adventure path with you, I'd also love to continue playing our Osirion adventure even with a dwindling number of Shadows.

I'm certainly interested in Zeitgeist, based on what I've read about it. Both Grumbaki and I made fairly complex and (in my humble opinion) compelling characters for Pasha's potential campaign. I don't know if Pasha is ever going to return, or how involved they will be in running a game if they do, but I'm sure you could find more potential players from that recruitment if you decide you want to run it.

Also sad to hear Strange Aeons is ending, but yes, I agree that it has been a struggle to keep the players engaged and moving forward. Sigh.

I completely understand about Kingmaker. I've tried running it multiple times, and it always gets bogged down pretty quickly. Doing it for an all-Goblin party is fun, though. ;-)

The potential options I'd listed are roughly in my order of preference. Mummy's Mask has been a lot of fun, but I wasn't sure about the viability of continuing on as the "Two of Shadows" considering both Mahmoud and Aerith are quite martial-focused. Gestalting is certainly an option, but then action economy becomes an issue. As you've doubtless noticed, there are a lot of nasty traps and conditions throughout this Adventure Path. As I'm writing this, though, I might be able to mitigate that by adding a bit of the Mythic rules. Nothing remotely close to the full ruleset, of course, but some sort of "spend a daily resource to take an extra turn" combined with buffing my "hit die resting" mechanic should cover it. :-)

Zeitgeist is probably the best-written adventure I've ever seen. It's intelligent, all mandatory combats are meaningful and/or have interesting mechanics, and it's even possible for PCs to change sides and join the villains if they find their arguments compelling. It's also an adventure that I'll never be able to run for my in-person group as they're very casual gamers. Definitely something I'd like to run again at some point, but I definitely don't want to step on Pasha's toes. I'll keep an eye on that recruitment and see how it goes.

Grumbaki, what are your thoughts?

Bringing back Chambawamba for an all-goblin game does sound fun... ;)

As said in the other thread, Robert Henry will be missed.

Mummy's Mask has been a lot of fun, but I wasn't sure about the viability of continuing on as the "Two of Shadows" considering both Mahmoud and Aerith are quite martial-focused. Gestalting is certainly an option, but then action economy becomes an issue. As you've doubtless noticed, there are a lot of nasty traps and conditions throughout this Adventure Path. As I'm writing this, though, I might be able to mitigate that by adding a bit of the Mythic rules. Nothing remotely close to the full ruleset, of course, but some sort of "spend a daily resource to take an extra turn" combined with buffing my "hit die resting" mechanic should cover it. :-)

This would be my vote. I love gestating, the campaign itself is fun, and I like the characters. Plus I’ve cobbled together a martial-esque sorcerer. Gestalt would let that become much more focused. And perhaps be more worthy of a dragon title. Also, traps really shouldn’t be an issue with gestalt.

At least that would be what I’d like to see. But I’m down for anything. So long as we continue to game together (and I get more opportunities to make use of YBD’s wonderful house rules!) and I’ll be a happy man.

Looks like we'll continue with Mummy's Mask, then. :-)

The question then is do we want to gestalt and continue with just the two of you - or should we recruit another Shadow or two? In the latter case, I can potentially reach out to gyrfalcon and/or Wyshart from my Strange Aeons campaign. I'm currently running a solo RoW game for Wyshart, and gyrfalcon has been a consistent poster as well.

Looks like we'll continue with Mummy's Mask, then. :-)

The question then is do we want to gestalt and continue with just the two of you - or should we recruit another Shadow or two? In the latter case, I can potentially reach out to gyrfalcon and/or Wyshart from my Strange Aeons campaign. I'm currently running a solo RoW game for Wyshart, and gyrfalcon has been a consistent poster as well.

As much as I would love to keep playing in a game with gyrfalcon and/or Wyshart, I can't resist the siren song of gestalt. I mean, Mahmoud already has one foot in the grave-- it wouldn't be at all difficult conceptually to make him into a Warpriest cleric of Pharasma.

Two very good players. I’m fine with either method. Though gestalt is a fun and rare treat…

…would shifter work with Draconic sorcerer’s transformation? Because it seems like a very natural gestalt to focus on the dragon aspect. Especially as lvl6 gets flight, which I’ve been itching for.

I’m thinking famine spirit archetype, as alteration would only be done via transformation feat. And the sorcerer side gives caster level.

If I did this, alteration talents do work with transformation? If the class and sphere talents work together I think it’d be truly thematic.

Gah, Aerith really is a Shadow! What a beast of a build, Grumbaki. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with it. Especially with Aerith's generally pleasant and curious personality!

Good questions as always. :-)

The Shifter class doesn't actually have any real interplay with the Transformation feat chain. It's focused on shapeshifting via the Alteration Sphere, which works slightly differently. Gestalting as a famine spirit is a decently-good option, however, as it trades away the Shifter's redundant class features. Essentially, you'd gain a few bestial traits (which stay active in dragon form), and the various bite- and undead-focused class features. You could then use the Alteration Sphere and any other talents if you ever wanted to transform (via the Sphere ability) into something that isn't a black dragon. Normally, I'd have minor concerns about Aerith taking a wendigo-themed archetype, but in this case, it's actually a really good thematic match, as you're currently in the middle of an undead-filled area that's covered in powerful necromantic magic.

Based on both of your initial gestalt thoughts, things seem pretty balanced. Aerith covers melee and arcane magic; Mahmoud covers ranged and divine magic. You both have good hit points and AC as well, so most everything's covered except for healing and condition removal if Aerith's incapacitated. Like I said, though, I can play around with the "hit dice" mechanic while you're updating your character crunch so you have an out-of-combat option.

Likewise, Mahmoud being a Warpriest or cleric is an excellent choice. He will be a beast with those options.

As for Aerith, glad to hear that the class features work with transformation.

“ Fearsome Bite (Ex):
At 1st level, a famine spirit gains the Alteration and Death spheres as bonus magic talents. He does not gain an enhanced caster level with either sphere. This replaces shapeshifter.”

Given that alteration sphere doesn’t work with transformation and I’ve no desire to have her be anything but the black dragon, anything that can be useful? If I go “lycanthropic” and take “greater changes” would that work with the transformation feat? Just looking for a way for it to not go to waste. Otherwise, what can this be used for?

For death I’ll probably take this:

Spiritual Voyager [DbH]

You do not gain ghost strike nor reanimate. You gain both Astral Projection and Project Spirit with the bonus talents granted by this drawback. This drawback counts as two drawbacks, and the ghost strike and reanimate abilities must be bought back separately. If a character does not initially meet the prerequisites for Astral Projection or Project Spirit when they gain this talent, they do not gain the benefits of either talent until they meet the prerequisites for them.

It feels very “arcane magic” themed, which fits better than necromancer. It also fits with the theme of telekineses being the element between planes. As well as the famine spirit being soul energy, which is in line with such energy.

Sorry I’m an idiot. Forgot that I already have Alteration - Lycanthropic - Retain Ability. Using it to get Unarmored Training when transformed. So this just means getting it for ‘free’ due to gestalt. Please ignore that.

Mahmoud does have a little condition removal and healing that he can access with his martial spontaneity feats in case of emergency. But I think healing in general is mostly going to be Aerith's wheelhouse, maybe via wands. Since Mahmoud is still kind of roguelike, I figure I should take over some of the skill utility that Tribim provided for us (Bluff, Disable Device, and Stealth). We're going to have a hard time being diplomatic, though, if we're dependent on Mahmoud doing the talking, because he is only good at threatening folks. Maybe Aerith isn't quite so intimidating when she's not in her dragon form?

I revised the loot sheet, redistributing the items that Tribim was using to the party tab. I also sold the circlet of persuasion and the scarab shield. The adamantine flail, natron fang, and wand of cure light wounds are on Aerith's sheet, and I gave Mahmoud the force hook and the handy haversack.

With those changes, we now have 30,174.52 gp, plus a 2,000 gp crafting discount. That's basically 16,087 gp for each of us.

I'd really like to buy a reliquary mithral buckler (1,255 gp) and gloves of dueling (15,000 gp) for Mahmoud. That's slightly over my share, cutting 168 gp into Aerith's half. Is that okay with you, Grumbaki? That would leave Aerith with 15,919 gp to spend, and more if you sell your mithral elven blade.

If we have an extra 900 gp that we don't need to spend now, I'd also like to see about getting Mahmoud a hypnotic tattoo, though that may not be available from the magical crafters at the Mausoleum in Wati.