Mummy's Mask

Game Master Whack-a-Rogue

Quick question for Mahmoud: Aerith has not killed the last skeleton (none of her attacks hit its AC), so did you want to change your target?

The boards have been extremely slow for me the last few days as well. I'd been thinking my internet was the issue, so I'm glad that it looks to be a universal problem. :-)

Quick question for Mahmoud: Aerith has not killed the last skeleton (none of her attacks hit its AC), so did you want to change your target?

Oh, yes! Thanks! Better to remove the mobile skeleton before the immobile one. In that case, he will also take a move action afterward to maintain his performance.

Can the skull be attacked, or does the cage need to be broken into first?

The skull can be attacked normally as long as it isn't being held by an undead.

I remember crypt things from Icewind Dale. Those things were so annoying. Hoping we can take it down in a hail of daggers…

Mahmoud, did you want to do anything before I resolve Aerith's attack?

Quick post before bed, would it be possible to try and parry the last attack that came in?

I’m on a mini-vacation today and tomorrow, so I’m not at my computer and so combat might be tricky. If you don’t want to hold things up I can try to post what Mahmoud does, or I can catch up on Monday. Seems like throwing his dagger from further than 30’ might be wise… ;)

No rush. I’m having a busy weekend myself and am thinking about what move to take.

No worries, both of you. It's a holiday weekend for me, so I've been enjoying the quiet. :-)

Sorry for the AOO possibly causing a continuity issue. But that seems very in character for someone who dipped into time sphere! Anyways, as said in gameplay I'll be holding off on fluff until we work out where Aerith stands.

Schroedinger's Dragon. Simultaneously cursed/diseased and not cursed/diseased. :)

Yay for PbP creating extra complexity! ;-) The injured mummy was the first to move/attack, and due to the Pharasman shrine preventing the extra hp from desecrate, 60 total damage will destroy it.

Mahmoud's got his immediate action free, so if Aerith is participating in his performance, he can spend it to allow her to reroll a saving throw using his new Rally (Replenish) power. He'll do that if she is.

If Aerith is participating in the performance, she can also spend an attack of opportunity to force our opponents to make a Reflex save or become entangled when they enter her threatened area. It doesn't look like Aerith has Combat Reflexes yet, so that probably doesn't happen.

Just to confirm, is Aerith up in initiative?

Yes, that's correct. If the lack of attacks from the zombies is the cause for the uncertainty, it's because I forgot to roll them the last time I posted - but since they only hit on a nat20, I'm not worried about it.

I'm leaving tomorrow morning for a week-long vacation, so I might be a lot slower in my posts. I'll try to jump on my phone at the end of the day to keep up!

Have fun!

Loved that last post, Aerith!

Thank you! It was fun to write. :)

Last post got eaten. I’ll rewrite it later today

For reference, some of this was in one of the rooms you didn't thoroughly explore, but the other reason for this delayed revelation is because the necromancer was the final boss of this Book. You're backtracking to get the information you previously missed - which is awesome. :-) If you'd waited too long to find the necromancer, he would have raised Nefru Shepses as a powerful undead, which would have been a massive act of blasphemy against Pharasma.

I think one of us should wear the mask, but I don't care which one of us it is. :)

Mahmoud is generally pretty stone-faced, so it wouldn't make it easier or harder to play him wearing a mask. Likewise Aerith transforms into a dragon most of the time, so we don't usually see her real face anyway. I'll assume that from a roleplaying perspective, neither of us is unhappy with the character wearing it.

Either Aerith or Mahmoud would benefit from constant deathwatch and nondetection. Mahmoud might benefit slightly more because he often scouts ahead of Aerith, though not by much. He can also cast invisibility with his martial spontaneity shenanigans, and while nondetection doesn't stop see invisibility or true seeing, it does block creatures with constant detect magic.

While Mahmoud could technically choose to animate undead with the mask, that is completely anathema to the teachings of his goddess, so both characters would only use the good side of the mask's powers. :)

Both Mahmoud and Aerith have really good Fortitude saves. Aerith's total is slightly behind Mahmoud's, so immunity to disease may be a bit better for her. After all, we know that there are mummies in this game, and Aerith is in melee range far more often than Mahmoud.

The spell-like abilities the mask currently gives 1/day could be used by either of us (death ward, eyebite, and speak with dead). I believe eyebite uses swift actions, but neither Aerith nor Mahmoud are completely dependent on those for their attack chains, so either one of them could use the spell effectively.

I don't see very many good items that conflict with the head or the headband slot (since we don't use stat-increasing headbands in this game). Mayyyybe Mahmoud could benefit from the phylactery of positive channeling, and either character could wear a goz mask, but I'm not sure it's worth us specifically seeking those items out. Neither character would benefit from a circlet of persuasion.

Maybe we could pass the mask back and forth? Give it to Mahmoud to scout and to Aerith when we're getting ready to fight? That would mean that Aerith would have to switch back and forth between elf and dragon shapes more often, but it might be worth it if we know we're facing things with disease. We might even be able to pass the mask to remove a disease if one of us contracts something?

*DING*
This is an excellent time to reach Level 7. :-)

Mahmoud should wear the mask. Thematically it fits better and mechanically it seems useful for him. If he wears the mask? It fits and looks cool. Aerith? Looks goofy. Hence, easy choice.

And level 7? Such sweet music to my ears. :)

+1 Inherent bonus to strength (now 9!!!)
HP: 6 (class) +1 (Con) = 7
Feat: Champion Strike (Arcane strike doesn’t require swift action)
ABP: Deflection +2
Sphere Talent
* Second Skin, Limited Protection Altered Aegis Sphere - Subtle, Deathless + Undying Aegis
- Subtle: A creature with this aegis is surrounded by a field of magical energy that interferes with other forms of magic. Rather than producing an obvious spell resistance effect, however, the creature with the aegis becomes hidden from sphere abilities and supernatural abilities. The effect is such that these abilities can not target the character properly without assistance from a creature. If a supernatural or sphere ability discerns between allies and enemies (as many totems of the War sphere do), or acts in a way that its effects only affect certain creatures (such as creatures of a creature type or a specific alignment), the creature with the aegis is unaffected or considered to be an ally. Similarly, magic traps and contingency effects (like glyphs) are not triggered by the creature’s presence, and any effect relying on a magical trigger is also not triggered, as if the creature were invisible to the trap or effect. Traps may still be sprung by physical triggers, however. Abilities that rely on the caster choosing targets are not affected by this aegis, even if that ability only works on certain targets (such as a paladin’s smite evil ability), and this does not give the bearer any special concealment from creatures using magical senses. Area effect abilities are also still effective against the creature, provided the effect affects every creature, or affects every creature save for those specifically made invulnerable by the caster.
- Deathless: Deathless: You may create an aegis that blocks direct attacks on one’s life. This grants the subject a +4 morale bonus to saving throws against all death spells, Death sphere abilities, channeled negative energy, and other magical death effects, as well as harmful effects originating from healing spells, Life sphere abilities, channeled positive energy, and other magical healing effects. The subject is granted a Will save to negate these effects even if one is not normally allowed.
- Undying: When you create a Deathless aegis, you may spend an additional spell point to create an Undying aegis instead. In addition to the effects of the Deathless aegis, the subject is immune to energy drain and any negative energy effects, including channeled negative energy. This aegis does not remove negative levels that the subject has already gained, but it does remove the penalties from negative levels for the duration of its effect. This aegis does not protect against other sorts of attacks, even if those attacks might be lethal.

Natural Attacks: At 7th level they are treated as silver and cold iron weapons.

If anything is deemed unbalanced please tell me and I’ll choose something else in this I am referencing the spells. I chose them because they seemed useful

Might replace subtle with this:

Armored Magic (aegis)

You may create an aegis that wraps the target in protective barriers, granting them either a +3 armor bonus or a +1 shield bonus to AC (your choice). This does not stack with other armor or shield bonuses, but does apply against attacks made by incorporeal creatures. These bonuses increase by +1 for every 5 caster levels you possess.

Because AC is good to have and subtle might make too much of the AP go away?

Interesting choices. :-) The main thing Subtle will do is prevent you from triggering magic traps. Mahmoud can still trigger them, though, and the aegis does nothing against mundane traps. I think that talent's probably fine to take. Armored doesn't seem as beneficial as the armor bonus doesn't stack with Unarmored Training, so it would only be useful in dragon form. Enemies have a difficult time hitting you as is, so focusing on AC will meet diminishing returns eventually as well.

Here's Mahmoud's Level 7 DING. I'll get his sheet updated soon.

Johnsonfinder Cleric 7 // Johnsonfinder Fighter 7
6[HD]+3[CON] hp
4+1[FCB] skill ranks (Disable Device, Heal, Stealth, Survival, Use Magic Device)
BAB +7
CL +5

Cleric
- blended training talent: Barrage (Arrow Split)
- faith points: 10
- sacred armor +1
- spell pool: 17

Fighter
- combat talent: Sniper (Perfect Shot)
- mirror move
- reliable strike 2/day
- stamina points: 10

Extra Skill Talent (Performance: Performance Mastery) feat
deflection bonus +2

7 ranks in Stealth and Use Magic Device means that Mahmoud now qualifies to cast invisibility when gaining and activating the Concealment Mastery item mastery feat from martial spontaneity or Barroom Brawler.

Arrow Split is basically the Clustered Shots feat for Barrages, so he can deal more damage to creatures that have damage reduction.

Perfect Shot says that 1s on ranged attack rolls no longer automatically miss, and allow him to roll concealment percentages twice. He must have martial focus for either of these benefits.

Performance Mastery says that Mahmoud can move up to his full move speed when starting a performance. If he only moves up to half of his move speed, he can perform two dances instead of one. Since it's another Performance talent, it also increases his ranks in the Perform skill.

Sounds good. :-)

I’ll get a post up tomorrow. Traveling today, makes it a bit hard

3464.5 gold + 1,426.5 gold earned = 4892 gold.

Purchase Request

Deathwatch Eyes
Source Ultimate Equipment pg. 224
Aura faint necromancy; CL 1st
Slot eyes; Price 2,000 gp; Weight —
Description
These blood red crystal lenses fit snugly over the wearer’s eyes. The wearer gains the constant effects of the deathwatch spell.

Constant effect
Using the powers of necromancy, you can determine the condition of creatures near death within the spell’s range. You instantly know whether each creature within the area is dead, fragile (alive and wounded, with 3 or fewer hit points left), fighting off death (alive with 4 or more hit points), healthy, undead, or neither alive nor dead (such as a construct). Deathwatch sees through any spell or ability that allows creatures to feign death.

Rule Question
Will this work in both elf and human form when using improved transformation?

Second Rules Queation
Inscribe tattoo lets a magic item become a tattoo for 2x the cost. Could I make it 4k for a tattoo? The extra 2k gold would really just be due to the mental image, as I can’t imagine a dragon with spectacles. Given that we have ABP I’m comfortable spending double gold for flavor and mental image, but I’d like to make sure it is allowed before assuming.

Magic items with constant effects continue to function while polymorphed, so the deathwatch eyes will grant their benefit in both elf and dragon form. I have no issue with making the item a tattoo although I will submit THIS as an argument in favor of a spectacled dragon. ;-)

Huh…damn. Save 2000 gold *and* get to be a spectacled dragon? I’m very tempted.

But it’s a slippery slope. First it is the glasses. Then it is a top hat. Who knows where it will end? I’ll go for the tattoo.

I'm looking at the loot sheet, and I distributed the gold that Aerith and Mahmoud got from selling treasures and magic items we didn't want. But it looks like we also have 15,931.52 gold listed in the party loot. Is this left over from the last time we sold stuff? I didn't have any gp listed on Mahmoud's loot sheet or on his profile. I see Aerith has 892 gp listed on her profile, but she had none listed on her loot sheet.

If this isn't a mistake, that means Mahmoud and Aerith each have 7,965.76 additional gold to spend. If it is a mistake, we should delete it so we don't wonder about this next time we sell treasure. :P For now, I'll add it to our loot sheets and delete it from the party sheet.

Also, Aerith seemed to strongly suggest that Mahmoud buy a ring of sustenance. If we can find one at the market, he will gladly do so (-2,500 gp) now that we have gold to spend.

Well that certainly changes things!

4892 + 7966 = 12858

Robe of Arcane Heritage
Aura moderate necromancy; CL 9th; Slot body; Price 16,000 gp; Weight 1 lb.

DESCRIPTION

These elegant, dark purple robes are usually decorated with gold stitching suggesting a particular sorcerer bloodline, though some might indicate a family tree. When a sorcerer dons a robe of arcane heritage, the stitching pulls itself apart and reweaves to match her particular sorcerer bloodline. The wearer treats her sorcerer level as 4 higher than normal for the purpose of determining what bloodline powers she can use and their effects.

Would this interact at all with her draconic bloodline? Or does she not have a bloodline due to her archetype? If this works, I could certainly see waiting to purchase that.

The robe won't interact with Aerith's archetype. Losing access to bloodlines is the trade-off for the dragon transformation and the higher BAB/hit die.

Fair enough!

I suppose I’ll save the gold for now. Thinking about what to spend it on…

As you can see, gaining access to the Spiral Archives is the focus of this part of the adventure. Both the legal and illegal routes have complexities. ;-)

Sorry for the quick post. But if Aerith knows the system well enough it seems…safer…to make a forgery to get in rather than breaking in. But if she knows that the forgery wouldn’t protect against the guardians and the like…well…yeah.

On the other hand if she knows someone else with the authority to let them in she’d be interested in exploring that route as well.

Also her background ability allows her nose hit dice to improve knowledge rolls. Does that apply to linguistics as well? A stretch, perhaps, but worth asking.

The haty-a is the person with the authority to let you in, and you've learned that she's unwilling to do so. I'd only there was someone around who could make her give you a pass. ;-)

As Aerith is a scholar, I'd allow her to spend a hit die to boost Linguistics checks to translate an unknown language but not to forge a document.

These are excellent ideas, Aerith! :)

Thank you, and excellent save as my efforts hit a brick wall :)

I’ve hit a writers block for this scene but will have a post up tomorrow. Sorry for the delay.

“I sometimes forget that Aerith has constant detect magic. Do you want me to mention this for NPCs carrying magic items (like Deka and Muminofrah), or would you prefer something else?”

As do I! I’ll leave it up to your discretion as to what would be most flavorful and best for the story. I’d imagine that powerful magical items would give off an aura worth noting. But if it slows things down I won’t cry foul.

I’d think that it would mostly be useful for not blindly opening a door, for example, that is covered in evocation magic. Or stepping onto a tile stone with a transmutation aura. Unless such auras were hidden. Again, whatever is most balanced and fun.

I'll keep it mostly in the background, then. Magic items are somewhat less common for NPCs due to the removal of the "Big Six," so it'll mainly mean a character's under the effects of a spell or has a potentially-interesting item like a cloak of the hedge wizard. I won't mention it at all in combat unless there's a potential complication.

I will mention that some magic traps will have magic aura as an additional component, and many illusion spells won't show up with detect magic unless interacted with as it's no fun when a cantrip can negate an entire school of magic. ;-)

More than fair. Especially as Ang illusion spell worth the spell point should be defended against cantrip level detect magic.

Also I’ll get a post up soon. Just quickly replying. :)

One of my favorite restaurants in my city is a Moroccan restaurant where they serve bastilla as one of the appetizers in their deluxe five-course meal. It's delicious! You have to plunge your fingers in, since they don't have utensils, so the first few bites can often be very hot, but it's such a unique blend of spicy meat flavors mixed with powdered sugar and the thin filo dough crust. I think nowadays they make it with chicken instead of pigeons though. ;)

I read the above post last night, right before going to sleep. It made me hungry. The food truly sounds great.

Anyways... try not to die in the chariot race!

It did sound really good.

Mahmoud please use second chance rerolls whenever needed. Aerith has the spell points for it.

GM: If you are alright with Aerith having her usual buffs up before this starts then that would be great. But I didn’t specify it, so if not then she will use her turns to start bringing them online.

Between the waiting to start the race and the initial jockeying for position, there's a bit of time to get buffed up. :-)

It looks like Second Chance is an immediate action, so I think it can only apply to one of us each round. It also says that it allows "any creature currently benefiting from one of your alter time effects to reroll a saving throw they just failed."