Mummy's Mask

Game Master Whack-a-Rogue

Luckily, it's a simple lock (DC 20). :-)

As long as there's a threat of drowning, we'll still be operating in rounds.

Away from the map - would someone kindly move me onto the dais where the sarcophagus came from?

”I don’t think those bodies are with anything, if that’s your question…” The dwarf looks at Unatti.

Asking the dwarf instead, "Do the two mummies have anything of value?"

A16

This small room is filled with human-shaped bundles wrapped in linen. Each wears a small medallion around its neck...

Tribim was hoping for information about the medallions, would you rather took at them, or would you rather Tribim take a look?

Epperson missed your point about the medallions. Feel free to point it out to him!

How long do we have to search the tomb? I was under the impression that we get a new assignment tomorrow morning, so if we leave we don't get to come back.

You can take as much (or as little) time as you wish to search the tomb. New assignments are given out each morning, but there are plenty of available sites in the necropolis.

I couldn't remember if anyone checked out the western stairs that you revealed, so I had Tribim poke his face it to see what it was.

I'd been wondering if anyone would do that. :-)

Can I suggest Epperson, Mahmoud, and Tribim each take a three hour watch? There's a bit of overlap that way, and each of us gets five hours while Aerith and Unatti each get eight.

Sorry Mahmoud, I'm not sure exactly what you're recommending.

So the only 'rule' I'm familiar with on down time is in 'exploration':

A day of exploration typically takes 8 hours; the rest of each day is assumed to be split between 8 hours of rest and 8 hours spent eating, making and breaking camp... At the GM’s discretion, fatigue and exhaustion can also set in if the PCs don’t rest enough.

My assumption would be that we camp long enough to make sure everyone get's eight hours rest. In the sixteen hours other than 'exploring' we've got plenty of time to overlap if we want to.

YBD any observations? Obviously if you're not concerned about three of us resting only five hours (without being fatigued) then neither am I and I'm good with Mahmoud's recommendation. If not, we can do something else.

Once everyone's figured out the watch order or whatever else you decide, we can move on. :-)

My concern was who was guarding and in what order. If we want overlap I'd recommend placing the casters who need to rest eight hours straight at the beginning and end, the person with the best dark vision in the middle and overlaping every two hours. It would give us two people on watch, except for the first two and last two hours, when folks would be more likely to be awake. So:

If we don't want to overlap we can keep the same order and do two-hour watches. So a 10 hr watch instead of a 12 hr watch.

Edit:With five of us, I'm assuming we can vote, or alter it a little, but the sooner we decide the sooner we can get moving.

YBD,

What are your thoughts on customizing loot to the PCs? At least to an extent? Nothing crazy, of course, but say changing a bow to a crossbow or something similar?

I adjust loot on occasion - mainly to add spherecasting-focused magic items. Certain monsters can also be harvested for parts (choker tentacle whips, elemental essence, etc). Depending on profiencies, I'll also change weapon types every now and again.

a swarm of cockroaches materializes and begins chewing at anything it can reach.

This will hit Tribim, but I don't think anyone else is in the affected area.

Mahmoud quickly draws one of his flasks of alchemist's fire, moves forward, and tosses it at the swarm while the bugs are still relatively contained.

Splash weapon: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (6) + 5 = 11
Damage (fire): 1d6 ⇒ 2 +50%

Does Tribim take damage from the splash weapon as well.

The swarm occupies a 10ft square. Tribim can make a DC 15 Reflex save to avoid the 1pt of fire damage from the alchemist's fire.

Epperson could wear the armor as well, but I’m not sure that he would.

This week is going to be very chaotic for me. It's the end of the school year, and I'm also moving. As such, posting is going to be inconsistent for a bit. Fortunately, it's also a perfect time for everyone to hit Level Two. :-)

For those of you unfamiliar with my system, leveling is exactly like vanilla PF with one addition: at this level, everyone gains a Background Feat. In addition, this is when I give everyone the opportunity to make mechanical changes to their characters if you're not satisfied with anything. The only thing I ask is that the flavor stays the same. For example, Mahmoud could switch to a Ranger instead of a Fighter but Tribim can't become a Besmara-worshiping Human. ;-)

If anyone needs assistance or has questions, I'll be able to make quick mobile posts, but anything in-depth will need to wait for two-three days until I get internet set up.

For those of you unfamiliar with my system, leveling is exactly like vanilla PF with one addition: at this level, everyone gains a Background Feat. In addition, this is when I give everyone the opportunity to make mechanical changes to their characters if you're not satisfied with anything. The only thing I ask is that the flavor stays the same. For example, Mahmoud could switch to a Ranger instead of a Fighter but Tribim can't become a Besmara-worshiping Human. ;-)

Whoot!! Level 2 hype!

Question, after this level, are we not allowed to change up characters at all?

I'm not sure if I would want to or not, just curious if this is our only opportunity.

Good luck with the move!

Agreed, good luck with the move!

Lvl 2
* Background Feat: Lvl 2: Cosmopolitan (K-Occult and History as class skills) Already putting points into them, so it's a straight +3 to both
* Saves: +1 will save
* HP: +4 (lvl) + 0 (Con) + 1 (FCB) = +5
* BaB: +1
* Spell Points: +1
* Dragon Scales (Ex): At 2nd level, 5th level, and every three levels thereafter, a dragonborn gains a +1 natural armor bonus that stacks with any existing natural armor she might possess. She also gains DR/magic equal to 1/2 her sorcerer level. This replaces tap chaos and arcane rift.
* Telekinesis Sphere - Quick Reactions (You may spend a spell point to make a telekinetic Catch as an immediate action.)

Telekinetic catch lets her, as an immediate action, stop a ranged attack from hitting her. Enemy gets to save against it, but it still is a good chance of stopping her from being hit. This ability is mainly building up for 'parry.' This lets her use spell points to block melee attacks as well. Meaning that she can try to protect her allies with her weapon so long as it is adjacent to you (I believe). So it's a useful stepping stone level, so to speak

Ok, got Tribim leveled up. I've still not decided on what tool will be best for Finesse training, but it's not a decision I have to make right now...

@ 2nd lvl.
Background Feat: Alertness Benefit: You get a +2 bonus on Perception and Sense Motive checks. At character level 10, the bonus increases to +4.
+ 3 Perception
+ 6 Hp
+ 1 reflexes, BAB,
Instinct: Uncanny Dodge
rogue talent: Flowing Feint (non-humanoid)
Combat Talent: Expert Feint
+ 10 skills: + 1 to Acrobatics, Disable Device, Deception, Escape Artist, Influence, Knowledge (dungeoneering), Lore (ancestors), Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand, and Stealth.

Progress is being made on the move, so I'm doing a quick check-in. :-)

@Aerith: Level-up looks good. Also, I believe Parry is even better than how you wrote it, because it the only range specification is within your telekinesis range. In other words, you don't need a weapon to use it, allowing you to flavor your floating sword as flying around the battlefield deflecting attacks. :-)

@Epperson: Thanks! Today was grueling, but we're now ahead of schedule. :-)

@Tribim: Level-up looks good. Tribim's talent selections are looking very familiar. ;-)

@Unatti: After this level, if you want to change up your character, run it by me. As Aerith and Tribim's players will tell you, I try to be flexible and am usually amenable to minor adjustments - especially if they haven't been used yet in-game. This is just the time when I initiate the conversation so players know it's an option. ;-)

I did Mahmoud's level up but I hadn't posted the changes yet.

Fighter 2
• +6 hp (from d10 HD), +2 hp (+2 CON)
• BAB +2
• Fort/Reflex/Will +3/+0/+0
• combat talent (Barrage sphere)
• conditioning +1 (Courage) -- conditioning bonus vs fear
• parry spell
• FCB: +1 skill point
• skills: Heal 1 rank, Knowledge (divine) 1 rank, Perception 1 rank, Perform (dance) 1 rank, Sense Motive 1 rank, Survival 1 rank
• Additional Traits feat (Alluring Combatant, Ruin Delver)

@Tribim: Level-up looks good. Tribim's talent selections are looking very familiar. ;-)

True, I had an art professor who claimed folks "knew what they liked" Where most really meant, "They liked what the Knew." I will admit, I'm using what I know. I do think the mechanics fit a charismatic rogue well, much better than it would a shoanti Soul Weaver. But it is what it is.

While Tribim will be much more limited than Elek, I also feel he will be very different in style.

Speaking of which, I'm still trying to decide how he wants to apply finesse training. I plan to go two weapon fighting at third level and need to decide what weapon to apply the finesse training to. I'm down to claw attacks, claw blades or a light melee weapon.

YBD I'm leaning towards claw blades, which are 305 gp. It reads like they are masterwork, but doesn't specify. The reason I'm asking, would a cold iron claw blades cost 310 gp. or 610 gp.? I like the idea of carrying multiple versions of the primary weapon made of different materials, but 610 gp for MW cold iron anything feels steep.

Hey YBD, with your permission I'm going to change Tribim's second level combat talent from expert feint to the equipment sphere Spear Dancer.

@Epperson/Unatti: If either of you would like assistance with leveling, let me know. You're both new to this system, and I know there are a lot of moving parts.

@Mahmoud: Level-up looks good.

@Tribim: My understanding is that cold iron claw blades would cost 310gp and count as MW weapons.

I was lookin over my character sheet, and realize that I kinda messed up.

I apparently mistakenly took a Hex(Dire Familiar) at first level, lol. Granted, I haven't used it yet, but still...

I'm also not sure I wanna keep Animal as my patron, despite it fitting part of Unatti's theme. While I like having a familiar, I'm loathe to send it into combat, as I don't want her to die. I might switch that up, if possible.

Also, I had taken Self-Sufficient as one of my first level feats. Can I switch that to my Background Feat this level, as there's not a lot of other ones that currently fit, and take something else as my first level feat?

I should have four total feats at first level: 1 for human, 1 for first level, Believer's Boon as a bonus from my background(Acolyte), and Instill Compound as another bonus from my Tradition.

And then a 5th from my 2nd level background feat. Is that correct?

I’m going to have some time tomorrow to look into levelling. GM, I’ll hit you up if I get stuck.

For what it's worth on choosing claw, claw blade, or spear...with ABP it will advance regardless. This makes choosing your path easier, and you really don't need to do full attacks with a claw blade.

You'll get better damage dice with a spear. And it works better with most spheres. However, as a question...

If someone takes feral combat training then would they get the damage dice from spehres of power from a sphere such as wresling, or open hand or brute or whatnot?

Also, for full attack type builds:fencing sphere build could be quite nasty.

For example....

Lvl 2 Rogue: Fencing Sphere, gains Fatal Thrust which adds +1d6 sneak attack per 5 lvls is *alot* of damage against anything not immune to sneak attack.

Lvl 4 Rogue: Fencing Sphere, choose

"Ankle Strike (exploit)
You may attempt a trip combat maneuver against the target as a free action which does not provoke an attack of opportunity."

----

Now at lvl 4, you have 2d6 sneak attack from rogue and 1d6 from fatal thrust. Whenever you get this off, you get a free trip against them, and you can do this while full attacking with your claws.

From there? There is *alot* in Spheres of Power which works with trip. Going into Open Hand has alot of synergy.

Full attack to your heart's content, while stacking trip abilities!

You get combat talents every 2 levels, and can take extra combat talents as a feat if you wanted. I could see something like this...

Lvl 2: Fencing Sphere and Combat Feat Rogue Talent for Extra Sphere and Ankle Strike (+1d6 sneak attack and free trip at lvl 2!)
Lvl 3 Feat: Feral Combat Training
Lvl 4 Open Hand with Enlightened Focus Drawback (your claws count as different materials for DR purposes as you level up)
Lvl 5 Feat: Improved Natural Attacks (1d6 base damage now)
Lvl 6: Open Hand Sphere with Tear Flesh (swift action to reduce enemy natural armor, cause bleeding, and choose your claw damage type!)
Lvl 8 Open Hand Sphere: Greater Trip (1d8 base damage now)

Seems perfectly viable to me. While you'd "only" get 2 attacks, but at lvl 10 that would be +7/+7, rather than +7/+2. Awesome for having extra attempts at getting off all of that sneak attack damage (+5d6 at lvl 10 from rogue and +3d6 from fatal strike!)

Anyways, rambling over. :)

To answer Aerith's question, Feral Combat Training doesn't let natural attacks gain the damage increase from the various unarmed Spheres. It just allows you to use the selected natural attack for things that normally require an unarmed strike. This is amazing for multiclassed Monk/Druids who want to wildshape into a Hippopotamus and unleash a "flurry of bites," but it's also handy if you plan to take any Style Feats. For example, Feral Combat Training allows you to make Panther Style's retaliatory strikes with your claws.

@Unatti: Changing your Level One feat is perfectly fine. Choosing a new Patron is also acceptable - especially as the Dire Familiar hex has limited effectiveness at low levels. To keep the Bastet flavor, I'd suggest Deception, Healing, or Wisdom, but other Patrons are fine as well. Since there's a lot of moving parts, it's also easy to miss the fact that there are a lot of Hexes that aren't tied to a specific Patron (such as Cackle, Evil Eye, and Misfortune) and can thus be selected by any Witch. :-)

Another idea for Tribim to consider: instead of relying on feinting, you could invest in the Athletics sphere and the Athletics: Sudden Flank talent. This basically lets you use Acrobatics to flank yourself, which sounds very like a combat dancer to me. Generally, it seems like you can flank more things than you can feint, especially mindless undead. There's a lot of Fencing talents you wouldn't have to take if you relied on that trick instead, though I know feinting is sort of supposed to be the focus of your build. If you do this, you might also want Whirlwind Flip so you can regain your martial focus in the same action (essential if you're using Fencing: Skewer on your attacks).

Thanks for the input, Aerith and Mahmoud. Yeah, I'm familiar with feinting so that was the beginning of the build. Didn't know what direction he would expand into. I say I'm familiar, but I've never used any of the exploits just focused on damage. And I don't think I've even read anything about the athletics sphere. So, I will go take a look at that. That's part of the problem with sphere's there just so much darn good stuff...

I'm not sure about using sudden moves to move through creatures squares, but I like Deceptive Movement (motion) When you use the withdraw action, you may make a feint attempt against one creature you are adjacent to at any point in the movement as a free action. :)

"Ankle Strike (exploit)

You may attempt a trip combat maneuver against the target as a free action which does not provoke an attack of opportunity."

With the 'elephant in the room' feat tax, is 'trip' a str move or a dex move?

Like all combat maneuvers, trip uses CMB, so I'm not exactly sure what you're asking. Elephant in the Room combines Improved Trip and Improved Disarm into a new feat (Deft Maneuvers). This has a DEX prerequisite, so maybe that's what you're referring to?

If you go the spear route, I wonder if YBD would let you swap Dancer Training for Spear Dancer? It seems to me that the only thing Dancer Training is doing for you is proficiency in the chakram, and you could just lean into the spear theme and throw javelins, shortspears, or even other spears instead. Likewise, if you decide to go with claws, you might be able to swap Dancer Training for Unarmed Training, which would let you use your claws with spheres like Open Hand. Martial Traditions are supposed to be somewhat customizable, and the Courtesan tradition is a great starting point for Tribim, but for that one talent that seems suboptimal to me. :)

With the 'elephant in the room' feat tax, is 'trip' a str move or a dex move?

I think Tribim is asking if Johnsonfinder characters effectively get Agile Maneuvers for free. Elephant in the Room rules are kind of unclear about it in the original release, though it's described better in the PDF. It might be that since trip is a maneuver that uses the weapon, a finesse fighter with a natural weapon would get to use DEX on the trip attack rather than STR.

Like all combat maneuvers, trip uses CMB, so I'm not exactly sure what you're asking. Elephant in the Room combines Improved Trip and Improved Disarm into a new feat (Deft Maneuvers). This has a DEX prerequisite, so maybe that's what you're referring to?

I knew there was something like that....so yeah, that was it :)

But if you want to give away agile maneuvers for free I would not protest :)

If you go the spear route, I wonder if YBD would let you swap Dancer Training for Spear Dancer? It seems to me that the only thing Dancer Training is doing for you is proficiency in the chakram, and you could just lean into the spear theme and throw javelins, shortspears, or even other spears instead. Likewise, if you decide to go with claws, you might be able to swap Dancer Training for Unarmed Training, which would let you use your claws with spheres like Open Hand. Martial Traditions are supposed to be somewhat customizable, and the Courtesan tradition is a great starting point for Tribim, but for that one talent that seems suboptimal to me. :)

suboptimal is a word...sadly when I built Tribim I was thinking I could use 'natural attacks' similarly in attack actions like full attacks. So I wasn't worried too much about being 'crunchy.' Once YBD sorted it, my brain went to other stuff instead of altering his Martial traditions. But yeah, If YBD permitted I'd consider changing dancer training to spear dancer....

If you really wanna play up the dancer role in combat, maybe YBD will let you take Agile Dancer as a trait? It's from Path of War, so perhaps not, but figured I would toss it out there.

I gotta admit, I do rather like the visual of Tribim 'pole dancing' through combat, being a total badass with his spear!

But yeah, If YBD permitted I'd consider changing dancer training to spear dancer...if it means he's trained to use the spears listed as well.

Rogues get simple weapon proficiency, which includes the shortspear, spear, and longspear. If you want access to a better weapon like the glaive, lance, or fauchard, I'd suggest taking Custom Training. But spear and longspear aren't bad weapons for you when combined with Spear Dancer.

Unatti, I'm glad you like the imagery. As for agile dancer, I'll keep adding to acrobatics every round. Where 'performance dance will not go as quickly. He wants to move a way from being a dancer and be an adventurer so his skills will reflect that.

lol, Muhmoud, that's why I deleted that last part in my post :)

Even with simple weapons he can still use his claws or the claw blades if he chose, so yeah, the simple weaponry would work fine. If I wanted more fluff he could add catfolk training later for a better ranged weapon. hmmm, not that javelins won't work as well :)

The question now becomes about juggling the weight of all the gear...

lol, Muhmoud, that's why I deleted that last part in my post :)

Oh whoops, sorry, I responded a little too quickly there. :)

Ok…

Malefactor 2
• +5hp (from d8HD), +2 hp (+2 CON)
• BAB +1
• Fort/Reflex/Will +0/+1/+1
• New malediction: rumble
• Familiar (Fanny) gets another HD, a new form (Fast Healing 1) and Evasion
• skills: Influence 1 rank, Knowledge (divine) 1 rank, Deception 1 rank, Crafting 1 rank, Sense Motive 1 rank, knowledge (occult) 1 rank
• Background feat - Endurance

I may have missed something. Forgive me.

I'm thinking about the Spirits patron. Bastet opposes evil spirits, and a few of the hexes deal with hidden or secret knowledge, which is another of her areas of concern.

Unsure what I'll change her 1st level feat to, so am open to suggestions.

Also, YBD, you mentioned working with me to create a proper casting tradition. Is that offer still on the table?

@Epperson: Everything looks good. :-)

@Unatti: If you're struggling to choose a feat, Extra Magic Talent is always a solid option. Of course, that creates a different bit of option paralysis.... ;-) I'm more than happy to help with a casting tradition, by the way. Essentially, a casting tradition is a set of drawbacks that limit your casting in some way in exchange for a boon, bonus spell points, or both.

But yeah, If YBD permitted I'd consider changing dancer training to spear dancer....

Any thoughts on allowing Tribim to switch 'dancer training' for 'spear dancer'? Freeing up his second level talent for something else?

Ah, I missed that part of your earlier post. Martial Traditions need at least one [discipline] talent, which Spear Dancer is not. You could swap out Unarmored Training or Fast Feint for it, though. You could also swap Dancer Training for any other [discipline] talent, including Custom Training.

Hmmm, hadn't thought about the basic sphere build rules. I'll look at custom training. But it's a holiday weekend so things are moving slow. I don't think we'll get into anything that will alter much. Whatever we do Tribim will keep the masterwork spear and sell whatever eveyone else doesn't want.

OK had a quick second so I went to look at it.

Martial tradition:

1. Each martial tradition should include two Equipment talents, typically with at least one discipline, Armor Training, or Shield Training. These determine the weapons, armor, and other equipment a character has available to them (if any).
2. Each martial tradition should include either an appropriate base sphere, or the option to choose between 2 base spheres. The exact appropriateness of any given base sphere depends on the concept.
3. Each tradition should also include one additional thematic talent. This could be a bonus talent in the sphere you gained as part of step 2, an additional base sphere, or perhaps an Equipment talent that is not a discipline but works with the character concept in some way

So Tribim's basic lay out with the 'courtesan' combat tradition is:

My confusion, to build your own 'Martial tradition' you should have "at least one discipline, Armor Training, or Shield Training" The courtesan tradition has two, a discipline (dancer training) and an armor training (unarmored training). Since it was 'or' instead of 'and' I was hoping I could change the 'discipline' instead of the 'armor training.'

If not, Courtesan is fine. Changing from 'dancer training' to 'Spear Dancer' will only get me into the dual wielding sphere one level faster.

That's a common point of confusion. Armor Training and Shield Training are specific talents, not descriptions. The purpose of that rule is to ensure players have at least one proficiency-granting talent. From a mechanical balance perspective, Spear Dancer and Unarmored Training are at a comparable power level to each other, whereas Dancer Training is weaker. That's why Dancer Training and Spear Dancer can't be swapped for each other.

ahhh at least it was a common point of confusion. Cool, we'll just stay 'as is.' I'll still need to lighten Tribim's gear a bit to let him tote about the 6 lb. spear. Also considering a buckler until he adds dual wield.

Edit: actually.... I may consider dumping 'unarmored training' for spear dancer, I'm going to look and see what armors folks can wear, it would be silly not to take advantage of the armors the AP will make available. I don't think so... that + 1 every 3 acrobatics skill adds up quick.

Just looking for options to use with the Feint sphere.

Deft Maneuvers adds + 2 when preforming a trip, disarm, dirty trick, feint, reposition, or steal combat maneuver. Does that also work with Fencing sphere's Feint and the Ankle Strike exploit?

The bonus from Deft Maneuvers applies to all of the listed maneuvers.

I don't know how much we need in the way of supplies and free healing, but it sounds like the temple is not where we should sell our treasures. :)

I updated the spreadsheet; any objections to selling everything that isn't consumable? I know Tribim wants to keep using the masterwork spear.

I was looking at the loot sheet and just remembered Tribim never opened the 'trapped' chest. I don't think we should sell it without opening it. I will attempt to do so :)