Pasha's Epic-Level Coliseum Morpheuon Campaign

Game Master Pasha of the Nightsands

Welcome one and all, members of the Warden's Broken Circle! Congratulations on making it this far.

I know there's a few things people still need to work on: picking a Parity, fleshing out backgrounds, using up your last bit of gold (if desired), etc, but have no fear, you have time to work on touching those up before we start.

If you want to work with other players on creating interparty ties, I'm all for it! I'm definitely interested in seeing what strange friendships and rivalries people are down for creating.

Go ahead and dot the gameplay thread if you'd be so kind. Gotta make sure everyone's registered and receiving notifications even at this sorta in-between revision stage.

Hi everyone!

H E L L O! My fellow EPIC adventurers! I am so proud and privileged to be Chosen for this most ambitious planar campaign!

The relationship between Josten and Duskashae will be interesting, as the godling was raised to fear anything remotely related to Zon-Kuthon, of which the kytons are.

I'd like to think the casual back-and-forth Josten and Maedyri had in the Recruitment tab would continue, as the demigod of bard enjoys making music for others to dance to.

Greetings everyone! I am looking forward to writing for this bird-shaped mass of sapient plasma! :D

I'll have some clarification questions and possible tweaks to ask about... after I get back from work this evening. For now, I don't recall if I'd shared this sketch of The First Flame I got yet.

I am honored to have been selected. Please let me know if there are any changes that I need to make to my character and I will be happy to do so.

I'll be popping in later tonight (EST) with a full list of tweaks I'd like people to make. As I mentioned before in the recruitment, it's nothing major, just a few small things: choosing a Parity, tweaking a few numbers, etc. Certainly nothing that will completely change how your character plays.

The relationship between Josten and Duskashae will be interesting, as the godling was raised to fear anything remotely related to Zon-Kuthon, of which the kytons are.

Yeah, I'm really triggered by the kytons in general (and all the source material they are based on), but I decided to really lean into it when I started designing a shadow weaver. Although D.shae used to serve them faithfully, I can't play that for a long campaign, so she's left that path. I suspect her former superiors will appear at some point, though, which will be terrifying and exciting for all of us!

Hallo!! Super excited to have been chosen, and hyped AF to play with ya'll!! For the record, everyone picked was on my short list of interesting characters/good players, so that makes me super happy!

In case anybody missed it, here's what Vulpiano looks like! Including the cane, and funky spectacles!

I still need to finish spending his gold, and I also need to pick his 'material impositions' but otherwise he's pretty much all done.

Oh, I *might* have some extra skill points that need to be spent, and maybe some extra magic talents, maybe? Unsure. Math is hard at this level, and I suck at math in general, lol

Welp, it looks like I apparently hit preview yesterday instead of post. Drat. No worries though, I'll just repost everything. Let's go for round two!

Before I get into things, I want to go ahead and lay something out on the table: if you have any questions, need any clarifications, or would like to make any tweaks, now's the time! Once we begin the game in earnest, that's pretty much it: no tweaks, no retraining, none of that. Not unless something was a huge goof on my part anyway.

@Vulpiano: Glad to have you as well!

I see you've started porting everything over to your alias from the google doc you messaged me. Excellent, that makes things easier to cross-reference. I'm not sure if everyone else knows about your background since I think that was something you messaged me, so could you go into a little detail for them?

You did have a few things you still needed to pick with skills and such, yes. On a related note, did you ever add those magic items you asked me about in the recruitment? I haven't checked since playtesting Vulpiano about two(?) weeks ago.

Have you officially selected all 90ish of your languages yet? I can't remember how many are officially part of Pathfinder- just shy of 200ish probably- because the 30ish listed on the SRD is just a vertical slice of the more common ones.

One last thing I want to confirm since it was mentioned in passing in the thread during a conversation between you and Maedyri: you are part of the Bookbinders, yes? Just wanted to make sure so that my notes are correct.

@Duskashae: Me, a casual Nidal enjoyer who grew up on the Hellraiser movies, add in kytons? That's CRAZY talk! I surely was not steepling my fingers and letting out am evil GM chuckle when I was considering Duskashae for selections. Okay fine, MAYBE a little bit.

I think you're good on most things that need expanding upon or tweaking unless I overlooked something, save for one thing: did you ever decide which of the types you were going for? I notice you still have all of the types listed in your profile.

Thanks for the more detailed breakdowns on your numbers by the way; those helped out a LOT in picking apart your build.

@Arc Zeon: Hey, the feeling's mutual! Arc Zeon was a treat to playtest and he's probably even more fun with that special 'player unpredictability' magic thrown into the mix.

There were a few small things I had questions about with your character. Nothing major, but things I had questions about nonetheless.

What are the 'EXPENSIVE CHEMICALS' mentioned at the end of your gear spoiler?

I can't find where you managed to get Arcane Sight? Was it just a permanent spell? Or did you get it from a feature somewhere? I probably overlooked something.

One last thing: thanks for breaking down your character sheet into clearly identifiable groups and breaking down most of your math; it helped out a LOT.

@The First Flame: Hey, I'm ready to READ what you write for that bird-shaped mass of cosmic flame!

Ask whatever you need regarding those clarifications or tweaks!

I've got to say, that's some nice art! I'm a big fan of phoenixes, myself.

@Josten Cailen: Happy to have you! It's honestly hard to NOT enjoy the level of enthusiasm you had for this game and your character has for life in general.

There wasn't much I needed to discuss with you, but there were a few things.

Artifacts DO grant ability score bonuses unlike traditional magical items in this game, so your Spindle of Perfect Knowledge WOULD grant that +4 to all mental scores.

I didn't see the +1d6 holy damage from Sacredness factored into your attack breakdowns. Was that an intentional ommission to keep things easier to read? Just curious!

One more thing I need to ask: which Parity does your character belong to? I couldn't find it in my notes.

Also, thanks for breaking down some of the number-crunching. It took me a moment to figure out what some of the abbreviations were for, but I connected the dots quickly enough.

@Maedyri: I actually didn't have any questions for you off the top of my head. As with the others, thanks for the breakdowns of your bonuses.

Expensive Chemicals is a Drawback from the Alchemy Sphere. Basically, if I make a formulae, I need to spend 1 silver piece per my rank in Alchemy, so about 20 silver / 2 gold per formulae. It's written there in items so I don't forget.

That being said, I also picked up the Philospher's Stone formulae talent as a Latent Feat, so during downtime I can use Latent Recall to gain access to the feat, and create a Philospher's Stone. This can be used to bring someone back from the dead, or... it can be used as an infinite money hack.

I chose it cuz it filled the hole in my healing capability (I can otherwise only bring people back from the dead once per day per person, and only if they've died that day). It also made sense with the House of Heights/Prominence being people who seek immortality, so I thought it might help curry favor with them if such a thing became important. I can just as easily get rid of it, if it becomes an issue. Especially since the party already has people more focused on healing and/or alchemy.

As for Arcane Sight, I get them from my Soulsight Goggles, an insanely good item for its value.

@Arc Zeon: Fair enough! I was just wondering what 'EXPENSIVE MATERIALS' was doing in gear. I thought it might be some kind of weird third-party item that even I have never heard of. It makes sense that you would put it there now that I think about it. Thanks for clarifying.

Eh, I'm not as worried about infinite money hacks in this game. It wouldn't fly in a normal game, but the kind of wealth we're playing with at this level means that most players will have probably 90% of the items they really need. Granted, there will be some epic items and maybe a few minor artifacts for sale in the Tarnished Souk and other extraplanar markets, so money's not totally useless even in this game.

The House of Heights DOES seek immortality, but godhood is the real prize they're after. Not a big deal or anything, just figured I'd clarify.

Ah, so I DID overlook where you got Arcane Sight from. Thanks for pointing that out for me.

@Duskashae: Me, a casual Nidal enjoyer who grew up on the Hellraiser movies, add in kytons? That's CRAZY talk! I surely was not steepling my fingers and letting out am evil GM chuckle when I was considering Duskashae for selections. Okay fine, MAYBE a little bit.

I suppose I only have myself to blame for the terrifying ride that is to come! ;)

I think you're good on most things that need expanding upon or tweaking unless I overlooked something, save for one thing: did you ever decide which of the types you were going for? I notice you still have all of the types listed in your profile.

I think I could use some help in determining how Types work in Duskashae's case. The traits for judows say: "Judow are outsiders with the native subtype. Judow only possess the native subtype while in the city, losing it while anywhere else." Also the Constructed trait says "For the purposes of effects targeting creatures by type (such as a ranger’s favored enemy and bane weapons), judow count as both outsiders and constructs." Then, the Fey Creature template says "The creature’s type changes to fey." Does that mean that Duskashae no longer counts as an outsider, native or otherwise? I would think that the text of Constructed means that they count as all three. Finally, they have the Change Shape ability, which they can use to turn into a humanoid (half-elf). So they are sometimes humanoid, and I don't remember if polymorph magic replaces existing types or just adds to them. :)

Thanks for the more detailed breakdowns on your numbers by the way; those helped out a LOT in picking apart your build.

Glad to help! I find I have to do those kind of breakdowns of special circumstance bonuses for myself too, or I forget what the character can do.

@Duskashae: Actually, that's partially a goof on my part for thinking you got more than the Fey type from extra sources; I thought you had an extra instance of Outsider for some reason. Anyway, your type is Fey. Constructed only makes the character count as Construct and Outsider for the purpose of effects that target those. One might argue that your type being altered by your template would cut out the Outsider bit from the equation, but eh, it makes sense as-is because of the biomantic butchering kytons do on their 'subjects'.

So, uh, I apparently forgot to include the +3 extra skills Pasha gave us, lol

He should have 26 per level(8 from Scholar +15 from Int, +3 from Pasha bonus) and then I **believe** free ranks in Heal(he has the Field Medic tradition) and Stealth from his Spheres, for a grand total of 28 ranks/lvl or 560 skill points.

Can somebody double check that for me?

Hello fellow wardens.

@josten, Maedyri would be friendly with an artist and healer like you and is additionally on friendly terms with the deities who raised you

@duskashae, obviously friendly with a fellow member of the chrysalis covenant and very supportive of someone who similarly went through a major change to come to the covenant

@first flame, appreciative of such a skilled healer (as long as you keep your flames away from her), as a point of contact between the ashborn and covenant Maedyri or one of her followers would often pass along intel about common enemies/threats

@Arc Zeon, initially Maedyri would have said Arc needs to loosen up a bit but would have quickly switched her tune upon hearing his tragic tale

@Dr vulpiano, Maedyri generally dislikes bookbinders and their knowledge hording ways but at least you use your knowledge to heal so she'll try to keep an open mind. I should ask, when you say you worship nocticula which version do you mean? the redeemer queen or our lady in shadow?

@Pasha, I made the adjustments to Josten's character sheet you wished. But that in itself was a lot of works. I had to add languages, skill points, adjust saving throws, spells per day, spell dcs, and HP.

I think I intentionally forgot to add Josten's Sacredness (Su) +1d6, so the godling wouldn't look too overpowered to be chosen. And now that he is, I must bear the responsibility to remind you of Josten's godling Divine Trait: Legendary Beauty IV (Su) in which his new Charisma modifier (+15) is added to his AC and saving throws against creatures that have an intelligence and can see him. That has been factored in as well.

@Everyone, I can't seem to find anything on The Parities I can reference to decide which one Josten belongs to. Please help! My copy of Coliseum Morpheuon is not well tabbed.

@Everyone, I can't seem to find anything on The Parities I can reference to decide which one Josten belongs to. Please help! My copy of Coliseum Morpheuon is not well tabbed.

This page has a list of all the parities (it calls them Organizations) with the altered names to avoid copyright, but it also lists common alignments. Maybe the Children of Dreams? Or the Everlasting Dawn?

Is there a "common" language in the city?

Does anyone have any recommendations for expensive things I could buy? Mamma's got 800k to spend.

@Josten Cailen: Thanks for all those recalculations. I didn't even think to tell people that the rule about ability scores from items did not apply to artifacts.

Regarding hiding that information, while I don't like players intentionally keeping information from me, I'm willing to let it slide this time since I already factored in both Sacredness and Legendary Beauty IV when playtesting. I figured the omissions were book-keeping errors on your part. Just avoid hiding things in the future, cool?

Also, Parities are not in Coliseum Morpheuon; they're in the City of Seven Seraphs book since I've set Coliseum Morpheuon in that multiverse. Duskashae has linked the Parities if you want to check them out.

@Maedyri: There is no canon language in Hyraeatan that I know of, but 'Planar Common/Cant' is something I've seen used in other settings and have used there.

There's honestly WAY too many magic item recommendations I could make. The real question is what are you looking for in broad terms?

Josten Cailean wrote:

@Everyone, I can't seem to find anything on The Parities I can reference to decide which one Josten belongs to. Please help! My copy of Coliseum Morpheuon is not well tabbed.

This page has a list of all the parities (it calls them Organizations) with the altered names to avoid copyright, but it also lists common alignments. Maybe the Children of Dreams? Or the Everlasting Dawn?

While I don't like players intentionally keeping information from me, I'm willing to let it slide this time since I already factored in both Sacredness and Legendary Beauty IV when playtesting. I figured the omissions were book-keeping errors on your part.

Honestly, it was mostly book-keeping error. But I am pleased you took Josten's divine trait into consideration. I was just scared; I've never made anything this powerful before outside my imagination!!

@Josten Cailen: Eh, don't sweat it too much. It's water under the bridge as far as I'm concerned. Just try to avoid hiding things in the future. Sound good?

All right, what did I have questions on... right.

* Since The First Flame's strength would be over 40 if not for the cap, when it's in its smaller humanoid form, would it be able to reduce the strength penalty for being smaller by the amount it would have been over 40? It's not a big deal either way since melee attacking is usually its least favored tactic, but I thought it would be fun for it to be freakishly strong even when human-sized. Well, even more freakishly strong than 32 already is. XD

* Can it apply its Light talents that affect glows to the area of light from Light of Noon from its Lightbringer divine talent? I'm mostly thinking of the ones that let it modify the area its light shines on (so it can avoid burning friendlies or expand the area of its light). I'm also debating about the three talents I had picked out for Light of Noon--right now I have Searing Light, Blinding Light, and Radiation, but I was toying with the idea of swapping Radiation (Low radiation is a pretty weak thing at our level) for Prismatic Radiance. I'm a little iffy on it just because it seems a little less thematic... what do you think?

* Not a question, but this is what I'm thinking of for renaming/altering the appearnce of the different Lights from Lightbringer:
Light of the Dawn->Light of the Yellow Dwarf
Light of Noon->Light of the Blue Giant
Light of Dusk->Light of the Red Giant
Light of the Night->Light of the Distant Stars
Light of the Eclipse->Light of the White Dwarf

* The Holy template says it gives "DR 5/Good". The Titanic Template says it "Increases DR by 5/-". I interpreted that to mean "It gives you DR 5/-", but I could see the argument that it's supposed to mean "It increases any DR you have by 5", so that it would have DR 10/Good. (I also suspect the Holy template is supposed to give DR 5/Evil and someone just mixed that up). Or I could see it meaning "You increase DR by 5 and also have DR 5/- if you didn't have DR before", meaning it would have DR 10 against anything that doesn't penetrate the DR from Holy and DR 5 against anything that does. Which interpretation would you say is correct?

I have been having fun musing on the relationships The First Flame might have with the group. I'm sure it listens patiently to Maedyri's messages, maybe shining appreciatively on her from time to time. :D

How does recharging vancian staves work for sphere casters?

How does recharging vancian staves work for sphere casters?

I'd assume you spend spell points in place of spell slots, with the exact amount depending on the level of spell slot needed to recharge the stave.

Rules reference:

If an ability would require a spell slot of a certain level to be spent to activate, instead the spherecaster may spend spell points based on the level of the slot to do so: Level 1-2: 1 spell point, 3-5: 2 spell points, 6-8: 3 spell points, 9: 4 spell points. If an ability does not require a specific spell slot, but instead grants a benefit based off the spell slot being cast, treat any sphere effects being cast as if they had spell levels equal to half (rounded down) the caster level of the sphere effect, as shown in Table: Spherecasting and Equivalent Spell Level. For particularly powerful effects, the GM may require that the player spend more spell points as part of the effect, spending a minimum amount of spell points for each spell level as listed above.

Right underneath this is a spell school to sphere equivalent, so I'd probably just say you'd be fine as long as you have the equivalent sphere for whatever spell you'd be recharging the stave with. Just make sure your caster level is at least twice that of the spell level, too.

As for the GM, I have a few of my own questions. Namely, regarding something like Shield Master / the Versatile Shield Talent (/ the Barbed ability) - all abilities allow me to "add your shield’s AC enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls made with the shield as if it were a weapon enhancement bonus."

I want to know if that either stacks or overlaps with abilities like Bane/Linked-Striking/Furious/Martial Legend, which increase your weapon enhancement bonus.

I also want to know if it applies to Impossible Warrior, who uses "his class level plus his weapon’s enhancement bonus (if any) in place of his magical skill bonus" when utilizing his anti-spell class features.

Speaking on the Impossible Warrior further, do things that increase my caster level checks / MSB checks (Otherworldly Kimono, Numerology Cylinder) also apply to Impossible Warrior?

Feel free to rule "no" on any of these; it isn't nearly as huge of a loss as you might think. The weapon enhancement bonus will eventually overtake the shield bonus even if they overlap and don't stack. And as a result, the build should still be fine regardless. And I can switch out the items if they don't help me relatively easily.

@The First Flame: The ability score reductions for size are still normal, but since you technically have extra beyond the cap, I'd be fine with whatever the uncapped score is being the factor there.

I'd rule that Light of Noon may have SOME of those talents applied. You'd have to ask which ones though. Generally the size/shape-altering ones should be fine.

Prismatic Radiance is, at least to me, objectively better than Radiation. You could always reflavor it as 'otherworldly solar radiation' anyway.

Those name changes are fine with me.

Yeah, the DR5/- wording is weird with that template. I'd rule that it's just a separate DR value that applies alongside any other DR you possess.

@Maedyri: I've always used Spell Points like Arc Zeon suggested, albeit just spending the raw spell points with no specific sphere needed.

@Arc Zeon: So for the shield enhancement stacking question, Shield Master and similar abilities add Shield AC as a weapon enhancement bonus. Anything that increases a weapon enhancement bonus also applies to that.

With Impossible Warrior, I'm pretty sure the consensus is that actual enhancements are what is counted for the purpose of those abilities, sans effective enhancements. Shields are kind of a special case since they're normally not weapons, but can be used as one with Shield Master and such. So I'd rule that your shield's full enhancement bonus is what applies in place of MSB in this instance.

Impossible Warrior's abilities clearly state that weapon enhancements are used in place of MSB, so MSB boosts would not apply there.

All right, sounds good on all of those! I think the talents I'd want to be able to apply to Light of Noon are Bend Radiance, Intensity Control... probably Star Genesis, too. I'd ask about Daylight as well but "Kill everything in a two-mile radius" is probably not something it's ever going to want to do. XD (And it can pretty much already do that just with Searing Light, just more slowly)

I somehow skipped over you, Vulpiano, so sorry about that.

@Vulpiano: So you get the 8+INT to start with (8+15=23), plus the 3 extra points (23+3=26) for a grand total of 26 skill points per level to spend.

Also, while you don't quite get totally free Heal ranks, per se, since anything substantial requires talent investment into the Alchemy Sphere, it may as well be. Here's the relevant texts.

Special: The Field Medic uses the Heal skill as the skill used for Alternative-Brew.

Alternative-Brew [IHB2]

Whenever this sphere uses or grants ranks in Craft (alchemy) or calls for a Craft (alchemy) check, you instead gain ranks in a Craft or Profession or attempt a Craft or Profession check.

When you gain the Alchemy sphere, you gain 5 ranks in the Craft (alchemy) skill, plus 5 ranks per additional talent spent in the Alchemy sphere (maximum ranks equal to your total Hit Dice).

So as long as you've invested at least three talents into Alchemy, you may as well have a free skill point per level into Heal (base 5 for Alchemy Sphere + 3x5 for talents = the HD-based cap of 20). It's technically not the same, but it's close enough!

@The First Flame: Dang, got ninja'd! Anyway, those are all fine. Yes, even Daylight, because the threat of causing that many unintended casualties is likely a deterrant that will relegate that combo to more thematic moments where it just feels really cool to use.

If I raise a zombie of a creature with a poison attack would I be able to milk it's venom?

Speaking of zombies, would anyone particularly mind if Arc Zeon walked around with a Darkskull producing a constant Unhallow effect around him? The spell attached to it would be Death Ward, applying to enemies and allies alike within a 40 ft radius of the character.

I prefer it greatly to the Death Warden's Bandolier, since it saves me 1 Mythic Power per day, and is much harder to dispel as a permanent magical item rather than a 24 hour spell cast from an item. I also don't want this character casting spells, and I always felt like I kinda bent the rules with the Bandolier.

I'm of course getting rid of the Otherworldly Kimono and Numerology Cylinder in order to afford the upgrade.

Yeah, I use death effects, so I'd rather you didn't give death ward to enemies, and I also use domination, so the magic circle against good from unhollow would be a tad annoying.

Hmm... what if the Darkskull only affected me?

Like, if I ate it, or... better yet... replaced my own skull with the Darkskull?

The aura would of course be stopped by my own skin, and only I would gain the effect.

Hope everyone had a great Easter! I mostly spent mine relaxing with the family since the medical treatment I'm receiving gives me a sun allergy and that kinda cuts out frolicking in the sunlight. Still, I had a pretty great day regardless and hope everyone else had one as well.

Are there any other questions people have? I'll allocate a few more days to make sure everyone has everything in order if need be.

@Maedyri: You can milk an appropriate zombie for venom, but only insomuch as it had before it died. Zombies can't produce new biochemical compounds, after all.

@Arc Zeon: Flesh doesn't stop Desecrate, so that's probably a no-go there.

Okay, guess it's back to the Death Warden's Bandolier, then.

Guess I'll just replace my Cyclops Helm with an Iron Circlet of Guarded Souls, and then spend the rest of the money pumping up my Ring of Delayed Doom to the max.

Actually, if I get rid of 1 garnet, then I could also afford a Charm of Fate. Works out perfectly, too.

Can we make/buy custom staves? Does anyone have an ability to give planar adaptation or something similar?

@Arc, I'll be giving everyone morale bonuses to all saves with the courage mind sphere effect. Something to consider as death wards morale bonus won't stack with this.

@Maedyri: You can indeed buy or craft custom staves.

You don't take Death Ward for the morale bonuses on saves, silly. :P

You take death ward to always at least get a chance to save against instant death effects, as well as to protect yourself vs negative levels (that often have no save).

Arc Zeon is a grizzled veteran of many combats, so he knows what kind of dangerous enemy tactics to be aware of.

I don't think he can protect everyone vs everything, but he'll certainly do his best to keep you all alive nonetheless.

Hope everyone had a great Easter! I mostly spent mine relaxing with the family since the medical treatment I'm receiving gives me a sun allergy and that kinda cuts out frolicking in the sunlight. Still, I had a pretty great day regardless and hope everyone else had one as well.

Are there any other questions people have? I'll allocate a few more days to make sure everyone has everything in order if need be.

Wait, this campaign is being run by an actual vampire? :D (Okay, I'm sure you've heard that one too many times already)

I don't think I have anything further I was going to ask, so I'm ready!

I've bought:

Cryptkeeper’s Coffin

Storage Sphere III

Planar Carraige

Staff of adaptation - custom staff
CL13
Communal Endure Elements (1 charge)
Water Breathing (1 charge)
Mass Planar Adaptation (2 charges)
Mass Planetary Adaptation (2 charges)
44850 gp

I altered Arc Zeon's shield a bit.

I thought using Feral to qualify for Unarmed Training was a bit of a reach, so I got rid of it for the Hungry enhancement instead, which just lets the weapon have all damage types: B, S & P (technically it gives it a Mouth, but let's just say that the mouth is on the inside, biting and draining it's user's vitality to fuel it's power... like a Vampire :P).

I also thought abusing Fortified Armor Training might have been a bit weird, so I basically replaced it with Warp Spasm, which is 100% unambiguous. It applies to sneak attack, but on the other side, I have to be berserking/raging to use it, and it's more vulnerable to stuff like Anatomical Savant that allows someone to ignore fortification.

I also got rid of Green-Touched so I could go back to Barbed, since I just know that I'll probably forget to apply Green-Touched after a while and this simplifies things. Since this means I no longer need Versatile Shield (since Barbed has the same wording), and since I also made Throwing Mastery a Latent Feat (Ricochet Toss does almost everything it does but actually works on Full Attacks; I only need it so Throw Bash can work properly with Cover Ally), I was able to take both Flexible Cover and Towering Bulwark. This should further aid in my ability to protect the team.

Since move actions are now pretty important for me, I switched my Gifted Mythic Ability from Speed of Thought (the once per encounter full round action at any time), to Unorthodox Tactics (which gives a free move action whenever I ready an action... among other things).

Oh, and I changed some of my Shield's Legendary abilities. Basically just removed Powerful x3 to get Flexible x1 & Returning x2. Flexible Bond let's me extend the shield's benefits to allies, while Dedicated Bond prevents enemies from gaining any benefit. I also took Returning in case the enemy attempts to catch my shield when I throw it at them (pretty much the only way to remove it from me legitimately). A pretty big portion of my power is in that Shield, so better safe than sorry.

I already mentioned the other gear changes, so... I guess I'm done with any pre-game adjustments.

Just to clarify the comments on how Barbed/Shield Master function with my abilities: Shield Master stacks with the effective enhancement from Furious/Bane etc for maximal enhancement bonuses on attacks and damage. Shield Master also applies to Impossible Warrior's abilities, but the effective enhancement from Furious/Bane etc. does NOT apply whatsoever to these abilities - is that correct?

@First Flame: Close enough anyway! My hands usually break out in hives anytime I have to drive during daylight hours because of how the shots affect my skin. Being a living vampire wasn't on my 2024 or 2025 bingo card, but hey, at least I have an excuse to be a night owl for the foreseeable future if I want!

@Maedyri: All of those are fine, including the custom staff. Any other tweaks or purchases you need to make?

@Arc Zeon: I can foresee all of those changes working out for the better, all things considered.

Also, you're correct on how all of your shield enhancement abilities function and how they interact with Impossible Warrior.

@Duskashae, Josten, Vulpiano: Are there any tweaks you need to make or should we assume you're good to go?

Bought a couple of permanent spells for my base

Teleportation Circle (x2, from inner sanctum of personal HQ to Chrysilis Covenant HQ and back)
Mage's Private Sanctum (in inner sanctum)

Yeah, I should be good to go, I can always spend my gold later.

I don't think I have any tweaks I need to make. I hope I don't regret that later, but Duskashae is supposed to be pretty flexible. They already have long-lasting morale bonuses from one of their silhouettes, so they won't benefit much from Maedyri's Mind effects, unfortunately.

ETA: Oh wait, I do have ten languages I still have to choose. Can I just leave them unselected? If we come across something we can't communicate with maybe I can make a Linguistics check to see if that language is one that Duskashae has?

Josten is ready to play. He just has 127k unspend from character submission. But I imagine the godling can open a banking account with the Coins.

ETA: Oh wait, I do have ten languages I still have to choose. Can I just leave them unselected? If we come across something we can't communicate with maybe I can make a Linguistics check to see if that language is one that Duskashae has?

If it doesn't speak one of the 90 languages Vulpiano does, he also has the Xenoglossy feat, just in case, LOL

@Duskashae: I somehow missed the languages part. I'd say go ahead and select your languages since Vulpiano's got the lion's share of those covered. I'll give you a few of the more common languages that could be useful and a few of the less common ones that only one or two NPCs speak as well. Bear in mind that some of the less common languages are things I spliced in to accommodate changes I made, but they're touches I wanted to make nonetheless.

Hopefully those help you figure out some of the languages you might want to take.

I should ask, when you say you worship nocticula which version do you mean? the redeemer queen or our lady in shadow?

@Dr Vulpiano I never got an answer to the above question

Maedyri wrote:

I should ask, when you say you worship nocticula which version do you mean? the redeemer queen or our lady in shadow?

@Dr Vulpiano I never got an answer to the above question

Apologies, last weekend was fairly crazy, and then I forgot to reply. Much sorries!

Anyways, to answer your question:

100% the Redeemer Queen.

He's no longer a Yaksha for his race, but instead a God-Blooded. Nocticula is his divine parent, unsure who the 'father' is. Will give that some thought. She gave birth to him to serve as a sort of mortal herald to help establish her church on Golarion.

Wonderful! Josten has found a kindred spirit in Dr. Arvanxi!!

@Duskashae: I somehow missed the languages part. I'd say go ahead and select your languages since Vulpiano's got the lion's share of those covered. I'll give you a few of the more common languages that could be useful and a few of the less common ones that only one or two NPCs speak as well. Bear in mind that some of the less common languages are things I spliced in to accommodate changes I made, but they're touches I wanted to make nonetheless.

** spoiler omitted **

** spoiler omitted **...

Does the second list mean racial/regional languages from some of those listed settings are available?

Unsure if Vulpiano has ever visited those worlds, but I would imagine the Bookbinders have access to books in those languages that he could learn them from? Or maybe he has a mentor(s) among the Binders(or even another Parity) who has taught him those setting specific ones?