Evil Eye (at will)| Cackle (At will)|Misfortune(At will)| Feather Fall (At will, self)| Levitate (Once per day)|Fly(9/9 Minutes)|Stardust 2/2|Ward(At Will))
"Hhhhmmmm..." Zses looks at the big ruby, scratching his head "There's something weird about it, but I can't quite say what it is. I'll have to think on it a bit..."
Knowledge(Arcana,Zses):1d20 + 17 ⇒ (3) + 17 = 20 Knowledge(Arcana,Crow):1d20 + 14 ⇒ (6) + 14 = 20 Ach! We still got Lyosha, our secondary witch, to roll on that, tough!
Sorry if I'm late: stuff happened, but everything should be okay now! And... "F+*~! My feathers!" Crow says as her clothes disappear. Darting to Zses (who had just been planted in the snow with a sound akin to a bag of quarters as big as Hila dropping to the ground), the Lyrakien wraps herself in Zses' orange Kapenia.
"At least Silence didn't end up with my dress on his head like an hat."
Those Paladins are exploiting some mighty system errors to teleport around and give themselves infinite Smite Evils per day. We gotta stop that!
And wow, I was just going to say what secondary sphere should I focus on (Destruction for primary one, OFC!), and I was about to ask if I should pick up healing. Fighting, should I pick up something to buff ourselves, if you're covering healing, skellies and debugging? Is the Alteration sphere good for that? Maybe protection? Enhancement so I can pseudo summon with Animate Object? Warp?
EDIT: Does the Scion of Humanity trait for Tiefling and Aasimar lets you select Human FCBs? That "any effect related to race" is a very broad description, and the fact that it says that "feat prerequisites" are effects only confuses me more D:
Sorry for the delay, assume that Tyenar's actions here are when Eel's End is still burning (before today's post). Will post the rest once Tyenar knows if the two Lambs are okay.
Just after they run out of Eel's End dragging the corpses of Lamm and his lackeys, Tyenar turns around and starts to stare at the former seat of power of the King of Spiders going up in flames.
Or at lest, staring in the general direction of Eel's End. The sylph's eyes seems only half-intent on looking at the physical burning building, instead seemingly more focused on an unseen something behind the burning ship.
The fire caught on really fast: Eel's End must have been moored here for years...
Tyenar didn't have a long history with Lamm like the others: seeing Lamm's home go down in flame didn't have a cathartic effect like it did for most of the others on the pier. Indeed, he barely hears what's happening around him, everyone's voices distant and confused.
It takes Tyenar a good half a minute to realize that it has started to rain and, when the Sylph finally realizes it, he looks at his hands only to see them shaking like mad: all his body, in fact, was trembling like a leaf, and the winds around him had grown completely still.
Tyenar looks in dazed disbelief at his rapier, the blood being slowly washed away by the rain, and turns his head to the ground at his right to stare at Davor's body.
Did I...I killed him, right?
The half-orc's hateful glare, still painted on his face, almost seem to answer the Sylph's question.
Tyenar starts to sweat and breath heavily, unable to form a single coherent thought in his head for the first time of his life as a creeping sense of dread assails him.
I killed him! Gods, I killed him!
Fortunately, the sound of the nearby Lambs talking with the guard manages to snap, temporarily, Tyenar back to reality.
"Ander! Timmor!" he shouts, almost tripping as he runs towards the Lambs, searching for the two young boys.
That was my action for the turn and I have to wait for next turn to act, no?
Dazed, the Sylph slowly realizes what he is doing as he pulls the rapier out of the creature. The last ten seconds were the most confused the Sylph had been in his whole life: one moment he was flailing wildly against the blind half-orc, is eyes shut in fear, and the moment after that Davor was falling to the ground, blood flowing from his neck.
It's only when he hears Juliet shout that Tyenar snaps back to reality: in a moment, he finds himself face to face with a spidery monstrosity. Panicking, he looks around him, eyes wide at the hell that was breaking loose around him, and Lamm dying half a meter away from him.
What is going on? What do I have to do?
Tyenar squints his eyes to concentrate on the present, but all that it accomplishes is showing the sylph Davor last hateful glare in his mind.
Focus! Focus!
"We have to find proof of Lamm's deals with the ambassador!" Tyenar shouts after a deep breath "I'll search the dais, and then jump down the hole to search for something.". He looks at Lorick, and then at Sia's and Lamm's dead bodies "If you want to go before I'm done, do it, but bring Lamm's body with you...and that woman's." If I don't find anything, Lamm's body is the only way we have to find information...And maybe we could still raise that woman.
HP:53/53|AC:20 T:18 FF:16| DR 5/Magic |Init:+6| Fire,Acid,Cold, Electricity Resistance 10 | Spell Resistance 16 | Fort:+7 Ref:+8 Will:+7(+2 vs Enchantements)|CMB:+13(+15 Grapple,+17 Dan Bong) CMD:26(30 vs. Grapple)
Powers/skills:
Darkness 3/3 Detect Thought 1/1Alter Self 1/1 Kiss 0/1 Level Drain 5/5; Mythic Pool 3/7 Ki Pool 5/5 Stunning Fist 5/5 Smite Law 1/1; Perception+11 Acrobatics+12 Diplomacy+13(14 to gather information)
"This...is...nothing..." Selena grits her teeth as the enemy's magic takes hold, stiffening her muscles.
With an howl and a buzzing from her Mark, however, the half-succubus leaps on the table, dragging the caster along with her, and uses it as a human club to smack Khaul with, before restraining him too when he's taken by surprise.
"How's that, uh?"
Mechanics:
Swift Action: Switch to grabbing style: no penalties for grappling with one hand.
Standard Action: Maintain the grapple on C1, Move & Swing on Khaul.
Free Action: Spend one Mythic point to get another Standard Action
Standard Action: Grapple attempt on Khaul MKII From previous post, rolls are:
Will:5-2+7=0
Grapple Check on C1: 15+17+5=37
Attack roll using C1: 16+5+3=21
Grapple Check on KMKII: 13+17=30 Eventual Swing Damage:1d8 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9
Skinsaw Cultist (Book 4)
Here are the stats for the Skinsaw Cultists that make several appearances in the fourth book: the damage of the Skinsaw mask is alredy factored in the War Razor line.
By making them Sanctified Slayers instead of a Rogue/Cleric monstrosity, they are able to get almost all of the things they get in the book and then some. The cultist can still skulk around and disguise themselves, and now they pack a bigger punch with studied target and bane (both of which can be prepared in advance while they stealthily ambush the PCs), together with Outflank and Precise Strike to mince victims together. Courtesy of the human FCB, they picked some useful spells to ruin the PCs days like Litany of Sloth and Instrument of Agony: the DCs are low enough that the PCs won't be hit by all of them, but some will stick to inconvenience and hamper their tactics.
If you want them to have Craft Wondrous Items to make their own masks like the book says, switch Improved Initiative for it: however, you should probably switch some skill points around to give them some ranks in Spellcraft, or they won't be able to make them. At least, there's the exact same problem in their vanilla HR stablock: they don't have Deathwatch or any rank in Spellcraft. :/
Skinsaw Cultist, level 6:
Skinsaw Cultist XP 1,600
Human inquisitor (sanctified slayer) of Norgorber 6 (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Class Guide 99, Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide 38)
NE Medium humanoid (human)
Init +9; Senses Perception +11
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 17, touch 13, flat-footed 14 (+3 armor, +3 Dex, +1 shield)
hp 50 (6d8+22)
Fort +7, Ref +5, Will +7
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +1 war razor +8 (1d4+3/19-20)
Special Attacks bane (6 rounds/day), sneak attack +1d6, studied target +2 (2nd, move action)
Domain Spell-Like Abilities (CL 6th; concentration +8)
. . 5/day—copycat (6 rounds)
Inquisitor Spell-Like Abilities (CL 6th; concentration +8)
. . At will—detect alignment, discern lies (6 rounds/day)
Inquisitor (Sanctified Slayer) Spells Known (CL 6th; concentration +8)
. . 2nd (4/day)—cure moderate wounds, hold person (DC 14), instrument of agony[UC], invisibility
. . 1st (5/day)—bane (DC 13), cure light wounds, disguise self, divine favor, expeditious retreat, litany of sloth[UC] (DC 13)
. . 0 (at will)—bleed (DC 12), daze (DC 12), detect magic, detect poison, guidance, light
. . Domain Trickery
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 12, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 8, Wis 15, Cha 10
Base Atk +4; CMB +5; CMD 18
Feats Improved Initiative, Martial Weapon Proficiency (war razor), Outflank[APG], Precise Strike[APG], Toughness, Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +9, Disguise +9, Intimidate +8, Knowledge (local) +3, Knowledge (religion) +4, Perception +11, Sense Motive +5, Sleight of Hand +7, Stealth +12
Languages Common
SQ monster lore +2, solo tactics, stern gaze +3, track +3
Other Gear mwk studded leather, mwk buckler, +1 war razor[ISWG]
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Special Abilities
--------------------
Bane (+2 / 2d6, 6 rounds/day) (Su) Make the weapon you are holding a bane weapon.
Copycat (5/day) (Sp) Create a single mirror image duplicate
Detect Alignment (At will) (Sp) Detect chaos, evil, good, or law at will.
Discern Lies (6 rounds/day) (Sp) Discern Lies at will
Inquisitor (Sanctified Slayer) Domain (Trickery) Granted Powers: You are a master of illusions and deceptions. Bluff, Disguise, and Stealth are class skills.
Monster Lore +2 (Ex) +2 to Knowledge checks when identifying the weaknessess of creatures.
Outflank Increase flank bonus by +2 if flanking ally has same feat. If you crit, ally gets an AoO.
Precise Strike +1d6 precision damage for melee attacks if you and an ally with this feat flank the same target.
Sneak Attack +1d6 Attacks deal extra dam if flank foe or if foe is flat-footed.
Solo Tactics (Ex) Count Teamwork feats as if your allies had the same ones.
Stern Gaze +3 (Ex) +3 to Sense Motive and Intimidate.
Studied Target +2 (move action, 2 at a time) (Ex) Study foe as a Move action, gain +2 to att/dam & some skills vs. them.
Track +3 Add the listed bonus to survival checks made to track.
As per the title, while reading trough HR to run it I was really dissatisfied with the choice of classes of 90% of the NPCs: given there were a lot of humanoid enemies, I expected a lot of variety, but instead a lot of them (particularly in the first part of the AP) are either a Rogue, a Fighter, or a Cleric. To spice things up I started working on rebuilding a lot of them, and I figured that I could share them with everyone here. I finished working on the Dottari guards for the first two books, and I'm almost done with the Skinsaw Cultists of book 3 and onward, together with the High Priest of Abadar as an Oracle and the Otyugh Cleric of book 2 for (possible) friendly NPCs.
Note: I'm using Path of War and Psionics from Dreamscarred Press in my game, using them for NPCs, too. I'll mark if I use it for any of the NPCs. For PoW, I'll only bother selecting only prepared maneuvers: it's way too complicated to add a set of other maneuvers that they probably won't use. :/
Herolab munches up the short description of some stuff, so some of that is rewritten by me.
Dottari Guards and Captains (Books 1 and 2, PoW)
I remade the vanilla fighter Dottari into Myrmidon Fighters: it doesn't change the flavor at all, but gives them new tanky toys to spice the combat, namely with the ability to assume a phalanx formation with their shields trough the Phalanx Lancer stance and by using Martial Power to get temporary HP. With the plus Iron Tortoise maneuvers, I aimed to give the idea of them being a unit trained to fight together, more geared toward outlasting the enemy and capturing them alive/dispersing them instead of just killing people.
To give them a little more relevance if the PC fight against them in the later parts of the books, I've also made stats for level 3 and 6 Dottari captains to add to the encounters to up the difficulty: they are built as Warlords focused on Golden Lion maneuvers, with their stance, boosts, and tactical presence there to help the file and rank Dottari.
They are supposed to mostly use PA, Martial Power is there as a feat tax for Imp.Trip and emergencies.
I still have to fix their noncombat equipment: I'm sure they'll have to have manacles on hand, but any idea for anything else? Maybe a Sap?
Dottari Guard, level 1:
Guardia Dottari
Human (Chelaxian) fighter (myrmidon) 1
LN Medium humanoid (human)
Init +1; Senses Perception +6
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Defense
--------------------
AC 17, touch 11, flat-footed 16 (+4 armor, +1 Dex, +2 shield)
hp 13 (1d10+3)
Fort +4, Ref +1, Will +4
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee heavy mace +4 (1d8+2)
Ranged longbow +2 (1d8/×3)
Special Attacks 1 angering smash, 1 iron shell, 1 phalanx lancer, 1 primal wrath, deeds (heroic recovery, man of action, unbreakable), grit (2)
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 15, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 8, Wis 15, Cha 10
Base Atk +1; CMB +3; CMD 14
Feats Iron Will, Martial Power, Weapon Focus (heavy mace)
Skills Acrobatics +1, Intimidate +4, Perception +6, Sense Motive +6
Languages Common
SQ myrmidon maneuver recovery
Other Gear chain shirt, heavy steel shield, heavy mace, longbow, 63 gp
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
1 Angering Smash (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Ex) Shield bash causes target to take -4 to hit anyone but you
1 Iron Shell (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Ex) Successful shield bash attack negates incoming attack
1 Phalanx Lancer (Ex) Use a two-handed weapon with a shield, and lock shields with allies to increase shield AC by +1 each
1 Primal Wrath (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Ex) Strike: A forceful strike that suffers a -2 penalty to hit but adds +4 to damage, or +6 to damage if used with a two-handed weapon.
Deeds Use Grit to perform special abilities
Grit (Ex) Gain a pool of points that are spent to fuel deeds, regained on firearm crit/killing blow.
Martial Power -1/+3 Take listed penalty to attacks to gain listed temporary HP. They last until the next turn and you must declare to use this feat before you make an attack, like Power Attack. Counts as Combat Expertise for feat taxes.
Myrmidon Maneuver Recovery In order for the myrmidon to recover her maneuvers she must perform one of two actions. The myrmidon may recover a single maneuver as a standard action. She may also spend a full round action to recover her initiating modifier in maneuvers (min 2).
Dottari Guard, level 4:
Guardia Dottari
Human (Chelaxian) fighter (myrmidon) 4
LN Medium humanoid (human)
Init +3; Senses Perception +9
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 17, touch 11, flat-footed 16 (+4 armor, +1 Dex, +2 shield)
hp 40 (4d10+12)
Fort +6, Ref +2, Will +5 (+2 vs fear and compulsion effects, +1 vs. fear)
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee mwk heavy mace +9 (1d8+5)
Ranged mwk composite longbow +6 (1d8+1/×3)
Special Attacks 1 iron shell, 1 phalanx lancer, 1 primal wrath, 1 stance of aggression, 2 crippling strike, 2 enraging strike, 2 tactical snap, deeds (heroic recovery, man of action, ready for trouble, unbreakable, utility trick), grit (2)
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 16, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 8, Wis 15, Cha 10
Base Atk +4; CMB +7; CMD 18
Feats Iron Will, Martial Power, Tactical Rush, Weapon Focus (heavy mace), Weapon Specialization (heavy mace)
Skills Acrobatics +7, Intimidate +7, Perception +9, Sense Motive +9
Languages Common
SQ armor training 1, myrmidon maneuver recovery
Other Gear mwk chain shirt, mwk heavy steel shield, mwk composite longbow (+1 Str), mwk heavy mace, 63 gp
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
1 Iron Shell (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Ex) Successful shield bash attack negates incoming attack
1 Phalanx Lancer (Ex) Use a two-handed weapon with a shield, and lock shields with allies to increase shield AC by +1 each
1 Primal Wrath (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Ex) Strike: A forceful strike that suffers a -2 penalty to hit but adds +4 to damage, or +6 to damage if used with a two-handed weapon.
1 Stance of Aggression (Ex) Stance - While in this stance the disciple suffers a -2 penalty to AC and inflicts an additional 1d6 points of damage per eight initiator levels on successful attacks
2 Crippling Strike (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Ex) Strike: Melee attack that adds +2d6 points of damage and the enemy gains the bleeding condition.
2 Enraging Strike (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Ex) Attack deals 10 extra damage, foe must make Will save or be forced to melee attack you at -2
2 Tactical Snap (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Ex) Successful attack allows free trip at +2
Armor Training 1 (Ex) Worn armor -1 check penalty, +1 max DEX.
Deeds Use Grit to perform special abilities
Grit (Ex) Gain a pool of points that are spent to fuel deeds, regained on firearm crit/killing blow.
Martial Power -2/+6 Take listed penalty to attacks to gain listed temporary HP. They last until the next turn and you must declare to use this feat before you make an attack, like Power Attack. Counts as Combat Expertise for feat taxes.
Myrmidon Maneuver Recovery In order for the myrmidon to recover her maneuvers she must perform one of two actions. The myrmidon may recover a single maneuver as a standard action. She may also spend a full round action to recover her initiating modifier in maneuvers (min 2).
Tactical Rush Move up to your speed as a swift action 1/encounter
Dottari Captain, level 3:
Capo Guardia
Human (Chelaxian) warlord 3 ( [PoW])
LN Medium humanoid (human)
Init +1; Senses Perception +6
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 17, touch 11, flat-footed 16 (+6 armor, +1 Dex)
hp 31 (3d10+9)
Fort +5, Ref +2, Will +3
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft. (20 ft. in armor)
Melee mwk bardiche +8 (1d10+6/19-20)
Ranged mwk longbow +5 (1d8/×3)
Special Attacks 1 encouraging roar, 1 hunting party, 1 pride leader's stance, 2 call to action, 2 defending the pride, 2 pyrite strike
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 18, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 8, Wis 10, Cha 14
Base Atk +3; CMB +7; CMD 18
Feats Combat Reflexes, Martial Power, Paired Opportunists[APG], Phalanx Formation, Power Attack
Skills Acrobatics -3 (-7 to jump), Diplomacy +8, Intimidate +8, Perception +6, Sense Motive +6
Languages Common
SQ force of personality, gambits (sweeping gambit, unbreakable gambit), indomitable presence, tactical presence, warleader, warlord’s gambit
Other Gear mwk chainmail, mwk bardiche[APG], mwk longbow, 150 gp
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
1 Encouraging Roar (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Ex) Boost - Until next turn, all allies gain a +2 morale bonus to all attacks and damage.
1 Hunting Party (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Ex) Strike: Make an attack, grant an adjacent ally an attack of opportunity against the same enemy.
1 Pride Leader's Stance (Ex) Stance: Initiator and allies within 20-ft gain a +4 morale bonus to saves vs fear and demoralization effects.
1 Vigilant Keeper Stance (Su) Stance: Enemy count threatened area difficult terrain
2 Call to Action (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Ex) Strike: Attack inflicts an additional 2d6 points of damage, grant adjacent ally an immediate move action.
2 Defending the Pride (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Ex) Boost - Grant all allies within 60 ft. a +4 bonus to AC for one round.
2 Pyrite Strike (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Ex) Strike: Strike inflicts an additional 1d6 points of damage and moves an opponent 5-ft in a direction of your choosing.
Combat Reflexes (2 AoO/round) Can make extra attacks of opportunity/rd, and even when flat-footed.
Force of Personality (Ex) Add CHA to Will saves
Indomitable Presence Allies gain Die Hard feat and add your CHA to some Fort saves
Martial Power -1/+2 Take listed penalty to attacks to gain listed temporary HP. They last until the next turn and you must declare to use this feat before you make an attack, like Power Attack. Counts as Combat Expertise for feat taxes.
Paired Opportunists +4 to hit for AoOs if you and adj ally with this feat both threaten the target.
Phalanx Formation Allies don't provide soft cover to opponents when wielding a reach weapon.
Power Attack -1/+2 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Sweeping Gambit Risk: The warlord attempts a successful trip maneuver against an opponent.
Tactical Presence (Ex) Grant bonuses to nearby allies
Unbreakable Gambit Risk: The warlord attempts to succeed on a Fortitude or Will save against an extraordinary ability, maneuver, power, spell, or spell-like or supernatural ability.
Warleader (5 rounds, 3/day) Gain a bonus teamwork feat; share teamwork feats with allies
Warlord’s Gambit (Ex) Regain maneuvers by taking risky actions
Dottari Captain, level 6:
Capo Guardia
Human (Chelaxian) warlord 6 ( [PoW])
LN Medium humanoid (human)
Init +1; Senses Perception +9
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 17, touch 11, flat-footed 16 (+6 armor, +1 Dex)
hp 58 (6d10+18)
Fort +7, Ref +3, Will +4
Defensive Abilities battle prowess
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft. (20 ft. in armor)
Melee mwk bardiche +11/+6 (1d10+6/19-20)
Ranged mwk longbow +8/+3 (1d8/×3)
Special Attacks 1 encouraging roar, 1 pride leader's stance, 2 call to action, 2 defending the pride, 2 pyrite strike, 3 circling the prey, 3 golden commander stance, 3 kill the wounded, battle prowess
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 19, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 8, Wis 10, Cha 14
Base Atk +6; CMB +10 (+12 trip); CMD 21 (23 vs. trip)
Feats - Custom Feat -, Combat Reflexes, Improved Trip, Martial Power, Paired Opportunists[APG], Phalanx Formation, Power Attack
Skills Acrobatics -3 (-7 to jump), Diplomacy +11, Intimidate +11, Perception +9, Sense Motive +9
Languages Common
SQ dual boost, force of personality, gambits (brave gambit, sweeping gambit, unbreakable gambit), indomitable presence, rallying presence, tactical flanker, tactical presence, warleader, warlord’s gambit
Other Gear mwk chainmail, mwk bardiche[APG], mwk longbow, 150 gp
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
1 Encouraging Roar (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Ex) Boost - Until next turn, all allies gain a +2 morale bonus to all attacks and damage.
1 Pride Leader's Stance (Ex) Stance: Initiator and allies within 20-ft gain a +4 morale bonus to saves vs fear and demoralization effects.
2 Call to Action (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Ex) Strike: Attack inflicts an additional 2d6 points of damage, grant adjacent ally an immediate move action.
2 Defending the Pride (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Ex) Boost - Grant all allies within 60 ft. a +4 bonus to AC for one round.
2 Pyrite Strike (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Ex) Strike: Strike inflicts an additional 1d6 points of damage and moves an opponent 5-ft in a direction of your choosing.
3 Circling the Prey (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Ex) Boost: Grant all allies within 60-ft a free 5-ft step.
3 Golden Commander Stance (Ex) Stance: All allies within 30ft. of your position may gain flanking if they are adjacent to an ally when engaged in melee.
3 Kill the Wounded (Readied, 1/Encounter) (Ex) Stance: Target of this strike takes an additional 2d6 points of damage on attacks made upon him by allies.
Battle Prowess +1 (Golden Lion) (Ex) Gain combat bonuses while in stance of chosen discipline
Brave Gambit Risk: The warlord attempts to make a successful charge attack against an opponent (if the character has the ability to make multiple attacks at the end of a charge, the initial first attack must be successful for this gambit’s success).
Combat Reflexes (2 AoO/round) Can make extra attacks of opportunity/rd, and even when flat-footed.
Dual Boost (1/day) Initiate two boosts with the same swift action
Force of Personality (Ex) Add CHA to Will saves
Improved Trip You don't provoke attacks of opportunity when tripping.
Indomitable Presence Allies gain Die Hard feat and add your CHA to some Fort saves
Martial Power -3/+6 Take listed penalty to attacks to gain listed temporary HP. They last until the next turn and you must declare to use this feat before you make an attack, like Power Attack. Counts as Combat Expertise for feat taxes.
Paired Opportunists +4 to hit for AoOs if you and adj ally with this feat both threaten the target.
Phalanx Formation Allies don't provide soft cover to opponents when wielding a reach weapon.
Power Attack -2/+4 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Haft Strike Take a -2 to AC for a round to hit adjacent with a reach weapon.
Rallying Presence Allies add your CHA to some Will saves as a morale bonus
Sweeping Gambit Risk: The warlord attempts a successful trip maneuver against an opponent.
Tactical Flanker (Ex) Use CHA mod for flanking bonus
Tactical Presence (Ex) Grant bonuses to nearby allies
Unbreakable Gambit Risk: The warlord attempts to succeed on a Fortitude or Will save against an extraordinary ability, maneuver, power, spell, or spell-like or supernatural ability.
Warleader (5 rounds, 3/day) Gain a bonus teamwork feat; share teamwork feats with allies
Warlord’s Gambit (Ex) Regain maneuvers by taking risky actions
Coming Up
-Skinsaw Cultists
-High Priest of Abadar
-Otyugh cleric
Planned
-Luculla Gens as a Mesmerist
-Lorelu as a cardcaster Magus (I know I'm going to have problems with this one <.<)
Martyr also gives up Divine Grace and swift-action LOH, if I recall. Fortunately, the bleed damage is only one per round.
Noooo D:
Oh well, Tortured Crusader sounds cool for Oradins, at least. Being WIS based should open up the option of using Shaman instead of Oracle for Life Link.
Edit: Also, thanks for the infos, Rysky <3
Evil Eye (at will)| Cackle (At will)|Misfortune(At will)| Feather Fall (At will, self)| Levitate (Once per day)|Fly(9/9 Minutes)|Stardust 2/2|Ward(At Will))
Will update spells now: even if Hobbes, Percy, and Hobbes don't need fly, I'd still say they should bring a combination of rings of feather fall and the potion of fly for emergencies.
I think Mule is flying and Silence is glued to him with Spider Climb, too.
I'm moving with Invisibility out of the hideout with the Illusion of myself, Allie, Hila, Percy, Hobbes, Sigrun, and Silence (shouldn't have missed anyone), and then climbing up (a little away from the party, say 100 feet) after the actions posted before.
Evil Eye (at will)| Cackle (At will)|Misfortune(At will)| Feather Fall (At will, self)| Levitate (Once per day)|Fly(9/9 Minutes)|Stardust 2/2|Ward(At Will))
Yup: we surely have Massilovna's weapon, Loghrivic's stuff and...
*Squints eyes at the loot list*
Why is Sigrun holding onto the Jadwiga queen smut? O.o
Crow follows just after Percy, giddy at her new dress.
"Muuuuuch better." the Lyrakien giggles, patting the feathers on her coat "Yeah, Allie, the whole thing surprised me a little, too. Hey, I can feel surprised now! It's great!".
"I guess I should explain what's going on though, as I'm pretty sure even Zses is still puzzling out what in the Hells is going on. " Crow sighs, scratching her head. "So, Zses always had a penchant for magic, (kinda dark and shadowy stuff, if you ask me) even if it'd never showed back in the day: never tried to study magic, and nothing bad ever happened to him to ever trigger the potential. Well, nothing bad ever happened until his mother died of sickness, when he was eight: left a scar on him, but instead of getting all magicky I was...born, you could say? on the Shadow Plane, out of the sorrow of that moment. Pretty s#@+ty thing to be born out of, I would have preferred kittens and rainbows, myself.".
The fairy shrugs. "I can't remember of what happened there to me either: I just...existed, I guess? Then, barely more than a year ago, Zses comes running, chased by a swarm of Gloomwings...but I guess you already know that part." the Lyrakien bites her lip "I recognized him, after years of not really being anything more than a memory: of course I offered to help him and to get him out of there. Technically I could have just done that, but..."
Crow turns to Zses, a serious look on her face "I thought that if you just kept knowing what had happened to your family, that you had nothing left, you would have just wallowed in the past and not moved on. So...I pretended that forgetting everything was the only way to get out of there. I don't deny that was really presumptuous on my part, and right now I feel really bad about doing it (also because now I can feel bad about stuff), but sorry, not sorry Zses: I just wanted to protect you.".
She turns to the rest of the party, looking apologetic "...And this is where you guys come in and where I really apologize. Simply put I didn't trust you at first. Like, at all. You are a bunch of weirdos: I mean, one of the most normal of you is Lyosha, and he recently started bleeding acid. Where is he by the-oh right, don't need to tell me. (Can I go wake those two up, afterwards? I wanna see their reaction!)". She coughs "Anyway, what I wanted to say is: sorry if I doubted you."
For the first time since you've seen her this morning, Crow smiles warmly to you.
"And, from the bottom of my hearth, thank you. Zses wouldn't be like he is now if it wasn't for you. Please, take care of him, don't abandon him. And, most of all, don't get killed. It would break his hearth and mine.".
She chuckles, reverting back to her chatty and perky.
"Really, Zses wouldn't know what do without you: the guy is a dork! Like, when he was a kid he could never even distinguish a crow from a raven! And that's just the tip of the iceberg, really."
That's the first time we've seen an image of Vetra-Kali, right? What does he looks like? "Looks like the Mitrans didn't reach this place." Etna comments, as she looks at the bas relief on the walls and ceilings "I have to say, the subject isn't as boring as the Mitrans', but the decor is starting to look a little too gaudy."
The Ifrit nods at Tkaara's findings. "Yes, let's looks first for another way to proceed, but I too think that that inscription could be-Felrin?" the fire-haired woman starts, before she's interrupted by the Tiefling's flight. She's about to ask him what in the world had taken over him, but putting together his reaction and Tkaara's lack thereof (what with her condition and all), the Ifrit assumes that a spell was probably involved. Steeling herself, Etna moves for the bas relief, to investigate any detail of it or the altars.
Even at several feet of distance from the image of Vetra-Kali, Etna's hair already start to lose their bright color, slowing their movements in the air and growing to a pale orange.
I can't be stopped by something so trivial...we've faced much fearsome thing than this...
Despite what she's saying to herself, the Ifrit's hearth starts beating like mad, and her breath grows short.
And I, in particular, have been to That place. No spell cast by some raving cultist could ever manage to conjure something more terrifying than those screams!
For a moment, Etna strides again with confidence toward the bas relief, her hair flaring back up brighter than before, before she freezes.
But if this spell wasn't just conjuring fear, but could actually harm me. Does...does that mean that there's a chance it could harm me, that I could die? Am I going to go There, even after all I've been trough? I should have become something more than I was, and still here's my hearth beating like a drum in my chest, even if I'm not sure still to have one.
In one moment, Etna's hair are completely snuffed out, turning into a dull grey as they fall onto the Ifrit's shoulders.
Am I going to become just another scream into that hellish cacophony? AAAAAAAAH!
Etna's scream of utter panic echoes trough the others' ears, giving them the sensation that an hot poker was held a few centimeters from their head; as you were looking at her back, you're not really sure if she actually opened her mouth, but nonetheless the Ifrit flees into a corner and cowers in panic, her arms over her head.
Before being escorted back in.
After only 3 hours, Tyenar was already almost on the brink of a mental breakdown. The other times it was different: he knew how much he was going to be kept in a cell, and so he could still plan ahead on how to recoup the lost time. But how he was supposed to do that now? He had no idea when (or if) Blackjack was going to strike again, and in the meantime he had to be dragged around by what could only be a group of posh Chelaxian mercenaries or some such: there weren't many street urchins or whatever in the Queen's good graces, of that he was pretty sure.
Just as he was thinking this, one of Kroft's guards enters the room and escorts him out, before the Sylph can even say anything.
With everyone
A third person description wrote:
The guards brings in a short young man, not much older than Evelyn. He looks at you with light blue, grayish eyes, and with as much confusion as you look at him. You are sure that the windows are closed, but the new recruit's blonde, almost white hair seems to be currently moved around by a faint breeze, and a light blue swirling mark (a tattoo?) rests beneath his left eye.
His extremely pale skin and lithe frame suggest that Kroft either had a very good reason to take him on board, or that she's running really short on people and recruiting everyone that can pick up a blade: the latter is more probable, but it's also probable that they guy before you would probably struggle to even do that.
These three don't look like posh Chelaxian Mercenaries...
If the Marshall didn't just introduce him to them as the new recruit, he wouldn't have believed that they were sent to Kroft directly by the queen.
What did they do, they found her cat? There's a woman with a rapier (Varisian?), a guy that could probably lift me and throw me a couple of districts away from here, and...a teenage girl with a Longsword almost as big as her?...Wait!
The young man, still silent, looks at you as a flash of recognition crosses his eyes.
These three were at Alina's the night the riots broke out! Vaenathis was with them, and there was also another woman and an Elf as high as a kite. ...Do they know what happened to Vaenathis? Maybe I should get a feel of them before I tell them that...
Aways without saying a word, the sylph pulls out a notebook from his pocket, and starts scribbling on it as he stares at the three strangers as soon as they're thrown out of Kroft's office.
Have I any information on any of them? "Tyenar, nice to meet you." the sylph introduces himself with barely audible voice, remembering a moment after that you have to offer to shake hands when you introduce yourself to someone "Yup. New recruit.".
Tyenar stares at the three, scribbles something on his notebook, stares again, then flips trough the pages, then stares some more.
Staaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaareee.
I knew I would have hated this! Do they expect me to say something, right now? Or do I have to wait for them to say something else, first? Should I just ask them why they're here? "Kr-The Marshall said the Queen herself sent you to work for her. Is that true?" the Sylph asks.
Even if I wasn't supposed to say that, at least I'll get some information out of it....
Well, I'm in Book 2 of WotW, and you are definitely forced to do a "lolevil" thing, and it's the main point of the book.
The thing:
You have to free a Daemon prince (trough almost a year of continued rituals, spending ton on resources in building your evil dungeon) so you can unleash a deadly plague on the populace, randomly killing tons of people, instead of making a more tactically sound and efficient move.
Plus, my character is overthrowing the current religion "for the people!", believing that having Asmodeans in charge is the best for both the citizens and the nation itself: having to let loose a plague that will kill thousands of people ("And put a huge dent on the nation economy"<---She's an evil accountant/barrister sorceress) doesn't make much sense to her. The DM couldn't change it without changing the whole book, so at least we're allowed IC to think the plan is dumb: out of six, mine and another character are definitely against it, but we're being ordered around by an indefinitely powerful Big Bad for now.
So far, you don't really get a say in what happens: if Paizo APs are usually railroady, WotW rails are made of Adamantine. It has a tendency of using rails to get you from one sandbox to the other (i.e. conquest this keep, but you have different ways/degree of success to do it), but you don't get a say in what that sandbox is. The fact that you have to pledge your soul to Asmodeus et cetera makes it almost impossible as written to play the follower of another god, too: swearing fealty to Thrune sounds much less stifling.
Pronouncing Kingmaker's names in Italy could be hard too. Especially because Castruccio is a very funny name for Italian speakers since it could literally means "castrated honey boy".
I had a very hard time as GM trying to make him appears as a threatening and powerful enemy to mine players.
A lot of games have issues with demon and devil names in Italian as well. Since one of our major sources for Hell is, of course, Dante's Inferno,.... well, can you really take these seriously as bad guys?
Started with X: I'm in Europe, so I've always played the complete version that was in the HD remaster. Let me tell you, 12 year old me was super sad to not be able to complete some of the sidequests because the Dark Eons blasted him into oblivion. :P
Gameplay wise, though, I have to say that the best (and the one I'm replaying now) is the Internation Zodiac Job System version of XII. Let's put it like this: it's so good, it amply overweights the game's flaws like horrible pacing, huge variance in quality of the voice acting (I'm still trying to figure out if Fran's VA is bad or just super weird), and half of the main cast being there just because*. I highly recommend to try it if you can (I'm betting the HD version will come out, but my earlier prediction is late 2017 or something).
*Trivia time! Did you know that, in earlier concept of the story, Basch was supposed to be the main character, and that he was supposed to be inspired by Ashley Riot from Vagrant Story?
Yeah, I don't think that works: they are still screaming, it's just that no one can hear them. It's like a "tree falling in the forest" thing.
However, OP, you're in luck: there's a spell that should work with what you want to do. Lipstitch sews their mouth shut, so I'm fairly sure that prevents them from screaming.
Evil Eye (at will)| Cackle (At will)|Misfortune(At will)| Feather Fall (At will, self)| Levitate (Once per day)|Fly(9/9 Minutes)|Stardust 2/2|Ward(At Will))
Disassemble the Lyoshatron!
After being put down by Lyosha, Zses too kneels down to let Allie climb down.
Silently, he stares at the boar, his gaze devoid of his usual bravado.
Alternate titles:
Yes we Toxicant
Poison in itself is unknowable: a discussion on ToxiKantian philosophy
Good day Advice forums! I'm about to join a game where we're testing a huge number of the unchained rules (list below), with some slight changes. Because of that, I wanted to go with a poison based character, but I barely know where to start, considering that so much poison stuff came out recently! First, let me give you a list of unchained stuff that we're using:
Please read! Important additions to action economy and poisons!:
1) Classes
2) VMC, background and expanded skills
3) Unchained Crafting!
4) Revised Action economy: On each given turn, we get one free swift action! Separated swifts can be used with additional actions
5) Poisons: as written, but these two poisons have been converted. Possible to convert more.
Drow Poison
DC 13 injury
Dexterity damage: progression is Healty-Sluggish-Unconscious. No end state, frequency 1/minute per 2 minutes
Purple Worm Poison
Type injury
Save Fortitude DC 24
Track Strength
Frequency 1/round for 6 rounds
Effect Healthy—Weakened—Impaired—Staggered—Immobile—Dead
Cure 2 consecutive save
6)Limited Magic ( D: ): overclocked spells can be used, but failure by 5 or more triggers wild magic.
7)Automatic bonus progression and scaling magic items: WBL has been reduced, but not cut in two two times.
I've got a 20 point buy and starting at level 3: the only things I don't want to change are that I want to make a Sylph, so going Dex based, I want to have an high-ish Int, and that I can't or want to be evil/whorship an evil deity, so no Norgorber/Urgathoa stuff.
I looked over my options and, as the title, I think my best bet is a Toxicant alchemist: Eldritch Poisoner looked great, until I noticed the part where I can't use discoveries with it (seriously, whose idea was that? <.<).
I was considering if I should pick Vivisectionist, too, to use one of the two Sneak Attack poison feats, or if I should stick with bombs to have a decent ranged option.
Beside from that, I'm really at a loss: the lasting poisons discovery lets me apply my toxin multiple times, making a rather unimpressive impression of Int to damage, but how can I up the DC of my actual poisons? I know I can stack inhaled/ingested poisons and throw a bag of them, but I was thinking that if I maintain my Drow Poison DC high enough I can use it a sort of Slumber Hex on a pointy stick. So far, I know these ways to up my DCs:
1)Powerful poisoning: is it worth to have the minimum 13 Strenght and pick this feat? How severe is the limitation in upping my DCs?
2)The two SA poisoning feats: one scales better, but can't push DCs up a certain point.
3)Snakebite Dagger: +2 to DCs woot!
4)Malignant Poison: high level, but awesome. It even lets me use onset poisons!
What poison do you advice me to use? I suppose Drow Poison is going to be my bread and butter, but I wanted to use all the other fun stuff like Intelligence poisons to screw spellcasters. What are the poisons that you've found offer a best quality/price balance?
Also, is any kind of dip worth it? I was thinking of something like the Daggermark Poisoner PrC, as my DM ruled that the quick poisoning ability let me doubles the daily progress in crafting poisons: it's a shame that the base Alchemist ability doesn't let me do the same thing. :(
*Pats Zev on head when he comes back with the stick*
Good boy!
I wondered who had Knowledge Arcana and Nature, and it turns out each of us picked the same Knowledges. <.<
We could shore it up next level, but for now we're all going "Oh gods magic!"
Maybe this could be of help to people trying to download stuff: I managed to download a file (Bestiary, about 55 MB, middle-high in size of Paizo's PDFs) about 30 minutes ago: the whole thing took me about 20 minutes, but I'm chalking that up mostly to the fact that not many people are around at this time.
I'm writing this because during the process I got kicked out to the main page twice and my firefox crashed once, and I got my PDF about 8 minutes after I reopened the window after the crash: considering that that looks like too short a time for the queue, I suspect that you don't get booted out of the queue after you crash/get back to main page/whatever. For those still having problems getting their stuff, I'd say try to keep clicking once a minute, queing a single file, and keep trying on the same file even if you get sent back to main page.
Evil Eye (at will)| Cackle (At will)|Misfortune(At will)| Feather Fall (At will, self)| Levitate (Once per day)|Fly(9/9 Minutes)|Stardust 2/2|Ward(At Will))
Your Benevolent Dictator wrote:
Stardust expired naturally. For the rest, she's a prepared caster who's been observing the party off-and-on ever since the soulbound doll fight in Book One. She also has the Familiar Spell feat and was able to do a little prebuffing before the party arrived. You still eliminated her from the fight for a significant amount of time, though. ;-)
Oooh, that explains it. I was wondering how she got around to do stuff with the Nauseated condition.
And Lyosha just turned that wolf into red paste, I think. :3
Evil Eye (at will)| Cackle (At will)|Misfortune(At will)| Feather Fall (At will, self)| Levitate (Once per day)|Fly(9/9 Minutes)|Stardust 2/2|Ward(At Will))
Wow, both of the wolves got trough the blindness concealment, too? :/
"Crow!" Zses shouts as the raven is attacked by the jadwiga's familiar, calling him back to him. Dazed by the witch's spell, Zses takes some time before he's able to cast a spell, but soon after commands his shadow to go pluck away the Jawiga's eyes.
Mechanics:
Crow, Full Round action: Withdraw to where Zses is.
Zses, Standard Action: Blindness, DC 16 Fort or be blinded.
Zses, Move: get closer.
Mirais smiles a little, blushing, at Zev's compliment, but her expression quickly turns serious when the others start discussing the repercussions their actions could have on people close to them.
"The people back at the temple are like family to me, but..." Mirais furrows her brow "Things are already tense right now. They don't like that we've been giving refuge to the Sarenites after the Silver Star burned down, and things will probably only get worse."
What a coincidence! We will just have a steady rate of murderhobos valiant groups of heroes waltzing toward sure death trying to sabotage what we're doing in the Horn!
Evil Eye (at will)| Cackle (At will)|Misfortune(At will)| Feather Fall (At will, self)| Levitate (Once per day)|Fly(9/9 Minutes)|Stardust 2/2|Ward(At Will))
Back to a training montage on the Elemental Plane of Fire for burn-ee?
"Ouch!" Zses grits his teeth when the Twigjack stabs him with the miniature: however, he takes a step back and lets Lyosha handle the creature, while he focuses back on the piper.
"I wouldn't be laughing if I were you!...No wait, thinking about it, maybe I would..." the witch botches his one-liner, but still points his finger at the Piper, his shadow extending to gouge the eyes from the Piper's.
Mechanics:
Free Action: 5ft. step.
Standard Action: Blindness on the piper, DC 17 Fortitude Negates.
She...she's dead. Did I just help kill someone?
Slightly breaking out of her daze, Mirais' mind starts to process what had just happened, before Zev replies to her.
"And do you think that was a good reason to kill her!?" Mirais yells at Zev, her eyes filled with anger and fear, before snapping her hand away from the skinwalker's "Let go of me!" Did he kill her because of me? If I had been stronger, he wouldn't have had to do that...It's all my fault...
Realizing that she had just lost time and attracted attention, Mirais moves and stays to Canacha, her expression even more terrified and distraught than before.
@GmFish: Ok, got it. :/
As I said, don't hesitate to ask if you want an hand with maps!
Zev Kelevra wrote:
Canacha Bais wrote:
I was planning on Canacha doing a whole lot of crafting, after all, most of the cool gunslinger things/alchemist bombs and potions are pretty much self crafted anyway, eventually I am sure she will be making lots of other things too.. like probably you guy's toys.
Canacha despite having a gun, is really being made to be the most supporting support she can support whoever she can support :)
That would probably be something based on the stats of a ripsaw glaive, with adjustments and extra damage against beasts. You sure you should ask a Vileblood to build that?
@Arani: That thing is also a club!
Wait...
*Looks at own image*
Do I have eyes on the inside?
"Public punishments..." Mirais mutters to herself, before jumping on her feet, her tail furiously spiraling on the ground "Public punishments!? Are you fuc**ng kidding me?"
The timid woman from a few moments before was now completely gone, and a decidedly furious tiefling had now taken her place.
"He comes here, takes a public building for himself, prevents us from electing a new mayor, outlaws mint, and now he's going to torture people on the streets?!" Mirais' voice, before talking mostly to herself, was now addressing the people around her "What is Thrune going to do next, execute people for walking on the wrong side of the street, or doing whatever other arbitrary thing he thinks is unacceptable!?"
She's about to continue her tirade only following what her emotions were telling her to do, but even in her dazed fury she realizes that just hammering on Thrune would just be saying aloud what people that already agreed with her were thinking: she wasn't looking for sympathy, she wanted Barzillai to go get away from the city. Worse, people that only wanted to stir up trouble could use what she was saying to escalate violently the protest...
"I wont hide behind a finger: I want the Opera House back, and if it was for me, I would just have wanted for no one to have come here to govern us in the first place. But" Mirais starts, trying to appease also to the moderates in the protest "If her Infernal Majestrix feels that she needs people around to prevent conflicts from erupting, fine. But let us choose our own Mayor, and not be ruled by a man that, for all we know (and outlawing mint and tea leads credence to that claim), could be completely mad!"
Rabble all the rouses. Diplomacy:1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 7 + 1 = 15 Diplomacy:1d20 + 7 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 7 + 1 = 22+1 if previous attempt was successful.
"T-thanks..." Mirais smiles and blushes at Zev's comment, taking a seat at the table.
Quietly, the tiefling observes the crowd that was gathering for the protest: even if she spotted a couple of people that looked like they were only there to stir up trouble, she was glad that not only Kintargo Partisans were there to protest Thrune, but that the appointed mayor managed to attract the malcontent of so many different people.
That Thrune won't be able to stand holed up in the Opera House with so many people out here: he'll have to address a whole mob in front of where he lives (until we send him back home)! He'll have to answer for all of those ridiculous proclamations...and for closing the theater.
With the contempt for Thrune fomenting a fire in her chest, Mirais almost unconsciously starts singing an at first apparently random piece from The Barber of Corentyn. Even if it's subtitled, here's the translation
However, as one listens to it, he could easily make the connection that every time love was mentioned in the text it was meant as a Metonymy for Shelynite artist kicked out of the Opera House...or just as a jab to the ruthless and cruelly armed tyrant, who could be no other than Barzillai.
Even if only the first part was relevant to what originally spurred her to start singing, taken by the performance the Tiefling continues, if someone sings the few other lines of recitative of the other character in the scene.
Like one of the two gentlemen that are still wandering around the protest by themselves *Hint, hint* Perform(Sing):1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23
Finished tweaking Mirais. I know that picking the Warded against Nature drawback will come back to bite me in the @ass when Thrune finds about it and goes around handing puppies to people and see if they scare the doggies off. <.<
"Woof. Arf arf" Winston barks, looking first at Mistress Etna, wagging his tail, before moving to Lady Taty and sitting in front of her.
He had been completely useless until now, nothing but an utter disgrace: no matter if he didn't agree with the path Mistress Etna chose, he swore to aid her always, and now was the time.
Waiting further orders, Winston stares at Lady Taty.
@thenine: I'm sure about 25 points and max hp, but I just went with the usual 2 traits/average wealth for the other two.
@ShadowyFox: The proclamations go progressively crazier as they go on: Thrune's been here only a week, and people at first thought he was "just" a guy sent there to keep things calm while Cheliax is busy fighting the Glorious Reclamation.
The he starts banning tea and mint, the people go WTF, and I suspect everything goes to s!+@ during the protest and the situation gets serious.
Okay, Adhan Cielo here, here's Mirais!
Only her backstory for now, but I will post crunch, personality, and description in a bit. (By the by, I've settled on a Herald Caller)
Background (Long-ish, character POV):
Mirais paced back and forth trough the room, her tail drawing spirals on the floor as she did so. Without thinking, the tiefling reached out to the teapot on the table to pour a cup of tea to calm her nerves, only to remember a moment after that it was empty. Letting out a snarl of frustration, Mirais put it back onto the table with a sonorous *clang*, before moving to the window and looking outside. Barely, the tiefling could see the Opera House gently lit by the moonlight, and Thrune's lackeys carrying furniture, books, and a bathtub.
A bathtub. A bathtub! That Barzillai closed the Opera House and was moving in with his bathtub! She had finally got an important part (in the Huntress of Heroes, no less), and then a Thrune moves in and puts the city under martial law. And to add insult to injury, he set himself into the Opera House because he said he 'loves the arts'. By the Nine Hells, how does that translate in deprieving everyone of the possibility of enjoying art to use the theatre as an house?
Snapping her jaws in anger and lashing with her tail left and right, Mirais slumped off on her bed.
Things were finally starting to turn for the better, all of her efforts were about to bear fruits, and now everything had crumbled down. And that was without counting the fact that things were probably going to get worse...
Slowly, she picked up her pendant, an holy symbol of Shelyn, and put in on the desk near the bed before removing her glove. Pulling back her sleeve, she raised her hand in the air, palm to the ceiling, and stared at it. A moment after, unsurprisingly, an eye emerged from the back of her hand and blinked back, before disappearing again in her skin like a wood log into a muddy swamp.
”Like a song, the only beauty that matters comes from whitin...” Mirais muttered, reciting the words her “aunt” told her years ago.
In fact it had been, what, almost exactly ten years? She had been desperate for weeks, after grotesque eyes and mouths started appearing on her skin, shifting and disappearing in her flesh, and she walled up in her room alone, only letting Henriet, the elderly cleric of the temple, bring her dinner. All of the Shelynite temple of Kintargo cared for her since they took her in, but it was the old woman in particular that was the closest thing Mirais could call a family.
That evening, Henriet brought Mirais a cup of Mint Tea to calm her nerves, consoled her as she did the days before and all the years before that. and told the tiefling something that finally made something click in her mind, that gave Mirais hope for her future...
”Like song, the only beauty that matters comes from within: as an elegant attire doesn't make an artist any better, a stunning appearence doesn't make a person any gooder. Even if now you think that's impossible, work on who you want to be: in time, you'll learn to love the world and yourself.” the tiefling said clutching the holy symbol in her hand, sitting up on the bed and looking at the Opera House and Thrune's troops moving in. Since that day, she started to work towards becoming what she wanted to be, to forget about the demons of her past, and to sing: how happy she was when her sung prayers granted her Shelyn's blessing for the first time!
And now, she even got to have an important part on the stage of the Opera House: the same stage where it didn't matter who she were, but only the music she produced. And maybe, if people liked her singing, one day they could like her as a person...
Once again, Mirais got up from her bed and looked out of the window, in the direction of Arya Park. Naturally, Barzillai Thrune's insediation in the city didn't sit well with more than one person: the tiefling had heard that there was going to be a protest in the Park in the next days, and the tiefling was now sure that she would attend. She would not stand idly as some insane mint-hater destroyed the life that she had been building.
If she was able to learn to sing even without any talent, to almost silence the darkness in her hearth, and start forgiving herself for being the cause of her mother's death, then Kintargo could surely muster up its courage and kick that deranged despot with the ridiculous armor out of the city.
Background(TL;DR version, classic):
Raised in Kintargo's Songbird Hall, Mirais never knew her parents, who lived in the outskirts of Kintargo. Her father was an agent of the Pathfinder Society that died on the field before Mirais' mother gave birth to her. Her mother, on the other hand, shared the fate of all that bear a Motherless child. In this tragedy, however, the baby tiefling was lucky in the fact that Henriet, a friend of Mirais' late mother, was a cleric of Kintargo's temple of Shelyn.
Mirais' childhood wasn't an easy one: the Shelynites that took her in were always kind to her, but being raised without parents was hard enough even without her abyssal heritage gnawing at her mind. It wasn't as if there were voices in her head, dark whispers from behind her, or other hoghwash that Mirais read in cheap fiction: her thoughts just naturally wandered to dark thoughts where everyone was out for himself, sinful, and only plotting to do her harm.
As if that wasn't enough, at the start of her adolescence, grotesque eyes and mouths appeared on Mirais' skin, shifting and disappearing in her flesh, spiraling black symbols around them.
But, thanks in no small part to “Aunt Henriet”, Mirais managed to not let despair take a hold of her life: she dedicated herself to Shelyn's teachings and to singing, despite having no natural talent for the latter and her nature pulling her in theopposite direction of the Eternal Rose. Still, trough sheer force of will, the qlippoth-spawn managed to start building the life that she wanted, even so far as to finally obtain an important role in Kintargo's Opera House. Though, notoriety wasn't really what Mirais wanted.
Obtaining (and performing!) the part meant for the tiefling to show herself that she was able to overcome her hardships, to show herself and the world that she was able to produce something beautiful and surpass her nature. If her qlippoth heritage made her hate the world, she would learn to love it. If her heritage made her think that there was only darkness in the hearth of man, she would learn to find beauty in it. Starting from herself...
However, Barzillai Thrune's arrival shattered the stability that the tiefling was obtaining, and she was now fearing that that was only the first of many calamities that would befall Kintargo if the paracount wasn't stopped: having realized that, the tiefling set to join the protest in Arya Park, hoping that her and the rest of Kintargo could repel Thrune.
Also this I'll go trough the other submissions and findi other character that could be connected to a Cleric of Shelyn raised up in the temple and that spends most of her time either there or in the Opera House (After a brief look over the other characters, almost everyone seems to satisfy at least one of those :3)
@Bebaushie: Let's try to not get either of us killed this time <3
I'm of course up for Mirais and Beba to have met before the event of the AP: she's far less angsty than her last incarnation, and she'd be super happy to help out Bebaushie.
*Waves at Mamushka and Rysky*
I went back and forth on a character concept, before I realized I had an old character that, with a bit of a rewrite, would be perfect for Hell's Rebels. I can rewrite her. Better. Faster. Less angsty. *.*
Basic concept is a Tiefling Evangelist/Herald Caller Cleric of Shelyn, Diva in Training background: will get to work straight away!
By the way, anyone wants an Alkenstar boon for Pew-pewing for trading? A VMC or extra combat feat would be super cool!