Andyr's page

Got it, thanks! So level 6 = 16k normally -> 8k here, no items more than 2k. I assume a +1 weapon (which is 2k + masterwork cost + base cost) is ok, though, since we have had them before?

Can someone link me the character creation stuff (wealth, point buy, what stats go for what government position)? I can't find it here or in my email.

I'm planning on coming in with a new PC to be the Marshall - probably a sword-and-board type, less of a glass cannon than Ahran was. I'm planning to flesh him out a bit tomorrow and will post up and join in as soon as I can. As Tarondor alludes to, things have been a bit unsettled here recently!

I've been thinking about a worshipper of Iomedae (or similar deity) who has been drawn to the area precisely because of the recent turbulent times, to try and do their bit to help.

I figured a minor noble house would probably push people towards law and trade. Nothing against architects, mind you. ;)

EDIT: I did get the reference as well there!

My character’s new name is Friholys Aurelian (‘Aurelian’ being the name of his sub-branch of House Dallimothan; a nod to the Roman emperor Aurelian and also the latin word ‘aurum’ which means gold, referencing his golden dragon ancestry.) As answers to the 9 questions (pending approval from the other PCs):

Question #1: Are you a native of Ptolus? If not, where do you come from?
Yes, Friholys is from Ptolus, a minor branch of House Dallimothan.

Question #2 (Majority prevails): How did you meet your fellow party members? In line at the city gate? Were you old friends?
Friholys and Silas have known each other since the latter was adopted into House Dallimothan. They have become close since Friholys’ powers developed, finding kindred spirits in each other, and have been on several adventures together. Friholys probably met other party members in line at the city gate with Silas, although some residents or frequent visitors may have heard of or visit him in his professions as a merchant and barrister. If Velika has been in the city a while, presumably they have either met or heard of each other (through their professions).

Question #3 (Majority prevails): In your first adventure, you rescued a little girl's corpse from a glass coffin at the bottom of the sea. Turns out the little girl (Linele Cran, six-year old daughter of a minor crime boss) had been infected with vampirism and risen as one of the undead. Did you A) destroy her? B) let her go? C) Turn her over to the Covenant of Blood, a circle of powerful vampires?
Friholys would have chosen to destroy her.

Question #4: To which deity or church do you feel most closely associated?
Friholys pays lip service to all the civilised gods but used to venerate Locharit (Goddess of the Written Word) and Ynchabolos (God of Numbers) most strongly, due to his upbringing in a noble house and professions. In recent years, after coming across old texts about the dragon deity Ni-Gorth and the resultant awakening of his sorcerous powers, he has begun learning more about this (now largely forgotten) fairth.

Question #5: Do you A) Support the Empress Addares XXXIV, a distant cousin of the last ruling Emperor and current possessor of the Lion-Guarded Throne? B)Support the Emperor Segaci Fellisti, advisor to the last three Emperors and brilliant diplomat, now claiming the throne? C) Support the claim of the Holy Emperor of the Church, Rehoboth Ylestos, who desires to reunite religious and temporal power of the empire, whose seat is currently in Ptolus? D) Support Igor Urnst, Commissar of Ptolus and current neutral in the imperial struggle? E) Support Helmut Itelstein, leader of the Republican movement who wishes for a free and independent Ptolus? or F) Have no interest in politics?
Friholys makes no public statements in favour of any claimant. In private, he tends towards the views of Igor Urnst or Helmut Itelstein, as both would lead to more autonomy for Ptolus – in which case he would like to place himself to increase his own power within the city.

Question #6: In your latest adventure you had a difficult choice. You were used by the notorious criminal and murderer Shilukar, a dark elf. Notably, dark elves are so reviled in Ptolus that killing one is considered a positive good, not murder. However, at one point you had to choose between thwarting (not killing or harming) Shilukar or allowing him to escape into the sanctuary of the famous Castle Shard. The upside of allowing him to make it to Castle Shard is that you also would gain the notice and friendship of the powerful (and not evil so far as you know) residents of that mysterious and magical castle. So...thwart or join?
Friholys would have allowed Shilukar to escape, if he thought that the friendship of the residents of Castle Shard could be of use to him. He sees the potential for gaining increased power and influence as being a greater good than the escape of a murderer, especially since had he thwarted Shilukar, the elf would have escaped anyway.

Question #7: Where in Ptolus do you live? Do you live with your friends? Do you all have rooms in the Ghostly Minstrel on Delver's Square? Do you rent a small flat in Midtown? A hovel in the Warrens? A townhouse in Rivergate?
He owns a small townhouse in Rivergate, with a spare room for guests. The ground floor of the house also serves as his place of business. He aspires to eventually move to the Nobles’ Quarter.

Question #8: Are you married? Do you have a betrothed? A sweetheart? A friend with benefits? Are you above such considerations? Do you have the hots for that cute baker's son on Citation Street? Are you determined to marry one of the Commissar's daughters? Does it matter which one?
Friholys seeks to marry both for love and political advantage. He has not yet found the ideal combination in any woman, although figures that he has a few more years to develop his powers and standing before it becomes urgent that he find a wife and sire a child.

Question #9: Something in Ptolus gives you the willies. What is it? The Necropolis? The gun-toting Shuul? The Covenant of Blood? The Brotherhood of Redemption? The Sisterhood of Silence? Gnomes?
The Covenant of Blood, Fallen, and Forsaken – they represent aspects of otherworldly power which he finds somewhat terrifying. So, he stays clear of the Necropolis where possible.

Ah, I wondered if that would have been obscure enough; I'll pick another name (free from pop cultural references). Thomas and I are conferring about character ties.

Hi all, my character is:

Art Vandelay, human Sorceror (gold draconic bloodline).

He's from a minor branch of House Dallimothan (also known as 'House Dragon'), although sufficiently removed from the line of succession that he has to work for a living. He is a barrister and merchant in the city, and part-time adventurer. He realises that ancestral power flows in his veins and wishes to use his gifts to increase his standing within his family, or else bring himself more temporal power (either politically or through association with a more powerful noble house). His powers only began to develop a few years ago, once an old text about the old religion of Ni-Gorth fell into his hands and awakened the latent power within him. He is calm and self-assured but not so arrogant as to believe he can achieve his aims without friends, and truly seeks to work for the betterment of the city.

I'll post answers to the questions, and formally add him in the Paizo software, later on today.

Andyr wrote:

Is it too much a spoiler to ask if any one Elemental type will be hamstrung in particular? (e.g. if we end up battling fire creatures for much of the game then being a fire Sorceror might not end up being particularly fun/helpful.) Or is basically any reasonable build viable? I'm not trying to super-optimise, just to be able to contribute.

No, this ain't Legacy of Fire. No one element will predominate or be wholly absent.

I gotta tell you, I'd think about a wizard if I were you. They just cover so many more possibilities. Maybe a Blaster Wizard?

Thanks! Good to know.

And wizard, I still think too much bookkeeping for me in an online game. ;) I will look over the link though.

Hi again all: sorry for the continued delay. I realise I'm dragging things. It's been a tough week and it always takes me a while to make characters.

I'm looking over the party contents so far, and in terms of arcane spellcasters we have a Bard (so that's buffing, debuffing, and knowledge) and Bloodrager (so that's mostly close-quarters buffs/debuffs) and I know the Investigator can do a bit of magic-adjacent stuff too. So it looks like blasting is the hole here - I'm tending towards a blaster Sorceror, and looking through bloodlines at the moment.

A blaster also appeals as my past Sorcerors for in-person games were a debuffer and a transporter/save-or-lose type of spellcaster, so this will be something a bit different. :)

I'm looking at the Arcane or Elemental bloodlines in particular. Is it too much a spoiler to ask if any one Elemental type will be hamstrung in particular? (e.g. if we end up battling fire creatures for much of the game then being a fire Sorceror might not end up being particularly fun/helpful.) Or is basically any reasonable build viable? I'm not trying to super-optimise, just to be able to contribute.

GM Tarondor wrote:

Can everyone please have their characters ready and posted within 48 hours? That's the morning of Thursday the 17th.

Thanks. Let's get this thing underway while the energy and excitement are still there. The waiting is killing me!

Andrew, Tim and Nick. Could I get a status update?

Sorry, I should have been clearer earlier. I can't be ready by tomorrow night, I'd need until at least the weekend. I was busy most of yesterday evening, just got in tonight now, and tomorrow I have a conference which will eat up the evening as well. Friday evening I may be able to get something done, Saturday/Sunday daytime I probably won't.

I'm also away from Weds 23rd to Sun 27th and won't have computer access so won't be able to post. I understand if this makes me too late to participate this time.

Jamey, which social skills does your character (Velika) have? I will take a few ranks in one or two, so will make sure we have all three covered and a bit of overlap.

Tarondor: thanks, I wouldn't do Crossblooded sorceror! My main reason for going Sorceror over Wizard is bookkeeping; I know for a fact it would slow me down so don't want to do that in an online game.

The reason I ask about Shaman is that it is a Witch/Oracle hybrid class. It gets hexes as well.

I'll build something with good Stealth capabilities.

Tarondor, Shaman is allowed but Witch is not? Is that right?

"Glitterdust is golden" - heheh :) I agree with Tarondor's spell suggestions as well.

Yes, I'm good with arcane caster if that's the remaining gap. I would probably go Sorceror as I think that will be easier to keep track of than a Wizard. Although if we have a Bard and a Bloodrager, do we need a full arcane caster?

Are we looking to be all a bit stealth-capable or not? (I saw the GM's notes about not being squishy.)

I will try to get a character sorted soon though am out part of this evening and tomorrow evening. Work last/this week has been tough due to some staffing changes and election fallout, so I haven't had as much time as normal. Should be back on track soon...

Hey all, Andrew here!

Busy weekend so I didn't get through to making a character yet; I'm catching up on the players' guides today. Hopefully that will give me some inspiration. As I stated in email I don't particularly want to be a rogue, druid, melee guy or bard (based on what I'm playing in other games now/recently) so that leaves arcane or divine caster (cleric/oracle) as most likely for me.

Malinor, that's an interesting idea to have all of us have some stealth capability. I'm up for it, unless someone wants their character to be loud and proud!

Ah, thanks, that seems like a good feat as well! Will have to see whether I can work it in some place (was considering Natural Spell for 7th).

Jeff, ok, I see it now. Thanks!

MKS: Thanks, that item looks like it might work. If the character can find someone in-game to make a belt for a giant mantis. ;)

Jeff: The 'share spells' feature does state that "A druid may cast spells on her animal companion even if the spells normally do not affect creatures of the companion's type." http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/druid/animal-companions#TOC-Sh are-Spells-Ex- But yes, it wouldn't work because it isn't a 'personal' spell and not on the class list anyway.

EDIT: error in my initial reply.

I am playing a Druid with a Vermin animal companion (Giant Mantis), and the character is currently at level 6.

At level 7, the companion will become Large-sized. This makes getting around in confined spaces trickier (you have to squeeze). I know that for regular animal companions (i.e. 'animal' creature type), there is the spell Reduce Animal, which is useful for these situations: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/r/reduce-animal

My reading is that this spell only works on creatures of the type 'animal', not 'vermin'. Is there a similar spell appearing in a Paizo (not 3rd-party) product which will work on vermin? Or do people have any other creative suggestions for how best to deal with a Large-sized creature in confined spaces? (I know there's an option to take a stat boost inside of the size boost at level 7, but I prefer to take the size boost once reaching that level. I also know the Druid can dismiss the companion and choose another, but I don't want to do that right now. Both for story reasons.)

Before anyone asks, I know I can talk to the GM about it and hand-wave something, or the character can research his own spell. But I wanted to know whether there was anything 'official' already out there. I also looked over the 'share spells' class feature of the Druid, in case Reduce Person would work, but I don't think it will (doesn't have a target of 'you' and isn't on the Druid class spell list anyway).

Thanks, glad that's what you make of it too!

I've just got the new Champions of Balance book and have a question about the Planar Companion feat (on page 13, see also http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/planar-hunter ):

Benefit(s): When you are on one of the planes you've selected as a favored terrain, you gain a +2 bonus on weapon attack rolls against outsiders native to that plane. You also ignore up to 5 points of damage reduction when making weapon attacks against outsiders native to that plane, except for damage reduction without a type (such as DR 10/—). In addition, you gain this bonus against extraplanar creatures you encounter and identify as being from one of your planar favored terrains, such as with a successful Knowledge (planes) check, regardless of what plane you or they are on.

So if you're on a 'favoured terrain' plane, you get bonuses against outsiders native to that plane.

But (third sentence), you also get those bonuses against outsiders native to that plane regardless of what plane you or they are on.

So, why does the first part of the feat need that wording at all (about being on the plane) when the last sentence says you/they don't need to be on the plane? Is is that being on the plane means no Knowledge (planes) check is needed, but being off the plane means you do still need to make a Knowledge (planes) check? Am I missing something?

Thanks all! I'm satisfied, then.

Do you two understand the reason I ask, or am I completely worrying too much about it?

Thanks for the reply. I suppose you're right that metamagic vs. non-metamagic is the distinction the rules make--although I would prefer to see it explicitly written. :) The phrasing about 'take more time' implies that it's a more involved process to use metamagic, which is why I wondered if the intention could be that it takes longer when applying subsequent feats.

I did a search for this but didn't see, so:

Suppose a Sorcerer wants to apply (both) the Silent Spell and Still Spell Metamagic feats to a spell which normally has a casting time of a standard action. Does this take a full-round action (as per normally applying a Metamagic feat to a spell), or longer (with the first feat taking it to a full-round action and the second taking it to one round)? And is there a page reference for the ruling?

The SRD doesn't explicitly cover it that I could see (saying effective levels add but not mentioning casting time):

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/metamagic-feats
Multiple Metamagic Feats on a Spell: A spellcaster can apply multiple metamagic feats to a single spell. Changes to its level are cumulative. You can't apply the same metamagic feat more than once to a single spell.

I ask as I'm playing a Sorcerer who plans to use these feats in combination when necessary.

Thanks. Yeah, we had discussed it and in the absence of official rules for how to set this up (which it sounds like is the case) were going to handwave something which sounded sensible based on a system like animal companion tricks. Basically "Stay in the house, don't kill my family but kill anyone who tries to."

My character in a game wants to commission a few Iron Cobras to guard his place of residence and family against threats to them, and (ideally) intruders while they are away, without running a risk of himself and family being erroneously killed by the constructs.

The stats for the construct in question are here: http://paizo.com/PRD/monsters/ironCobra.html

Note they have no Intelligence score, speak no languages, and are not telepathic. So, how does one give a construct instructions (e.g. 'stay here and guard my family')? Is this covered by the rules, or do we have to make our own reasonable guess? Clearly because constructs are normally encountered as guards, and mythologically things like e.g. golems are controlled in part by writing, there is some mechanism (although I don't know if it is covered by the rules).

Thanks for the confirmation. You're right that putting the ability on the crossbow will make it more expensive to add something else later--but along a similar line, buying a second +2-equivalent crossbow for when we're 'done with the undead' for now becomes cheaper if I expect I will fire 100+ shots. I will have to think about it.

(The present undead-adventure is Kind Of A Big Deal for the party at the moment, to the extent that it might override more long-term-focussed decisions.)

I'm building a character who will use a crossbow as primary weapon, to join in an existing adventure. We (both as players and characters) know that undead are the major foe so I am thinking of buying an 'undead bane' weapon.

The 'bane' property adds +1 to the enhancement-equivalent price, so making a masterwork crossbow into a '+1 undead bane' crossbow would cost 8,000 gp more.

Now, I thought about saving some cash and just getting some undead bane crossbow bolts. However, if I read this right, a set of 50 '+1 undead bane' bolts would also cost me 8,000 gp (it looks like a set of 50 count as one item for determining the price).

So, my question is, is that right? If so, and I expect to fire more than 50 shots over the course of the adventure, is there some reason I might buy the magic bolts rather than a magic crossbow (with mundane bolts), for the same price, which I can fire more than 50 times?

Thanks for the info. :) I have no idea how I managed to miss the forum link, unless it is very new, as it is pretty obvious!

If they're replacing material components with tomes, wands and the like then that's going to render most of the novels anachronistic (as many of them pay lots of attension to spell components).

A bit of a bump...

I'm a subscriber to this; I can't see a messageboard at Wolfgang's site so was wondering whether anyone knew when issue 2 was coming? I'm eagerly awaiting it.

It struck me in a recent discussion on LiveJournal that the PHBII affiliations might be a good way to handle the factions of Planescape. So, now I'm wondering if anyone else has considered this, and if so what, if anything, might have come of it.

IIRC the Indeps were presented in Complete Scoundrel in that manner--I'd concur that it seems a good way to do it.

The Roll of Years doesn't seem to have any years with ominous titles (e.g. cloven world) in it (well, from ~1370 to ~1400 anyhow) and 1385, which is AFAIK when the RSE is going to happen/finish, is called the Year of Blue Fire.

Your idea of the Abeir meaning Life is interesting; perhaps Ed's comment there refers to a lot of people dying during the Spellplague, or something.

Heh, good eye.

Tease. :)

My copy of Dragon 359 arrived yesterday, and I enjoyed it immensely.

On reading the article on unsolved mysteries, Ed Greenwood's answer to "What is Abeir (of Abeir-Toril)?" struck me as slightly odd. But perhaps I am just over-analysing:

"Over the years," adds Ed, "most designers and gamers have shortened Abeir-Toril to just Toril, for reasons that will soon become apparent..."

Am I missing something here, or is something going to happen to the Realms and remove half its name?

I started a campaign with the PCs being dragged out of the Styx while on Pandemonium, surrounded by corpses and with the howling wind leaving them effectively deafened and disoriented.

Ah, ok--I'll go for multiple deliveries then. :)

I've got an order (to the UK) ready to place, but something seems to be up with the shipping. It's for a handful of magazines, including the final Dragon (which is on preorder status).

If I choose to despatch the currently-available magazines now and the final Dragon when it comes out (i.e. 2 separate deliveries), I can choose between the following options:

For the currently-available magazines:
-USPS Package Service ($6.86)
-USPS First Class Mail ($32.58)
-USPS Priority Mail ($35.10)

For the final dragon:
-USPS Package Service ($6.86)
-USPS First Class Mail ($12.42)
-USPS Priority Mail ($22.50)

This all seems reasonable, and means I could get a total postage of $13.72 for my separate deliveries.

If, however, I opt to wait and have all the items sent together then I only get the USPS Priority Mail option (quite pricey, at $39.30) even though the website suggests that waiting is cheaper. Only the one option comes up. Is there some reason I cannot just get the USPS Package Service for the combined delivery, as I am quite happy to save ~$30 and wait an extra week or two? Or is this a site problem? The pricings seem somewhat counterintuitive.

That's a pretty funny episode.

Thought I'd post that my paper copy to the UK arrived safely a couple of days ago. :)

Thanks for the info!

My FLGS doesn't get many copies of the magazines in, and being in the UK it is hard to find other stockists. What I'm wondering is whether it is possible to pre-order the final issues of Dragon and Dungeon from the Paizo store somewhere, as I don't want to miss out?

Tony DiTerlizzi!

Non-fiction? Must be the Demonomicon articles. ;-)

I subscribed (print and PDF) and am thoroughly enjoying the first issue. :) Additionally, Wolfgang has been both friendly and efficient to deal with via email with my questions.

The magazine's layout is nice and really clean (although the license bit is in an odd place, as has been mentioned) and I thought the editorial, FAQ and interview with Erik Mona were interesting and useful.

I liked the Far Darrig monster--enough information was laid out to give a feel for the race, so you'd get ideas for how to run one as an encounter or a PC. The one other thing I'd have liked to have seen is a bit about the inspiration behind the creature, if it is based on a real-world myth.

The introduction to Zobeck was useful, again detailed enough to be a starting point but not tied into any one setting. I'd probably set it in the Outlands for now, and look forward to reading more about it in future issues.

The only negative comment I'd have is in the Ecology of the Derro article (which I thought was very good overall): in the magic section, it mentions that many derro know some 'incantations'. Four are mentioned, but only one is known. Additionally, there's a box you can click on which just takes you down a few lines, is it meant to do something else? (Those in the Zobeck section similarly don't seem to do anything.) I'm not certain if something is missing from this section: are 'incantations' a new type of magic? The one shown doesn't say what classes the spell list is on, or explain how they are used. If this is from some non-core sourcebook I think it should have been mentioned, or if it is just a ritual to take place off-screen and not meant to be on a class spell list this could also be made clearer. After the naming of four 'incantations', I was surprised to only have one described. If it is intended for the DM to decide upon the rest, I think this should also have been mentioned. Otherwise, great article and great artwork!

More of the same please! :)

Great, thanks for confirming. :) Time to place an order!

I was hoping to buy some Dragon issues--a few new ones like 357 I don't have, and a slightly older one (329). 329 has options for printed ones ($7) or PDFs, while the newer ones (costing $8) only have one option and I can't see which it is. Am I correct in thinking that the $8 recent issues are printed paper? I don't want to order them and find out that they're electronic versions, when I really want paper! It's hard to get them where I live.

Who is on Tenebrous' hit list? I know he killed Maanzecorian and Primus but that is it.

I think he killed the first Bwimb, too.

Definitely the Fey pantheon--particularly Titania, Oberon and the Queen of Air and Darkness! :)