Chi Sien's page

"I'm here to see the Gnasher. I'm here to ... sell information."

Sien will visit Nasha.

I'll trust the GM to work it out fairly.

The promise of Sien's lead (Nasha) is that we could get more leads. Also, to be blunt, since they presumably know that we work as a team, us showing up in force isn't any worse than any one of us showing up individually.

I will vote either 2x2 (Sien would like to visit Nasha, and another pair can visit the docks), or all 4 of us pay Nasha a visit.

PCs, are we proceeding as a group or individually? They're looking for 4, but I see no reason to go 1 by 1. Maybe 2 and 2?

Sien could ask around, but he prefers to sneak around and try to Read Lips for information.

1d20 ⇒ 10
+18 Diplomacy (Gather Information), +29 Stealth (if allowed), +19 Perception (if that seems more appropriate)

I'm not sure Sien has a say, if we're separated, but if he does, I suggest we stay within the city walls, especially if we need to be sneaking around at night, it would be much better not to have to make those Stealth checks to get into the city repeatedly.

Calistria

Category Gods of the Inner Sea
Edicts pursue your personal freedom, seek hedonistic thrills, take revenge
Anathema become too consumed by love or a need for revenge, let a slight go unanswered
Areas of Concern lust, revenge, trickery, and sketchy AirBNB rentals

Mechanically, are Moonlight and Ketsu looking for a place for all of us to sleep, or just themselves?

Sien will find another outhouse by a guard tower to play Brawl Stars while pooping cast clairvoyance and spy on a new password. He'll also stick to the rooftops, so he could walk near someone but not obviously near them.

In contrast to Ann, Sien suggests that they find a place big enough to house everyone.

"If we're in the same place, we can keep watch. If we're apart, any attack might be devastating. They could pick us off one by one."

Sien will advocate finding an abandoned structure, or ... uh ... making a structure abandoned. Straight up murder seems a little evil, even for evil PCs, but maybe we can scare someone into leaving.

Sien watches Moonlight cast a spell, and then he drops the kids off at the pool before reporting that Moonlight is probably making another pass through the same gate.

Since Sien wouldn't have known Moonlight's roll, he would have attempted to create a distraction. Using his charlatan's gloves, Sien picks up a piece of meat from a local vendor and drops it between two dogs for them to fight over.

Is Moonlight likely within 500 feet of a quiet, unobtrusive spot where Sien can Cast a Spell for 1 minute? If so, Sien will find a quiet spot, use a scroll of clairvoyance (casting time 1 min, range 500 feet), and see what Moonlight is up to. If Moonlight moves to another gate, Sien will advocate that we all move parallel to him, and Aid his entry somehow.

Sien has Read Lips, so he should be able to tell what people are saying through Clairvoyance. If it seems reasonable for Moonlight to know this about Sien, Moonlight could even mouth his plans, knowing Sien might be watching.

Unless it's very obvious that it wouldn't work, I'm going to say that Sien uses one of his (two) scrolls anyway, even if the chances are slim that it would work. Like, even if Moonlight happens to be out of range, but Sien thinks he might have been in range, Sien would use the scroll anyway.

Are we close enough together so that we can help each other out?

Sien activates the invisibility rune on his armor and slips in to the city.

Stealth: 1d20 + 29 ⇒ (15) + 29 = 44

Or maybe he doesn't. NOBODY KNOWS.

Sien will have a tough time disguising - he's untrained in Deception. But he's Legendary in Stealth, and he has an invisibility rune on his armor, so splitting up and Sneaking in would be fine.

If we knew we would have to do this before daily preparations, Sien could have even prepared Water Breathing and we could all just swim in.

Okay, because of the cost of transferring, Sien will no longer take the greater frost rune. Instead, I'm going to retrain his Achaekek Lore skill feat to Trick Magic Item, and pick up a wand of vital beacon (5th) for additional healing, plus a wand of darkvision (5th).

He'll pick up a few scrolls - most notably, clairvoyance. He's keeping his Read Lips skill feat (which he hasn't used) but this should allow us to spy a little.

I've also had to revamp his spellbook. I forgot that he gets a bunch of spells from his studious spells, so he can pick others. His default prepared spells remain the same.

My sheet is updated and I'm ready to go.

I forgot to include the cost of transferring runes. I'll need to make some adjustments, but the most likely case is that I'll only get one wand of invisibility.

Quick logistical question about leveling up: is everything available to us immediately?

I don't know if we'll get a chance to rest before we head out, but should Sien's hit points be, for example, 145/176 (Level 14), or 145/203 (Level 15)? I assume we'll have enough time to heal up hit point damage, but should he have 8th rank slots prepared?

Sien carefully rips one of the heads off of a body, and then creates a clean cut edge on the body consistent with a weapon strike. He'll also cut a sawtooth saber in half and lay it next to the body.

Crafting: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (2) + 27 = 29 vs DC 36
Crafting, Hero Point Reroll: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (18) + 27 = 45 vs DC 36

Alright, since nobody else has expressed interest for the cold runes, Sien will take both the cold resist (-825) and frost (-3250). He'll sell his impact rune (+500). He's going to pick up two 4th rank wands of invisibility (2x -700 = -1400), and then a +1 striking light mace (-50) as a backup weapon, with 51 gp left over.

I just noticed that Mirror Image isn't on the Remastered spell list. I'll delete it from Sien's spellbook.

I'm also going to rearrange his 8th rank spells. He'll take Mountain Resilience (8th) to try to mitigate some of the incoming damage so there won't be as much healing required.

Edit: Sien will liberate 19 gp from Moonlight's purse and buy a pair of healer's gloves. It won't do much besides revive a better healer, but it's a good use of spare change.

Edit #2: Sien will quietly put Moonlight's money back, after realizing that he has gold left over from character creation, so won't need it. Sien has 99 gp left over, if anyone needs more loose change.

... aaaand, apparently, I forgot that Sien purchased a keen rune for his saber. Every nat 19 he rolled should have been a crit. argh

To move things along, it looks like we'll have 5076 gold each, and I'm going to assume that we can "buy" the stuff on the list at half price (that is, we'd just never sell it, and the share would come out of the individual's).

All the interest in the runes is on the assumption that they can be transferred over to another weapon. I think GM is making that implicit assumption.

Sien is interested in, or interested in rolling for:
1. adamantine cleaver (1400 gp), if he can get it fashioned into a sawtooth saber
2. greater cold resistance rune (1650 gp)
3. greater frost weapon rune (6500 gp)
4. explorer's yurt (880 gp): as this is a communal item, maybe it would be best if we just all agreed to take 220 gp less, and keep it
5. +2 rune (1035 gp) and one of the greater striking runes (1065 gp, x3) for a backup weapon
6. one of the wounding weapon runes (340 gp, x5)
7. one of the +1 striking weapon runes (100 gp, x4) for a backup weapon if #5 doesn't work out.

I'm going to go ahead and roll a d20 for 1, 2, 3, and 5, even though we haven't agreed that's the way it will be done. I'll advocate that, outside of a case for a character having an item (such as the +2 greater resilient armor for Ann and the greater mask of the mantis for Moonlight), each character that's interested will just roll a d20 and the higher one gets it.

Sien doesn't have enough gold to buy everything on this list, so we'd need to resolve the item ownership before I can finalize purchases.

---

Re: Spacious Pouch

This is metagamey, but, uh, a Spacious Pouch II holds double what a Spacious Pouch I holds, and costs 4x as much. So ... unless we think there's a single item that's larger than 25 Bulk, we could just each get a Spacious Pouch I for 75 gp and have 100 Bulk of capacity between us, which is surely enough.

Sien already has a Spacious Pouch I, of which he uses less than 5 Bulk. If people think that's enough for the party, he's happy to share. Well, maybe not happy, since he's evil, but he'll marginally tolerate sharing for the benefit of accomplishing his selfish desire for revenge.

I assume that, at this point, we'd trust Vatum enough to let him cast what appears to be an 8th rank spell on us (teleport 2,000 miles would require Heightened 8th)? I suppose we should Sense Motive to assure ourselves he's not going to teleport us to the Crown of the World or the bottom of the ocean or something?

---

Regarding faking our deaths ...

"Shall we go back into the castle, and get a few bodies to burn beyond recognition?"

You can put +2 greater resilient on unarmored, can't you? That's, uh, what Sien did (he's currently wearing +2 resilient unarmored).

Comments on specific items:

mithral frying pan: I wish I had one of these in place of my cast iron pan at home, but Bulk doesn't seem to be a concern for us right now.

adamantine weapon: Can we fashion this into a weapon that we use?

+2 greater resilient armor: I think we should keep this and it should go to Ann, since she's going to be up front most of the time. Sien is supposed to be hopping around, although I haven't done a great job of that so far.

+2 greater striking weapon (2 separate runes): Does anyone not have one of these already? Does anyone want two? Sien doesn't have a backup weapon, so he'll advocate taking it instead of selling it at half price, but if we can sell them at full price, maybe the extra gold would be more valuable..

animated weapon rune: Sien can't use this with Spellstrike, so he'll opt out.

greater frost rune: This is probably better than Sien's impactful rune, so Sien will throw his hat in the ring (we can roll off if multiple people want it).

Assassin's skin: Ketsu-kiba is the only one wearing leather armor, and as I believe one cannot transfer property runes to named armor, she would have to decide whether the +2 greater resilient fundamental runes are better than the properties she has on her current armor.

Explorer's Yurt: I agree we should keep this in the group.

Masks of the Mantis: We should each take one, unless we've got something Perception-boosting already, and we can roll to see who gets the greater one - or we can give it to the person with the highest Perception.

extending weapon rune: This accomplishes the same thing as Sien's focus spell, so Sien will opt out.

wounding weapon runes: Sien will take one if the option is selling at half price, but it doesn't seem super integral.

+1 striking runes: Sien will take these at half price and pick up a backup weapon (bow).

blightburn resin: Sien will opt out.

I calculated how much money it is all worth ~ 20 k

To be clear, are we being allowed to sell the unused items at full value? Because, otherwise, the unused items should be sold at half value, and the gold equivalent worth only ~10k.

No complaints, whatever the ruling is - I would see the reduced wealth as an appropriate penalty for not clearing the castle.

Have read and followed, I keep half writing a post and running out of time

Ditto, except that I have a full hour left of total solitude right now, and I'm going to get as far as I can.

I'm bumping Stealth to Legendary, and INT to +5, and picking up Survival. General feat is Robust Health, which should make Treat Wounds a little easier.

I can't find any 8th rank spells I really like, so I'm rolling Wall of Force over and Disintegrate.

All the wealth stuff will have to wait, I guess.

Sien also prioritizes the most wounded.

◆◆Spellstrike: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (13) + 27 = 40
Slashing: 3d6 + 6 ⇒ (6, 5, 4) + 6 = 21 plus Force, Arcane Cascade: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6 plus Gouging Claw: 8d6 ⇒ (3, 3, 5, 6, 2, 1, 2, 3) = 25

↺ Distant Waterbird's Poise (Leap 5' south)

◆ Recharge Spellstrike

◆Hasted Strike, MAP: 1d20 + 27 - 5 ⇒ (8) + 27 - 5 = 30
Slashing: 3d6 + 6 ⇒ (3, 3, 4) + 6 = 16 plus Force, Arcane Cascade: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

Sien doesn't like being ganged up on. He likes to be the ganger up on. Gang up oner? He likes to gang up.

◆ Hasted Stride
◆◆ Spellstrike, hasted: 1d20 + 27 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 27 + 1 = 42 vs Red, flanking
Slashing: 3d6 + 6 ⇒ (4, 4, 4) + 6 = 18 plus Force, Arcane Cascade: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6 plus Gouging Claw: 8d6 ⇒ (6, 5, 6, 4, 2, 2, 3, 5) = 33
↺ no Distant Waterbird's Poise
◆ Recharge Spellstrike

Sien doesn't feel the need to give away his position by flying forward. He shields ◆ himself, and enters Arcane Cascade ◆. He will slide sideways ◆, so that it's easier for him to flank enemies that move straight towards the rest, and casts guidance ◆ on Ann.

"This seems counterproductive," sneers Sien. "Good luck trying to recruit anyone worthy for future missions."

He bows, out of respect for the profession, not for the individual.

Ditto. Leaving the rooms on the second floor unexplored really pisses off my inner completionist, but I feel like a group of assassins is going to be rather indifferent to gaining material rewards and, also, to any chaos left behind as we flee.

Sien prepares to cast fly and fly off the roof. Can everyone fly?

◆ Recharge Spellstrike
◆◆ Spellstrike: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (18) + 27 = 45
Slashing: 3d6 + 6 ⇒ (1, 3, 6) + 6 = 16 plus Force: 1d6 ⇒ 3 plus Gouging Claw: 8d6 ⇒ (5, 5, 5, 1, 3, 6, 3, 2) = 30
↺ Distant Waterbird's Poise (back 10 feet)

"Over here."

◆ Stride (to current spot)

It's worth a shot.

Reflex: 1d20 + 24 ⇒ (19) + 24 = 43 vs DC 35
31 damage

Sien Recharges ◆ his Spellstrike and charges in ◆, slashing again ◆◆.

Spellstrike: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (11) + 27 = 38 vs invisible, flanking
Slashing: 3d6 + 6 ⇒ (4, 3, 6) + 6 = 19 plus Force: 1d6 ⇒ 3 plus Gouging Claw: 8d6 ⇒ (6, 1, 3, 1, 5, 2, 6, 4) = 28

Reflex: 1d20 + 24 ⇒ (20) + 24 = 44 vs DC 33
0 damage

Sien Steps ◆ into flanking and pauses to cast a quick spell. Sure Strike ◆

◆◆
Spellstrike, Sure Strike 1: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (11) + 27 = 38 vs flanking, invisible
Spellstrike, Sure Strike 2: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (9) + 27 = 36 vs flanking, invisible
Slashing: 3d6 + 6 ⇒ (2, 2, 1) + 6 = 11 plus Force: 1d6 ⇒ 2 plus Gouging Claw: 8d6 ⇒ (1, 4, 1, 4, 6, 1, 6, 1) = 24

7th

I just looked up the rules for dismissal, and I don't think I can Dismiss it. Can someone correct me if I'm wrong?

Sien renews haste and shields himself.

I'll assume we all follow Ann. I've moved everyone into area A18 and drawn a wall of force across the door.

Sien will also offer to put a wall of force between. I'm guessing they could fly over, but it'd probably give us some cover.

I, as a player, do too, but I wonder if our characters would. After all, the job is completed, right? Wouldn't their reactions be to loot the place and get out, leaving behind a wake of carnage for someone else to sift through?

First round: ◆ Draw versatile Vial, ◆ Quick Alchemy (Elixir of Life), ◆ Interact (give to Ketsu-Kiba)

Second round: ◆ Pick up armor, ◆ Stow armor, ◆ Stride

Does Sien see anything worth stealing in A18?

"We should keep it, for proof that the job is completed."

Sien can cast wall of force to block off the entrance, and he can Quick Alchemy two greater elixirs of life (7d6+18 / average 42.5 each) for healing.

I suggest we quickly loot the top floor and then run. Sien cast fly, but only once, if we want to consider jumping off the roof.

Sien ◆ Recharges his spellstrike and ◆ Steps in, swinging.

◆◆ Spellstrike: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (2) + 27 = 29
Slashing: 3d6 + 6 ⇒ (6, 5, 5) + 6 = 22 plus Force, Arcane Cascade: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5 plus Gouging Claw: 8d6 ⇒ (2, 4, 5, 6, 1, 6, 1, 2) = 27

Sien Recharges his Spellstrike and swings.

Spellstrike: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (11) + 27 = 38
Slashing: 3d6 + 6 ⇒ (2, 1, 4) + 6 = 13 plus Force, Arcane Cascade: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8 plus Gouging Claw: 8d6 ⇒ (5, 4, 1, 3, 5, 2, 2, 4) = 26

If that hits, Sien will jump back with Distant Waterbird's Poise and not use his hasted action. If that misses, Sien will Step back into the same position.

Sien hems Ordulf in, and swings.

Spellstrike: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (4) + 27 = 31
Slashing: 3d6 + 6 ⇒ (4, 4, 1) + 6 = 15 plus Force, Arcane Cascade: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8 plus Gouging Claw: 8d6 ⇒ (3, 3, 6, 5, 4, 6, 1, 5) = 33

If that hits, Sien will ↺ Distant Waterbird's Poise west 5' and Recharge Spellstrike instead of Shielding, but I doubt that hits.

◆ Stride
◆◆ Spellstrike
◆ Shield

◆ Recharge Spellstrike
◆◆ Haste (7th)

Yeah, I keep tripping over myself. With haste, Sien should be able to jump back with a reaction, and move in with hasted action, to be able to Spellstrike every round. But it just hasn't worked out. Or maybe the strategy is flawed, not 100% sure. I've never played a magus this high so I'm unsure whether expecting to Spellstrike every round is unreasonable or not.

Sien almost makes a fist pump as Ordulf seems to die, but then looks quizzically at the man.

"That's a neat trick. I guess we just have to keep killing you."

◆ Recharge Spellstrike
◆◆ Spellstrike: 1d20 + 27 ⇒ (19) + 27 = 46 vs flanking (Gang Up)
Slashing: 3d6 + 6 ⇒ (1, 1, 4) + 6 = 12 plus Force, Arcane Cascade: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6 plus Gouging Claw: 8d6 ⇒ (1, 3, 4, 1, 2, 4, 4, 2) = 21

↺ Distant Waterbird's Poise