DarkDealer52's page

We're not getting any closer to ARODEN standing here. Darkdealer broods.

In any case, Darkdealer isn't going to make the argument that he's thinking of right in front of them. If he's going to bring it up, he'll do it after they agree to leave, once they're out of earshot. He prefers to have the element of surprise, anyway. He also may or may not be entertaining the notion of circling back once he's returned to his usual job of scouting in bat form and trying to finish the quest himself, without the others knowing. We don't know what the old guy can do, but the skellies don't seem like much of a challenge. The way he took out the first few so easily may have made him overconfident, and even if the stakes have risen, a part of him still sees this as a game that he's pretty good at. Also, the knowledge that there are invisible walls that the monsters can't cross makes him pretty confident that if he uses his extended range infusion, he can take them out from outside their effective range if sniping fails.

Darkdealer mumbles something noncommittal before turning away. I was ready to finish what I started, he thinks to himself, but the consensus is clearly against me. It's not like we'd be killing them, and even if it was, that might be a more merciful fate. We'll need resources, like the reward for this quest, if we want to stop ARODEN and actually DO something about the state they're living in.

Darkdealer walks out of the graveyard and waits for the others to follow.

Well, the graveyard would be clear if we all walked outside...

Darkdealer flies down among the others and shifts into his humanoid form. It's a mod. My name is DarkDealer.

We should probably find out what he knows about A.R.O.D.E.N.

Darkdealer stays in bat form for now, waiting to see how this plays out.

Darkdealer moves to an appropriate position (not sure where the crypt opens, and nobody has moved their token yet) were he will be able to see and target inside the crypt when it opens, but is out of the way of the others, and readies an action to kinetic blast anything inside that makes a threatening move.

Transforming back into a bat, Darkdealer flies out and again takes cover in a tree at the back of the graveyard, hiding himself where he is ready to strike, then dismisses the mist.

There are probably multiple waves of monsters to fight.

I'm going to wait and give other characters a chance to weigh in or ready themselves before proceeding.

...so, should I drop the mist?

If everyone else is continuing to hold and the skeletons are not drawn by Rafe's voice, Darkdealer will fly in the direction it came from, land, wait a round to make sure that the skeletons aren't advancing on them, then shift from bat form to his bestial form so that he can communicate. What do you think is going on? he asks in a whisper, then adds, I've already taken out three of them.

Darkdealer flies into the mist along the path I marked with an arrow, just above the level of the skeletons' heads, using the mist to provide cover. As he goes, he looks down to try to spot any of the skeletons. If he does, he stops to kinetic blast them.

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25
Stealth: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (5) + 19 = 24
Kinetic Blast: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (17) + 11 = 282d6 + 8 ⇒ (6, 1) + 8 = 15
Miss chance (below 20 misses): 1d100 ⇒ 77

We'll see how this works. If it doesn't, I might have to dismiss the mist.

Flying quietly to avoid drawing the attention of the skeletons in the mist, Darkdealer flies over to perch atop the building, near the only skeleton not currently inside the mist, and attempts to put another rock through its skull.

Stealth: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (7) + 19 = 26
Telekinetic Blast: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (16) + 11 = 272d6 + 8 ⇒ (1, 1) + 8 = 10

Of course, as with everything, it's up to GM interpretation.

A free prehensile appendage to aim the blast, yes (bats' feet are more hand-like than many creatures' hands). It specifically does not say that you have to have the object in that hand. I would interpret that to mean that the object is "picked up" telekinetically, and therefore uses the range limitations of the aether kineticist's basic telekinesis, which, absent the extended range infusion, has a range of "close", which is defined as 25ft + 5ft/2 levels).

The term "nearby" is also used ambiguously here, not only in terms of distance ("close" is a term that is defined in the rules, but "nearby" is not), but also as to whether the object needs to be near the kineticist, near the target, or both. The easiest way to rectify this potentially conflicting information is that any object meeting the requirements within the ability's range can be used (which also suggests that I could select an object 30ft away from me in the other direction and move it 60ft to hit an enemy 30ft away). This is also the only interpretation that works with the text of the 3rd level infusion, Foe Throw (i.e. one enemy within the ability's range is thrown at another, who is also within the ability's range).

DarkDealer, as per the stealth rules you break stealth automatically whenever you make an attack roll, unless you're attempting to snipe, which is a move action. Just something to keep in mind, if possible it'd help me out if you gave a turn breakdown in ooc of Move action:___ Standard: ___ Swift:____ all in the order you take them so I can keep things organized. I don't need it all the time but when stealth is involved things like that get important. Regardless of stealth status, you still have concealment in the branches of the tree atm.

Correct. This was not a snipe per se, though I did make sure that I had two forms of concealment from everybody but the target (the tree and the mist). Also, the telekinetic blast doesn't have verbal or somatic components like a spell, nor does it have an obvious direction of origin, so there's not really any reason I'd be more visible after using it than before. Also, if someone does see me, I haven't really given them a reason to think I'm not just a bat, flying around and doing bat things. Given the setting, I'm probably not the only one hanging out in the area.

I'll try to remember to include the action breakdown each turn.

So, assuming everyone else is delaying/readying actions, that brings it back to me.

Darkdealer flies back to the wall where he has a good view of the rearmost skeleton and can hide in the tree. He then telekinetically grabs a small stone lying near the skeleton, wrapping it in bands of aether that give only the faintest shimmer, until the stone flies up from the ground to drive itself up toward its head, attempting to shatter the skull.

Stealth: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (10) + 19 = 29
Telekinetic Blast: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (18) + 11 = 292d6 + 8 ⇒ (1, 5) + 8 = 14

And Rafe, don't forget to move your token.

Works for me.

Rafe, why don't you go ahead and start moving in. I don't think you can get far enough over difficult terrain to make an attack this round, but you can get close enough to do it next round. Then I'll move and attack, then it will be the skellies' turn, and we'll see if they continue to do nothing.

Works for me.

Also if you are going to ooc an entire post in gameplay then it should probably be over here.

Yeah, bad habit from some other games where nobody checks the discussion thread...

It is something that doesn't make much sense, but no, no extra ranged penalties for firing an arrow straight up. Feel free to have DarkDealer roll his eyes though and complain about the unrealistic physics that couldn't possibly have taken *that* long to code.

As for drawing their attention upwards, that makes sense to me and there's no immediate reason to think it wouldn't work to allies advantage.

I'm guessing they're using longbows, not shortbows? If they're shortbows, moving away immediately after firing from a 120ft range would get me from the second range increment to the third.

Of course, if I move after firing, I could just use that movement to take cover behind a wall...

Rafe, you can probably stealth in there and silently kill the skellies near the edge one at a time, without attracting the attention of the others. Those that aren't stealthy should probably stay behind.

You guys could also just agree to hold position while I take out as many as possible at range (I wouldn't waste depletable resources while they're remaining docile, since there may be multiple waves of monsters), in which case we should abbreviate the initiative until the obscuring mist goes away or the skellies start acting differently. Looks like that mist will turn out to be a lot more effective than I expected...

If the skellies aren't going to try anything until they see someone, you have up to 3 minutes to position yourselves more advantageously before the obscuring mist runs out, or I can dismiss it early (thought that might take my standard action, which I'd prefer to use for a kinetic blast in the round the mist goes away). You could also go in and try to take out the skellies near the edges of the mist (most are within reach of the outside, which means only 20% concealment). I'm going to head to the back to take out the ones outside the mist when my turn comes around.

Question, does firing arrows straight up incur any range penalty? Nothing saying it does comes up in search, but there are other rules (like those for scent) that double range penalties in the disadvantageous directions and halve them in advantageous directions, and it seems like this should apply to arrows fired straight up or straight down as well. What I'm thinking is that Darkdealer might fly straight up in the air and use kinetic blast with the Extended Range Infusion to attack from so high that their arrows incur huge penalties if they fire back. As a bonus, gather power could get them all looking up and unprepared for attack from the others (a distraction to aid stealth checks to keep them flat-footed).

...Erin?

Rafe and me both have +4 meaning we have to roll again. 

[dice=Extra Init Roll]1d20

Um, Rafe has a +9 init bonus. He rolled a natural 4.

I copied over a whole batch of templates on the right side that I drew in another game using google drawings. Just have to copy/paste them when you want to use them (and remember to scale them to fit the current grid size).

Seeing the vulnerability of his allies, Darkdealer flies to the center of the cemetery, staying out of reach above the skeletons, and releases his obscuring mist to prevent the skeletons from targeting their arrows.

hoping to force them to walk to the edge where PCs will have an easier time attacking them, as well as making sure they can't attack while PCs are flat-footed. Mist will last 3 minutes, but I can dismiss it earlier than that. If you were planning to do a ranged attack in round 1, you might want to make it a readied action for any skellies walking out of the mist...

You have to add it.

Also, it looks like what we are facing is skellies armed with longbows, nocked, drawn, and ready to fire when their turn in initiative comes up. Is this accurate? Or do we get a round before they can pull themselves out of the ground, stand up, draw weapons, etc. (meaning that a character who moved into their midst before their turn would get an AoO, or potentially more than one with combat reflexes, before they have a chance to attack)? Not that my character would do that, but others might. If, however, they are ready to fire arrows in round 1 with party members unprepared, I might consider flying in and using my Obscuring Mist SLA to hinder their targeting. Anyone have tactics in mind that would be helped/hindered by this approach?

Also, since Darkdealer was flying around scouting in bat form, I think it makes the most sense for him to be in one of the trees hanging over the wall on the far side of the cemetery, rather than in the "starting area", if that's alright.

I was having a lot of trouble making out the grid in some areas, so I added an overlay. Could we also get a link to the battle grid in the campaign info at the top of the page?

I assume there's a significant amount of small rocks and debris lying around, suitable to use for telekinetic blasts? If not, darkdealer would take advantage of the empty graveyard while scouting to spread some cards around.

Well, for whatever approach Darkdealer makes, even if it has to be during initiative...

Init: 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 3 + 2 = 25
Stealth: 1d20 + 9 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 9 + 10 = 37
Perception: 1d20 + 9 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 9 + 4 = 17

We're rolling now? No opportunity for stealthy scouting?

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 161d6 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8
Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 141d6 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

Darkdealer will pay for one of them.

Once Hacker has done his crafting, I think we're ready.

The two androids don't need sleep. We have three humans that do, and a skinwalker who can turn into a bat and sleep hanging from the rafters or a coat rack or something, so one suite should be enough for the group, if we decide we want one.

If you wish to spring for a private room its 16 gp for the night,

I assume that's a suite that several of us could sleep in? Darkdealer could also just turn into a bat and find some eaves to hang from :P

Some of us actually need sleep, Darkdealer says, turning to the android with an exaggerated yawn. Without it, our abilities degrade all by themselves.

Someone trained in diplomacy might want to roll a gather information check to try to figure out what types of undead we can expect to run into as well.

I guess we're assuming we've all met back up and are discussing this?

Are they undead like ghosts, or like zombies and skeletons? I'm no expert, (anyone have Kn: Religion?) but I don't think you need special weapons unless they're the ghost kind.

My blasts use "magical" energy, so they're probably at least partially effective against ghosts...

+1 for the graveyard. Sounds like a good shake-out mission. Might as well do both missions, I'd say.

Darkdealer stands at the bar, surveying the crowd as he eats. In particular, he watches the card games, trying to assess the skill of the players, what stakes (if any) they are gambling for, whether anyone is cheating, and how likely they are to notice if he cheats, before looking for an opening to join.

Perception: 1d20 + 9 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 9 + 4 = 22

As he makes his way back to the inn, Darkdealer uses the ioun torch to practice some sleight of hand. Though the flames are not hot, they make certain vanishing moves much more difficult, while others are impossible because they give away the stone's location.

Sleight of Hand: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (12) + 9 = 21

As he approaches the tavern attached to the Good Knight's Inn, his stomach rumbles. He never quite figured out where the food in here came from. Are they eating hard light projections? While that might fill their stomachs, he doubts that it could actually provide nourishment or calories. Hell, the body rebuilds itself from things in the food it eats, so if that was all they were eating, would it even be possible for them to leave? Eventually, they would just be part of the projected world.

If they were eating real food, where did it come from? Did the system recycle their waste, and the bodies of the dead? That might actually be worse.

Either way, he was starving, and whatever the food was made of, he had been eating nothing else for some time. Darkdealer goes to the bar and orders a plate, then sees if any of the others in his group are here yet.

While hacker is making CLW potions, we should probably each chip in to have at least one of them. I never seem to use mine, but it's always a good idea for each character to have at least one of them, just in case.

Darkdealer briefly affects an impatient and disappointed tone. In truth, the morning will be just fine, but he sees an opportunity to get a few GP knocked off the price.

Bluff: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10

It is, however, far from his most convincing deception, and he agrees to pay full price for the three items, with half of the stubborn nail's price paid up front.

Wizards don't usually have great Sense Motive, so a 10 might have been enough, but given the reduced posting frequency, I thought I'd move things along.

He then goes to meet the others at the inn.