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Faust nods his head in satisfaction at Venture-Captain Bellaugh's words. "Excellent, I look forward to experimenting with it in the safety of Absalom's Grand Lodge," he admits. Far from prying eyes and ink blotters. "This team was certainly something. I look forward to engaging with some of you again," he says, already halfway out the door. This land holds promise for future finds, but I'll have to plunder this trove another day.
"Thank the Divine for that. Frankly, I think we are so off type that I can't say I'd be irked if the paths of our lives never crossed again," Faust says nonchalantly. "You've even managed to make Mr. Glavo unwell." The thought alone is nauseating. Fortunately such base urges are something my non-mortal heritage have done away with. She can keep her feral rutting between her and the other savages of her tribe. "Now that this matter has been dealt with, please, let's ambulate back to the surface. I've learned all I care to about the sexuality of Aeliah and the cultural mores of her tribespeople," he says, agreeing with the Foreigner.
But then I have to buy a wayfinder :P It's a good idea Krieger, I'll see what works out best! I'm going to talk about my character now since Callah mentioned Occultists in action, so if you aren't into that just ignore the rest of this post! This is my first Occultist and the only one I've ever seen in action so it is a lot of growing for me too. I really enjoy the bells and whistles Faust has, but the class is certainly not for people who like a simple game. There are a ton of moving parts that can be overwhelming. Occultists are very customizable (which I LOVE), but it also makes your build hard to predict. I like to think I can make some decent damage-focused builds, so that's what I decided would be best to center Faust around while I get a hang of his other mechanics. I like the result so far! He hits like a truck after one round of buffing, anything else is gravy. I can see how the class can be made to perform a certain role really well. The divination school, for example, lends itself to scouting and since you have the knowledge to back it up, it could be quite useful. And that's only ONE of the THREE you get by level 2 (with those first three really dictating the flavor of the character/build). Want to do a little minion-mancy? Necromancy and conjuration has that stuff in spades! Another part of playing an Occultist that has proven quite fruitful is the Haunt Collector archetype. You get access to the Medium's spirit stuff and can activate spirit boons (in addition to the seance boon you have 24/7). Again, customizability is the name of the game for this class and the archetype makes it even more fluid since you can trade out resonance powers you don't like for more seance/spirit boons. It's pretty wild and I think his power will only grow through the mid-levels. While Faust will never be a true frontliner (he never wants to be the first up front and can only take so many hits, especially as a Dhampir), he is versatile and a great striker. I doubt much is left standing after taking a full-round from a dedicated frontliner and then taking hits from Faust when he shows up in round 2.
He he... that was hella risky, time to invest in some detect magic scrolls! XD My object reading ability gives me an auto success in identifying items, but I have to handle them for a minute. I never thought too much about it, but cursed/malicious items would love that :) Makes a lot of sense for Faust too, with his interest in evil/cursed objects.
"DON'T. TOUCH. ANYTHING." Faust orders. Stowing his weapon, he quickly hoists Dumont out of a nearby wall and orders him to touch all of the items. If nothing happens to the skeleton, he then carefully wards himself and handles each one for a minute. "Put an ant into the pot and you can talk to it. Quaint," he mutters as he hands it off to Aeliah. "How curious, this device can manipulate fine objects at a distance while being mechanically manipulated itself by a user. Thieves would love this thing," he mentions, handing it off to Forrest. And now this one. Taking a deep breath, he clasps both hands around the piece of amber. Immediately, a feral growl passes his lips, the hair on his neck and arms stand on end. Fortunately, the moment passes and he regains his composure. "Sorry you had to hear that. A relic of my youth," he explains. Clearing his throat, he speaks further. "Whatever force that created She Who Devoured came from here, I'm sure of it. There is space for an ant dead center, and I suspect that was where the force was held. It is gone now, so it should be safe to touch. I hypothesize that this amber stone functioned as a sort of phylactery or a magic jar, with the purpose of reigniting the ancient evil that is the King of Biting Ants. I'll have to requisition this from the Society myself when we return to Absalom." I'd wager a similar artifact is to blame for the corruption of my ancestral home.
Faust reflexively throws his head back as the dust spews past his face. Spying the next ant approach him, he baits it into chomping down on his armor before vigorously hacking at it. "HA! If only Dumont could have seen this, he would have loved to rip up your little spawn, Mistress Who Grovels!" he taunts.
I spent 10 years in Texas, so unfortunately fire ants were a fact of life. The huge piles that started growing up are easily avoidable. Unfortunately, they all start going down first. Especially in grass, those aren't always easy to see. I love insects! :) Took a class on them in college, probably my favorite ever. I'd love to study them as my job, they are so cool!
I believe some real ants have the ability to sting via their abdomen, but bites are the more common/ubiquitous feature. Fire ants, for example, sting in addition to bite, the little bastards. They even coordinate it with their peers! It's rough. Don't stand in a pile of fire ants. GM, is that fort save perhaps disease or poison based?
Faust clicks his feet together and slowly takes a step forward, his movements blurrily fast. With a wicked grin, he shouts back at the ant queen in Necril. "This time is as good as any! We may not be Jatembe, but YOU are not the King of Biting Ants! A pitiful mistress that shall fall like wheat to a scythe!"
Faust shoots Aeliah a look while he tries to decipher what she means. Improve? I'm always improving. Everything I do is to better myself. But that wretch is always saying stuff in metaphor and poorly translated idioms... She can't mean... "Children?" he asks incredulously. "I wouldn't wish any child to inherit my blood and be forced to live the life I have," he mutters. Clearing his throat, he quickly changes the subject, catching on to the fact that people are keeping away from Dumont. "He is perfectly obedient. Observe!" he says as he gives the skeleton a shove. With no resistance, Dumont tumbles down the rest of the vertical shaft where he scatters against the ground, rebuilds himself, and turns to offer a bony claw to Faust's aid. "See? What a brother!" These tunnels are getting trickier... With a bored frown, Faust points out some commonalities between the tunnels to better orient for direction. "Not too challenging after some of the topics I've studied," he boasts.
"A moment," Faust says as he begins a brief flurry of preparations. First he pulls Dumont from the ground, before following up with a series of protective spells. "Let's go," he says as he concludes the last spell, brimming with eldritch energy. Waving his hand forward, Dumont shambles to the front of the line to enter the quadruple big anthill first.
"Why must everything in this damn place speak to us like peasants?" Faust shouts, doing his best to refrain from drawing his weapon and learning what color Nuno's are on the inside. "We know we can simply murder you to rid him of his curse. It is by our grace that you still draw breath. Speak to us as equals, or on top of losing your life and those of your pitiful vermin, you will also lose the chance to learn of the unique set of information we know. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?" "Now, what do you know of the Queen? If you're pitiful form can't communicate with it, I doubt it is still an ant. Likely, it has ascended into a more powerful being," he asks as he gulps down the termite.
Reiterating here, if possible, Faust would like to have Dumont, False Life, and lastly Legacy Weapon for Bane (Magical Beat) up if possible in the rounds leading up to the Mngwa (each is a standard action). I see we are going to try to meet the beast head on. Faust would approve, so stoked to see how this plays out! :)
”COME ON!” Faust groans as the bright light sends the Mngwa scurrying off. Pissed, he crashes his sword into a nearby rock before walking back to the group. ”Well we know two things. It seems to be powerless in the sunlight, which explains why it always strikes in the dead of night. I’ve seen plenty of undead that squeal like stuck pigs under the sun or at least decent imitations,” he explains before expounding on their defenses. ”Stuinvolk, what happened to you?” he asks without judgement, but also lacking compassion. He seems to have shed his rage after having the opportunity to explain how he plans to provide the Mngwa with it’s demise.
I will be on vacation with limited to no internet access. I'll post if I can, but otherwise will need to be botted. Regular posting will resume on July 2nd. As we have just started combat and I am not savvy enough as an occultist player to leave adequate botting instructions, I will do my best to post in this game when I can!
During the Mngwa's all to frequent wake up calls, Faust follows the same routine of pulling Dumont from the earth and granting his body extra durability before running into wherever he hopes the fray is. When nothing materializes for him to hack at, he strides back off to bed grumbling about the lack of killing.
"Goodbye, Nkechi," Fausts says, making a point to use the name she never shared with them. "Safe strolling to you and your people," he says with just a hint of venom. You can go f!%! yourself. "Please, let us get out of here. I've had my month's fill of arrogance and not hurting people who openly threaten me multiple times," he says flatly before walking away.
Of course, the educated are the reason their words are unintelligible to you, not your ignorance. Faust rolls his eyes a little before faithfully translating Aeliah's contributions. A map? Now wouldn't that be useful. Better than a damn wax compass IN THE HEAT OF THE SAVANNAH! As if to calm himself, he puts a hand over the heat absorbing bottles he has strapped to himself. "We have our methods of maintaining direction, fret not. If we decide to stroll and risk our lives, so be it, eh? If I were you, letting the lands test the foreigners' mettle seems like a thematic yet fair approach. We either wither to leather in the sun, if the beasts don't rip us apart first, or we make it to our destination without trespassing. What do you have to lose?" he suggests. Besides your miserable lives. I loathe this power trip. They can even follow us, we will see how resolved they are to their faith when the Mngwa wakes us. Then we can show them who holds the real power.
I'd be confident with the home field advantage too, but this is getting absurd. We are rapidly approaching the point where it would just have been easier to kill them and move on. "Once we conclude our business, which I assure you has no way of turning us into parasites, we shall return to the coast immediately. Perhaps you could share your borders with us to mitigate the risk of our crossing and meeting another, less amicable group of your people?" Faust asks, trying to maintain an air of politeness. It'd save us some time too, then we wouldn't have to gut them.
Seeing as how the Mzali woman has chosen to speak in Common now, Faust does as well. "Well I suppose it is only fair that I honor each side of my heritage with the knowledge of their speech! The other side of my heritage, is more akin to your Walkena! Fortunately for us, as foreigners who may or may not be in your lands at this very moment, we can share our appreciation for the Deathless Child. I too wish to keep my land, cultures, and traditions pure of foreign parasites," he explains honestly, before concluding with
Necril:
"May the dead never die!" ________
Faust returns the Mzali woman's smile and raises his hands in the air while shrugging his shoulders.
Polyglot:
"What can we say, you've caught us! Frankly, we've been attempting to avoid your people and your lands, but clearly that hasn't worked out for us." Seeing the others have plenty on their minds, he continues briefly before translating each person's speech.
Polyglot:
"My companions here wish to share their mind, if I may? I'm apparently the only one who has deemed your language worthy of study. Communities rich with culture are always worth learning about, eh? One of them is a little... unsettled by you, but I assure you nothing he is saying is worth repeating. Try to ignore him if you can." I might have to consider a new side gig as a translator. Talk about building trust and gaining access to lost knowledge! Assuming we make it out of here alive, Stuinvolk looks like he is about to skewer these people. "We need to put space between our friend and these people. I'm spoiling for a good bout of violence too, but I doubt this is the whole herd, if you will," he whispers to those around him in Common, trying to keep Stuinvolk just beyond earshot.
Faust barely gets his sword in front of him before the Mngwa disappears into the night. S%*+ that thing is fast! When it becomes clear that it has moved on... again... he heads over to Suinvolk. It is definitely screwing with us. Jokes? Aw hell. Seeing that humor is the way his companions are trying to go, he forces out his best fake laugh to break the ice. Dumont never tries to make me laugh and I like it that way, damn it! Confident he made no contribution to Stuinvolk's flagging psyche, the Dhampir turns his attention to Kreiger. "A trap might work well. At the least it might slow the thing down. Have you noticed the sounds coming from the same direction?"
Don't feel bad, influence can always be a bit clunky. Especially when it changes from author to author. Consistent use of subsystems? Get out of here! :P My personal favorite is when scenario authors create a subsystem that already exists. Not only does it eat up word count, IME it also invalidates abilities designed to give a character a benefit in that scenario! Example: Quest for Perfection (Part ?) and the Mountaineer Dwarf Alternate Racial Trait.
And here it is again to tear me away from my sleep... Over some sausage to start his day, Faust makes a point to share what he has remembered of Mngwa's to his fellow travelers. On the road, he manages to catch a couple of minutes of conversation with Stuinvolk.
Skald:
"You speak Skald, eh? Figured you might appreciate conversing in your mothertongue. I know I do every now and then. Keeps me sane and connected to home. Even if home is a torturous nightmare. "Anyways... You're clearly a long ways from home too, bet you've seen some wild stuff. Ever heard of a Varisian thorpe called Ravenmoor? It's just on the Lampblack River. Creepy place, which I can appreciate, but it was more of the mindless killing atmosphere than the subtly sinister, you know?. A couple of associates and I traveled for a week up that damn river to meet with them. One of them had been invited to some sort of festival or whatever, so we humored them. We spent about five minutes in that place and knew something was off! We broke off as soon as we could and got right back on our boat. The return trip was much faster, but damn were the mosquitoes bad!" God do I loathe small talk.
"Why I left home and joined the Society? Wasn't much of a choice for me. My Bloodlord father was working his way towards having me murdered for not being able to live up to his expectations. I left for one of our islands, tucked away on the Geb coasts, to see what had happened to it. What happened there was... disturbing and foul, even for my standards. After I left there, I joined the Society for access and exposure to powerful artifacts and secrets to one day return to that island and purge it. With a little luck, I may even keep that sort of thing from spreading further in land and claiming the area for myself," he explains before taking several gulps of water and retreating to the back of the marching order.
Now that you've already taken the plunge though, they'll all be easier after this! :P I ran Bid for Alabastrine on PbP. While that was the best medium for the scenario, it used discovery/influence for a bunch of PC's too and it was new to all of us. Huge learning curve, but after that, most scenarios I run are a breeze!
Faust looks incredulously at Forrest's holy symbol, stifling a reflexive snarl. "That thing won't be necessary, Dumont and I are safe. Don't know how much good it'll be with the Mngwa either," he remarks. Probably the first time I've seen one of those without someone trying to burn me with it. As each person informs him of the other languages they know, he nods understandingly and moves to the next. Might only be me... And he doesn't seem to care for me. Pulling him from his thoughts is Callah's words. "He doesn't need to know we've doubled the watch, but I agree that we don't need to show our hand. Tomorrow, I'll try to swap travel stories with him in Skald."
Faust looks down at the dirt before answering Callah's question. "It's an evil jungle spirit. Doubt it's fearful of us. I'd bet we will hear from that thing again, but it only comes out at night," he explains, reciting what he learned just prior to leaving Eleder. "If I had to guess, one of two things just happened," he says, holding up a finger. "The first, and what would be most fortuitous for us, is that it was passing through. Just a bit of bad luck for us." Raising another finger, he keeps going. "The second, it was toying with us. My father used to do the same thing when he hunted." "I'm sure we could take it out together, but it seemed to have moved pretty damn quickly. I propose we keep watch in pairs from now on," he suggests before stepping up to Callah. "Our compass speaks Skald when under duress. Does that happen to be a language you know? He seems to have taken best to you. I'll spread the word to the others too."
With the first scream, Faust's eyes snap open. Mngwa! Jumping awake, a flurry of movement occurs. While drawing his sword, he clutches the necklace around his neck, causing dark energy to flow into his body. Then he taps Dumont's skull and the faint, silvery wisp floats out. Bobbing around near the ground, it finally dives in. After a moment, a bony hand pushes out, which Faust grabs and helps out a clean skeleton that noticeably has the same skull as the one he introduced to you all at the mission briefing. "Mngwa, Dumont! There is no time to waste!" Charging across the camp, the duo run until they reach the general area of the third cry, weapon and claws at the ready. When it becomes clear there isn't about to be a fight, Faust eases himself back a bit. "Dumont, keep an eye out for anything. If it comes from outside the camp, claw first and I'll ask questions later. I'll check in on the others." Walking to Stuinvolk, Faust keeps his distance, not sure what to expect. "They sounded quite like an animal to me... Are you sure that's what you heard?"
It would certainly depend on the GM and the players too! I know it isn't something everyone would be interested in (or know enough about their character to do!), which is what I was trying to get at when I said there wouldn't be a penalty for not doing so. I think you all bring very valid points (in support and in opposition) to the idea! When I suggest it to my next batch of players, I'll see what happens and make it clear that it is 100% optional, no reason need be provided. We'll see how it all shakes out. Thanks for making that clear Yours Is Mined! I wasn't worried, but the peace of mind is always appreciated. I feel the same way, no player vs player issues here :) Welcome back GM! :D
Well let's see if it does! Faust was inspired in part by the game The Darkest Dungeon. What spurred his desire for research on dark, powerful forces (basically the Great Old Ones) was his horrifying experiences there and his desire to prevent such monstrosities from strengthening their foothold on Golarion. In this game, I'll be trying to explore how he will respond to another's "unpleasant affliction and haunting memories," as these concepts are quite close to home for him. Sort of mixed information from the briefing and the character's backstory/inspiration to form a goal I am trying to achieve during this game. Does that show what I'm getting after with that example?
I apologize if what I said came off as me implying your writing is ineffective! I didn't want to keep having Faust call The Foreigner Krieger if that is something your transformation would have made clearly unacceptable. Nobody calls Batman Bruce Wayne while he is wearing the suit, didn't know if it was the same thing you were going for or something else entirely :) Tangential, but still related: How would you all feel if the PbP culture adopted this expectation (no penalty for not sharing) that part of the mission briefing was a PC briefing on the discussion thread about what the player was trying to do with their PC's narrative? Just a thought I had, not a movement I'm trying to start or anything (at least at this time. In the future I'll try it out in games I run and see how it goes).
Faust looks at Krieger with surprise. "A soldier, eh? Dumont was a soldier and a damned good one at that. I was never much for following orders from people who were my 'superiors' simply by virtue of being part of an organization for longer, despite their incompetence. Dumont was a human though, so he didn't really have the benefit of just waiting them out," he explains. "The Realm of the Mammoth Lords though? Haha that certainly explains why your city appearance has practically melted off of you! Forgive my ignorance, but what did you and your armies fight and defend in those frigid wastelands?"
"Do you do this sort of thing often? I've never hunt game before, my father had... different ideas of what was worthy of hunting. Made for more obvious tracks," he begins. The ones we chased down in the woods at any rate... When it becomes clear Stuinvolk wants nothing to do with where this conversation is going, Faust simply stops walking to allow space to form between them. At this rate, the Mzali finding us would be a godsend. He starts his walking back up again with the man he thought was Krieger. "First time in the wild Krieger?" Faust asks.
I already have my endure elements vs heat covered, but thanks! I have two bottles of brown mold from a scenario trilogy that gives me constant endure elements vs heat, but a penalty against environmental cold. GM I'll share the scenario names and chronicle sheet with your if you would like me to via PM to avoid spoilers! Making my stealth roll now. My daily post was before it was a thing. EDIT: GM, I love NPC aliases! Just a tip for them: If you are worried about having a bunch of one-off NPC aliases on your account (some people don't like having them just sit there), make a generic NPC alias and then put the name of the NPC you are currently using the alias for in the "Name" text box of their profile.
"No objection here, I prefer the darkness. There is a safety to it. I'll take anything but last watch," Faust says. It's never hurt me, but watching the sun claw it's way past the horizon is never an enjoyable sight. "Also, for those of you prone to wandering around at night, Dumont will be joining me for my watch. Wouldn't want you to lose your bowels too when you bump into him for your late night piss." After unpacking his things, he takes a seat on a nearby rock formation that offers him some kind of a vantage point to watch Stuinvolk. Like a lion in a cage... If he breaks free, that'd be an interesting complication. Our mission is to heal his mind, but what happens if he becomes the cause of our harm? Hmmm... Just in case, Faust pulls his scimitar out and begins to sharpen it.
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