Gay Master's page

A few of you make your way to the Wandering Friar Inn to check it out . Its a good sized establishment with a bawdy drunken friar on the wooden board hanging outside. a wide two story building. You go in, grab a table and some drinks. A large woman whose face looks like it had a bad run in with a wall takes your orders and bustles about.

Edwin spots the owner coming out of a back room, locking the door behind him, and waddling out to some of the rooms in the back on the ground floor, away from the bar area and back among the guest rooms and latrine.

@temperance & @Neji after the meeting with Elise, you can track down the nun and try and follow her around a bit if you'd like. do you still want to do that? at the moment its noon, Temperance finished tea with Elise, the rest of the clowns are back at the baron's and loran is out skulking shadowing the retired sergeant. you have the afternoon and evening to yourself with no further obligations, though as Elise pointed out, you're now on to your real task: Finding the Horn. Which you realize, unless the Nun knows the location, she's probably more Elise's potential problem than your own problem.

as for Sunday afternoon, after meeting with Elise, I wasn't sure what you'd want to do after your meeting. since on Starday afternoon you'd found out where the nun hangs out, i wasn't sure if you wanted to follow up on that or do something else.

if everyone posted 1/day, it would probably be amazing. even if it was just rp fluff about what you're doing or trying to talk to other characters.

aah that might explain how i confused people... tea was Sunday, after tea you can do stuff, Loran did something, no one else posted, so i fast-forwarded to the next day.

to recap briefly: on Starday you had dinner with the Baron. on Sunday Morning, you all met the Ravens at the docks. Elise took Temperance with her for tea to discuss things. Loran went to follow the sergeant, stalked him home and stayed out all night. Today is Moonday, Loran briefly came back in ( [perception check DC 15 to have heard his footsteps in the hall or seen him grabbing food in the morning ] ), and then left again shortly after. Ash mentioned the Wandering Friar Inn, and is taking Leo and anyone else who wants to come, over to the inn to check it out.

>> Way of the Wicked in-game Calendar <<

see plan laid out in spoiler above if you have different suggestions

you head out, find a bar, some decent wine, and start spending your purse getting deep in your cups.

whats everyone else up to ?

now i'm sorry i killed him, he'll be even less likely to post now...

i should have rolled that in secret and kept it aside to keep you wondering.
will do better in the future.

just remember that since you have 2 chars each, i don't feel *too* bad picking one off if something comes up.

for now just roleplay it as though you don't know what happened to Loran.
and decide when you'd start to worry about not seeing or hearing from him.

as for everyone else

the White Ravens have settled in and are starting to take over setting up eyes and ears in the city, leaving you free to explore and find the Horn.

Loran goes out in the afternoon, after being out all night without saying much to anyone. He might have mentioned tailing the sergeant, or trying to check out the library. What would everyone else like to do ? its Moonday , the 23rd of Kuthona. the air is still chilly in Farholde, the sun breaking through the grey clouds, a light mist over the city this morning.

loran@will save: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19

your character doesn't return. we'll see what happens i guess.

ok. well the day of arrival you're busy tailing the retired sergeant.
the next day you can go find out where a library is. conveniently its within the walls of the Abbey, where the sisters tend to it and the Mitran lore contained within.

do you want to disguise yourself as a merchant and enter the abbey to research the dark temple of abbadon and the death cult?

You can try and do some research.
Access to a library just allow you to make the knowledge check without having ranks in the skill,
and allow you to take 20 with research. It can takes days though.
Farholde is not renown for its library.

there are clearly living local legends: talk about living trees, half fiend tigers, and angels, judging by the local rumors that you all heard of.

What more information would you want to track down?

What do I know about this artifact?

Kn:History: 19 = 19 or Kn:Arcana: 34 = 34

nothing. other than that its not an artifact, arcana isn't relevant to it.

Do I know anything about this treacherous Baron?

Kn:Nobility: 20 = 20 or Kn:History: 12 = 12

Just that he's a descendent of the Barca lineage, a royal line deposed by the current Darian regime. with land and holdings in farholde and farms south of Caer Bryr.

Do I know anything about the Caer Bryr?

Kn:Nature?: 30 = 30

the northern Caer Bryr is a temperate rainforest richly blessed with rainfall and broadleaf trees. The thick trunked baobab tree, unusual in such a wet clime, is common here and grows to enormous size. small animal life is dense. its a bountiful place rich and thriving with nature's splendor.

in the south east of the Caer Bryr is the Lake of Skye, rarely seen by civilized eyes, which fractures into a thousand streams to course through the forest floor. The streams eventually stagnate and fail near the coast, becoming the Salt Brack in the south west.

The salt brack is also blessed with life - crocodiles, fish, lizards, snakes, frogs, toads, salamanders, birds ; teeming with wildlife. The Blue Cray, a delicious and rare swamp lobster can be found hidden in the mud by those brave enough to hunt it. a good sized one fetching 30 gp a head back in Farholde.

The brack is also home to a great number of boggard tribes. each more loathsome than the last.

The single most famous feature of the norther briar are the great stone spires. they proliferate everywhere in the jungle, rising hundreds of feet above the forest floor. often covered in foliage, they are home to countless small animals. The Iraen people who first settled in this region are full of stories of how the spires were carved by ancient giants. The beauty of the spires is rumored to have drawn fey and spirits in and around the spires in great abundance.

again, for those looking for an image, the terrain is noted as being inspired by upthrust mountains in china, search for Li Jiang Karst. i posted some links to images a few pages back.

Gah, can you go back and click on knowledge spoilers for the city/baron etc.?
Will post anything that isnt there tomorrow morning.

Did Saio make it to the party on the supply bus too?

oops. sorry. forgot saio. yup he's there to

I will continue to follow him, see if there is anything we can use as leverage. if nothing else, getting an idea of his mannerisms and normal routine in case killing him a replacing him would be worthwhile for a moment.

you watch his farm all night. there's not much activity after dark. all the farmhands go to their homes on the stead and go to bed. they're all woken at daybreak or before, doing things around the farm. loran@stealth: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16 without the cover of night, you decide to take off, realizing that it would be incredibly easy for someone to spot you and start asking questions. you head back to the hovel in the morning to find that you've missed introductions.

@temperance & @Neji after the meeting with Elise, you can track down the nun and try and follow her around a bit if you'd like. do you still want to do that? at the moment its noon, Temperance finished tea with Elise, the rest of the clowns are back at the baron's and loran is out skulking shadowing the retired sergeant. you have the afternoon and evening to yourself with no further obligations, though as Elise pointed out, you're now on to your real task: Finding the Horn. Which you realize, unless the Nun knows the location, she's probably more Elise's potential problem than your own problem.

@Loran: are we to frequently expect you to cross post characters? or can you keep your face on right ? =D

Elise nods. Adequate. Farholde is in good hands now. Good luck finding the Horn.

yeah, you get a sense she loves to feel important. it must irk her to no end that she's basically just assisting you by keeping Farholde in line while you do the actual work of searching for the Horn.

the daring dapper fellow opens his mouth as though to speak, and then freezes in time. as crickets begin to chirp somewhere...

Left in a lurch at the docks, the rest break off into a few groups, as you lead the two new members of the 9th knot to your Hovel discreetly. Loran breaking off instead to check out Sergeant Hallack, who spends his afternoons in a low district tavern in his cups.

Ash and Leo lead the new girl back to the Hovel, while Neji and Forsythe show Edwin the way.

@Loran
You disguise yourself as a merchant, and take up a few drinks nearby Hallack at the tavern. He doesn't seem as down on his luck as you'd expect. He's dressed in farming clothes, and pays for his drinks and a decent meal. He's got dark brown shoulder length hair and a bit of a broad bushy mustache, but is clean shaven otherwise. The only thing that discounts him being a farmer in your eyes, is the very nice sword at his hip. His sheathe is clearly marked with the town insignias, you'd guess a remnant of him being a retired sergeant of the watch. The handle's fine leather and the crossguard's emerald setting make the sword stand out to you.

You follow him a bit at the end of his stupor as he somewhat clumsily makes his way home. Though he doesn't seem as drunk as he should be with how much ale he was having, he's clearly good at holding his liquor. He goes to a farmhouse with a light on inside, the sound of a large dog barking greeting him as he goes in. It seems to be the main house on the farm, though there are one or two other buildings. Everything seems in good repair, with a few hands around taking care of some animals, leading them into the barn with dusk.

did you just want to follow and try and learn about him? or more?

The Seventh Knot does indeed arrive the next day. You meet them at the docks. They're not quite disguised and are easily recognizable enough for the most part since the last time you met them, after completing your training at Cardinal Thorne's mansion in the woods. You expected some reinforcements, and there are three new people aboard the barge with the 7th knot, Though you realize quickly that they have picked up a new member, a man with almond shaped eyes and bushy white shoulder length hair. The two others seem to be your reinforcements. They disembark ahead of the 7th, not having much in the way of luggage.

Elise Zadaria greets you with the barest of nods as she and her knot disembark. With barely that acknowledgement she sets off at a brisk pace away from the docks. As you begin to lead them somewhere they can set up for what they need to do, the barest spark of some friction between the knots as she instead tells the rest of you to go elsewhere, and directs Temperance alone to accompany her.

Elise speaks with Temperance icily in a low voice as her companions carry their bags and trunks. It is my intention in the next few months to have spies set up in every inn, tavern, and anywhere else adventurers and explorers might congregate. When you do find the Horn of Abaddon, contact me. For those groups I can't personally dispatch, I'll send a messenger with any information I can gather. She steps with assuredness through the city though, seemingly familiar with its alleys and streets. Walking quickly and unerringly to the Tea Garden, a three story inn in a nice area of town. There are far too many of us for us to ever meet in public. Sweet Winter. How many of you does the Thorn need to do your task?

Its quickly clear that her orders will be to handle any threats in Farholde, leaving the 9th knot free to find the Horn of Abbadon. She seems expected by the owner, who directs the large half-elf carrying most of the luggage up to some rooms on the second floor. Elise leads Temperance up to the third floor though, to a secluded and private dining chamber.

Here is where you should send word if you have need to contact us. Should you have any trouble. Good luck in your search for the Horn. She pours two cups of tea from a tray that's already waiting in the private chamber, first for Temperance, then for herself.

Now. Tell me what you've already found of Farholde.

Ok. You try and spend the night and early morning tracking him down. gather information: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21 it takes some of the evening, and the morning, but you get a lead, the location of his family home in the city. After meeting the 7th knot, you can go to follow up on it.

Any preparations or things to do after dinner / the next morning ? want to leave the 7th knot to wander the city on their own and ditch them?

Well, time works outside the scheme of the expected, even when expected.

The next day dawns, whether you stay at the inn or move your things in to the hovel under the green. Tiadora bids you farewell after the dinner.

Remember the clay seal. Break it when you need to speak with the Master. Be sure not to waste his time. He can be most unforgiving about that. The Seventh knot and your reinforcements are already close at hand. They arrive tomorrow on a river barge named "The Lucky Lady". You should probably meet them and come up with a plan for seeing our master's will done. It matters not to me of course. Not my problem. Goodbye, dearest, and good luck.

With that, she gives Forscythe a kiss on the lips that lingers just longer than the shock of it occurring, and teleports away

You have a lovely dinner. He leaves you to your own devices, leaving you with at least an uneasy understanding, and gives you a key to the hovel and describes where to find the tunnel entrance on that side.

and your diplomacy roll, to back up your speech:
loran@diplimacy: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19

pokes neji to return volley, or temperance to continue. feel free to retry and expound on your statements or change tact

Thorn's words were something like:

There is another who may be able to aid you. ONce a thriving cult existed in farholde. It was led by a half-elvish noble. He is trecherous and decadent, but wealthy and well connected. Tiadora will introduce you before she departs.

I know not what aid the Baron can provide, but his family is old and long dwelt in Farholde. Never trust him but know this - he's afraid of me and with good reason. If he does try anything, remind him that you are in Farholde on my behalf. That should keep him in line

you're not sure. just that he's a powerful ally to have in these parts, or a powerful foe. that he's got his own schemes, but that you might find him useful.

a nice opening volley in the parlay. Anyone else? Loran? Temperance?

Tiadora rendezvous with you you by the docks in the evening. Bedecked brilliantly in all white, looking like a travelling noble on the way to her wedding. She escorts you through the bustling dock city of Farholde. She takes you to the nicest part of town, a gently sloping hill called Calliver's Green, a gated community, and approaches the guard confidently.

Baron Vandermir is expecting us is all she says.

Of course, my lady. This way the somewhat nervous guard answers after consulting a list.

There are only six manors in this neighborhood and Tiadora leads you to what is arguably the most impressive and opulent of them. The front door is secured by two guards wearing armor and livery. The guards are polite, but firmly insist that weapons are collected.

No stranger may go before the Baron so armed.

need to know : who is wearing noble clothing/courtier outfit/decided not to dress nicely. and what weapons anyone is trying to bring in.

not knowing too much about what she looks like, you spend some time around town gathering information about her, and where you might find her.

diplomacy(gather info): 1d20 ⇒ 19

an hour later, you hit upon that she usually takes supper once a week at a tavern in town, that she's a demure but respected nun at the abbey. unfortunately that dinner plan would preclude your own.

likewise, Loran tries to track down the "disgruntled guy"? I take that to mean the soldier that didn't march off to war?

diplomacy(gather info): 1d20 ⇒ 3

after a few hours of shopping for something suitable to wear that night, the guys in the party get their outfits, but come up empty as to where the disgruntled guy likes to hang out.

yeah we can fast forward dress shopping for those that don't have sleeves of many garments. just keep a tab: 75gp for noble's outfit, 30gp for courtiers, whatever level of dignity you're going to go for. Ash feels like being flashy. Leo is going servicable with courtier.

ok, so you don't want to just waltz into the abbey. so you'll try and tail her when she goes out somewhere, and then strike up a conversation with her?

a general you, since i wasn't sure who wanted to go. you can both be there, if you'd like

ten minutes looking and you'd guess it could hold as many as 500 sisters.

Making your way to the Abbey, this large walled manor house is home to a devout order of Mitran nuns. A common sight around town, dressed in their dark blue and white habits. These "brides of light" are a chaste and cloistered order, but still must leave their abbey to conduct their business. You know enough about the religion to know they are a relatively young order, their founder having been martyred only 150 years ago.

to give a sense of size, the "walled manor house" they refer to is pretty much a whole compound. If you watch the Abbey for the afternoon you can gauge how many occupants there are. Do you want to stake the place out? or just walk in and ask to speak to Sister Marta? or hope to catch her when she leave for something and follow her?

so you wanna go talk to Sister Marta the mitran priest?

k. religion 18: you've not enough info to go on.

Though from rumors, its army/watch have all left , so while the city is just as bustling, theres not as many army men left. Finding out how many left would require marching orders or military intelligence.

You can feel its a fairly well run small city. population probably around 10,000. that's the size we should presume for this small city.

after which, Forsythe is done crafting, the cloaks are done at least, and its time to get ready and meet Tiadora by the docks.

The next day dawns, Temperance does some snooping around town again. Ash and Forscythe busy themselves crafting. Leo takes to the streets gathering some information about the Bryr

You spend the day exploring and canvasing the city. It takes all day, but you gather quite a few rumors (above) in your exploration of the city. You also come across a common sentiment of defenselessness, and loss. The army seems to have left, and a lot of people have gone off to war with the bugbears with them.

you also learn the names of places on the map

1. Hamarhall
2. The Accarian Beacon
3. Calliver Green - you're stopped at the private guard post. Without a pass granted by residents, you're not allowed.

4. Abbey of Saint Cynthia-Celeste - an order of Mitran nuns.
5. the Vandermir Orphanage
6. Bryrwatch ("The Trident")
7. Auld'Irey
8. Templeton Rise
9. Newchurch
10. Drownington
11. Lord Drownington's Manor
12. Wrecker Isle
13. Westell
14. Corgan's Landing - warehouse district

hopefully looked it up too? its charged, and does deal damage as well as pushback if you're close enough.

any other shopping interest? exploration? or fast forward to the dinner?

unique item, functions as a folding boat, but instead of a box you keep things in, a rain cloak that keeps you dry and comfortable. still two command words for different size boats, and then back to cloak shape. i bumped the price a little for the endure elements type effect.

the new chars, i think were mentioned too quickly by Thorne, as reinforcements are "on their way", and will meet you in town within the week. so swashbuckler and sister aren't with you guys yet, but will be introduced soon.

the cards, in the Magic Shop Map, are intended to be items you can see around the shop and inquire about.

Who all is going to the magic shop?

You're able to locate a magic item shop, and good lodgings at an inn in Auld'Irey ( section 7 on the map ).

Built upon the largest of the nine hills, this is the oldest section of Farholde, and it feels like it. Sturdy, but damp , this is the only section of Farholde surrounded by a wall. Auld'Irey [all-DIARY], a corruption of "Old Iraen", is the rebuilt remains of a settlement that surrendered to an invasion centuries ago.

Today Auld'Irey is the most densely populated portion of Farholde. Every available plot has been developed and buildings are stacked upon buildings. The majority of commerce is done here and the lionshare of Farholde's shops, taverns, and Inns are located in this quarter.

Auld'Irey is also where the HQ of the town watch is located. You see evidence of patrols, and a general feeling of safety in here.

its 2.5gp per day for lodgings and good food.

now, let me see what magic items they have for sale in the town...

oh, i see. 9 and 9. heh. gather info it is then?

yup, too late for ordered magic items. you'll have to hunt them down in Farholde. how's your knowledge (local) or diplomacy ( gather information )?

you're yourselves for the meeting with the baron. Cardinal thorn is sending you as his representatives for a dinner.

"There is another who may be able to aid you. Once a thriving cult of Asmodeus existed in Farholde. It was led by a half-elvish noble - the Baron Arkov Vandermir. He is treacherous and decadent, but wealthy and well-connected. Tiadora will introduce you before she departs."

konbanwa misogi-san.
hadjimemashite, dozo.

Arrest Trajectory only giving a +1 bonus, while likely balanced, feels bad given the name (which implies, you know, stopping the projectile). Maybe rename it Alter or Deflect Trajectory?

For comparison, CHA based:
If you’re affected by a harmful emotion effect, the
discordant emotions sap some of your concentration, causing
your cantrips (including psi cantrips) to heighten to a level 1
lower than normal (or to their minimum level, if it’s higher). For
instance, if you were 5th level, a detect magic cantrip you cast
would be 2nd level instead of 3rd level.

INT based:
Disruptions to your sequences make it more difficult
for you to focus. You’re flat-footed against attacks made as
reactions as you Cast a Spell, and if your spell is disrupted,
you’re stupefied 1 until the end of your next turn.

The Int penalties seem both harsher and more common. Cha usually just loses damage, and only on cantrips, while Int can easily lead to you wasting a spell slot (and I would think it would be more common, although you should be at range).

Simple request: Unsteady weapons should be 1+ hands when mounted, and you should be able to mount 2 hand non-unsteady ranged weapons and have them be 1+.

This helps for things like throwing bombs and casting spells while having a mounted weapon, or even pulling out a pistol when someone gets too close to your sniper nest. Plus, it makes more sense: you don't need two hands to hold up a gun on a tripod.

I'm not sure how much crossover there is between the forum and reddit userbases, so let me know if I shouldn't bother doing this.

I was going to make a post like this today, but when I woke up someone had already done it better: The Problem with the Magus is Rigidity.

There is an explosion of threads analyzing the Magus from every angle, and most people seem on the side of it being fairly weak. But I think of greater concern is that the current version of the Magus suffers from a problem with rigidity.

The reason Pathfinder 2 is such an engrossing system in comparison to many others is the sheer dynamism of combat. There are an extraordinary number of decisions to be made every turn, and they all usually feel meaningful and impactful. You have a wide array of options at your disposal, and a limited set of resources to spend on them, and finding the path to the optimal choice is fun.

As an example, as soon as I read through the Summoner, my brain started whirling at its new take on this dynamism. I suddenly had to consider a set of actions from two places at once, each of which have different capabilities. That's already somewhat represented by animal companion characters, but this has a new wrinkle in terms of positioning and movement, in terms of managing risk (since we share HP), and the unique applications of the Act Together action. A Summoner has many tools to engage with the action economy, resource economy (in spell slots and Focus points), and of course the varied skill actions that are available to them.

The Magus... does not. Firstly, their optimal turn is extremely clear: Bespell Weapon, Cast a Spell, Strike. That is the perfect turn for a Magus, and none of their other options will be better. Instead, the only reason they will ever deviate from that set of actions is because they're forced to. For example, if they have no available target, they are forced to move (The developers seem to have recognized this and attempted to band-aid it with the various Syntheses, to varying degrees of success). This is then compounded by the fact the Magus has limited spell resources, and they, too are static due to the Magus being a prepared caster.

This creates a situation where instead of feeling like you're making an optimal choice and working with the resources at your disposal, you are either executing your rote optimal pattern, or being forced into a suboptimal one. This means the Magus is often operating in one of two modes: It feels boring, or it feels bad.

I think above and beyond number considerations, this is what is creating the dissatisfaction with the Magus. I think there's still a lot of room to explore the kit with all of the various ways they have given to squeeze extra economy and value out of Striking Spell, such as Bespell Strikes, Energizing Strikes, and Spell Swipe. To some degree, it almost feels as if the Magus is intended to interact with the action economy across multiple rounds in a way almost no other class does, but that idea isn't fully fleshed out in the version we have, and I'm not sure if it would feel good even if it was.

I think this is partly an effect of not having the full set of class feats (and I would assume focus spells), but it is also very much an effect of the 4 slot casting and base class design and as such worth talking about.