I like runes's page

I've been neglecting the loot sheet. I hope to update it this week, including the stuff you got in the sanatorium. You'll be able to retcon that, if you like.

Ulisses replies "I'm not sure about the specifics, but it seems that they can't enter their basement due to this problem. I can't assume any type of problem, but from the description I received, the numbers isn't in the 'hundreds', so to say. However, I wouldn't want you to be unprepared just because the problem wasn't properly described. I can provide you with a few vials of alchemist's fire, although I don't have many at my disposal at the moment."

@GM: Move on but we'll need to coordinate our re-supplies. Maybe in Discussion?

Feel free to. I can't move on today, so maybe you'll have time for all your supplies!

As all arrive, Ulisses gets up and says "Welcome all, and thank you for answering the call." He seems sincere as he continues "I hope our work together will be very fruitful, and we find our glory."

He waits to see how the group reacts and says "My name is venture-captain Ulisses. I have a few... leftover tasks that I managed to collect. If all goes well, we'll be able to show our worth to the Grand Lodge. The first of our tasks is right here in Absalom. A certain aristocrat has some pest problem and has asked the society to rid of it. Their name is Prenfold, you may know them."

Let's wait for Lick and Rashk to come in as well.

The mayor agrees with Donimah "Yes, that is likely."

Move on?

All right, that's settled. The player with the best Eye of the Tiger parody featuring Rise of the Runelords gets a free magic item with little mechanical effect. The criteria for choosing the best will depend on my mood during reading.

The young man smiles and says "Yes, that's me. You would be... Radana... Correct?" He continues "I don't see you that way. To me, a lot of Pathfinders are perfectly capable, but there is so much going on in a mission that sometimes things go sideways and nobody is at fault. I think everyone who's coming here has great potential, and together we'll see it flourish." He punctuates with a nod.

The mayor replies "Yes, I could also arrange passage for you on a ship if you prefer." She takes a look around, as if acknowledging the town hall's reception for the first time, walks over to the front desk and searches a few drawers and she is satisfied with one. She pulls out a sheet of paper and spends some time writing on it with the desk's fountain pen. After she's done signing it, she pulls out an envelope from the same drawer and puts the letter inside it. She takes out a small keychain from her belt to open a cabinet behind the desk. After looking in it for a few moments, she exclaims "Ah, here it is!", and pulls out a wax stick and a seal. She uses the candle she's carrying to melt a bit of the wax and seals the letter. After putting everything back into place, she hands the sealed letter to Arrian and says with a smile "Take this to Keleri Deverin. She's my cousin. You'll find her in the Capital District. She'll arrange accommodation for you."

As Arrian requests supplies, she pauses for a moment, then says "Of course, please list what you need."

She ends saying "I know that a Garundian ship is set to sail tomorrow before dawn, and their first stop is Magnimar. If you want to be on it, just say the word."

Great, now I want to write parody lyrics for the song...

The following day, each person in the group goes up to the building as instructed. Inside, the stairway going up to the third floor doesn't actually have any openings before the third floor. Reaching it, there are only three rooms. One is very obviously a room to relieve oneself, which has the door closed and locked. The second door is also closed. The third room has its door opened and the door frame is a bit more decorated, making it more inviting. It bears the Glyph of the Open Road.

Stepping inside this door, there is a room that is clearly meant for meeting and conference, while another closed door can be seen on the far wall. At the head of the center long table sits a young man clad in high quality chainmail armor. He bears striking resemblance to venture-captain Valsin, although he's much younger. He acknowledges each person entering and points to a few clay jugs sitting on a smaller table by one of the windows, with matching glasses. They carry fresh water.

@Juri: I think this is still happening yesterday, nobody rested yet, afaik.

Mayor Deverin says "That sounds horrible! I fear... I fear this is a lot more than I can manage with the town's resources. It seems that Magnimar is, indeed, your next stop if you want... if you will... stop whatever this Xanesha is planning to do. What can I do to help? For one, I think I can arrange for accommodation for you while you're there, would that help?"

I'll let you finish the scene in case you want to do it smoothly.

The mayor listens to the story in silence. At some points, she tries to interrupt, but her mind seems to be running in overclock fast so she doesn't. As Arrian and Ethan finish their recount, she stumbles a bit looking at the floor. She's clearly stunned.

She eventually regains her composure and says "Wow, that's a lot. I, uh... don't really know that much about the Foxgloves. And their family's heritage isn't really here in Sandpoint, I doubt there'd be records here. This isn't really something I can rule over. If you want to claim the manor, you must do it legally. For that you'd have to find the deed to the estate, and go over the correct procedure, probably in Magnimar where a magistrate can ensure that all the documentation is in order."

She breathes deeply and says "What I do know is that building has a bit of a bad reputation. After your story, it seems that the reputation is warranted, clearly the place was strongly haunted and probably caused a lot of harm to less capable... entrepreneurs. I doubt that the house will be visited in the short term, people mostly avoid that place."

I considered handling two subjects in this conversation at the same time, but I think it's better to move slower now to make sure none of the subject tramples the other.

All can roll for the following spoiler, but please remember to react accordingly to where you are physically.

What place is it in? Always check the last place you expect when you lose something. 8)

Fck, I lol'd too hard at this. Am I silly?

The revelry in the inn diminishes to hear Rashk's song. After he's done, he receives quite a few offers for free drinks from content Pathfinders. Curiously, the excitement doesn't restart at the same level as before.

Out of nowhere, Valsin seems to see some sort of cue, as he gets up and approaches the discussing group.

A woman with thick strong arms steps next to the venture-captain shortly after he arrives. Valsin waits until his presence is noted, for the group to stop speaking and says "Hello, young Pathfinders. I have a task for you, if you want a chance to do better at this organization." The venture-captain seems to know that every single Pathfinder in this group needs help with this. He continues "Tomorrow, a new venture-captain wants to start his promising career here at the Grand Lodge. Seeing that all... successful... Pathfinders already have their own contacts, this is mutually beneficial for you and him. I've taken care of informing your usual venture-captains about this, so that you won't have competing tasks."

It seems like Valsin has already arranged things in a way that it's not much of a suggestion. It feels more like pressure. He finishes "Report tomorrow to venture-captain Ulisses. You'll find him in an office on the third floor of the small building next to the Statue of Durvin Gest. It's the only office in that floor." Finishing that, he leaves, followed by the woman.

The mayor seems to be locking up some things. It looks like she's calling it a day. She looks up as Donimah enters and let's out a smile as she says "Oh, you're here! I take this is a good sign, that you figured out what's going on, and put a stop to it?" Her words feel genuine, but she lets a little bit of fear show.

Phew! Those were a few tough days. I think we're back on track. Now, let's see, where were we...

Ok, fever is down. Today she is still staying home, but having a good night's sleep makes all the difference. I'll start reading on gameplay and get things rolling again. Thank you for your patience.

Is there, like, something about this kid I'm forgetting from earlier or what?

No there isn't. Just some random stuff.

Guys, my daughter has come up with a fever. She'll need stay home for a few days, which means that I won't be able to post.

Guys, my daughter has come up with a fever. She'll need stay home for a few days, which means that I won't be able to post.

We have a Gameplay! Feel free to dot or present your character.

Tomorrow I won't probably post because my daughter has a doctor's appointment, so we took the day off and are making a day out of it.

It is a busy night at the Grand Lodge. Many Pathfinders are celebrating their recent victories and drinking their pocket change in the Flying Monkey inn. Venture-Captain Ambrus Valsin sits at a table grinning as the organization is thriving.

So, size gives you an attack bonus, not a BAB bonus.

Donimah thinks the boy is called Ian or Jon. There's a tiny chance he's called Agamemnon, but that could have been from a dream.

He replies "Yeah! Life's good, isn't it?" He isn't sure he should continue the conversation. At first glance, it doesn't look like he recognizes Donimah.

@Li Mui: I agree, we should try and keep things civil. I'd like to avoid PvP as much as possible. To be honest, I know Cyrano's player from another game and they're the chillest player ever, so I doubt this will be a problem. Being Pathfinder agents should guide the group to a common goal, even if there could be fun banter happening. If anyone feels uncomfortable with any part, I encourage you to let me know and I will shut it down immediately.

I think Cyrano's alignment in the sheet is just mistyped, or it was copied from another character and wasn't updated.

So, the only thing I'd ask in terms of background for the Pathfinder Society is that all PCs aren't exactly widely successful in the organization. You could be new recruits without a lot of successes to count, or you could be a long time member that hasn't really delivered, or maybe a long-time employee, like an assistant quartermaster or a cleaner, that has only recently decided to become an adventurer.

The gist is that early on you're going to be recruited to do some work for a nepo baby venture-captain who's trying to make a name for himself. For each PC personally, this could mean fast tracking their career getting close to a potentially high profile leader, or it could mean following clear, unambiguous orders that surely will benefit society at large. And we'll go from there!

I'll set up gameplay in the next few days.

The people of Sandpoint are generally in a good mood. The coming of Spring surely brings the best of moods and people are working hard, but it's already the end of the day, which means that people are already tired, hoping to get a good meal and rest. The inns are already full.

Alicia finds it a bit hard to get Ameiko's attention since she is rushing between table to wait on them, but the calls for her performance are already showing. Still, Ameiko tells her "You gotta tell me all about it, hun, and also on your storytelling skills. I can help you with that." Alicia can't tell if she's flirting.

Ano finds that the house that the group inherited is exactly as they left it, although some dust has gathered. A bath still needs to be prepared, but all appliances work correctly.

Juriya finds her way back home unencumbered. Her parents are in the workshop trying to make sense of a formula on a piece of parchment. They're so deep into it that they don't notice her entering.

Arrian, Ethan and Donimah reach the town hall as a young man is leaving. Arrian and Donimah recognize him as a young man who wanted a job there. He seems to be in a good mood.

[...]the group approaches the southern gate[...]

The worst part about these recruitment is decision paralysis. You know that you're going to have to eventually let people down. It's a growing experience...

Anyway, welcome all, I agree, this is going to be fun. I usually have little time to post on weekends, so expect updates to come more often during the week. I do not have much expectation for your guys' posting rate, but if, for some reason, I need to bot you frequently during combat, I ask that you add some botting guideline in your character sheet. If you want to add one even if you have a high posting rate just to be sure, that's fine too.

I ask everyone to double check their sheets so that I can take another look before we start. As for level up hit points, we'll be doing half of max rounded up, which also includes our level 2.

I'm going to add an extra house rule here. Since the entire initial purpose of this game is for me to exercise encounter choices in terms of balance, there may be encounters that seem too easy, and others too hard. Considering that I may want to push some limits, I don't want to worry about going too overboard and killing a perfectly fun and good character. However, I don't want to use Hero Points because those have many uses. So I'm introducing another mechanic which I'll call Plot Armor. Basically each PC has 1 Plot Armor Point and at any point where the character would die, they can expend their point to "not die". This could mean they stabilize at exactly 1 damage before hitting negative Con, or a save vs. a death effect turns from failure to success, anything that is appropriate. We can add some fun fluff like some lazy writing in a movie to represent the in universe use of the point. Each character can have a maximum of 1 point, and it only refreshes at level up.

So, if you guys want to coordinate knowing each other previously, this would be a good time to do it.

Walking back to Sandpoint is a very peaceful trek. Without the pressure for time, the group can actually appreciate the view. The air is cool and a breeze makes the hairs stand up, but the sun is a warm welcome.

The town of Sandpoint is starting its evening routine as the group approaches the southern gate. Brodert Quink is doing his typical recount of made up tales about Thassilon to the farmers' children. All look at the Sandpoint heroes with admiration, but still a bit of worry at their less than chirpy demeanor.

Hi!

After being fully tempted to open more slots, I have to sometimes let it go. Thank you very much for all the effort put into this. Would the characters

Lickspittle
Radana Alaris
Guzzlah
Li Mui
Rashk
Cyrano de St. Cyr

please post in Discussion. Everyone else, thanks again, and we'll hopefully see each other around here.

So, back to Sandpoint? To Magnimar? Somewhere else? You need to rest, you spent the entire day combing the mansion.

Hope everything goes well in the move and that you're safe.

A good example of breaking an item is an in-person table at a convention I was at.

I thought you were going to say you broke a table with an adamantine weapon for a sec.

If the GM feels the 2" is too much easy to fix :)

You can be weirdly tall without the mechanical benefits of large, sure. Maybe I'll add in a low ceiling cellar to annoy you, though...

Donimah finds that the sword is unmarked. This is very uncommon for a weapon with this amount of work put into it.

What Helina said.

@Arrian: This is a hazard and doesn't usually come with a knowledge check, but it makes sense that someone with knowledge should know about this. I'd rule your 26 is good enough.

Foxglove manor is clean now! Yay!

Thanks Helina, that is so helpful. Just a small correction, I haven't really asked for a Description, although it doesn't hurt.

@Ethan: Remember that every time you cast consecrate you need to deduct one of its material components that you previously bought.

@Arrian: You may have missed this. In this post, there was a letter that you found that may give an interesting clue.

The group spends an entire day combing through the abandoned house.

A take 20 is completely applicable here, but it takes an entire 24hs.

Things the group find in the mansion:

On the ground floor, the monkey head that is hanging on the wall is actually magical. There's an attached rope to it. When it's pulled, the monkey head screams loudly, enough that it will be heard all through the house. One can imagine this was used to signal the start of dinner.

There's also a washroom on the groundfloor. Inside a bathtub, there's a diseased rat. upon entering the room, it tries to attack whoever's there, but cannot get out of the tub. The rat is easy enough to kill. Thinking about it for a few seconds, the group remembers that on the first floor there was also a washroom with a very fragile floor. If it were to break with someone on it, that someone would fall into this tub with the rat.

Another thing that the group notices is that all the haunts are gone from every single room, even those rooms that the group hasn't visited yet.

Next to the kitchen, the group walks into a wine cellar. Although it is mostly empty, a careful examination reveals eight bottles of fine wine from the famed Vigardeis vineyard. Arrian knows that each goes for 100gp. If Jargie could get his hands on these, he could probably steal some business from Ameiko.

In one of the caverns, the group fights an undead bat. It is vicious and the fight is nasty, however the group prevails.

This was a CR 5 encounter, but it makes not sense to play it out. It has AC 18 and 58hp. It's probably down in 1 round. Its only real threat would have been a disease with Fort DC 16 with a 1/day save. It's still not worth the hassle.

In the cave's bat there are three long dead Varisian nomads.

In these remains, there's a few items to be found. A pearl ring worth 300gp, an adamantine longsword, a magical hat and 56gp in a small pouch.

In another cave, there's some mold on the wall. There's some pickaxes thrown on the floor and one of them seems particularly well made.

@Ethan: Please deduct one use of the appropriate material components from your sheet.

The mansion is just as the group left it. The haunts haven't been given enough time to recharge. Upon reaching the caves underneath the house, one could swear that the pulp that was once Aldern Foxglove's body is in a different position than before the group left.

Ethan's spell starts to form powerful a light green aura. For a moment, one can swear there are vines coming out of the corners, but a second look shows that it's just tricks of the light. The fungal mass on the cave's wall starts to move, and the black mold that resembles a man seems to be thrashing in despair. The waves in the cave's bottom crash louder as if in protest.

Once the spell completes, a short silence follows as nothing seems to happen. However, screams from all sides slowly fade in as if in pain. Shortly after, the screams get overwhelmed by other voices, those of relief, joy and calm. The black mold dries up and falls completely from the wall, and the air in the entire mansion soothes. Although its physical features remain twisted by Vorel's evil influence, it has become a mundane construction.

Submissions:
Shrikkt, Arcane Trickster build.
Duskeno, kasatha double bow build.
Sumak Wildheart, vanilla shifter.
Emmet Xanderi, brawler with favorite terrain.
Rashk, monk with magic.
Guzzlah. Goblin bottle thrower.
Li Mui. Synthetist summoner with skills
Sekelkek. Druid of the dinosaur.
Radana Alaris. Archer warpriest.
Helina The Beast. Pure Barbarian.
Halfling ranger. Melee slap a lot?

@Arrian: No need to use it. Those channels did the job.

The group manages to find some shelter from the elements in a farmhouse whose owners probably became ghoul food.

Ethan manages to bring a wide assortment of herbs and berries. While not completely saving Donimah and Arrian's less than stellar cooking, he does manage to make it remind the taste of food. After the meal settles in everyone's bellies, the talk of old stories and spices does a good job to provide some sense of tranquility after the ordeal. Ethan also uses the house's own kitchenware to brew some tea from some fresh leaves. The sound of the light rain with the warmth of the hot tea do a great job to make all doze off.

The group wakes to a sunny sky. The rain seems to have left, but the air is still very cool. The way back to the mansion is tranquil with the early sun warming the adventuring bones of the group. However, the house itself is as oppressive as before.

The extreme explosion of positive energy coming from Ethan and Alicia is enough to melt away nearly all the undead birds. The few that remain fly away.

That was so cool. Even if they make the Will saves, the two channels were enough to kill the swarms.

The group finds that being outside of the mansion's surroundings makes them feel much better. Even the weather seems to feel better as the group finds a place to camp, and the rain recedes to a drizzle.

Feel free to rest up. Nothing significant happens during the rest.

Ok, we have new submissions and a new round of comments.

@Seth86: You were bold to go with a 4 armed race, but that’s fine. However, reading through the kasatha made me see that it gains Perception as a class skill. So you don’t really need the seeker trait, unless you really really really want a +1 trait bonus to Perception.

@rorek55 Normally I’d say no, but since rogues are considered to be a weaker progressing class, then sure, let’s give unchained rogues Deft Maneuvers. Also, you can’t afford masterwork weapons yet.

@pad300 A comment on your numbers: Nereid’s Grace’s bonus to AC is capped by your monk level.

@Ouachitonian: Correct, we’re not doing wealth by level. The idea is to start with a brand new character, but skip level 1 because it sucks.

@Albion: Cool, cheers!

@Tharasiph: Well, there’s already been a kineticist dip in a character here somewhere. I’m not the biggest fan, but who knows, maybe you can wow me with a cool build!

Submissions:
Shrikkt, Arcane Trickster build.
no name, kasatha many attacks.
Sumak Wildheart, vanilla shifter.
Emmet Xanderi, brawler with favorite terrain.
Rashk, monk with magic.
A lot of glass bottles with sneak attack.

Cool

Ok, let's address all the questions and issues here.

@Cuchulainn: Yes, that archetype is the exact type of BS (busted stuff) I expect in these builds. Why have a familiar when you can have an entire other wizard instead. However, he can't have any traits. About your rolls, it seems you miscalculated a few things. On your first set you were supposed to reroll the 1 again until it's not 1. Still, it's not great. Your second set is much better. Your array for that one is 15 14 17 14 17 13, which is a 46 point buy. Not bad, I'd say.

@Albion: I like your arcane trickster. A few comments on the math, however. Dagger to hit should be +6 due to Elephant in the Room. Also, you can't have 2d6 sneak attack at level 2. Although you can have the accomplished sneak attacker feat, it can only benefit starting at level 3. Let me know if you'd like to update the character sheet.

@Sumak: Please level up to level 2.

@pad300: Gathlain sounds fine. Random question: are you planning a cute one or a badass one?

@Rashk: Resistance change is fine.

@Lapyd: Let's not limit your build creativity. Go for VMC if you like.

Submissions:
Shrikkt, Arcane Trickster build.
BT Synth, synthesist summoner build.
Sumak Wildheart, vanilla shifter.
Emmet Xanderi, brawler with favorite terrain.
Rashk, monk with magic.

5 submissions and 3 are unarmed strikers!

@Seth86: quick question about your build. You went to extra lengths to have an eidolon fused into you, have its physical ability scores and chose to go with a repeating heavy crossbow? Why? Also, you don't have 1000gp, but max for your class at level 1. But since you are going for an incredibly expensive weapon, we can negotiate starting with it but also some sort of debt.