Jon Pariah's page

Friends, it's been a pleasure.
I do wonder what the deal was with the plague - ah well.
Hope to see you all round in other games.

GM Nitemare, are you up next?

Jon, 30ft away behind a tree concentrates. Ice condenses in his hand as he manifests a single, pure point of cold. Without thinking he throws it at the Ooze.
snowball touch attack: 1d20 + 1 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 1 + 5 = 14 cold: 4d6 + 1 ⇒ (1, 2, 2, 1) + 1 = 7
"Deng! Do your thing!"

If someone doesn't distract that mob, someone's going to die. Too far for me to effect...
Jon sprints forward again, running directly forward towards the sparse cover of a young tree.

I think Jon can make it. Flat footed for running, but +2 AC for same square as a tree.

init: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

If there are Dead ahead then I need to stop Aurengil from getting surrounded and killed...

The desperation in the thought lends wings to Jon's heels as he runs, forsaking any concept of dafety.

Run at 120ft... still less then Aurengil but literally the best Jon can do

perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7
"I'm game to trail him by myself if you're worried about ambushes." Jon offers

Forty feet away Jon keeps watch as best he can in the glaring sun.

Whoever this halfling is, he's devestated. Seeing Jon won't help... and a bow is not a weapon the dead often use. The living are smart enough to ambush those helping the helpless.

By helping the halfling they've picked a side.

Jon stays well back, aware that his presence will only complicate matters.

"We can't leave the halfling out here. Deng, do you need me to move away?"

Yeah - sorry the site stopped responding
"Did you hear that scream?" Jon asks. "Was that something hunting? Or something being caught?"

perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15

perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8"It's not turned" Jon explains.

"Somethin' big flyin' this way."

At Petra's words Jon casts a spell, starts to load his crossbow and looks for the target against the terrible, terrible brightness of the sky.

Cast Mage Armour... almost at the point I can just leave it up...

A child? Children couldn't survive long. There must be a family - a community. Strong enough to keep children alive. Goggles? They've been finding ways to work around the plague! They might have a cure! And arrows are inter-living warfare! There must be at least two large communities!

At Petra's words his heart falls

Jon approaches slowly to within 20 yards
Detect Undead

Jon looks startled "The Nosoi? The belief that when a spirit approaches death a bird comes to shepherd it to the afterlife?"

Oh - didn't realise. Guess Jon is just paranoid. What time of day or night is it please?

dien: I read the stories - they are great :) Well done (and congratulations)!

"I'm trying!"

Can move on map. Moved Jon to where I was trying to say last round... *gulp!*
Jon reaches inside himself, to where the light & acid he flings swirl around inside his soul.
But this time he goes deeper.
The light and the acid are swirling around something.
Something dark.
Something cold.

Jon doesn't blink as frost forms on his skin, the moisture in the air condensing in an instant. Beneath his feet the grass dies. Where his hand rests on a tree branch the leaves wither, then the branch cracks. Pure cold condenses in his right hand, so cold the very air freezes solid around it.

Jon blinks as he comes back to himself, and throws the cold at the cat.
Snowball 35ft+PBS touch: 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 5 + 1 = 16cold damage: 4d6 + 1 ⇒ (3, 6, 6, 1) + 1 = 17

dang. I just missed the map somehow. Jon would also like to move to a tree. There's one down and left from him that is 6 squares away. Is that okay? I don't seem to be able to edit.

Not sure how far to the cat...
Jon's tattoos glow, he chants and summons magical protections upon himself.
cast mage armour

"I'll follow your lead, Petra. Not sure how much there is to catch, but if you tell me what to do, I'll do it. Otherwise I might go rest up so I'm ready for tomorrow night's watch."

"Sounds like it travels at night. Just as happy not to meet it though. What's out west it could be lairing in?"

Deng: Congratulations! Hope everything goes smoothly!

dien: Wow! Congratulations!

Son of a... Sorry guys, I must have clicked on the wrong alias (the DM alias is next to Jon) and not realised it. It was of course me - really sorry.
Petra: does that mean Petra's armours has stripes or something? ;P

upon finding the cottage
"Good eyes, Deng. Glad we've got you."

upon Aurengil's revelation
"Aurengil, that is useful. We'll have to find some way to mark the ones you're controlling... and make sure that they can't slip loose."
"Petra, if you're okay, I'd prefer night watch." Jon pulls out a bedroll and goes to the floor strewn with broken glass. His tattoos flash for a moment and the glass skitters into a pile. He stops taken aback, then smiles at Aurengil and puts down the bedroll next to it.
"You know, just once before... just once I'd like to have a hot bath."
Then, shrugging off his pack he lies down on the bedroll and tries to sleep.
casting prestidigitation. Are we tracking food consumed?

"Up to now we've travelled by day. Our eyes are keen at night, but so are the dead's. Might be we now have a reason to make a very, very early start."
Jon speaks quietly.

Could the ritual "upgrade" the familiar rather than replace it? I'm really committed to this being the same physical (metaphysical) critter if I can.

That revelation is about 8 kinds of awesome.

It is the spells that make it worthwhile I think. I could get weapon finesse I suppose - that'll help with melee touches like chill touch. I think it still works if I get spectral hand later.

Otherwise I was going to try to avoid melee attacks.

Was thinking of maybe getting ear piercing scream later.

Primarily buff spells I think.

Questions for GM Nitemare:
* Can Improved Familiars be 'upgraded' as you level?
* Are we likely to have the time to use craft wondrous? Book does say " If the caster is out adventuring, he can devote 4 hours each day to item creation, although he nets only 2 hours' worth of work. This time is not spent in one continuous period, but rather during lunch, morning preparation, and during watches at night. If time is dedicated to creation, it must be spent in uninterrupted 4-hour blocks. This work is generally done in a controlled environment, where distractions are at a minimum, such as a laboratory or shrine. Work that is performed in a distracting or dangerous environment nets only half the amount of progress (just as with the adventuring caster)." which implies being able to do 250gp/day.
* Given the adventure themes is crafting items (and presumably finding the components do so) appropriate?

Deng, I think you ought to consider the spell sanctuary. It's great for getting around the battlefield so you can cure people. Otherwise, you might consider bless.

As for feat, Selective Channeling. It's not just about Jon; it's also about not healing enemies and not all our enemies are going to be undead.

Jon, you're too low a level to really benefit from Improved Familiar. I recommend that you save it for 7th level. Craft Wondrous Item can wait for 3rd. I recommend Precise Shot, but the truth is I'm not clear on what class you are, so it's hard to make recommendations that will still be good in the future.

Feel free to look over the Profile if you like - nothing secret about it.

Truth to tell, not sure if Jon really was injured a smidge by Deng, but seemed better to assume he was given how I counted the squares. My apologies to Deng if I malign him.

At Karmuk's touch Jon's minor wounds and burns close instantly. A new burst of vigor comes over him. Aches from the last few days fade to nothing.

He stands there a second

"That's much better, Karmuk. Thanks. Don't feel bad about going down - these dead were like nothing I've seen. Anyone would have gone down under that. We just need new tactics against them."

"I'm good to go a while yet. I can do watch if you need to rest up. Don't know if there's more of these things out there - probably worth trying to find cover. Do we invite our friends to camp with us?"

Crafting might be a generally awesome thing anyway given our probable lack of purchaseable supplies-- these characters would have to learn how to make do. I'm likely putting a skill point into a Craft of some sort, this level.

My worry withcrafting is that we may be too time poor to actually get any use out of it.

My own dilemma is feat-wise
Life Dominant Soul
Precise Shot
Improved Familiar
Craft Wondrous Item

At 7th I'd like a Nosoi for my Improved Familiar... but at 3rd I could get a Celestial bird, which is getting there. Possibly I could upgrade it as I level. Not a lot of point mechanically, I guess, but fits the character concept.

I've been thinking of Life Dominant Soul, but it just doesn't seem to fit the descent into darkness idea.

Theoretically Selective Channeling isn't needed, just have to make sure Deng and Jon are at least 30ft away... but I admit it sure crops up a lot. Not sure if increasing level makes that easier.
I point out when Jon is within 30ft you can still channel to heal living, it is just hurting dead that is the problem.
Still, I'm sorry for the inconvenience.

Neither of the two spells are amazing:
Decompose Corpse; -2 to attacks and AC or could do 1d8+3 damage with CLW.
Sun Metal; 1d4 fire isn't much. It *does* ignore DR though, and I don't think we're likely to run into many critters with fire immunity. On the other hand it is at max 3 rounds, which means maybe 3d4 extra damage. You can, again, do about that much damage with CLW. The fact you can put it on your whip is intriguing though - means you can melee attack safely while staying at range.

still got to pick a feat and heal, but otherwise done
Jon feels cold wash over him. A patch of the skin on his shoulder that had gone grey and cracked in Deng's energy darkens. Starts to spread down his arm and across his chest.
Is this it then?
As a crack opens down to his fingers and black blood starts to drip out another golden tattoo bursts into light, starting on his shoulder and twining down his arm like a golden vine.
Slowly the black flesh fades to grey, the colour seemingly leeching out of the rest of Jon's body and into the black patch.
Over in moments it leaves Jon distinctly more monochrome, the little colour in his skin having now faded.

Am I still... me? I think so...
Jon raises a hand to his friends, ignoring the archers for now.
"I'm still here. How is Karmuk?"

Jon moves, looking for a clean strike with his disrupting attack
up 3 squares I think touch attack - into combat: 1d20 + 6 - 4 ⇒ (9) + 6 - 4 = 11damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26confirm: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3 got my hopes up, but even a touch attack against a charging foe isn't going to hit on 8
Gritting, Jon backs away again and releases another ray of energy
"They're vulnerable to arrows!" he calls, getting his crossbow out.

Deng - yeah, Jon knew that when he moved to shoot Z4 and get his attention
will dc 14: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23Jon takes 2 damage
Gritting his teeth against the pain Jon grunts at Deng
"Do it again."
If I can just hold them off...
Jon retreats, angling towards the group, and his tattoos glow again
backing off, 1 down-left diagonal 5ft, casting Protection From Evil. AC to 20
"Aurengil! Back away!"

Jon panics, looking for something he can do.
Karmuk is down. If Petra can draw their attention then the zombies might attack her. If he could stand in Karmuk's square then he might be able to prevent an attack. But unless something happens there's a good chance they might attack Karmuk... and that'll be it for him.
He considers whether he can make it to Karmuk's square. Then tells himself it's a bad idea because he will stop Deng's channeling. Hell, this many bites, Karmuk might be gone anyway.
Deep in his heart though, a part of him despises his rationalizing his fear of being surrounded by the clawing, biting dead.

Instinctively backing away from the ravenous zombie attacking him as he thinks he steers himself towards his friends and attempts to distract one of Karmuk's attackers.
disrupt undead touch attack dex+bab+pbs: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5

one down, one to the left, shoot Z4 again

Incidentally, if Karmuk has fast healing, won't he auto-stabilize when he regains a HP anyway?

advance 3 squares shoot z4
Disrupt Undead: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3
have not accounted for shoot into melee
Jon carefully judges Deng's position, then advances fifteen feet amd shoots at one of the dead

knowledge:religion: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16
knowledge:initiative: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
Surprise round?
Jon immediately moves out of Deng's range

Jon has been characteristically quiet.

The people of White Keep treated him as a monster, of course, but he had been there long enough they had regarded him as our monster.

This recent time among 'normal' humans has reminded him of how he's really seen. How he really is.

Still his companions had stood up for him. Even Deng. Petra put herself at risk for him.

Touched, Jon clears his throat and addresses her
"You lead, I'll follow"

Er do we have people from the keep with us? I thought he was sending men.

so we could make a break for it safely now?

sorry Deng, I know your channeling would make a huge difference if Jon weren't trapped in here with you.
GM Nitemare: should we roll again?

"Give me a while with this protection and I should be able to kill them all. Whatever it is I can do, it doesn't run out of arrows. And if they didn't want us to survive Ii don;t think they'd have sent men with us."
Shrugging Jon starts blasting the closest undead
disrupt undead, touch, point blank, possible surprise: 1d20 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 4 + 1 = 11 for damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

"Are there orchards?" Jon asks abruptly

Yeah the rules are a but weird on this one. SLAs and spells are a little different - SLAs are stilled, silent, eschewed by default - so at least they don't break stealth. Happy with the interpretation.

One suggestion I've seen was that in addition to V, S and M all spells have a special effect. Basically if this was a movie Jon's eyes might have gone black for a few seconds. People can then spot (and identify the spell based on) the special effect. Does this sound reasonable? Benefits the party as well so I'm good with it, and this is probably the first time Jon has used his power in a well lit room while under observation.

Jon starts talking, not realising how he is starting to copy the mannerisms of those around him. Something deep inside him seeks to make him fit in.
"Dead or alive, I'm the man with the cure. I still eat food, breathe, talk, reason, and most importantly fight."
"Now it's not all roses - I've no memory of who I was before, though that might have been because the one who cured me waited too long. There are things I can do, but for all I know I've always had the knacks."
"Most important? Like they say, I can find the Dead. I've found other holdouts before. "
"There was one place, worst one I've heard of, where there was a bunch of guys walking around, still looking okay. No food in their place. They offer you a drink, then when you're drunk they kill you and eat you. Cunning bastards. Of cause when I met them they'd devolved past that point. See, turns out eatin' people makes you turn, eventually. Real gradual like. Leaves you smart, fast and a good looking corpse."
referencing Jon's story from the beginning
Jon shrugs
"So when we came in here, and there's 'nothing but ale' I got suspicious."
Jon smiles
"But if any of you are infected, or if there's Dead mice hiding in the ceiling, or a Dead guy buried in a shallow grave nearby and digging up - well I can't spot them. That's close enough to a clean bill of health from me."
"Now it might be that some of you fine gentlemen are thinking a Cure would be a mighty fine thing to have. And it would! Sad to say though, the doc who cured me didn't make it through - Aurengil here's trying to work out how it was done. Plus, looks like it needs to be topped up regular. My Cure's fading - oh, there's a while yet, don't worry - but I'm not making long term plans."
"Only reason I was at white keep was for Aurengil to study me. I've been out looking for answers before that, and I intend to go out again. So if you got someone who might have a shot at understanding what happened to me, then bring them out! Otherwise tell me what you can about the area and I'll be on my way."
Can't let them kill the others because of me
diplomacy: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21
bluff: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22months left? That's a porky