Joshua Redtail's page

Joshua glances at Aleziella and then sighs a little before heading further forward. His wings opened up once more as he reached the last step and continued down. He drifts toward the circle, curious to see if a closer inspection might reveal anything.

It was definitely growing in intensity but that hardly helped them aside from shedding light. "The statue's lips are formed in a strange way... Maybe it needs a specific word spoken to activate?" It had all started when Borus made it down onto the first step so Joshua did suspect that moving closer might also activate it, which was why he was ready to get back into the air at a moments notice.

Joshua blinked and looked up at Borus from the circle, giving him a strange sort of blank expression for a moment before shaking his head and clearing it away.

"It's weird. Ventriloquism? Might be what's sending the sound too the statues. Other then that though I can't even guess... and even the magic itself seems to be done in a strange way." Not for the first time Joshua wish he had the seers ability to see the magic. It would have made his job a lot easier.

"I say we avoid it and the stones. Nothing good comes from magic that doesn't make any bloody sense." Blame the magic, real mature. Joshua ignored that inner voice of reason just as easily as Borus did.

Joshua walked rather then flew for the moment. While the air held a certain comfort for him there was not much wind for him to hold himself aloft upon. It meant using a lot of energy to stay in the air this deep underground.

The red winged and skinned man walked forward, eyeing the glowing magic circle on the ground below now. He couldn't make heads or tails of the area in general but if he studied how the magic circle was structured he might be able to make a few guesses as to it's nature.

1d20 + 21 ⇒ (11) + 21 = 32

There are bridges a few miles in either direction but I'm not in any condition to walk that far in one go, nonetheless the walk back to the road I live on.

My next guess honestly. XD Just working on dinner and waking up. PT was a bit rough today but not because of the PT, ironically. Got stopped about five minutes outside the hospital by a train... that took 40 minutes to pass. With no bench in sight I was forced to stand and wait. Man, the pain.

These are the things you can do with knowledge Arcana.

Identify auras while using detect magic Arcana 15 + spell level
Identify a spell effect that is in place Arcana 20 + spell level
Identify materials manufactured by magic Arcana 20 + spell level
Identify a spell that just targeted you Arcana 25 + spell level
Identify the spells cast using a specific material component Arcana 20
Identify a monster's abilities and weaknesses Varies 10 + monster's CR

So without divining I could normally do it at a 20 + spell level DC. I probably didn't beat that with only a 25, but I did only roll a 4. XD The only thing that requires divining abilities is discerning the aura's of an effect, which is makes things easier for everything else, and Spellcrafts identify magic items.

Now I agree that on a lucky roll Joshua shouldn't know everything about some crazy ass abomination but half the character is a guy who delved real deep into forbidden knowledges and became a bit of a scholar ala Indy. So is there a new rule set for Knowledges, given that a lot of what we're supposed to face is unknown and weird as hell?

I'm not asking too push buttons either. I spent a loooot of skill points in Knowledge skills so I'd like to know what's the appropriate way to go about using them.

So Joshua has never seen anything like this and has no idea what any of it could mean?

Any results for the knowledge roll?

Yup. XD

"As if Borus' display hadn't done that already." Joshua said with a chuckle, though he made no move to stop Alez from lifting the armor. He didn't care how it got where it needed to be and while he could technically carry it, it wasn't something he would enjoy doing.

Added the tin man to the board. Even found a good shadowy armored look for him. XD

Joshua actually considers the offer for a moment before shrugging and changing shape himself. His own magic needed no prayers or symbols or the like. It was simply a matter of will to reach into that binding of his and take what he wanted from it. His own wings were not quite as glorious looking as Aleziella's but they could lift his form fairly easily.

In this form his features grew a bit sharper and more avian like, his nose almost taking on a beak like shape forward while his eyes grew wider. His wings, a deep reddish brown, matched well with the rest of his skin, and his tail had been replaced by a much more feathery sort meant for steering. With a small jump he was floating down to the next step, ignoring the clatter that his armor made with each successive fall.

Using Standard Wereowl form, i.e. blank form with 2 traits.

Red, missing the Tin Man on the map. Mind dropping a token for him?

Joshua follows a bit further behind, once again directing the Tin Man with a nod to stay close to Borus. The suit of armor served well on the frontlines... as much as Joshua himself did miss the armor's protection when it wasn't beside him.

"Wouldn't be us if we didn't take a gander." Joshua agreed, his eyes narrowing on the sickly light of the stone faces. There was power in the air to be certain but of what kind? What taste? What did these images say too him?

Know: Arcana: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (4) + 21 = 25

What knowledge do you think would be relevant if I wanted to try and figure out a detail of what the party was looking at?

Joshua eyes the dancing Aleziella for a moment or two then turns to watch Borus' progress, tuning out the list of magic that his nearer ally was drawing upon. Considering her company the prayers would probably never go over well but Joshua was more glad that this group of folk did not rely much on stealth.

As always his hand remained close to his wands holster, ready to draw it faster then the eye could see. Behind him stood the Tin Man, the armor that Joshua had found and activated. Silent, strong and durable he had proven quite valuable.

When Borus' attempt at stealth fails Joshua gives a nod to the Tin Man, who begins walking forward to catch up to their friend of orcish descent.

Hrrrm... I suppose technically I could send the Tin Man in, he won't exactly be smart enough to give us answers about what's going on. I vote for one of the two front liners to take the lead!

I am also ready!

There is a pair of gloves that let you look through up to five feet of material. Gloves of Reconnaissance. I thought about getting them honestly but Joshua is a more of a kick down the door sort of guy once he's sure there aren't traps.

Didn't think of maneuvers! Not sure what I'll do when he gets another feat but it turns out Archon Justice actually has another ability! When he does block an attack, and if he does take damage, allies adjacent to that enemy can take AoO's. So he does help with the damage department a bit. In a very strange 'I'll hold his sword in my gut' way.

Yeah. Yeah... Well he wasn't really meant to do much damage anyway. I don't have the talents to pour into making him a monster melee combatant and we don't really need one of those, already having three monsters of the combat damage. This guy is basically just a shadowy metal wall of damage stopping. Not to mention he's going to have a 17 strength. Plenty enough strength to carry Joshua's camping gear and loot. Perfect mook material.

Added a cool picture of what I basically imagine 'Tim' to look like. And then Joshua's wand for good measure because I had pictures of other things so why not.

He's mostly done now. Realized about halfway through he needed Shadow Companion just to get dark vision. So now he's more of a semi ethereal suit of armor. Spent two talents (dropping plant from alteration) to give him Boon Companion and Lingering, so he'll stick around on the cheap. Three of his feats went into Armor proficiencies (along with 16k for an adamantine full plate set) and the last feat got him the Archon Chain.

It actually works out since Shadow Companion means he takes half damage from corporeal attacks.

Basically once a turn when standing next to an ally he can redirect an attack to him. The attack has to beat his AC (not that hard, it's only a 26 which could be better at level 10) but he'll then take the hit. Only thanks to shadow companion, he takes half. And then another -3 because I spent a crap ton on his armor for the theme. XD

It looks like! I feel bad for this armored suit character too. It won't deserve being a mook.

Hrrrm... Well I'm stuck now on the idea of him having a mook of some kind... So it'd be cool if... he had a mook... and the best for that is probably conjuration. I'm guessing that an Undead conjuration would probably have the same bad results, i.e. probably going to be controlled by an enemy monster of some kind or piss one off, so... hrrrm... something questionable in nature that's not undead... Soo... Oooh! An empty suit of armor. Something he found on one of his forbidden knowledge quests and learned how to summon to stand between him and the baddies.

How does that sound, GM?

That's basically what I did for his wereowl form! XD Hrrm... It'd be really cool if he had a few butlers that were undead. Some nice solid mooks willing to stand between him and the baddies and take a few lumps and then carry his stuff afterward.

Question! Is the permanent undead advanced talent an option? It'd be nice for saving up spell points for other things... Not that he actually needs to use that many in a given day but as is he'd be spending 2 per just to keep them following along on a given day.

Hrrrm... My changes will free up five magic talents, since I'm also actually going to get rid of Subteranean form. He has no reason to actually have that and it means I can get a talent that might be more appropriate... Or at least fun!

The first three are going into Protection, Greater Barrier and Distant protection. It will let him make up to 70 feet of barrier with 70 hit points. Very nice.

That leaves two though. I was thinking... I have no idea what to spend them on. XD I'm open to suggestions that might fit Joshua while I sift through the spheres and see if there's anything appropriate to take.

Edit: Given the dark nature of Joshua's magical history as well as the many forbidden texts he's studied, perhaps the Death Sphere and the Lingering Necromancy talent? I like the idea of him having an undead mook or two around. They won't be very useful as more then distractions but as a guy who uses a wand, sometimes that's all you need.

So is switching up Joshua's life sphere alright so we've got more diversity there too? For the most part we work out pretty well in regards to complimenting each others skills but I want to make sure that extra step is okay with you.

@Aleziella: An interesting query. I'd say that he's dealt with far too much prejudice to judge someone harshly, particularly when said person is of good alignment. And he's also a scholar and a bit of a smart ass. He'd probably point out that having a trusted friend who hates her god, and gods in general, would be just counter intuitive enough to fit right in with Yidhra.

As to the spheres you are correct. It is a lot of healing but I did design him in a vacuum. That said, being able to have full health at the start of every combat is useful. I'm thinking I might go Protection though. He's learned a lot about wards and the like in his stime studying his curse so it'd make sense if he had some knowledge of them. I also personally enjoy both the greater barrier ability. It doesn't do any damage but it is very good for crowd control, and I think it's a different kind then other members use so it won't overlap any.

As far as Enthralling or charming I think our friend the half-orc is pretty darn good at that.

True, true! But if a tunnel is tall enough flying can still be somewhat useful. Not to mention the form in question is just his primary choice. I could pick a different feature of the owl. Depending on what I pick I might make him practice it first. For instance he might practice mixing his subterranean form with his Owl form. I imagine that will take a while though. -nods- Mechanically he can do it now, I mean, but he's never thought to do it in character.

I imagine Joshua would get along well with the hating the gods thing, considering how he was cursed by a follower of one who most think of as a more neutral sort. I also imagine he'd delight in drinking caffeinated beverages every morning in front of Borus with a chipper attitude.

Joshua's think is mostly his wand. He draws it fast and lets loose a shot and things tend to die. Everyone in the party would know Joshua is also a Wereowl of a sort. He claims to have 'sealed off' the curse with some magic he found once, but by now the group is probably aware that found is probably an understatement involving lots of research and study. He can shapeshift though! Become a creature with wings and a tougher hide. It mostly looks the same. Even his hat fits on it's head just fine.

Joshua settled on a grin, showing off a few of his pointed teeth, and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, I think our friend is trying to tell us the best way to get out of here is to do nothing." Red eyes searched the area around them, "I don't mind too much, spent a lot of time in tombs and what not and I can see just fine. Don't know how you two are managing though. Tell me if either of you start to get crazier."

The strange symbols bothered the red tailed man but he moved on with the rest, pausing only once or twice to frown back at the stone before shaking his head slowly.

Upon spotting the green fungus, Joshua's eyes narrowed and his fingers twitched a little toward the thin leather holster on his hip. His voice also lowered, "Can't tell from here. Can't see it's source. Should be careful though. In a place like this light can't be a good thing." He looks from the winged woman to the solid looking man. "So, who wants to go first?"

So Borus! What would Joshua know about your character?

Alright, Joshua is now much better at a few things. Moved two skill points away from Acrobatics for Linguistics and Escape Artist and shifted my Background Lore skills into Perform Oratory, because knowledge actually covers both of the things I had lore in, and got several passive skill items and a foppish feathered hat of comprehend languages.

@Rednal: Aside from a boots of get the frick out of a grapple most of my choices were, I believe, magical items that gave a bonus to skills. That fine for passive effects? And if you prefer him not to have the boots of get out of jail free because short range teleport I can grab something else with that coin.

And I actually can't spend all of the gold anyway! Since I don't really need a weapon or anything my guy has a lot of gold laying around. Hrrrm... As for the other... I'm thinking he'll attune to his fists. Cause he's not afraid to punch no one! Dragons? Yeah, he'll step back and use his wand. But some random guy with a knife? ... Still prefer to use his wand but he'll punch em if he has too!

@Borus: Does touch of luck actually give a luck bonus too? Cause if so it won't stack with my guys Luck ability. I only have a limited use of it a day anyway but it's something I'll need to stay aware of if you drop it on us.

This second post will be for story stuff!

The most obvious part of his personality is a slightly brash and very direct sort of nature. Despite being a self proclaimed hunter he has no skills with sneaking about. He prefers to track a target down and shoot it. Despite this, though, the group would know he is veeeeery knowledgeable. I don't know if it came as a surprise to your characters but it comes as a surprise to most since he acts more like a barbarian then a learned man.

As for his backstory, Joshua is pretty open about what he is and what he does. He's achieved a level of control over his curse that makes him fairly confident no one will bother him... more then they already would with him being a tiefling. He's bragged more then once about killing his father and slowly hunting down cult member after cult member, usually over drinks or even for drinks as he slowly enthralls his a bar with his stories. Slowly... and with drunk people. Master of the art he is not. About the only thing he's kept to himself is the fact that he had a lover before going on the hunt and that she's dead now. Even when drunk he won't share that.

How do you think they all met, way back when? How do you think our characters will get along? Is it a full 'friendship is magic' sort of thing or a 'well I hate his guts but there's not many people as competent as him' with a dash of begrudging respect?

@GM Rendal: Alright! Joshua has a Wand of Destruction with a caster lvl of 10 and 4 talents. He can make it in his sleep though. (DC 20 and his Spellcraft is +19).

Everything else I did not purchase yet because I wasn't sure which lists I could look at. The sphere items makes sense given the magic that's preferred but those are some slim pickings. However you might actively dislike how a lot of the other items work. So which list should I shop from?

And third, I'm pretty certain I know the answer but I gotta ask (pretty sure not since it seems to be designed for the conventional weapons), can Joshua attune to his wand as his weapon?

@Aleziella: Hehe... Funny story... As a Lycanthrope character Joshua already has a wereowl form he'll be taking regularly that gives him good mobility and defense, so Alteration won't be sticking much to him. I did also pick up healing since the small group composition made it more likely it will be necessary but what I picked up was out of combat healing.

My guy can heal any single person that was chosen to full with a single spell point... and four minutes judging by our max HP. I can give someone Fast heal 3 for seven minutes in total. While I might be subjecting him to the Lycanthrope rule of 'his alteration only works on him' it doesn't mention other spheres in that rule, and I'm not taking any bonus for it anyway. I did pick up the Subterranean form too though because that will be awesome but also definitely out of combat most of the time.

What do you think about the Life sphere though? Think I should take a look at another sphere or does two healers make sure that no ones dying in case of emergencies?

Hello there! Give me a moment to read all of that. Also we should think about coordinating what our characters know of each other in game as well. We've been adventuring together for a while now after all!

As it does, while I was developing the mechanics of Joshua his story did evolve a bit in my mind. Nothing that strays from the above but it certainly gives a little more depth. (Particularly when I was choosing traits, which now have summations of why they're appropriate. Them and the Drawback).

Once again the backstory was a bit brief and lacking in detail for my taste. I liked it, but I didn't really treat it like a post, more of a summation. It's a habit I got into because when I do write for detail I tend to write quite a bit and some GM's don't want to read pages of backstory. Also found your preferred taste for posting set ups so I'll be doing that for this next segment, yet another writing sample.