Khara Thrust's page

I haven't read through all of the thread, just the first and last page, so this might be redundant but here's my KISS solution for the imbalance:

Embrace the imbalance and learn to love it.

Look at LOTR for an example. The fellowship of the ring is a party that consists of (almost) useless hobbits, couple of fit fighters, superior magicked human ranger who's almost good at everything, an immortal elf who's literally better in everything, and an immortal spellcasting angel with overpowered magic items. They don't need to have a balanced party to spin a wonderful story where everyone plays an important part.

The only problem is expectations - if players expect all PCs to be of equal utility. The solution? Make it clear that classes and races are NOT balanced. It's not a bug - it's a feature. If you like swinging a sword, go ahead and play a fighter - knowing that while you enjoy fencing with that orc your wizard friend if single-handedly obliterating the rest of the orc army. If you don't mind that and still want to play with swords and shields- enjoy!

I wonder if the opposite would work?

No.

Likewise, you couldn't use an armored gauntlet to do so, as you are using both of your hands to wield your two-handed weapon, therefore your off-hand is unavailable to make any attacks.

If you START with a regular attack of an unarmed strike/armor spike/whatever, the language in the FAQ suggests your hands are free to swing the greatsword as an "off-hand" weapon. Your penalty might be a bit higher and you'd lose the 1.5 damage...

My advice- if you insist on running a GMPC, don't fill out any character sheet or stat block for it. Create an interesting character that tags along, and adds to the story. If it would be beneficial for the story that this character do something, roll a random dice and describe what they do. That way you don't get attached to a concept and run it as a background for the PCs to shine against.

If I insert a full-time NPC, I would make it some kind of plot device. A friend doomed to be killed and avenged, a spy tricking and leading them on, a celestial being in disguise testing the PCs.

I honestly expected more raised eyebrows for my tail-wagging, cloven hoofed horned tiefling paladin of Iomedae. So far received none.
Amazingly, the most raised eyebrows I got were on my vanilla human paladin (who's a sadistic, boorish, uneducated street thug which reluctantly follows the paladin code cause he's been told he'd end up in hell otherwise). I get raised eyebrows on creative ideas (like skinning the captive and wearing his flayed skin as disguise) that come from unexpected source.

so.. are we done here?

it does not matter because the GM ruled that after round 1 in which i failed the alchemy check to ID the potion, I cannot use perception to try and ID the potion again. We'll have to wait until later for someone else to try it.

On the second round, Khara (now fully healed), after giving Enish a quick thankful smile, sneaks her way with the gang closer to the guards' room.
stealth: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24
She places the potion safely on the floor out of where others might step on it, not too close to our cell and not too close to the guards' room. (She'll be back for it after the fighting is over, no pouch to safely carry it around until then)

Perception to identify the potion: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19
that would be the next turn i guess. for move action this round I'll pick up the stolen keys from the rat-bile-pile

in the next round Khara will try to identify the potion.
Spellcraft or alchemy (same bonus): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17
GM, for your question, I don't KNOW it's a healing potion, but I would assume it is, based on the purpose of the veil. I mean, it could be invisibility or fly or something like that, but healing sounds like a safer bet

Unless someone comes up with a better idea, Khara would whisper her suggestion that we all sneak to the guard room, then jump the guards with the horns. If anyone hears the guards noticing us, we run forward to battle.
Also, Khara will appreciate some healing before that- either the potion in the veil or a spell from Enosh, whatever you guys think is best.
Khara also suggests that she'd charm one of the horn wielders- it would be great if it works, but it depends if she overcomes the magic-inhibitor thing, and if the guard saves. Again, your call.

there is a pouch patch there. Guessing spell c9mponents? Also potion. Guessing healing. Enosh can heal me. If we get spell components, Khara whispers
These human guards should be ridiculously susceptible to darkness. I can try to weave an illusion of darkness to blind them. You'd know it's an illusion, so you should be able to see through it easily.
depending on GM ruling, I'd make an illusion of black cover stuck on walls that hides all light sources and entrences. They don't interact with the cover so no save. If GM rules it won't affect lighting, then illusion of black mist that blocks all sight. They get save but Troup gets +4 because I told them about the illusion

the veil was neatly hidden inside sir Cudjet the last I heard. Enosh identified the veil and notified the rest that to use it you probably need to detach the patches. There's a lockpicking tool in there. While our halfling will use the lockpicks to break out of his manacles, Khara will try to use black rat femur bones to pick the lockes of her manacles.
disable device: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19plus whatever adj for improvised tools: 0 = 0

Hi guys,
Yesterday morning Terry (Enosh) and I became fathers to twins.
I will try to catch up eventually but I expect the next few days to be quite hectic.
Thank you for your understanding

Out GM is busy at work. He mentioned he might have some time online on Thursday.

Later on, when Corporal Goth advances to search Khara, she eyes him cautiously (sense motive: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (19) + 0 = 19), and starts babbling. "Gentleman, it's a pleasure to see you. I apologize for the mess-" She motions toward her blood and vomit covered surroundings "- I had a rather bad day. But now that you're here I'm sure we can make some kind of truce? I'm willing to help you however you want. I don't have anything, and I don't know what you're looking for, but if you tell me what you desire I'm willing to make an effort to satisfy your desires..."
bluff: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (17) + 12 = 29
As the Corporal searches her body, Khara continues to purr suggestions to his ear in a low voice, hoping to distract him if he comes too close to the vomit-covered, flagstone-colored, highly soiled keys on the floor.
perform (oratory): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18
If any of the guards will look too closely at that particular pool of vomit, Khara will use that performance to pull of a bardic performance to fascinate that guard (DC 14 will to negate)

An hour earlier, as Khara was trying to identify the veil, she mumbled "জাদু সনাক্ত!", motioned towards the veil.. and then suddenly started shaking, her eyes unfocused and turning on themselves, and then she doubled over, violently spewing forth projectile vomit, spraying bits of undigested rat all over the cell floor. She spends several minutes convulsing like a cat trying to get rid of a hairball.

When the fit subsides, she wipes her mouth and mentions "Perrrhaps the rat wasn't so fresh after all. Didn't go well with that awful ringing sound.."

Khara listens to Smoak's advice, taking her time neatly burying the keys in a nice pile of rat entrails, using prestidigitation to mask the key.
cautious concentration for presti: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17
taking 20 for slight of hand/stealth: 20 + 7 = 27

Well, I can retrain it if I find the time and gold to do it..

"I'd fancy a closer look at this... charming piece of cloth" Khara wrinkles her nose as she looks at the veil. That’s AFTER you saw her chomp down a rat and use one of its ribs as a toothpick
She motions to the veil and prestidigitate it clean (she still casts it on a regular basis), then reaches over to take the veil from Cudjet.
concentration for detect magic: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10
Assuming that won’t do, she’ll try a few times until she gets it, muttering and gesturing toward the veil.
Spellcraft to identify the veil: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13
Khara hisses, frustrated, and resorts to examining the physical traits of the veil, taking 20 on perception: 20 + 4 = 24

Daze only works up to 4HD, while excellent in the first few levels I feel it'd be a burden as a spontaneous caster to have this spell known all the way to 20th level (Hoping Khara will survive that long)

I swapped the spell like ability (detect thoughts) for claws.

Heal check: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 1 = 14
Khara had rat sushi during many an unfortunate occasion. She Is more keen on Halfling sushi, but that is a fact she will keep under wraps for now, with respects to the esteemed Mr. Tearbringer

Khara, alerted by Smoak's reaction, peeks into the basket curiously then smiles brilliantly.
"Mmmmm! We get meat today!" She manages a semblance of a thankful smile to the guards, as far as her pulped face allows her. she pulls the freshly killed rat out of the basket, sniffs him enthusiastically and passes the basket on to Cudjet.
Khara will not eat the rat until she's quite certain that it has not been poisoned (or looks overly diseased). Would that be craft alchemy check?
Khara holds the rat belly-up in her left hand, and uses her right hand to slice open the rat enthusiastically. She licks the blood from her razor sharp claw, Any taste of something fishy? and continues to dissect the rodent. Aiming for its stomach- Any traces of poison there? If Khara is satisfied at that point, she will chomp the meat down, leaving the legs last- femur bones can make for improvised lockpicks.

Int check: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22

Khara looks abashed, a shadow of her former self, a beaten form slunk in shackles, her tail twitches submissively as the guards appear in the door

I'd guess that while he's a cruel bully, he only inflicts his perversion on persecuted felons, and it is his lawful nature that drives him to hate outlaws with such malice.
While he's dedicating his life to protect the innocent civilians outside the prison, he is also a bit indifferent to the suffering of the prisoners so I'd say he's neutral. So LN. With low int/wis that makes him overly gruff and superstitious, but LN nevertheless.
But I can make a case for every alignment from LG to CE...

Khara will join the play- her reaction/distraction will depend on the manner the guards would enter the cell.

Khara has 7; 2 for naming the thread and 5 given for nat 20s

Smoak, shame on you, that's no way to address a lady

The small key joins its brother.
Who needs a key-ring when you have Kha-ra?

Khara whispers urgently "The guards are coming. Keep your stuff hidden and your s+*# together."

If Smoak's key is not yet hidden, she will help him hide it. Khara still has enough room for another key or two...
If Khara sees Cudjet trying to extract the veil from its hiding spot, she will stop him.
Otherwise she will regain casual conversation with the other cellmates.

No mage hand yet, but prestidigitation can slowly lift up to 1 pound at 10ft range

Up his what? Khara's eyes glisten with shock. Why did I spent all that time perfectly camouflaging that piece of cloth? Damn big dumb fighter!
perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19

If there is a crevice in the wall/ceiling above me, I can levitate the key up and hide it there. I asked before- Is there one?

You are in is approximately 30' long by by 15' wide. The north and west wall is made of solid stone while the south and east walls open up into part of a much larger stone bunker. Each of the cells is separated from each other by massive three inch thick steel bars that are spaced too narrow for even a halfling to slide through. Through the southern bars that separate your cell from the rest of the stone bunker you can make out four other currently unoccupied prison cells as well as one stone reinforced cell that is next to you. There is a single cell door on the southern end of your cell that opened up into a wide hallway that connects all of the other prison cells as well as a door on the south end of the stone bunker.

"I know about the other unoccupied cells. I can see them through the bars from where I'm sitting. My question was about parts of the bunker that we can't see from here. Are there any windows? stairs? going up or down?"

"The problem with your plan, sir knight, is that the guards will see us out of our chains from the other side of the floor. And even if we make it look like we are still in chains, there are at minimum 2 guards that come to see us, the second one stays well outside the cell, probably with a horn. If it wasn't for the damn anti-magic thing, I could have had a good chance of charming the second one. But it might take more than one try to do that, and no one likes a nagging kitty."

JD: there are 2 spellcasters with spellcraft. Enosh already identified the veil, and even gave kudos to Greyfield for guessing its function. I haven't tried yet- waiting for Cudjet to hand me the veil to examine properly.

presti lets you do tricks for 1 hour. Cleaning/soiling/moving things is permanent. All others (like color) disappears.
Khara looks above the heads of her cellmates, studying the empty prison cells all around them and staring at the stone reinforced cell ”From what I noticed in my time in here, the usual routine of the guards is to come and check on us when the shift switched (at 4pm, about an hour and a half from now), when they come in to bring dinner (about an hour after that- meaning 5 pm), mid-shift (meaning 8 pm), shift end (that’d be midnight) and usually one other random checkup in between. “

“I would plan the timing for 10 minutes after a checkup, when the guards are settled back in their seat doing whatever they usually do to kill time." She turns to Smoak "I’m not sure about midnight- shift change means both shifts are up and about. I think 8pm (midshift) might be better- It means we’ll need to pass 3-4 visits from them, under regular schedule”

Khara studies the key on the floor and continues ”Now, to that we need to add their reaction to the missing keys. I guess that even if they won’t notice them missing during the next hour and a half, we can assume they’d notice it when the shift change.”

“Now, assuming we get past 8pm without incident- we still need a plan. I would like to try and charm at least one of the guards (once we sneak up on them) to get some intel from him.”

Khara turns to sir Cudjet ”When they took you to see your mystery visitor, did you get to see other areas of this prison? The floor plan would be crucial for our plan..”

After the veil and the other key are well-hidden, Khara will resume talking about detailed plans. She started discussing it earlier that day...

Khara looks incredulously at the halfling dropping the key and says sternly "No, I won't let the guards take this nice veil, that you guys say contains magic to help us escape. Not if I can help it." She turns her head to Sir Cudjet "No, what we need is a bit of camouflage." and as she says "camouflage" the veil turns grey.

Khara narrows her eyes and continues"With a bit... Of.. color..." A look of concentration on her face as the veil changes hues and patterns, getting closer and closer to the color of the rags Cudjet is wearing, "And maybe a splash of- "A few dark red blotches appear on the veil, like dried blood.
"...Also-" She snaps her fingers and the veil is soiled to a degree that hides the details of the patches.

Khara smiles, satisfied, and waves her palm at Cudjet to hurry ahead "Now go ahead and wrap this on those ghastly wounds you have on you. Tear up some bits of your clothes and tie them around as well. That'd do the trick."

Khara leans back and appreciates her spellwork. "This little cantrip will keep the color for only an hour or so, so we will need to repeat the process a few times before nightfall. Don't worry, this little trick will not harm the magic in the veil, I promise you that. Only keep it away from the guards' hands.

"I appreciate your code and honor, sir knight. I hope that by nightfall we will build enough trust between us so that we could cooperate on our joint endeavor."

GM- Khara will re-cast prestidigitation from now on every 45 minutes, and maintain the coloration of the veil. If there are repercussions to failing concentration I'll roll it, otherwise can we assume that she tries until she succeeds? That's why I took 15 minutes safety net. Also in case guards will be around that timeframe.

I agree. I have a plan for the veil but I need to cast a spell for it, waiting for our GM for the concentration roll

”Arright, let’s tay id dis way. Biksabbabe!..” Khara shakes her head and tries again. Piksabvabe.. Oh, BUGGER DIS!”
Frustrated in her inability to cast, Khara slices a piece of cloth off her rags using one razor-sharp claw, covers her nose with that cloth, and to the sound of a loud KRACK! pulls her nose straight. The rag reddens immediately, but after a minute or so she removes the damp cloth and touches her nose tentatively. ”This better work this time. Mikksamvapheleh!”
concentration check to cast prestidigitation: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20

Khara looks exasperated. "I would deed to exab it to deterbide dat"

Oi, how tall is the ceiling? I spend some time examining every crevice within 10ft of me, any place that can hide a folded veil? Hopefully way above the height guards can reach?

I just want to make clear that before I stashed the key, I memorized its shape/color so I'll be able to recognize a matching lock when I see one.

"So, gettigg back to the bagic doilee dat cad subbod idstrubets- " Khara wipes her fingers on the tattered rags and raises her hand toward Sir Cudjet "Ady chads I cad get a look ad it?" Khara shines a toothy, bloody smile at him, then winces as a cut on her lip reopens.

"I received ad eggsbedsive lessod"Khara starts, then pulls a uniquely decorated key from her cleavage- "Bud also received ad eggsbedsive key od de way. " She examines it casually, and remarks thoughtfully "Dey bight just cobe add look for it. I'd hide de difty veil if I weaa you. Skeletor doaws what he's talkigg, we cad't just wigg a brisod break od de rud durigg daylight." on "hide the nifty veil" Khara unashamedly reaches into her pants and hides the key deep inside of her.

”I would’t dow, I dever set foot od Taliggad soil befoa. Odly sailed its sea. Odd that I cad’t speak by bother lagguage ‘ere. “
”A’d if you like dis accdt so buch, I’d be happy to arra’ge you a sibilar dose job later od today.”

An hour after the guards leave, Khara heals enough nonlethal damage to regain consciousness. She is staggered.

Khara emerges from blissfully dull blackness into a world of pain. She tries to open her eyes, only to discover that the left one is swollen shut, and the eyelids of the right are glued together with caked blood from a cut in her eyebrow.
She takes a couple of ragged breaths, noting the sharp pain in her side, Broken ribs. At least 4, would be my guess and clogged nose Also broken, by the feel of it..

”Well, that was fun. she thinks sarcastically. Let’s try not to do this again.
She probes her teeth with her tongue. Good, all here, and none feel loose. At least I got this going for me. Khara’s movement dislodge lumps of congealed blood in her throat, and she coughs- sending waves of sharp pain all over her body. She rubs out the caked blood from her eye and peers around.

”Oooohhh… I see you’a aa sill here.. Did I biss adytig iterestig?”

LOL!

You know, if they'd wrote in a possibility of nicking spell components off guards, or using fishbones from the food bowl to pick the locks, or something like that- It'd been okay. I think I could have planned without it- I worked hard to think of ways to take one guard and charm the other while we're all chained to the wall- but apparently that's not needed and I spent the whole week plotting (and took a serious beating) for no reason... :-\

AArg, if Greyfield is correct in his guess about the veil I'm really pissed! I made so many plans on how to escape the cell without any help, and they just go ahead and give us the tools on a silver platter? that's really disappointing.

Hey! It's not our fault, you put two murderous controlling alpha b%%+%es in a room together and trap them there, there's going to be some social maneuvering. I suggest you guys just enjoy the show and then be ready to scream out catfight sometime by the end of the AP.

There's no need for maneuvering, obviously Khara will come on top so you can peacefully step down and rest. Obviously a cat would win the catfight.