Lara Evangeline's page

This is a continuation of a rotating-GM PFS group.

We'll be ready to move on from the briefing once all the PCs' questions are answered and everyone has:
(a) posted their reporting info here (mainly Day Job rolls)
(b) input your initiative and perception on the slides (which will be set up later)
(c) chimed in at least once on the gameplay thread

After the events in the village of Nesting Swallow, the party return to Goka and Venture-Captain Amara Li with their prize, the Braid of a Hundred Masters. She is pleased with the relic's return, and seems eager to share the results with the Society's leaders back in Absalom. You are invited to join her to recount your own deeds, and the Lantern Lodge in Goka is quickly abuzz with activity while preparations for the journey are made.

At length, the party find themselves in Absalom, where you part ways with the venture-captain. Scarcely have you managed to find your lodgings after arriving before you each hear a knock on your door. When you go to answer, you find a flyer posted to the door inviting you to a courtyard in the Grand Lodge, where a special announcement is to be made the following day.

That morning comes uneventfully, and you each find yourselves in the courtyard. A number of other Pathfinder agents are present as well--many of them holding flyers like those delivered to your own lodgings. The crowd is quiet, voices hushed with anticipation. After a few minutes, a ripple of excitement passes through the crowd, and Venture-Captain Drandle Dreng emerges from it along with an assistant carrying a large stool that she sets up on the grass. The Venture-Captain clambers up to stand on the stool and addresses the crowd.

"Thank you for joining me here, Pathfinders," the milky-eyed venture-captain shouts. "Absalom has a long and illustrious history, and today we add a little more to that ongoing record. The esteemed councilor Hadrel Grayrain of Diobel recently passed away, leaving a vacancy on Absalom's Grand Council. We're still many months away from the annual inauguration of councilors, and with numerous acts pertaining to Diobel on the schedule, the vassal city is eager to get a new representative. In fact, with Absalom's assistance, Diobel's Kortos Consortium has co-bankrolled a festival spread across much of the Foreign Quarter. Ostensibly, this is an occasion to honor the deceased and welcome his replacement. Virtually everyone also sees this as a chance to advertise and earn some new business."

Drandle Dreng clears his throat and shrugs. "Well, the Society is no exception. We've already chipped in some gold to help this be a success, and in doing so we've received numerous invitations to the more exclusive events. With our recent work in Mendev, we've earned considerable goodwill. This is a good opportunity to consolidate those gains by seeing and being seen by the upper crust--as well as hobnobbing with the common people."

He chuckles and gives the crowd a smile. "All at the Society's expense! Have a good time, keep an ear out for interesting leads, and represent the Society well!"

With that, the venture-captain hops off the stool and the din of the crowd picks up again, agents sharing with one another their thoughts about the announcement. Dreng goes up to one agent, a scandalously-dressed elven woman with long platinum-blond hair, and greets her with a hearty laugh and a slap on the back. After a few brief words with her, he moves on to another agent, this one a human male clad head-to-toe in ornate plate armor whom he greets similarly, and soon, he is milling about and greeting various agents by name. More than one asks about the schedule of events, but you're only able to overhear snippets amid the din of the crowd.

Even without inquiring further, you are able to piece together that the festival will last four days. An informal social at the Grand Lodge and a memorial service for the late Councilor Grayrain will both occur on the first day, while a semi-casual feast in the Wise Quarter will take place on the second. There are no major events going on on the third day of the festival, and the inauguration of Diobel's new councilor will take place at a large open-air amphitheater on the fourth and final day of the festival.

Are there plans to add Vaeleus the Charmer ("Seductive Enchantress" from NPC Codex) to the list of forum avatars? There's a pronounced dearth of blond-haired female elves that aren't Merisiel!

Recently, a rules question about the Master Spy's capstone ability, Assumption, came up in our game.

On page 272 of the APG, it states:

"Assumption (Su): The ultimate ability of the master spy is to take over another persona entirely, making it her own. As a full-round action, the spy can touch a helpless creature and shift her aura to that of her target. This confuses divination effects and spells, even ones as powerful as discern location, such that they register the spy as being the creature she has touched. This ability is not proof against the actions of deities or similarly powerful beings. The assumption of an identity lasts until the master spy ends it (a standard action) or she uses the ability on another creature."

The question about this hinges around the phrase "shift her aura to that of her target." Does the master spy switch auras with the target, or does she just take the target's aura as her own?

I presume by the language that the use of "shift her aura to" rather than "shift her aura with" would indicate it's not a switch of identities, but a taking or stealing of identities instead.