No worries, we gave it a good try and it had some very enjoyable moments.
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Nice, I didn't think it would be, but wanted to be careful before jumping into the mix. It looks like the party could use someone with healing skills, if a spot is open I could start working on a character to provide that role?
Even I was an alternate to start, but I'm glad Terquem is still in the mix, us old school gamers have to stick together! It would seem a shame to drop the game, especially with the new characters just getting created, but I would understand that decision given the holiday season and your school schedule, BlueDove. It's a call you'll have to make knowing what you have time for or not. This is an ambitious undertaking with the puppet rules creating almost a double campaign with lots of rules questions and uncertainty, and it will take more time than a normal campaign to run. Regardless of the decision on this game, Rhanloi, are you looking for another player in the Ordinary Heroes campaign? I would be interested in joining if so, though I want to make the disclaimer that I see it starts in Daggermark and I don't want to join a Kingmaker style campaign where empire building is part of the focus. I like being the PC standing on a castle wall defending it from the hill giant's attack, but I couldn't care less who built the wall or how many points it cost to be X feet high, etc...
Sorry to see you leave as well, I enjoyed your RPing.
Level 3 Nicu was appended to the bottom of his profile. I'll delete the level 2 part if the leveling up looks ok?
Sorry for your loss, Bluedove, we had to bury our boy kitty a few weekends ago after the vet said there was nothing more we could do for him and took the proper steps (14 and adopted from a shelter knowing he had permanent problems, so we made half his life good) and I too was not wanting Nicu to spear the kitty.
not missed, will try to have level update by tomorrow, but may be Saturday
Very sorry to hear of your kitty and hope your tests go well.
Come on guys, BlueDove deserves way better than this, she's put a lot of effort into creating a good game.
yea, if anything is off about the character post I put up please correct it, I'm cool with a fluid game system where we mod as we go to make the carrionettes work, but I understand that such an approach can be hard to digest for most players, so whatever we work out is good by me.
I replaced the spells as Nicu had, added his force missile ability, bow proficiency and the feat of deadly aim to the soulbound doll. The weapons are a bit wonky, the dagger does 1d2-2, so the only possible damage is -1, so I think the dagger only tickles people? Niccarrionette: Nicu the construct Soulbound Doll NG Tiny Construct Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +3 -------------------- Defense -------------------- AC 15, touch 14, flat-footed 13 (+2 Dex, +2 size, +1 natural) hp 19 (3d10+3) Fort +1, Ref +3, Will +1 DR 2/magic; Immune construct traits (+0 hp), ability damage, ability drain, bleeds, death and necromancy effects, disease, energy drain, exhaustion, fatigue, mind-affecting, non-lethal damage, paralysis, poison, sleep, stunning Weakness susceptible to mind-affecting effects -------------------- Offense -------------------- . . dagger +3 (1d2-2/19-20/x2) Ranged
Speed 20 ft.
Spell-Like Abilities
Wizard Spells Prepared (CL 2):
HeroLab is totally flexible, no problem there
tool to make it easier: If you include the Curse of the Crimson Throne info in HeroLab then the the soul bound doll with the same template is available for character build. Nicu the construct
Nicu continues grappling his friend, attempting to pin his arms to his side. "Join us, be free!"
Nicu continues grabbing at the mesh of Donovan's chain shirt.
Nicu continues his clawing pursuit of Donovan, still grasping at the man's chain shirt. "Resistance is futile, join us!"
Round 6 Nicu continues his pursuit of Donovan, scrambling along the floor boards as he again lunges for a grip on the chain shirt. "Real, we'll be real!"
I like Donovan's block initiative system, and lump in NPCs with the bad guys.
Still here, 5 rounds of combat in 19 days is pretty slow, we could just go with an initiative of 'party' and 'GM' for future encounters to keep things moving. It's kinda wonky and defeats feats and traits for initiative, but at this pace every encounter will take a month or more to complete.
Nicu keeps clawing towards Donovan, still gripping at his chain shirt.
Round 4 Nicu continues to grapple Donovan, gripping again at his chain shirt. "Do not resist, join us instead, Join us!"
Round 3 Nicu continues gripping Donovan's chain shirt, attempting to pin the man's arms to his side.
Puppet Nicu continues his plea, now a chant for the carrionettes, " We'll be Real!"
yep, that looks right, the CMB check is just to do one of the four options, it doesn't have to be auto damage, you could give the carrionettes a fifth option of 'needle attack' and then work out that mechanic, such as a touch attack at -5 to stick the needle into the neck (and it's a fine cinematic moment where the little wooden toys are jabbing away with needles while desperate adventures try to tear them off)
from the PRD, damage is one of the four options a character has when starting a round in a grapple, a CMB check still needs to be made to maintain the grapple and take one of the four options: Damage: You can inflict damage to your target equal to your unarmed strike, a natural attack, or an attack made with armor spikes or a light or one-handed weapon. This damage can be either lethal or nonlethal. In this case the monkey just needs to maintain the grapple with a CMB check, then it deals damage. Grapple is tough already, and converting creatures will make it much harder because the feats and CR level can really change the numbers. I'd recommend finding creatures in B1, B2 and, B3 that roughly match the abilities of the creature you're converting and just use their stat block numbers for a creature that's meant to grapple at that CR level. Eight CR1 creatures would be a CR7 encounter, something a 2nd level party likely won't survive. Of course by those same rules eight alley cats equal a CR3 encounter, so beware when putting out a bowl of milk!
Give each of the carrionettes a special attack that let's them make a needle attack without the normal penalties for called shots, for each type of carrionette it could be a different attack, such as grapple for monkey or sneak attack for archer.
Most creatures have some special ability, 'precise needle jabbage' could be their ability. I'm ok with the GM just creating the mechanic and we find out what that is though game play.
Paizo/Pathfinder did a good job in laying out a complete variant rule system to handle Called Shots like the needle attack, it's very detailed and fully explained in Ultimate Combat and listed in the PRD:
Round 2 Shaking his head violently, even dragging it on the floor as he moves, Nicu crawls forward into the shop. His limbs jerk with an awkward abruptness as his fingers dig and drag him to the side of Sir Donovan. "It's the strings, don't let them pull you, join us instead!" His face finally rising from the floorboards, a terrible smile like that on the face of the murdered man stretches Nicu's features, and a jerky limb darts forward, grasping at Ravencourt.
"Join us and know real freedom!" Clutching at his chain shirt, Nicu laces another hand into the mesh armor of Sir Donovan and pulls himself closer, "We'll be real!"
Round 1
Nicu aims carefully through the traffic, targeting the silver carrionetts.
"I'm here, Artegal, at the door", Nicu hollers, "turn that lantern and illuminate the room, and beware of needles!"
With Olivia's confirmation that a back door likely exists, Nicu sprints around to the back side of the building to confirm it's locked. Nocking an arrow during the quick run, he keeps his eyes searching for other menaces lurking about the building.
As Artegal springs to action, Nicu quickly turns to Olivia. "Are there any other entrances to the toyshop?"
"Artegal speaks true, I was mislead back there, my sense of direction obscured and confused, and I fear that misdirection could be used to lead us into trouble, or away from the town and the ability to help those that need us. Let us investigate the toymaker's shop and try to find those that are missing, then we'll pursue the puppet master. What say the rest of you?"
"Do we take the trail again, or should we go to Giuseppe's shop?" Nicu looks to his companions for their opinions. "The puppet master plays a key part in this tragedy, in his shop we may find clues to what transpired here in this town before anyone can remove them, but if we abandon the trail we may not find it again."
Gear acquired and Artegal armored, Nicu is ready to continue, whether the path be to pursue Giuseppe or find the missing folk in town.
Following Artegal's lead, Nicu quickly gathers his gear from the Inn and rejoins the group to discuss their steps forward. "I fear for this town, all my senses tell me that we departed to the south in pursuit of Giuseppe, yet we immediately arrived directly north of the town after Olivia found that landmarks were missing. There is no natural phenomenon to explain such bending of the laws of nature and it disturbs me. What other strangeness exists in this place, have any of you felt this same 'disturbance'?"
Looping along with Ylva, Nicu does his best to keep the trail.
The wolf and ranger track as one, with the druid shadowing every step. But the words of Olivia break the focus, "What do you mean, 'this isn't right', are we no longer in your village? Friends, we should not be led away from the innocent unless we're certain this is the right solution to their problem. Can we trust that the capture of Giuseppe will stop the pulling the strings?"
"I trust you, friend, that she is just a pawn, and it's what I want to believe, if so then let us pursue the man that pulls the strings and end her manipulation at it's source, then we'll find her safe afterwards. Check on her now if you must, no heart should be forced against it's will, but I'll pursue the puppet master and stop the foul maestro if possible!" Nicu lunges into the misty night, pursuing Giuseppe.
"What's your gut say, Dimitrio, is Mari a victim or a villain? I'll trust your say in the motives of women, you certainly have the more experience, but I'd hate to think she was anything other than a pawn in the plot of someone else. Olivia seems to know Giuseppe and his behavior seems shocking, we should take care that an innocent under enchantment doesn't suffer for our misunderstanding, let us only strike the real villain and not just at his puppets."
"Look here, a still warm pipe, and no other signs of struggle", jumping to the stage, Nicu passes the redwood pipe to Olivia, "Let's hope they're safe for the moment and pursue the foul puppet master while the trail is warm. Donovan, Rannveig, lead the way! The rest of us will follow your trail." Hopping from stage to steps, Nicu pursues Giuseppe.
I'm enjoying the game and we'll establish a better cadence as a party as we continue. PG13 is good by me, though Ravenloft horror stuff may require a little more grisly detail than would be normal. PC death is also fine by me, the lost limb table from the Skull and Shackles AP is a fun variant as well.
"Let's be quick if we follow, but I fear for the town, how many of those evil dolls were distributed to the children of the faire? The horror we found in that first home may be playing out in other homes right now! Where are the children and adults that were here at the theatre?"Nicu quickly runs among the seats in the theatre floor, looking for any signs of struggle or bloodshed not related to the recent combat.
Nicu fires on the carrionette still standing, taking care to keep his shot away from his companions.
Round 5 Nicu directs his last force missile to the carrionette looming over the downed form of Artegal.
Then he draws his bow and calls to Rannveig, "Artegal is down, we must rally to his defense before these little horrors cut another neck this evening!"
Round 4 Nicu continues targeting the carrionettes, unleashing another force missile.
I'll be at PaizoCon the next few days, I'll try to post, but please take actions for Nicu as needed. If you're at the Con, stop by and say hi and have a beer :)
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