Niklos Voski's page

Fine by me! More gold to spend on rum, and whatever else you need in the pirating business. :D

Yes, definitely a primo adventure in terms of writing, and expertly run, as well. Cheers!

I'm not necessarily in the mood to write a long epilogue for Niklos, but he's completely serious about buying that boat with Edda—assuming she's willing to take him on as her first mate. Find a few more scallywags in Riddleport, and sail south in search of plunder. Sound like a plan, cousin? ;P

Niklos corrals Garracy towards the telescope, looking just as anxious to leave as Edda. At the mention of the deck, he grows unusually serious. "You should have it, Reader—make sure it doesn't fall in the wrong hands. Frankly, I wouldn't wish this place on my worst enemy... and I can be plenty imaginative when dealin' with those who've crossed me, believe you me."

The scoundrel looks askance at the kapenia. "So, uh... what do we do, touch it? Does someone need to wear it?"

Gotcha! It's good to know your limits: GM burnout is no joke.

Well, I suppose we should finish this. Edda?

Well, Niklos is ready to leave as soon as everyone else is—and everyone is carrying as much treasure as they possibly can!

The +1 Kurkri is a nice extra magical weapon if nothing else.

+2! Unfortunately, rogues don't have martial weapon proficiency. :P

I guess we need to discuss if this is it then?

Do we (and/or the GM) want to continue?

Make new characters? Start a new game?

I'm up for maintaining this group...either keep playing what we have or start something new?

I'd be open to a new game with new characters, depending on how GM Sappy is feeling—I understand if he wants to take a break, or open his next game for recruitment. There'll be a slot to fill in my PbP schedule, in any case, so I wouldn't mind re-applying.

I would love to try one of the newer APs...or even do another stand alone game?

Pathfinder Second Edition is coming out soon this summer too. We could try something with that?

APs aren't really suited for PbP, in my experience—they just take too damn long to ever play to completion in this format, so most campaigns fizzle out sooner or later. That's very unsatisfying, not being able to finish a story. However, another module or some other short adventure would be ideal.

The playtest already destroyed any interest I might have had in PF2, so I'd rather not go in that direction.

Niklos shrugs. "We've been everywhere there is to be in here, Edda and myself, and I'm pretty damn sure we're the only flesh-and-blood folks 'round. Well, save for Garracy. Speakin' of which... Garracy, get in here! We're 'bout to leave, and we need some help carryin' all this booty..."

The swindler turns and bows to Marinda, grinning from ear to ear. "Oh, no need to be so modest. Feel free to take as many beans as you fancy! Far be it from me to dishonour a Reader with anythin' less than their fair share."

I'm not sure the specifics of who gets what are all that important at this point in the adventure, but just in case it matters, I'll swap my boots for the teleporting ones. There's not much else in there Niklos could use, in all honesty.

@GM Sappy: What can we roll to figure out how the kapenia works? Knowledge (arcana)?

Niklos stares in awe at the dragon's hoard, only barely restraining himself from flinging himself onto the doubtlessly rock-hard mound of riches. He allows himself a moment to grasp a handful of coins, letting them fall through his fingers back into the pile. The rogue then produces a burlap sack from the haversack on his shoulder, and starts filling both with treasures—after which he proceeds to stuff valuables into all of his various pockets.

"Oi, I might need a hand!" he calls through the door. "Reckon this'll be enough to buy us a ship, cousin?"

Niklos rolls backwards, dodging the sprays of ink and the odd glob of wax. He comes to a stop, breathing heavily. Having made sure he is still in one piece, he lets out a loud cheer, leaping back on his feet and kicking the brain clean across the room. "Yeah, f*ck you! Go to hell, you overgrown newt!"

The scoundrel hurries across the room, tossing the pouch with the tokens up to Edda. "Good job with the, uh... magic, cousin! Made a real mess of that scaly bastard. Since you're already floatin' up there, you might want to see 'bout that rag over yonder—see if that's our ticket outta here..."

With that done, he walks over to the last remaining door, pushing it open with shaking hands.

"Come on, Bernie! You told me there'd be gold. Well, heavily implied, at least..."

Can we get a bot for Marinda? It's been a week.

Reflex Save: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (10) + 13 = 23 ...is that enough?

Acrobatics (to Move Through Threatened Squares): 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (19) + 18 = 37

Niklos leaps to one side, rolling on the floor to avoid the dragon's thunderous breath—more out of instinct than actual need. Shielded by Marinda's magic, he turns his roll into a running somersault, vaulting over the dragon's tail and diving under its legs to get into position. He waits just long enough for Hrain to catch Zassrion's attention before he strikes, attempting to find a weak spot in its armour of azure scales.

Rapier Attack: 1d20 + 12 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 12 + 2 = 29
Rapier Damage: 1d6 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 6 + 2 = 10

Crit Confirm: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 8 + 2 = 26
Crit Damage: 1d6 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 6 + 2 = 9

Sneak Attack Damage: 4d6 ⇒ (6, 6, 6, 4) = 22 +4 bleed damage

Niklos moves behind the dragon and attacks, with the assumption Hrain will have moved into flanking position by the time I'm there—I'll delay, ready an action, or whatever it takes to make that happen. I really want to get that bleed going.

Will Save: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14
Will Save: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

I'm using Cheat Fate to reroll the save.

As the wave of supernatural fear washes over him, the Sczarni retreats back under the table he is using for cover, his eyes flashing towards the exit.

"No. There's no other exit. This is it, you miserable sod! Do or die..."

Gritting his teeth, Niklos slides over the table and cartwheels into position, stabbing at the beast's hindquarters as it lays into Hrain and Marinda.

Acrobatics (to Move Through Threatened Squares): 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (5) + 18 = 23

Rapier Attack: 1d20 + 12 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 12 + 2 = 22
Rapier Damage: 1d6 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 6 + 2 = 14

Sneak Attack Damage: 4d6 ⇒ (4, 4, 5, 3) = 16 +4 bleed damage

Ugh, I don't think that's going to hit.

Niklos runs up the stairs and into the library, dashing from cover to cover as he makes his way across the length of the chamber. Though he has no pretensions of being able to sneak up on a dragon, he certainly does not intend to take it on directly, either—or taunt it prematurely, for that matter. He slides into cover behind a desk and pulls a card out of his sleeve, tossing it out on the tabletop.

I'm taking a double move, and then a swift action to play The Tyrant.

Initiative: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15

Niklos crouches in the northern stairway, awaiting the sounds of a battle being joined.

I'll delay my turn after the paladins, whatever the order ends up being.

I'll get in a post ASAP, but I think we're all going to drink those potions of resist energy that we found. No reason not to, right?

All this these purely OOC posts in the gameplay thread are giving me anxiety.

In any case, a pincer maneuvre sounds fine to me. Niklos can go with Edda and Marinda opposite the paladin duo, so there'll be something in between the casters and whatever is in the room. Also, that'll give me a chance to get into a flanking position, hopefully.

Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (16) + 12 = 28

Niklos—obviously keen on robbing the castle of everything that is not nailed down—peers under the gnome-sized mattress in the barracks, revealing a cache of magical knick-knacks.

"A-ha!" he exclaims. "Finally, somethin' useful..."

I'd suggest that Niklos and Hrain take the two healing potions, and that everyone takes one of the resist potions. The necklace of fireballs is, naturally, best used at a range, so I think either Edda or Marinda should probably take it.

Niklos nods along with the others, smiling. "Sure, you can come along..."

"...and us two can have a nice, long talk afterwards—preferrably with fewer paladins around."

Niklos squints at the man, looking as if he is trying to remember something.

"Oh, right!" he finally says, snapping his fingers. "You don't happen to be Meloigne Garracy, by any chance?"

Had to really go look for that one.

Honestly, I'm kind of cooling on the module at this point. Ending it all with a dungeon romp is not really ideal in any sense, mechanically or narratively. I hope there's some useful loot in here, before we get to the dragon—otherwise, it really feels like we're just wasting our resources. The whole adventure is way too stingy with magic items and such, in my opinion. Jewelry and other valuables don't really add up to much if you can't sell them, and I don't think it likely we'll get a chance to do that before the end.

I guess what I'm getting at is that I wouldn't mind if we skipped some of the room-by-room procedure, and got to the Big Bad sooner rather than later.

Appraise (Take 10): 10 + 10 = 20

Niklos snatches the wedding bands, quietly pocketing them when Algon is not looking.

"Yes, sir, excellently done!" he says to the knight, bowing and scraping. "Shall we see what lurks above?"

Let's check out the stairway in the tannery, and then we can move on to the ones we missed earlier.

I'm fine in terms of hit points, thank you.

Niklos empties his boots, and then struts back into the tannery. "Good job!"

He then starts going over the room, looking for valuables.

Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (19) + 12 = 31

I'm delaying my action, as stated in my latest gameplay post.

Niklos struggles to his feet, pulling off his soaked coat and squeezing it out on the floor. He yells obscenities in the general direction of the genie, drawing on the foulest insults from a variety of different dialects and tongues. Thankfully, the worst of this vulgarity is muffled by the rushing of water.

Yeeeah, I'm not going to be of any use in there. I'll delay until further notice. Kick her ass!

Sorry!

Finally managing to right himself, Niklos struggles to swim towards the exit.

Swim: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (17) - 1 = 16

Very much in contrast to Edda's graceful emergence, Niklos is quickly and unceremoniously swallowed by the rising waves. He does far more to put himself under with his floundering than to extricate himself from this sudden, watery predicament.

Swim: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (6) - 1 = 5

Uh, Niklos doesn't know how to swim, apparently. Does he get swept out of the room by the current, or merely jostled around where he is?

"Don't you worry," mocks Niklos. "You'll join 'im soon enough!"

The scoundrel struggles against the torrent, using the quickly evaporating fire genie as a spring-board to launch himself at the former's now-submerged widow. He stabs his rapier into the deluge, trusting its elven enchantments to drive the point home even through the thickest of obstacles.

Rapier Attack: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (17) + 13 = 30
Rapier Crit Confirm: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (14) + 13 = 27
Rapier Damage: 1d6 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 6 + 2 = 13
Rapier Crit Damage: 1d6 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 6 + 2 = 11

That's 24 damage in total, assuming the critical hit is confirmed.

Welcome back! We're just starting a fight with a couple of genies. I think you can take your turn, if you'd like.

Swept off his feet by the sudden torrent, Niklos yelps as he splashes backwards into the drink. Leaping back to his feet, the scoundrel sputters curses even has he lunges at Agrasug with his rapier. Unfortunately, he is still quite out of balance after his recent tumble and fails to hit anything vulnerable.

Rapier Attack: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (3) + 13 = 16
Rapier Damage: 1d6 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 6 + 2 = 11

If at all possible, I'd like my turn to be after Algon and Hrain, so they can benefit from Essessol's lowered AC.

Good try, good try.

Hearing the counselling session go awry, Niklos leaps out of his hiding spot and flings a harrow card at Essessol. "'Til death do you apart, eh?"

Deadly Dealer Attack: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (11) + 12 = 23
Deadly Dealer Damage: 1d4 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 1 + 2 = 6
Acid Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 2
Sneak Attack Damage: 4d6 ⇒ (6, 5, 4, 6) = 21 +4 bleed damage

I'm unsure where I'm supposed to be on the map, exactly, but I'll five-foot step into view and attack, without cover if at all possible.

That's a total of 29 damage, barring resistances. I'll impose a -2 to her AC (-4 against myself) using Debilitating Injury, as usual.

I just checked: Hrain has got The Marriage in the most recent shuffle. Mind playing it for him, GM Sappy?

"What're we s'posed to be now, marriage counselors?" Niklos mutters to himself. "This place never ceases to amaze me..."

The fact that we're already in initiative makes me suspect that diplomacy isn't going to work, but Niklos will hide behind the corner so as to not ruin Marinda's chances. Algon might just blow things, regardless.

Stealth: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (13) + 18 = 31

Diplomacy! Good idea! These fake-people are such idiots. Who has the The Twin card?

I think this might be The Marriage.

Niklos takes his place at one side of the doorway, assuming Sir Algon is going to charge in at the head of the group.

I'd take a more stealthy approach, but I assume these doors are just as heavy as the opposite ones.

"Eh, better t'leave it be," Niklos whispers to Edda. "Even I know better than to steal from a god, at least in their own house... not to mention the very real chance there's an angry ghost trapped in here, or the corpse decides stretch its bones. I'm all for gettin' rid of active threats, but there's no reason to poke the hornet's nest, savvy?"

Turning to the fictitious knight, the scoundrel beams in mock adoration. "Yes, this evil-doer seems well and truly vanquished, Sir Algon! They must have taken their wretched life, knowing you were questing for their master's head! Shall we secure the opposing wing, as well? Then, we will be free to continue pursuing your draconic nemesis in earnest..."

That would be I15, specifically. Was the upper floor of the chapel I3 or I4, or is it not on the map?

Niklos glances longingly at the immovable valuables, but soon hurries up after Algon to see the room above.

Niklos takes a quick look around the room, but is ready to move up after Algon as soon as he advances.

Knowledge (religion): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (3) + 12 = 15

Niklos nods along with Edda and Marinda. "Yes, let us clense the castle of evil-doers! Lead the way, Sir Algon! I think I heard something beyond this door..."

...that being the northern one.

I'm assuming we aren't going to recruit anyone for the duration of the final dungeon? Good thing we've got Algon to cover for a missing party member!

Niklos takes a moment to look through the gnome's belongings, whistling all the while, before moving after Edda. He also takes a look at the door, and then (assuming there are no locks or traps) sneaks through to take a look.

Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (15) + 12 = 27
Stealth: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (14) + 18 = 32

"'Ey, thanks for givin' me a bigger target!" Niklos mocks the gnome.

For all his bravado, the scoundrel's first stab is foiled by him slipping on a puddle of ogre blood. The following attack, however, is a graceful lunge, preceded and precipitated by an improvised pirouette to keep himself from falling over. "Whoops!"

Attack 1: 1d20 + 13 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 13 + 2 = 16
Attack 2: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 8 + 2 = 27
Crit Confirm 2: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 8 + 2 = 25

Damage 2: 1d6 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 6 + 2 = 10
Crit Damage: 1d6 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 6 + 2 = 9

Sneak Attack: 4d6 ⇒ (2, 1, 3, 3) = 9 +4 bleed damage

That's a total of 28 damage. I'll keep using Debilitating Injury to impose a –2 penalty on the gnome's AC (-4 against Niklos himself).

*nudge*

I'm not able to post in the discussion thread, for some reason. D:

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (8) + 18 = 26

Niklos dashes towards the remaining ogre, attempting to leap over its opportunistic swings to stab at the distracted rider.

Attack: 1d20 + 13 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 13 + 2 = 33
Crit Confirm: 1d20 + 13 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 13 + 2 = 30

Damage: 1d6 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 6 + 2 = 10
Crit Damage: 1d6 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 6 + 2 = 12

Sneak Attack Damage: 4d6 ⇒ (5, 4, 6, 3) = 18 +4 bleed damage

So that would be 40 damage in total, assuming the critical hit is confirmed. I'll also use Debilitating Injury to impose a –2 penalty on the rider's AC until my next round, assuming the sneak attack goes through, which it should—unless she is secretly an ooze or something.

Niklos continues to harass the ogre, trying to keep it in within the radius of Edda's spell. His second stab glances off its hide, nearly wresting the hilt from his hand, but the follow-up is more successful in piercing the debased giant's natural defences.

Attack 1: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (1) + 13 = 14 ~ Welp.
Attack 2: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23 ~ That's better!
Crit Confirm: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10
Damage 2: 1d6 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 6 + 2 = 13

Niklos leaps in from the shadows, forgoing his cloak of magical hiddenness in order to sink his rapier into the nearest ogre's thigh. He remains mobile, continually re-positioning himself so that his opponent is forced to rely on its wounded leg if it seeks to strike him in recompense.

Rapier Attack (+ Invisibility - Combat Expertise): 1d20 + 13 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (12) + 13 + 2 - 2 = 25
Rapier Damage (+ Arcane Strike): 1d6 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 6 + 2 = 13

Sneak Attack Damage: 4d6 ⇒ (6, 5, 4, 2) = 17

I'll impose a –2 penalty on the Yellow Ogre's attack rolls. In addition, it takes an additional –2 penalty on all attack rolls it makes against Niklos himself.

Current AC: 24

The Teamster seems to be the relevant card here.

Whispering a few words of power, Niklos fades away from view.

Stealth: 1d20 + 18 + 20 - 5 ⇒ (8) + 18 + 20 - 5 = 41

Casting vanish, and then moving 30 feet along the wall.

Niklos continues to hold back, hoping Algon's entrance will allow him to slink in unnoticed.

Niklos shrugs. "There's bound to be some minions between us and the big bad, right?"