Nimue of Deepwood's page

To avoid any other people dropping me notes, and because GM has not posted a clarification:
Obviously my previous post was sufficiently offensive to be called out on it via PM with an ultimatum that I would get kicked out for good if I made one more mistake.
I explained that this was not my intent, I don't see it as deliberately hostile, and offered to quit right away if after my explanation he wanted me to.
GM TWO took me up on that offer and set me as inactive.
As such, I will not be rejoining and would appreciate no further notifications in any of my other games. Thank you.

I received the PM less than 24 hours ago.
Please at least allow that much time for a response before writing me off as 'no answer' (or asking people to drop us notes - which they did :) )
I understand you are excited, but you know, a.: time zones and b.: some people like to take a moment to pause and consider before making a decision, rather than rush things for sake of an immediate answer - one of the advantages pbp offers, usually.

Since that statement was related to your your original explanatory PM from October: I had not answered to it as it was purely informative(and multi-recipient) in nature and I felt there was nothing really to reply to, without either making it seem less of a deal than it was(and I was pissed off about being ghosted after jumping through some hoops to conform to what was needed to get in), or adding blame after an apology given(you did write and said you are sorry, why give you more trouble about it).
So I opted to simply take that PM as-is and not start a conversation, then.

Here, now? I'm interested. As Theodric pointed out, I have a newborn at home. My post rates will be slightly shifty for the close future, before I return to work and things 'normalize'.

So yeah, when I create characters, when I join a game, I do so to see things through. I would rejoin this as well. As said, my schedule in the next couple weeks will need a certain amount of...flexibility - but that does not in my opinion clash with an expression of interest in a game that should run over years.

With closing in on a month without gameplay update(18.April), and another 9 days since last discussion life sign(3.May) I do admit I am growing concerned.

There's real life causing all sorts of problems. I should know.
But during such times, slowdowns, I feel it's important to understand what IS going on, keep in touch.
In other words, I would request, on behalf of all the players, that you at least write a 1-3 line update every couple days, letting us know that you are still there, whats the holdup, and when you think things will get better.

I much prefer it if you correct that estimate 3 times and post 2 weeks later that you first assumed, over not knowing anything at all.
It only takes a minute or two to write a short statement. If you feel that is not conveniently possible, fine as well, do it once and tell us when to expect to hear back from you.

Could you do that for us, Mister GM?

Maybe the aliens came back? *pew pew pew fingerguns*

I needed to move back, and attempted my own method of visual obscuring. Illusion/Figments are not Mindaffecting and should actually work. If they fail the save.
I do second the idea of NPC's possibly making use of the offer, though.

Minor Error: Due to Potent Magic, Will Save DC should be 21, not 20.
Too late to edit, so putting it here.

Hearing Pendrake specifically call her back, Nimue pauses in her advance, torn between her responsibility and doing what she thinks is right.
You just swore an oath...
With some reluctance, she turns back, moving towards the king, up on a table to get a better view of the hall.
Seeing another breach on the far end of the hall, she gathers magical energy and raises a wall of stone from the ground connected to the far wall, flipping over one of the tables in the process and blocking the progress of the new arrivals.

Hasting some of the cohorts was the mechanical reason why Nimue attempted to get over towards the princess, figured they would benefit greatly from it.
But losing out on Mythic is a significant penalty, so I suppose I will heed Pendragonsdrakes order...plus I would only have had a reason to ignore him if I could reasonably have pretended not to have heared anything.

@Dex: I rolled a natural 20 on my untrained Acrobatics - if you get to substitute Dex for something, I want to at least not have created difficult terrain on sliding below the table, too :P

As said, Lessah, it was not meant as a criticism.
If their Damage Reduction does not apply and they don't simply heal it up again within a matter of seconds thanks to Fast Healing, then it's a very sound tactic to stone all the little buggers to hell, cast it twice next round and be done with those and only deal with the big ones.
Tactically? Awesome. @difficult terrain: I figured the small critters would simply go and enter people's fields as per no reach. In which case stepping away and attacking them would give people another AoO when they re-enter their space - but I may misremember that part - it does not come up often enough to know by heart. As it stands, they either need to "move" away provoking from them, or withdraw, not attacking...or stand their ground.

Casting it twice or thrice to get rid of them? 4d6 or 6d6 area effect damage including LOTS of guys theoretically on our side. Weeding out the weak aside, that's not something every character would be comfortable with.
Just a moralic justification for not going with what seems the optimal course of action, really :)

Sure, Level 4 NPC's :) with D8 hit points and no level 1 full hp. Add someone old, say an expert, with constitution penalty, and there you go, you just stoned old some old scholar.

That said, I agree that it's LIKELY not inmediately deadly, but it also makes it difficult terrain AND wounds them, meaning they have a harder time fleeing and an easier time being finished off.
It has a huge radius, so plenty of allies would be hit. Which makes it a dangerous gamble.
Plus player knowledge would say that our adversaries probably have fast healing and resistance against bludgeoning damage...while our allies do not-

Note that this is not meant as criticism, Nimue is just reluctant to perform friendly fire in general. I think it's good and necessary to establish such tendencies in characters early so nobody whines afterwards for getting blasted by Sylvia ;) On the negative side, people may be less insistent in positioning themselves in her line of fire(aka between her and targets). Pro's and Con's.

Hm, I had considered casting it, instead of the magic missile, but then figured Taking 10 on the Knowledges would not give me enough information to blindly risk collateral fire.

If Sylvia did not cast it, Nimue can have done so simply to keep temporal integrity(since the magic missile had no effect anyway). But in that case, I don't want to be held responsibly for any deaths among our side caused from it.

Also, @GM: Is the person shouting using a magical amplification effect? Otherwise with the crowd in a panic, I may not even hear his demand for my return...plus Nimue would still believe the cohorts would need help against the assailants, and head there, thinking that would help Chalm most, rather than let them and his kids be overwhelmed quickly.
I see the intent was to create two separate groups, but I understood it was being able to cross over with a penalty - I will not act against a direct order of someone who's jurisdiction I have to respect, but I'm unsure if being called out was just flavor or a heavy hint towards turning around.

I was considering Stone Call, too...no SR and no Save is nice, but the 40-feet radius seemed prohibitive. that's 80 feet across, meaning lots of people in the hall would get stoned, and not in the good way...

Should have brought a proper Blaster-Spell to dinner :P

Sensing trouble coming, Nimue takes a look at those around her, incanting magic to support them.(Haste: Chalm, Aciano, Lyda, Nimue, Coalhouse, Axhammer, Azrael)
"Oh...", is all Nimue states when the doors fly open.
When she sees the creatures barging in, for a moment, she feels an urge to try and bring the whole ceiling down on them...but there were too many others, too many people screaming and trying to get away. Looking over at where Mordred was struggling with his Weapon, Nimue instead targets the creature that just ate an Orb with a set of magic missiles, which unfortunately fizzle out of existance as they are about to impact on the creatures hide:"The big ones are resistant to magic!", she shouts as she runs off towards the princess and the cohorts, sliding beneath a table nimbly when it blocks her way, vanishing into the crows.

@Lyda: I understand what you mean. But specifically in this setting, you are actually helping explain why you are not getting that kind of RP potential out of it.

So you're that KKK child with a swastika tattoo and anti-LBGT-shirt.
Furthermore, you just applied for the same kind of middle-management position at Google as I did. And you got the job, same as me.

Human resources is not my task. If you got through the pre-screening of Google and they decided you are fit for the task, then I'll not stupidly accuse those same people who approved ME for the job of not doing THEIR job proper.
And criticing someone they picked out would be doing just that.

As on a inter-personal basis, you would be surprised. I have, in real life, friends from multiple extremes of the political spectrum...I do try and be open, unless they make the mistake of trying to "convert" me...in which case I don't care if they are extremists of any sort or mainstream. I suppose that liberal viewpoints gets represented in my characters. I'll never give you trouble for who you ARE. I give you trouble for what you DO.(so there's your RP potential right there. Act like your stereotypical KKK tiefling, and you get your stereotypical responses, too)

^_^

That said:
@GM: I am on a combined family/business trip, and later that week, at a funeral. Posting will be...spotty - I'll try and keep up to date on my games, but no promises.

*shrug* If you pick an odd race and want attention, you should point that out. Odd races were limited during recruitment, but not to the point that they are exotic anomalies that people need to stare at, whispering to each other in hushed voices.
You are one of many, many Tieflings. Some may never had dealings with Tieflings before, but they would not handle them differently.
If I'm getting a co-worker in a wheel-chair, I'll not give him drama over his handicap either. (Example chosen considering that your appearance COULD be seen as a handicap if you expected drama over it)
I'll treat him like any other colleague. If he wants to be treated differently, he'll let me know, and I may or may not comply.

@Tension: My characters have a 8 and 9 in Diplomacy, too. It seemed relevant to at least reliable support those focusing on it, considering the setting.
I also have decent survival, perception, knowledge geography and knowledge nature on both of them. Because it's wilderness exploration time sooner or later.
In both cases, there will be others, who will be able to do the tasks better - and I will gladly step back and let them take the stage.
I can always fill those roles in situations where my betters are not in the same group. *shrug* That said, if weather allows, my Hunter-Follower would definitely sit on one of the Wagons and have his Hawk circle around the Caravan for aerial surveillance.

Anyway, the whole discussion was my fault as well, but it kind of irks me that this (ultimately pointless) drama played out in front of the king. Lets try and act professional in front of him ;) we can have fun when he's asleep *smile*

Plus, I maintain the idea of 4-person "fire teams". Considering action economy and overall framework balancing, that is easiest to balance for, and least likely to take too long.
So I'm proposing that for gameplay and streamlining reasons. In-Character, I would be fine with whatever is decided. We can all grasp each others hands and walk in a wide line singing for all I case, but smaller groups than 4 become vulnerable to action economy disablers, and larger groups to slow-downs. *shrug*
Just thought I should clarify that while I gave a proper in-game reason, it's actually a streamlining issue I meant to address with the suggestion.
Chalms call, I guess.

Nimue left Mordred to speak for himself. He did speak in her name, and he knew it, there was no call for her to interject on his behalf, in whatever discussion he had decided to get involved in.
With the Count-Electors and their second-in-commands all assembled, she used the chance to try and memorize names and faces. With some joy, she realized that among the leutnants, there were other smallfolk...halflings and gnomes.

:Porablum:
One of the gnomes seemed to look over at her, too, probably studying the crowd. Feeling the natural connection that comes naturally with seeing another of the same race, Nimue's gaze lingers on Porablum for a moment, before she smiles and gives a little wave with her hand in her direction as if to say hi.
The official part is over. Some informality will be fine...

:Chalm:
Nimue bows to Chalm once more when she receives her answer:"I will serve as you wish in whatever way I can be most useful, sire."
Nodding to Coalhouse and bowing to the Princess, she continues:"If your chief of security desires my help, I'll be ready."

Na, it's just that, a hip-shot analysis.
She is still a gnome, getting a racial bonus to illusion. She can pick up(and has on the progression plan) the racial Casual Illusionist as well as Effortless Trickery.
Same with Spell Focus/Greater Spell Focus Illusion, and the Mythic Spell Focus+Fabulous Figments.

She is NOT a specialist Wizard, a Shadow Sorcerer, or a Bard(which seems the target of the discussed Feats).
But the reason for that is simply flexibility. Your concept read is fine, she is harmonizing with nature and thats a big deal. Doesn't mean that is the only thing she can do, nor does it mean she has to be a one-trick-pony to be an effective illusionist.(which, incidentally, is a bad idea considering table variance on illusions, unless one goes in knowing exactly how the GM will handle things - I did read some of the earlier discussions in this thread but it's still a very...complex school of magic).
Matter of Fact, most of the DC-stacking for Illusion will be utilized to get mileage out of the Shadow-Based Spells, for further versatility. (Basically duplicating the raw first-world magic of creation to produce emergent spell effects that are only quasi-real...only with shadow since thats the mechanically viable way to do so)
But when she already has quite significant skill when it comes to illusions, it would have been nice to use it in additional ways, too.

I was simply wondering if there was a way to do something I wanted. As of now, no such way exists and thats fine. PbP moves slowly, and there may well be a Feat eventually that works for Nimue.

As said, thanks for your time.

My problem is that Perception is already the most widely used skill in the game. Many people(including NPC's) will try to get a decent bonus.
Those with class skills? +3 flat, Alertness(from familiar?) +2/+4, racial boni(keen senses) +2, diverse buffs(Heightened Awareness), +2, diverse items, +x...if a Human with Focused Study picks up Skill Focus(Perception) +3/+6...
with the rank-limitation, it becomes impossible to further raise the DC, meaning people will passively(without even needing to roll) beat the DC around mid-game. Even with the Improved Conceal Spell negating the additional penalty.

It's not a complaint, I was simply wondering if your reading differed from the RAW making it all but unuseable.

@Amavin: I like Veiled Illusionist, but not helping, here. It should really be "hidden". The idea was to really be able to throw up an illusion without everybody knowing whats going on.
Say we run into a hostile group on the road...adding some illusionary soldiers circling around at the side of the road that I can point out to them("you are outnumbered...") could be helpful.
Or needing a diversion, and creating the illusion of a fire to draw attention elsewhere(without people pointing at me and suspecting I caused said fire in the first place).
No worries. As said, once we become Mythic, Fabulous Figments will help mechanically on people not knowing it IS an illusion. But I would have preferred if they did not even know it was a spell.
*shrug*
Maybe I'll look towards picking up a PrC with Bardic Performance down the road, and go with Spellsong(which, aside from the need for Bardic Performance, does exactly what is needed - one opposed check I can buff, with no penalties attached).

Thanks all. I'll let this one rest for the time being. I simply wanted to get it clarified and out of the way right at the start, in case I would have wanted to swap a feat or move a skill around post-recruitment.

@GM: Thank you. In that case, I'll wait for the errata on Conceal Spell before considering it. That rank-limit can't seriously be intended on double opposed checks.

@Velar: Good find with the Cunning Caster, but if the GM call says it's noticeable if you interact with someone, it will not do for my purposes. I wanted to be able to throw up illusions without anybody getting suspicious. I suppose invisibility/silent spell is the only way to do so reliably, omitting any interactions taking place at the same time.

@GM: I request clarification on the Feat "Conceal Spell"
Specifically, it seems to allow an automatic check of Perception/SenseMotive/Spellcraft vs 15+disguise/bluff+Cha, then an independent second check if there are somatic components of perception/spellcraft vs 15+sleightofhand+Dex.

First: Bard is the only caster class that by default get both Sleight of Hand AND disguise or bluff as a class skill. While it may be intended for these charlatans, thats a serious impairment for all other casters.(if they even count, see next paragraph)

Second: Both sections specifically call out "number of ranks" in the relevant skills, adding the governing attribute. That means e.g. Deceitful(prerequisite for the Feat) would not even add it's bonus, as it's a untyped bonus to the skill checks but does not actually add ranks to them.
On the other hand, the opposed check gets to use ranks, attribute, class(!), trait, racial, feat, competence, circumstance, luck, insight or unnamed boni, too(and any I forgot).

Third: The DC starts at 15+ something, BUT the other person gets a bonus equal to the level of the spell being concealed. That means the better spells become, the harder it becomes to conceal them...not only that, it does not ever become easier to conceal simpler spells. No matter if you are Level 1 or Level 20, the enemy gets the same +1 bonus if you mean to hide a First-Level Spell. In other words: It does not scale well.

Fourth: If Spells with Somatic components are to be hidden, thats two governing attributes for the opposed checks, while both perception and spellcraft are single-attribute-governed. Especially with the Mythic Attribute increases, that becomes a serious roadblock as one check will invariably fall behind.

Overall, it seems like a very bad deal.
Assuming somatic components, the other person seems to automatically get 2 opposed checks using his better skill, against 2 different skills of the player.
Said player is penalized for trying to keep up and cast higher-level spells, and will have a harder time even getting decent results on the skill checks even if willing to invest in both skills.
Improved Conceal Spell would help with the spell level, but still does nothing to address the fact that a.: it's only a reasonable choice if you are a charisma-based caster(obviously int-based ones are not smart enough to hide their casting), b.: only if you do not intend to use spells with somatic components(or accept he gets to roll twice) and, as written, still get only a very limited check result since the relevant skills are used "raw"(as per ranks+attribute).

I feel it is a flavorful choice, but too unreliable in the niche applications, and scaling badly even if you spend another Feat on the Tax to not be penalized for spell levels.

If I am misinterpreting something, could you clarify where I err?
And if not, would you consider giving the Feat an overhaul or mythic version(similar to what you did with the Mythic Leadership?)

To further explain: I intend to focus on Illusions and the Shadow-Spells, as befits a Gnome. So obfuscating my casting so not everybody and their grandmother can roll a spellcraft and KNOW that it's an illusion would be preferable.(Fabulour Figments does help on that front, but I would prefer a mundane approach to the problem, plus, if they don't know casting took place, thats always better...they may not know something is an illusion, but would still connect the dots and assume my magic was responsible(e.g. summoning something))

Nimue, already standing up front, tenses up slightly.
Mordred, standing behind her, puts his hand on her shoulder, as if to suggest to her to refrain from speaking up.
Gently touching his hand with her own, she steps forward, easily gliding out from under his grasp:"Sire, if there are people who mean you ill, people in power and from your family, no less, could the princess and prince be in danger? Securing your heiress as a ward would doubtlessly be in your cousins interest, if he were to try and maintain a significant influence on the direction our combined efforts in your name will take. After you made them prince and princess official, and in the chaos of a hasty departure in the middle of winter they could be vulnerable and valuable. If there is a need for extra security, I would like to volunteer for that task - I swore to follow the princess as well, when the time comes - it would be a dishonor if I failed to keep her safe until that day, may the date be far off when she needs to follow in your footsteps."

@swearing to heirs: Well, in general, you may be right, but he DID just create her princess and, more importantly, heir.
If the king is confident enough in his daughter to pronounce her his heir at this event, then it seems reasonably acceptable to consider her as just that...his rightful heir.
Since nothing can be said about HER heirs/descendents, Nimue did not swear fealthy to the lineage...only those present - No civil war involved. Plus, her interpretation was to swear to the idea as much as to the man. Which is why she omitted the release clause. She can only truly work for ideals that she makes her own, only be driven to create something she believes in.
Even if she was released, those aligned ideals would remain her own and she would seek to further them. Of course, if the King or princess eventually decide that she would serve them better by not governing a place(that is, release her), she would accept that and further the utopian ideas somewhere else, that is, the release clause is an "extra" anyway, and it's more of a fanciful way of reinforcing her oath to have left it out.

Nimue stood with the others, feeling somewhat out of place.
All big folk here. All those around me, anyway. I can barely see eye to eye with Kowalskys kids.
She knew that these formalities, these grand events were important. Without them, things weren't official, and then people disregarded them, did not care about them. These ceremonies made things REAL. Gave them form in a way that allowed others to understand.
News would spread of this magnificent event, and as a consequence even the most remote hamlet in these lands would know who they were.
Drawn from her throughs, for a moment, Nimue paid more attention than usual, watching Acaciano closely as he took his oath, her eyes easily betraying her curiosity when he mentioned being a servant of the Green Faith.
And there's my name...

The Gnome girl stepping up to the throne was smallish, with strawy blonde hair, wearing an almost translucent robe, with a greenish overcoat. She kneeled down, bowing her head, speaking loud and clear in a high, melodic voice:
"I, Nimue, daughter of Mari and Zumalis, being of sound mind and without reservation, swear fealty of mind, body, and soul to the King, the Princess, and People of Krádira. I swear to bear loyal and true service to the King, the Princess and People of Krádira, and to honor, preserve, protect, and uphold the laws, justice, and mercy of and for the People of Krádira against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and to bear true faith and allegience to the King, the Princess and People of Krádira. I swear to faithfully execute the charges given to me, to protect and guide the people over whom I am granted rulership, guarding them in times of peril, nurturing them in times of peace, leading them in times of war, and governing them always with justice tempered by mercy, as the gods give me the wisdom to so do. The vision of Kradira shall be my vision, the dream fueling this vision shall be my dream, the success of the nation my success, and it's downfall my downfall. This I swear, until my final death or the world's end."
At the times she mentions the princess, who was earlier declared heir, Nimue had slightly raised her head to bow it in her direction.
Raising again when prompted to do so, she steps away backwards, glancing at the princess as she returns to her seat.
Chances are, before I'm middle-aged, she will sit on the throne. Any man with ambition can carve out a realm for himself when there's a chance...but it takes a dynasty to make a kingdom, to let that realm stand the test of time. Lets hope the girl shares her fathers dreams when she grows older.