Actually Dreamscarred Press' Psionics Unleashed psionics is now part of the OGC PRD, so you don't have to buy the book. GMs can also double-check their psionic players with it. But yes, too many GMs dislike non-core concepts.
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Sadly, unless GM Todd comes back with a vengeance and manages to gather all his players back together, it doesn't look good for our castaways. Pity. GMs of GM Todd's class are unique. In fact, out of the three PbP campaigns I was playing in, two have gone silent. Finding a GM who's amiable to allowing psionic characters is ultra-rare for me.
Can we hope GM Todd comes back?
No posts by GM Todd at all since 26 August. I hope he's okay.
I've got a "working weekend", so I may not post until the evenings.
When we last left our intrepid castaways they had surrounded the charmed last survivor of the failed cannibal attack and were attempting to communicate with him. My own awesomely clever use of Google Translate to represent various learned languages was ruined by the apparent pause in gameplay as well as a few last-minute action questions.
Hurricane Irene was a non-event at my place in central North Carolina. I am ready - hand-crank flashlights, hand-crank radios, generator on standby with fuel ready, cell phone and land line, lots of canned food and ready-to-eat meals, etc. And I didn't need any of it. In fact, the power never went off today until we had some heatstorms pass through.
GM Todd's last post was Wednesday at 6am (two days ago, almost three). No very optimistic here, I hope GM Todd is okay...
Petry, not seeing any alive enemies, went to the native standing among the others, who was grinning and watching Meraxes. "That's a nice trick." he commented. "Let's see if he can talk." "Can you understand me?" Petry asked the shorter native in Chelaxian Common. He then went though a litany of other languages. "Խոսում եք իրական լեզուն." "Sprechen Sie die Sprache des Volkes?" "Μπορείτε να μιλήσετε με τους πρώτους ανθρώπους;" "Ξέρετε τη γλώσσα των συμβάσεων και ευκαιρίες;" Petry watched the native's face to see if any of his words were recognized. He paid no attention to the looks on his friend's faces as he changed his words from rasping to guttural and then to lilting and finally to a harsh, deep-throated growl.
Stats-Temp Effects:
HP=13/13 points, AC=11 (touch 11, flat-footed 10), no armor, dagger (holding dagger), speed=30 ft. Fort=+1, Ref=+2, Will=+2 Holding psionic focus (Electricity); Power Points=6 Allia is Inspiring Courage (+1 attack and damage, +1 save vs fear and charm) As Allia moved past Petry he saw how crowded the spacing between the tents had become. He also viewed, for the first time, the actual men attacking them. Island natives. Hostile ones. Petry thought to himself. So much for the hope of finding civilization here. Rather than join in the battle, Petry decided to look around to make sure there were no other natives sneaking up on them. He kept his right hand free, ready to point and release an Energy Ray if needed. Perception check (with psicrystal):
Stats-Temp Effects:
HP=13/13 points, AC=11 (touch 11, flat-footed 10), no armor, dagger (holding dagger), speed=30 ft. Fort=+1, Ref=+2, Will=+2 Holding psionic focus (Electricity); Power Points=6 Allia is Inspiring Courage (+1 attack and damage, +1 save vs fear and charm) "They're using darts, probably poisoned! I heard something in the trees to the north and south earlier! Call out where the enemy is!" Petry shouted to the others. He carefully removed the dart from Aerys' neck.
Petry turned to Jask, and asked, "Can you detect or counter the poison in her? And protect us from any more poisoned darts?"
Petrys future actions for everybody: Turn Aerys over to Jask, join in the fighting (around E13 on the map). Bring Energy Ray to bear on the first intruder I see.
Petry ran over to where Aerys lay collapsed near the fire. He turned her over and made sure she was still breathing. Heal check: "Aerys needs some help! Everybody awake!" Petry called out.
Petry, dagger in hand, left his tent, calling out "I heard something in the trees to the north and south. Look up!"
Petry sat straight up in his bedroll. "Everybody up! Something's outside!" he said, loudly but not shouting, to the others. Where? What direction? he sent to Friend. Petry started acquiring his psionic focus, getting that point of concentration in his mind. He didn't know if it was night, dawn, or midday. To GM Todd:
Psicrystals have a "sight" range of 40 feet. If the crystal "saw" something, it's close! Arrrghh! So much for 8 hours of sleep.
Petry rolled his eyes, making sure Allia couldn't see him, and started counting to ten, silently. "Let's not panic." he said, lifting the goat carcass and putting it near where the other food had been prepared earlier. "We have people who can defend themselves here. Nobody go out alone from now on, go in groups of two at least. If we ignore it the creature that did this may get bored and move on. I'm getting ready for bed." Petry went over and picked his map kit up from the ground. "We should continue exploring the outer beach tomorrow," he said matter-of-factually, "looking for shipwrecks. We can look for Aerys' berries on the way there and back. We should be able to make it to where this creek empties into the ocean before we have to return. It wouldn't hurt to look to see if Captain Kovack and Ieana left any trail to the south of us, either. I'd like our next camp to be at the top of this next hill, here. " -------------------- With that, Petry retired for the night, writing another brief entry into his journal. Dear journal, Day 04 on Smuggler's Shiv. We moved the camp today to a pond that led south to a water slide...
Having read Larry Niven's science fiction book "Grendel" about evolving species, are you sure that these dimorphoron don't turn into one after several years?
"Dragons usually don't go for just the blood, I think, but I haven't studied them." Petry said from beside Dragolan. "I always thought dragons were greedy and wouldn't pass a gold piece by. Whatever did this was more like a cat leaving a mouse on our doorstep. It wants our attention...or our fear." "It could be a dimorph-" the young man stumbled over the word, trying again, "di-mor-PHO-ron, if they keep growing in size and intelligence." Petry mused. He looked around at the jungle surrounding them. "We should probably just go to bed as normal, but put our night-vision types on night duty, just in case this thing is lurking in the bushes. It likes to swoop and fly, from the way it dropped the goat carcass on us. A few beams of lumber across the camp, like a henge or a 'T' shape, each eight feet tall, would keep it from swooping down on us, and be maximum protection with minimal effort."
Petry was updating his map kit map (the travel map) to show the new campsite and stealing glances at Sasha's back and the nape of her neck where her tattoo was supposed to be when Aerys made her statement. When the commotion over the dead goat happened, Petry's action was to stand protectively near Sasha. With one hand, he grasped his pendant and asked, Friend, did you see that? The psicrystal's only response was Above! Petry strained to see beyond the campfire's light. Perception check (with psicrystal): He was interrupted by Dragolan. "Y-yes, of course, Dragolan." Petry moved to help the larger Chelaxian. Heal check assist on the dead goat: "Is it the same breed as the two goats we have? How can you tell?" Petry asked Dragolan.
Petry awoke, and, still half-asleep, sat up on his bedroll and crossed his legs, entering his meditative state. He focused on the energy inside of himself, seeing it as a stone well with water deep below. Each of the stones on the lip of the well had a tiny golden set of runes upon it, runes Petry knew were his powers. Other stones had other runes, writings he could not make out - yet. A presence was beside him, a stick figure with a crystal head, his psicrystal. Petry paid the friendly presence no mind, but concentrated on the well, bringing the water up to the surface. Something on the stones was there, he could almost make out the runes that would lead to more psionic power. But he knew his mind would clear and render the complexity in time. Petry switched to acquiring psionic focus, choosing fire again. Then, ready for the day, he allowed the world outside his mind impinge upon his awareness again. ----------------- As he packed his part of camp, Petry answered Meraxes, "We're moving from the top of the Shiv to the hill we found with the pond. Everybody keep an eye out, because there's more of Sasha's reptile-birds like Marta out there, but bigger. And there could be more snakes. But we should make it before noon, and that will give us time to set up camp and do some hunting and training this afternoon. Tonight we'll catch up on our sleep." Looking over at Allia, Petry said "I don't think the goats are domesticated enough for pack animals. Unless you can make them do it. I think they might just eat anything you put near them." Petry shifted his backpack and picked up one of the sea chests. "Oof. Well, I'm not moving fast. All right! Kalis first, to lead, and then as you like on the line." He moved to follow or be close to Sasha and Marta while traveling. Survival checks to aid Kalis and Perception checks:
Hmmmm.....that 6-hour "the server is down, blame the goblins" trouble today really caught me short. Making a backup copy of Petry's profile page just in case, I wouldn't want to have to re-type all of that all over again.
Petry continued reading the Tears of Grog logbook by firelight, spending time with Sasha, Marta, Kalis, Dragolan, Allia, Gelik, Aerys, and Jask until it was late in the night. Getting up and going back to the pile of equipment, Petry chose the manacles and the ring of keys, then went back to his tent. He practiced locking and unlocking the manacles with the keys for another several minutes before setting in his bedroll. Petry fell asleep quickly, his last thought to the crystal on his arranged clothing, This day feels like it lasted almost four weeks!
Waiting for Kalis to confirm receiving the belt pouch with the two potions before I update my profile page.
With Jask talking to Allia and the rest talking to each other, Petry went to his tent and put his map kit back in his backpack. Then he went to the sheltered pile of equipment and chose two more potions out to replace the ones he had given away. Petry thoughtfully considered another set of potions, then took a Lesser Restoration potion and the potions of Water Breathing and Water Walking and put them into his backpack. He padded them all with the remains of the first ripped scarf. Using another ripped scarf, he padded the two potions in his belt pouch. Petry picked up the captain's log from the Tears of Grog and went back to the central fire, sitting down again and reading the log.
Becoming a Jack-of-all-Trades is so difficult, especially with psionics thrown in on top. I'm trying to see if I can use the Autohypnosis skill along with a future power, Emphatic Transfer for Petry to heal people in the future. Psionics being funny, Petry will have to "absorb" a poison and then make the saving throws himself with Autohynosis:Tolerate Poison giving him a bonus. If it works. And I'm thinking a decent Heal skill check to recognize the poison wouldn't hurt, either. Hence Petry's pretty much locked into increasing his Autohypnosis and Heal every level until he can tolerate poisons. This reminds me of one of my tabletop characters back in 3.0 with an "evil" DM who kept killing off so many of my characters to poison traps I finally made a paladin whose morning routine included drinking an Antitoxin a day. The DM switched to spiked pitfall traps. Petry's going to be increasing his Disable Device and Escape Artist for his own sake. Dragolan has Knowledge: Religion, Jask has Knowledge: Religion, Petry's just been told Sasha has a tattoo and she's prettier than Kalis so Petry's going to pick up his tattooing feat at Level 5 by studying Sasha's tattoo. ;) Petry can still learn Polygot from Kalis, and Knowledge: Arcana and Spellcraft from Meraxes or Gelik. Allia seems to do her magic a bit too "spontaneously" to watch and learn from her. :) So many skills and so few skill points! Petry's not just a big cannon to lug around.
Petry felt the lingering pain from his head vanish completely , and, impressed, he said, "Thank you, Jask!" As Jask talked to Allia, Petry mentioned to Dragolan, "I was going to ask all the spellcasters back here if they recognize the potions we brought and could cast the same spells themselves. Or the scroll Meraxes acquired, the one of Enlarge Person? Because if someone here like Jask or Gelik can cast Endure Elements, then we would not have to rest in the middle of the day with the threat of exhausting ourselves hanging over us. And, thanks to today, we now need to be able to treat or cure poison on a regular basis, I fear."
Petry stood up. It was almost dusk now. "Thanks, Gelik, Allia, and Dragolan. There's a score of 'minor house' heirs in Cheliax who would gladly prick their fingers and sign away their souls to a devil to restore their family fortune. I chose to run away. I had thought to join someone else's company to explore the jungle. But it's good to find an exploration team without having to join one in Eleder." he said. Petry unconsciously smoothed his hair from where the dimorphoron had swiped him. A close inspection would have shown that the wound was almost gone. "I feel better, Dragolan, unless you say otherwise. I was going to ask Jask about the potions, I think I heard you talking about them earlier? I also wanted to ask Jask about the undead we ran into today. But here, Kalis. The pink one is the healing potion." Petry offered, unweaving the belt pouch with the potion of Cure Light Wounds and Endure Elements from his belt, handing it to the nearby elven barbarian. "I'll make another one from our equipment, but I wanted to ask everyone to carry at least a potion of healing as well as a potion against the heat with them."
Petry, realizing how he had opened his big mouth, tried to backtrack. "The reward from the Viscount wouldn't be large. It's a minor house, not even considered by the Queen unless Grandfather has me sign an infernal contract. And 'Wintrish' is common enough in Cheliax for my family to hide openly in Corentyn. The thugs Grandfather sent after me weren't high-paid or intelligent. So I planned on keeping my name, in case I could use it in Eleder." he answered Gelik. Petry looked at Sasha again, putting his signet ring back on. "I'd like to practice with you tomorrow." he told the redhead.
Man, a quiet day. I'm still waiting for feedback or other conversations to continue. Let's see, without looking at the spoilers, our Jasper now has an escaped convict he could turn in for the reward, a Chelaxian heir with a price on his head, and what sounds like a treasure map. Anything else we can do to make Jasper's head pop with the expectation of greed? :) And I'm looking to start up a conversation with Jask myself on getting a Knowledge: Religion skill point, Allia.
Welcome back - you've got lots of roleplay to catch up on. :) I think Allia has Dragolan's attention right now back in camp.
"Thank you." Petry sincerely told Aerys. He then turned to Sasha. "I think we have enough food for now, there's a fish pond at the new location. I would rather have you, Aerys, and Ishirou watching out for hostile animals and people. And Marta looking too! Gelik has his hands full keeping the bugs out of our tents, and Brin's not recovered yet to help Jask." After hearing Sasha's story, Petry was torn, his eyes wide. The woman had just told them something important, something personal. It strangely echoed Petry's situation. Tell...friend reason for leaving! the perdiot on Petry's necklace said in his mind. I was supposed to disappear into the jungle, if they learn about the reward... Petry argued. The perdiot buzzed back soundlessly in his mind. Petry sighed deeply. He looked straight at Sasha. "You're uh, an a-assassin?" he asked. Then he shook his head. "Never mind! I was, uh, asking because, uh." Petry sighed again, then took the plunge. He sat down on the jungle ground, motioning for Sasha to do the same, glancing at Aerys nearby and Kalis still cooking his snake in the fire pit. Petry worked off the gold ring on his right hand and showed it to the redhead. "My name is Petronicus Wintrish, as in the Westcrown of Cheliax Wintrishes. Viscount Wintrish is my grandfather. A minor house, but very old and still a voice with the major houses. I'm the only male heir in two generations. My grandfather tried to force me to sign an infernal contract on my twenty-first birthday. My parents, my sisters, and I decided to run to Corentyn instead. My grandfather sent kidnappers after me and put a price on my head last month. So I decided to lose myself in the Mwangi Expanse rather than sell my soul and live in luxury the rest of my life. My...'magic' is the other problem. It's not arcane, divine, or infernal. So it made the wizard on family retainer almost report me."
Food discussion for GM Todd: here's what I have so far.
That covers us to the end of Day Two. You're saying Jask hunted 8 rations of goat on Day Three? So I should subtract 12 rations and add 8 for Day Three? Sorry for being dull, I'm trying to be accurate. 37-12+8=33 I guess Kalis' three snakes are only a snack? :) We're losing more than we're taking in. I wouldn't call it a panic until we get to one day's food - 12 rations. GM Todd mentioned a pool with fish. Petry brought a fishhook and twine for river fishing. We've got two fishing nets. This sounds like a time to get working on food after setting up camp tomorrow.
"All right." Petry said back to Aerys, torn between control and anger himself at the brunette's response. His second sister had that attitude, every conversation had to be complementary to herself or she left the room. "I'll be right back." As Kalis talked Petry went to his backpack under the tent flap and got out his map kit with the colored chalks. Sketching as we walked back to the central fire, he drew the contours the explorers had traveled that day. When he was finished, he showed the map to Aerys. "We found a hilltop with a pool of water and a stream leading further south here," he said, pointing on the chalkboard. "I wanted to see if you and Ishirou agreed with me that this is a defensible area compared to a shipwreck we found on the beach here, just north of where the Captain and Ilena landed. I want your opinion before we move the camp tomorrow. Or the I can lead the explorers here up this ridge or this isolated hill . I don't want us to blindly follow Captain Kovack, there's too many dangerous animals and reptile-birds." He looked at the brooding half-elf.
Petry knew Aerys was talking about the flask of fine brandy from the Jenivere. "Do you need alcohol that much?" he asked the half-elven woman. Chelaxian nobles often drank to excess, but most restricted it to their debauched parties. Drinking alone was not part of the infernal culture. Petry himself didn't like the hangover the next morning, nor the loss of memory and incapacitation, which would have been dangerous with Grandfather's kidnappers about. "I mean, that was probably the last bottle of drink on the island."
Surprised by her tone, Petry responded with "I didn't mean anything by it, Aerys. I just forgot to ask someone to help me with the goats before I left. Thank you for attending to them. They can help us with eating some of the plants at the campsite." He joked with her, saying "Goats eat anything - grass, leaves, even tough vines. If we give them a long leash they'll clear the next campsite for us!"
Seeing her inspecting the fire, Petry asked "Are you trying to find something?" -------------------------------------
Petry spent the next hour having dinner with Sasha, telling her and anyone else in earshot the details of their exploration. He attempted to feed Marta twice, but decided he needed his fingers more.
Petry checked on the hobbled goats, dodging the male that attempted to head-butt his thigh.
Going back to the equipment stack, the sun beginning to dip towards the western jungle forest, Petry took a potion of Endure Elements, adding to his belt pouch with the potion of Cure Light Wounds. He tore one of the scarves he had found that day, since Sasha didn't want it, in order to stuff the belt pouch and keep the glass vials from inadvertent damage. "Dragolan, Allia, I think each of us should carry a potion of healing and a potion of Endure Elements. In case we do run into something we can't handle. You too, Kalis, Jasper, and Meraxes. This heat got me today. If the mainland is like this, well, I'm not going to wear armor in this humidity."
"It's yours!" Petry said a little too quickly, smiling at Sasha. "Nobody else wanted the cutlass. I never got any sword training at Grandfather's mansio-at Cheliax." he told her. "In a fight, I'd be using my dagger and spiked gauntlets." Petry lifted the moldy Captain's log the explorers found on the Tears of Grog. "This came from the first shipwreck on the beach. I'll read it tonight." He continued to re-arrange items, putting all the potions in the footlocker with Jask's name, adding the coins to the coffer from the Jenivere. I need my own lockpicking tools for the other chests, these are the only ones with keys. Petry thought to himself.
Petry, looking exhausted, wearily took the two chests from where the others had placed them and dragged them over to the pile of equipment in the campsite, giving Sasha and Marta a grin as he passed them. "I had one of Marta's relatives take a dive at my head this morning." he told the redhead, pointing at his hair above his ear. "Luckily for me Dragolan was with us to heal me. We have two, oof, chests, but all we got was a bunch of potions, a scroll, and a scimitar out of it." Petry showed Sasha. "We fought some skeletons and zombies as well as poisonous snakes. I think that's what he's cooking right now. I'm glad to see you-uh, everyone's all right! But you, too, Sasha." he told her. Petry looked down at the equipment pile. "I should really organize this now. We did find an excellent campsite, with a wide creek and a pool that looks good for fishing. If everyone can get ready tonight, we'll break camp first thing in the morning, like Kalis said." the young man fingered the dampened, colorful scarves at his neck, remembering. "Here." he offered to Sasha, "I found wetting these down with water helps during the heat. Until the rain, that is."
Oooh, you lose the Eschew Materials feat. Not good. The number one advantage of a Sorcerer over a Wizard was the ability to be "spontaneous" with spells, no components needed if under 1gp or so. You can get it back with a bonus feat, of course. Think about it: we're currently on an island with no supplies other than what we brought. I don't think the mainland jungle will be any better. Eleder might be the only civilization we see for quite a while. Your choice, of course. This is another reason I wanted to try out psionics: no material components, most of the time.
Expand upon that, Meraxes - I don't have the book. I'm planning on taking Scribe Tattoo at Level 5, which will allow Petry to share 1st-to-3rd-level psionic powers with others. I was going to start by having Petry ask Kalis about his tattoos.
Petry straightened from his half-crouch. "Well, so much for the belief we only had the small reptile-birds to worry about."
"If the stupid things would not attack, I wouldn't kill them." Petry said under his breath at Meraxes, trying to be quieter than normal but not whispering. "At this rate, Sasha will end up owning the last living one on the island." He kept an eye out above, ready to flatten himself to the ground if a reptile-bird swooped down upon him. Perception check: (with psicrystal)
Petry began moving slower and more methodically as soon as Allia gave warning. Of course, there was a lot of noise coming from the rear of the line, near where Jasper was. Stealth check: (untrained)
Petry was about to step around Jasper when the Taldan took care of the last serpent. He breathed a sigh of relief. "Dragolan, help me check Kalis for poison again. I want to make sure the wound is clean." Petry asked. "Everybody else, check the trees - we don't want a snake dropping onto someone's head." Heal check: Afterwards, Petry took a swig of water from his waterskin and passed it around. "Flying reptile-birds, goats, sea scorpion-things, skeletons, zombies, a ghoul, and now poisonous snakes!" he exclaimed. "Surely not all the survivors have had this much trouble. Why did Captain Kovack want to be on this island? And why drag Ieana with him? Even if he was besotted with the Varisian, this island doesn't make sense." Petry will help Kalis in looking around and making way through the jungle back to camp. Perception check (with psicrystal):
Stats-Temp Effects:
HP=3/13 points, AC=11 (touch 11, flat-footed 10), no armor, spiked gauntlets, dagger, speed=30 ft. Fort=+1, Ref=+1, Will=+2 Not holding psionic focus; Power Points=0 Allia is Inspiring Courage (+1 attack and damage, +1 save vs fear and charm) Petry paused behind Jasper, closing his eyes and breathing deep, even breaths of air into his lungs. He gathered the power within himself and held it, collecting it and squeezing it down to a single point. He held that point just behind his eyes, so he could focus through the point of energy and out into the world as needed. Energy types flashed through his head, and he chose a spark, the lightning of the storm.
I think I'll stick with Dreamscarred Press' Psionics Unleashed. I'm giving GM Todd enough headaches with psionics as-is without dipping into more books. :) I'm still aiming for the Jack-of-all-Trades energy blaster for the fleeing Wintrish heir. It looks like I need some more roleplay time to convince others to follow my lead, or to recognize others' strengths, however. :)
Stats-Temp Effects:
HP=3/13 points, AC=11 (touch 11, flat-footed 10), no armor, spiked gauntlets, dagger, speed=30 ft. Fort=+1, Ref=+1, Will=+2 Holding psionic focus (Fire); Power Points=0 Allia is Inspiring Courage (+1 attack and damage, +1 save vs fear and charm) Petry moved to get a clear shot at the snake near Dragolan (to E10) and pointed with his right hand at the serpent, thrusting the focal point in his mind outwards to the target. "Stay away from the trees, just in case more drop." he told the others confidently. Energy Ray: Fire; expending psionic focus for 0pp;15 ft to the snake at C12
"There is no need for panic, it's just one snake." Petry said from beside Kalis. Then he saw the additional snakes drop from the foliage. "All right, some panic might be warranted." Petry admitted. He stood when Kalis left him, trying to see all three snakes. The focal point in his mind was still there from earlier; he could fire his ray of energy at the creatures, but he would have to aim around the three people now fighting them.
"Helping Kalis. Poison acts quickly." Petry told Allia as he bent down and, as Dragolan had shown him before, treated Kalis' wound. The Chelaxian looked back at the brunette when the snake snapped at her. "Be careful!" he said loudly. "Meraxes, Jasper, please help Allia get rid of that snake." Petry used his waterskin to wash Kalis' snakebite, just for good measure.
If anyone's interested, I've been keeping track of treasure found so far in both my profile page as well as a Google spreadsheet.
So when we leave this island, I should be able to just "sort" the spreadsheet and divide by 12 to find out who gets how much from what we can sell and such.
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