LOL. You win!
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Is that the flayed-skin bound first edition or the bound-in-sentient-shadow second edition? I hear the skinned edition really doesn't do well with excessive heat.
Yeah, who doesn't have a copy of the Necronomicon laying around. :p
Yeah, or like icebergs - when only 10% is visible above the surface...
Hey D, Just so you don't think you've been forgotten, Ben and I have been
The test I’m thinking of is fairly similar to the B.A.S. in nature … basically an encounter he has to overcome. I’m still working through the details (and I kind of want Dien to get to read along and make choices as her “entry” into the game, just like we did with Mal and Priyya in that big fight against B.A.S.), but it will require much blowing stuff up and possibly a bit of searching on a kind of timed basis. Imagine a mountain-top frozen ruins, waves of summoned minions, and the need to find the McGuffin before Zeon is snuffed out) :D Sweet! I'll grab my popcorn and watch the fireworks!
All good, good tidbits, thanks! *ahem* Encounters with Nex and/or Nethys would not be out of the realm of possibility. >:) <-- evil co-DM grin
For consideration: Zeon's Mark: something 'sort of' circular.
Spells that it conveys:
For an answer seeker and Theurge-like guy like Zeon, these spells seem appropriate and would certainly be handy for encounters, McGuffins, clue-finding, etc. Also, the fact that these spells can both be found in the 'psychic casters' lists could be a fun hint towards the Gatekeeper.
Hmm... I can work with that. We'll need to leave the mark as something not particularly emblematic of 'X' since you want to keep Zeon's Gatekeeper undefined at the moment. Equally, the bennies can't be tied to a really specific theme to keep the Gatekeeper options open for explanation. If we want to keep the mark's abilities on-par with Mal/Priyya then we are talking about something roughly equal to 2 2nd level spells with Permanency attached and that will fill a need Zeon is likely to have. I'll give it some thought. Dien, what are your hopes and dreams for Zeon? I get he wants to find the Refuge of Nex... but then what? What does he want to have happen once he finds the Refuge?
Hmm... I'd probably work the problem from another direction. Do you have some ideas about who Zeon's Gatekeeper is? If he/she is a Deva, a Demigod of Trickery, a Demon, Devil, A Slaad Lord, or whatnot, it might suggest what sort of bennie Zeon might receive. If your thinking hasn't gone that far... then maybe a more generally useful bennie (such as Dien's suggestion) might be a good choice.
*blink*
*watches Zeon watching inbox*
It is certainly Ben's call and I'm good either way - since we both have clerical spells that would really take that bennie for a ride! :D Seven stunning fists... color me jealous of your awesomeness! And I'm willing to bet they will get some use at unexpected moments. ;)
It's Ben's show but I'll toss in my 2 cents. I agree with your read on bonded holy symbol - any standard cleric spell (that doesn't violate your alignment) or your domain spells. On Divine Vessel, I'd personally read it as spells that specifically target you, you and others (such as Communal Pro for Evil where it is applied to the creatures touched), but not AoE spells. Otherwise, I don't see the point of mentioning 'you as the target' in the description. But that is just me.
b~*$+%% crazy? Good, you'll fit right in! :) Priyya has a love/hate relationship with Sarenrae and a strong streak of Plumekith-bred chaos that wars with her monk-ish lawfulness. So, she's... uh... 'complicated'.
Zeon gets a mark that looks like a frowny emoji and conveys the power of sarcasm.
Hmm... odd idea struck me. Let's say there are 'gatekeepers' here. It could be that an individual gatekeeper (for reasons unknown) drags people they 'like' here. Every person brought in gets the 'stamp' of the gatekeeper that grabbed them. So Mal and Priyya bear the mark their keeper. Depending on how you drag in Zeon, he could have the mark of a different keeper.
Eben's baddies knocked me from 100HP to 0 in one round... so that less squishy 92 is a good, good thing!
Hey D, you get max HP at all levels - you will need it. :)
Priyya conjures a faerie fire in her palm and begins to wave it.
LOL. Yeah, my assumption is it can't be that easy. And what fun would that be? Ben has been cryptic about where he was going with this 'demi-plane'. My rough thinking (putting on my DM hat) was that the playground of deities and demons line is a solid clue to how this place works. It suggests that there are 'gatekeeper(s)' who run the place and leaving it requires either permission to get out or out-foxing someone who you better dance with cautiously. I was thinking of it kind of like the Ravenloft demi-plane or the Hotel California: "You can check out any time you like... but you can never leave."
Thoughts on the cure-status thing... for consideration and violent discarding if ya'll hate it. 1. I wouldn't put Zeon in the snake-god-avatar fight. I think I'd have him seemingly killed on his own world in some majorly apochryphal (sp? ah, who cares) way. Then he slams down in Space Between much as Mal/Priyya did. Maybe we see him come down like a meteor and go to investigate it. This allows Dien to come up with a backstory that doesn't have to be tied to ours or be from the same world... which makes all of us go "what the hell is going on?"
2. Not that Zeon will have a lot of great options in this hell-scape (although I noticed Dien took Plane Shift - you sly boots :) ) but if you want to reinforce that we should all stick together - giving him (Zeon) the Cure-Status thing would definitely indicate we are all in the same boat and maybe there is purpose to our meeting. Just my thoughts.
Ya know I'm actually kind of surprised that Versatile Weapon is a Ranger but not a Druid spell. They shape-shift and have companions... seems like a 'very good thing to have' for them for boosting any natural attack. Ninja'd by Eben! Yeah, HL has some issues with mixing gestalt stuff together. Be sure to double-check that your FOB level is right. For me, it kept giving me the right bonus above BAB but gave me the FOB rate of a 12th level Monk. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to be throwing 5 attacks (pre-Ki) instead of 4 but...
The easiest way is for you to memorize this spell or get a potion with it:
and yeah, Greater Magic Fang beats Magic DR...
I just saw! My head is still spinning from that combo platter! :) FWIW, I haven't looked closely at your Monk archetype but I suspect that you should have 6 Stunning Fists per day not the 2 listed in your Special description... I think that is a HeroLab uh... 'feature'. Personally, I'm a fan of sorcerer blasters and don't believe they are below par. So I say 'rock on' and get down with your napalm-wielding hellbeast!
This is my first rule of spell-slinger high-level play... while your offensive spells against baddies may not be reliable (good saves, DR, resistances, immunities, yada yada yada) - the same is NOT true for your offensive buffs and team spells. :) Most baddies can't/won't stop you from buffing yourself, their defenses are designed to stop you from de-buffing them... which is why I love 'Haste' in preference to 'Slow' as baddy level increases. If you can't slow down the baddy's strikes, speed up yours to surpass his. I did make one judgment call on Priyya that could be contested rules-wise. According to Stunning Fist/Perfect strike, I get one/day "for each monk level and one/day for every two levels in any other class". Technically, I have 10 levels in WP which would count as +5 Perfect Strikes... but since this is gestalt, that seemed a little slimy, so I left her at the 10 Perfect Strikes for her Monk level and nothing else. Any other errors on her character sheet are due to my faulty rules memory or poor maths skills. Color me super-curious to see what Dien brings to the party! 10/10 gestalt (or whatever her blend) is just so great as a starting point, my brain overloads.
Also, glad you made it home safe! Now you will have to try some TX pastrami and weep at what you are missing. :P Priyya is, I think, totally done. I believe I have corrected some of the weird HeroLab anomalies for gestalting out WP and ZAM. Now that I have way more spells, if we are starting approximately where we left off - blank desserty place - we should re-look at how we split up Endure Elements, etc. I think I can take the lion share of our arrangements which should allow you to change your spells to a more aggressive or amusing tenor.
:Cue Survivor:
Priyya slaps electrical paddles to the chest of the game, "Breathe, damn you, breathe!"
Rednal, any limits on how we spend the cash? "No more than half on a single item" or any rules like that?
Very tempting and right up my preferred gaming alley... Given all the bennies (generous build, gestalt, and mythic) I'm inclined to not go fancy on classes and optimizing. I'll be submitting an unconventional Paladin of Sarenrae/Zen Archer Monk. She's more personality than power-gaming and is more of a pragmatic crusader than a holy-roller spouting sacred writ. She doesn't preach, letting her actions speak for her and she has something of a love/hate relationship with her deity. If any of that raises a red flag for you, please let me know. The char sheet I'm using here is a high level version of her. I'll tone her down and change the feats/feat order some.
Priyya staggers under the weight of what she can only imagine is the equivalent of being simultaneously bitten by a half dozen razor-toothed sharks. Let's see if my bite is any better. The Paladin summons the power of Sarenrae in two waves of light before healing herself with another touch. STANDARD Action: MOVE Action: SWIFT Action:
Priyya watches her sister swipe at the invisible creature. "Good girl, keep on that one! Let's get to your brother. We'll fight better together." In the end, the choice of targets is easy. If we get overrun, we lose. We need to take them down one at a time. Until they swarm us... then I've got another surprise for them. Priyya slowly advances towards Mal while unleashing a hail of arrows at the Bone-Daddy he is grappling.
BOOM:
FULL -
Priyya sidesteps 5' closer to Mal and Tal. "These things are some strange form of undead, Mal. My arrows don't have as much bite as they should. Your claws may suffer the same way. I know you want to go and play with them, but let me see if I can drop one with this volley before you charge in." The Paladin calls an anathema on the smaller bone-daddy shielding the growing one. Holy power infuses her limbs and glowing arrows fly from her bow towards the huddled creature.
BOOM: FULL -
With a growing frown, Priyya watches the strange creatures keep coming, even bracketed by arrows. She takes a small step towards Mal and watches the creatures more closely, noting the bones and symbols. She plays with the fletching on her arrow and growls, "What the HELL are these things? Undead? Golems? Both? Let's stand together... they look mindless. They probably aren't spellcasters. Normally, I'd say live and let live but, in this case, I'm thinking live and let DIE! Light them up, Mal!" Priyya unleashes a torrent of arrows at the Bone-Daddy rushing towards Mal, gauging the effectiveness of piercing arrows against the skeletal creatures.
BOOM: FULL -
NOTE: If they are evil or affected by Holy weapons - they take +2d6 per hit
Priyya notes the one altering course and the odd mechanical movement. "It seems that fellow on the right likes me a whole lot. Let's see if I can get him to check his stride." She rains arrows down in front of the creature - trying to drop them as close as possible without hitting it. Every arrow seems to take on a life of its own, landing in a loose grouping that Priyya considers embarrassingly sloppy. She gives her bow a stern look, like someone may have switched it out with a warped version while she slept. FULL -
Priyya watches the figures for another long moment before calling out to her companions. "Mal! Looks like this beach isn't empty; company is coming. You ever seen creatures like that?" The Paladin tries to put a name to these strange stubby-legged creatures or hopes Mal can. She tests her bow's pull and strokes the knocked arrow's fletching absent-mindedly. She stands a bit apart from Mal and Tal, providing multiple targets just in case, and awaits the approach of the odd creatures.
Priyya watches Eagle-Mal fly off as the words Chicken Legs finally registers. Death... The Kelesh Archer finds her bow in hand, an arrow knocked, and the black eagle in her sights.
Priyya considers the shot for a moment then puts down her bow. She regards the big cat, "Do me a favor... give him a fur-ball or something when he gets back."
After Mal returns and voices his suggestion, Priyya nods in assent. "I think that's a good plan. There's no hurry to reach that whatever it is. Let's stay by the cooler water and firmer sand as long as we can."
Priyya pats the big cat affectionately and defends her furry sister. "She gave me far less problems than you do on a daily basis. And I'll pass on your generous offer to give me feathers permanently... I'm sure that is a prelude to scoring yourself a chicken dinner."
Priyya watches, with a touch of envy, the flawless landing and seamless transition from bird to man. She rests her hands on her hips and gives Mal the sourest expression she can manage though she doesn't stop grinning. "Showoff!" She tosses him the wineskin and waits until he's seated in the shade before saying anything. Being able to track the Druid's progress over such a long distance gives her a curious sense of security. She isn't nearly as anxious as she would have been otherwise waiting for hours to hear word, even if his report is not encouraging. "I don't believe it. No life? How is that possible? Life exists everywhere... even in the bowels of Hell. It is practically a multiplanar constant. Wherever we are, it can't be a natural world or we are wrapped in an illusion or something." The Paladin frowns, clearly trying to puzzle this strangeness out. "So, were there any bends in the coastline? Did it look natural? Could we maybe follow the coast and still head towards that stormcloud or whatever it was?"
Priyya reflexively smooths her robe as she stews on their choices. "I'd like to know what that stormcloud is. Maybe we should just rest up tonight. Tomorrow, if you're willing to do another scouting run, you can see if it has moved any. If it hasn't drifted or vanished - it probably isn't a storm, at least not a natural one."
Priyya watches the Mal-Eagle take flight, wondering what it feels like to be a bird. Tangentially, it strikes her that she doesn't know the range of this odd Status ability. Within her mind, she reaches out to the strange foreign Mal-fragment, trying to feel when the connection is lost as she watches him fly away. She shakes off the strange set of dual-emotions. The small Paladin pulls her bow and knocks an arrow in a motion more fluid than any of her teachers'. She follows the eagle, providing cover for as long as she can. This place seems lifeless... but I'd rather not risk finding out about another aerial predator in an explosion of eagle feathers.
Well, Goodberry is out because it says 'fresh' berries - splitting the difference between fluff and crunch. Luckily, Grove of Respite works because all you need is a single drop of water. We've got that, no problem. And you get Goodberries out of it in the bargain! We just have to make a point of eating while we are in the grove to ensure we don't starve at any point. Regarding the 'who can cast' question... Dream Feast actually lists Desna in the crunch area which is why I'd definitely take that seriously. That brings us back to the question - does the Deity specified applies to all casters? I'm OK going with 'yes' on that, it just seems to hamper Druids more than anyone else for certain Deities. :shrug: Bottom-line - we aren't going to starve but it could cost you a 5th level spell slot to keep us in food. :) The additional benefit - since we could camp in the Grove each day or night and it seems to reduce the elemental conditions - we could rest in the grove to cut the heat so you wouldn't need to stock up on additional Endure Elements spells.
Goodberry is out but Abstemiousness might be OK. It doesn't list a deity requirement (unlike Dream Feast). And the other thing is... I'm not sure those deity requirements apply to Druids. I think they might just apply to Clerics and Paladins. Most Druids are going to take nature deities or a larger 'spirit of nature' approach - not someone like Irori or Desna. So the Deity requirement would all but eliminate Druids from having any of those spells. In that case, why even bother to list them as possibles?
From the Druid list... Abstemiousness - Possible, doesn't say you have to be a follower of Irori.
This is why I love full casters... they are the Swiss Army Knife of characters! EDIT - upon further reading Goodberry is out.
Not a problem. Work continues to be 'interesting'.
I've updated Priyya's spell list. The bold ones are the ones currently memorized. I'll be switching these a bit in the morning (game time).
Mal gets a playfully skeptical look, "And how would you suggest we test it?" Priyya's dark eyes sparkle. "That easy. After I'm rested, I beat the crap outta you. Then I try to heal you from a distance. If you're still bruised, well, we'll know I was wrong. And you get to keep some lumps as a painful reminder that you should think carefully before following such a hare-brained scheme." Mal must be sharing her thoughts because he looks at the last bite of dried meat in his hand, then back at the water, then at Priyya. "Today has been nice... if a bit mysterious. But unless you have some trail rations in your kit, I only have enough food to feed us for another five or six days - and that's being really careful. I don't know what to expect in terms of foraging or hunting here. We need a plan, and I'm not sure time is on our side." Priyya eyes their meager resources. She doesn't even have a backpack, just a wineskin full of water. "I don't have a kit, let alone rations, Mal. Foraging, even if possible, will slow us down. So the basic problems are food, water, and the temperature. If we cross that slice of Hell," She casts an eye on the endless rolling dunes, "We'll cook during the day and freeze at night. Yep... If we were regular folks, it'd be time to lay down and die." She grins, "Fortunately, we aren't normal. Between the two of us, I'm quite certain we have enough magic to solve all of these issues. We just have to make it through dawn tomorrow. Sarenrae will provide what I need and I'm sure you'll get a bit of divine inspiration as well." "For now, I think we should dig a communal pit in the sand a bit closer to the water. We can set up a lean-to using my robe and sword, to stave off the sun. That will keep us cooler til sunset. When it gets cold, the pit will keep in our heat and we can snuggle through the night. I got dibs on being in the middle. Between Tal - that furry furnace - and you, I should be quite comfortable. Tomorrow, we can figure out what course to set. Can you take the shape of bird? It would be great if we could get a bird's eye view of the surroundings - might help us pick a course. Barring that, I say we stick to the coast and hope."
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