Pygmalion's page

Oh yeah, one last thing: before we get to downtime, I think one of the party members had the brilliant idea to mix the two sinister fluids in the Catacombs of Wrath together because SURELY something like that would neutralize the runewell (not too far off, actually). Now I have to figure out a "bang" which isn't too big.

PPS: Meanwhile, Walja created his first sinspawn and, since it started out docile, he tried to adopt it, giving it the name "Skippy". Although the experiment failed, he has put some of the runewell fluid in his waterskin in an effort to secure a ready-made wrathspawn. I'm thinking that the powder it reduces to might provide special ingredients for a batch of "liquid ice", but we'll see.

Then, after some downtime around town, during which Banquo "Banny" Harker ruthlessly heckles the PCs with an east-coasty accent, Earaldor puts his future with Shalelu on the line with some drinks at the bar and the infamously dubious elven prophylactics in his pocket, Larz Rovanky attempts to convert the head of Malfeshnekor into a "BA" headdress, Brer Reynardin meets both of Shayliss' "Vinders" (and her dad's knockers), imprisoned Kyrie Akenja attempts suicide after still-free Scivver gets nixed by lam-living Nualia, N K seeks out an underground fight club (while the GM reviews Ultimate Combat), Heath finally gets his lynx familiar and gets his bookkeeping done, and Walja, breaking away to resume his quest to find his very elusive, very dangerous part-orc, part-Shoanti warlord-turned-loner father, risks being conned by Mortwell, Hask, and Tabe.

After that, it's Whodunit Time, mythic ascension or no mythic ascension, working for the law or perhaps even someone else of a shadier nature but with "community service" in mind.

PS: ... and a good group of players. I've got everything from a fellow A&A fan and Kriegsspieler ... to a Homeric co-author of his first (very high) fantasy novel who is suspicious of anything which is drawn from my ample collection of Paizo-published materials rather than purely from my imagination ... to a guy whose folks searched his apartment and threw away over $100 of Paizo materials plus dice which I bought him because of the jackchickery into which I was also raised. Most of us are over 20. One is as young as 15.

As a couple of Calabrian (southern Italian) guys I met in a youth hostel in Donostia / San Sebastian, Basque Country (Spain side) would say, it's "mbelot".

The Death of a Quasit

By Earaldor Irolas, Slayer of Malfeshnekor, the champion ranger-barbarian elf inhabited by the hamr (freewheeling soul -- subject of my MA thesis) of Otrix Riparianus Underbankdweller O'Feyaireeny, esq. the feyishly barbarian river-gnome of the otter totem and self-styled hero (currently on walkabout as a cockroach); Walja the rogue-fighter less-than-half-orc, half-elf; the "Heath-Treader", sardonic, substance-abusing ranger-elementalist (wood) "half-elf" (nearly a mongrelman); Deirdra the cleric-druid (Pharasma, owl totem) gnome on anti-Bleaching quest; "Brer Reynardin" the summoner-ninja (kitsune trickster) kitsune, now a celebrity among the Varisians (& odd rhinoceros-pangolin thing with crazy jaws); N. K. the pocket-plane-dwelling mobile fighter-ninja human member of an assassin cult with glowing tattoos ... and Snotmuffin, a reformed goblin

Inheriting my GM mantle from my roommate, I wound up bringing a party of 6 PCs at APL 3 + a de-eviled goblin named Snotmuffin with butterfly wings (a "joke" by Desna -- long story, I'll tell it another time) + Shalelu to the supposedly "cleared" Catacombs of Wrath by way of a tour.

Shalelu on behalf of Hemlock/Viskalai, Deverin & Co had wanted to show the PCs the minor runewell, hoping that they could tell her something about it she didn't know (i.e. everything about it, beyond being triangular, orange, cold, & bubbly). My roommate, the previous GM, had Erylium in collusion with Nualia & Co using the wrathful souls taken from a full-out goblin assault on Sandpoint to create a second wave in the form of sinspawn. Shalelu & her ranger-y posse took them out along with a very damaged & deranged Tsuto Kaijitsu and (my explanation) caused Erylium to hide instead of using the runewell right away. One sinspawn, lurking in the smugglers' tunnels, wandered out the night of the fight and met a couple of newer members to our group (Minkai-an kitsune summoner and extra-planar human fighter-ninja) out for an evening stroll in a subdued Sandpoint, post goblin invasion. Meanwhile, Shalelu's posse looted the vestries on either side of the apsidal sanctuary, leaving behind the magically preserved red vestments of the wrath-priests, a few extra ranseurs (besides those on the ground), and perhaps one or two other items of loot. The runewell, and, with it, the path to mythic ascension for the rest of the party, besides our absurdly lucky, minesweeper full-elf, "Al" (or "Buddy").

Since then, Erylium had risked the dwindling potency of the runewell to make a couple more sinspawn to guard the runewell, at least, for a little spice to what was supposed to be an encounter involving more problem-solving and negotiation with rivals than wall-running and other hi-jinks (mais, c'est la guerre).

And this, ladies and gentlehobbits, is how Erylium died:

1. Due to postponements of turns (mostly on the part of allied characters played by me), Earaldor the mythic elf with super speed and the ability to shoot while moving and bypass DR jumps and rolls into one vestry, while jumping he successfully shoots into the correct square (cube) containing the invisible quasit and hits her, dealing 5 points of damage which does not get reduced.

2. Erylium fails concentration check, becomes visible.

3. Erylium later becomes invisible, shape-changes, and uses spells on enemies in between creating new sinspawn, including one with the "advanced creature" template to represent the influence of Tsuto's somewhat-exaggerated anger and malice. Erylium cannot entirely escape attacks (which she reduces) as long as she remains in the room, especially as long as she tries to maintain access to the runewell, even though she and Orm the wren use their flight to draw her enemies away.

4. Finally, brought below 20 hp and with the last sinspawn she dares to make dead, Erylium flees toward the spiral staircase leading down, hoping to hide in a crevasse with her little bird-buddy and wait things out.

5. Earaldor, Reynardin, the Thing, Snotmuffin (who, like Erylium for a moment, thinks Reynardin is an envoy of Lamashtu), N. K. with his bastard sword (we'll call it "Lady-Killer") and Naffer Vosk with a blazing cutlass (he led Quink, Quink's Azlanti-looking butler & Ilsoari into the tunnels to look around in the interests of archaeology just behind our party) ... chase Erylium, whom I concede is bleeding a bit.

6. Earaldor runs so fast (being mythic) that he runs into the flying quasit (invisible and in raven form) from behind and causes her to become visible again. She becomes a wolf, freezes the annoying elf. (I gave Erylium three beast forms to go with her advanced status (raven, centipede, wolf).) N K gives her a big hack with his sword near the body of Koruvus, and she flees again, changing into a centipede in order to crawl to safety amid the rubble.

7. After much talk, the now-thawed Earaldor (obsessed with hallucinogenic amphibians) and Reynardin come up with the idea of summoning a celestial poison dart frog (in place of the Thing) and sending it into the cracks of doom to scout around despite efforts by the GM to make them seem especially doom-y.

8. GM has quasit-centipede eat celestial frog. She fails save, takes enough damage to begin dying.

9. Erylium expires while group decides what to do. Orm (still "magic beast"?) flies away, evading capture.

Epilogue: GM allows bare Int check with "aid another" in response from request by perplexed RP-oriented player of N K to reflect the characters "putting their heads together". Earaldor, Brer Reynardin & Naffer Vosk successfully roll to "aid another" and N K, with the highest Int modifier, rolls. Snotmuffin wonders what invisible centipede-demon tastes like while he solemnly recites his useless incantation "Winkle, winkle" and waves his non-magical stick.

The GM hastily tries to think of things to say in the event of a successful check. Maybe something about Naffer's trusty spade?

N K, with a cumulative modifier of +8, rolls a natural 1. GM rules that N K, despite better ideas from the others, decides to just put his hand in the centipede hole and feel around like a complete DA (not "district attorney").

Roll Perception.

Natural 20.

N K grabs the dead quasit, pulls her out, and it's loot time.

___

So, the moral of the story, boys and girls, is that in order to kill a quasit-witch all one needs is Mythic Adventures, someone who can summon poison frogs, and an insane d20.

Thanks, guys. Really, with the specific meaning of "heal naturally" cleared up, it all makes much more sense. I just needed to conceptualize a little more. I will confess that I am, as yet, new to tabletop RPG-ing (but learning quickly).

Thanks, everyone! I've been scouring the printed materials on this subject on behalf of a new player who has opted to be a kitsune summoner with a typical front-line built eidolon (so far, something between a rhinoceros and a pangolin, but relying for now on "bite"). Our GM (my roommate) flies on autopilot most of the time, that is, he keeps prep to a minimum and hopes that Rise and some iPad aps will cover his butt. As the junior GM and probable eventual GM (should he get hired and move out in the next couple of months), I do most of the leg-work keeping the gang together and informed. I have also GM-ed intro encounters for new players. Among them is this summoner. In addition, one of the goofier NPCs I built is classed as a summoner (disguised nixie summoner-druid-ninja).

I've put off the problem of eidolon therapy for a while, but as we prepare to release this summoner-eidolon duo into the wild of Rise of the Runelords at the conclusion of "Burnt Offerings", for the sake of this player and my GM/roommate, I'd like to have some clarity before proceeding. This thread has already helped tremendously, but I'd just like to confirm a few points.

First off, from the books I have gathered that "dead" eidola return at half hp, no sooner than 24 hrs later, with the exception of the "Summon Eidolon" spell, which might provide a sort of Star-Wars-y dialogue ("Use the Farce, Tartuffe!"). I have inferred that, whatever is meant by "healing naturally", "Cure" spells/potions and divine energy channeling work as normal. Moreover, there is nothing that would indicate that an eidolon experiences 0 hp or negative hp differently than a usual creature -- e.g. its master.

But, here's the problem: unless there is some other way to heal an eidolon, the summoner and/or another healer in the party have to use up precious spell slots to heal the eidolon whenever it takes damage. That is such a hindrance that I know it can't be right. Furthermore, if "Rejuvenate" spells are so indispensable, why are they on a spell list to be selected rather than automatically available as a spell-like or supernatural ability? Finally, it seems then that full hp, especially if max hp is high, is almost unattainable.

To this the above commentators have replied that "Heal" skill checks are also valid. This is a big relief. Summoners (and their comrades) can tend to wounded eidola on the Field of Mars Gorum and in triage units -- e.g. Uncle Abstalar's Temple of Whatever You Need It to Be. Maybe, just maybe, we can get those hp back up to their maximum.

So, let's look at some scenarios:

Scenario A. The eidolon is reduced to -4 hp and is bleeding out some kind of crazy, phosphorescent goop. It has a couple rounds left before it vanishes. If the master has an open spell slot and a "Rejuvenate Eidolon" spell known, then he/she could obviously try to bring his/her buddy back into the fray. If not ... what then?

Presumably, if dismissed, the eidolon will return (even if summoned two years later) at -4 hp and it may or may not still be bleeding out oozy goop (not ichor -- that's for gods and zombies). The upshot of this is that it can be done sooner than 24 hrs later, but the downside is that, especially with a low-level summoner, the healing spell (or cleric's healing burst) might only heal a few points.

I can see this being the intention of the game designers, I just would like to confirm that this is what we're dealing with.

Scenario B. The summoner is at 7th level (of the class), and the eidolon has benefited well from the luck of the cast, if only in respect to hp. This 6-HD monstrosity has a max hp total of over 50! The summoner, however, has opted to select 2-3 level-3 spells other than "Rejuvenate Eidolon". Maybe the summoner has "Lesser Rejuvenate Eidolon" -- let's give her/him the benefit of the doubt. Still, what with the fortune of war and all (e.g. lots of giants with two-handed weapons and stompy feet), this seeming "tank" of an eidolon has been brought so low as to be forced back to its home plane. Now what?

In 24+ hours, assuming the stompy giants and rampaging froghemoths haven't had the master (and his stand-in celestial grizzly) for lunch in the meantime, the eidolon will come back at, we'll say, 27 out of 54 hp. From there on, it needs to be the subject of healing bursts, healing spells (including the aforementioned "Lesser Rejuvenate Eidolon"), and skill checks in order to get up to the full 54 hp.

If that's how it is meant to be, that's cool. I'm just not sure if I'm missing something.