Background skills and expanded skills (pages 46-53)
Alternate crafting and profession rules (pages 72-81)
Skill unlocks (pages 82-87) (if I can use the suggested Signature Skill feat on on page 82 since I'm not a rogue)
Wild magic (pages 147-148)
Overclocked spells (page 148; I will run this with the wild magic, so if you fail, you'll get a wild magic event)
Esoteric components (pages 150-155; the "optional" variant)
Automatic bonus progression (pages 156-157)
Dynamic magic item creation (pages 180-191)
Background:
Razule was a kid snatched up by Lamm's goons back when he was very young. Since then he's been trained and abused by the fickle man. He spent his life as a Little Lamm doing his best to take the brunt of Lamm's anger and save the younger kids from it as much as he could. As a result, he's covered in scars he's proud to have.
A few years after his capture Razule found an old, battered book of alchemy recipes and tried them out in secret with the materials he could steal. He was caught trying to sell these potions and, after yet another beating, forced to make them day in and day out with less than suitable materials. He never received any thanks or payment, but he knew better than to expect any by now. His work has gotten him a sort of acquaintanceship with a local alchemist(Jerak Archecal, who is also a trained healer) that buys the potions Lamm sells.
His thievery has also gotten him noticed by two people. One is a nice even lady(Kayanna Elistairy) who owns a bakery he tried to swipe food for theLittle Lamm's from, and one is the old ex-captain of the city guard, a gruff Korvosan named Flint. Lamm shamed Flint long ago, and now no one will believe the old man's rants about Gaedren's criminal activities.
Years of work later, Razule is now accomplished alchemist despite the lack-luster conditions and supplies, Raz seeks to find some way to free himself from Lamm's control.
And that means getting the Little Lamms free first...
A simple idea, really. A little Lamm that has gotten sick of being treated so badly and is, under protest, still forced to work for Gaedren even after gaining the skills he could use to support himself easily.
He shrugged and sat down. "Meditation was kinda boring, but I enjoyed light blades okay. It was better than meditation anyways," he said, rolling his eyes. "How about you?"
"Alchemy was pretty weird, I think that Professor Yrrum is more than a little insane. I liked it though. History made me almost fall asleep. Twice. I have something called "gunkata" after lunch. That should be interesting. So far I like it here."
Im going to put that "little insane" bit to rest. I'm plenty more that "a little" insane! ;)
"So I dabbled a bit in the body's inner workings, who cares? No one complained when the homeless vanished! Or the brothel ladies! Heh, it was illegal anyway, but selling your body didn't mean the same thing to them as it did me..."
A bit of a twist on a kid alchemist of mine. This one just didn't manage to get a home in time, and had to experiment in his own way, without a lab. He's an adult for this game, as I'm not sure I could rp a truly evil kid.
Okay, that is one of the grosser abilities out there....*shudder*
The rest of the group gets an action before I advance to the next round. That would be Dom, Dave, Settro, and Tyrrin. So far all folks have done is talk so you all still have a round worth of actions.
One of the best spells I've ever used. I think skinsend is grosser though.
The attacking townsfolk all start to withdraw at once, but it looks like they're massing for one big wave of attacks rather than retreating.
Hoping to distract some of them at least, Razule drinks a potion and immediately begins to vomit up hundreds if not thousands of wasps, all of which stick together as the speed towards the townsfolk.
"It's a virus, a gorram sentient virus! It developes immunities extremely fast! We'll have to contain it and cure everyone at once or it will just come back stronger an impervious to whatever we used on it in the first place!"
Casting a glance at the students as he waits for the results of his testing, Professor Yrrum loads his crossbow with another bolt and fires, putting a little extra into the ammunition as he does so.
Attack:1d20 + 30 ⇒ (18) + 30 = 48 Nonlethal Damage:1d8 + 5 + 1d6 ⇒ (3) + 5 + (1) = 9 Nonlethal Bomb Damage:10d6 + 10 ⇒ (6, 4, 1, 6, 5, 4, 3, 4, 3, 6) + 10 = 52 Splash damage is 20, DC 30 Reflex Save for half. In addition, any hit by the bomb and the splash damage must make a DC 30 Fort save or be blinded for one minute(dazzled for one minute on a successful save). Finally, they are all effected by Caging Bomb Strike I'm aiming for the middle of a group of nine if possible.
All members of the away team who have come in physical contact with an affected townsfolk make a DC 35 Fort save.
Also, if I could please have a quick recap of who is where. Settro is grappling one of the people who have gone crazy. Dom was trying to get away from an old woman. And I don't remember exactly where Prof Yrrum or Dave or Tyrrin were in the combat.
I was counting on the others to keep the infected away from me while I worked on figuring out what I could from the blood sample Settro got me. If I need to make a save for that, I'm okay with it.
"Keep them back while I work." With a vial of blood to work with, Yrrum puts his crossbow away and starts pulling what looks like equipment of a miniaturized floating lab. He begins his analysis quickly.
Looking around, Razule finds a good spot and climbs up to a roof with one hand. He takes aim at the next biggest group of attackers and fires, vial shattering to spray it's contents over them
Attack:1d20 + 30 ⇒ (4) + 30 = 34vs. the square closest to the center's AC 5 DC 25 Reflex Save or be entangle by a Sovereign Glue Tanglefoot Bag, 20ft radius.
"Subdue, then figure out what's going on." The alchemy teacher says as he pulls out a modified crossbow and loads a vial into it. "try to prevent death, okay?"
"They're only going to figure out the symptoms and catalog them for future reference. Your work of art is yours alone as far as the school is concerned. We just want to be ready in case someone gets poisoned accidentally. Don't want your own poison turning on you again, do we?"
"... and that is why you don't eat in my class." Professor Yrrum explains, reversing the mutation of the offending student. "You are all dismissed."
Meanwhile the machine analyzing the poison beeps.40% chance:1d100 ⇒ 95
"My this is a vicious poison you made." Looking over the list Razzle is shocked Renkai survived making it. He pulls the tray open and removes both vials. "Here's you go, your poison and the antidote, ready to use for non nefarious purposes I hope."
"I make sure all my student's learn how to mix poison the same way before they get access to the machine. Never know when you'll need to mix without the machine, and if you don't know how it could cost you your life."
"May I test the machine? I have a poison that i concocted with ingredients both magical and mundane... I want to see if it truly can produce an antitoxin as you claim it can..." Renkai asks politely
Even I couldnt come up with an antidote for this... its Hellfire venom combined with belladonna, strained with purple watsu beans and...(list continues)... its rediculously dangerous... and an antidote should prove useful
"Be my guest. I love seeing my machines challenged!" Raz presses a few buttons on the machine, setting it to "Process -> Antidote" and pulling open a small tray. "Just put the poison in there and we'll have the results shortly. We may have to wait until class is over though." He adds, glancing over his shoulder at the students showing up for Advanced Alchemy.
"I make sure all my student's learn how to mix poison the same way before they get access to the machine. Never know when you'll need to mix without the machine, and if you don't know how it could cost you your life."
Just familiarizing myself with the setup of your laboratory.... I am an artesian of the venomous arts, specializing in 3 to 5 step poisons..." Renkai says while examining the unfamiliar machine
"Then you won't want that machine. It separates and combines DNA strands. You'd be more interested in this one." Professor Yrrum walks over to another machine with tubes going in and out of it. "It can make synthetic versions of any natural poisons it processes, and antidotes for any poison, natural or not."
Renkai... Who is currently examining an extremely complex machine in the back of the room is still waiting, having lost interest in just standing around
"My apologies, I forgot you were here. New assistant excitement and all. Not every day I get someone to help with my alchemical experiments this easily. Did you need anything before class started?"
"Settro. His words were something like- "with who your previous teacher was, i doubt you would get much from even advanced alchemy". It was my idea to assist you, as there are unique styles to every alchemist,and I love to learn more about them. Overall, despite how most see you, I see "crazy" is somewhat of a requirement among alchemists like us."
Yrrum laughs.
"I think you and are going to get along just fine! Come on, I need to go over the lab one more time anyway, might as well show you what I've got to work here. You can call me Raz if you want, by the way."
"He said that, did he? Well, I'll deal with that later. I am Professor Yrrum, and you must be new here if you are offering to be my assistant. People think I am a little crazy you see, nevermind the fact that they learn more that way... Ah, I don't believe I caught your name. Seems like I should know that if you're going to assist me."
Yes, do that! *rummages through a room marked "Authorized Personal Only"* I'd loved the chance to try and cure magically self-induced blindness as soon as you enter my classroom!
Poison immunity doesn't protect you from having your genes messed with ;)
depends on the method you are using. flesh-crafting is poison, so that doesn't work.
Fleshcrafting is to my Alchemy class what Band-Aids are to Medical School. We've got far more advanced stuff here at Avalon, I'm proud to say. You have any idea how close I was to reversing vampirism with SCIENCE?
Oh, Ehos, you are mistaken! I encourage students to eat during class! Why, do you have any idea how difficult it is to convince them to volunteer to be the day's lesson in reversing spontaneous mutation? It's much easier to slip it in their food when they aren't looking.
Plus, it teaches them an important lesson about not paying attention to their food or drink. What if one of those mad scientists were teaching the class instead of me?
I am so glad I took alchemy, that is your class right, likewise I am glad I permananced detect poision despite my immunity
Oh, Ehos, you are mistaken! I encourage students to eat during class! Why, do you have any idea how difficult it is to convince them to volunteer to be the day's lesson in reversing spontaneous mutation? It's much easier to slip it in their food when they aren't looking.
Plus, it teaches them an important lesson about not paying attention to their food or drink. What if one of those mad scientists were teaching the class instead of me?
Razule looked at the tavern, Annie's Axe, with a tourist's eye. It was a nice enough looking place, fairly new but still a little weather-worn. One window was new, evidence of a recent bar fight. The tavern itself was only one third of the way full, indicating this time of day wasn't the busiest. A pity.
Next he looked at it with a trained thief's eye. There was a door in the alley that didn't appear locked. The roof was slightly higher, no more than a few inches, than the other building nearby and had a well-hidden hatch on one side. It was likely that was were the rooftop runners got in and out. The windows on the bottom floor weren't unusual, but the ones on the second floor had bars in front of them. The bars themselves Annie likely stayed in those. The bars' dullness told Raz they were acid resistant, so melting them to get in wasn't an option. He'd have to do this the old fashioned way.
He walked in a ordered a drink, smiling at the elf behind the bar. She hadn't changed a bit. Of course, what was twenty years to an elf?
"You look familiar, do I know you?" She asked.
"Maybe once, Annastirna Nalioye, when I was a child." He watched as her eyes widened. Only her thieves knew her real name. Who was this man? None of her former 'children' would be so well dressed. They were dead or locked up. All of them except...
"Razule." She said, shocked. She'd been told some man in red had caught him picking a pocket and sent him away.
"Only two people get to call me that, and you aren't one of them anymore." Raz replied, flashing a dagger. "It's a nice little headquarters you've got her. Would be a shame for it to get wrecked."
"If you really are Razule, you know better than to threaten me."
"One of your kids would, maybe, but I'm not one of yours anymore." He takes a vial from his sleeve and sets it gently on the bar. "Call me Razule just one more time, and this place burns. I know enough to expose you to the city guard and get several of your former thieves in prison let out. They would likely get a say in how you are punished for your crimes."
"You wouldn't dare." She snarled, keeping her voice down so her legitimate patrons don't hear. Raz just chuckles lightly.
"Already did. You're getting slow, Annie. You didn't even notice when I nicked your finger with the dagger. Nice little paralysis poison on it too. Numbs the cut so you can't feel it."
"You.. bast..." The elven thief struggled to say. The poison was already working it's way through her blood stream, keeping her in place while Raz sipped his drink and watched for the guard. For once, they weren't late. Raz had just pulled a thorn from their side with his information, and had gotten a lot of innocent children out of slavery disguised as caring. He remembered just how loyal he and his crew had been to her, and realized that loyalty was the reason he had waited so long to do this. Even now, even after so many years, Raz was still a guttersnipe at heart...
True to his word, he went to the town square to meet the now ex-thieves. There were a lot more than he had expected, but it made sense since the Axe had been such a large tavern. He explained Avalon in detail and how they wouldn't have to be criminals anymore. Far more than he liked left at that, preferring the life of a thief, but he didn't try to stop them. Unlike Annie, he wouldn't take their choice away. Still, Avalon had near fifteen new students, all with some strange talent or another, carefully nurtured by Annie to better suit her purposes. None of her thieves were without something that would have landed them in Avalon eventually.
Feeling both drained and somehow feeling much lighter, Raz began the walk back to Avalon, a whole class' worth of new students following him.
He kept wondering if Ephebe was going to be okay with her teaching job once she knew how many more she'd be teaching...
Most of the city was the same, though some change wasn't unexpected. He hadn't been here for nearly two decades now, but somethings never change.
So he walked around Kuros, waiting.
He had to wait a little longer than he expected, but he heard the faint notes that barely registered among the usual noise of the city. Moving only his eyes, he glanced up and spotted the thin guttersnipe running along the rooftops. Slipping into an alley unnoticed, Razule quickly and instinctively finds handholds and climbs up to the roof.
"Nice to know I haven't lost my touch." He thinks as he follows the boy. He watches as the little thief plays another string of notes on a brass flute, and he spots the ones down blow that respond to it. It is a simply setup, one designed to distract the target(or targets) even more with a faked fight. These children had been taught well.
But apparently not well enough. As the theft drew to a close, he grabbed the flutist by the collar and clapped a hand over his mouth, muffling the scream.
"I am not going to hurt you, but you are going to help me." He whispered to the thief. "I'm here for Annie." The boy's widening eyes confirmed Raz's suspicions. "Good, you're one of hers then. I'm going to let you go now, and if you don't run I'll give you and your friends down there each and gold piece. I just want to know where she is nowadays."
The boy was quite informative. Loyal though he was to the lady who took him in, the thought of gold was too much for his young mind to bear parting with. With the promise of a safe place to live for him and his friends if he went to the old library in an hour, Raz let him go. He wasn't about to lie to a brother after all.
"It's been a while." Raz thought as he started the walk toward Kuros. "How long ago was it that I picked Tamrin's pocket and Ryo caught me?"
That was a day Raz wouldn't forget anytime soon. He'd meekly followed the flying kitten to Ryo's house and nearly tripped over himself when he discovered the small-ish lab. The crush he'd had(and still did to a point) for the ever kindhearted Adsila back then, and for Aananda later that night. He still wasn't sure if either of them knew about it.
But he wasn't going to Kuros to reminisce. Not exactly.
So this calendar thing explains why the photography club kidnapped me while I was walking back to my room? They giggled a lot. Mostly about the boxers....Girls are weird.
*thoughtful expression*
That might explain where the ex-ray vision elixirs went...
"Ha, I messed up one of those weird adult of yours, didn't I?" Raz asks as he follows Fealix out into the rain. "So who we helping, and is it worth being in the rain?"
