Storm Dragon's page

"Oh..errr...yeah, about that. Remember when we passed by that prick Bruno's place and I went off to take a whizz? I kinda...snatched somethin' from him on my way back."

He scratches the back of his head and looks down. "I just wanted to get Luccia somethin' for her birthday comin' up. And when I saw Bruno'd just left his back door open, and I remembered Luccia was lookin' at this when every time we went by and...I know it was dumb. But he deserved it! And I didn't figure the guards'd finger us for it...guess I was wrong. Sorry."

He takes the bundle out of his pocket and hands it over to Luccia. "Uhhh...happy birthday? Even though it's not for a little while yet."

Inside is a dagger in a well-crafted leather sheathe; the hilt is wrapped in a braided steel pattern, with a triangle-cut onyx set in the pommel.

So I'd already planned for this to be a nice knife for Luccia, but wasn't sure how acquiring items went and was gonna Pm to ask for GM adjudication...but turns out Skiff's default character sheet has a "beautiful stolen dagger" on it already lol.

This seems goofy, I'll think of something to throw together.

Skiff's eyes widen when the guard corner them, and he guiltily fingers the small bundle in his coat pocket.

As they flee for their lives, he manages to pant out: [b]"I think they're after me, Gem! I thought I got out clean and I didn't thinktheyweregonnacomeaftermefurritand-*cough* *pant*"[b] he starts babbling, then chokes off a bit as panic sets in.

He chances a glance back at the pursuing guards, and immediately regrets it. He's not sure exactly what beef the one with the mustache has with Gemma, but he'd seen some of the other neighborhood kids after the man had gotten done with them. And he looks like he really means business this time.

I will have a post up later today, just figured I'd check in.

Let's go with this alias for "Ratter", who shall now be dubbed "Skiff". He used to make his way as a cabin boy, but could never quite get his sea legs under him. He earned his nickname from how fast he was always able to run to the side of the boat when he was sick; skiffs are notably fast, small watercraft and are associated with smugglers and pirates for this reason.

Skiff looks around to make sure nobody's paying attention, shivering in the late autumn breeze.

"Why d'you always get to go up first, Gem? The rest of us don't want to catch our death of cold either!"

Nevertheless, Skiff braces against the wall and cups his hands out for Gemma. His stomach rumbles and he licks his lips a bit as he thinks about their new windfall. His face falls once he thinks it through a bit further.

"Them fruits are gonna be good eatin' tonight, but I dunno how long they're gonna last us for. Last harvest should be coming in any day now. We're gonna need to pull together some scratch if we're gonna make it another winter."

Alongside the other spoilers in the Campaign Description, would you mind putting the link(s) to the ruleset and pregens for easy reference?

Speaking of the players, are the folks other than Sir Longears and G-unit still around and interested in playing?

Yep! I've just been lurking.

Never heard of this system before, but the concept sounds fun. I was interested in both Gemma and Ratter, but as we already have a Gemma I will gladly take Ratter if you're looking for a 4th.

Not a fan of the name, so I'll be changing it...likely to one of my currently defunct aliases since this is supposed to be a short campaign. Khatef would be the closest fit thematically but you'd have to overlook his eponym as he was from a Godbound game.

Life happens, no worries. New baby about to drop here, so I've been quite busy myself.

Do NOT drop the baby, bro!

I just realized you asked for next steps, not just encouragement lol. You'd want a good Weapon Skill; WS determines your melee attack rolls, so re-rolling that 1 is a good idea.

Strength also determines your melee damage, so I would simply swap that with one of your better rolled stats

Willpower determines your Psyker abilities, so you'd probably be best swapping that with your Perception; Will should be your highest ability score as a Psyker, regardless of other specialties.

These three plus Toughness should probably be your primary starts that start at 25.

Yeah, as long as I'm GM people should be able to access via mobile. Then I can give KC GM privileges as well.

Very cool build, Tumbler. That's actually similar to my original thoughts for a build (where I was asking about stuff like "can I cast through Minions"), and that was the only way I could figure out to make it work; Perception range buffs like Luck and whatnot with ranges cranked to "all of Earth".

But it seemed like it'd be kind of uninteresting to actually PLAY, and a real pain to GM against.

But, as always, love playing with you guys. I think this is the first time I've actually been in a game with your DeathQuaker, despite seeing and interacting with you on the boards constantly since I started posting in...2011 I think?

Not my first rodeo with Black Dow, Jubal, and tumbler, and hopefully won't be the last for all 4 of you!

Good choice, Carina! Wouldn't want any of those Stun rounds to go to waste. Use 'em or lose 'em!

Turns out if you spend 11 years hanging out in the same place, you pick up a few tricks. =p

You can also go to the main PBP page, hit "Focus", find this thread, and hit the little O with a slash through it to hide the campaign manually.

Formulae can heal pretty much any condition quite efficiently, though. Ability damage, negative levels, death, etc.

Scholar is an interesting class. I don't think it can be a full healer like its billed; not without making strong use of its Elixirs and the group itself relying on short breaks to remake them. That said. I think probably lv 8 + where it auto success Heal checks for its ability it will be pretty good off healer. Top off post battle sort of thing or emergency mid battle 'whups" issues fixing. Not that healing is a real thing in p1 combat (Ioutside of a few specific things like life oracle /skald passive healing or self healing build). The healer hand conduit feat basically the same but probably better overall even if its a full round.

Scholars are big skill monkeys so they can combine Salve healing WITH stuff like Healer's Hand + Incredible Healer. The combination of those two Feats makes mundane healing arguably miles better than magical healing in most respects. You can take a full round action to heal ~80-100 with a check at pretty reasonable levels.

Bit of a bummer, but no surprise. No real post-mortems to give; I've played Conscript several times and probably will again, it's a good class.

Bueller?

Farrukh grits his teeth as he sees Astraden go down again. He knows it probably won't stick...but there's always the chance that this time it's for real.

In that split second of distraction, Darl's dead hand closes around his throat for a moment.

Farrukh feels his body twist and warp before the Material is reasserted.

Jeez, glad I used that AP. Talk about cutting it close.

Ripping free of the Cleric's grasp, he goes on the attack again.

"Sooner we put you down the sooner we can set everything right again."

Farrukh lashes out with the sword formerly known as Tooth, aiming to steal time from the persistent undead.

Initiating Time Thief's Talons as a Standard.

Attack: 1d20 + 25 ⇒ (18) + 25 = 43
Damage: 1d6 + 51 ⇒ (6) + 51 = 57

Confirm?: 1d20 + 25 ⇒ (2) + 25 = 27
Damage?: 1d6 + 51 ⇒ (3) + 51 = 54

I still have actions remaining, but the situation is currently too complex for me to lay out all the options as "if this, then that" spoilers without being here for hours lol. Basically, when you get a chance tell me if this hit finishes off Darl, and I'll decide the rest of my turn from there.

Storm Dragon wrote:

I think we can probably handwave it as him being missed in the scuffle of everyone moving around, and clarify it later.

Seeing the spirit of your recently fallen ally floating around without an explanation would require a fear or horror check in certain worlds... here, it's up to the individual to play their characters accordingly.

Personally, I like the idea of the slapstick route.

The Party: "Oh my god! I can't believe Randall's dead...that was horrible. There was was SO MUCH BLOOD, what're we gonna tell his family? I'll miss him."

Randall's mangled, bloody spirit reveals itself: "Guys...I think I've turned into a ghost."

Party: "*sigh* I miss him so much I almost imagine I can hear his voice."

Randall: "I'm...I'm right here."

Party: *wistfully* "If I didn't know better, I'd think he was still among us..."

Once he's possessing the Ogre, he actually is undetectable unless you have some ability to detect possession (these abilities DO exist, but they're pretty niche).

I think we can probably handwave it as him being missed in the scuffle of everyone moving around, and clarify it later.

Just so I understand, Randall died and his spirit is currently inhabiting the body of the ogre, and we are waiting to resolve this retreat to find all this out?

Correct. To be fair, part of this confusion is my fault, as I got something mixed up as I always do: incorporeal creatures aren't invisible, they're just inaudible (if they want to be).

So everybody should have seen him doing ghost things before.

I move 90 as a Swift, and 90 as a Move, (Fly+Haste) then full attack. God of the Hourglass gives me an additional Move or Standard every turn, and Tactical Rush lets me move up to my speed as a Swift once per combat.

Randall opens the Ogre's enormous maw and screams "Run! Run!" as he begins wildly flailing around with its oversized Falchion at the goblins.

SLASH: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (15) + 11 = 26
Damage: 2d6 + 10 ⇒ (3, 4) + 10 = 17

That probably kills a gobbo, and at the end of the turn it gets a new save.

I can talk, I'm just struggling to think of how to word that in a way that sounds like natural dialogue and doesn't worsen the situation lol. "Run! The Ogre is coming for you!"

Yeah. He also gets a new save at the end of my next turn BTW.

This is a Su ability, so no!

Cool.

Randall's eyes open wide...or at least someone's do. He feels the physical world again, though it appears much...smaller than it used to.

Don't have an action until next turn, but I am now Actively Possessing the Ogre.

While still disoriented, Randall begins to understand what's going on, and catches onto an inkling of an idea that might help the rest of his allies avoid his fate.

He reaches toward the ogre and pushes as hard as he can into him, praying that the beast's mind is as weak as its body is strong.

Will save DC 15 for the Ogre or be possessed.

I was thinking about running Locate Creature on Darl again, but I'll switch to Delaying!

TBH I dig this play, and it's in character for Clunk to focus on the mission over personal defense.

Thanks!

Use the same token for now, I can try to find a new one later. If you can just swap it to B/W in Google Docs easily that would be good too.

Yeah, it just always feels like that. Something is invading your mind and body, and you're rejecting it.

This is actually just a restatement of a general rule BTW; your character ALWAYS knows if they have passed a saving throw, they just don't necessarily know what they saved against.

They can also possess enemies, yes. Once we have a chance to talk things over, possessing allies is easier though, and grants the possessed a lot of protections.

Farrukh turns directly toward the screen and gives it A Look sighs deeply.

"Looks like they weren't as overconfident as we thought. What now?"

Oh! Before I forget, this is important for Zupon:

Unless otherwise noted, creatures are aware of a failed possession attempt, having a feeling of a hostile force, but gain no other information.

Alas, no chaos. You needed to roll a smidge lower. =p

Randall feels his hand being pulled into Zupon's body, for a moment getting a glimpse into the man's thoughts...before he is suddenly pushed back in a burst of mental energy!

He feels his form continue to deteriorate...

You bastards and your good Will saves lol. That's Randall's action for this turn.

Randall brings up his ranseur to block the incoming attack from the giant. The impact is heavy, and drives him to his knees, but he manages to block it, to his own surprise.

Desperately he lashes out again, scoring a direct hit on the ogre...to no effect.

Confused, he keeps trying to slash, and only notices after a moment: he can't touch the giant.

With a growing sense of horror he takes in his surroundings. The shocked expressions of his companions, their attempts to escape...and his own body lying on the floor, cut nearly in two.

In his shock it's not his own death that bothers him the most, but the destruction of his hat and ribbon; gifts from his friend Ellis, who he'll now never get to reunite with.

After a few moments of just standing there, emotions warring within him, he begins to feel something else: he's...fading.

So this is what happens when you die, huh? A moment for it all to sink in and then your just gone?

The faint feeling of his essence just bleeding into the ether intensifies, and he reaches out blindly to steady himself against the wave of dizziness, hand brushing into Zupon's shoulder.

Aaaand Zupon, make a Will save, please.

Probably a bit more traumatic than that, yeah. I had planned to write that today but I'm in an all-day meeting so if you're in a posting mood, feel free to pre-empt me so we can keep things moving.

I had figured there'd be a brief moment where he doesn't even realize he's dead...until he realizes nobody can see him, and all his attacks just pass through people.

You know, if we didn't want to worry too much about introducing a brand new character, I could retrain Randall as an Unbodied, with GM permission.

His capabilities would change a lot, but it would still be him.

If so, I can write up a "going ghost" post tonight.

I had thought about it but honestly it's too depressing to narrate the final thoughts of a character I actually liked quite a bit. Go ahead and hit me with it.

Are there character profiles for the existing NPCs? Or are they all just blank slates?

Ehhh, I wouldn't go that far. Crits are not, to me, particularly interesting, especially at low levels.They're literally just the dice deciding that a character dies with zero recourse. Even with a lot of 3rd party material, crits cannot eg. be parried or blocked short of forcing a reroll.

Interesting deaths usually come about as a result of poor tactics on your part or good tactics on the part of the enemy. Crits represent neither, unless you consider allowing an enemy to act in general to be a mistake.

I don't think anybody here would particularly enjoy the level of optimization and tryhardiness that comes with building a party that strategizes to the level of never allowing the opponent to have an action.

I was going to make a "death post" for Randall later today, but wanted to get home first. I have an easier time jiggering with mechanical stuff while at work than narrative; the former is easier to drop in the middle and come back to later.

As for caster sustain, wouldn't really be an issue with Spheres. You get a fair number of spell points, and a lot of talents are usable for free. Eg. the blaster caster build would be heavily specced into Destruction, which gets a good, scaling single target blast for 0 SP, and only needs to pump SP into it for fancier stuff.

The issue Nathan is having is that psionics inherently doesn't scale. His 1d6 damage attack didn't go up to 2d6 at this level, you need to pump extra Power Points into the power to juice it up.

Psions make AWFUL blasters as a result, with Wilders being the better option since they (like a 1st party Kineticist, or the Destruction specialist I mentioned) get an at-will, scaling with level damage ability so they can save their PP for when it really matters.

Psions are better at battlefield control and summoning type effects overall.

Oh "Meat Grinder" as well isn't a caster. It would just be an ultra-turbo-DPS martial character. If the enemies are dead they can't hurt us :rollsafe:

Mulling over what Randall's replacement should be, what kind of character would you prefer as far as party role?

Options I'm considering:

The "BIG DAMN HERO": just a dong dong never die frontliner who can wall enemies out and protect allies from attacks.

The "Flesh Wound Eraser": a healer-type that can protect allies from attacks...retroactively.

The "Mook Eliminator 9000": a blaster-y caster-y to give us some more AoE ability instead of us getting mobbed constantly.

The "God Wizard": classic battlefield controller, buffer/debuffer character with a focus on "stacking the odds".

The "Psycho Streamer": okay, if I... if I chop you up in a meat grinder, and the only thing that comes out, that's left of you, is your eyeball, you'r- you're PROBABLY DEAD!

Death is death, not much a level 2 character can do against a Smite crit. There's a reason "Orc, Common" is the most common cause of death for low level PCs.

When nearing the end of an adventure, death is the least impactful. We can just bring the character back to life.

I would worry more about a TPK. Even without the crit (or the Smite for that matter), the ogre was capable of dropping Randall in one hit. He can easily oneshot everybody else in the party too.

I recommend y'all skedaddle, since your characters aren't super combat-optimized. He's got an AC of at least 18, so I think most of the party needs like a 15 (minimum) to hit him, and he's gonna have enough HP to easily tank any lucky hits as well.

Randall thrusts with the ranseur as the athletic goblin arches backward, the blade just going over her torso. Hinged at the knees, she snaps back like a spring under tension as Randall pulls the attack back.

Randall's attack is actually vs the giant (ogre?), not the goblin(s).

Speaking of, I forget Randall has Kn. Local.

Kn. Local: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16

Should be a +5, with the extra +2 from Flanking. (And 9 damage.)