Theodric DeSoldon's page

Hi, Lady L!

Would you mind marking me as a "Previous Character"?

Thanks!

Hey, folks.

It is with a heavy heart that I think it's time to take leave of this group.

I just don't have the bandwidth for Pathfinder PbP at this stage of my life.

I wish you all the best!!

Theo leans over to Ylva and whispers, "While bringing truth to light is almost always the best answer...on rare occasion, a greater good can be served by letting old tales stay hidden. Especially when that knowledge would serve ill intent. The question then becomes: Do you trust this man to do the right thing with this information?"

Ylva and Tupp: Sorry to see you go, and best of luck to you!

Re: Me... I am super-busy right now, but I am very much enjoying this game when I get a chance to post.

I've had out-of-town events literally every other weekend since the start of October. (Right now, I'm in NYC to see "Hamilton" later today!)

At the same time, a project I'm leading at work has gone into status:Red, and I am trying desperately to pull it out of the flames. A failure on this project would be, shall we say, a career-limiting move for me. I've been putting in 50+ hour weeks since early October. My typical PbP time is my lunch hour... which I haven't been taking very often.

That said: I very much would like to keep playing, but I can't commit to daily posts right now. If you would rather have a player who can post daily, I understand, and I can bow out until my schedule returns to normal.

Before taking our leave of Khaya...

When asked his name, Theodric responds, "I am Theodric DeSoldon, originally of Taldor. Unfortunately, I am not well-versed in either medicine or botany, and I don't think I'll be of much help in diagnosing your ailment. But we have friends who might be able to!"

He pauses, and then asks, "What do you mean when you say there are 'strange rains' in here?"

He then looks around. While the others are trying to topple the statue, he casts detect magic and looks for the possible source of magical indoor weather patterns.

Boon?: 1d20 ⇒ 10

:-(

Rubbing his arm where Pip took the blood sample, Theo seems very interested in Pip's tour of the Arboretum. "My... this place must have been truly grand in its heyday! And your experiments seem truly fascinating."

Once in the presence of the Master Gardner, his demeanor becomes more serious.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16

Theo whispers to Tupp, "Is it just me, or does she seem a little... off?"

Knowledge (arcana): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8

He continues, "I supposed the years of isolation cooped up the the ruins of a greenhouse isn't so good for the mind." He taps his head knowingly. "We should be careful..."

Sorry for disappearing yet again. I ducked out of work at noon on Thursday and drove down to New York to attend a family wedding. I picked up my daughter from college on the way. I didn't get back home until early Sunday evening and then made the mistake of checking my work email... and found that everything in my area was figuratively on fire. I've been putting in some long hours because of that.

Thanks for understanding!

And now to wade through 67 posts in the Gameplay thread...

As Cassiel fades from sight, Theodric dabs at his eyes with a silk handkerchief.

"That was so touching..." *sniff* "...and it's very dusty in here."

Turning toward J, he says, "You are a very good friend."

Peering into the darkness, Theo whispers, "A small person? Should I bring the light closer so we can all see? I mean.. they will have seen our light by now."

I was out of town for the weekend, and was too busy for PbP. I'm back now.

Re: Magic item identification: II'm OK with this.

Re: Marching order: I'd like to be in the middle somewheere (3, 4, or 5).

Theodric nods at Ylva's assessment. "They sure will! I have a... spell... that works pretty well to put undead back in their grave!"

"Hmmm... Let me see what I can do about the light in here..."

He casts a spell, and the head of his mace now glows as bright as a torch that's the color of late afternoon sun.

Casts light.

Pointing his mace toward the door, he says, "To the necropolis!"

Pointing toward Sylvak's haunt siphon, Theo says, "Boy, those things sure come in handy!"

To the group, "Hey... before we rush off to the necropolis, let's see if there is anyting else to be learned in this classroom. I will check for magical auras. Zithembe, can you talk to the spirits here and find out how to send them on?"

Casts detect magic and scans the room.

Know (religion): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13

"Yup....That's a haunt, all right!"

Theo had been strangely silent since the fight with the Qadiran noblemen, but perks up at entering the ruins of the school. As the group steps into darkness, he casts a spell while holding his mace, and the head of the weapon suddenly shines with a bright glow, like late afternoon sun.

Casts light.

"I never thought I'd be exploring old ruins, but isn't this exciting?"

Theo then waits near the door as any others prepare to enter.

Hi, folks.

I'm back from vacation, and am now about to read through 50+ posts to figure out what's happening.

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16

Observing the flying objects, Theo thinks, Wait...that was a tekekinetic effect! There's more to J than meets the eye!

As the leader moves past, he snaps shut his hand and the flames extinguish. He raises his mace defensively, but doesn't strike, as Ylva knocks out the ruffian. As the rest scatter, Theo kneels beside the fallen noble, checking to make sure he's alive.

Casts stabilize.

"He'll have a nasty headache when he wakes up, but no permanent damage, I think!"

Stepping toward the Qadiran noblemen, Theo casts a spell. Small jets of flame shoot from is upturned right hand.

Casts spark, at noting in particular.

He then addresses them: "Gentlemen. Do you really want to cross a wizard of fire and flame? Stand down or I'll reduce you to ashes!"

Bluff: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21

Before Ylva's move...

Theo turns and smiles beatifically at the group of Qadiran thugs, and adeptly steps between them and J.

"نت تتحدث عن الجبن. لكن يبدو لي أنك الجبناء الذين يتعاطون مع شخص لم يفعل شيئًا بالنسبة لك. أقترح أن تتحرك على طول "

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 = 16

But then Ylva cuts off Theo's speech by cutting the belt of the lead young tough... causing his trousers to drop.

He shakes his head and signs. "Well, so much for diplomacy..." Now expecting violence, he unhooks the light mace from his belt.

Thanks for the clarification! And, yes, it still applied.

(This was my fourth PFS scenario, ever.)

Knowledge (local) - untrained: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

"If Hepsubia needs to do a little shopping on the way over, maybe we should go through the Coins District. If we're going to a necropolis, I wouldn't mind picking up a few things, either..."

Apologies for not posting in two weeks! For some reason, the site wasn't showing my any activity on this campaign, and the last update I'd read was the GM's "Intermission" post.

...Upon graduation...

Standing in his finest Taldan court attire, Theo graciously accepts his engraved wayfinder. "Thank-you, Master Zey! I will do my best for the Society!" [

...On meeting with Drandle Dreng in Absalom...

Theo shows up, again dressed in fashionable Taldan attire. His gold cufflinks still glint in the overcast sky, and a lapis brooch holds his fur-trimmed cloak together. He also sports a floppy indigo-dyed hat with a long golden plume.

"It's an honor and a pleasure to meet your acquaintenance, Lieutenant! I am Theodric of House DeSoldon, originally of Taldor."

Knowlege (nobility): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15

"Interesting..." he thinks to himself, "...a lieutenant in the Taldan navy is also a Venture-Captain...

Note: Theo gets the correct rank from Dreng's uniform insignia, even if he doesn't recognize his medals.

...on the approach to the Dacilane residence...

Knowledge (local): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

"What a lovely neighborhood! It seems quiet."

...on meeting Lady Dacilane...

Theo notes the symbol hanging from the Chelish noblewoman's neck, but makes no outward sign of disapproval. "Madam, it is my honor to meet you." He bows in Taldan style.

...On meeting J...

Theo also stifles a snicker at Lady Dacilane's reaction to J's attire. He again bows to the young lady in formal Taldan style. "Lady J, it is an honor to make your acquaintence! I am Theodric, of House DeSoldon, of Taldor." With a friendly smile, he adds, "Please, call me Theo."

At Zithembe's invitation, Theo joins the seance. He appears a bit uncomfortable participating in such a ritual in someone else's home after the departure of the host, but does not let that stop him in the ritual.

Zithembe: For those of us with little experience with Occult classes, would you refresh our memory of how the shared seance works?

I am spending 180 GP to buy that CL3 wand of burning hands with 4 charges from the Chronicle sheet.

Also buying 1 potion of cure light wounds for 50 gp.

That should bring his treasure to: 201 gp.

This was Theo's first adventure, so he gets a wayfinder for free.

Sorry for disappearing! The site wasn't showing any activity on this campaign, and I thought we were on hold: The GM had to PM me on Facebook to get my attention!

I'll do my best to read through the backlog on my lunch hour today.

One other thing...

My wife and I are leaving Friday for vacation. We are traveling internationally, so data usage will be at a premium. I'll most likely be out-of-touch from 9/21 through 9/29.

I plan to get Theo's purchases together later tonight, and will post when I get to it.

Is the site back up yet...?

YES!!

I'm just getting back home after dropping my kid off to start her freshman year of college, and have been out-of-the-loop. I would have let you know, but the site was down yet again.

I'm hapoy to keep playing here for now, but if we do hit another extended outage, we might want to look seriously at moving to another site.

"All in all, I'd say that was a successful first mission for the Society!"

At Ylva's comments on Chelish opera, he replies, "I completely agree with you about their millennia-old High Opera productions. I mean, who really still understands spoken Azlanti, and the music... well, it's not quite as bad as it sounds. Thankfully, High Opera isn't really performed much outside of Sargava anymore."

Theo walks slowly across the log, his arms outstretched... yet he seems quite a bit more nimble than his his would imply.

Once over, he joins the rest of the group. FIrst, he prods the body of the minotaur to make sure that it is indeed dead.

Heal check: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17

Looking over the rest of the group, especially Ylva and Janira, he remarks, "You all still look a little banged up. Here, let me cast that spell one more time..."

Theo again mimes casting an arcane spell and channels positive energy to heal. If the minotaur still lives, he positions himself to exclude it.

Heals: 1d6 ⇒ 5

Here! First successful post in a week!

Okay... this is literally the sixth time in the past week I've attempted to post this action...

Still on the other side of the creek, Theo shouts, "Huzzah!!" when he sees the miotaur drop.

He then casts the smae spell he'd cast earlier, and everyone within 30 feet is bathen in the warm glow of a summer afternoon's sun.

___
Channel positive energy (Heal)
Heals: 1d6 ⇒ 6

Very fun game, Lady Ladile!!

Sorry for going silent since Tuesday: I've been really busy this week, and have only had short windows for PbP posting... and it seems that either the Paizo site was down entirely, or it wouldn't accept new forum posts when I tried to post.

This was my fourth PFS game ever, and my first on a PbP.

So... as a PFS relative newbie: How, exactly, does advancement work?

And how does one acquire items from the chronicle sheets? Is it just, "spend the gold, cross off the item?"

Theo gasps again as Janira falls. Waving his hands in the air in mystical gestures, he speaks arcane words. The large golden ring on his right hands glows with a warm yellow radiance, and a beam of what looks like sunlight shines from the heavens onto the ring. The beams then reflect, illuminating an area around him with a warm glow. The warmth is palpable, and all who are bathed in the light feel a sense of refreshed determination.

"زهرة الفجر المباركة ، في ساعة ظلمتنا ، تسلط الضوء الشافي علينا!"

_____
Channel positive energy (Healing)

Everyone within the area marked on the map: You are healed:
Healing: 1d6 ⇒ 4

(That's everyone except Tupp and Kiango)

This will also stabilize anyone who is still unconscious/dying.

Everyone: The miniotaur is now illuminated by the glowing crossbow bolt sticking out of his thigh, which negates the partial concealment from dim light.

"Ylva!!"

Lowering his crossbow, Theo charges through the thick underbrush to the bank of the stream.

_____
Double-move.

Theo takes out his crossbow and loads the glowing quarrel. He then cocks the crossbow, raises it, takes aim at the minotaur, and lets the glowing quarrel fly.

Ranged attack: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18
Damage: 1d8 ⇒ 2
Concealment: <20 is a miss: 1d100 ⇒ 42

The glowing quarrel bathes the minotaur in light.

As long as that hits the minotaur's touch AC, the light should negate the concealment penalty.

Question for the GM: Can I retcon my botted double-move from the top of the round?

As the dank tunnels open out to fresh air and open sky, Theodric hears the sounds of battle. Moving forward a moment, he sees what's going on in the moonlight.

"Oh dear! Hang on, Janira!!"

He then mutters to himself, "Let's throw a little light on the subject..."

Taking a quarrel from his quiver, he raises it to the sky while gesticulating with his other hand as he intones strange words...

"الأم المقدسة من الفجر ، يرجى يبارك لنا مع الضوء المقدس الخاص بك!"

The spell is cast, and the fletching of the crossbow bolt now shines as the warm glow of an afternoon sun.

___
Single move, casts light on the quarrel.

"What a weird-looking creature! Yes, let's try to avoid it..."

Theo squeezes his girth into a side passage, and tries to hide.

Stealth: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 2 = 17

Not to spam but I also wanted to share that Venture-Captain Hmm is running a contest/giveaway for some fun and not-easily-obtainable race boons. Go check it out if you're curious! :)

Good for her!!

She was the GM for my very first PFS game, ever, at this year's PaizoCon. (Night March of Kalkamedes). She was amazing, and was a great GM for an experienced PFRPG player who was a total noob to PFS.

"Excellent bargaining, Hepsubia!"

He turns to Ylva and says, "She convinced them that this cave belongs to us and that they had best vacate if they knew what was good for them."

Hi, folks.

My diagnosis wasn't nearly as scary as it could have been, and I think I'm back now.

Now to catch up on 80+ posts!

Hi, folks.

Sorry for disappearing again. I was at an outdoor music festival Thu-Sun of last week. I was set to pick up again Monday, but routine medical exam turned up something potentially scary. I spent Monday at the hospital having tests run, and I've not been in much of a gaming mood as I wait for the results.

I hope to pick things up again soon, regardless.

...Theodric decides to take a more direct approach and conjures a small light into the palm of his hand in the name of the Dawnflower...

Note: Theodric is specifically not invoking the name of the Dawnflower (unless you happen to speak Kellish). He is trying to pose as a wizard, and is trying to pass off his prayers of invocation as arcane spellcasting.

"Ah! I thought that would do the..."

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14

He then sees Ylva trying to do... something... to Zithembe.

"...Wait... What?"

"Fascinating! It looks like emulating the Twelve Guises of Aroden will grant us a tiny shade of the Last Azlanti's remaining power. We have emulated the Craftsman by making something, and the Shepherd by herding those frogs... What's left is the Thief, and also the Soldier, who shines a light into darkness..."

At that, Theo casts a spell by speaking arcane words...

"بزهرة الفجر المبارك ، قم بتألق نورك المقدس في هذا الظلام لإلقاء الضوء على الظلال."

Casts light.

The large ring on his left hand begins to glow as bright as a torch. He then walks toward the model of the city, shining the light among the shadows.

Campaign route looks great to me!

And sorry for disappearing: My personal life got unexpectedly busy just as I got a "drop everything and do this" project dumped in my lap at work.

Earlier...

After his short lecture on morality, Theo realizes he's preaching to the chior and that he upset his comrade. "Ylva, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to upset you. I had no idea. I didn't realize you were being sarcastic... and I shouldn't be lecturing anyone, anyway."

At Tupp's estimation of the Arodenite legends, Theo nods in agreement. "Exactly my point!"

Spellcraft (DC 17): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21

"Everburning torches! The blue flame is a nice touch, don't you think? "

Now...

"Ylva!" whispers Theo, but he doesn't try to stop her, and warily watches in silence.

"If you consider your own neck being under someone else's boot, I think you may have answered your own question."

"Thanks, Kiango! That's the one I couldn't figure out. Of these three," he gestures to them in turn, "This one alludes to The Shepherd, Aroden's guise of leadership, where the sheep are symbolic of people. This one shows The Soldier, shining his light to banish the shadows of the world; and this one depicts The Thief, who steals objects of value and beauty as a form of praise to the objects' creators." He looks at the other eight panels and adds, "I'd guess that these others that are too faded to read were depictions of the rest of Aroden's Twelve Guises."

He shakes his head slightly. "While I've I've read The History and Future of Humanity, I've never been all that fond of Arodenite philosophy. Too much emphasis on formality, tradition, and order; and not enough about morality for my taste."

Examining the cloak...
Spellcraft (DC 20): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26

"Hmmm... This cloak is enchanted with spells that can protect the wearer from harm. Not from weapons, exactly, but from misfortune."

Examining the carvings w/ Know (religion)...
Craftsman (DC 15): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9
Shepherd (DC 15): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22
Soldier (DC 15): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15
Thief (DC 15): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18

Theo studies the carvings a long moment. "I can't quite make out all of them, but these seem to relate to the Twelve Guises of Aroden... but their representation is a bit off... as if these were reflections on an earlier version of the stories than were collected in the canonical texts."

Theo waits for his companions to cross over, remaining on this side to offer any aid to those who have trouble. He watches while Kiango psychs himself up for dealing with what's obviously an innate fear of water.

"That's it, Kiango! You're doing fine!"

Once his fellow Pathfinder is safely across, Theo rubs his hands together, then backs several paces away from the pit.

"Well, here goes nothing!"

He then bolts toward the pit and leaps over it...

Acrobatics (DC 12): 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 2 = 16

...landing with remarkable grace for a man of his size.

"Ha! I haven't jumped over chasms since I was a lad!"

Once on the other side, he asks to take a look at the cloak that was dredged up from the bottom of the pit.

"Hmmm..."

He mutters arcane words and then his eyes glow blue for a moment.

"زهرة الفجر المباركة ، اسمحوا لي أن أرى الهالات السحرية."

Casts detect magic.

More on my homebrew use of scenarios...

I regularly steal sections of adventures whole cloth for my home games... or at least the maps.

Most of my Golarion homebrew has been in Varisia, and I've used more Season 4 scenarios than any other season. I didn't see too many from that season on the list.