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I might have a tidy solution. I'd vote for an arcane caster. Wyssal can make a tiny alteration to handle traps and such. I was planning on dipping a level of Lore Oracle at either 2nd or 3rd already. If I add the Seeker archetype to that, it trades all the Oracle skills for the mystery for Disable Device as a class skill and the ability to disable magical traps. The Lore mystery gives all knowledge skills in class. Wyssal is a Bard so that's redundant anyway. There's an alt version of trapfinding included as well, but since Wyssal will only have one level, that will never go past the initial +1. Of course Wyssal won't be as good as a dedicated Rogue, but she does have a good Dex, and enough skill points to consistently improve Disable Device. Given the need is occasional, I'd think decent at it in return for an arcane caster added is a fine deal.
Yeah, I agree. We can bring in a new person and if Tomodai is able to come back we're still only at 6 in the party. A party of 6 is almost the standard for party size in PbP games here.
Wyssal is absently kicking at a clod of grass that's sticking up. She shrugs.
It's been a while since character creation so to remind everyone, or tell you the first time if I failed to mention it to other players before, Wyssal will be dipping Lore Oracle for 1 level at either 2nd or 3rd level, probably 3rd. She'll be taking the Lore Keeper revelation, which will switch her knowledge skills from INT to CHA based. CHA for Knowledge plus Bardic Knowledge will make her very good, at least as good as a wizard if not better, at knowledge checks. A skill monkey or arcane caster won't need to cover them.
@Larry: It true the archetype isn't as good a rogue as a regular rogue in some ways, and it's not a replacement for a wizard either. I guess it's kind of like an option to be a version of Arcane Trickster without multi-classing. The ES archetype would want a higher than usual INT and could probably get by with less DEX so in practice the skill point gap might not be a big as it seems. It would probably play more like, a utility and buffer caster who uses ranged touch attack spells to get sneak attacks under the cover of invisibility or darkness or fog-type spells and so forth. I've never seen one played though. @GMKK: I haven't played wizard a lot, just some, but I've never been bothered by the 2 skill points per level. Most wizard class skills are INT skills and wizard is quite SAD in favor of INT. If we're talking knowledge checks (and wizard is really an encyclopedia rather than a skill monkey) a wizard is getting at least 5/level with a 17 INT, and most wizards will be at 6/level because they'll have an 18 INT at first level. A human wizard will be at 7/level at first level. Keeping in mind that all ability score increases will probably go to INT, and skill points per level just keeps climbing. There will also the to +3 to +4 added for all the INT based skills. That's pretty good, very competitive within wizard's skills domain to any other class except Investigator, who blows everything else away. It's Sorcerers and Clerics that get screwed by 2/level skill points.
If going the UnRogue route rather than a full arcane caster, Eldritch Scoundrel might be a good choice since it gets 6th level casting in line with Magus. Wyssal has the Studious Librarian archetype, which will eventually let her cast a spell or two from spellbooks and scrolls without consuming them. She'll want to become a collector of those things since it makes her a sort of Swiss army knife for when just the right spell is needed. But an arcane 6 level caster off the wizard list could still be really handy.
Whoops, sorry, I thought I'd posted the post I just posted some time back. I guess either something went wrong or I misremembered. I might be slow, though I expect things to get better now that school is out. But I'm not going anywhere. I don't think this campaign is going to fall apart.
Wyssal opines in agreement with the others, but with less guesswork used to get there. "It's very odd the think a human might be working alongside goblins, but there aren't many alternatives for a track of that size. Goblins don't get that big. Hobgoblins do, but they're found way east of here, like in Isger. I've never heard any mention of a hobgoblin in this region anywhere."
yep yep, still around.
Wyssal isn't quite understanding what the priest wants them to do. "So... the skeletons were taken care of, and Father Tobyn's remains were stolen. If we know those things already, what are we supposed to be doing? I'm not a detective, I don't know what to do. Look for clues? What would clues look like?" "Was Nualia's body stolen? If Father Tobyn is known for being killed in the fire, is she known for it also?"
"Um, is this Father Tobyn famous or something?"
"Armor?" Wyssal sighs. "Right. It's so uncomfortable" she complains to Larry. "I'll need a few minutes then. You can go ahead. I'm feeling fine now. I'll get changed and meet you there." Wyssal sheds the dress and switches to a long skirt and her leathers, along with a white peasant blouse over the armor. She adds a belt, from which she hangs a starknife, and throws her bladed scarf over her shoulders. Then, Wyssal walks to the cathedral.
Well, never say never. There's always trauma bonding and such. :p Wyssal has never lived among Halflings so, as she's mentioned, to the extent she's had past relationships they have been with humans. But Larry is quite different from the skinny, feline, smooth-talking, pretty-boy Varisians she's used to.
What's all this romance talk about? Wyssal thinks Larry is an excellent chariot, he's funny, and nicer than she initially expected, but romance? Hahaha!
Surprisingly since not all that much time has passed, Wyssal is cleaned up and changed into a nice new dress by the time Larry arrives. He finds her looking perfectly healthy and vibrant again as she stares into the mirror brushing out her long hair. Wyssal turns to look at Larry, puzzlement and a bit of annoyance in her expression. "Summoned by who? What happened?"
Back in Sandpoint Wyssal thanks Larry for the lift. "You know, when I met you I don't think I would have thought it of you if I'd thought about it, but you are a very kind man Larry." Wyssal goes home to rest and recuperate.
Wyssal relaxes and enjoys the ride home as much as she can considering her condition.
Wyssal puts on her most pathetic face. "It still hurts and I'm dizzy. I think I need to be carried."
Sorry I wasn't around for a while there. The week out of town left me very backlogged at work and I've also been taking care of my dog after she had a serious surgery. I've been very exhausted.
When Wyssal regains consciousness, she has a request. Lifting her head slightly she says "I want to go back to town now."
A bit of blood tickles out the side of Wyssal's mouth and begins to run down her cheek.
Eh, no worries. Such things happen. Wyssal is stabilized.
And then everything goes black for Wyssal as she collapses.
Feel better soon KK!
Wyssal notices Darius's hand go up and clench. She stage whispers "did you catch a bug?" to at him. She seems serious asking the question.
Wyssal somewhat begrudgingly searches around for plants or mushrooms or bugs or whatever. She's still not sure how she got roped into this outing. Eventually her search for ingredients morphs into picking wild flowers and keeping an eye out for pretty rocks.
I'm back now. I'll get a gameplay post in tomorrow.
Hello! I'm traveling right now and don't have regular internet access. I'll try to keep posting whenever I can, but please bot Wyssal as needed. I'll be back home on the 23rd. Sorry the notice is coming late, but I wasn't expecting the difficulty.
Wyssal looks at the stripped boar carcass for only a couple of seconds before turning away. "It's awful. Let's go."
Wyssal is just relieved when the farmer goes away. "Yeah, time to keep going."
Straight up intimidated by the farmer, and not knowing what she could say that might not be taken the wrong way, Wyssal edges over to take cover behind Larry, trying to not be conspicuous.
"You shouldn't talk yourself down Larry. Everyone starts somewhere, nothing wrong with who you are. It's who you become that matters." It's too early in the morning to be clever, so Wyssal just smiles at Larry's compliment without saying anything. "Speaking of coming back, how far are we going before the coming back part begins?"
Wyssal launches into a a brief explainer for Larry, since she's never really talked about her professional life with anyone present. "Well, here's the thing. There's a big difference between social dancing, which I can do a little, and dancing as a performer. Odette dances as a performer. She has certain advantages that make it a natural choice for her. She's human, and so are most of the people wherever we stop on our caravan routes. She's gorgeous, and she has this pair of shapely long legs, a tiny waist... You get the idea." "I'm not exactly that." Wyssal thrusts out one of her quite short legs. "I might be curvier than Odette, but the size of the package is on the small side for moving it around in all the best ways, if you get what I mean." "So I sing. I have an usually low and rich voice for a halfling. Also, I can belt, quite a lot of volume for my size. Anyway, I really should introduce you to Odette."
Wyssal seems a bit thrown by by Larry's request. "I suppose? I'm not really much of a dancer. I sing."
Wyssal's eyes widen at the final part of Dagny's remark. "Go dark? What are you talking about? Aren't we looking for berries, or mushrooms, or grubs, or whatever?" Wyssal waves back in greeting to Darius and Lawrence and immediately starts rooting around in the food basket. One muffin a breakfast does not make.
"Thanks!" Wyssal dives right into eating the muffin as she and Dagny start walking. While Wyssal feels something maybe is a little off, she shrugs off the notion without mentioning it.
Wyssal waits for Dagny outside. She's a bit put out, her arms crossed and muttering to herself. "'Up since before dawn'. Well bully for you. Somebody hand you a trophy. It's not normal though. This should have been planned better..."
A certain degree of mild annoyance creeps in to mix with the confusion on Wyssal's face. "I dunno. Tomo is the elf, right? I don't remember really talking to him. Is this supposed to take long?" Wyssal really hadn't planned on an outing, or any exertion of any kind, for the day ahead. Just some breakfast to start things off, then going to check in on her bees. But, she can't know conclusively that she didn't say she'd go. And if she did and didn't, she might feel bad for not keeping her word, although she can't think of a particular reason why she might potentially feel bad. Still... at least there's food. "Ugh! Fine! There better not be mud or nettles. And we better be back by lunch. Who's stupid idea was it to do this so early?" Wyssal falls in line after Dagny, following her.
Wyssal cocks her head, now looking puzzled. "What? Herb collecting? Why? When was this talked about? Did I agree to go looking for plants? I don't know anything about plants."
Wyssal is strolling along the street when she (figuratively) bumps into Dagny. Wyssal smiles and gives her a quick wave. "Hi, what's up? I didn't expect to see anyone from last night up and about this early."
Dagny: Wyssal is probably intoxicated enough to press on protests or not, but Ameiko's last call saves Dagny. "Fine, but remember you asked me for advice. I'll drop the subject for now, but I'll leave you with three things to think about." "First: Yes, Darius was flirting with you. I'm not making any claims like he's in love with you or anything, just that whatever small or great meaning it had doesn't matter. You didn't see it for what it was. Why?" "Second: You say none of the men in a brothel flirted with you. Unless you were soliciting along with the other women, and I doubt you were, that's meaningless. They are in a brothel exactly because they don't have to bother with flirting, or romance, or much of anything else there. That is why money is changing hands. You were uniquely avoided by them because you were the only risky proposition in the building." "Third: Why did it bother you so much when I brought up this subject? While I wasn't flirting with you, I did exactly what Darius did, compliment you. When Darius did it, you shut him down right away. When I complimented you by telling you what he was doing, you shut me down right away too. What are you afraid of?" You asked me to teach to to be more social. I accept, and now you are my project. Consider thinking about what I've said to be homework." Wyssal smiles at Dagny and gives her a quick, shallow curtsey. She then turns to fetch her newly filled mug from the counter and walks away.
Wyssal reaches up to plop her mug on the bar and ask for a refill. Then she turns to lean in toward Dagny. She is grinning conspiratorially at Dagny, her eyes bright and maybe a bit glassy at this point in the evening. With Dagny: "So earlier, when we were outside before coming here, you were chatting with Darius. He was complimenting you, but you kept deflecting. You do know he was flirting with you right? But, you shut him right down. Did you do it on purpose or not?"
Very sorry for the long silence. I've had lots on my plate the last couple of weeks. Back to the normal routine now.
Wyssal stays well out of the spat between the guy named Ven and, well, anyone who he comes in contact with. Having grown up a Vsrisian traveler, she's seen plenty of this sort of thing. Sedentary folk commonly mistrust Varisians who are moving through their town or hamlet and blame whatever has happened lately on them. In her experience there's no way to win in this kind of situation. Apologies will be taken to imply guilt. Protests of innocence will be taken as lies and deceit. Minding one's own business and letting a drunken man like Ven blow on by is the best course to take whenever one can. By the time he's gone, Wyssal has finished her food and recklessly moved on to another ale. She giggles her way through Larry's rapturous, and obviously performative, comparisons of Odette to her. It's pretty clear the attention is sweet, sweet nectar to her. As far as the rest... "Well, I'm not in the market right now. And to the extent I can speak for her, I doubt Odette is either. We stopped off here for a while to visit, Odette's relatives own Risa's Place. We've been here for a few months now, so I figure we'll be catching a caravan out of town to be on our way fairly soon. I don't see us spending a whole year here." When talk turns to marriage, both the boring and interesting forms, Wyssal has little to say aside from "Ugh, marriage. What a terrifying notion." After her cup is emptied again, Wyssal hops down from the bench. "Time for a refill!" Before she walks away, Wyssal grabs Dagny's arm and starts pulling her. "You're coming with me!"
Sorry for the absence there. I started what was supposed to be a simple home project that quickly became much more protracted and complex than I had thought it would be. One of the joys of owning an old house.
Wyssal sort of frowns for a second at Dagny's request. But, she puts a couple of things that she's seen now together in her mind and they form a coherent picture. She leans into Dagny, sort of actually leaning on her, and replies. "We'll talk." Wyssal smiles at Dagny and gives her a wink before pulling herself up straight again. "So my little lady, I don't believe I've met your friend Odette. Is she as interesting as you? Certainly she couldn't be as pretty though!" "Oh she is prettier than me though! Wyssal doesn't seem the least bit bothered by saying this, it's almost like she's bragging. "Odette is tall, but not too tall, and lithe. Her hair falls to her waist and it's the color of sunlit copper. And she has the biggest brown eyes. Whenever we walk anywhere together all eyes are on her." "That means a lot of the time. We've known each other forever. For all practical purposes we're sisters." When the food comes, Wyssal gets busy eating. Only taking time out to make theatrically disgusted faces at the talk of fish ale.
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