miteke's page

Well, that could have gone better. The wounds are not cooperating.

Marcus opens the trap door. When opened, the secret door sinks into the floor, creating a spiral stair that descends 50 feet into a small chamber at the pyramid’s heart. A pedestal here holds a head-sized crystal orb of nearly indestructible glass within which appears to burn a raging inferno. This sphere of fire is slightly warm to the touch and contains a sample of Ymeri’s breath, a valuable relic that has lain here forgotten ever since the efreet of Bayt al-Bazan turned away from the Queen of the Inferno’s service. Looks like important stuff. This is echoed buy the announcement of the guy in the reflection off the orb.

"A fiery orb from days of old lies suspended betwixt brass and sky, yet hidden from mortal eye. It is the key to your quest. In ancient adoration did this fiery heart lie, and only by heart’s blood of the true believer can the way be opened."

Where is the lever to switch things up? I'm thinking Illa could flip it after going through, or Mrs. Book can if it is near her. Please mark the lever on the map. Or is it in the red circle and I just forgot? Also, Illadora and Blitz do not seem to have moved. Are they really where they are shown on the map?

So this will be your new status line?

Malgrim (-35 HP/103 HP after burn; Curse of the Grave-35; DR 6/Adamantine; Heat Adaptation: 12[2*current burn] ER Fire)

@Marcus
Will you be casting break enchantment?

E7. Ymeri’s Pyramid
This huge roof walk extends from the gatehouse to the palace, its eastern face a crenellated battlement overlooking the Sea of Fire far below. To the west, the rooftop looks out over the palace courtyard, while a number of guard shacks, turrets, and garderobes top the walk.
Yet the most impressive sight here is the one-hundred-foot-tall pyramid of ancient tarnished bronze that stands in the northern half of the rooftop. A wide stair rises to the pyramid’s apex, where a mall temple with a double-peaked roof stands. Statues of draconic, four-armed female centaurs stand at each corner of this top platform, keeping an eternal watch over the surrounding area.

The inside of the temple is decorated with pictographs and writings in ancient Ignan that relate numerous prayers to Ymeri.

Well, that takes me out of the running as that is one that Hancock did.

I have a 8th level barbarian character that has not had a chance to play in a while a few months. I'd like to dust him off. I have already played these:

06-10 Once in Whispers 5-8
06-11 The Godsrain and the Dragon 7-10

The rest (in his level range) look good if you will have me.

I do love nice surprises :)

Sure you can.

Amaimon (-39/137 HP, 12 NL damage; Note: Curse of the Grave-39)
Malgrim (-35 HP/91 HP after burn; Curse of the Grave-35)
Marcus (-19/96 HP; Note: Curse of the Grave-19)

So, where do you head after your rest?

miteke wrote:

Scrolls work like normal. The advantage is that with WBL house rules, you basically get back your expendables.

If you take the craft scrolls feat, which a wiz gets by default, it does, indeed, mean you get up to 8200 of scrolls for half cost at 11th level. Basically your pay the craft cost for the items.

But you may make a 12th level character, so you have more than that to spend.

ok thanks.

Remember, my wizard is half-efreeti, so has the CR -1 .

I don't think that should affect your WBL.

The concussive rod would require me to rework my gear to a major degree and I want to move away from direct spells and do more buff spells and then arrows.

Understandable

Scrolls work like normal. The advantage is that with WBL house rules, you basically get back your expendables.

If you take the craft scrolls feat, which a wiz gets by default, it does, indeed, mean you get up to 8200 of scrolls for half cost at 11th level. Basically your pay the craft cost for the items.

But you may make a 12th level character, so you have more than that to spend.

wm: 1d10 ⇒ 6

You are undisturbed during your rest period. Marcus you heal a bit more (12 HP due to the rest as you are nearly as cursed as the others.

Amaimon (-39/137 HP, 12 NL damage; Note: Curse of the Grave-39)
Malgrim (-35 HP/91 HP after burn; Curse of the Grave-35)
Marcus (-32/96 HP; Note: Curse of the Grave-19)

Great choices.

Suggestions:

Some of the finale spells are great for when an ally misses a save that are a really bad idea to miss. I would take saving finale instead of grease. I also recommend the spell sonic scream (which is pretty low level) and a metamagic rod of Concussive. The combo is pretty awesome. the damage is pathetic, but the metamagic Consussive feat will kick in all three times the spell is discharged and with no save, giving the targets a —2 penalty on attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks for two rounds. -2 isn't much, but the fact that it is an area affect spell and there is no save on the penalties makes it a great go to when you do not want to waste more valuable resources.

Also look into getting a few utilitarian scrolls or potions. You know, the kind that you need once in a blue moon, but when you do you really appreciate it. Like scrolls of restoration, reinvigorating wind, silence, tongues, comprehend languages, etc. Maybe even the greater invisibility or phantom steed spells you had to give up. If there was a spell you really liked, but passed it up because you figured you would almost never use it, get it in a scroll! Since your WBL resets each level, their opportunity cost is vastly reduced.

With confusion, the focused or persistent metamagic rod is nice (or any area effect spell that needs a save, frankly). And since you can cast confusion at level 3, you only need to pay for the lesser rod.

Great

@Amaimon
Curse of the Grave (Su) Any damage dealt by the incorporeal touch does not heal naturally and resists all magical healing. Before the damage can be healed, the curse must first be broken with a break enchantment or remove curse spell (requiring a DC 24 caster level check for either spell).

So it is not just a matter of casting a cure spell and beating the resistance. You are going to need one of the removal spells to get rid of the thing!

@Marcus
Missed that cure. Saw it but lost it when I did all the math. Current HP:

Amaimon (-39/137 HP, 12 NL damage; Note: Curse of the Grave-39)
Malgrim (-35 HP/91 HP after burn; Curse of the Grave-35)
Marcus (-44/96 HP; Note: Curse of the Grave-19)

Remember I am willing to have you make some adjustments to your character so you could take one of those spells if you have not already, or perhaps a scroll since it is on the Paladin spell list even if it is outside your spell range. Depends on what you do, if anything, with your rebuild.

HP:

Amaimon (-39/137 HP, 12 NL damage; Note: Curse of the Grave-39)
Malgrim (-35 HP/91 HP after burn; Curse of the Grave-35)
Marcus (-51/96 HP; Note: Curse of the Grave-19)

After experiencing the effect of the Curse of the Grave you may make a DC 22 knowledge religion roll to figure out how to break the curse. But until then, those wounds created by the dangerous dwarfs negative energy touch are just NOT healing no matter how hard you try.

Sure, if you can get a sheet up we can get you started.

@Marcus
Make caster level checks for the cures on Amaimon and Malgrim.

So, how does this work? You build a character but assign chronicles to existing characters in the level range (or lesser level)?

I have GMed an AP up to 12th level characters in Legacy of Fire and am comfortable with running that so I am not solidly in your target audience. Then again there is a big difference between GMing a character up to 12th level, and GMing an unknown character at 12rth level. I have GMed one high level stand-alone game, Wardens of Sulfur Gulch, in an on-line con and it was hard.

But mostly I have GMed lower level games like The Twisted Circle, Voice in the Void, two of the goblin scenarios in real life, Fangwood Keep, School of Spirits, Solstice Scar D, and The Shattered Shield. All PFS1 games. Not at all comfortable enough to GM PRS2.

I am good at committing to completing a game or series of games. In fact, I do not think I have EVER bailed on a game as a player or GM. Well, does it count when you submit a character for a game and realize after the initial narrative that you played that character in it already? That was embarrassing.

Your HP before resting are now:

Amaimon (-43/137 HP, 12 NL damage; Note: Curse of the Grave-39)
Malgrim (-36 HP/91 HP after burn; Curse of the Grave-35)
Marcus (-51/96 HP; Note: Curse of the Grave-19)

Make your rolls in gameplay. I will ignore the ones you made here. And, yes, you can use higher level slots to cast lower level spells. I assume the wand rolls are different.

Your HP before resting are (after Marcus healed):

Amaimon (-69/137 HP, 12 NL damage; Note: Curse of the Grave-39)
Malgrim (-47 HP/91 HP after burn; Curse of the Grave-35)
Marcus (-51/96 HP; Note: Curse of the Grave-19)

Please verify.

Any more healing you want to do before taking a rest?

The feeble drarf protests and scrabbles at the door, but is unable to stopyou from closing it. He looks far more alarmed than he should be and casts one final longing look out the door ferore it suts in his face.

He would be welcome to join if he wants to.

It occurs to Amaimon that there is a lot of crap in the storage area, and with a simple DC 5 engineering roll, SOMETHING could be crafted to hook the door. And using a mage hand to guide a fastener would work perfectly. With a simple mage hand tug on the hook with a tug on the cordate, you could even whip the thing out fro the door before it closes. Even if there is no rope or chain, these giants were wearing clothes, and just like the movies, you could fashion makeshift cording from that. And its not like it needs to support your weight!

The plan is definitely doable. May I assume you do so?

I gotta say that was an intense, nerve-wraking, and exciting combat you all went through. I love those as a player even if they end in a death :) I'm glad you chose not to wait.

That's OK. We can handle a little clutter.

Can mage hand be used to close the doors?

Though the doors weigh a lot more than 5 pounds, they are on a hinge and do not have much resistance. Unfortunately they are made of living brass which is magically infused with living souls and count as a magical item. So, no.

If you get creative, I think you could come up with a solution. Think of it as a simple engineering/puzzle encounter. And, boy, would it be nice to not have to look at him for a while, huh?

Do the doors swing into the room we are in or the room we came from?

Into the room the dwarf is in, so, yea, barring using magic he will be able to swat at you.

Note: Should you decide to hole up in this room and he sees you do so, you know dang well the loudmouthed dwarf is going to sic every passerby on you that he can. You could try closing the doors, though they open into the waiting dwarf's room, and there is no guarantee they he could not open them again.

As Malgrim finishes checking out the door, finding no traps, everyone notices a cursing dwarf at the doors you just passed through. He seems unable to push through some kind of magical barrier that had absolutely no effect on you.

After the string of curses, he officiously calls out, "Come back in here and I will suck every ounce of life from your bodies!"

The sets to just standing there and glaring at you.

Proceed with opening the door? Or do you, perhaps, want to do combat with the infuriated dwarf again?

:)

The rooms are ransacked and worthless. Searching them provides nothing but a waste of time.

Do I recall correctly that wands function like staffs so they only have 5 charges but can be recharged by casting the same spell on it?

Check out 6.3 in the house rules. I actually made it a little easier than staffs as it is school that needs to match up.

Malgrim heads north to the nearest door. I assume you all follow him?

Combat over!

Your enemies lie fallen all over the place, but there is still that dang dwarf to consider. What to do?!

On the bright side he has not popped up yet.

Marcus nails his old buddy with a well aimed arrow for 21 damage.

❖❖❖❖❖❖ Combat Card Round 9 ❖❖❖❖❖❖
Ongoing effects not mentioned below: inspire courage: +2 and 1d6 sonic damage
Bold may go.

Amaimon (-78/137 HP, 12 NL damage; elemental immunity, fire; Note: Curse of the Grave-39; fly: 8 minutes; 1 hero point; electricity shield-15: ? minutes; Legacy Weapon with Ghost Touch, Bane(undead) and +1: expires end of round 11; heroic splendor until the end of round 15; AoO on blue)

Wolf (blue) (-61 HP; 2 rounds recovery)

❖❖❖ Round 10 ❖❖❖

Malgrim (-59 HP/91 HP after burn; Curse of the Grave-35; DR 10/Adamantine; Heat Adaptation: 15[2*current burn] ER Fire; 30 ER fire for 120 minutes)
Marcus (-51/96 HP; Note: Curse of the Grave-19)

@Malgrim
Prudent! That is enough to eliminate it leaving the charmed hound all on its lonesome. Note that the inspire also gives you 1d6 sonic damage, not that it mattered in this case.

@Marcus
With Orange eliminated do you wish to target your useless buddy wolf?

@Malgrim
These things have reach so do you cast defensively? If not, both of the wolves will get an AoO.

I assumed Marcus would give the go ahead since his charmed beastie is not playing nice with his friends. And, hey, it is still charmed since Marcus is not doing the beat down.

❖❖❖❖❖❖ Combat Card Round 9 ❖❖❖❖❖❖
Ongoing effects not mentioned below: inspire courage: +2 and 1d6 sonic damage
Bold may go.

Malgrim (-59 HP/91 HP after burn; Curse of the Grave-35; DR 10/Adamantine; Heat Adaptation: 15[2*current burn] ER Fire; 30 ER fire for 120 minutes)
Marcus (-51/96 HP; Note: Curse of the Grave-19) Malgrim (-59 HP/91 HP after burn; Curse of the Grave-35; DR 10/Adamantine; Heat Adaptation: 15[2*current burn] ER Fire; 30 ER fire for 120 minutes)
Amaimon (-78/137 HP, 12 NL damage; elemental immunity, fire; Note: Curse of the Grave-39; fly: 8 minutes; 1 hero point; electricity shield-15: ? minutes; Legacy Weapon with Ghost Touch, Bane(undead) and +1: expires end of round 11; heroic splendor until the end of round 15; AoO on blue)

Wolf (orange) (-81 HP; recharged)
Wolf (blue) (-40 HP; Charmed by Marcus; 2 rounds recovery)

❖❖❖ Round 9 ❖❖❖

Amaimon spends his last Abjuration focus point to make dang sure he does not die in an untimely manner, then whoops on the two hapless victims

Orange takes 81 damage and Blue takes 40.

It's only fair!

recharge orange: 1d2 ⇒ 2
recharge blue: 1d3 ⇒ 1

Attacks (luckily for you I did not notice they have extra attacks before; who knew a wolf would have a bite/claw/claw combo! Unluckily for you I just saw it...)
to hit bite, flank: 1d20 + 26 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 26 + 2 = 29
to hit claw, flank: 1d20 + 24 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 24 + 2 = 33
to hit claw, flank: 1d20 + 24 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 24 + 2 = 28

to hit bite, flank: 1d20 + 26 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 26 + 2 = 31
to hit claw, flank: 1d20 + 24 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 24 + 2 = 44
slashing/piercing damage: 2d6 + 11 ⇒ (3, 3) + 11 = 17
to hit claw, flank: 1d20 + 24 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 24 + 2 = 27

And even more luckily, they both do a poor jub of taking advantage of their newfound skills and Amaimon is only rid of 17 of his 20 temp HP!

Got it. Now I see the "As a swift action' at the beginning of the description. Occultists are new for me too.

Only 1 abjuration point left, still have 20 temp HP up

Could you explain this to me. The hounds did 42 damage and burned through your 20 temp HP. Do they regenerate every round (it does not sound like it from the description) or did you mean you want to reactivate it using a standard action? I do not think you have the abjuration points to do it as a swift action. Or is there some way you can do it as a swift action?

Malgrim gives Amaimon some much needed support and he does look a lot better.

❖❖❖❖❖❖ Combat Card Round 8 ❖❖❖❖❖❖
Ongoing effects not mentioned below: inspire courage: +2 and 1d6 sonic damage
Bold may go.

Amaimon (-78/137 HP, 12 NL damage; elemental immunity, fire; Note: Curse of the Grave-39; fly: 8 minutes; 1 hero point; electricity shield-15: ? minutes; Legacy Weapon with Ghost Touch, Bane(undead) and +1: expires end of round 11; heroic splendor until the end of round 15; AoO on blue)

Wolf (orange) (-0 HP; 2 rounds recovery)
Wolf (blue) (-0 HP; Charmed by Marcus; 1 rounds recovery)

❖❖❖ Round 9 ❖❖❖

Malgrim (-59 HP/91 HP after burn; Curse of the Grave-35; DR 10/Adamantine; Heat Adaptation: 15[2*current burn] ER Fire; 30 ER fire for 120 minutes)
Marcus (-51/96 HP; Note: Curse of the Grave-19) Malgrim (-59 HP/91 HP after burn; Curse of the Grave-35; DR 10/Adamantine; Heat Adaptation: 15[2*current burn] ER Fire; 30 ER fire for 120 minutes)

Both of Marcus shots miss, though the first attempt comes reasonably close. The dang thing has a pretty tough hide though that would make plate mail look like wooden armor (10+ natural armor), and each has chain barding to boot, itself pretty resilient.

@Marcus
I am assuming that you continue any performance you started unless you say otherwise.

❖❖❖❖❖❖ Combat Card Round 8 ❖❖❖❖❖❖
Ongoing effects not mentioned below: inspire courage: +2 and sonic damage
Bold may go.

Malgrim (-59 HP/91 HP after burn; Curse of the Grave-35; DR 10/Adamantine; Heat Adaptation: 15[2*current burn] ER Fire; 30 ER fire for 120 minutes)
Amaimon (-122/137 HP; elemental immunity, fire; Note: Curse of the Grave-39; fly: 8 minutes; 1 hero point; electricity shield-15: ? minutes; Legacy Weapon with Ghost Touch, Bane(undead) and +1: expires end of round 11; heroic splendor until the end of round 15; AoO on blue)
Marcus (-51/96 HP; Note: Curse of the Grave-19) Malgrim (-59 HP/91 HP after burn; Curse of the Grave-35; DR 10/Adamantine; Heat Adaptation: 15[2*current burn] ER Fire; 30 ER fire for 120 minutes)

Wolf (orange) (-0 HP; 2 rounds recovery)
Wolf (blue) (-0 HP; Charmed by Marcus; 1 rounds recovery)

❖❖❖ Round 9 ❖❖❖

@GM: I have never understood why but glitterdust is a Will save, not a REF save. Probably still not enough to get either of them.

Me either. Corrected rolls...

fire giant DC 16 reflex save: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18
orange warhound DC 16 reflex save: 1d20 + 9⇒ (14) + 14 = 28

As you suspected they made their saves.

Malgrim, you downed the giant! w00t!

recovery orange: 1d3 ⇒ 3
recovery blue: 1d4 ⇒ 4

The blue hound moves to flank Amaimon (drawing an AoO) and they both try to bite him.

to hit bite, flank: 1d20 + 24 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 24 + 2 = 41
slashing/piercing/blugeoning damage: 2d6 + 16 ⇒ (1, 2) + 16 = 19

to hit bite, flank: 1d20 + 24 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 24 + 2 = 43
slashing/piercing/blugeoning damage: 2d6 + 16 ⇒ (2, 5) + 16 = 23

More pain and agony as all the temp HP and recovered HP are gone!

Correction:

Amaimon (-100/137 HP + 20 temp HP; elemental immunity, fire; Note: Curse of the Grave-39; fly: 8 minutes; 1 hero point; electricity shield-15: ? minutes; Legacy Weapon with Ghost Touch, Bane(undead) and +1: expires end of round 11; heroic splendor until the end of round 15; AoO on blue)

Ok. Making a note of that in gamelplay.

Marcus unleashes a blinging burst of glitterdust on two of the opponents.

fire giant DC 16 reflex save: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (12) + 6 = 18
orange warhound DC 16 reflex save: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (14) + 14 = 28

Neither of them think much of the spell and go on their sparkling way. Amaimon sees his life slipping away and bolsters his defenses, adding what amounts to 20 temp HP. He then sets to with a vengeance on the remaining fire giant, smacking him three times. It howls with rage and looks close to dropping, but it also looks like it is quite ready to return the favor!

❖❖❖❖❖❖ Combat Card Round 7 ❖❖❖❖❖❖
Ongoing effects not mentioned below: inspire courage: +2 and sonic damage
Bold may go.

Malgrim (-59 HP/91 HP after burn; Curse of the Grave-35; DR 10/Adamantine; Heat Adaptation: 15[2*current burn] ER Fire; 30 ER fire for 120 minutes)

Fire giant (red) (-160 HP)
Wolf (orange) (-0 HP; 1 rounds recovery)
Wolf (blue) (-0 HP; Charmed by Marcus; 0 rounds recovery)

❖❖❖ Round 8 ❖❖❖

Amaimon (-120/137 HP + 20 temp HP; elemental immunity, fire; Note: Curse of the Grave-39; fly: 8 minutes; 1 hero point; electricity shield-15: ? minutes; Legacy Weapon with Ghost Touch, Bane(undead) and +1: expires end of round 11; heroic splendor until the end of round 15; AoO on blue)
Marcus (-51/96 HP; Note: Curse of the Grave-19) Malgrim (-59 HP/91 HP after burn; Curse of the Grave-35; DR 10/Adamantine; Heat Adaptation: 15[2*current burn] ER Fire; 30 ER fire for 120 minutes)

Definitely OK with that. Cool class, with some nasty abilities and spells.

Bards suck vs. undead so make sure you take those sonic combat spells that do not require a fort save or is mind effecting, which most bard spells are (not easy to find - take a look at sonic scream and wall of sound). And maybe get a metamagic rod of Concussive to mess targets up with no save as long as you do ANY damage. That is really nice with sonic scream). Oddly the concussive metamagic affects undead from what I can tell. Metamagic rods of Persistent or Selective spells are also nice. You have access to some very nice 3rd level spells, like confusion, and 9000 gp for a lesser rod is worth adding a +2 metamagic enhancement to a spell like that.

I have no problem with questions and challenges. I make lots of mistakes, so don't sweat it. And I understand your annoyance based on your thinking the charm spell should be more powerful. But, when you think about it, a 1st level charm person spell should not allow you to switch the alliance of a combatant in the middle of a fight. That would be a bit too powerful. Murderous Command is the closest to that and lasts for a round. Most dice damage per level spells end up being disappointing too, at least I find them to be so when comparing them to the damage a melee character dishes out.

If you think you could enjoy the game with a different character, you are welcome to aim for something more martial. Spell casters are much harder to play, requiring a comfort level with many more mechanics than a fighter. They are very rewarding when they work, though. But they are also a pain the butt and tend to lead to a lot of disappointment as many spells are just plain nerfed by monster abilities. Like a fire mage vs. a creature immune to fire, or a bard vs. undead, or just about anything with a high spell resistance. Melee characters are almost ALWAYS relevant. Though I would not do an Inquisitor or Warpriest because they take complicated to a new level. I'm playing in a game with a fighter with barroom brawl, and the THONGS he comes up with are very complicated and creative, so even a fighter can be confusing with the right feats!

Not a good round for you guys :( You had to roll a two?!
Thank goodness Amaimon slapped that energy resistance on you!

@Amaimon
Remember you still have a hero point to use up before a new player jumps in.

Malgrim (-59 HP/91 HP after burn; Curse of the Grave-35; DR 10/Adamantine; Heat Adaptation: 15[2*current burn] ER Fire; 30 ER fire for 120 minutes)