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![]() That's my mistake. I'd initially modeled the Flicker ability off of the nymph's unearthly grace, and had screwed up the note in the adjustment. I went back to double check my manuscript for Courts and I believe that's what I did there, too. I had an email to Wolfgang where I explained what I was doing, but I didn't fix the power in my template, and I think I carried the error forward. :/ -Ben. ![]()
![]() Vidmaster7 wrote: So is thier any guides to help with dragon exemplar character creation. Their is a lot of options in this book. Also I feel their is still room for a lot of dragon abilities that didn't make it in. I don't know that it's been out quite long enough. I had players who just dove in and tried making a few characters. I also allowed them to change things up if something didn't work as they expected. ![]()
![]() Out of the depths of our sanctums and the shadows of the nearby forests, Sub Rosa reemerges to bring you issue #20, chock full of "secrets & lies." We take a moment to talk about events from Gencon before diving into articles on secret codes, spontaneous magic, and urban merchant companies, an adventure set in Palermo, and no less than three mystery cults to engage or oppose your magi with their magics and hidden plots. Forum regular Pelle Kofod brings you a Divine beast and its regio, and former line author Christian Andersen details the Cult of Shape-stealers. Other authors include returning contributors Gerald Wylie, Robin Bland, Berengar Drexel, and Benoît Léoutre. This is 94 pages of brand new material to craft conspiracies and shadowy machinations for months to come! Jeff Menges graces our cover and internal art is brought to you by Jeff, Elizabeth Porter, Angela Taylor, Jason Tseng, Patrick Demo, and Troy Taylor-- Troy's map of Palermo is pretty fantastic and worth the price of entry alone, in my humble opinion. They all do outstanding art, though, and we can't thank them enough. If you'd like to purchase an issue of Sub Rosa, send an email to subrosa@distantlandspublishing.com send and we'll explain the process. It's a fanzine, so we're cryptic like that. ![]()
Male not always to the swift nor the strong. Bard6 / Paladin2 / Fighter2 / Magus4 / Dad2
![]() I know the holidays can be crazy busy, but I'll throw one last reminder out there for you-- if you've got a few minutes, I always appreciate the feedback of a solid review. Please consider leaving one on the Port Godless page. Thanks and I hope the new year treats you well, -Ben. ![]()
Male not always to the swift nor the strong. Bard6 / Paladin2 / Fighter2 / Magus4 / Dad2
![]() I'd intended to leave it for a week, but that's fine. And we're inactive. Again, if you'd be willing to take a moment and leave a review of the adventure, I would appreciate it. Thanks and have fun with your later games. -Ben. ![]()
Male not always to the swift nor the strong. Bard6 / Paladin2 / Fighter2 / Magus4 / Dad2
![]() She knows she's in her own place, she shouldn't be trying to go toe-to-toe versus a group, especially since she knows the place was recently raided. She should have fallen back to a group of the daemons, pulled some of them into a group, buffed them, sent them in to attack and weaken you, and then hit you invisibly with a second wave she augmented with summons, keeping herself as out of the fray as possible and dividing up the battlefield as much as possible. At the level you were facing, she has like three pit spells, teleport and dimension door; she can do some awful things. He stayed right in the mix too much with her, and that wastes her potential. *shrug* Not terrible, but potential for a lot more. ![]()
Male not always to the swift nor the strong. Bard6 / Paladin2 / Fighter2 / Magus4 / Dad2
![]() You can get your chronicles here. If we need something adjusted, let me know. I'll leave this in place for two weeks, and then mark it inactive. As soon as I find out the event ID, I'll get it reported. And if you enjoyed the scenario, I always enjoy reviews. :) I'm happy to discuss concerns offline. (brickk@gmail.com) thanks, -Ben. ![]()
Male not always to the swift nor the strong. Bard6 / Paladin2 / Fighter2 / Magus4 / Dad2
![]() For those needing to make deals or acquire whatever side goals, I'll mark them as appropriate or leave them to you to mark. Given the time of year, digging through the place is a formality with how you'd resolved things. :) -Ben. ![]()
Male not always to the swift nor the strong. Bard6 / Paladin2 / Fighter2 / Magus4 / Dad2
![]() Her spellbook: 5th—hold person (DC 20), summon monster V, wall of force
Plus: acid arrow, alarm,
I apologize she wasn't a better challenge. I don't think her combat went as I would have played her. ![]()
Male not always to the swift nor the strong. Bard6 / Paladin2 / Fighter2 / Magus4 / Dad2
![]() Sorry, I got clobbered with the plague. I'm mostly functional, so I'll close this out, but I'm afraid my prose may suffer. Over the course of the next ten minutes, the Pathfinders quickly stalked up the stairs to small room, and proceeded to scry several chambers. Two clerks were knocked unconscious, and several young slaves were ushered into the basements, where others were unlocking the remaining cells and escaping into the tunnels. With judicious use of his remote viewing, Bones found one Riftwarden groggy and incoherent, awaiting further interrogation in an office. This was followed by the swift securing of the compound's central audience hall. After discussing with two more liberated slaves, the group determined the last remaining Riftwarden must be held in the warehouse across the courtyard. Still working under cover of darkness, it wasn't too difficult for Hakaam and Turathal to cross the distance unnoticed. There, they quickly freed the group and located their last objective. As the small crowd waited in the threshold of the warehouse, Bones cast an obscuring mist. Concealed from the obvious notice of the guards, the whole group swiftly crossed the distance and reentered the main hall. From that point, it was only minutes later before the group was making its way through the sewer tunnels towards Lady Jodinaj's estate. The trip through the old sewers took perhaps an hour, but allowed the group to evade the notice of any guards or Pure Legion. They emerged about a hundred yards from the familiar front gate of Lady Jodinaj's home, about two hours before sunrise. With a quick check of the street above, you ensured the area was clear, and arrive safely inside the walls of Lady Jahani's home. Her servants were elated, and the Riftwardens happily collapsed into piles of pillows or retired to separate chambers for baths, sleep or food. Lady Jodinaj ensured your group was accommodated before finally excusing herself. In the morning, Jahani comes to your group. "Thank you, I thought we'd all die there," liberal healing has removed all physical signs of her terrible ordeal, "You have my eternal thanks, Pathfinders, and the thanks of my fellow Riftwardens. I hope you'll stay a few days, rest, eat, and prepare to return to your Lodge. I will send messages confirming your heroic efforts to my order and your organization. I am certain we will speed your travels and find an appropriate way to repay you." You nod, knowing Venture-Captain Obo has that process already underway. For now, it looks like the order of business is a good meal, a good sleep, and some well earned rest. You have successfully completed Port Godless, thank you for allowing me to pick it up from the other GM and shepherd you to the end. I apologize for the delay there at the end and enjoyed myself thoroughly. If you enjoyed it, please leave a review on the product page here. I will see about signing chronicles to post for you to pull down. If you've got questions about any part of the adventure, we can carry on in the discussion thread. :) ![]()
Male not always to the swift nor the strong. Bard6 / Paladin2 / Fighter2 / Magus4 / Dad2
![]() With the daemons destroyed, your group returned to the corridor, each of you at least spattered with Iso's blood from his embrace, if not a bit of your own. The surviving slaves and Riftwardens emerged from their cells. "Providence be praised." Lady Jodinaj waved to you and both she and Mikhail approached. "We can describe part of the upper floor plan, if you like. Probably enough for you to utilize your friend's domain powers," she gestures to Bones, "To find the best, quickest route to our friends. Our intelligence knew they had two daemons, but you appear to have slain them all. I think, we can probably find my companions without too much more heartache." I'll wrap this up tonight with a post. Please send me a private message with the pertinent information for chronicles. ![]()
Male not always to the swift nor the strong. Bard6 / Paladin2 / Fighter2 / Magus4 / Dad2
![]() To confirm, and you can say yes by favoriting this post, "Do you want me to scroll back and text-walk you through the conclusion?" Or, do you want me to run you through in real time? If you want me to run through in real time, post a reply. By "real time," I mean post by post as you explore the upper area, rather than a montage. ![]()
Male not always to the swift nor the strong. Bard6 / Paladin2 / Fighter2 / Magus4 / Dad2
![]() The daemon initially successfully made its Reflex save in the grease space, here but then took off when it realized it needed to be avoiding the ground. If it had fallen, it would have needed to use its move action to fly up and out of the effect, but since it succeeded, I did not. Because Drokk is landing in the grease effect and not moving, I'd like him to make the Reflex save, because he's ending his action in the grease. If he'd never landed, then I would say he wouldn't need to, but he's flying from wings, not a spell effect, and landed. It doesn't look like it matters too much. Hakaam nimbly danced around the daemon and the greasy floor, utilizing the previous creature's footprints to land near Iso. The daemon seemed to look about, somewhat disconcerted, glancing at all the surrounding foes. "Last chance, mortals," its telepathy rumbled. "If you do not surrender, I will kill your fallen comrade." Looking down at the magic grease he placed on the ground, The ecclesiastical called out in frustration, "Come to me, Brother Drokk, and receive Ra's blessing. It is through Law and Order that we shall destroy this servant of chaos and destruction." Drokk attempted to wing his way over to Turathal, but faltered a bit in the tight quarters, landing in the greasy patch, rather than hovering."The dark religions are departed, and sweet science reigns!" Sliding to maintain his balance, he lashed out with a series of claws and fangs, catching the daemon in the eyes and throat. The heavy magical thorns shredded its flesh, and with a feeble protest, the creature dissipated into foul grey smoke even as Drokk began to bite it. At that point, I'd have you make the Reflex save, but it's largely irrelevant, since combat is over. But, for the sake comedy, you may want to see if he falls after killing it. What remains is your infiltration and rescue of the remaining Riftwardens from the upstairs compound. With Bone's remote viewing, Turathal's vanish, and Bones' fog cloud, I can cover your actions in a boxed text. ![]()
Male not always to the swift nor the strong. Bard6 / Paladin2 / Fighter2 / Magus4 / Dad2
![]() The mystic dagger of Pharasma winked out of existence, only to reappear over the daemon's head and lash out with expert accuracy, leaving a long, smoking furrow over its eyes, which bled over its face. Meanwhile, Bones shifted to stand alongside the teifling archer and released a pulse of light which washed over Hakaam, Hakime and Turathal. Its rough telepathy transmitted again, even inching into Iso's mind, "I'll enjoy ruining your unconscious forms." It then thrashed the aasimar with a rain of terrible blows. bam: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15
pow: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10
nomnomnom: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20
Or rather, the blood in its eyes clouded its vision and the strikes went wide. Three of the cleric/sorcerer's mirror images shattered like so much glass, falling to the ground and disappearing before anyone had even drawn another breath. The slaves do nothing, and Iso may interject when he likes. I don't know if you'll take it down this round, but I figure it'll be a good effort. Initiative, round 6
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Male not always to the swift nor the strong. Bard6 / Paladin2 / Fighter2 / Magus4 / Dad2
![]() Turathal hustled backward, turning the corner and running to Iso's aid, only to find the armory occupied by the missing ceustodaemon, which hissed at him."By Anubis' Foul Breath, it's in the Armory!!!" Turathal's panicked voice cried out. Hakime remained focused, calmly drawing and firing two more arrows into the toad-like daemon before with languid grace. The wounds smoked as the arrows sank deep into its flesh. Hakaam grinned ferally, his face-scarf dangling to the side since his encounter with the daemon in the armory revealing gaping holes where his cheeks should be. As he passed his blade from left to right, the many rows of piranha-like teeth chattered excitedly. "Go help Turathal. This one, like his brother, is mine" he said eagerly, before returning to the foul language he spoke earlier."የኃይል ማስተሰሪያ ከናንተ ጋር በምሠራበት ጊዜ የሹትሬት የመጀመሪያ ህያው ፍጡር በህይወቱ እንደሚኖር ጌታዎቻችን በአባዶን ይሁኑ." Hakaam disengaged the daemon's claw, gave a half lunge and a draw cut, slicing through meat and tendon and baring the dirty ivory of bone beneath. The beast howled in pain, a howl cut short, literally, by the second thrust through the creature's throat. With a twist and yank, the investigator gave his blade a flick, and the lesser creature's head flopped to one side on a ribbon of foul meat; the body discorporating into moth-smoke as it tumbled to the floor. Seeing Hakaam had the lesser fiend dealt with, Drokk raced towards the armoury. When he reached Turathal, Drokk took to the air in a gust of wings to swoop over the grease patch and interposed himself between the daemon and Iso. The daemon snapped at the alchemist as he flew past. Belated binge biting: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (15) + 11 = 26
Fortunately, though, the monster's fangs were unable to pierce the half-orc's mutagen altered hide. "Turathal! Remember my sermon! LAW and science shall prevail!" To the daemon, Drokk growled, "Your brothers are banished, slave of Abaddon. You have failed." I promise to get you at least one more today, if Bones posts, and get you back to the top of the initiative, and then I'll make sure you get at least one post a day from all week, if not more. Initiative, round 5
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Male not always to the swift nor the strong. Bard6 / Paladin2 / Fighter2 / Magus4 / Dad2
![]() I'm here. You all are very close to done. Give me this week with a couple of posts and I'll walk you into closure. I apologise for the delay this week, but you'll be done very shortly. The lesser daemon is going to fall to the two action sets to it, and then you'll make fairly quick work of the last one. At that point, I'll scroll back, and give you an overview closure. I should have been better this week, but work and a swim meet overwhelmed me. You'll have a catch up post today, and then we'll roll forward. -Ben. ![]()
Male not always to the swift nor the strong. Bard6 / Paladin2 / Fighter2 / Magus4 / Dad2
![]() Hakaam, don't forget your Reflex save. Turathal only after the cut, please. I'll expand/explain based on his choice. Turathal: As the holy man of Ra entered the poorly lit armory, he realized he'd come face to face with the ceustodaemon, floating within reach of Iso's broken form. The grease spell yet blocked the direct path to his fellow Pathfinder, and charging to him beyond the threshold, even retreating from the room, would mean provoking an attack from the creature.
Turathal's Perception: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (3) + 14 = 17
Its Perception vs Turathal's approach, DC 16: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (18) + 15 = 33 Even though it's hidden in the dim illumination of the purple candle in this room, you'll see it as you make your first step into the room, standing to the east, without a question. However, because of the sudden nature of your bursting into the armory, you've definitely got a +2 Circumstance bonus to AC, although it heard footsteps coming. If you want to drop the grease, that's a Standard action. If you want to charge past the daemon to Iso and use the wand, you'll provoke by movement, but not for the wand. If you leave room, you'll provoke. Calling out is a free action. What'll it be? Whatever you decide, I'll put it on the map based on what your character says or does not say. You are not immune to the effects of your own grease.
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Male not always to the swift nor the strong. Bard6 / Paladin2 / Fighter2 / Magus4 / Dad2
![]() Hakime drew and fired twice in quick succession, catching the lesser ceustodaemon closest to Drokk with two solid hits, one in the long snout of its frog-like face, the other piercing its upraised forearm. The alchemist dropped his hammer, letting it clatter to the ground. He grabbed the daemon by the throat and hit it hard in the face, shattering the arrow and causing one eye to burst from the socket, dangling by a long strand of sinew. Furious, he pulled it close, using his fangs to tear out its throat while coating his muzzle in lavender ichor and dropping the dissolving corpse to the ground. Before it had even sublimated into a greasy white smoke, Drokk slammed the remaining lesser ceustodaemon with heavy claws, leaving a trio of long furrows across its chest while seemingly ignoring the deep yet fading cold. "Nigel! Noooo! He yet lives. And he'll live longer than you bastards. Bones! Channel, please! These are just varied ceustodaemons, other than their breath weapons and physical strength all else is similar." ”I’m on it!” the dwarf replied, taking a few steps back before channeling healing power from Pharasma, ensuring it helped only his allies. The soft white glow radiated outward from the dwarf like the roll of the tide, washing over everyone but Iso. On the stone beneath Drokk, Nigel's eyes fluttered open. The tiny creature wasted no time and scrambled up the half-orc,
Reflex DC 15 or entangle: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19 The remaining lesser ceustodaemon shook off the seed pods and took a step towards the stairs before exhaling another deep gout of biting rime. The daemon behind it looked at Drokk with three-pupiled eyes. housekeeping: 1d4 ⇒ 4
"I warned you, Meat. You made your choice." came its telepathic metallic grinding voice. It seemed to swirl on itself, disappearing at an infinitly distant point that yet couldn't be 12 feet away if it was a league. It was no longer in view, but it's voice faded away slower... "You made your choice." The slaves and Riftwardens continued to hide, hearing the running commentary and feeling the terrible cold gnaw on their bones. The ceustodaemon is no longer in view of any member of your party. Initiative, round 5
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Male not always to the swift nor the strong. Bard6 / Paladin2 / Fighter2 / Magus4 / Dad2
![]() Turathal moved out into the hallway and back to what he hoped was a safe distance. He whipped out some ground mica from his ever-present spell component pouch and began casting. Even the experienced non-spellcasters in the group probably recognized the words to Glitterdust. save Ceusto Left, DC 18: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13
All of the outsiders became limned in a sparkling hue, though the one to the farthest left clutched its eyes. Hakaam shook off the evaporating ice and laughed, as he jumped off the ground to bounce off the wall, sword spinning from hand to hand with absurd speed. "ጨካኝ አታድርጉ. የሚቀጥሉት ምላስህ ከጭንቅቃቶችህ መካከል የራስህ ይሆናል." The investigator's first strike nearly severed the daemon's forearm, causing it to dangle feebly as it spurted a smoking lavender ichor. His second blow took advantage of the opening and thrust up, under the chin, killing the beast. The body collapsed to the ground and began to dissolve into the dirty grey moths which then melted into wisps of greasy smoke and left nothing behind but a reverberating mental scream. Initiative, round 4
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Male not always to the swift nor the strong. Bard6 / Paladin2 / Fighter2 / Magus4 / Dad2
![]() Good luck. If my experience with Living Greyhawk is any precedent, it is easier for them to simply ban an option rather than attempt to clarify it. I hope they sort it out in your favor, as I believe your interpretation is reasonable. ![]()
Male not always to the swift nor the strong. Bard6 / Paladin2 / Fighter2 / Magus4 / Dad2
![]() Shifting my post here on the tumor familiar It is ambiguous, so for here I'll rule in favor of the familiar, and it can attach without standing up, and as an extraordinary ability, it would not provoke an AoO. An attack made with Reach is treated as a ranged attack, so an attack from a larger daemon would be possible, if it provoked, but it doesn't. That language doesn't say merge, though, it does say "attach," which would be a much different state. This would mean Nigel is connected to the Doctor, but not "inside" the him. I would say this gives him some form of cover (I'll say Partial Cover unless he climbs inside the previously mentioned hatch and gains Full Cover, which is fine if he wants to do that as his move action), which leaves him vulnerable to appropriate (Reach) melee and ranged attacks. Clearly, he cannot Aid Another or access the haversack from inside armor. EDIT:
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Male not always to the swift nor the strong. Bard6 / Paladin2 / Fighter2 / Magus4 / Dad2
![]() It is ambiguous, so for here I'll rule in favor of the familiar, and it can attach without standing up, and as an extraordinary ability, it would not provoke an AoO. EDIT: Transferring the rest of this note to the discussion thread. ![]()
Male not always to the swift nor the strong. Bard6 / Paladin2 / Fighter2 / Magus4 / Dad2
![]() Turathal, you do not need to make the saves. Initiative, round 4
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Male not always to the swift nor the strong. Bard6 / Paladin2 / Fighter2 / Magus4 / Dad2
![]() Reading the commentary in the thread where James Jacobs weighed in, I would concur. Turathal does not need to make the saves, I'll note it in the gameplay thread. I think somewhere in the past I played several encounters with a shape-able breath weapon creature, and the habit just stuck. ![]()
Male not always to the swift nor the strong. Bard6 / Paladin2 / Fighter2 / Magus4 / Dad2
![]() Excellent, thank you for the reference. I've not read Ultimate Wilderness yet. Ok, let me update hit points now as much as I can, although I have you a little lower-- 45hp damage + 14 vicious is 59hp damage, so 17hp remaining. Do you concur? Which daemon? The one at 1o'clock in relation to Drokk, or the one right behind it? Nigel takes 1 more point for failing his Stabilization check, and he should make it at -9 next round (1d20-9). (if you want to reroll at 1d20-8, I'm ok with it. It is death, so we should do it right next time, but for right now, it's up to you.) A telepathic voice again joins the low rumble. It is the daemon which addressed Hakaam, its message strangely compressed yet clear, leaving your teeth with a dull, faint aching, "You value your fallen friends, Meat? You may save them. Take them and go. Abandon the slaves, leave now. Stay, and they will die." ongoing effects:
Drokk-
Hakaam-
Turathal-
Bones-
Hakime
Iso
Initiative, round 4
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Male not always to the swift nor the strong. Bard6 / Paladin2 / Fighter2 / Magus4 / Dad2
![]() Ok, since he's good, then it's DC 17 for everyone. I'll try to get a summary post in after Turathal's action. Reminder: Studied combat damage is precision damage and not multiplied on a critical hit. I'm not seeing how that damage is being expressed exactly, I apologize. Initiative, round 4
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Male not always to the swift nor the strong. Bard6 / Paladin2 / Fighter2 / Magus4 / Dad2
![]() Not a problem. I'm happy to help out. Thank you for the reporting link. Sorry for the slight delay on posting, folks. I'm helping out with my daughter's play, so this evening was the first time I got to post. Tomorrow will be sketchy after 3pm EST, Saturday will be shot until 9pm, and Sunday is junk until 9pm. I will endeavor to give you quick updates when I can, but I'm going to be busy and/or restricted to a mobile device. Monday will pick up as normal. I hope you're all at least enjoying the text, and finding the action tense. -Ben.
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